"Teacher, you scared her."
Luo Chen said, "She's still alive. If I ate her, wouldn't that be the same as eating a person?"
"Huh?"
Bibi Dong found Luo Chen's words somewhat difficult to understand. Tilting her head, she looked at her disciple in confusion. "Why would eating it be the same as eating a person?"
In Bibi Dong's understanding, Soul Beasts were Soul Beasts.
No matter how human those transformed Soul Beasts looked, they were merely beasts wearing human skin.
Never mind killing them-even devouring them outright was nothing.
"If simply consuming her would give you the benefits," Bibi Dong said, "I think you'd be better off not wasting a Soul Ring slot on this."
Bibi Dong: Eat it! Why wouldn't you? Isn't it just a blade of grass?
"Uh..."
Bibi Dong really does live up to being a villain, Luo Chen thought.
This way of thinking fit her villainous pope persona perfectly.
Fortunately, Luo Chen wasn't the sort to force his own ideas on others.
Bibi Dong's values had long since taken shape.
Besides, she wasn't wrong. Soul Beasts were Soul Beasts.
Why could you eat a Hundred-Year Soul Beast with a clear conscience, yet put on a hypocritical show of mercy upon seeing a hundred-thousand-year transformed Soul Beast?
Following Luo Chen's reasoning, suppose they encountered a Soul Beast in the future that could shapeshift or create illusions.
Then it turned into a human before them-what were they supposed to do?
"Teacher, it's not that I'm unwilling to kill."
"I just... can't quite bring myself to eat her."
Luo Chen knew what Bibi Dong was worried about. She feared her disciple was too kind and would suffer for it when facing enemies in the future.
But he had already killed a Soul Beast with his own hands, so he had no such psychological barrier.
"I understand."
Bibi Dong stroked Luo Chen's head and said with a smile, "Since you don't want to, Xiao Chen, of course I won't force you."
Eating the Blue Silver Emperor would offend her disciple's psychological fastidiousness.
Bibi Dong could understand that.
If the Blue Silver Emperor were an enemy, Bibi Dong would certainly teach Luo Chen that living in this world meant being prepared to kill.
On that point, Luo Chen had given Bibi Dong a firm answer: Enemies should be annihilated with thunderous force!
So that was enough.
As for his sympathy toward transformed Soul Beasts...
There weren't many transformed Soul Beasts in the world anyway. Bibi Dong was willing to let her disciple keep this innocence.
In fact, given how much Bibi Dong doted on Luo Chen, she would probably agree even if he refused to kill anyone.
Even if Bibi Dong knew that wasn't good for Luo Chen.
So what?
At worst, she would simply protect Luo Chen for the rest of his life.
Xiao Chen really is a kind child.
As expected of my disciple-truly pure as ice and jade, Bibi Dong thought. Even with transformed Soul Beasts, their human appearance makes Xiao Chen reluctant to strike.
"Actually, it was my Martial Soul that told me to choose the Blue Silver Emperor as my second Soul Ring."
Seeing Bibi Dong start filling in the blanks herself again, Luo Chen hurriedly explained, "Because only then can I maximize the benefits the Blue Silver Emperor can bring me and permanently gain a Soul Skill that strengthens my physique."
"I see!"
Luo Chen's judgments had always been accurate, and Bibi Dong had no doubts whatsoever. "All right, go ahead. You have my permission to absorb this Blue Silver Emperor."
Her disciple could have absorbed her in secret and acted first, reporting afterward.
Yet he had told her beforehand.
That trust filled Bibi Dong's heart with delight.
"It's just a shame about your second Soul Ring slot."
Bibi Dong checked the Blue Silver Emperor's condition and said with some disdain, "Another trash Soul Beast that isn't even a hundred years old."
"You don't need to worry about that, Teacher."
Luo Chen smiled. "She's the Blue Silver Emperor. Even after being reduced to her original form, she's still a hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast."
"You mean...?"
Bibi Dong's worry turned to joy, and she asked expectantly, "Your second Soul Ring won't be white, Xiao Chen?"
"That's right."
Luo Chen said, "After she becomes my Soul Ring, she might initially be only a white Soul Ring with a single-digit age. But as time passes, I'm confident I can restore my second Soul Ring to its peak."
Restoring it to its peak meant a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring!
Bibi Dong was happy her disciple had encountered such an opportunity. The stunningly beautiful pope gently pinched Luo Chen's cheek and smiled. "Although your first Soul Ring is a white ten-year ring, if your second Soul Ring can transform into a hundred-thousand-year one..."
To think her disciple's second Soul Ring could reach a hundred thousand years, instantly making up for the loss of potential caused by his first Soul Ring.
As for the Blue Silver Emperor's fate...
