When the ten-thousand-year soul ring merged into his martial soul, Hao Yun instantly felt a surge of energy sweeping across his entire body. However, this was nothing to Hao Yun. He guided this energy and began to temper his physical body.
A shrill roar echoed in Hao Yun's mind, and before he knew it, Hao Yun was pulled into his sea of consciousness.
In his mind's eye, the silverbacked gorilla that Hao Yun had just killed was pounding its chest and roaring in anger.
Hao Yun muttered to himself, "Is this what a soul impact is?"
In his sea of consciousness, Hao Yun saw a sleeping Chaotic Demon Ape and a glowing spot. The roar of the Silverback King Kong seemed to have awakened the Chaotic Demon Ape. The Chaotic Demon Ape raised its hand and smashed the Silverback King Kong to pieces with a single blow.
In an instant, Hao Yun withdrew from his sea of consciousness. In those few short seconds, Hao Yun saw many things, such as the system's true form, which had been hiding in his sea of consciousness all along.
Chapter 51 Stealing the Soul Bone
The absorption of the spirit ring went very smoothly; in fact, Hao Yun's absorption speed was even faster than Tang San's.
As for the soul impact carried by the ten-thousand-year soul ring, it was easily neutralized by the Chaos Demon Ape, and the enormous energy attached to the soul ring was used by Hao Yong to temper his physical body.
Opening his eyes, Hao Yun's body was enveloped by the phantom of the Chaos Demon Ape, and a black halo slowly rose beneath his feet.
"Is this a Soul Ring skill?" Hao Yun raised his hand and slammed it hard on the ground in front of him.
With a loud bang, dust billowed up, and a huge handprint appeared on the ground. The handprint was five meters long, three meters wide, and more than three meters deep.
This was just a casual wave of Hao Yun's hand, without using his full strength. If he concentrated the energy into a single point, Hao Yun felt that the power could increase by about three times.
Hao Yun named this skill Tathagata Palm, since it's an energy wave shaped like a palm, so the name isn't too far off.
"This is the skill you've acquired. It's amazing."
The master gave Hao Yun a complicated look; this kid seemed to have become even more monstrous.
"Haha, it's alright."
With a slight upturn of his lips, Hao Yun discovered that he could continue to add soul rings, and the power of the Shangqing Inner Martial Arts Sutra had been unlocked a little more.
"Should I continue hunting spirit beasts?" Hao Yun rubbed his bald head, glanced at Grandmaster and Tang San, and thought, "Forget it, I should send them out first."
Before Hao Yun could speak, the master spoke first.
"Now that you've finished absorbing your spirit ring, let's leave quickly. The noise you made while fighting should have attracted quite a few spirit beasts."
As the three were about to leave under the master's guidance, Hao Yun felt a slight tremor in his heart and instinctively turned his head to look at the Silverback Vajra.
A faint light shone from the empty eye sockets of the Silverback Vajra. Hao Yun swallowed hard, wondering if he had accidentally exploded his soul bone.
"Master, please wait a moment."
Stopping the two masters, Hao Yun hurriedly ran back and forcefully tore off the hair on the head of the Silverback Vajra.
It really was a soul bone! After prying the soul bone out, Hao Yun discovered that the Silverback Vajra's brain was only the size of a fist, no wonder its IQ was so low.
Wiping the burnt-smelling brains off his hands, Hao Yun was overjoyed. He hadn't expected to be so lucky; on his first time killing a soul beast, he got a soul bone.
The master glanced at the soul bone, a hint of envy on his face. He thought to himself that this kid was really lucky to have actually gotten a soul bone. This was produced by a ten-thousand-year-old soul beast. Among all the soul bones, the head soul bone, although not the best, could still rank second.
"I advise you to find a place to fuse the soul bone as soon as possible, otherwise if others find out, they will definitely try every means to snatch the soul bone from you."
The master's expression was solemn. Every time a soul bone appeared, it would cause a bloodbath.
"Okay, then I'll merge them now."
Hao Yun sat cross-legged on the ground, placed the soul bone on his head and began to fuse it. Instantly, a cool sensation surged into his body from the top of his head. Fusing the soul bone was very easy, after all, Hao Yun had already absorbed the soul ring.
The master, who was standing guard nearby, was explaining knowledge about soul bones to Tang San.
With a whoosh, the grass nearby rustled. Master quickly shielded Tang San behind him and used the Three Cannons to block in front of him.
Three men and one woman emerged from the bushes, their eyes fixed greedily on Hao Yun.
"Old Cat, is that the kid you're talking about? Did you see him clearly? Is it really a soul bone?"
The speaker was a burly, ugly man, but the four spirit rings on his body sent a chill down the master's spine. He was a level 29 spirit master, while Xiao San was only level 12; they were no match for the four of them.
Turning his head to look at Hao Yun, who was still absorbing the soul bone and hadn't woken up yet, the master felt that he and Xiao San couldn't buy much time at all.
"Hey! You two are his buddies? If not, get the hell out of here and don't stop me from making my fortune!"
The burly man stared wide-eyed at the two men, his tone chilling.
"Boss, we can't let them go. Otherwise, if the news about the Soul Bone gets out, the four of us won't be able to protect it."
The one who spoke was the woman among the four. She stared coldly at the master and the mistress, as if they were dead.
Tang San hid behind the master and glanced at the woman. No wonder the elder said that the most poisonous heart is a woman's heart. This woman is really ruthless.
Tang San prepared his hidden weapons, feeling a little nervous. He only had sleeve darts and throwing knives on him, and he wasn't sure if he could handle these four people.
Since arriving in this other world from the Tang Sect, Tang San has never fought against a Soul Master, and he doesn't know if hidden weapons would be effective against them.
