Douluo Continent: Twin Souls of the Underworld, Holding the Power of Life and Death

A purple, thousand-year-old soul ring floated above the swamp, radiating an eerie and alluring light.

Qian Anci sat cross-legged, the scythe of death resting horizontally on his knees, and a grayish-white aura of death swirled around him like a thin mist.

He closed his eyes and slowly released the wisp of soul power that was drawing the soul ring.

"Goodbye."

Qian Renxue's golden eyes narrowed slightly, and her slender fingers unconsciously clenched the hem of her skirt.

She tried to step forward, but was stopped by the Golden Crocodile Douluo's broad palm.

"Miss, don't be impulsive," Golden Crocodile Douluo said in a deep voice. "If you interrupt now, the young master will suffer a backlash."

Azure Phoenix Douluo stood with his hands behind his back on the rotten wood, his azure robe fluttering without wind, his gaze fixed on the purple soul ring.

His soul power had already been quietly deployed, and if things went wrong, he would forcibly stop this crazy attempt, even at the cost of damaging Qian Anci's foundation.

"The first ring in a thousand years..." he murmured, "No one has ever done it before."

The spirit ring slowly descended.

The moment it touched Qian Anci's head, the violent energy surged into his sea of ​​consciousness like a flood bursting its banks!

Qian Anci remained seated upright, showing no outward signs of distress.

But in the unseen depths of the soul, a life-or-death battle has already broken out.

The gray-white wasteland of the underworld trembled violently, and the leaden-gray clouds in the sky surged like boiling water.

The dying will of the Death Scythe Dragon Lizard transformed into a colossal phantom that blotted out the sky, with dark red soul fire throbbing wildly in its eye sockets as it lunged at the tiny figure in the center of the wasteland!

That was the last obsession of a thousand-year-old soul beast.

Resentment, anger, fear, madness...

All sorts of negative emotions coalesced into a tangible wave, attempting to completely overwhelm Qian Anci's consciousness and replace it!

"The boundaries of the soul are dissolving."

In the sea of ​​the spirit, Xia Die's voice remained gentle, yet carried a hint of solemnity.

"If you are consumed by its obsession..."

"You will no longer be An Ci, but another Death Scythe Dragon Lizard."

Qian Anci's consciousness staggered backward in the mental wasteland, each step feeling like stepping on a knife's edge.

The roar of the behemoth shook him to the point of shattering his soul, and dark red soul fire fell like raindrops, scorching every corner of his soul.

pain.

It wasn't physical pain, but a deeper, tearing sensation, as if the "self" was being ripped away from existence.

My memory is starting to fade.

He could barely remember who he was, couldn't remember that gray wasteland, couldn't remember...

"Goodbye."

A gentle voice pierced through the chaos, flowing like the waters of the River Styx.

"Remember my name."

"Remember the covenant your soul made with whom."

Qian Anci was suddenly startled.

He looked up and saw the pale purple figure in the churning gray mist.

Xia Die stood quietly atop the dragon's head, her eyes gentle yet distant, as if she had seen through life and death, but had never seen through him.

"Xia Die..."

He called out softly in the spiritual wasteland, his voice hoarse but firm.

"I am here."

She smiled slightly, raised her slender hand, and gently touched the phantom of the giant beast that was pouncing on her.

It lacked any earth-shattering power.

Only a single grayish-white petal drifted down from her fingertips.

The petal landed on the giant beast's brow, causing the dark red soul fire to tremble violently and let out a mournful and unwilling cry.

"The crossing of the underworld is never a matter of force or robbery."

The sound of the butterfly rose like a mournful song.

"Instead...returning to peace."

The petals bloom.

The grayish-white light spread like a tide, gently enveloping the beast's obsession and slowly dissolving it.

It's not about destruction, but about appeasement.

It's not about conquering, but about accepting.

The will of the Death Scythe Dragon Lizard gradually subsided in that light, transforming into the purest spiritual energy, which merged into the depths of Qian Anci's soul.

In that unseen corner, the outline of the second soul ring was slowly taking shape, gray and unadorned, intertwined with the purple soul ring like twin spider lilies.

outside world.

Qian Anci remained seated upright, his plain white robes spotless.

But his face was as pale as paper, and his forehead was covered with fine beads of sweat, as if he had just experienced a long nightmare.

"This is……"

Golden Crocodile Douluo frowned. He couldn't sense any chaotic soul power within Qian Anci's body, but he inexplicably felt a pang of fear.

It was as if some ancient being was protecting the child's soul in some way he couldn't comprehend.