Although Bibi Dong bore no grudge against Tang Hao and his wife, and had even received a favor from him...
She was herself, and Luo Chen was Luo Chen.
If her disciple needed it, Bibi Dong couldn't care less about Tang Hao.
"Wonderful!"
Bibi Dong was happy for Luo Chen. "That means you'll only have wasted one Soul Ring, Xiao Chen."
Na'er: Yours is wasted! Your whole family's are wasted!
Because Bibi Dong kept disparaging her Soul Ring with such disdain, Na'er almost jumped out to give her a beating with her little fists.
"Then I'll begin. Please stand guard for me, Teacher."
Ignoring the silver-haired little girl's endless protests inside his Martial Soul Space, Luo Chen prepared to absorb the Blue Silver Emperor.
"Mm."
Bibi Dong watched her disciple sit cross-legged on the bed, her eyes holding only his figure.
As Soul Power circulated, the crown on Luo Chen's head burst into brilliant starlight. The Blue Silver Emperor floating above his palm swayed her blades of grass, seemingly sensing what was about to happen.
However, unlike her terror of Bibi Dong...
Bathed in starlight, the Blue Silver Emperor instinctively felt joy and excitement, then waved her branches toward Luo Chen.
Every living being had an instinctive yearning for evolution.
Luo Chen's Celestial Crown Martial Soul contained celestial power.
Even though there was very little of that celestial power-so little it was merely a thread-it still possessed might surpassing divine power.
Becoming an Aspect meant continuously receiving the nourishment of celestial power.
Just like Na'er, who possessed divine power from the outset and would keep growing stronger as Luo Chen improved, until she became a true celestial life-form.
How could the Blue Silver Emperor resist such an opportunity?
And so, Luo Chen absorbed the Blue Silver Emperor's true body quite naturally.
"Come back to life, my lo-"
"Ahem!"
Luo Chen almost said the wrong line and hurriedly corrected himself. "Awaken, Blue Silver Emperor!"
With Luo Chen's repeated calls, a sliver of soul that had lain dormant within the Blue Silver Grass, still in a muddled state, gradually revived.
Inside the Martial Soul Space, celestial power cascaded down like a waterfall, continuously nourishing the damaged portion of the Blue Silver Emperor's consciousness.
Luo Chen and Na'er appeared here in the forms of their consciousnesses.
Before them, beneath the starry sky, appeared a giant cocoon woven entirely from Blue Silver Grass, blue throughout and as magnificent as a gemstone.
"Wow, is this our new companion?"
Na'er curiously flew around the cocoon and discovered an extraordinarily beautiful blue-haired girl curled up inside, her arms wrapped around her knees.
She was completely naked, her skin white as snow, her exquisite face like the most delicately crafted work of art.
"Mm..."
Gradually, the Blue Silver Emperor's consciousness began to clear.
"Where is this?"
"I... I'm..."
Her memories were extremely jumbled. There were the long years she had spent in the Star Dou Great Forest as Blue Silver Grass, and the curiosity and joy of choosing to take human form and walking through human society.
Then the Blue Silver Emperor saw a tall figure.
It was her husband, Tang Hao.
"Brother Hao, and..."
Suddenly, the Blue Silver Emperor opened her eyes. "My child? Xiao San, my Xiao San!!"
Crack, crack, crack!
The giant cocoon enclosing the Blue Silver Emperor began to shatter. The blue-haired girl slowly rose from within like a woodland fairy, surveying this world with bewilderment written across her face, seemingly having no idea why she was here.
"She's awake."
"Mm."
Na'er and Luo Chen stood on a golden disc, watching the newly awakened Blue Silver Emperor.
"What is this place?"
The Blue Silver Emperor was initially bewildered, but as her transformation into an Aspect progressed, some basic knowledge surfaced in her mind.
"Aspects, transformation, Soul Rings."
Before long, the Blue Silver Emperor understood her situation.
She raised her head and saw the two watching her from afar.
"I didn't die. I became that child's Aspect instead."
Like Na'er, the Blue Silver Emperor was now one of Luo Chen's innate Aspects.
She could feel a closeness emanating from Luo Chen, as though they were connected by blood. Perhaps only Tang San, whom she held in her heart, could barely compare.
"Were you the one who saved me?"
"Thank you."
The Blue Silver Emperor was just about to thank Luo Chen for saving her life.
But the next moment, she noticed her current state.
She wasn't wearing a stitch, her naked body exposed before the two of them.
"Ah!"
Even though Luo Chen and Na'er both looked like children, the Blue Silver Emperor still blushed scarlet and instinctively covered her private parts with her hands.
"This is Master's Astral Realm. We're his Aspects."
Na'er teleported in front of the Blue Silver Emperor and shared her experience with her junior. "You only need to imagine it, and you can conjure clothes."
