Traces of a hundred-thousand-year soul beast

Several days later.

Outside Spirit City, a group slowly descended from the sky.

The man at their head was none other than Qian Daoliu.

Guang Ling followed behind with Lin Yuan and Qian Renxue, while several Spirit Hall soul masters jointly escorted a black-and-gold crystal half a person's height.

Layers of golden patterns wound around the crystal's surface, and a pitch-black dragon silhouette swam slowly within.

This was the seal Qian Daoliu and Di Tian had laid together.

Through the translucent crystal, they could faintly see the arm-length section of pale-gold Ambrosial Arbor.

It lay quietly in the scorched soil, giving off no presence whatsoever, as though it were merely an ordinary piece of deadwood.

Yet every soul master escorting it along the way had been strictly forbidden from coming within three meters of the crystal.

Even more strictly forbidden was probing it with soul power.

Qian Daoliu did not return to the Worship Hall, instead taking everyone straight to the Angel Temple.

The Ambrosial Arbor was far too dangerous.

Until Lin Yuan possessed enough strength to destroy it completely, only the secret chamber beneath the Angel Temple was even marginally suitable as a place to seal it.

The group had just entered Spirit Hall when a squad of gold-armored temple knights came to meet them.

At their head walked a middle-aged man wearing golden papal robes.

The man was handsome, his features bearing the authority of someone long accustomed to a high position, the presence of his soul power deep and oppressive.

He was none other than Spirit Hall's current Pope, Qian Xunji.

Behind him followed a young woman in a long purple dress.

The woman was stunningly beautiful, her face still retaining some youth and innocence, yet her gaze was exceptionally calm.

She was Qian Xunji's disciple, Bibi Dong.

"Father."

Qian Xunji approached Qian Daoliu and bowed slightly.

His gaze soon passed over the others and settled on the black-and-gold crystal enclosed in layers of seals.

Even through the double seal, he could still sense an exceedingly unusual presence of life within.

That presence was not strong, yet it stirred a trace of inexplicable agitation in his martial soul.

"What is this?"

Qian Xunji frowned slightly.

He took two steps forward, seemingly wanting a clearer look at the pale-gold piece of wood inside the crystal.

Bibi Dong also looked toward the seal.

Her Death Spider Emperor martial soul was extremely sensitive to the presence of life.

That piece of wood appeared completely still, yet it gave her an exceedingly dangerous feeling.

As though the slightest contact would immediately awaken something within.

Qian Xunji raised his right hand, his soul power about to probe the seal.

"Stop!"

Qian Daoliu's icy voice abruptly rang out.

Qian Xunji froze.

It had been a long time since he had heard his father speak to him in that tone.

Qian Daoliu stepped in front of the seal, blocking Qian Xunji's hand.

"If you don't want to die, don't touch it."

Qian Xunji's expression shifted slightly.

"I can't even touch it?"

"No."

There was not the slightest hesitation in Qian Daoliu's answer.

"This thing once nearly destroyed the Star Dou Great Forest."

"Even several Titled Douluo and ferocious beasts working together could not destroy it."

Qian Xunji looked at the piece of wood within the seal again, his expression finally turning serious.

Something that could make Qian Daoliu so wary clearly could not be an ordinary treasure.

"What exactly is it?"

"A creation of Abundance."

Lin Yuan stepped out from beside Guang Ling, his gaze settling on the pale-gold Ambrosial Arbor within the seal.

"Abundance's most terrifying ability isn't absorbing life, but preventing life from truly dying."

"No matter how many times flesh is torn apart, or how the body is damaged, the power of Abundance will make it keep growing, healing, and even coming back to life."

Qian Xunji frowned slightly.

"Immortality?"

"More precisely, life that cannot stop."

Lin Yuan slowly said:

"Birth, aging, sickness, and death are all part of life. But Abundance only makes life continue endlessly, without caring what it ultimately becomes."

"New flesh will grow from incomplete limbs, and broken bodies will be forcibly pieced together. As the power of Abundance accumulates, life's original form will gradually spiral out of control."

"In the end, amid endless growth, they will undergo uncontrollable distortions and mutations, losing their reason and original appearance, becoming monsters that know only how to spread Abundance."

Qian Xunji looked at the Ambrosial Arbor within the seal again.

The piece of wood still lay quietly in the scorched soil, pale-gold light flowing slowly across it, as though it possessed a heart that would never stop beating.

"That monstrous tree and those abominations in the Star Dou Great Forest were life twisted by Abundance."

Lin Yuan's voice grew calm.

"As long as this piece of the Ambrosial Arbor exists, it will never truly die."

"Once something goes wrong with the seal, what it brings won't simply be increased life, but a mutation that can never end on its own."

Qian Xunji looked at Lin Yuan.

He had already heard quite a bit about this boy whom Guang Ling had taken as a disciple.

Innate full soul power.

God-level martial souls.

One of those martial souls was a mysterious longbow that had never appeared on the Douluo Continent before.

