Soul Bone and Returning Home

When Zhang Lexuan saw that Zhou Huan had successfully absorbed the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring, the weight on her heart finally lifted. "You're welcome. After all, I took payment, so I should do the work."

Sure enough, my gentle, kind, sweet-talking Senior Disciple Sister seemed to be gone for good.

Was it because the Extreme North was too cold?

"Cough, cough." Zhou Huan coughed lightly, deciding not to continue that topic. Instead, he looked at the two Titan Snow Demons that had already given their lives and asked, "Sister Le Xuan, do you think either of these two Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts might have produced a soul bone?"

Zhang Lexuan shook her head. "That forty-five-thousand-year Titan Snow Demon definitely didn't have one. As for the one whose Soul Ring you just absorbed, I don't know. But if the older one didn't have one, then this one probably..."

Before she could finish, she saw Zhou Huan dig a glittering brown, block-like object out of the Titan Snow Demon's left arm.

What else could it be but a soul bone?

Holding the soul bone, Zhou Huan walked up to Zhang Lexuan and said ingratiatingly, "Sister Le Xuan, look."

Get lost. I'm not looking.

At that moment, Zhang Lexuan had nothing to say.

What exactly was wrong with this guy?

Could someone really be this lucky?

A Son of Destiny?

There did seem to be such a saying.

But that claim was far too vague. No one could prove it.

If Zhou Huan had known what Zhang Lexuan was thinking, he definitely would have complained that Huo Gua, with all those cheats of his, was the true Son of Destiny.

At most, Zhou Huan was just drinking a little soup while someone else ate the meat.

Still, seeing that Zhang Lexuan had fallen silent, Zhou Huan had no idea what this young lady was thinking and asked, "What's wrong, Sister Le Xuan?"

Recovering slightly, Zhang Lexuan said calmly, "Nothing. Go on and absorb the soul bone."

Hearing that, Zhou Huan hesitated. He had already owed Zhang Lexuan a great deal for this trip. He couldn't possibly take all the benefits for himself.

Thus, Zhou Huan said, "Sister Le Xuan, you should take the soul bone."

But Zhang Lexuan decisively shook her head. "First, since you absorbed the Soul Ring, a soul bone produced by the same Soul Beast suits you best. Second, even if you gave it to me, I couldn't use it, because I already have a left arm soul bone."

Zhang Lexuan was telling the truth. Her left arm soul bone had come from the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast of her eighth ring: the Moon Swallowing Red Wolf Left Arm Bone. It was also the only soul bone she possessed so far.

It was not that Shrek Academy could not provide her with other soul bones. Rather, those soul bones were either too old with insufficient quality, or incompatible with her Martial Soul.

For a genius like Zhang Lexuan, especially one still so young, it was better to have nothing than settle for something inferior.

Once a soul bone was absorbed, it became a lifelong matter.

Removing one meant either cutting off an arm or leg, or decapitating oneself and digging into one's torso. What normal person would do that?

Since Zhang Lexuan had put it that way, Zhou Huan stopped being coy and immediately began absorbing the Titan Snow Demon Left Arm Bone.

Combined with his fourth soul skill—the Titan Snow Demon Fist—this soul bone was simply a match made in heaven!

With one punch like that, wouldn't he be able to beat ten Xiao Xiaos into tears?

Having reached Level Forty-two and possessing both a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring and a Hundred-thousand-year Soul Ring, Zhou Huan no longer felt much pain while absorbing this Twelve-thousand-year left arm soul bone.

Especially since it was so compatible with him.

Thus, in less than fifteen minutes, Zhou Huan completed the absorption of the Titan Snow Demon Left Arm Bone.

However, this soul bone did not greatly increase Zhou Huan's Soul Power. It only raised it by less than half a level.

Of course, Zhou Huan was already very satisfied.

The greatest enhancement brought by this left arm bone was undoubtedly strength.

Then, looking at his fourth soul skill... uh, it seemed his path as a Control System Soul Master had gone a little off course.

But none of that mattered. Increasing his combat strength was what mattered most. Zhou Huan did not care what system he belonged to.

For others, specializing in one system might be better. But Zhou Huan specialized in powerful combat strength.

Zhou Huan clenched his left hand and felt as though he could now punch a Thousand-Year Soul Beast to death.

Cough, cough... he seemed to be getting a little carried away.

Stay low, stay low!

Zhang Lexuan, standing nearby, had no idea that Zhou Huan's imagination was running wild again. Seeing how overly excited he was, she said, "Are you done being happy? Do you want to stay here and spend another night in the snow?"