"Oh, so that's how it works."
"Thank you, little sister."
The Blue Silver Emperor had only just awakened, and her mind was still unclear.
Now that Na'er had reminded her, the Blue Silver Emperor hurriedly condensed her Soul Power, and a gentle pale-blue light blossomed from her body.
As the light faded, a stunningly beautiful blue-haired girl reappeared.
She looked about eighteen or nineteen and wore a long blue-and-gold dress. Her noble, elegant bearing set off her otherworldly beauty, and her deep-blue eyes were as flawless as blue crystals.
Golden ribbons curled upward around her skirt, while a faint fragrance drifted through the air.
"Please excuse me for that."
The Blue Silver Emperor brushed aside the hair at her forehead, her face still slightly flushed. She came before Luo Chen to express her thanks. "Hello, I'm the Blue Silver Emperor. You can call me Ah Yin."
Ah Yin wasn't opposed to becoming Luo Chen's innate Aspect.
First, the presence emanating from Luo Chen attracted her, giving her a distinctive sense of security.
Second, Luo Chen had saved her, allowing her to regain consciousness from her Blue Silver Grass state and reconstruct her body.
With Ah Yin's kind and simple nature, she would naturally repay such kindness by weaving grass and carrying rings in gratitude.
Moreover, transformation into an Aspect was irreversible, and their origins were already bound together.
Quite apart from the fact that Ah Yin wasn't an ungrateful person, even if she wanted to go back on it, it was too late now.
So if repaying Luo Chen meant staying by his side and serving him like a nanny, Ah Yin could accept that.
"Sister Ah Yin, may I call you that?"
"Of course!"
Ah Yin gave him a sweet smile, gazing gently at Luo Chen as though she could see her own child in him.
Ah Yin was different from Na'er.
The latter had no past and was an entirely new life-form.
To her, Luo Chen was the whole world, her one and only.
Ah Yin, however, was different.
Before becoming Luo Chen's Aspect, Ah Yin had a husband, a family, and a child of her own.
So Luo Chen didn't ask much of Ah Yin.
He only hoped she could help him cultivate, heal him, and refrain from betraying him. That was all.
"Sister Ah Yin, that Xiao San you called for earlier is your child, right?"
"You know?"
Joy filled Ah Yin's eyes. "Where are they? Could... could you take me to see them?"
Ah Yin's memories stopped at the moment of her sacrifice, so she didn't know whether Tang Hao and her son were alive or dead.
Although she had already decided to remain by Luo Chen's side, knowing their whereabouts would let Ah Yin put her mind completely at ease.
"Don't worry. I... I won't reveal myself."
Ah Yin said she only wanted to take a look at the father and son.
To avoid putting Luo Chen in a difficult position, she would not meet the two of them again.
"As long as I know they're alive and well, I-I'll be content."
Ah Yin knew how deeply Tang Hao loved her. Once he learned that she had become Luo Chen's Aspect and could never be separated from him, Tang Hao would surely do something irrational.
Her lifesaver and her husband-Ah Yin did not want to see either of them put in a difficult position.
"Sigh..."
Luo Chen found that the Blue Silver Emperor truly was kind.
In the original story, Ah Yin had never harmed anyone from beginning to end, yet she had been reduced to this because of her identity as a Transformed Soul Beast.
"Sister Ah Yin, you need to prepare yourself, because what I'm about to say may seem unbelievable to you."
"But I promise, every word I say is true."
As Luo Chen's Aspect, Ah Yin could sense her master's emotions. She felt somewhat uneasy and asked with a hint of worry, "D-did something happen to Brother Hao and Xiao San?"
"Tang Hao is still alive."
"But Tang San..."
Luo Chen said, "Your child probably no longer exists."
Hearing the first part, Ah Yin felt slightly relieved, but Luo Chen's next words made her face turn deathly pale in an instant.
"No longer exists?"
Ah Yin murmured those words, her eyes reddening slightly as tears fell uncontrollably. "Xiao San, m-my child, is he already dead?"
"How could this happen?"
Ah Yin's body trembled uncontrollably, and then she sobbed too hard to speak.
She cried for a long time, until her voice choked up.
Luo Chen did not stop her. He chose to let Ah Yin give her feelings full vent.
"Can you tell me how Xiao San died?"
Ah Yin did not doubt Luo Chen's words at all.
Because the connection between an Aspect and their master reached straight into the soul.
Ah Yin knew perfectly well whether Luo Chen was lying, whether he was deceiving her to make her stay.
"This is somewhat complicated."
Luo Chen raised a finger and lightly touched Ah Yin between the brows, then shared a memory with her. "Sister Ah Yin, see for yourself."
(End of chapter)