After finishing his explanation of Crimson Blood Amber to the Grand Elder, Yu Xiaogang stepped forward and carefully examined the two pieces of amber before him.
The crimson gemstones were crystal clear, as pure as flawless rubies. Not a single impurity could be seen within them.
Reaching out, Yu Xiaogang picked up both pieces.
The moment they touched his palms, his expression changed slightly.
One was warm.
The other was cold.
The difference was obvious.
It was so distinct that he almost thought he was imagining it.
"This..."
Yu Xiaogang stared at the two pieces of Crimson Blood Amber in disbelief.
According to all known records, once Crimson Blood Amber formed, the bloodline characteristics of the Soul Beast that created it would be completely purified away along with all impurities.
That was precisely why Crimson Blood Amber was considered a perfectly neutral treasure.
Its value came from its purity.
Yet the two pieces before him clearly retained traces of the original bloodline's attributes.
One carried warmth.
The other carried coldness.
Even though the difference was subtle, it was enough to overturn conventional understanding.
If traces of the original Soul Beast's power still remained after the amber had formed, then these two pieces were far from ordinary.
Yu Xiaogang raised one piece to his nose and inhaled gently.
A faint fragrance drifted into his senses.
Instantly, the blood and qi throughout his body began to stir.
The vitality within him surged as if responding to an ancient call.
His eyes widened.
"Incredible."
"The quality of these two pieces of Crimson Blood Amber is extraordinary."
His breathing became heavier.
"A hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast?"
He immediately shook his head.
"No..."
"It must be something beyond that."
"These pieces were likely formed from the blood of a Soul Beast that exceeded one hundred thousand years."
The thought sent a shock through his heart.
Carefully holding a piece in each hand, Yu Xiaogang began channeling spirit power into them.
This was the standard method used to determine the approximate age of the Soul Beast whose blood had created the amber.
Normally, regardless of age, Crimson Blood Amber looked and felt nearly identical.
Amber formed from a ten-year Soul Beast and amber formed from a hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast were difficult to distinguish through sight, touch, or smell alone.
Only by injecting spirit power could one discover the truth.
But these two pieces had already broken several established rules.
Naturally, Yu Xiaogang was eager to discover their origins.
A strange thought suddenly crossed his mind.
"Could they have come from gods?"
He chuckled at himself.
The idea sounded absurd.
After all, gods only existed in legends.
How could their blood appear here?
Shaking away the thought, he focused on the task at hand.
Spirit power flowed into the two pieces of Crimson Blood Amber.
Immediately, a remarkable phenomenon occurred.
The amber in his left hand began emitting countless orange-red particles of light.
The tiny sparks danced around it like flames.
Meanwhile, the amber in his right hand released icy-blue particles that resembled drifting snowflakes.
One looked like fire.
The other resembled ice.
Yu Xiaogang froze.
His expression turned completely bewildered.
"What is this?"
For the first time in many years, the theoretical master found himself unable to explain what he was seeing.
This wasn't how Crimson Blood Amber was supposed to work.
Normally, it functioned similarly to a soul ring.
The color of the emitted light revealed the age of the originating Soul Beast.
Ten-year Soul Beasts produced white light.
Hundred-year Soul Beasts produced yellow light.
Thousand-year Soul Beasts produced purple light.
Ten-thousand-year Soul Beasts produced black light.
And hundred-thousand-year Soul Beasts emitted blood-red light.
That was common knowledge.
Yet now...
Orange-red?
Ice blue?
What kind of age category did those colors represent?
Even if the amber truly came from some legendary divine creature, why would the colors differ?
Why were there two completely different manifestations?
Nothing about the situation made sense.
The Grand Elder quickly noticed Yu Xiaogang's unusual expression.
"What happened?"
Yu Xiaogang explained the testing process and described the strange colors.
The Grand Elder was equally confused.
After a moment of silence, he frowned.
"Could it be that you've made a mistake?"
"Perhaps this isn't Crimson Blood Amber at all."
Yu Xiaogang hesitated.
Then he carefully examined the two pieces again.
Every detail matched the descriptions recorded in ancient texts.
The appearance.
The texture.
The reaction to spirit power.
Everything confirmed their identity.
"No."
