Three ultimate attributes in one body...how can this be possible?
'Ultimate attributes?' This was the first time he had heard such a thing. But from the words of the Blue Silver Grass, he had finally found the answer to the identity of the third attribute of his Martial Soul.
Death.
While it might seem obvious to someone, Xie Wuqing had neither encountered nor read of this attribute, nor in the library of Nuoding Academy or any of Grandmaster's books.
The ability to control death was only heard in legends about gods and myths.
'Wait, is that related to the attribute of Death?' He recalled how his Martial Soul would drain the corpses of those he could of life energies, or at least that is what he thought it was.
Ultimate Darkness, Ultimate Spirit and most unexpected of them all...Ultimate Death. The Blue Silver Grass spoke with disbelief in its tone.
"What do you mean by Ultimate?"
The piece of grass thought for a moment before it spoke. Among attributes, Ultimate is the king. Before Ultimate Darkness, all other dark attribute skills or even the darkness element would bend knees. It cannot be stopped or countered by anything unless the opposing force is also an Ultimate attribute.
Xie Wuqing thought back to his battle with Land Octopus and how his own darkness had thoroughly suppressed the one conjured by the spirit beast. 'So that's how it is?'
"You learn something new every day." He looked at the piece of grass. "But now that you have seen it, what do you want? And you better answer fast or else I am leaving."
A human once betrayed me, led astray by my misplaced trust in him. I betrayed my people for him, and in the end, this is now my fate. It recalled its past. I do not trust you, nor your kind. But you are also the only person I can ask for help.
"Why me?"
Because you have a backbone as well as character, I might have been a bad judge of it before, but I would never make the same mistake twice. The box containing the 100,000-year spirit bone floated towards him. Help me, and not only will I give this to you, but also lend you my strength.
"What do you want me to do?"
Make me a part of you. Before Xie Wuqing could say anything, the Blue Silver Grass continued. Plant me in your soul, and I will be yours to control, my everything yours. In return, you help me kill the man who put me through this and the spawn who took over the body of my child. Take an oath upon your martial soul that you will do this one thing for me. You will not give them easy deaths. You will make them suffer; make them feel despair and everything else I felt when I was stabbed in the back, left in this dark cave to rot.
The more it spoke, the angrier it became.
Xie Wuqing thought about what the Blue Silver Grass said, and after a while, spoke in a deep voice, "Just for killing two people, you will give up a 100,000-year-old spirit bone and yourself?"
Heaven hath no fury like a woman scorned.
The black-haired boy laughed at those words and nodded. "Alright. I am convinced." He walked over to the Blue Silver Grass and sat down. "Tell me how you want to be a part of my soul?"
You are going to agree, just like that?
"Just like that." Xie Wuqing shrugged.
The Blue Silver Grass had already conveyed to him its objectives, and truthfully, the benefits far outweighed any drawbacks. From the information that had been directly transferred to his brain, he knew the outcome, and he was now looking forward to it.
You will not ask who I want to kill?
"Countless people die every day, both weak and strong. Two more don't make a difference, don't they?" He smiled and held one of Blue Silver Grass's petals in his hand, letting it guide its spiritual energy into him. "Moreover, like every man worth their salt, I too dream of being the strongest in this world. So, why fear?"
Could spiritual power smile? Xie Wuqing did not know, but he could sense amusement, relief and happiness from Blue Silver Grass's...
"Ah Yin...my name is Ah Yin."
Xie Wuqing looked in front of him, and there, in his spiritual consciousness, stood a woman.
She stood framed in a halo of shimmering starlight, every curve of her body sculpted like a living masterpiece. Her skin gleamed pale and smooth as moonlight, flawless and inviting to the eye. Cascading down her back, her blue hair rippled like waves caught beneath a celestial tide, each strand seeming alive, glinting with hidden luminescence.
Her gown clung to her in a teasing embrace, woven of midnight silk and stardust. The fabric kissed the swell of her breasts and the delicate line of her waist before flowing open to reveal the length of her flawless legs. Bare shoulders framed a long, slender neck, the slope of her collarbone drawing the gaze downward, deeper, toward the swell of her chest that pressed against her gown like a promise.
