Chapter 16: The Divine Artifact: The End
Early Morning
“Howl~~”
“Rustle rustle”
Hearing the sounds outside the tent, Nian Yun, stiff from sleep, tumbled out of bed.
“Haa~~”
“Nian Yun, are you not used to sleeping in the camp tent?” Seeing the dazed look in Nian Yun’s eyes, Xie Yue was somewhat worried about his condition.
Nian Yun nodded slightly, “Yeah, couldn’t sleep. Don’t worry, it won’t affect me.”
Waving off the concern, Nian Yun headed straight toward the small stream in the forest.
“Swish swish”
“System, can the soul beasts I hunt be stored in the box for later use?”
System: “To avoid waste, soul beasts hunted by the host will be saved in the storage box at a ratio of one-tenth.”
“You sound like a shrewd merchant—'no waste,' you say. Just save what I hunt first, why argue?”
System: “The host’s twin martial souls do not belong to Douluo Continent. According to the design, the host cannot supplement soul rings for multiple martial souls simultaneously, nor will they adapt properly. Hence, only the original demon spirits brought from Teyvat can be used to complement the martial souls.”
“Then why the shrewd merchant’s one-tenth ratio? In my first run, another system fed me everything on a silver platter. Look at you, so immature.”
System: “According to your original planet’s lore, the soul beasts here must be detoxified before use. Nine out of ten must be removed.”
“Almost believed you there.”
After a brief spa for his eyelids, Nian Yun returned to camp.
“We’re still on the outskirts for now. Nian Yun, what’s your take?” Seeing Nian Yun regain some spirit, Xie Yue began asking about the plan.
“Let’s go a bit deeper and find a six-thousand-year-old soul beast first.”
“Alright.”
After packing up the tents, the three headed deeper into the forest.
“Ying—”
Hearing the cry, they simultaneously halted at a tree fork.
Xie Yue glanced back at Nian Yun, exchanged a look, then the three dispersed toward three different directions.
At a spring pool, a large swallow with glossy black feathers and starry purple spots on its wings perched nearby.
“Rustle rustle”
Sensing a cold gleam behind it, the swallow turned to see a half-moon blade flying at it. It flapped frantically and soared upward to dodge.
“Whoosh”
A fox fire shot from the forest, striking the swallow as it took off.
With a light “ying” sound, the swallow looked back angrily into the forest.
“That’s a Soul-Chasing Swallow, watch out for those purple wings,” Nian Yun quickly messaged the others upon recognizing the beast.
“Swish”
The Soul-Chasing Swallow dove toward their position.
The three swiftly retreated in three different directions.
“First soul skill, Moon Wheel Slash.”
“Second soul skill, Fox Fire Command.”
“First soul skill, Divine Archery.”
As the swallow reached the prearranged center, a moon blade, two fox fire commands, and several wind arrows flew from the bushes.
“Pfft”
The wide purple wings slammed the ground, stirring up dust and releasing a purple mist.
The three attacks vanished instantly upon entering the mist.
“Swish”
The swallow suddenly burst out of the mist, heading straight for Hu Liena. Underneath its purple wings, the mist thickened.
“Nana!”
Xie Yue anxiously chased after the swallow, while Nian Yun quickly formed a wind ball to strike at the purple mist and dust where the swallow had been.
“First soul skill, Fox Charm.”
---
Dodging continually using tree branches, Hu Liena suddenly turned at a corner, her eyes glowing purple.
Caught off guard, the swallow’s eyes turned violet, and it involuntarily stopped flapping its wings.
Successfully controlling the swallow, Hu Liena backed against a tree and dodged swiftly as the beast charged.
“Boom”
The massive figure and tree toppled together.
Following the powerful impact, the charm effect disappeared.
“Whoosh”
Nian Yun blew away the purple mist with a palm strike and flung out two moon blades.
The swallow shook its head, flapped its purple wings again, releasing mist as it rose.
Xie Yue quickly closed the distance, leaping onto the swallow’s back.
“Huff huff huff”
Spinning once, two moon blades appeared in hand.
“Second soul skill, Power of the Wind’s Thread.”
The whirlwind scattered the purple mist.
“Third soul skill, Moon Shadow Demon Break.”
“Sss—”
...
Nian Yun approached the swallow and delivered the final blow with a dagger.
“Thud”
He sat down beside it.
A purple soul ring rose from the swallow and entered Nian Yun’s consciousness.
