Leng Yaozhu's delicate fingers swept across the patterns in the secret chamber, and the image of the Azure Luan slaying the dark gold terrorclaw bear inside the Spirit Ascension Platform gradually faded.
She raised a hand and lightly pressed a concealed compartment in the wall. A metal pod slid out of the stone, pale-purple soul-guidance patterns flowing across its surface. It was a pod specifically used to enter the Spirit Ascension Platform.
"Lie down inside, little Yeye."
Tang Qingye lay down inside as instructed. The lid closed soundlessly, and countless luminous soul-guidance threads settled against his entire body.
The scene before his eyes changed, and he had been transported into the embrace of the sky high above the Spirit Ascension Platform's Primeval Forest Sea.
Pinpricks of cold light arrived first. The clouds tore apart to either side, and fierce winds swept fallen leaves dancing across the sky.
King from Heaven!
Hanging upside down like a sword, he plummeted straight from a height of a hundred thousand feet and slammed heavily into the spot where the dark gold terrorclaw bear had fallen.
A long cry pierced the sky, and countless tree shadows danced wildly with it!
In an instant, earth and shattered stone surged outward in a ring, and the blast of air pressed down the dust for a hundred meters.
When the dust cleared, Tang Qingye stood several dozen feet in front of the Nine Heavens Azure Luan.
His close-fitting outfit fluttered gently, his gaze focused.
The human and the bird locked eyes. The entire forest sea sank into stillness once more, every sound hushed.
"Dong!"
Deep within their souls, a heavy hammer slammed into an ancient clock that spanned planes.
Without warning, a passage of frenzied Creepy Music echoed through the forest!
Ethereal, rending sound effects of destiny and an endlessly thunderous musical movement intertwined wildly within the minds of the human and the beast.
Their souls trembled, and the vast sky resounded.
"Yi... yiyiyi!!"
The Nine Heavens Azure Luan's cries were filled with bewilderment and an elusive familiarity.
Though this was clearly their first meeting, the Gourd within Tang Qingye's dantian burned outrageously hot. The Spiral Deep-Cyan Pattern kept extending, about to burst out through his body and brand his soul!
Across from him, within the Nine Heavens Azure Luan's black eyes, their innate, age-old chill shattered, stirring a towering storm.
The feeling was far too strange.
Amid the deafening spiritual symphony, the Nine Heavens Azure Luan's enormous wings trembled slightly, his black eyes fixed on the boy before him.
At that moment, his age-old chill gave way to a burning search, and he roared within his mind:
Your name is...?!
Tang Qingye's fingers also clutched his bursting chest. Facing that divine bird from beyond this world, wreathed in azure clouds, a voice likewise exploded deep within his soul:
Your name is...?!
"Who are you?" the human and the bird said in unison.
Awesome. He's actually gained intelligence. Tang Qingye was somewhat surprised.
"I'm your future master. I want you to become my soul spirit."
"A puny mortal dares dream of binding a sacred spirit of the nine heavens? All the trash who came before failed, yet a mere brat like you dares spout such wild boasts!"
Tang Qingye said indifferently, "They were indeed trash, but you don't seem all that impressive either, staying in this little place without seeing the sun or moon. If you follow me, I'll take you across mountains and rivers, through every corner of the world, and soaring above the nine heavens. If you refuse..."
"I also know a little hand-to-hand combat..." With that, Tang Qingye stopped concealing his aura and revealed the entirety of his azure sky power!
An ancient-looking phantom of a gourd appeared behind him, seven-colored power flowing and interweaving. His cultivation was actually at the peak of seven revolutions!
What now shrouded Tang Qingye's body like a gauzy cyan robe was none other than the Heavenly Cang Art's exclusive innate domain-the Azure Nether Suppression Domain.
The domain's effects were simple and overbearing: it drew upon azure sky origin to condense heavenly cang marrow, granting his body, weapons, and soul skills substantial origin amplification; when deployed, the domain could also purify his allies' soul power and use the laws of the firmament to suppress every enemy buff.
The forest fell dead silent yet again. The Nine Heavens Azure Luan stood frozen, his confidence visibly diminished.
"Y-you... how can your azure sky power be so..."
The azure clouds and rosy radiance surrounding him fell into violent disorder, and the surging currents of firmament air abruptly stalled.
