After listening, Qian Renxue looked down at the Heavenly Dragon Horse nuzzling the back of her hand. She crouched down, leaned close to its ear, and whispered a few words.
Mu Sheng was too far away to hear clearly, catching only fragments like "come with me," "you won't suffer anymore," and "get stronger together."
A flicker of hesitation passed through the Heavenly Dragon Horse's silver, slit-pupiled eyes. Then, as if it had made up its mind, it lowered its dragon head and nuzzled Qian Renxue's palm. The diamond-shaped gem on its forehead suddenly lit up.
Qian Renxue rose and stepped back twice.
The Heavenly Dragon Horse raised its head and let out a long whinny. Silvery-white light poured from its body, surging toward Qian Renxue like a tide.
The sacrifice had begun.
Qian Renxue sat cross-legged and circulated the Angel Martial Soul within her, accepting the origin of light pouring from the Heavenly Dragon Horse.
Mu Sheng's expression turned serious, and he instantly summoned the Sheep Talisman's power.
He raised a hand over Qian Renxue's head. A pure white Soul Ring lit up, and the phantom of the Stone Disc Martial Soul appeared, guiding the origin of light and soul power pouring from the Heavenly Dragon Horse into Qian Renxue's Soul Ring.
At the same time, he sensed two extraordinarily dense presences escaping from the sacrificial ritual.
One was the Heavenly Dragon Horse's origin of light, pure and abundant. The other came from Qian Renxue, bearing a warm, solemn sacred presence that was more concentrated and of a higher order than the origin of light.
A thought stirred in Mu Sheng's mind. He guided the Light Sacred Dragon Martial Soul to open its jaws and swallow, drawing in every trace of the two escaping presences.
The phantom of the Radiant Sacred Dragon appeared behind him. Its body shuddered violently, and the golden patterns on its scales flared. Its already dense presence of light began to compress, purify, and transform at a furious pace.
The origin of light was devoured completely, and the sacred presence was drawn out strand by strand, merging into the depths of the dragon soul.
The dragon's golden eyes turned a purer, blazing white, and a faint sacred halo shimmered around the edges of its scales.
Ultimate Light, achieved!
The sacred attribute was only one step away from its limit!
The sacrifice was nearing its end.
The Heavenly Dragon Horse's body dissolved into specks of silver light that scattered across the valley, while its soul merged whole into Qian Renxue's Soul Ring.
Qian Renxue's Soul Ring slowly took shape. Silvery-white patterns shimmered across its deep black surface, and within them, the faint phantom of a dragon-headed horse could be seen galloping slowly.
Her Soul Power fluctuations surged, and the bottleneck to Soul Emperor shattered. Her presence was considerably stronger than before.
Qian Renxue opened her eyes. Before she could feel the changes inside her body, a clear, ringing whinny came from in front of her.
Silvery-white light gathered before her, and a magnificent, snow-white horse stepped out of the light.
It had the body of a horse and the head of a dragon. White dragon scales extended from its forehead all the way down its back, and the diamond-shaped gem on its brow shone brilliantly.
Most striking of all was the pair of silvery-white dragon wings spreading from either side of its back. Their span was a full zhang or so, and intricate, scale-shaped patterns of light flowed across their surfaces. Every beat sent out a silver halo.
The Heavenly Dragon Horse, in its complete form.
Qian Renxue froze for a moment, then smiled and swung herself onto its back.
The Heavenly Dragon Horse's four hooves stepped on light. With a beat of its dragon wings, it carried her into the air and circled once above Light Valley, trailing a beautiful arc of silvery-white light behind it.
Qian Renxue rode the Heavenly Dragon Horse back down in front of Mu Sheng, unable to contain the excitement on her face. She dismounted, patted its neck, and turned to call out to Mu Sheng:
"Mu Sheng, I broke through! Rank sixty-three! And I have two Soul Skills too!"
Mu Sheng did not ask about the Soul Skills after hearing her out. Instead, he merely nodded and said indifferently:
"A breakthrough is enough. Let's hurry and leave. I still need to find a Soul Beast and absorb a Soul Ring, so we can get back to the academy quickly."
The excitement on Qian Renxue's face instantly froze.
She had just broken through to Soul Emperor and gained two Soul Skills. She had been waiting for Mu Sheng to praise her, yet he did not even ask about them. The moment he opened his mouth, it was "hurry and leave" and "get back to the academy."
Her pride lodged in her chest all at once, unable to rise or fall.
Mu Sheng, shouldn't you ask what my Soul Skills are?
You don't care about me even a little?
All you can think about is hurrying back to see Xiao Ya!
Is Xiao Ya as pretty as I am?
Does she have a face and figure like mine?
How dare you ignore me!
You don't want to see? I'll make you look!
Qian Renxue ignored what Mu Sheng had said and raised her hand of her own accord. The diamond-shaped gem on the Heavenly Dragon Horse's forehead lit up. "First Soul Skill, Holy Light Slash!"
A silvery-white blade of light shot from the gem, trailing a curved tail of light as it sliced diagonally through a massive boulder at the edge of the valley.
The blade entered the rock face with scarcely a sound. A few breaths later, the boulder slowly slid apart along the blade's path. The cut surface was smooth as a mirror, and a faint golden halo lingered around its edge for a long time.
Qian Renxue lowered her hand, and the blade of light vanished. Only then did she lift her chin and begin her introduction at a leisurely pace:
"(Angel) Holy Light Slash:
"It condenses light Soul Power into a blade of light and fires it. It has a long range and strong penetrating power, and it also has a sacred burning effect. The wounds of a target it hits will be continuously corroded by holy light, making them difficult to heal.
"The farther away the target is, the harder it is to dodge, and the residual holy light will continue to weaken the opponent's Soul Power recovery."
When Qian Renxue finished, she lifted her chin slightly and waited for Mu Sheng's reaction. But his brow suddenly twitched, as though he had sensed something.
Almost at the same time, Xuan Zi's voice sounded in his ear, pitched extremely low:
"Young Pavilion Master, a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast has arrived. Its presence is very strong. Should I step in and stop it?"
Mu Sheng concentrated on sensing the direction and attributes of that presence, and something stirred in his heart.
The presence leaned toward life and light, with a warm, gentle quality beneath it. It was somewhat compatible with his Radiant Sacred Dragon.
A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast with suitable attributes had arrived at just the right time.
He shook his head and transmitted his voice back:
"Xuan Zi, there's no need to stop it. This Soul Beast is very suitable to become my Sixth Soul Ring. Let it come over."
Qian Renxue had noticed none of their secret exchange. Seeing that Mu Sheng was ignoring her, her face darkened further, and she was just about to press him for an answer.
A sharp cry suddenly rang out from the air, carrying a trace of anger and an oppressive pressure:
"Humans! Release the Heavenly Dragon Horse at once, and I'll spare your lives!"
Mu Sheng and Qian Renxue looked up at the same time.
High in the air, a figure in jade green came tearing through the sky, surrounded by an emerald halo. Waves of Soul Power pressed down like a tide, flattening the grass and trees across the valley.
The newcomer was a breathtakingly beautiful woman, tall and slender, with a jade-green gown trailing to the ground and dark green hair spilling down her back. Her green, slit-pupiled eyes held a sharp glint.
Qian Renxue involuntarily took a step back.
This was the human form of a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, and her oppressive pressure was more than ten times stronger than the Heavenly Dragon Horse's.
She turned to look at Mu Sheng, only to see him standing where he was, his face expressionless. He even took a step forward to meet the newcomer.
"Bi Ji!"
Mu Sheng smiled as he addressed the jade-green figure in the air.