Dreamlike Illusion Eyes

Tang San took a jar of lamp oil from the Oriental Pearl, pulled out the stopper, and hurled it toward the Illusory Dream Nether Vine.

The jar tumbled through the air, spilling lamp oil from its mouth onto the Illusory Dream Nether Vine's main trunk and branches.

A second jar, a third, a fourth...

Tang San threw six jars of lamp oil in one breath, drenching the Illusory Dream Nether Vine from top to bottom.

Then he took out a firelighter, blew it into flame, aimed, and threw it.

Boom!

Flames soared into the air.

The lamp oil ignited the instant the firelighter touched it. Flames raced along the vines, burning all the way from the ground to the mountaintop dozens of meters above.

The entire Illusory Dream Nether Vine became a gigantic pillar of fire, blazing fiercely.

The vines writhed violently in the flames like a giant snake set ablaze, thrashing wildly against the mountainside and the ground and sending sparks flying.

Tang San retreated to the entrance of the valley and watched quietly, tossing out another jar of lamp oil from time to time to intensify the blaze.

The fire burned for two full hours.

By the time the last wisp of flame went out, the Illusory Dream Nether Vine had been reduced to a pile of charcoal.

The main trunk had burned down to a charred stump less than a meter tall. Every branch had turned to ash, while the leaves and flowers had long since vanished.

Tang San walked over, drew a short sword, and hacked through what remained of the main trunk.

A purple Soul Ring slowly rose from the blackened remains.

Ripples of purple light spread outward in circles, casting a dreamlike glow over the entire fire-blackened valley.

A three-thousand-year Soul Ring.

Tang San took a deep breath, sat cross-legged beside the remains of the Illusory Dream Nether Vine, and began drawing the Soul Ring toward him.

The Soul Ring slowly descended from above and settled around Tang San.

Purple light instantly enveloped him, and a vast surge of energy poured in through the top of his head, coursing through his meridians and into every part of his body.

Tang San's body jolted.

The Illusory Dream Nether Vine's energy was like a cunning snake, winding through his meridians and darting this way and that, trying to find the weakest point and break through.

Tang San clenched his teeth and circulated the Soul Power within him, guiding the energy along a fixed path.

The Soul Ring's energy met his Soul Power in his meridians, and the two forces began a silent contest.

The Illusory Dream Nether Vine's energy carried a special hallucinatory attribute.

Tang San's consciousness began to grow slightly hazy, and the scene before him warped and twisted, as though the whole world were spinning.

The hallucinatory attribute in the Soul Ring was affecting his consciousness.

Under normal circumstances, hallucinations of this degree would have been nothing to Tang San. But he was absorbing a Soul Ring now and had to maintain absolute concentration. The slightest distraction could undo all his previous efforts, or even cause his Soul Power to backfire.

Tang San bit the tip of his tongue, and the sharp pain cleared his head somewhat.

He focused all his attention on compressing, guiding, and merging the Illusory Dream Nether Vine's energy bit by bit.

A numbing, aching pain came from his meridians.

Tang San could feel his body being transformed by the energy.

His meridians were expanding, his muscles were strengthening, and his bones were growing denser.

But the most obvious change was happening in his eyes.

Tang San felt a strange warmth in both eyes, as though liquid were flowing through his eye sockets.

The sensation was neither painful nor itchy, but unusually distinct, as though something were merging deeply with his eyes.

His eyeballs swelled slightly, and his pupils contracted and dilated uncontrollably several times.

Time passed unnoticed.

When the last trace of the Soul Ring's energy merged into Tang San's body, the purple light gradually receded, finally disappearing completely inside him.

A purple Soul Ring rose from beneath Tang San's feet and pulsed slowly.

He had successfully absorbed a three-thousand-year Second Soul Ring.

The instant Tang San opened his eyes, a flash of purple-gold light passed through them.

Tang San could feel his eyesight improving at an incredible rate.

