Night spread like an immense sheet of ink-dark silk, slowly covering every corner of the Star Dou Great Forest.
Along the shores of the Lake of Life, rippling waters shimmered with cool silver light beneath the moon, mingling with the campfire's glow to paint a scene of quiet peace.
Everyone returned to this familiar territory under cover of night. The turmoil stirred by the day's fierce battle and breakthrough gradually settled in the tranquil atmosphere.
Bibi Dong sat quietly beside the campfire, her violet eyes half-closed as she regulated the surging soul power within her. The crimson-gold spider wings behind her occasionally trembled, stirring faint ripples of energy-the pressure bestowed by that Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring had not fully receded, even at rest.
Xiao Wu's Mother sat on a bluestone by the lake, gazing dazedly at the moon reflected on its surface.
The brilliant red soul ring Bibi Dong had displayed that day was seared into her mind like a brand.
To possess a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring as an Eight-Ring Soul Douluo-such talent and fortune were proof enough that Qian Daoliu's words had been true. Bibi Dong truly was the perfect vessel for that plan to "create a god."
She recalled how solemn Qian Daoliu had been when he first mentioned "creating a god." The grandeur and resolve within those words had finally taken tangible shape.
As a hundred-thousand-year soft bone rabbit, she understood better than anyone what soul rings meant to a soul master, especially the final one-that was often the key that determined a soul master's ultimate potential.
"So I can stay by Xiao Wu's side all the better..."
Her murmur faded into the evening breeze, and a glimmer of resolve flashed in Xiao Wu's Mother's eyes.
Sacrifice was the ultimate gift a hundred-thousand-year soul