The air around Di Tian crackled, the earlier fury replaced by a chilling, calculating stillness. His molten gold eyes, ancient and vast, lingered on Song Qing, assessing the depth of the hatred he'd just witnessed.
"Acceptable," the Beast God rumbled again, the word sealing Song Qing's narrative, validating his rage against Asura.
Then, with a speed that belied his immense size, Di Tian's gaze snapped back to the Three-Eyed Golden Lion.
The shift was instantaneous. The consideration vanished, replaced by absolute command.
"Auspicious One."
The lion flinched, still reeling slightly from the sheer intensity of the conversation it had just witnessed.
"You desire human form." Di Tian stated it as fact, not a question. His voice was devoid of the earlier opposition, now holding only implacable authority.
'Y-yes, Great Beast God,' the lion projected tentatively, confused by the sudden shift. 'As I explained…'
"Enough explanation," Di Tian cut it off. "You wish it. You have presented reasons. The potential benefits, however... unconventional... have been noted. The risks, acknowledged."
He paused, the silence stretching, thick with anticipation.
"Very well."
The two words landed like thunderbolts.
Bi Ji gasped softly. 'He… agreed?'
Zi Ji's purple eyes widened almost imperceptibly. 'Just like that? After Scarlet's report? This god-hating brat really swayed him?'
Scarlet King, who was still trying to subtly pop a dislocated shoulder joint back into place, froze mid-motion. His three heads shared a look of utter dumbfounded confusion.
'Wait… what?!' the collective thought screamed in his battered brain. 'He… agreed?! After roaring? After smacking me across the landscape twice?! He just… gives the okay?! What was the point of the beatdown then?! Just warming up?!' He felt profoundly bewildered.
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion, however, felt a surge of pure, unadulterated joy.
'He said yes! The Beast God permits it! I can transform! Oh, thank you, Great Beast God! Thank you!' Its mental voice bounced with excitement, forgetting its earlier fear entirely. It looked eagerly towards Song Qing. 'Song Qing! Did you hear?! He said yes!'
'I heard, little one,' Song Qing projected back calmly, though he too was mildly surprised by the swiftness of the decision after the initial fury. 'Di Tian is clearly more pragmatic than his initial rage suggested. Or perhaps… our shared enemy smoothed the path considerably.'
Di Tian ignored the ripple of reactions, his focus solely on the lion.
"You believe this form will grant you insight. Accelerate your path," the Beast God continued, his tone flat, almost challenging. "Then prove it."
He gestured with his massive head towards the open space before him.
"Transform. Now."
Another jolt went through the onlookers.
'Now?!' Bi Ji thought, alarmed. 'Here? Without preparation? The transformation is perilous!'
'Right here?' Zi Ji mused, a predatory glint in her eyes. 'This should be entertaining. Or disastrous.'
Scarlet King just gaped. 'Immediately?! Is he trying to make it fail?! What is going on?!'
The Golden Lion hesitated for only a fraction of a second, its excitement momentarily overshadowed by the daunting reality of the task. Transforming wasn't like shedding skin; it was rewriting one's very existence, a process fraught with danger, especially the first time.
But Di Tian's command allowed no refusal. And Song Qing's calm presence nearby was a source of strength.
'Okay… Okay… I can do this…' it focused its will, gathering the immense power now swirling within its thirty-thousand-year-old core. 'Human form… here I come!'
Golden light began to radiate from the lion's body, soft at first, then rapidly intensifying. Waves of pure, untamed energy pulsed outwards, distorting the air around it. The draconic pressure surged, washing over the clearing. Its form began to shimmer, to blur, the outline becoming indistinct.
It was happening.
Bi Ji watched with anxious eyes, her gentle life energy instinctively reaching out, wanting to stabilize the process.
Zi Ji watched with keen interest, analyzing the energy flows, the chaotic clash as beastly essence fought to reshape itself.
Scarlet King held his breath, hoping the little furball wouldn't just… explode.
But before the transformation could truly spiral into uncontrolled chaos, Song Qing acted.
He took a deliberate step forward, his expression focused, his eyes calm.
"Hold that energy," he instructed the lion mentally, his voice a grounding anchor amidst the swirling power.
Then, he raised his hand.
