Reminiscence

Ever since Xu Mingxi had suffered the Leader's betrayal, he had begun wandering alone through the Star Dou Great Forest, wary of everyone around him.

As he spoke of his past experiences, he took a Box straight out of his Storage Soul Tool Ring and handed it to the First Elder.

The First Elder took it and opened it, then froze on the spot. Inside lay a Soul Bone. Judging by its quality, it should have been a left leg bone of around thirty thousand years.

"Mingxi, this... where exactly did this come from?"

A thirty-thousand-year Soul Bone was an absolute rarity even in the Star Crown Sect. With Xu Mingxi's strength, he should not have been able to hunt one down alone.

Xu Mingxi looked at the glowing Thirty Thousand Year Soul Bone inside the Box and sank into his memories.

All he remembered was that it had been a clear day, one where the beautiful night sky could be admired, along with the brilliant stars twinkling one by one.

At the time, he had been sitting cross-legged in the center of the lair of a thousand-year Purple Moon Bear soul beast, meditating in bitter cultivation.

But a sudden earthshaking crash interrupted his cultivation state. Xu Mingxi walked out of the cave, tapped his toes lightly, and leaped onto a nearby treetop.

As far as his eyes could see, trees kept toppling. A soul beast shaped like an ape roared as it sprang up, clasped both fists together, and smashed them straight down.

On the ground stood a figure carrying a giant hammer. His left foot stomped down heavily, shattering the earth, and his body shot into the air. The giant hammer swung with the momentum, and when the two collided, a massive boom erupted.

"That Giant Strength Ape should be around thirty thousand years old. That hammer... should be the Clear Sky Hammer."

As Xu Mingxi muttered, he quickly hid in the nearby woods. He saw that in the clash between the Giant Strength Ape and that man from the Clear Sky Sect, the ape had gained the upper hand, but instead of pressing the advantage, it fled for its life—in exactly his direction.

Sure enough, Xu Mingxi, hiding behind the grass, saw the Black-Robed Man leap into the air and chase straight after the Giant Strength Ape. Behind him were several figures likewise holding Clear Sky Hammers.

The Giant Strength Ape seemed to have already been injured, and it was soon caught. The leader smashed down with his hammer, stopping it directly, and the final Sixth Soul Ring on his body lit up. The Clear Sky Hammer gave off wisps of black, eerie light.

He gripped the Clear Sky Hammer with both hands, raised it high, and smashed it down fiercely at the Giant Strength Ape, forcing it to a halt as he waited for the others to arrive. The Giant Strength Ape fell in endless despair and turned into a Black Soul Ring.

The Clear Sky Sect Leader sat cross-legged on the ground and guided the Soul Ring over. Just as he had finished absorbing the Soul Ring, a roar rang out. A Giant Strength Ape descended from the sky, a huge scar across its chest, its body even larger than the previous one.

"An Eighty Thousand Year Giant Strength Ape! Run!"

At the Clear Sky Sect Chief's command, the others hesitated slightly, but still decided to retreat. Unexpectedly, at that moment, the Sharp-Tailed Swift Soul Master who had been flying in the sky observing the surroundings cried out in alarm.

"That Giant Strength Ape has a Soul Bone inside its body! We haven't had time to take it yet!"

The Clear Sky Sect Leader whipped his head around. On the left leg of the Thirty Thousand Year Giant Strength Ape on the ground, the glow of a Soul Bone was indeed faintly visible.

His head began to ache. While absorbing a Soul Ring, they would not touch the soul beast's corpse, so as not to disturb the person absorbing the Soul Ring.

He had not expected an Eighty Thousand Year Giant Strength Ape to appear at the very end, and that the thirty-thousand-year one would actually drop a Soul Bone.

Now there were only two paths before the Clear Sky Sect: either fight the Eighty Thousand Year Giant Strength Ape, or lose this Soul Bone forever.

After thinking it over again and again, the Clear Sky Sect Chief still decided to act. A Giant Strength Ape's Soul Bone was definitely one of the most suitable Soul Bones for a Clear Sky Hammer Soul Master, and besides, they only needed to hold the Giant Strength Ape back temporarily and let White Ibis retrieve the Soul Bone.

