Chapter 224: Sea Soul World, Eight Emperor Tears! p2
***
“I won?”
“I actually won?”
“How is that possible…?”
Meanwhile, on the twelfth step, less than a few hundred meters from the blank True Spirit, the golden-bunned girl’s expression shifted from calm to shock.
A wave of disbelief washed over her.
Even Lian Xing herself couldn’t comprehend her inexplicable victory.
One of the Twelve Moons, an unobservable True Spirit…
Had been suppressed by Star Sand and the Ancient Moonlight Rabbit!!!
Lian Xing had intended a desperate gamble, but she never expected to win so easily, without even a hint of resistance.
“Is this not an illusion?”
“Could it be that I’m already dead?”
“Is this… fantasy time?”
“…”
“…”
“Lian Xing, there’s no need to doubt. You won…” the Divine Machine, residing within Mist Colt’s viral space, said, its voice slightly trembling.
Though it still couldn’t fathom what Lian Xing had encountered in that false tenth-anniversary map, it had finally understood something else.
It realized who had granted Lian Xing eligibility at the start of the Lunar Divine Festival…
And who had allowed her to ascend the staircase.
Though it had guessed, the Divine Machine couldn’t hide its shock.
Why would a True Spirit of that rank pay attention to the Lunar Divine Festival…?
And now, the miracle had been used four times.
Once for eligibility, once for Mist Colt’s evolution, once for Star Sand’s seal, and once for the Moonlight Rabbit.
Three chances remained…
As someone observed by the [Seventh Moon], could Lian Xing reach the end of the Lunar Divine Festival, touching the pinnacle of this era?
As Lian Xing basked in the spotlight at the finish line, Star Goddess and Ice Queen, still enduring their ordeal, felt a pang of dejection.
They were each the pinnacle of their respective eras. In their time, all rivals and obstacles were fleeting illusions. They had walked a lonely path to the top, surpassing all Emperors, overlooking the world.
Yet, they had been surpassed by someone from millennia later…
And the fact that this woman was the romantic partner of her great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-granddaughter’s online social media account made Ice Queen even more speechless.
Star Goddess felt similarly disheartened.
When she first awakened, Sharp Edge Seven King Mother had mentioned this woman.
Since Lian Xing’s rise to fame, many had speculated she was Star Goddess reincarnated or her illegitimate daughter, even calling her “Little Star Goddess.”
Yet, she had been defeated by her own substitute, a humiliation beyond words.
Outsiders could spread rumors, but Star Goddess knew whether she had descendants or not.
She hadn’t even been touched by her Married Pet Beast, having entered the contract solely to strengthen it.
It was this purity and innocence that had brought her this far.
Gradually…
Star Goddess reached her limit.
She stood midway up the twelfth step, unable to move, paralyzed by the True Spirit’s pressure.
Ice Queen followed close behind, sighing dejectedly.
White Abode was nearing its limit as well…
As for attacking a True Spirit?
Such a preposterous notion had never crossed her mind.
Lian Xing had done it because she wasn’t normal. Normal people wouldn’t even consider it.
It was like hearing a voice telling you to commit suicide to be reborn in the past. Would you do it?
Likely not.
And even if someone did, they’d probably find themselves in heaven, realizing they’d hallucinated.
Star Goddess and Ice Queen faced the same dilemma.
Helpless against the True Spirit’s pressure, they couldn’t bring themselves to attack it.
Thus, they could only stop here…
***
In the Ice Soul World, Sorrowful Saintess and the water elemental had remained silent since Mist Colt’s dash.
After a long while, the water elemental realized the Pet Essence within her had stopped flowing.
She gasped, exclaiming in alarm, “Attacking a True Spirit…?”
“So this woman isn’t a Beast Tamer from the Moon Soul World, but a transmigrator…”
“Transmigrator? I’m not a transmigrator! Don’t spout nonsense!!” Sorrowful Saintess, with her blue mermaid hair, retorted defensively.
But she couldn’t deny her unease.
After thirty years in this world, this was the first time she’d heard the term “transmigrator.”
The water elemental rolled her eyes.