A different kind of energy bloomed around him. Not the cold, abyssal power of the Void Dragon, but something warm, vibrant, ancient.
Behind him, the spectral image of a colossal tree materialized. Its roots seemed to delve into the void, its branches reached for unseen heavens, and its leaves pulsed with an emerald light that felt like the very essence of life itself.
The Primordial Life Tree Spirit.
A soft, impossibly pure green light emanated from Song Qing's outstretched palm, flowing outwards like liquid spring sunshine.
"First Soul Skill: Verdant Embrace."
The emerald light washed over the transforming Golden Lion, enveloping it completely. It wasn't forceful; it was gentle, nurturing, pervasive. It seeped into the chaotic storm of the lion's transformation energy, not suppressing it, but… guiding it. Soothing the sharp edges, harmonizing the conflicting forces.
The effect on the surrounding spirit beasts was immediate and profound.
Scarlet King blinked, the aches from his earlier impacts seeming to lessen slightly under the gentle radiance. 'Whoa… what is this? Feels… nice? Calming?'
Zi Ji frowned, a flicker of surprise crossing her features. 'Life energy? From him? So pure… almost the antithesis of his other spirit… Interesting duality.' She felt no personal benefit, perhaps even a subtle coolness from the diametrically opposed energy, but she recognized its immense potency.
Di Tian's golden eyes narrowed further, observing the interaction with intense focus. 'Life? Pure, primordial life essence… complementing his abyssal dragon power? This human is a bundle of contradictions. Powerful contradictions.' He filed the observation away, adding it to the growing mental dossier on Song Qing.
But for Bi Ji, the reaction was visceral.
The moment the Verdant Embrace unfurled, she gasped, her emerald form shimmering brightly.
'This feeling!' Her thoughts were filled with awe and an almost overwhelming sense of connection. 'So pure! So gentle! It's like… like the breath of the world itself! The heartwood of the oldest forests! It resonates with my soul! Deeply!'
She felt the life energy washing over her own spirit, soothing ancient aches, subtly enhancing her own connection to nature. It felt incredibly, profoundly good. Comforting. Strengthening.
'He wields primordial life itself?' she marveled, her gaze fixed on Song Qing with newfound wonder and deep respect. 'Who *is* this young man?'
Song Qing ignored their reactions, his focus entirely on the lion, now fully bathed in the Verdant Embrace.
"Little one," he projected mentally, his voice calm and clear within the green light. "This energy will help stabilize your core. More importantly, it will prevent the complete dissipation of your accumulated cultivation."
He explained further, sensing the lion's confusion amidst the transformative throes. "Normally, transforming means sacrificing your years, your rank, starting anew as a human infant in terms of soul power. But the life essence I wield can bridge that gap. It will anchor your thirty-thousand years of power, converting it, preserving its essence, allowing you to retain a significant portion as human Soul Power."
His mental voice grew firm. "Focus now. Guide your energy. Don't fight the change; embrace it. Let the Verdant Embrace contain the overflow. Let your spirit reshape itself."
The lion, feeling the soothing, guiding energy, felt a surge of confidence. 'Retain my power? Not start over?! Thank you, Song Qing! Thank you!'
With renewed determination, it surrendered to the process.
The golden light pulsed violently, then began to coalesce, drawn inwards by an unseen force, guided by the emerald glow of the Verdant Embrace. The indistinct, shimmering form started to solidify, stretching upwards, elongating, taking on new contours.
First, slender legs emerged, planting themselves firmly on the ground. Then a torso, rising gracefully. Arms formed, delicate yet strong. A neck arched elegantly.
The golden fur receded like mist, replaced by smooth, flawless skin with a faint, healthy luminescence.
The light concentrated around the head, shaping features. High cheekbones appeared, a delicate nose, full lips curving into a tentative shape. Eyelids formed, closed for now.
And the hair… cascades of it tumbled down, long and flowing, the colour of the deepest midnight blue, catching the light like polished sapphire. Woven through the blue, like threads of captured twilight, were subtle streaks of vibrant rose pink, a hint of the fire and dawn within the gold.
The transformation reached its peak. The excess energy, carefully contained by the Verdant Embrace, swirled around the newly formed figure.
With a final, soft pulse of light, the process completed.