The Azure Phoenix Douluo also looked solemn. His soul power perception told him that Qian Anci's vital signs were stable, but his mental fluctuations were terrifyingly intense.

"Absorption at the spiritual level..." he murmured, "Such a method is unheard of."

Qian Renxue stood quietly to the side, her golden eyes filled with complex and unfathomable emotions.

She looked at the seated figure, recalling the scythe and the confrontation with the angel when she awakened, and wondered what she was thinking.

She pursed her lips, but ultimately remained silent.

But the hem of her skirt was clenched so tightly that her knuckles had turned slightly white.

Finally, the scythe, which was placed across his knee, moved automatically without wind, emitting a low hum.

Qian Anci slowly opened her eyes.

A faint purple glint flashed in his eyes the moment they opened, before returning to their original pitch black, deep and unfathomable.

The purple millennium soul ring was now quietly floating behind him, pulsating slowly with his breath.

Inside that spirit ring, a deeper, pale purple halo could be faintly seen; that was the spirit ring that the second spirit had condensed on its own.

Though inconspicuous, it exudes an aura of the underworld that makes even the soul tremble.

However, the pale purple halo was obscured by the death aura, and to onlookers, it was merely a refraction of the soul ring's light.

"It's a success..."

Azure Phoenix Douluo murmured to himself, his eyes filled with shock.

Qian Anci slowly stood up.

He raised his right hand, and the scythe of death condensed in his palm.

Unlike before, this time, in addition to the grayish-white death aura, there was also a dark red pattern on the scythe.

That was the Death Scythe Dragon Lizard's last killing intent, which was completely tamed by the Netherworld's origin and transformed into part of the blade.

"First Soul Skill—"

He spoke softly, his voice hoarse, yet carrying a calmness born of having experienced life and death.

"The Guide to the Underworld"

The scythe sliced ​​through the void.

There was no earth-shattering display, only a thin line of gray and white mixed with dark red, silently slashing towards a night crow that was about to take flight not far away.

The night raven didn't even have time to let out a mournful cry before it froze in mid-air the instant it touched the thin line.

The deathly aura receded like the tide, leaving the night raven's body intact and its feathers still glossy.

But those eyes had lost all life, turning into two gray-white stone beads.

And deep within those empty eye sockets, a faint, dark red light could be seen, flickering like embers—the last struggle of a forcibly drawn-out remnant soul before the gates of the underworld.

"Guiding beings to the afterlife, all things return to stillness."

Qian Anci withdrew his martial spirit, a slight smile playing on his lips.

"Beneath this blade, there is neither life nor death, only... the path home."

Qian Renxue stared blankly at the suspended dead crow, her golden eyes swirling with complex emotions.

This younger brother, it seems, embarked on a completely different path from her from the moment he awakened.

A road that is more lonely, more dangerous, and also more...heart-pounding.

"Congratulations, young master."

The Azure Phoenix Douluo stepped forward and gave him a deep look. "In all my years, this is the first time I've seen someone use a thousand-year-old soul ring as a starting point. With such ambition, you are destined for greatness."

Golden Crocodile Douluo grinned and patted Qian Anci's shoulder heavily:

"Good lad, you've got guts! My first spirit ring only lasted a hundred years, but you've been here for a thousand. Your future is going to be much more exciting than ours!"

Qian Anci bowed respectfully, but his gaze unconsciously drifted into the depths of the Star Dou Great Forest.

Within that core forbidden zone shrouded in mist, something ancient seemed to have blinked gently just a moment ago.

The core area of ​​the Starry Sky Forest, the Lake of Life.

The lake's surface was like a mirror, reflecting the sky.

Deep in the lake, a silver figure slowly opened its eyes.

Her eyes were pure silver, as if they contained countless stars, or as if they had seen through the ages.

"strangeness……"

The cool, clear voice echoed at the bottom of the lake, carrying a hint of barely perceptible doubt.

"That brief moment just now..."

"It seems to have the aura of 'that world'..."

She slightly raised her head, her long silver hair gently swaying in the lake water, her gaze seemingly piercing through layers of space, landing in a certain direction on the outskirts of the forest.

But there was nothing there except the auras of the two Super Douluo.

"Is it just my imagination...?"

The turmoil in his silver eyes gradually subsided.

She closed her eyes again, and the lakebed returned to silence.

Just before falling asleep, a faint thought quietly traveled to a certain place in the forest.

"Emperor Tian".

"Your subordinate is here." A deep voice responded from the darkness.

"Let's go take a look around the outside."

"If anything is amiss..."

"Bring it back."

"……yes."