Once the Chief gave the order, the others from the Clear Sky Sect naturally did not object. Retrieving the Soul Bone would be a great achievement for the Clear Sky Sect, and their status within the sect and the resources they could obtain would rise tremendously.

The Seventh Soul Ring the leader had just obtained lit up directly, and he led all the Battle Soul Masters forward.

The Giant Strength Ape sensed its son's aura within that pitch-black Soul Ring on the other side, and a tear could not help rolling from the corner of its eye. Its eyes turned bloodred, streaks of blood appeared all over its body, and it pounced straight at the crowd.

White Ibis seized the chance. His second and third Soul Rings lit up at the same time—Flight, Treading Swallow. His figure swept beneath the Giant Strength Ape's arm, and before it could react, he landed in front of the Thirty Thousand Year Giant Strength Ape's corpse and chopped down with the sharp blade in his hand.

"Captain, hold on a little longer! I can't cut through it!"

The Sharp-Tailed Swift Martial Soul was extremely fast, but it had little offensive ability. Although the weapon in White Ibis's hand was sharp, before the thick hide of a Thirty Thousand Year Giant Strength Ape, it still seemed rather powerless.

By the time he dug out the Soul Bone, the Clear Sky Sect Leader had already been beaten until he was coughing blood. White Ibis grabbed the Soul Bone and wanted to retreat. The Eighty Thousand Year Giant Strength Ape wanted to stop him, but the Battle Soul Masters desperately held it back.

No one noticed that along White Ibis's retreat route, someone was hiding in that stretch of woods.

Xu Mingxi, hidden in the bushes, had not expected it either. He looked at White Ibis drawing closer and closer to him, hardened his heart, and condensed starlight in his hand. At the moment White Ibis thought he had safely retreated and showed a smile, brilliant starlight flashed and directly shattered his head.

"Thief, how dare you!"

"You've got a death wish!"

The Clear Sky Sect members watched Xu Mingxi kill White Ibis and take the Soul Bone from him, and they immediately wanted to give chase. Unfortunately, they were blocked by the Giant Strength Ape that had fallen into madness, and could only watch helplessly as he left.

By the time they repelled the Giant Strength Ape, Xu Mingxi had long since disappeared without a trace. They could only search everywhere and, in the end, rely on their rough memories to draw what Xu Mingxi had looked like at the time, putting out a warrant for him across the continent.

"That's more or less what happened. Don't look at me like that. I really didn't go out of my way to provoke the Clear Sky Sect. Who knew that Sharp-Tailed Swift Soul Master would just happen to fly right into my face?"

Feeling the strange gazes of his three family members on him, Xu Mingxi gave a very fake rebuttal.

So what if they were from the Clear Sky Sect? He had killed him, so he had killed him. He had snatched the Soul Bone, so he had snatched it. Could they even find him?

Xu Mingxi was not afraid in the slightest. Moreover, the Clear Sky Sect would never make a huge fuss over someone from an affiliated family. What they wanted was nothing more than this Soul Bone. Did they really dare leak news of the Soul Bone?

Even blood river treasures could move people's hearts. When that time came, which side this Soul Bone would ultimately belong to would be anyone's guess.

The First Elder also told Xu Mingxi about some of the things that had happened in the sect over the past three years. The greatest change was that after Xu Mingxi's father absorbed the Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone, he was now already a rank eighty-two Soul Douluo.

As for the things he had obtained back then in Awakening Cloud Ravine, the Soul Tool had been handed over to some people in the sect who researched that field. They studied it for a long time but found nothing. They did not dare use it either, fearing it might damage the minds of the sect disciples.

In the end, they could only violently break open the Soul Tool and take out the Soul Bone inside. After the Sect Master identified it, it was most likely a left leg bone of around seventy thousand years, and one of the spiritual attribute at that.

After the Sect Master and the various elders discussed it, they gave it to Xu Mingguang. His Fifth Soul Skill, Star Radiance Bewitchment, had come from a twelve-thousand-year Bewitching Butterfly, so this Soul Bone suited him perfectly.