Under the watchful eyes of a few people, the quasi-Soul Ancestor member sat down and began to absorb the soul ring. His absorption went very smoothly; after all, the Human-Faced Demon Spider's age was only a little over two thousand years.
In just over an hour, he completed the absorption. Just as he was about to stand up and inquire if Han Li's previous words still held, his body suddenly paused, and a muffled groan escaped his mouth.
In an instant, the clothes on his back were torn apart as eight purple-black spider legs quickly emerged, waving irregularly.
Indeed, the same thought flashed simultaneously in the minds of the three observers, whether they had known beforehand or had already guessed.
The next second, the Soul Ancestor, who had just finished absorbing the soul ring and was still in a daze, rolled his eyes and fainted. Another person beside him also collapsed.
"What's going on?"
Dugu Yan turned her head and glanced around, her clear yet slightly confused voice breaking the silence.
"Sister Yan, it's obvious that it's harvest time. Look, an external soul bone."
Han Li pointed to the Soul Ancestor lying on the ground and the eight spider legs still trembling behind him, smiling as he answered.
"The legendary external soul bone? Is that spider leg one of them?"
Dugu Yan finally recalled something buried in a corner of her memory: a treasure of the Soul Master world said to be on par with hundred-thousand-year soul rings and soul bones.
"Yes."
"Alright, senior, it's your turn. It's poisonous, my master and I can't touch it."
Han Li responded briefly and then turned to Dugu Bo.
"Leave it to me. I didn't expect to have a day where I'd personally handle an external soul bone. Tsk, what luck."
Dugu Bo clicked his tongue and walked over to the Soul Ancestor lying on the ground with big strides.
The next scene could be described as extremely brutal. Dugu Bo, right in front of the few people, forcibly pulled the spider legs out of the fallen soul master's body. He woke up several times from the pain, only to faint from the agony again.
By the time everything was in Dugu Bo's hands, there were hardly any good bones left in the guy's chest and back, not even enough to maintain a basic outline, with his chest cavity collapsed inward.
Dugu Bo didn't forget to reward each of the two people with a slap, soul power condensed, each slap as powerful as a person, making Han Li's Fire Bullet unnecessary.
Of course, Han Li had previously discussed directly killing and erasing the traces with Guang Ling to eliminate any hidden dangers.
Initially, Han Li had thought of sending the bodies back to the Spirit Hall after use, but according to Guang Ling, the three of them were already recorded as dead in the Spirit Hall. Since the dead do not need to reappear, they had to help make the records a reality.
After extinguishing all the surrounding flames under control, Han Li kindly dug a pit for the Man Faced Demon Spider that had made an outstanding contribution and created a grave before walking towards the camp with the others.
Sure enough, the camp was still usable.
After a simple cleanup, the group gathered around the lit bonfire.
Dugu Bo took out the soul bone and placed it in the middle of the four of them.
After being extracted, the soul bone had shrunk to the size of an arm. Under the firelight, the purple-blue soul bone still had some bloodstains on it, looking somewhat gruesome.
"So, this is the fortuitous opportunity for the young girl?"
After looking at it for a while, Guang Ling spoke up, his words indicating his attitude towards the soul bone.
Dugu Bo did not speak but turned his gaze to Han Li. Although he very much wanted to give the soul bone to his granddaughter, acquiring this soul bone was entirely due to Han Li's meticulous preparations. This was an external soul bone, and Han Li had done them a great favor; he couldn't bring himself to ask for it.
"Xiao Li, you should quickly absorb it. This is a rare external soul bone and will be very beneficial to you."
Dugu Yan turned her head towards Han Li and said seriously.
Although she knew that Han Li had "predicted" that this soul beast hunt would yield great rewards, she didn't expect such a treasure as an external soul bone to appear.
Although Han Li kept saying that the big reward would be her opportunity, to be honest, this treasure was so valuable that she felt a bit afraid and unable to accept it.
"What are you saying, Sister Yan? Of course, you should be the one to absorb this soul bone. I've said before, this is your opportunity."
Han Li raised his hand to stop her from speaking further, his forehead and eyes simultaneously revealing soul bones.
"Firstly, I don't lack this external soul bone. Secondly, I don't play with poison. Just from looking at it, you can tell it's poison-attributed. Absorbing it would be a waste. Lastly, it's just an external soul bone. My back is reserved for the Greenshadow Godly Eagle. Spider legs don't suit me."
After listening to him, the three of them found it both amusing and exasperating, with a hint of envy.
They hadn't even seen the Greenshadow Godly Eagle yet, and this kid had already planned to use its wings as his next external soul bone.