"Stop wasting time talking to them, kill them first, then kill that kid, grab the soul bone and we'll leave. We won't have to risk our lives for the rest of our lives!"
Among the group of four, another four-ring Soul Master spoke up. He was quite old, with some gray hair, and his appearance revealed him to be a snake-type beast Soul Master.
"The old man is right, let's get started!"
The one speaking was the man called Old Cat. He was the one who discovered Hao Yun had a soul bone. At the time, he was just looking for a place to relieve himself when he unexpectedly discovered that Hao Yun had taken the soul bone out of the Silverback Vajra's brain.
At first, he wanted to take it all by himself, but worried that he wouldn't be able to handle the three of them, so he called his teammates.
"Let's get started!"
The burly man, whose martial spirit was a wild boar, charged at the master with bloodshot eyes after the martial spirit possessed him.
"Three shots!"
The master immediately controlled Sanpao to use his second soul skill, and with a "poof," a plume of yellow smoke shot out from Sanpao's rear end.
Putting aside the effectiveness, the smell alone almost made the four people opposite them vomit.
"Ugh... Ugh!"
The burly man at the front tilted his head and vomited, but his charge continued unabated.
Hiding behind the master, Tang San quickly used his soul skill, sending out more than a dozen Blue Silver Grasses to bind the legs of the fastest running man.
The old cat and the woman, one with a cat spirit and the other with a bird spirit, were both agility-type spirit masters. They bypassed the yellow smoke and flanked from both sides.
The master acted decisively, directing the three cannons at the cat-spirit master and using the first spirit skill, which was an air cannon with a scent, directly knocking the cat-spirit master back.
The female soul master with the bird-like spirit took this opportunity to approach. She had three spirit rings, one white and two yellow. Her second spirit ring flashed.
The feathers on the female Soul Master's arm transformed into sharp blades, slashing directly at Grandmaster's abdomen and Tang San's head.
Seeing that there was no time to attack, the master stood in front of Tang San, preparing to block the attack with his body.
Hiding behind the master, Tang San raised his arm, and with a whoosh, two sleeve arrows flew out. The two were very close, and the female soul master had no time to dodge.
Tang San pulled the master back two steps. The woman's eyes widened, and she fell to the ground with an incredulous expression. There was a hidden arrow stuck in her forehead and throat.
The master looked at Tang San with a complicated expression. He had originally thought he would protect him, but unexpectedly he was the one being protected.
"Teacher, let's retreat while we fight."
The fact that the enemy lost one man did not weaken their fighting power; instead, it enraged them.
The boar-like Soul Master roared, and his fourth Soul Ring, the Millennium Soul Ring, flashed. His body was instantly enveloped in a layer of red light.
"Oh no! It's probably a berserk skill! You run, don't worry about me!"
The master had a sharp eye. Seeing that things were not going well, he pushed Tang San aside and told him to run away quickly.
Tang San had no intention of leaving. He couldn't possibly abandon his teacher and flee for his life. He took out a throwing knife from his spatial belt, ready to fight back, when a lazy voice came from behind him.
"Wow, it's so lively! Are they all here to steal my soul bone?"
Chapter 52 Provoking Tang San
Hao Yun, who had fused with the soul bone, was not completely immersed in it, so he noticed the group of four when they appeared.
If it weren't for the excessive energy from the soul bone, Hao Yun would have crushed them long ago. A bunch of level 30 or 40 minions, daring to covet my soul bone, they really have a death wish.
In order to wake up as soon as possible, Hao Yun dispersed this energy into his limbs and bones, saving it for future body tempering.
Getting up from the ground, Hao Yun pushed off with his feet, grabbed the wild boar spirit master's head with one hand, and pressed him to the ground.
"So you're the one who wants to steal my soul bone?"
Hao Yun's answer was the burly man's roar. His berserk skill had a drawback: after using it, all attributes would be increased by 100%, but he would lose his sanity.
Seeing that the burly man was like a wild beast, Hao Yun squeezed his fingers hard, and with a crisp crack, crushed his skull.
"What about you two? Are you trying to steal my soul bone too?"
The cat-spirit master and the snake-spirit master, who were lurking in the shadows waiting for a chance to ambush, froze instantly. They were doomed! They had messed with a tough opponent.
"No, no! It was those two who forced us to come!"
The Cat Soul Master shamelessly betrayed his teammates. Since they were all dead anyway, he figured he might as well contribute something more. At worst, he could survive and burn more paper money for them.
"Yes, it was those two scoundrels who tricked me into coming here. I don't know them at all!"
As the saying goes, "Old people are shrewd and horses are cunning." This snake-type soul master, with a strength of only level 40, has survived until now because he knows how to adapt to changing circumstances.
"Yeah?"
Dropping the corpse in his hand, Hao Yun walked slowly toward the two with a faint smile on his lips.
The snake-spirit master's heart sank. He was doomed. This person wasn't going to let him go. So, he rolled his eyes and moved behind another person.
"My lord, please spare me."
The cat-spirit master kept pleading for help. He had come to the Star Dou Great Forest this time to obtain his fourth spirit ring, and he didn't want to die so soon.
As Hao Yun drew closer, he couldn't resist any longer. His second soul ring flashed, and a whirlwind appeared beneath his feet. This soul skill increased his movement speed.
He turned around and shoved the snake-spirit master, then turned and ran. He had noticed the old man hiding behind him earlier, but he hadn't made a sound.
The old man cursed under his breath, spat out a mouthful of poisonous mist, and ran in another direction.
Hao Yun stood still, raised his hands and aimed them at the two fleeing men. Instantly, the Tathagata Palm struck them, causing them to slide forward a distance, spitting out pieces of their internal organs, and collapsing to the ground, dying unwillingly.