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"Ah—!"
A clear, resonant cry erupted from within Gu La. In an instant, a dazzling column of golden light shot up from the crown of his head, illuminating the night sky as bright as day.
Countless golden runes flowed within the pillar of light, swirling upward like living creatures. Slowly, a fifth pitch-black soul ring took shape within the beam.
Within the pillar of light, a tall figure gradually materialized. It was a humanoid being composed entirely of pure light and blazing flames, its body shimmering with a liquid gold-like luster.
Behind it, two pairs of radiant wings unfolded one after another, each feather woven from flickering fire. The moment it fully appeared, the temperature around the observatory soared abruptly, causing the surface of the rocks to redden and melt.
"Sun Elf!?" Wu Sido exclaimed in shock. "The legendary fire-type spirit beast!"
The luminous being descended slowly, merging with Gu La's martial soul. Gu La felt an unprecedented surge of scorching energy flood through his limbs and veins.
The Sun Elf spirit soul turned gracefully, locking eyes with him for a fleeting moment before transforming into a streak of light and vanishing into his chest.
In that instant, golden flames engulfed Gu La's entire body. A complete sun god insignia appeared on his forehead, and every strand of his hair turned into flowing molten lava. The overwhelming aura caused the entire observatory to tremble.
"Fifth Soul Skill: Radiant Sun Domain!"
Gu La's voice boomed like a resounding bell, vibrating with a metallic echo. As he spread his hands, a thirty-meter-wide golden domain erupted around him.
Within the domain, countless miniature suns made of blazing white flames floated in the air. All teammates felt their soul power circulation accelerate, while enemies would suffer continuous flame burns. Combined with the Desolate Land Ability, the damage inflicted was further amplified.
But this wasn't the end. With a sharp gleam in his eyes, Gu La switched to his Celebi martial soul.
Behind him, the shadow of the Golden Ancient Tree emerged, and a green-golden halo began to coalesce. This hundred-thousand-year soul ring was unique—it contained only one ability, which Gu La had prepared well in advance: Ancient Memory, a unique soul skill combining time, illusion, and false manifestation.
Ancient Memory: Using spiritual power as a catalyst, traverse time to uncover the faint possibilities hidden in a creature's bloodline, nurturing and manifesting them into reality through illusory means.
In simpler terms, it involved digging deep into a creature's bloodline and influencing the flow of time to awaken ancestral traits, selecting the optimal outcome from countless genetic expressions.
This was not just for the evolution of his Groudon martial soul but also for the future martial souls of his five avatars. Even someone as powerful as Gu La would struggle to find spirit souls worthy of all five otherwise.
Accordingly, this hundred-thousand-year soul ring had only this single ability—a purely functional soul skill.
When paired with Gu La's god-tier Appraisal Eye, it became even more efficient at planning the future evolutionary paths for spirit souls & beasts and Pokémon alike.
Taking advantage of the waning stellar tide, Gu La decisively activated Ancient Memory and summoned two spirit souls: Earth Bear and Sun Elf spirit soul.
"Roar."
The Earth Bear, a lab-created hybrid soul beast forcibly evolved to the ninety-thousand-year level, still lacked intelligence.
Even the Sun Elf spirit soul, with less than twenty-thousand years of cultivation, was far more clever. It bowed slightly to Gu La, showing submission.
Gu La took a deep breath. The starlight energy around the observatory quivered and converged toward him, following the rotation of his soul core.
His peak Spirit Abyss Realm mental power surged forth like a tide, beginning to deplete rapidly.
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Gu La's figure seemed to stand in another dimension. Before him, countless illusions appeared. The starlight around the observatory twisted, forming myriad mirror-like fragments around him.
Each fragment reflected different ancient scenes: dragons roaring among the clouds, titans lifting mountains, angels spreading holy wings, gods overlooking the mortal realm…
The Sun Elf, having learned of Gu La's intentions through mental communication, trembled with excitement. Its flames leaped uncontrollably—even as a spirit, it couldn't escape the primal desire for evolution.
By contrast, the simple-minded Earth Bear scratched its belly with its claws, completely unaware of what was about to happen.
"Hold on tight—it's going to hurt."
Gu La warned. The accumulated starlight energy of the observatory flooded into his body and the spirits. His pupils suddenly turned a brilliant silver-white, his gaze seemingly able to pierce the most primal codes of bloodlines.
In an instant, the two spirits were pulled into the river of time.
The Sun Elf spirit soul let out a pained shriek, its form twisting between light and darkness—sometimes transforming into a phoenix reborn from flames, other times into a three-legged golden crow. The intense radiance nearly blinded everyone present.
Beads of sweat trickled down Gu La's forehead as his peak Spiritual Abyss-level mental power poured out relentlessly to stabilize Ancient Memory.
The Sun Elf's cries grew increasingly high-pitched and sacred. Three pairs of radiant wings unfolded behind it, each feather burning with pure solar fire.
Its form gradually grew taller, transforming into a three-meter-tall six-winged angel. Each wing flowed with liquid flames, and a sun god insignia identical to Gu La's appeared on its forehead. The scorching energy it emitted warped the surrounding space slightly.
Meanwhile, the Earth Bear's evolution neared completion.
Its body swelled to five meters, shedding its brown fur and replacing it with obsidian armor-like rough skin. Its claws transformed into rugged fingers, its curved spine straightened slightly, and its eyes turned a deep, dark gold. Its limbs became as muscular as mountains, surrounded by a thick gravitational field.
The bloodlines of three different soul beasts intertwined and merged, giving rise to an entirely new being—a towering half-bear, half-human figure whose every movement shook the earth.
Considering the future, Gu La excluded bloodlines like the Dark Golden Terror Claw Bear and Behemoth. Ultimately, he chose to evolve the Earth Bear into a "Titanic Bear" infused with Gravitational Titan bloodline—an amalgamation akin to an orc but possessing mixed titan heritage, capable of shaking the earth with every step.
The possibility of variation in martial souls and soul beasts elevated the value of the Ancient Memory soul skill even further. In terms of worth, it ranked just below the "Time-Space Traversal" technique.
One avatar explored broadly, while the other specialized in a single ability.
"What is THAT?!"
Wu Sido clenched her fists tightly. She could feel the terrifying presence of these two spirits—just sensing them briefly made her want to bow in reverence. Her heart felt gripped by an invisible hand, making it hard to breathe.
Gu La exhaled deeply, but immediately afterward, his soul core began operating on its own.
The accumulated starlight energy of the observatory surged into his body like a breached dam. The stars in the sky dimmed visibly, as if erased by an invisible hand.
"Gu La!" Na'er cried out in alarm. "Are you alright?"
Gu La didn't answer. His pupils had fully turned silver-white, his body enveloped in a galaxy-like shimmer of radiant points. By the time the last trace of starlight was absorbed, the eastern horizon had already begun to lighten with the first hints of dawn.
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