Standing where the majestic golden beast had been moments before was… a woman.
Not a girl. Not an adolescent. A woman.
She looked mature, perhaps in her late twenties or early thirties in human terms, radiating an aura of innate nobility mixed with a nascent sensuality.
Her eyes fluttered open. Large, luminous orbs the colour of the clearest light sapphire, reflecting the ambient light with breathtaking clarity.
She blinked slowly, taking in her new surroundings, her new perspective.
Her body was… breathtaking. She possessed a figure that could make goddesses weep with envy. Large, perfectly shaped breasts swelled proudly, barely contained by the swirling remnants of transformative energy that acted as a temporary, ethereal covering. Her waist was impossibly slender, cinched naturally, creating dramatic, alluring curves. Below that, her hips flared generously, round and full, promising fertility and power. Her legs were long, sculpted, ending in delicate feet that barely seemed to touch the ground.
She raised a hand, examining long, slender fingers, flexing them experimentally. A look of wonder dawned on her sapphire eyes.
'I… I did it…' Her mental voice was hushed, filled with awe. She tried speaking aloud for the first time, her voice soft, melodic, with a hint of ancient resonance. "I… am human?"
But the transformation wasn't just physical.
As her human form solidified, stimulated by the intense life energy of the Verdant Embrace, her spirit core resonated powerfully.
WHOOSH!
From her back, not wings, but a shimmering, translucent golden aura erupted. It solidified rapidly into the majestic, awe-inspiring form of a colossal Golden Dragon!
It wasn't a physical manifestation, but a pure spirit projection. Immense, regal, radiating waves of ancient draconic pressure and benevolent, auspicious power. Its eyes, identical to the sapphire of the woman's own, surveyed the clearing with divine authority.
The pressure wave washed over the onlookers.
Scarlet King flinched again, instinctively lowering his heads further. 'Golden Dragon! The true bloodline!'
Bi Ji bowed her head slightly in respect. 'The Auspicious Emperor's true spirit form… Magnificent.'
Zi Ji's eyes narrowed, but she remained unaffected by the pressure. Her own Abyssal Demon Dragon Empress spirit resonated with equal, though darker, draconic power. 'So, that's its core essence. Potent. Very potent.'
Di Tian observed the Golden Dragon spirit projection impassively. As the Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King, the ancestor of many dragon lines, he felt the connection, the power, but it didn't overwhelm him. He merely assessed its purity, its strength. 'Fully awakened… Excellent.'
The newly transformed woman looked at her own spirit projection with wonder.
Then, she felt another surge within her.
Song Qing's Verdant Embrace wasn't just stabilizing; it was actively channeling the contained energy. Her thirty-thousand years of accumulated power, equivalent in sheer force to a hundred and twenty thousand year old beast due to her auspicious nature and the herbs, surged towards a new focal point.
Her Soul Power level, previously non-existent in human terms, skyrocketed instantly.
Rank 1… Rank 5… Rank 9…
It slammed directly into the first bottleneck.
Rank 10!
The energy didn't stop. It pulsed, condensed, focused.
Guided by an instinct born of millennia of spirit beast evolution, she knew what to do. She didn't need to hunt a spirit beast. She could draw upon her own accumulated essence, her own history, to forge her Soul Rings.
She focused her will, drawing upon the fiery, protective aspects of her past self, combined with the potent energy signature of a ten-thousand-year beast.
A circle of intense black light materialized around her, settling solidly.
Her First Soul Ring! Black! Ten Thousand Years!
'First ring… black?!' Scarlet King's three jaws dropped simultaneously. 'Are you kidding me?!'
'Astonishing!' Bi Ji breathed, her eyes wide. 'Such a foundation!'
Zi Ji raised an eyebrow. 'Okay, that's impressive. Starting strong.'
Di Tian watched, silent, calculating.
The energy flow, meticulously managed by Verdant Embrace, continued unabated. The massive reservoir of power from her beast form surged again.
Rank 11… Rank 19…
Rank 20!
She focused again, drawing upon the light attribute now, the power of illumination and resilience.
WHOOM!
A second black ring snapped into place.
'Another one?!' Scarlet King whimpered mentally. 'This is insane!'
