More than a thousand years?
Upon hearing Qing Mu's words, the Demon King was stunned for a moment, then said in disbelief:
"Impossible! Your soul would have been obliterated long ago!"
Nothing is impossible.
Having been trapped for over a thousand years, Qing Mu hadn't interacted with anyone for a long time, so she didn't mind chatting with the Demon King for a while longer.
In any case, given Qing Mu's current mental strength, the Demon King in this state could not pose any threat to him.
A look of reminiscence appeared in Qing Mu's eyes: "Your instantaneous thousand years can indeed slowly erode my soul, but it is also an excellent tempering for me."
"A hundred years later, the rate at which my spiritual power increased surpassed the rate at which you were annihilated. After that, my spiritual power continued to grow stronger until just now, when it exceeded your limit of enduring a thousand years in an instant. The world shattered, and I emerged."
"Hahaha, hahaha..."
Upon hearing Qingmu's explanation, the Demon King couldn't help but smile wryly: "I never expected that the predicament I prepared for you would become nourishment for your growth."
More than a thousand years is but a short time for him, perhaps it would pass in a single period of seclusion, but for Qing Mu, a human, it is the length of several lifetimes.
Looking at the Demon King, who was somewhat driven to madness, Qing Mu's eyes remained silent as she calmly asked, "Do you have any last words?"
"Perhaps I shouldn't have come to pursue you."
The Demon King gradually calmed down and looked directly at Qing Mu. "But I don't regret it, because even if I were to go back to that situation, I would still make the same choice."
Then, the body of the Demon King began to solidify, and all his remaining spiritual power was concentrated into a huge gray-white eye.
"Make your move. Let me see just how far your mental strength, honed over a thousand years, has reached."
The gray-white eyes spoke with unwavering resolve. In the next instant, a gray-white beam of light shot out from those eyes. This was a strike he had gathered with all his might; no matter the final outcome, he would die!
Facing the final blow from the Demon King, Qing Mu remained unfazed. She simply stretched out a hand and gently clenched it. In the next instant, a palm that blotted out the sky appeared out of thin air, crushing the gray-white eyeball and the gray-white beam of light into powder.
The once-mighty king of plant-type soul beasts, the Demon King, is utterly dead!
At the moment the Demon King died completely, the crystal heart finally merged completely with Qing Mu's body. Almost instantly, a burst of information appeared in Qing Mu's mind, and Qing Mu also knew the function of this external soul bone.
The first effect is called assimilation. The external soul bone will replace Qing Mu's heart, constantly surging out energy to temper Qing Mu's body. As the energy continues to wash over the body, the other soul bones within Qing Mu's body will become the same as the external soul bone in terms of attributes.
Moreover, as the attributes of Qingmu's other soul bones change, their age will also increase, eventually reaching the same level as the external soul bones.
After understanding the effect, Qing Mu stroked his chin. "Interesting. The external soul bone of the Demon King is very powerful. Although it seems to only upgrade the soul bones in my body to 500,000 years, the level of the external soul bone can be upgraded."
In other words, given enough time, I can collect a complete set of million-year or even higher-grade soul bones in Douluo Continent, and they will be the most suitable soul bones for me.
Although one can forcibly upgrade the level of a soul bone through divine power after becoming a god, it is extremely painful and there is a risk of failure if one is not careful. It is obviously not as comfortable as Qing Mu's external soul bone.
As for the second effect of this external soul bone, Qing Mu was more familiar with it, because its name was "A Moment of Ten Thousand Years".
"A Moment of Ten Thousand Years" is both a domain and a top-tier mental attack soul skill. Once cast, it can instantly freeze a person's movements.
Essentially, it attacks the opponent's spirit, causing their mind to become disconnected from their body; their mind may have lived for thousands of years, but the outside world is only a moment.
The only way to break free from this influence is to surpass Qing Mu in mental strength.
"Since you have become my soul bone, then I will call you Venusaur."
After silently reciting the mantra, Qingmu's consciousness returned to her physical body.
As soon as Qingmu opened her eyes, she saw Ivysaur's big red eyes filled with worry. Ivysaur was looking at her with some concern.
"Da na!!!"
Upon seeing Qingmu wake up, Ivysaur's initial worry instantly turned into joy, and it rushed towards Qingmu.
Qingmu was tackled to the ground, and Ivysaur excitedly rubbed against Qingmu's chest.
"Alright, alright, Ivysaur, I'm here, aren't I?"
Qingmu reached out and gently patted Ivysaur's back, softly comforting it.
Compared to the monotonous life of the past thousand years, the present definitely feels more real.
Qing Mu sighed inwardly. Although the Demon King was powerful, the space he constructed was just a forest. Although it was boundless, the scenery was no different.
Therefore, Qingmu truly sat in meditation and cultivated for over a thousand years. In many instances, Qingmu even forgot the passage of time, focusing only on the slow increase of his spiritual power.
A moment later, Ivysaur stopped. For a split second, he almost thought Qingmu was going to have an accident.
Qingmu smiled and got up. After putting down Ivysaur, she used her telekinesis to move the boulder at the door and slowly walked out.
It was early morning, and the bright sun was rising from the horizon. The orange-red sunlight shone on Qingmu and Ivysaur, giving them a unique beauty.
"This is the real world!"
Qingmu took a deep breath, looking at the orange-red light reflecting off the sky, her eyes filled with longing for the future.
Ivysaur quietly watched the beautiful scenery outside with Qing Mu, a hint of excitement shining in its eyes. It had been guarding Qing Mu for more than ten days, and now that it was over, it could see such a beautiful view, which made it feel much more relaxed.
After a long while, as the morning glow faded, Qingmu slowly withdrew his gaze, turned to Ivysaur and said, "Ivysaur, we should go!"
"Da na~"
Ivysaur nodded, and then left the place where they had stayed for more than ten days with Qingmu.
This time, however, they didn't rush down the grass slide; instead, they chose to walk slowly into the distance.
...
In a high-end restaurant in Tiandou City, a handsome middle-aged man dressed in black, who looked to be only in his thirties or forties, sat by the window, his golden eyes occasionally scanning the street below.
"I never expected to see such an interesting scene so soon after I was born."
As Di Tian listened to the undisguised conversation around him, an interesting smile appeared on his lips.