“Do you need to announce it? Any deity could tell, but they’d just assume you’re a Saintess candidate descended upon the Sea Soul World. Only a companion Pet Beast born within you, like me, would know you came from a shattered world.”
“So what if I’m from a shattered world? Are things more exciting there? Are people more attractive?”
“Besides, aren’t you a transmigrator to the Ice Soul World now? What’s the big deal?”
“Oh, okay…” Sorrowful Saintess nodded innocently.
If any other Pet Beast spoke to her like this, she’d scold them and make them copy the Soul World Pet Beast Ethics Manual a thousand times.
But this water elemental was her recently born companion, claiming to be the mother of her first Married Pet Beast, Nether Spring Narcissus, a claim Narcissus herself had confirmed.
Thus, Sorrowful Saintess dared not disrespect her mother-in-law.
After her reprimand, the water elemental explained, “My point is, this woman is also from a shattered world outside the Moon Soul World. That’s why she could attack a True Spirit. Natives of the True Spirit World cultivate using the residual aura of True Spirits. They wouldn’t dream of attacking the source of their evolution.”
“The fact that she conceived of and acted upon such a notion proves she isn’t from the Moon Soul World!”
“But this golden-haired woman is truly absurd. Perhaps even the eight Saintesses of the Sea Soul World combined wouldn’t be a match for her. It seems even our flourishing Sea Soul World will face some challenges…”
“More importantly, the Seventh Moon of the Moon Soul World, Seven-Stringed Lyre Star, has opened its eyes after two hundred million years. We must inform the Sea Soul World immediately.”
The water elemental rambled on, but Sorrowful Saintess didn’t quite understand.
She felt her mother-in-law was acting like a brainwashed devotee of the Sea Soul World.
“Our Sea Soul World”? She was practically speaking on behalf of God…
“Our Water Soul World” would be more accurate…
Sorrowful Saintess’s teardrop eyes narrowed, glancing meaningfully at the golden-haired girl in the projected image.
This woman was strong…
And her path of Beast Taming was the complete opposite of her own.
Lian Xing treated her own experience and knowledge as absolute truth, forging the strongest Pet Beasts based on the fundamentals of Beast evolution, remaining undefeated.
Undoubtedly, she was blessed with extraordinary miracles…
Sorrowful Saintess, on the other hand, simply focused on producing offspring.
If she encountered an unbeatable enemy, her Pet Beasts would evolve on their own.
What, they wouldn’t evolve?
Then she had plenty of other Pet Beasts eager to!
She let her Pet Beasts’ instincts guide her, viewing everything else as insignificant dust, like a clear spring or gentle rain, letting nature take its course.
Suddenly, Sorrowful Saintess asked curiously, “By the way, old lady, you mentioned the Eight Emperor Tears of the Sea Soul World. The Moon Soul World has Twelve Moons. Does that mean they’re stronger than the Sea Soul World…?”
“…”
“…”
“Heh, you’ll understand eventually,” the water elemental replied with a cryptic chuckle, dodging the question.
While her mother-in-law was distracted, Sorrowful Saintess rolled her eyes like a slot machine, finally settling on a blank stare devoid of focus or irises.
Other humans could roll their eyes easily, like pressing a key on a keyboard.
But for her, selecting a blank stare from hundreds of patterns was like using the mouse wheel to switch weapons in a first-person shooter: difficult and slightly clumsy.
***
Under the countless gazes, time passed.
Several days later, the other four participants reached their limits.
They stood before the final stretch of the staircase, enduring the solidified pressure of the blank True Spirit, crawling forward at a snail’s pace.
Besides Lian Xing, Star Goddess was decisively in the lead.
Ice Queen and Tai Yin followed closely, neck and neck.
Only Nether Concubine trailed behind, seemingly resigned to her fate.
Finally, the first round concluded.
“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!!!”
Four flashes of light.
When Star Goddess and the others opened their eyes, they stood on the final platform, alongside the golden-haired girl, who sat leisurely, eating snacks and drinking.
Lian Xing, startled, straightened up, abandoning her casual posture and feigning seriousness.
