A 200,000-Year Trunk Bone.
The Ice Empress hefted the trunk bone, as though weighing a stone of just the right size.
Then she casually tossed it, sending it through an arc to land squarely in front of Zhang Lan.
"Lan, put it away."
Zhang Lan reached out and caught it.
The trunk bone felt slightly cool in his hand, and much lighter than he had expected. Yet the instant he held it, he could clearly sense the tremendous energy contained within.
That energy lay motionless deep inside the bone, like a sleeping volcano waiting for the right moment to awaken.
Zhang Lan tucked the trunk bone inside his clothes.
Behind him, Nan Shuishui stood where she was, watching until the very last moment as the trunk bone disappeared beneath Zhang Lan's collar. Her throat shifted slightly.
An Annihilation Rouge Dragon's Soul Bone, a relic left behind by a 200,000-year Ferocious Beast, sharing the same origins and lineage as her daughter's Martial Soul.
If Nan Qiuqiu used this Soul Bone, the Rouge Dragon's mutated attribute could rise by at least another grade, and breaking through the bottleneck to become a Titled Douluo would be much easier in the future.
She might even have the makings of a Limit Douluo.
But Nan Shuishui only allowed herself that one glance.
From beginning to end, when the Ice Empress tossed out that Soul Bone, she had not angled it even a fraction toward Nan Shuishui.
The Snow Empress stood nearby, her long white dress motionless in the Rift Valley's icy mist. Her expression was cold, and her gaze never even fell on the Soul Bone.
The attitude of these two exalted figures was clear: it belonged to Zhang Lan. No one else was to entertain any ideas.
Nan Shuishui withdrew her gaze, slowly unclenching the fingers hanging at her sides.
She took a deep breath, walked over to Nan Qiuqiu, and bent down to straighten her daughter's somewhat disheveled collar.
Zhang Lan turned the trunk bone over in his hands a couple of times, then lost most of his interest.
Its attributes were suitable enough. The dual attributes of gravity and annihilation aligned with the Star of Eden's path.
But he felt that its age of 200,000 years was a little low.
Tian Meng had told him in his Sea of Consciousness that, if the opportunity arose in the future, he should obtain an older trunk bone-one over 300,000 years old-to truly bring out the Star of Eden's potential.
This 200,000-year one would work for now, but he would have to replace it sooner or later.
He casually tucked the trunk bone inside his clothes, his gaze drifting inadvertently over Nan Shuishui and her daughter nearby.
Nan Qiuqiu had her head lowered as her mother straightened her collar, her expression still carrying some of the bewilderment of having just absorbed a Soul Ring.
Her pale purple First Soul Ring flickered in and out of view beneath her feet. Phantom rouge-colored dragon claws still emerged uncontrollably from time to time before retracting again.
She had not fully adapted to her new Soul Ring, but her Martial Soul's aura had grown considerably stronger.
After the Voidmark Moth's force-field distortion mixed with the Rouge Dragon's Annihilation Attribute, that trace of mutation had become far more pronounced than before.
Looking at that Soul Ring, Zhang Lan felt something stir in his heart.
He would definitely establish his own faction in the future.
Tian Meng's God-Making Plan could not possibly be accomplished by one person alone. Without a faction to support him, even if he became a Titled Douluo someday, he would still be a lone figure with no one at his side.
But building a faction required people.
Talented, trustworthy prospects he could nurture from childhood would be far more useful than Titled Douluos recruited along the way.
Nan Qiuqiu had good talent.
Level ten at seven years old, with a Mutated Rouge Dragon Martial Soul that possessed an innate Annihilation Attribute. Although it was not exactly the same as his Star of Eden, they shared some common ground at their foundations.
More importantly, Nan Shuishui was a sensible woman. The Earth Dragon Sect owed him an enormous debt of gratitude this time, and Nan Shuishui knew that very well.
A relationship like this was more secure than a simple exchange of interests.
"Sect Leader Nan."
Nan Shuishui raised her head to look at him.
Zhang Lan pulled the trunk bone out from inside his clothes again, spun it once in his hand, and casually tossed it over.
Nan Shuishui instinctively reached out to catch it. Looking down, she saw that it was the Annihilation Rouge Dragon's trunk bone.
She froze.
"You can have this Soul Bone," Zhang Lan said.
Nan Shuishui's grip tightened slightly, her knuckles pressing against the trunk bone's cold surface. For a moment, she did not know what to say.
She had only stolen an extra glance earlier, and the pressure from the Ice Empress and Snow Empress had kept her from daring to entertain even a thought. Now, the thing had simply been tossed into her hands.
"Why?"
She asked.
"I don't need it."
Zhang Lan told her the truth,
"It isn't old enough. I'll find a better one later."
"But this bone's attributes suit Qiuqiu's Martial Soul very well. It'll do more good in her hands than sitting with me."
Nan Shuishui looked at him, her gaze complicated.
Of course she knew what this Soul Bone meant for Nan Qiuqiu.
An Annihilation Rouge Dragon's Soul Bone, a relic of a 200,000-year Ferocious Beast, would be a sect's crowning treasure wherever it went.
Yet Zhang Lan had discarded it without hesitation, merely because it "wasn't old enough."
She fell silent for two breaths, then tucked the trunk bone inside her clothes and bent forward to bow to Zhang Lan.
This bow was more earnest than any she had given before. She bent so deeply that her forehead almost touched her bent knees.
"From this day forward, everyone in the Earth Dragon Sect will follow your lead, young master."
Zhang Lan waved a hand:
"Don't call me young master. It sounds awkward. Just call me Alliance Leader from now on."
Nan Shuishui straightened, the corners of her mouth curving slightly. Her expression held both a helpless amusement and an emotion she could not quite describe.
A seven-year-old child asking her to address him by name would have seemed absurd a month ago. Now, it felt only natural.
"Anti-Entropy."
Zhang Lan suddenly spoke.
Nan Shuishui blinked:
"What?"
"I'm going to establish a faction in the future. Its name will be Anti-Entropy."
Zhang Lan looked at her,
"Qiuqiu is the first."
"Once you return, let the people in the Earth Dragon Sect know. I won't turn away anyone who wants to join, and I won't force anyone who doesn't."
"When I've secured a foothold in the Far North, I'll have someone send you word."
"If everyone wants to join, your Earth Dragon Sect won't have to change its allegiance outright, either."
"For now, keep calling yourselves the Earth Dragon Sect."
As Nan Shuishui listened, a strange feeling surged within her.
When this boy said he was "going to establish a faction in the future," his tone was so even that he might as well have been saying, "I'm going to hunt a Soul Beast tomorrow."
It was as though establishing his faction was already nailed firmly into place, with no need to consider whether it could succeed.
She nodded. "Understood."
Nan Qiuqiu had listened to the entire conversation from beside them. She tugged at her mother's sleeve and asked quietly:
"Mom, what's Anti-Entropy?"
Nan Shuishui stroked her daughter's head:
"You'll find out someday."
Zhang Lan said no more and turned to walk north.
The Ice Empress and Snow Empress were already waiting ahead. One emerald figure and one white stood beneath the aurora like two silent lighthouses.
Nan Shuishui followed behind, holding Nan Qiuqiu's hand. Mother and daughter's footsteps made soft, steady sounds against the frozen ground.
The north wind blew from deep within the Far North, carrying the ancient, unending chill of the ice fields and pouring into everyone's collars.
Zhang Lan held the Star of Eden, tapping its tip against the ground. Each touch left a shallow indentation.
Those indentations formed a line stretching north from the edge of the Rift Valley, disappearing into the boundless expanse of white at the far end of the aurora.
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