"I thought I'd never see you again."
The Avatar of the World's Will, the Golden Tree, its hoary voice echoing in the mystical space.
It is the soul of Soul Land, and every move on the continent is under its surveillance.
Indeed.
Surveillance, not control.
But, speaking of which, Qin Xiao's speed of cultivation improvement had astounded him, far exceeding his expectations.
Qin Xiao was no longer within his grasp.
"Are you afraid of me?"
Qin Xiao asked with a casual smile, detecting a hint of wariness in the Plane Will's tone.
In contrast, the Plane Will was very frank, "Your cultivation is at least equivalent to that of a First-level Divine Realm. In front of you now, I am sufficiently described as 'weak.' With your level of cultivation, to seal or eradicate me would be as simple as flicking your fingers."
He too realized that it was better to face things openly rather than hide.
As for what his own fate would be, he had seen it already.
Leave it to fate.
After all, isn't my life dictated by the heavens and not by me?
Seeing this, Qin Xiao fell silent for a long moment before suddenly laughing.
"To seal or eradicate the Plane Will and become the master of Soul Land is indeed a fine choice. But I, Qin Xiao, although not a completely honorable gentleman, do understand the concept of repaying kindness.
If it weren't for your help, my cultivation progress would not have been so rapid..."
A repayment of gratitude? The Plane Will didn't know if Qin Xiao's words were sincere or not.
But his mood had settled quite a bit because of that sentence.
With Qin Xiao's current level of cultivation, there was no need to deceive him...
"I've refined sixty percent of the abyssal plane's origin energy, and I'm giving the remaining forty percent to you."
After Qin Xiao finished speaking, he placed the remaining portion of the abyssal plane's origin energy in front of the Golden Tree.
This thing was of no use to him, but for the Will of the Douluo plane, it was a tremendous tonic. He believed it would surely raise the plane's level.
And the benefits of a plane's level increase were immense.
For example, cultivation becomes easier, the natural level of soul power will generally increase, and more tangibly, some people whose cultivation is at a bottleneck might be able to break through their limits, raising the ceiling of their cultivation level.
Beyond that, it's a matter of the quantity of the powerful.
Previously, level 99 was the limit in Soul Land, but if the plane's level increased, level 99 would no longer be the limit.
Soul Masters could become god-like beings, which is to say, they would reach the tiers of level 100 Divine officers in the Divine Realm, just one step away from true godhood.
It's worth mentioning that in the days before he left, Qin Xiao informed Ning Fengzhi, Ning Rongrong, and others about the upcoming changes, telling them to seize the opportunity.
"It seems I haven't misjudged you."
Looking at the origin energy of the abyssal plane before him, the Plane Will's voice was excited.
Which makes sense.
If a soul master gets excited over a breakthrough, how much more so for the Plane Will?
"I won't say much more. Let's not bring up past favors. And I owe you a tremendous debt of gratitude."
Hearing the grateful words of the Plane Will, Qin Xiao didn't say much.
He neither accepted nor refuted them.
Seeing Qin Xiao's silence, the Plane Will did not say more.
The next moment, Qin Xiao saw golden roots sinking into the abyssal plane's origin energy.
Immediately after, he could distinctly feel the Plane Will growing stronger.
At the same time,
the abyssal plane completely started to collapse.
Countless abyssal creatures vanished along with the plane.
Soul Land also underwent earth-shattering changes.
...
"I've actually made a breakthrough?"
In Spirit City, surprise lit up on Ning Fengzhi's face.
A powerful surge of soul power fluctuation burst forth from his body.
"Sect Master, you..." Sword Douluo's eyes were filled with shock.
"Uncle Jian, look!"
As he spoke, Ning Fengzhi extended his right hand.
A small tower emerged in his palm.
"1234..."
Sword Douluo counted layer by layer, although he had already ascertained the exact number with a single glance. He just felt that counting in this way would confirm he hadn't seen it wrong.
After a brief pause, his shock turned to delight, and he couldn't stop smiling, "Eight layers, this small tower really has eight layers!"
"Sect Master, your wish has been fulfilled. You now possess the legendary Eight Treasures Glazed Pagoda!"
"Yes, this sudden change caught me off guard. I never imagined that one day my Martial Soul would evolve..." Ning Fengzhi's voice was filled with wonder.
However, just as Sword Douluo was about to say more, his expression changed dramatically.
"Uncle Jian, what's wrong?" Ning Fengzhi noticed the change and asked with concern.
"Sect Master, it seems you're not the only one who's made a breakthrough!"
"Who else?"
A look of surprise appeared on Ning Fengzhi's face.
But the next moment he knew who it was.
"Sect Master... Sect Master..."
Amidst excited shouts, Bone Douluo rushed in hastily.
"Uncle Bone, you've broken through?"
After listening to Ning Fengzhi's question, Bone Douluo nodded vigorously, "Yes, just now, I don't know how, I had a sudden insight and naturally broke through the bottleneck that had been troubling me. Now I am a level 97 Titled Douluo."
"Heh heh, Sword Bro, now we're on the same level. How about we have a spar when we have time?"
He and Sword Douluo had been competing for half a lifetime and had never been able to best one another.
Upon hearing this, Sword Douluo's face shifted ever so slightly.
He realized Bone Douluo was clearly suggesting to use him as a test subject.