Zhou Huan hurriedly shook his head. "It's time to head back. We killed two Ten-Thousand-Year Titan Snow Demons, after all. Although we're currently in the outer region, there's no guarantee we won't be discovered. If we attract the Titan Snow Demon King, we'll be dead for sure. We should leave quickly, before something else happens."

Besides, although the icy wilderness did not affect his body much, it was hardly a comfortable place to rest.

It was better to leave as soon as possible.

One day later, Heaven Dou Empire, Sun Washed Commandery, Peach Spring Village.

This was Zhou Huan's hometown in this world, a remote little mountain village on the Northern Frontier of the Heaven Dou Empire.

The two of them had arrived here around midnight the day before.

Since they were returning from the Extreme North to Shrek Academy, they could naturally stop by home along the way.

Another year had passed. Zhou Huan had returned this time to pay respects to his parents, and Zhang Lexuan presumably had the same intention.

Therefore, early in the morning, the two of them brought plenty of offerings to that unremarkable little Back Mountain.

They cleared away weeds, cleaned the graves, and laid out offerings...

After a series of tasks, the two of them remained before their respective parents' graves, speaking of their thoughts and all that had happened over the past year.

After a long while, once they had finished speaking, they sat together beneath a large tree on the Back Mountain, feeling the warm morning sunlight.

After thinking for a moment, Zhou Huan said, "Sister Le Xuan, your family probably wasn't from near Peach Spring Village, right? I grew up here, yet I never heard of any family or village with the surname Zhang nearby. So why did you bring Uncle and Auntie to such an ordinary little Back Mountain?"

He had always been somewhat puzzled. Zhang Lexuan's family had clearly belonged to the nobility. Though her family had been destroyed by noble factional struggles, Mu En had already avenged her.

Logically speaking, Zhang Lexuan's parents should have been buried somewhere much better.

No matter what, they should not have been buried on this little Back Mountain in obscure Peach Spring Village.

However, Zhang Lexuan quickly answered his question. "When my parents were young, they traveled through Tian Soul and met here. They always missed those days in Peach Spring Village, when they met and came to understand one another. Their family's struggles brought them nothing but death. I think Father and Mother would have preferred this place."

Zhou Huan nodded and did not continue the topic.

The two of them sat quietly for a long time, as though they were keeping each other company, yet also as though they were accompanying their own parents—just like when they had first met three years ago.

About half an hour later, they finally returned to Peach Spring Village.

Peach Spring Village was actually very small, with only around thirty households.

Though its name sounded pleasant, it was really just a remote and impoverished mountain village.

Still, Zhou Huan liked this place very much, because it had given him a home and ensured that he had not arrived alone and helpless in this unfamiliar other world.

It had also given him two wonderful parents.

His parents had merely been Soul Masters in the Level teens. Because they did not wish to step into the cruel world of Soul Master conflicts, they had settled in this remote mountain village for their entire lives and lived happily enough.

They had even had a child late in life. Having Zhou Huan made his parents' later years especially joyful.

Just as Zhou Huan's father often said, peace and safety were a blessing. So many powerful Soul Masters, even Titled Douluo, did not live as long as they had, nor did they live as happily and contentedly.

The stronger a Soul Master became, the more conflicts they faced. If one was not among the very strongest, one would only die sooner and become someone else's whetstone.

Zhou Huan's mother often said that their greatest fortune was never becoming entangled in Soul Master conflicts, allowing them to live peacefully, working at sunrise and resting at sunset.

But Zhou Huan, who knew where this world was headed, obviously could not follow his parents' path, nor was he willing to.

Leaving aside the fact that the Sun Moon Empire would certainly destroy the Heaven Dou Empire within a little over a decade, war was unimaginably cruel to ordinary people. Zhou Huan did not want to be an ordinary person without even the slightest ability to resist.

Besides, if he did not walk the path of becoming a powerful Soul Master, then would his coming here not have been for nothing?

Yet now that he had returned to Peach Spring Village, no matter how great his ambitions were, Zhou Huan could still feel the warmth and tranquility of home here.

They said that wherever the heart found peace was home, but this was where his heart truly found peace.

Zhou Huan closed his eyes and felt the serenity of Peach Spring Village, then... entered deep meditation...

Zhang Lexuan's red lips parted slightly. She truly had nothing to say. Had he... entered enlightenment?

He had entered enlightenment just while walking through the village?

Luckily, there was no one on the village road at this time, or he might very well have been disturbed.

Thus, Zhang Lexuan released a Soul Power barrier, then used her Soul Power to steadily envelop Zhou Huan.

Under her control, the two of them silently returned to Zhou Huan's house. While guarding him, Zhang Lexuan even placed a barrier around the entire little house.

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