He shook his head firmly.
"It is definitely Crimson Blood Amber."
"It matches the records left by Spirit Douluo Yue Guan perfectly."
"The glow produced by spirit power is one of its unique characteristics."
"There's no doubt about its identity."
The Grand Elder rubbed his chin.
"If that's the case..."
"And if it truly violates our understanding..."
"Then perhaps our understanding itself is incomplete."
Yu Xiaogang looked up.
The Grand Elder continued thoughtfully.
"Could there be additional classifications of Soul Beasts beyond the ranks we currently recognize?"
The question hung heavily in the air.
Neither man spoke for several seconds.
Finally, the Grand Elder said:
"We recognize ten-year, hundred-year, thousand-year, ten-thousand-year, and hundred-thousand-year Soul Beasts."
"Some legends even mention million-year Soul Beasts."
"Though no one has ever confirmed their existence."
Yu Xiaogang's eyes suddenly narrowed.
A realization struck him like lightning.
He stopped listening.
His mind had already begun racing.
Because he had just discovered a massive flaw in the understanding of Soul Beasts throughout the entire Douluo Continent.
A flaw so obvious that no one had ever bothered to question it.
Everyone classified Soul Beasts according to age.
Ten years.
One hundred years.
One thousand years.
Ten thousand years.
One hundred thousand years.
Yet after reaching one hundred thousand years...
The classifications simply stopped.
Every Soul Beast beyond that threshold was grouped together under a single label:
Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.
But why?
Would a Soul Beast stop growing stronger after reaching one hundred thousand years?
Of course not.
A hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast would continue living.
Continue cultivating.
Continue becoming stronger.
Yet there were no records describing those later stages.
No classifications.
No distinctions.
Nothing.
It was as though history simply ended at the hundred-thousand-year mark.
Yu Xiaogang suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.
Before one hundred thousand years, scholars meticulously categorized Soul Beasts.
Ten-thousand-year Soul Beasts were separated into ten-thousand-year, twenty-thousand-year, thirty-thousand-year, and higher levels.
Each stage had detailed records describing their strength, characteristics, and evolution.
But after reaching one hundred thousand years...
Everything became vague.
A one-hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast and a two-hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast were treated as identical.
That made no sense.
The reason was obvious.
Almost no spirit masters could absorb a hundred-thousand-year soul ring.
As a result, few people cared about studying them.
But lack of research didn't mean the differences didn't exist.
It simply meant no one had bothered to look deeper.
Yu Xiaogang's breathing quickened.
Another terrifying possibility emerged in his mind.
Suppose a hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast had been discovered ten thousand years ago.
Suppose it survived.
What would its age be today?
Soul Beast age wasn't merely a measure of lifespan.
It was a measure of accumulated power.
Soul Beasts could increase their cultivation through hunting, devouring treasures, and absorbing the essence of heaven and earth.
A talented Soul Beast might gain tens of thousands of years of cultivation over a relatively short period.
In that case...
A hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast from ten thousand years ago might now possess one hundred and thirty thousand years of cultivation.
Or even more.
And what about older creatures?
What about Soul Beasts that had already reached one hundred thousand years long before recorded history?
Could some have reached two hundred thousand years?
Three hundred thousand years?
Four hundred thousand years?
The more Yu Xiaogang thought about it, the more frightened he became.
Such creatures had to exist.
Perhaps they no longer lived within the forests of the continent.
But the boundless oceans were another matter entirely.
There were countless unexplored regions hidden beneath the sea.
If ancient Soul Beasts still existed anywhere, they would be there.
Suddenly, an old memory surfaced.
When Yu Xiaogang had obtained his first soul ring, his father once told him a story.
A powerful expedition had entered the Star Dou Great Forest.
Their lineup was extraordinary.
One Titled Douluo.
Two Spirit Douluos.
Three Spirit Saints.
It was a force capable of challenging even a hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast.
Yet none of them returned alive.
At the time, everyone assumed they had encountered a powerful hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast.
But now...
Yu Xiaogang wasn't so sure.
Perhaps they had indeed encountered a hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast.
The real question was—
What kind of hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast had it been?
Advance Chapters avilable on patreon (Obito_uchiha)