"Now that I can sense that thunder tribulation are meant to kill me to stop my ascension, I will start my sacrifice to you," Tian Meng announced, his voice taking on a formal, ritual quality.
His entire body began to glow with an intense crimson light, far different from the golden radiance that had wrapped him before. A thick mist rose from the forest floor, enveloping us in a cocoon of swirling ruby vapors, hiding us from both the heavens and any prying eyes that might witness what was to come.
I summoned Xiao Wu, my first spirit beast companion—. "Xiao Wu, I will leave my body in your care. If you encounter something just use the spirit ring to teleport."
Her long scorpion braid swayed as she nodded, her eyes shining with determination. "Leave that to me," she answered, her voice steady and reassuring despite the gravity of the moment.
The crimson light surrounding Tian Meng intensified until it was almost painful to behold, even with my enhanced vision. I could feel his energy—his very essence—flowing toward me in waves of pure, concentrated power. At the same time, I instinctively shared the Conscious Spirit Ring technique with him, a method I had discovered that would allow him to seal his cultivation perfectly inside me, preserving not just his power but his consciousness as well.
As Tian Meng's cultivation essence poured into me, I felt my spiritual spaces expanding, reorganizing themselves to accommodate this vast new power. The pain was indescribable—like having molten gold poured directly into my soul—but I bore it silently, knowing this sacrifice was not one to be taken lightly.
Through our mental connection, Tian Meng's voice reached me, strained but determined. "I can produce two soul bones. Tell me which position soul bone do you want."
Despite the agony wracking my body, I focused my thoughts. Soul bones were the rarest and most precious gifts a spirit beast could bestow—and it provide formidable abilities. This decision would be most important. And obviously as Tian Meng is more inclined to spiritual, there's no way I would ask for replacing anything below head.
"One head bone and another an external soul bone," I managed to reply through our mental link. "And try to give me some strong spiritual resistance, or any amplification type or any disguise type soul bone skill. For soul skills, I think you would have some perfect choices."
No sooner had I finished my request than I felt something forming above my head—an ethereal crown of impossibly delicate design, radiating with power that made my Herrscher's Eye activate an react to the soul bone. The crown descended, merging with my skull in a process that felt like a thousand needles penetrating simultaneously into my brain.
Behind me, I felt a second transformation beginning—ethereal butterfly wings taking shape, their outline visible only as distortions in the air at first, gradually solidifying into translucent appendages of pure spiritual energy before adapting to my body and being absorbed into my back, leaving only the faintest outline visible when I concentrated my power.
As each second passed, I could feel myself breaking through limitations I had long struggled against. My spiritual realm, which had plateaued for months despite my best efforts, suddenly expanded with explosive force. I had entered the Spirit Connection realm, a breakthrough that would have happened in later stage of Soul master.
Behind me, a spirit ring—the physical manifestation of Tian Meng's Ring—began to form. It started as a complete white circle, the mark of a newly formed connection, but rapidly aged and matured, shifting to a deep yellow with a light Platinum tint that signified its growing power. The transformation continued, the ring darkening to purple with the same distinctive Platinum sheen, growing darker still until it stabilized.
Tian Meng's voice echoed in my mind, weaker now as his essence transferred more completely to me. "I think you could only bear till purple soul ring. I will now seal my whole cultivation."
With those words, I felt the full weight of Tian Meng's million years of cultivation flooding into my spiritual space, not merging with my own power but carefully sealed within me, preserved like a treasure to be drawn upon when needed. The remaining energy, which was controlled by Tian Meng, flowed into my first spirit ring—Xiao Wu's RIng—and triggered her "Teleportation" soul skill.
In an instant, the world blurred around us. The mist, the forest, and the threatening clouds of the thunder tribulation vanished as we were flung away from the Star-Dou forest. I recognized Tian Meng's final act of protection—he had pushed us to safety just by keeping us away from that point from those other ferocious soul beast.
I collapsed onto soft grass, my body trembling with exhaustion. Had I been alone, I would have immediately moved further from the forest, but the transfer had drained me completely. Only Tian Meng's foresight in triggering our retreat had saved us from certain death.
After allowing myself a moment to recover, I summoned my Martial Soul—the Herrscher's Eye of Truth, to chack on the status of both of tham. As I did so, two spirit rings manifested around me: the first, a yellow ring with a distinctive purple tint that represented Xiao Wu; the second, a deep purple ring with a platinum sheen that now housed Tian Meng's consciousness.
With the materialization of both rings, two figures appeared beside me. A young woman with her characteristic single scorpion braid—Xiao Wu. Beside her stood someone new—a figure with flowing blonde hair and a white hoodie, features so delicate and refined that I might have mistaken him for a woman had I not known better. This was Tian Meng's manifestation as a Conscious Spirit Ring, his appearance reflecting his evolution into the Platinum Ethereal Butterfly.
"Whoa, this is how it feels being a conscious spirit ring," Tian Meng exclaimed, examining his translucent hands with fascination. "Well, I should introduce myself once again. I am a million-year divine beast, Platinum Ethereal Butterfly. You can call me Tian Meng, and I will be in your care."
Xiao Wu bowed respectfully to her senior. "Well, I am Xiao Wu, a 100,000-year soul beast, Soft-bone Rabbit. Nice to meet you, senior. You can call me Xiao Wu."
Not to be outdone in formality, I straightened my posture despite my exhaustion. "I am Xiao Qingxue, Martial Soul, Herrscher's Eye of Truth. I will be in your care."
Tian Meng laughed, the sound like wind chimes in a summer breeze. "Haha, Sister Qingxue. No need to be polite. You are now the biggest among us—we all will be relying on you for the future."