But thinking about the recent events—the immortal herbs, the evolution of martial souls, the two soul bones he already had, and the external soul bone in front of them—they fell silent, unable to find a reason to argue.
"Alright, Sister Yan, let the senior guard you while you absorb the soul bone. I'm a bit tired today and want to rest early. Tomorrow we still have to find the Greenshadow Godly Eagle and the Fire-scaled Snake."
Han Li didn't want to argue anymore, so he simply chose to go to sleep, making his final decision.
As the firelight danced, the three looked at Han Li, who had already gone to lie down and deliberately turned his back on them. They exchanged glances and couldn't help but lighten their actions.
...
Early the next morning, the sky was still somewhat dark when Han Li was awakened by hunger.
Last night, to avoid a lengthy debate, he had forced himself to sleep without dinner. Now he was feeling the consequences of missing that meal.
Getting up, he glanced at Dugu Bo, who was still keeping watch by the fire and walked over.
"Regretting it? Yan Yan has already absorbed the soul bone, and the effect is quite good."
Dugu Bo turned his head to glance at the two still sleeping behind them and took out a food box from his Hundred Treasures Pouch, handing it to Han Li.
This was the food they had specially saved for him last night, but even after Dugu Yan had finished absorbing the soul bone, the kid hadn't woken up, so they had to put it away.
Han Li took the box, and as he smelled the aroma of the food inside, he quickly opened it and began shoving food into his mouth, mumbling as he ate:
"What's there to regret? I already said that the external soul bone was meant for Sister Yan. As for you and Master, it's not like I can't get other high-year soul bones for you. If I could, I'd fill you up with them."
"Alright then, I'll be waiting for the day you fill us up," Dugu Bo said, chuckling.
After saying this, he looked at Han Li, who was eating heartily, and sighed, "That was an external soul bone, you know. Using it to trick my granddaughter feels like a bit of a waste."
Han Li paused at his words, nearly choking on the food in his mouth.
"So Sister Yan isn't as valuable as a soul bone to you?" Han Li, after taking a drink of water to recover, looked at Dugu Bo with interest.
"You brat, you really can't say anything good. Do you think I meant that? It's different if I give something to my granddaughter compared to if you do."
Dugu Bo scolded him with some exasperation, "I can see it now. You're determined to bind us two, grandfather and granddaughter, to you. I won't say anything, but now Yan Yan won't be able to escape even if she wants to. And the worst part is, we can't refuse. My old life might just be given up for you one day."
"Don't worry about that. I won't need you to risk your life for me. In no more than ten years, it'll be a question of whether you can even beat me or not," Han Li said seriously, spooning some soup into his mouth.
Dugu Bo grunted in response and fell silent, staring into the fire in a daze.
Just as Han Li finished eating and was about to get up, he heard Dugu Bo's voice again.
"When Yan Yan and you reach Wuhun City, take good care of her. Be good to her."
"Mm, don't worry about that. I never treat my people badly."
Han Li paused, waved his hand back towards Dugu Bo, and walked out of the camp.
After wandering around and taking care of personal hygiene, Han Li returned to the camp to find that Guang Ling and Dugu Yan were already awake and eating.
Not wanting to join the commotion, Han Li started practicing new skills on the side. After his elemental affinity evolved into control, he had been constantly trying to develop new skills.
Or rather, it wasn't developing but copying, trying to replicate the techniques from his memory to the extent that he could act as a mage even without using his martial soul.
But so far, the results have been less than satisfactory.
Simple actions like compression, explosion, burning, shaping, materializing, and temperature control were easy for him. But advanced techniques like elementalization, cloning, flame jumping, and ice surface transfer were entirely beyond his grasp.
Even though the elements were at his disposal, he couldn't achieve these skills. It felt as though there was a frustrating barrier between him and the elements.
Guang Ling finished his breakfast first, saw Han Li fiddling with his skills again, and walked over.
"Stop thinking about it. I've told you before, your level is still too low. Even if your spiritual power is at the Soul Sage level, it's hard to grasp these things. It's like how I can't describe the feeling of using my Martial Soul True Body to you. Once you reach that level, you'll naturally understand."
"In the cultivation of soul masters, the Soul Sage stage is the true qualitative transformation. Beyond that, you'll have to wait until you reach Super Douluo," Guang Ling shared his cultivation experience.
"Mm, I know, Master. I'm just trying it out since I'm bored," Han Li dispersed the elemental power in his hands and replied with a smile.
