Soul Bone Skill: Sky-Piercing Strike

Soul Bone Skill: Sky-Piercing Strike

In the world of soul masters, there was a ranking of every soul master's dreams. External Soul Bones ranked second, surpassed only by the nearly unattainable hundred-thousand-year soul rings.

Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts were equivalent to human Titled Douluo and incredibly difficult to hunt. Across the entire Douluo Continent, the number of soul masters who possessed hundred-thousand-year soul rings could be counted on one hand. Moreover, obtaining a hundred-thousand-year soul ring guaranteed a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone. That was why External Soul Bones ranked beneath hundred-thousand-year soul rings on the soul master dream ranking.

After all, under normal circumstances, without some extraordinary opportunity, even an External Soul Bone could only grow to a level comparable to a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone at its peak.

External Soul Bones were immensely helpful to soul masters. In the original story, Tang San's ability to challenge opponents above his rank in the early stages had relied not only on hidden weapons, but even more so on the Eight Spider Lances, an External Soul Bone from a Man Faced Demon Spider.

Although Man Faced Demon Spiders were known among Soul Beasts as evil slaughterers, there was still a considerable gap between their status and that of the Sky-Supporting Demon Ape, one of the top Soul Beasts. Thus, the Sky-Supporting Palm Bone before him could truly be called a priceless treasure.

This palm bone was a left palm bone. The Sky-Supporting Demon Ape's immense strength went without saying. Its most formidable means of attack lay in its two arms, each of which possessed sky-supporting power. Of the two, its left arm was even stronger than its right.

The same was true for the Titan Giant Ape. Both possessed overwhelming strength, and in both cases, the left arm surpassed the right!

Of course, some Soul Beasts had stronger right arms than left arms. The most typical example was the Darkgold Terrorclaw Bear. Its status among Soul Beasts was on the same level as the Titan Giant Ape. The Titan Giant Ape's strength lay in its raw power, while the Darkgold Terrorclaw Bear was known for its terrifying offensive force, especially the power of its right claw, which could tear through anything.

The left palm bone before Lu Yuan was the most precious part of the Sky-Supporting Demon Ape.

Absorbing a soul bone did not have age requirements like absorbing a soul ring. As long as one possessed Soul Power, even a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone could be absorbed.

Lu Yuan placed the Sky-Supporting left palm bone over his left palm and circulated his Soul Power. The entire bone transformed into a pool of liquid that shimmered with a faint glow, completely wrapping around his left hand.

Vast and domineering—those were Lu Yuan's first impressions of the Sky-Supporting Palm Bone. Under the pressure of that power, his Golden Dragon Spirit automatically underwent Martial Soul Possession and began assisting with the absorption.

There truly was no threshold for absorbing a soul bone, but that did not make it any less painful.

Lu Yuan felt as though his left hand was about to be torn apart. The Sky-Supporting Palm Bone's power was transforming his hand. Only by enduring such agony could he successfully absorb the soul bone. If he failed to withstand it, his left hand might very well be crippled.

But Lu Yuan's will was exceptionally firm. How could such mere pain possibly defeat him?

No matter how intense the agony from his left hand became, Lu Yuan's expression never changed. Without enduring the bitterest hardships, how could one rise above others?

The Soul Power within him circulated madly. While resisting the immense pain, Lu Yuan also used his Soul Power to accelerate the absorption of the Sky-Supporting Palm Bone.

Though the Sky-Supporting Palm Bone's power was strong, it was like water without a source and a tree without roots. Lu Yuan, however, continuously poured Soul Power into it. As time passed, the absorption of the soul bone gradually neared its end.

The faint glow around his left palm had long since vanished—or rather, it had fully withdrawn inward and been absorbed into his left hand. Lu Yuan could feel an overpowering force taking shape within his palm. Once it was complete, his combat strength would inevitably rise again.

Another half hour passed before Lu Yuan suddenly opened his eyes, which gleamed sharply. This soul bone absorption had brought tremendous gains. Not only had he obtained a precious External Soul Bone, but his Soul Power had also risen by one level. He was now a level fifteen soul master.

Absorbing a soul bone provided an all-around enhancement, especially when a soul master absorbed both the soul ring and soul bone of the same Soul Beast. That would grant an enormous boost.

For Lu Yuan, this improvement was most apparent in his physical constitution.

If Lu Yuan's original physical constitution had been comparable to that of an early-stage Soul Elder, then after absorbing the Sky-Supporting Palm Bone, his physique was no weaker than that of a high-stage Soul Elder. With his current physical constitution, absorbing a thousand-year soul ring as his second soul ring would be nearly effortless.

The most obvious improvement was his strength. When he had first obtained his first soul ring, without Martial Soul Possession, Lu Yuan's physical strength had been roughly two thousand jin. After training, it had increased to around two thousand three hundred jin. Now, however, his strength had nearly reached three thousand jin.

Once he underwent Martial Soul Possession, his power approached four thousand jin. That was a terrifying figure. It meant that even without using a soul skill, a single punch from him carried attack power close to that of a Soul Elder. It was truly frightening.

Letting out a soft breath, Lu Yuan rose to his feet.

"How is it?" Ferros asked.

"Very good. The fusion was a success!" Lu Yuan smiled. "This palm bone gave me one of the Sky-Supporting Demon Ape's skills, 'Sky-Piercing Strike,' a powerful offensive skill!"

"Oh?" Ferros became interested. "Let me see how powerful it is."

"Old man, then you'd better be careful!" Lu Yuan took a step forward and clenched his left hand into a fist. A faint glow flickered over it. "Sky-Piercing Strike!"

His body accelerated, turning into an afterimage as his left fist blasted toward Ferros's chest.

Ferros had not taken it seriously at first, but the instant he felt that vast gust of force, his expression changed. He immediately underwent Martial Soul Possession and raised both hands before his chest.

Boom! A powerful force erupted from Lu Yuan's left hand, sending Ferros flying backward and smashing a huge hole through the courtyard wall!

Lu Yuan was startled and hurried over. "Old man, are you all right?!"

Ferros climbed to his feet and rubbed his aching arms. "You brat, what incredible strength. The power of that Sky-Piercing Strike is almost comparable to my fourth soul skill. If your Soul Power hadn't been so low, that punch just now would have seriously injured this old man."

Lu Yuan looked embarrassed. "I didn't expect Sky-Piercing Strike to be this powerful either!"

Ferros waved his hand. "It's not your fault. This old man was the one who asked. With your current strength, soul masters below the Soul Elder rank will find it difficult to do anything to you. That way, when you go to Spirit Hall, I won't have to worry about you being bullied."

"Mm!" Lu Yuan was deeply moved, and a trace of reluctance filled his heart. In this unfamiliar Douluo Continent, the old man before him was his only family.

Brushing the dust from his clothes, Ferros looked at the human-shaped hole in the courtyard wall. "Go have fun, brat. This old man will find someone to fix the wall."

"All right, old man. I'm leaving!" Since Ferros was fine, Lu Yuan was relieved. Tang San had said last time that the spear would be forged in a week. Today was the seventh day, so he still needed to visit the blacksmith shop and see how things were going.