Her lips were soft, full, tinged with the faintest blush of forbidden fruit. Her eyes held the mystery of deep oceans, their glow both tender and dangerous, as if they could unravel a man's soul with a single glance.
She was beauty incarnate, an allure both sacred and sinful — a woman not merely seen, but worshiped.
"Seen enough?" She asked as Xie Wuqing's eyes lingered on her frame, and shying away, the boy looked at her for a few more seconds before his gaze settled on her eyes.
"For now," he said and walked forward. "Are you sure you want this?"
Ah Yin rolled her eyes. "As if you are going to let me back out of it." Then, her eyes turned cold. "As long as you keep your promise, I am ready."
"Alright then." Xie Wuqing's spiritual energy surged, and so did Ah Yin's as she poured her spiritual energy into his mind.
Since both parties were doing it willingly, the process was smooth.
After an hour, Xie Wuqing's spiritual energy started to settle down, but now it was different than before. Branching from it was a spiritual mark that belonged to Ah Yin. Now, her whole existence depended on his, and so did her future.
For the sake of vengeance, she had sacrificed her freedom.
"Indeed. Heaven hath no fury like a woman scorned." Xie Wuqing muttered to himself before turning to look at the new resident who would share his mental space. "Ah Yin?"
The boy frowned as he looked at the woman before him, who had undergone a strange transformation.
Her blue hair had turned as dark as his Ultimate Darkness, and the blue dress that fit her perfectly was now pressed against her two mounds that seemed to have grown twice as large.
"Due to the influence of your Ultimate Death and Ultimate Darkness, I have undergone a mutation." Ah Yin looked at herself in the mirror she conjured with spiritual energy. "What the...!"
Suddenly, she fell to the ground and turned toward Xie Wuqing with a hateful glare.
"Just testing how much control I have over you." He just shrugged at the woman. Due to the spiritual bond they shared, he could tell she was his to play with. She had free will, just not in front of him. "Remind me to never mess with a crazy woman."
"I will." Embarrassed, Ah Yin turned her face away before sighing. "Our spiritual contract is complete, and the spirit bone now belongs to you. I would suggest leaving this area lest that man returns."
"You mean Tang Hao?" Xie Wuqing smiled and closed his eyes. The next moment he opened them, he was back in the real world, still sitting on the ground beside the physical body of Ah Yin.
Now that their minds were one, he knew what had transpired in Ah Yin's past, and he had also found a very interesting secret.
Tang San, the boy he had always considered a combat genius, was not from this world. He was actually someone who had lived another life before this, where he had gone through countless life-or-death scenarios.
Ah Yin, during her final moments, had realized this truth when she had probed her son's soul with her own. It was for this very reason that she hated Tang San, since she believed a different soul had taken over her son's body.
But for now, Xie Wuqing put everything aside and dug out the Blue Silver Emperor from the soil. Its appearance had gone through a drastic change. Its body was no longer blue but black with golden patterns across its body.
As he held it in his hand, the blue silver emperor crawled across his arm and then wrapped around his hair, settling in them like a rubber band he used to tie them up.
"I will be going into seclusion to adjust myself to this new state. And don't worry, I have withdrawn all my aura. No one will be able to tell that the thing around your hair is me."
Ah Yin spoke into his mind before she closed her eyes and started to meditate. Her physical body lost all of its aura and looked just as ordinary as any other piece of long grass one might have used to tie their hair.
Xie Wuqing understood Ah Yin's warning and hurriedly stored the spirit bone in his storage ring, ensuring no traces of him remained in the cave before leaving.
As arrogant as he could be sometimes, he did not want to be found by the Clear Sky Douluo as he 'stole' his wife.
"You are not stealing me."
"And I thought you were in seclusion."
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Author's Thoughts: Vote below.
Yes, yes, I know, a small chapter. (1700 words)
I wanted to test something and ask for your opinion. So tell me:
[1]: Should I write longer chapters
Or
[2]: Would you guys prefer shorter ones like this?