"Tell me your answer."
The clash of invisible wills and confrontation of spiritual power sent ripples through the void.
Clouds stood still in the vast sky here...
In the end, the Azure Luan lowered his wings, expressing submission to his master.
"I acknowledge your will of heaven."
The surrounding primordial energy of heaven and earth gathered. The Nine Heavens Azure Luan gave a long cry and spat out a ball of light. Its appearance caused the enormous gathered mass of primordial power to surge into it like a whale gulping down the sea, finally condensing into a piece of Divine Marrow.
"I offer my loyal orange to my lord!"
"Little fellow, you really managed to communicate with him. Even those old things from the Qiangu Family couldn't do that." Watching the spirit luan bow his head in the image, Leng Yaozhu's heart was filled with pride in her disciple.
"We can begin, Master. I'm ready." Tang Qingye's gaze was resolute, his calm, composed bearing far beyond the temperament a boy his age should possess. The pale-cyan hue flowing through his eyes looked clear yet carried the weight unique to the azure sky.
Leng Yaozhu looked gently at Tang Qingye, a long, low chant slowly rising from her lips. This ancient method of forging an unyielding soul spirit contract had been sealed away and passed down through the generations by the Spirit Pagoda. Only soul masters with deep reserves of spiritual power were qualified to carry out the complete process.
Rings of cyan-gold light spread outward along the completed formation inscribed beneath Tang Qingye's feet. Gentle fluctuations of firmament cloud energy slowly filled the entire obsidian chamber.
Guided and bolstered by the incantation, Leng Yaozhu used the formation to wield firmament cloud-system power, which did not align with her own martial soul's attributes. Luminous cyan-gold radiance enveloped the two figures, and hazy, gentle azure-cloud light spread throughout their surroundings, as though the two had stepped into an isolated realm of sky cut off from the world.
The cyan light suddenly flickered, and a phantom appeared before Tang Qingye. It was a smaller version of the Nine Heavens Azure Luan. Within his pitch-black vertical pupils, his innate aloof pride turned into wholehearted devotion the moment he saw Tang Qingye.
Tang Qingye gradually entered a wondrous mental state. Every fluctuating emotion faded from his eyes, leaving only peace and serenity without the slightest ripple. This was sage mode, a state ordinary people could scarcely attain.
"Azure cloud bond that roams the vast sky, by this bind the Otherworldly Luan."
"Rustle, swish-" Tang Qingye slowly raised his right hand. Countless ribbons of cloud energy inscribed with spiraling azure-cloud patterns instantly filled the entire expanse of sky. The warm cyan light drifting over the ribbons covered the cloud radiance flowing around the Nine Heavens Azure Luan, and a pressure originating from the world's source bore down on him.
The Nine Heavens Azure Luan immediately beat his wings and struggled with all his strength, a measure of wariness appearing in his eyes. This pressure was engraved within his origin soul. It was the plane's instinctive rejection of foreign beings from other planes, the very force that had arisen when spatial turbulence swept him down onto the Douluo Continent.
"Hold your head and return to oneness. Don't regard the contract as a restraint. Quite the opposite-it's the bond between us." Tang Qingye looked openly at the Nine Heavens Azure Luan.
A clear cry rolled from the luan's throat, deep and expansive as a long wind piercing clouds, delicate as a whisper beside the ear. High and low notes echoed in interweaving succession, crisp and pleasing, like pearls large and small falling onto a jade plate.
"I don't belong to any world. Quite the opposite-they all belong to me. World will, don't underestimate the bond between my master and me!"
Standing outside, Leng Yaozhu clearly saw the Nine Heavens Azure Luan's body turn bit by bit into an ethereal phantom, following the faint light into Tang Qingye's body.
The high-risk, high-reward contract stage concluded smoothly. The remaining soul-merging stage would simply follow that momentum and advance in full coordination.
Leng Yaozhu raised her eyes and gave a soft, murmured sigh, some surprise rising within her. She had anticipated no shortage of struggles and setbacks, never expecting the contractual compatibility between Tang Qingye and the Nine Heavens Azure Luan to be so high. The entire process had been exceptionally smooth.
"Little fellow, you really weren't lying to me. Still, deceiving your master warrants punishment!"
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