Bi Ji murmured, 'Two ten-thousand-year rings from the start… Unprecedented…'
The process repeated.
Rank 30! A third black ring, imbued with draconic might and physical enhancement.
Rank 40! A fourth black ring, focused on spiritual awareness and her auspicious blessing's subtle influence.
Four black rings. A Soul Ancestor, instantly formed, with a foundation that would make any human genius weep with envy.
'Four… black… rings…' Zi Ji's predatory amusement was fading, replaced by genuine shock. 'What kind of monster did Song Qing just create?'
Di Tian's golden eyes remained fixed, the only sign of his reaction a slight, almost imperceptible tightening of the scales around his eyes.
But the wellspring of power wasn't dry. Not even close. The equivalent of over a hundred thousand years of cultivation still churned within her, contained and channeled by Song Qing's skill.
Rank 41… Rank 49…
Rank 50! Soul King!
She focused intensely now, drawing upon a deeper layer of her power, the volatile blend of fire and light, pushing towards a higher threshold.
The fifth ring began to form. It started black, deep and resonant. But as it solidified, flickers of ominous blood-red began to appear within the blackness, swirling like embers in coal. It settled, a black ring visibly tainted, almost vibrating, with nascent crimson energy.
It hadn't fully crossed the hundred-thousand-year threshold, but it was terrifyingly close. Perhaps eighty, ninety thousand years condensed.
'Black… turning red?!' Scarlet King choked. 'Nearly a hundred thousand?! For the fifth ring?!'
'Incredible pressure…' Bi Ji whispered, feeling the power radiating from the near-crimson ring.
Zi Ji's eyes narrowed. 'So close… She almost made it a true red ring as her fifth. That foundation…'
Di Tian's gaze remained steady, but the calculating intensity deepened.
The energy surged one last time. The remaining power, the peak essence of her former self, poured into the final formation.
Rank 51… Rank 59…
Rank 60! Soul Emperor!
This time, there was no hesitation. She drew upon the core of her Golden Dragon bloodline, the purest draconic essence, the blessing of auspicious fortune itself.
The sixth ring materialized not as black, not even as black-red.
It blazed into existence as pure, unadulterated, terrifying BLOOD RED!
A genuine Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring. Settling as her sixth ring.
The pressure radiating from it was immense, dwarfing the previous five combined. The Golden Dragon spirit projection behind her seemed to roar silently, its form solidifying further, becoming almost tangible.
The flow of energy from the Verdant Embrace finally ceased. The vast reservoir was spent, perfectly converted.
The woman stood there, now a Rank 60 Soul Emperor, adorned with four black rings, one near-red ring, and one stunningly potent blood-red ring. Her Soul Power was stable, her foundation unimaginably deep.
She had transformed. And she had lost nothing. Gained, even.
Silence reigned.
Scarlet King stared, utterly speechless, his mind completely blown.
Bi Ji looked from the newly formed Soul Emperor to Song Qing, awe shining in her eyes. 'He… he did it. Preserved her entire cultivation… even enhanced it through the ring formation… This method… it changes everything.'
Zi Ji's usual cynical smirk was gone, replaced by a look of profound shock and recalculation. 'Sixth ring… red. Started at Rank 10… Four black rings before that… This isn't just nurturing. This is… creation. He didn't just help her transform; he forged her into a powerhouse instantly.' Her gaze locked onto Song Qing, seeing him now not just as an anomaly, but as a potential game-changer of cosmic proportions. 'Who *are* you, Song Qing?'
Di Tian finally moved. His colossal head lowered slightly, his golden eyes fixed on Song Qing, bypassing the newly transformed woman entirely for the moment. The calculating intensity in his gaze reached its peak.
He had witnessed the impossible. A spirit beast transformation not just successful, but resulting in immediate, overwhelming power, retaining decades of cultivation. All facilitated by this human's strange life energy.
This human who hated Asura.
This human who wielded contradictory, potent powers.
This human who held the key to potentially revolutionizing spirit beast potential itself.
Di Tian's earlier decision, born of shared animosity and calculated risk, now felt less like a gamble and more like… destiny unfolding.
His mental voice echoed, no longer questioning, but acknowledging a profound truth.
'Song Qing… Your methods… are indeed… extraordinary.'