His expression brightened as he continued, "Anyway, big sister, hope you like the skills I have selected for you. There are four skills in your second soul ring."
He proceeded to explain each one, his enthusiasm evident: "Spiritual Detection: It will boost your analyzing skills in terms of time perception, telescopic, microscopic, X-ray vision, 360-degree view, and even illusion breakthrough. Spiritual Sharing: Share what you see with your allies. Virtualization: You can select any non-living things you want to convert into imaginary objects for some amount of time according to mental strength, for example to can make them pass through any other physical object by changing it into imaginary state. And finally, Ether Spirit Ray: It's pure energy formed by spiritual energy to unleash a spiritual attack which has the capability from disturbing others' states to severing their mental strength to kill them spiritually."
Tian Meng's pride was palpable as he detailed the soul bone abilities. "And finally, soul bone skills. The head bone skill holds two abilities: Simulated Realism, which uses imaginary substance to disguise appearance, aura and essence, which can't be discovered by anyone below god level or anyone below the user's mental strength. And Spiritual Immunity: It grants immunity thrice a day, and every time the user receives a spiritual attack, they gain a little resistance to that specific spiritual attack."
He gestured to my back, where the faintest outline of ethereal wings could be seen when I channelled my energy. "And the external soul bone, Imaginary wings, provides two soul skills: Ether Boost, which provides 50% spiritual boost plus 50% spiritual regeneration and an additional 10% for every soul ring gained. And Domain of Spirit Severance: It is a domain skill which overloads multiple target persons inside a particular range with a large number of information, which makes opponents react slower or even die from brain overload."
"As expected of senior," Xiao Wu replied with shining eyes, clearly impressed by the quality and variety of skills bestowed upon me. "Every soul skill is of a different level."
As Tian Meng finished his explanation, I felt a familiar resonance within my mind—the achievement system that had guided my cultivation path since I first awakened my powers. Three notifications appeared in my spiritual perception:
[Miraculous rank achievement: Get 1,000,000-year soul ring as a soul ring || Claim: Self soul ring generating Blank Martial soul.]
[Miraculous rank achievement: Damaged Future Child of Destiny's luck || Claim: Child of Destiny (Self-Upgradation).]
[Bonus reward || Claim: Status Screen]
I was surprised that my reward was the Child of Destiny title, because previously I had gotten it from damaging Tang San's luck. But here I was directly rewarded with the Child of Destiny title. I supposed it originally belonged to Huo Yuhao, but I got it due to stealing what was destined to be his. These were only possibilities I had considered—the workings of fate were still largely mysterious even to those who manipulated them.
The Self Soul Ring Generating Blank Martial Soul reward was truly overpowered, but there remained the issue of what martial spirit to pair with it. Originally, Tian Meng would have given me a blank pure ice attribute martial soul, but due to meeting him early in his evolution, he hadn't had time to develop such a concept.
I decided not to claim this reward immediately. If I did, Tian Meng would learn about it and might request that we travel to the Extreme North to seek the Ice Empress. It wasn't about the risk—it was about wanting to keep my options open for an even stronger martial soul. I didn't want an unwanted barrier between us that might cause trust issues in the future. Better to wait and see what other opportunities the system might present.
I decided to test my new disguise soul bone skill. Activating my Spirit Rings, both manifested around me, then shifted through a spectrum of colors—dark red, black, purple, blue, green, and even rainbow patterns—before settling on a light yellow that matched the normal expectations for soul rings at my apparent cultivation level. The disguise was perfect, concealing not just the color but also the distinctive aura and energy signature that would otherwise reveal their true nature to experienced observers.
Experimentally, I focused on changing my hair color, watching as it shifted through various hues before returning to my original shade. Then I tried altering my appearance more dramatically, making myself appear more mature. As I did so, I felt my physical form changing—not just an illusion but an actual transformation. My height increased slightly, and my features subtly altered. The soul bone skill worked by converting parts of my physical body into an imaginary state, adding or subtracting elements, then returning them to reality in their new configuration—like changing ice to water, reshaping it, then refreezing it into a new form.
Finally, I examined my Status Screen, a manifestation of the achievement system that tracked my progress:
'Status'
[Name: Xiao Qingxue
Bloodline: Unknown (Unawakened)
Title: Child Of Destiny(Low)(Upgradable)
Soul Power: 30 (38) (Soul Grandmaster)
Spiritual Power: 367 (Spiritual Connection Realm)
Soul Ring Limit: 5323 years
Martial Spirit: Herrscher's Eye of Truth (2 Rings)
Skill:
1st soul ring: Freeze, Teleport
2nd soul ring: Spiritual Detection, Spiritual Sharing, Virtualization, Ether Spirit Ray
Soul Bone:
Head Soul Bone:
Ethereal Crown: Simulated Realism, Spiritual Immunity
External Soul Bone:
Bunny Tail: Nothingness, Invincible Golden Body
Imaginary Wing: Ether Boost, Domain of Spirit Severance]
My current power was substantial, but I knew I needed to plan carefully for future growth. I should wait until I reached the proper age to gain additional soul rings naturally, or find a way to increase my endurance through additional soul bones. There was one potential soul bone I could seek, but it seemed wasteful—its flying ability would become redundant once I reached the Titled Douluo level.
The most strategic move might be to visit the Extreme North with Tian Meng, perhaps finding a way to persuade the Ice Empress to sacrifice herself as Tian Meng had done. But that path held its own dangers—we would almost certainly encounter the Snow Empress as well, a being whose power far exceeded my current capabilities.