"Alright, go pack up your things. They are almost done eating. Soon, it will be just the two of you venturing deeper. For soul beasts under twenty thousand years, we won't intervene easily," Guang Ling patted his shoulder and then pointed at Dugu Yan, who was occasionally glancing their way. "Also, you should check out her external soul bone. The changes it has undergone in combination with her martial soul are quite interesting."
"Really? I'll go take a look," Han Li said as he walked over.
"Xiao Li."
Seeing him approach, Dugu Yan stopped eating and stood up, greeting him with a cheerful smile.
"It seems Sister Yan's in a good mood. Master mentioned that the external soul bone has mutated after combining with your martial soul. Let me have a look."
Hearing his teasing words, Dugu Yan gave him a playful eye roll and took a few steps to the side. A pair of dark red wings with purple-blue stripes and spikes appeared behind her.
"Hmm?"
With just a casual glance, Han Li noticed something unusual.
Dugu Yan was not using her martial soul possession at the moment, which meant that these weapon-like wings were the original "Eight Spider Lances."
"I can practice dual blades with you in the future," Dugu Yan said playfully, seeing Han Li's expression.
"Don't tell me, can your wings be detached and used as weapons?" Han Li naturally thought of this possibility when he heard her words.
"Not in this state, but they can be when I'm using martial soul possession," Dugu Yan replied, seeing that Han Li had guessed it correctly. She didn't waste any words and immediately completed her martial soul possession.
As soon as she entered martial soul possession, the physical wings and energy wings overlapped, and with a flash of light, they seemed to resonate. Two smaller wing blades fell into her hands.
"Amazing! Can I take a look?" Han Li's eyes lit up, eager to see how these blades compared to his martial soul.
"Sure, here you go," Dugu Yan handed over the blades without hesitation.
Han Li took the blades and examined them closely. He noticed that their feel was quite different from a martial soul. Although they had a physical form, gripping them gave a sense of energy being materialized. They were very light, and the purple-blue barbs on the outer edge were identical to real spider leg barbs, both ornate and menacing.
"Is this considered a soul bone skill?" Han Li asked casually.
"Probably. I found that this soul bone doesn't seem to have any active skills. All its abilities need to be familiarized and developed by myself. Currently, besides transforming into a weapon, I discovered that it can freely extract and store toxins. It can store the toxins from my martial soul and fire poison, and it also has some devouring capability, whether it's soul power or life force," Dugu Yan explained.
"Like this," she said, picking up the remaining blade. She walked over to a nearby tree and slashed it. The trunk first showed scorch marks and obvious black corrosion.
Then, a faint green hue traveled from the blade into Dugu Yan's body, and the tree trunk near the cut started showing signs of withering.
"Don't expose this ability in front of others. Also, it should be controllable, right? How effective is the devouring?" Han Li's expression turned slightly serious. He didn't think the ability itself was problematic, but he knew others might think differently. Moreover, they weren't strong enough yet, and such abilities could easily become a pretext for others to attack them.
"Don't worry, I can control it. If I don't transform the blades, the devouring happens through eight energy lines from the wings, which is very noticeable. Senior Guang Ling has also reminded me about it, so I won't misuse this ability," Dugu Yan assured him. "As for the devouring effect, it's average. Perhaps it's because the soul bone is still relatively young, and much of the absorbed energy dissipates naturally. For instance, from that slash just now, I only felt slightly more energized. If I didn't focus on it, I might not even notice. Maybe it will improve as I grow."
Dugu Yan answered seriously. She didn't want to become an evil soul master despised by everyone.
"Mm."
Han Li handed the wing blades back, indicating that he was done.
Dugu Yan casually took them without even looking and tossed the twin blades behind her, where they disappeared.
"Sister Yan, you could try combining martial soul possession with using the external soul bone. It would be easier to conceal that way," Han Li suggested.
"Mm, I thought the same. Then others would just think it's my soul skill, not realizing it's from a soul bone. By the way, what do you think of the name 'Flame Spirit Wing Blade'?" Dugu Yan asked.
"As long as you like it," Han Li smiled, knowing his naming skills weren't great, so he didn't interfere.
Dugu Yan tried a few more times until she managed to integrate the summoning modes of both. She happily swung her wings, transforming into the Flame Spirit Wing Blades, and performed a few low-altitude dashes before calming down.
Han Li watched her movements, feeling an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
After a while, it dawned on him. No wonder she seemed familiar—Dugu Yan now looked like a replica of Qian Renxue, albeit a low-cost version, given the differences in their martial souls and strength.
"Did I raise Dugu Yan into another Qian Renxue?" he joked to himself.