Unbeknownst to her, her reclining position over the past few days had been broadcast to trillions of viewers, revealing even the delicate curves of her thighs above her knee-high stockings.
While this level of exposure was insignificant to true exhibitionists and professionals, Lian Xing’s status amplified every action.
Even the shape of her slender hand exposed beyond her sleeve was enough to make hearts race and noses bleed.
This meager fan service was enough to make many impressionable young girls swoon.
Now, even Silver Dragon, Lian Xing’s first romantic partner, felt a strange excitement. She had bathed with Lian Xing before, but it paled in comparison to this feeling.
Indeed, the title of “Strongest Beast Tamer” made even a dog feel aroused…
It evoked the image of the world’s strongest woman bowing before her, wagging her tail in submission.
The mere thought made their scalps tingle with pleasure.
Of course, fantasies were just fantasies.
They were self-aware.
Since ancient times, only Married Pet Beasts could accompany a Beast Tamer to the end of their evolutionary journey and their life.
Human relationships were merely fleeting diversions.
Back to the main topic.
As the timer ended, the other competitors materialized one after another.
Seeing this, the golden-bunned girl in white stockings adopted a serious posture, as if she held her opponents in high regard…
Yet, she hadn’t even wiped the snack crumbs from her lips.
The first round of the Lunar Divine Festival didn’t provide specific rankings.
However, the True Spirit had likely witnessed every participant’s performance.
In both progress and actions, Lian Xing’s dazzling performance was overwhelmingly first, an unprecedented, unmatched display.
Based on the first round alone, her victory seemed assured.
But…
The others hadn’t given up.
This was just the first round; three more remained.
Especially the third round, the fertility test, a nightmare for all Shining Species Beast Tamers!
If nothing unexpected happened, the currently triumphant Lian Xing would likely face an unprecedented Waterloo in the third round…
Seconds later, under everyone’s watchful eyes, the blank True Spirit blocking the entrance dissipated like a gentle breeze, vanishing without a trace.
The second round was about to begin…
Star Goddess, Nether Concubine, Ice Queen, Tai Yin, and even the dazzling Star Concubine Lian Xing held their breath, their expressions turning serious.
The second round, the Aptitude Test…
The term “aptitude” seemed similar to “talent.”
However, according to the previous rules, the Talent Test assessed their abilities as Beast Tamers, while the Aptitude Test assessed their resistance to True Spirit corruption.
Likely another True Spirit-related test?
The specific rules were unknown, not only to Lian Xing and the other Beast Tamers but even to Tai Yin, a previous participant.
After all, each Lunar Divine Festival was different.
After a tense silence of several seconds, the Lunar Divine Festival arena changed once more.
“…”
“…”
“Whoosh—”
First, the starry staircase connecting the meteorite platforms collapsed and vanished.
Then, cryptic rules materialized as lines of text, like bubbles in water, appearing in the minds of all participants and spectators.
Gradually, with the flow of invisible Pet Essence, the text became clear.
And in that instant, upon seeing these words, a strange atmosphere descended upon the Moon Soul World.
Simultaneously, the same chilling silence gripped the beings of Star Soul World, Flame Soul World, and other subordinate regions.
The world fell silent, like an empty, lifeless realm.
Trillions of beings watched, their expressions grim.
The very first sentence made Tai Yin’s pupils constrict, a chilling shiver running down her spine.
“…”
“…”
[Eyes that make the heavens weep, a single tear turns myriad worlds into a vast ocean.]
[Eight True Spirits reside in the Sea Soul World, named the Eight Emperor Tears, high and mighty, viewing all beings as insignificant dust and ants, seeking to unite all evolutionary systems under a single banner.]
[The second round of the Lunar Divine Festival, Aptitude, tests your resistance to the corruption of a True Spirit’s dimensional descent.]
[After an hour’s rest, you will be randomly transported to a subordinate Soul World of the Sea Soul World. Find a way to resist and decipher the True Spirit’s corruption, adapting to the Sea Soul World’s evolutionary system.]
[Time limit: one month. Good luck.]
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