The distant mountainside, which had previously been little more than a blur, was now exceptionally clear. He could even make out every detail of the moss in the cracks between the rocks.

In corners that had been nearly invisible in the dim light, he could now distinguish the outlines and colors of objects.

It was more than just an improvement in eyesight.

Tang San could feel his eyes gaining some more profound ability.

The sensation was hard to describe. It was as if a pair of eyes that had once seen only the surface of things had suddenly gained a deeper kind of perception.

Tang San reached up and felt his eyes. His fingertips touched normal eyelids and eyelashes; there was nothing unusual about them.

But he could feel that his eyes were different now.

Tang San took a small bronze mirror from the Oriental Pearl.

His eyes, once clearly black and white, now had a faint purple halo deep within each pupil. The halos were so thin and faint that they were impossible to notice without looking closely.

But Tang San could see them clearly. They flowed slowly, like miniature nebulae hidden in his pupils.

Tang San's pupils contracted slightly.

An External Soul Bone.

Those words instantly appeared in Tang San's mind.

External Soul Bones were the rarest and most precious kind of Soul Bone. They did not occupy any of the six standard Soul Bone slots, but attached themselves to a specific part of the body, merging deeply with the host's nervous system and Soul Power system.

An External Soul Bone was worth even more than a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone.

Because it could grow.

The abilities of an ordinary Soul Bone were fixed and could not be changed once it was absorbed. An External Soul Bone, however, grew along with its host and evolved new abilities as the host's Soul Power increased.

And the External Soul Bone Tang San had obtained was attached to his eyes.

Tang San took a deep breath and suppressed his excitement. Closing his eyes, he sank deep into his consciousness to sense the abilities this External Soul Bone had given him.

A moment later, Tang San opened his eyes.

The excitement on his face turned to pleasant surprise.

This External Soul Bone was called the "Dreamlike Illusion Eyes."

When activated, it increased his Spiritual Power by one hundred percent and greatly enhanced his spiritual perception. Everything in motion appeared to Tang San as though it had been slowed down several times over.

In addition, it gave Tang San two abilities.

The first ability was "Illusory Gaze," the Illusory Dream Nether Vine's core skill.

Once activated, Tang San's eyes would release a purple light, and any creature that met his gaze would be affected by hallucinations.

In mild cases, their vision would warp and they would lose their sense of direction. In severe cases, they would fall into an illusion and lose clarity of mind.

The strength of the hallucinations depended on the gap between Tang San's Spiritual Power and his target's. The greater the gap, the stronger the effect.

Unlike the Illusory Dream Nether Vine's pollen, Illusory Gaze did not need to travel through the air and could not be blocked by a mask or goggles. As long as their eyes met, the effect would take hold.

Moreover, Illusory Gaze could lock precisely onto a single target or spread to every target in his field of vision, depending on Tang San's will.

The skill consumed only Spiritual Power. As long as Tang San had enough, he could maintain Illusory Gaze continuously.

The second ability was what surprised Tang San most about this External Soul Bone.

Soul Ring Disguise.

Once activated, Tang San's eyes would release a special Soul Power fluctuation. This fluctuation could change the color of any one of his Soul Rings, disguising it as any color corresponding to an age no greater than the Soul Ring's true age.

The disguise lasted twelve hours, and as long as he did not actively remove it, it would not wear off during that time.

The skill's cooldown was also twelve hours, which meant he could disguise only one Soul Ring at a time.

But the reason External Soul Bones were so precious was that they could grow. Who knew what improvements it might gain after evolving in the future?

The instant Tang San saw this skill, the great stone that had weighed on his heart for so long finally fell to the ground.

His greatest concern had been that the purple color of his Second Soul Ring would be exposed in public.

But now, that problem was solved.

Soul Ring Disguise could make Tang San's purple Second Soul Ring appear yellow at any time.

Unless he actively removed the disguise, no one would be able to detect anything amiss.

Tang San let out a long breath, and his tense shoulders relaxed slightly.

Next came the Soul Skill granted by his Second Soul Ring.