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"You didn't come to see me just to say these things, did you?" Xu Fu finally broke his silence, his voice heavy with suspicion. "If you're here to ask about the Sun Moon Continent, save your breath. I won't tell you anything. And don't think you can control me with spiritual power. After all, I'm a titled Douluo at rank ninety-eight."
"I wasn't planning on making you talk." With Tang San's divine sense, reading the memories within Xu Fu's soul wouldn't be difficult. The real challenge was that he had never attempted such a technique before, and there was a risk of turning Xu Fu into a fool in the process.
This time, Tang San's goal was to extract Xu Fu's spirit bones.
Spirit bones, though they felt solid to the touch, were actually an energy-based phenomenon. They could be absorbed by the human body and, under special circumstances, could also be extracted.
For instance, a power exceeding the hundredth rank—transcending the realm of mortals—could remove a spirit bone without harming the body.
In the original story, the protagonist underwent the ninth Sea God trial, where the Sea God's power violently stripped all the absorbed spirit bones from his body, transforming them into divine armor, becoming a part of the Sea God's divine gear.
Tang San had discovered that extracting a spirit bone wasn't particularly difficult. Mortal power could achieve it just as well. If one's blood and vitality were strong and pure, they would naturally repel the impure energy of the spirit bone. As long as the flow of spirit power within the bone was understood, one could, with precise control over spirit power, sever the connection between the bone and the body's meridians, thereby extracting the spirit bone from the body.
"Chrysanthemum Douluo, Bone Douluo, please hold his arms, legs, and head. This might hurt a bit," Tang San said to Chrysanthemum Fairy and Bone Douluo. He then turned to Xu Fu, "Bear with it for a moment."
Xu Fu's eyes filled with wariness, though beneath the severity, there was a hint of dread: This guy doesn't have some weird fetish, does he?
Though puzzled, Chrysanthemum Fairy and Bone Douluo complied with Tang San's instructions.
Ning Fengzhi asked, "Holy Son, what exactly are you planning to do?"
"His spirit bones cannot remain," Tang San replied, placing his hand on Xu Fu's right leg. He injected spirit power, searching for the connection point between the right leg bone and the leg's meridians. His five fingers trembled continuously, resonating with Xu Fu's blood flow to determine the best spot to extract the bone.
Ning Fengzhi, thinking Tang San intended to amputate Xu Fu's limbs, couldn't help but ask, "Didn't we promise that Sun Moon soldier who went to deliver the message?"
"Extracting a spirit bone doesn't necessarily require cutting off limbs." As he spoke, Tang San's right hand suddenly clenched and then pulled outward. A spirit bone, glowing with white light, slowly emerged from Xu Fu's right leg.
"Stop!" Xu Fu's face twisted in agony as excruciating pain spread throughout his body, making every cell tremble.
But at that moment, his spirit power was sealed, his spiritual power was weakened, and with Chrysanthemum Fairy and Bone Douluo holding him down, all his struggling was in vain.
When the entire right leg bone was finally in Tang San's hand, Xu Fu's convulsing body stilled slightly, and he gasped for breath.
Despite the extraction of the spirit bone, Xu Fu's strength as a ninety-eighth-ranked Douluo hadn't decreased. Only his physical fortitude had slightly diminished. The enhancement that an external spirit bone provided to the body came in two forms: First, after absorbing the bone, its power would subtly strengthen the soul master's physical attributes over time—a process measured in years. Second, absorbing the spirit bone would immediately increase physical strength.
When a spirit bone was extracted without amputating a limb, the second form of enhancement would vanish, but the first form's effects would remain.
After all, the first form gradually strengthened every cell in the body, while the second form was akin to directly equipping a "power-up gear."
The enhancement effect naturally disappears once the equipment is gone, leaving only the "weight training" effect behind.
"Incredible!" Ning Fengzhi exclaimed, momentarily revealing a glint of greed as he gazed at the 40,000-year-old right leg bone in Tang San's hand. However, his astonishment at Tang San's technique quickly overshadowed any desire. Extracting a spirit bone without severing limbs or killing someone was beyond anything they had ever imagined.
"It's not that extraordinary," Tang San replied calmly. "As long as you have extreme control over your blood vitality and spirit power, a deep understanding of the human body, and the ability to perceive the energy flow within a spirit bone through spiritual power, you can do it too." He then placed the spirit bone into a silver-threaded Hundred Treasures Pouch before turning his attention to Xu Fu's left leg.
Xu Fu had spirit bones in all six places: limbs, torso, and head. Extracting them all would take a while.
Tang San speculated that Xu Fu had reached rank ninety-eight by absorbing and refining the energy from these spirit bones, coupled with some external force that had forcibly boosted his level. However, compared to the Golden Crocodile Douluo, whom Tang San had briefly encountered, Xu Fu's aura and spirit power quality were significantly inferior.
"If my father-in-law ever finds a better spirit bone, feel free to come to me. I can safely extract your current one and replace it with the new one," Tang San said as he began the careful extraction of the spirit bone from Xu Fu's left leg.
Ning Fengzhi chuckled at the word "father-in-law" and responded, "Then I'll be counting on you, son-in-law."
An hour later, Xu Fu was utterly spent, lying limp and devoid of strength. His vacant eyes mumbled incoherently, "You demon... My emperor will never forgive you... When he conquers this continent... you will all bow... kneel at his feet... become our slaves... your descendants... will be the same..."
With that, Xu Fu passed out.
Though the pain of having his spirit bones extracted was brief and his spirit power remained intact, the agony was far more intense than childbirth combined with mosquito bites—especially for an elderly man like Xu Fu. And Tang San had inflicted this torment six times.
For Xu Fu to remain conscious until he fainted spoke to the strength of his willpower.
Ning Fengzhi silently resolved never to undergo such a "surgery" himself. The idea of being seen in such a pitiful state by his son-in-law or others was too humiliating to bear.
Among the six extracted spirit bones, the highest-grade one was the torso bone, a 60,000-year-old piece. However, the one that truly caught Tang San's attention was the head bone.
This spirit bone, resembling a black crystal, emitted a powerful spiritual wave, with an eye-like pattern at its center. Its age appeared to be around 50,000 years.
Tang San was intrigued because he couldn't identify the source of this spirit bone. It likely came from a species native to the Sun Moon Continent, one not found on the Douluo Continent.
"Dark attribute, single eye... It must be from the Evil-Eyed Tyrant," Tang San speculated as he placed the last extracted spirit bone into the silver-threaded pouch. He then instructed Chrysanthemum Fairy to look after Xu Fu before leaving with Ning Fengzhi and Bone Douluo.
(End of Chapter)