At the same moment, in the consciousness realm, the six-thousand-year soul ring in the storage box rose and attached to Nian Yun.
Half a day later
Nian Yun slowly opened his eyes.
“Rustle rustle”
A gust stirred the surrounding trees.
System: “[Companion Soul Hunt] mission successful, rewards being issued...”
“Nian Yun, how do you feel? Are you alright?”
Seeing Nian Yun awake, Xie Yue and Hu Liena slowly approached.
“Not bad, thank you.”
“Twin martial souls are rare once in a hundred years. Though I don’t know what happens when attaching soul rings simultaneously, judging by your state, it should be fine. I didn’t expect you to know so much about soul beasts and already have a plan.”
“A good plan is useless if the executor is weak. Thanks anyway.”
“I can’t wait to fight alongside you again.”
“There will be a chance.”
After a brief recovery, the three resumed their journey in search of soul beasts.
“Tread tread”
Dusk approached.
“It’s getting late, let’s head back.” After elemental reconnaissance revealed no suitable soul beasts nearby, Nian Yun asked the others.
With their nods, the trio retraced their steps.
Night fell.
“This is bad.”
Sensing something, Nian Yun activated the wind element and dashed at full speed. Xie Yue and Hu Liena, sensing ill omen, accelerated to keep up.
“Swish”
Using the wind element, Nian Yun quickly reached the camp, only to find it in ruins.
“Nian Yun, how is it?” Xie Yue and Hu Liena arrived closely behind.
“My wind barrier kept ordinary soul beasts away, but this one was much stronger than me,” Nian Yun crouched, inspecting the scuffed marks on the wind barrier.
Xie Yue and Hu Liena approached the tents, which were torn and shredded.
---
“To break through my barrier so easily, it must be at least a ten-thousand-year soul beast. How could one be here?”
“Ah—”
A scream came. Nian Yun hurriedly looked up but was suddenly engulfed by a fast-spreading shadow mist, obscuring his vision.
“Gather wind, disperse.”
He quickly formed a wind ball and hurled it, but the mist remained unaffected.
Elsewhere,
“Nana!” Xie Yue noticed the abnormality and ran toward the sound, followed by another cry.
“Nana, Nana.”
On the edge, Nian Yun closed his eyes and slowly raised his hand toward the shadow mist.
“Shadow mist? Too bad, your soul bones are useless to me.”
“Wings of Wind, spread.”
His black wings unfurled as Nian Yun charged into the mist.
At the cry’s source, Hu Liena pressed her right hand against her left forearm, blood trickling down.
“Swish”
A purple-shaded lion with pale violet fur lunged from behind.
Hu Liena barely dodged, using all her strength to sidestep.
“Second soul skill, Fox Fire Command.”
Seizing the moment, she threw a fox fire command behind the purple shadow lion, but just as the fire command was about to hit, the lion melded back into the mist, and the fire command plunged into the ground.
The mist thickened, reducing visibility to only two steps.
“Nana, Nana.”
“Brother? Brother, brother.”
Hearing the calls, Hu Liena responded loudly, but somehow the voices faded farther away.
“Tread tread tread”
This time, Hu Liena clearly heard footsteps approaching.
The sound grew near, and she readied a fox fire to strike the lion heavily as it sidestepped.
“Swish”
As Hu Liena prepared to dodge, the running suddenly stopped, and behind her, two sharp claws swiped at her.
At that moment, Hu Liena’s eyes reflected only the terror of death.
“Swish”
“Pfft”
The confident purple shadow lion’s pounce was dodged again, and it angrily disappeared into the mist.
Having just escaped its claws, Hu Liena looked puzzled at Nian Yun’s jaw and noticed his black wings behind him.
“You…”
“You’re injured. I’ll take you out of this mist first. We can talk about the rest later.”
With Nian Yun’s words, Hu Liena quietly lay in his arms.
“Whoosh”
“Bang—bang—”
As they broke through the mist, a series of impacts echoed within it.
“Brother.”
Placed down, Hu Liena listened anxiously to the sounds coming from the shadow mist.
“Nian Yun, can your wind element pierce this mist?”
“It couldn’t a day ago, but now it can.”
Smiling at Hu Liena, Nian Yun stepped forward, riding the wind, a purple soul ring rising beneath his feet.
“Third soul skill, Wind Bow, Terminal Lament.”