Soul Bone Will Only Tarnish My Tempered Body!

"I can do anything now!"

Ning Wuque threw up his hands and let out a long howl, unable to suppress the excitement, thrill, and joy on his face.

Beside him, Zhang Can, who had watched over Ning Wuque for so long, smiled as well. Happily, he reached out and rubbed Ning Wuque's head, genuinely delighted for his grandson.

Ning Wuque had endured more than two years of hardship for this day. His nearly self-destructive training methods and schedule had pained Zhang Can to witness, and every time he heard Ning Wuque collapse after pushing his body to its limit, his heart trembled.

How desperately, desperately he wished Ning Wuque did not have such lofty ambitions. It would have been enough for him to stay by Zhang Can's side and care for him in his old age.

With such a vast sect, as long as Ning Wuque could endure the loneliness, Zhang Can would certainly be able to guarantee him a lifetime of wealth and glory.

But Ning Wuque had not chosen that path. He had turned his obsession with strength into endless motivation and transformed his dream of reaching the summit into reality.

Now, he had proven it! A person's Innate Soul Power and Martial Soul meant nothing at all. Outstanding talent and rock-like perseverance could likewise carry him through countless trials and obstacles!

"Wait, Wuque, look at this!"

Only after relaxing mentally did Zhang Can suddenly notice an unusual glimmer in his field of vision.

He had been too focused. To ensure Ning Wuque's absolute safety, he had become exhausted in both body and mind. He had also needed to remain ready at any moment to interrupt the process and treat Ning Wuque if he failed to absorb the Soul Ring, leaving him completely unaware of the unusual color on that thousand-year Dark Gold Soldier Ant's corpse.

"What is it, Grandpa?"

Ning Wuque looked puzzled, then watched Zhang Can flash over to the ant corpse beside him. With a grasp, he shattered its shell and pulled out a piece of black Golden British Shorthair-patterned bone.

A Soul Bone!

Ning Wuque's eyes widened. He felt that his luck today was incredible, as though the heavens themselves pitied his talent and admired his hard work.

A thousand-year Soul Bone! A rare treasure even harder to find than a Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone. Though it was merely trash among Soul Bones, only better than a hundred-year Soul Bone, it was still a Blood River Treasure!

It was worth hundreds of thousands, even millions! Hundreds of thousands or even millions of Gold Soul Coins!!!

"A Soul Bone!"

"It's a right arm bone. Wuque, absorb it quickly! This Soul Bone will surely be of great help to you!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Zhang Can handed the Soul Bone directly to Ning Wuque. Joy overflowed across his kindly old face.

Though he had not obtained a single Soul Bone even at his age, he still gave it to Ning Wuque, his adopted grandson, without hesitation.

There was no other reason. Zhang Can knew full well that he did not have many years left to live—perhaps thirty years, perhaps even less.

Rather than waste it on himself, he might as well let Ning Wuque absorb it and help him fulfill his dream of becoming strong!

Yet, to Zhang Can's immense surprise, Ning Wuque shook his head and said firmly, "Sorry, Grandpa, I can't absorb this Soul Bone. You know I've been preparing to formally cultivate the Ninefold Yama Gates, right?"

"I know, but what does that have to do with this?"

Zhang Can was utterly confused. Of course, he knew Ning Wuque had tempered his body so fiercely in order to withstand the impact of Ring Blasting and cultivate his self-created Ninefold Yama Gates.

But he could not understand what that had to do with absorbing a Soul Bone. Still, he did not press the matter. Instead, he first put the Soul Bone into his Storage Soul Tool in case of emergencies, then gestured with his eyes for Ning Wuque to continue.

"Phew..."

After taking a deep breath, Ning Wuque sat down cross-legged on the spot and took the reason from his Storage Soul Tool.

It was a book. After handing it to Zhang Can, he said, "Grandpa, read this first, then I'll explain. It isn't that I don't want to absorb a Soul Bone—I simply can't!"

"Can't?"

Zhang Can grew even more puzzled. He too sat cross-legged in front of Ning Wuque, took the book, and immediately began reading.

There was no table of contents. From the very first page, it contained all of Ning Wuque's notes, from when he began researching the Ninefold Yama Gates up to the present.

Each page was filled with theories and hypotheses, mixed with diagrams of the human body's meridians, as well as diagrams of the altered meridians of various Beast Soul Masters after Martial Soul Possession.

Then Zhang Can saw the key passage:

Note 32: The effects of Beast Soul Masters' Martial Soul Possession on the human body.

According to relevant records and diagrams, the more powerful the Beast Soul Spirit, the greater the changes it causes to the human body after possession. Likewise, the higher a Soul Master's level, the deeper the Martial Soul Possession, causing the Soul Master's form to approach that of a beastman.

For example, among Dragon-type Martial Soul Masters, those with powerful Dragon Martial Souls can already be called "dragonmen" after reaching seven rings. Forty percent of their meridians, blood vessels, organs, and other internal bodily structures differ greatly from those of ordinary people!

Some Dragon Martial Souls, such as fire dragons and ice dragons, even create new organs within the body after possession at around seven rings!

Note 33: The effects of Soul Power impact on the body's meridians after Ring Blasting.

According to theory [Note 13], the core principle of the Ninefold Yama Gates is to use the energy provided by Ring Blasting, supplying it all to the Soul Master themself and allowing the Soul Master's body to bear the portion of energy that the Martial Soul cannot.

This requires the Soul Master to adapt to the flow of that energy and control it to form a reflux-like structure within the body, absorbing and utilizing that violent energy to the greatest extent possible!

This method also allows one to withstand the energy impact brought by Ring Blasting to the greatest degree, turning one's internal body into a circuit specifically built for that energy to flow through!

Therefore, perhaps any alteration to the body itself will cause this soul skill, the Ninefold Yama Gates, to fail completely. It may even lead to conflicts in internal energy flow and cause the body to explode!

Note: This situation will only occur when the energy level completely exceeds one's original limit—that is, when any Soul Master begins blasting their Fourth Soul Ring [Note 26]!

Note 34: The concept of human-soul unity.

To address the conditions mentioned in [Note 33] and [Note 32], it is necessary to ensure that, after possession, the Beast Soul Spirit no longer manifests upon the body's surface, leaving the body entirely human in appearance!

Thus, the concept of human-soul unity is proposed: allow the Beast Soul Spirit to undergo Deep Possession, no longer affecting the Soul Master's body itself while retaining roughly fifty to seventy percent of its original enhancement.

"Genius! Wuque, I... I nearly harmed you!"

After reading everything, Zhang Can understood why Ning Wuque could not absorb the Soul Bone without even needing an explanation.

Although Ning Wuque's original draft did not mention any effects that Soul Bones might have, could he gamble on it?

He could not! Nor could he afford to!

Absorbing a Soul Bone was easy for a Soul Master, but the price of removing one was absolutely immense! It could even result in the permanent loss of part of one's body!

For a pure body cultivator like Ning Wuque, such a blow would undoubtedly be devastating! Everything he had painstakingly built until now would be reduced to nothing!

"It's all right, Grandpa. You only meant well for me, didn't you?"

Ning Wuque shook his head, completely unconcerned about it, because Zhang Can's intentions had genuinely been to help him become better.

I used the manga's depiction for Beast Soul Spirit possession here. If I remember correctly, the animation changed it into phantom projections to save on modeling costs?