And the strange changes in the Star Dou Great Forest this time also seemed deeply connected to this boy.

"Were you the ones who destroyed the monster it spawned?"

"To be precise, the power Little Yuan summoned destroyed it."

Guang Ling spoke from beside them.

Though his tone was mild, it carried unmistakable pride.

A flicker of surprise crossed Qian Xunji's eyes.

He wanted to ask more, but Qian Daoliu cut him off directly.

"For now, everything concerning the Ambrosial Arbor will be classified as Spirit Hall's highest secret."

Qian Daoliu swept his gaze over everyone present.

"From today onward, it will be sealed beneath the Angel Temple."

"Without my orders, no one may approach the sealed chamber."

"Much less probe it with soul power, touch it, or conduct any experiments."

Qian Xunji asked:

"Not even the uncles in the Worship Hall may examine it?"

"No."

Qian Daoliu said gravely:

"At present, only Lin Yuan and I may come into contact with this thing."

"Even the other worshippers must not approach it without permission."

At these words, Qian Xunji's expression shifted slightly.

No one could shake Qian Daoliu's position in Spirit Hall, but he rarely issued such harsh orders.

That even the worshippers had no right to come into contact with it was enough to show how dangerous the Ambrosial Arbor was.

Bibi Dong stood behind Qian Xunji without speaking.

Her gaze, however, lingered on Lin Yuan for a moment.

This boy, who looked scarcely older than Qian Renxue, actually had the same permission to come into contact with it as Qian Daoliu.

Yet Qian Xunji, the Pope himself, had been excluded.

That alone was enough to show the weight Lin Yuan held in Qian Daoliu's heart.

Qian Xunji fell silent for a moment, then finally nodded.

"I understand."

"I will suppress the information and keep anyone from approaching the area beneath the Angel Temple."

Qian Daoliu nodded slightly.

Then, under his instructions, several soul masters from the Worship Hall carried the black-and-gold crystal to the Angel Temple.

Watching the Ambrosial Arbor being carried away, Lin Yuan could clearly feel the rejection coming from the Imperial Bow.

Once his soul power recovered, he would begin the first true attempt to wear it away.

With his current cultivation, the power of Abundance he could weaken each time might be minuscule.

But as long as he persisted, the Ambrosial Arbor would have no opportunity to recover or grow.

Qian Daoliu withdrew his gaze and looked at Qian Xunji again.

"You made a point of bringing Bibi Dong here. Surely it wasn't merely to welcome us."

Qian Xunji's expression also grew serious.

"There is indeed something."

He raised his hand, signaling the surrounding temple knights to withdraw.

Only after all uninvolved personnel had left did he continue:

"Recently, soul masters under Spirit Hall sent back a report."

"A woman of unknown origins has appeared at Tang Hao and Tang Xiao's side."

Qian Daoliu's expression remained calm.

"A woman warrants you mentioning her personally?"

"She is very unusual."

Qian Xunji said gravely:

"That woman has no records at any Spirit Hall Branch. Her soul power level is unknown, and no one has ever seen her use a soul ring."

"But the presence of life within her is exceptionally vigorous."

"Wherever she goes, withered plants regain their vitality, and injured soul beasts recover noticeably faster."

Bibi Dong frowned slightly.

"A healing-type soul master?"

"We cannot determine that yet."

Qian Xunji shook his head.

"Stranger still, her martial soul seems to be nothing more than ordinary Blue Silver Grass."

"A Blue Silver Grass soul master of unknown origins, yet Tang Hao and Tang Xiao keep her protected at their side throughout their journey."

"That in itself isn't normal."

Qian Daoliu looked at him.

"You suspect she is a soul beast in human form?"

"It's only a suspicion."

Qian Xunji said:

"There is no evidence, nor can we determine her age."

"But it warrants further investigation."

Qian Daoliu was silent for a moment.

"The Clear Sky Sect is powerful now."

"Until there is conclusive evidence, do not rashly move against the Tang Hao brothers."

"Just send people to watch them."

Qian Xunji nodded.

"I've already made the arrangements."

Listening to their conversation, Lin Yuan had already guessed the woman's identity.

Blue Silver Grass.

A presence of life far surpassing that of ordinary people.

Traveling with Tang Hao and Tang Xiao.

That woman was probably the hundred-thousand-year Blue Silver Emperor-Ah Yin.

For now, however, her identity had not been exposed.

Spirit Hall had merely noticed something unusual and had yet to find conclusive evidence.

Counting the time, there should still be three years until Tang San's birth.

Lin Yuan did not speak.

Some things, even if he knew about them beforehand, were not things he could change as he was now.

The bells of the Angel Temple slowly began to ring.

Their deep tolling spread throughout Spirit City.

The matter was suppressed for the time being.

Spirit Hall did not act rashly, merely monitoring the movements of Tang Hao's group of three in secret.

Time, too, quietly slipped by amid cultivation.