Void Light Demonic Leopard Left Leg Bone, Secret Technique Soul Left Arm Bone

"Alright, everyone, according to the latest class assignments, return to the teaching building with your respective homeroom teachers. Lin Yuan, the three of you come with me to receive your rewards," Du Wilun announced.

As his voice faded, Lin Yuan and the other two followed Du Wilun to the faculty office area behind the senior teaching building. Du Wilun's office was on the top floor. While it lacked overly luxurious decorations, it housed four bookshelves, each filled with a rich collection of books.

Du Wilun smiled slightly and gestured to the sofa. "Have a seat. Huo Yu Hao, you don't need to feel burdened. As you saw, besides you, the other teams in the top three also had members who didn't become core disciples. Your performance was excellent, but your individual ability still needs improvement. When you absorb your second soul ring, you can submit an application to the academy to exchange this competition reward for a high-quality soul ring. If you put on an astonishing performance in the assessment for second year, the academy will consider promoting you to a formal core disciple."

Huo Yu Hao nodded and respectfully said to Du Wilun, "Director Du, I will definitely work hard. Thank you for your concern."

Du Wilun was pleased with Huo Yu Hao's attitude. After nodding, the large ruby ring on his right hand suddenly flashed with light, and a pouch appeared in his hand. "Given that you three consecutively defeated three rookie Soul Elder teams and even secured the final championship, I have applied to the academy for this reward as an exception. Although there is only one reward, which you three will need to discuss and decide who receives it, this is the most precious prize awarded in the academy's freshman assessments in nearly three hundred years. Open it and take a look." With that, he handed the pouch to Lin Yuan.

Lin Yuan took it and immediately untied the pouch's drawstring. A ball of yellow light shot out without warning and slowly floated in mid-air under the gaze of the three. It was a palm-sized bone, its surface encircled by a faint yellow halo, and the dense soul power fluctuations made the air in the entire office feel thick.

"This, this is... a Soul Bone?" Wang Dong exclaimed, his face full of shock.

Du Wilun smiled slightly. "Your reward is a Soul Bone. However, you all understand the preciousness of Soul Bones, so there is only one. You can discuss its distribution among yourselves after you return. I'll briefly introduce this Soul Bone to you."

"I specifically selected this for you. Both Attack-type and Control-type Soul Masters can use it. It's a left leg bone, named the Void Light Demonic Leopard Left Leg Bone. Upon merging with it, a Soul Master's speed will increase, and they will also gain an attack skill initiated by the left leg..."

After storing the Soul Bone, Du Wilun escorted the three to the door. Lin Yuan and the other two bade him farewell and then walked out of the office building.

As soon as they stepped outside, the three stopped simultaneously. Lin Yuan, Wang Dong, and Huo Yu Hao exchanged glances. Lin Yuan spoke first, "Give it to Yu Hao."

Wang Dong immediately nodded. "I agree too." With that, both of their gazes fell upon Huo Yu Hao, and Lin Yuan handed the pouch to him.

"Yu Hao, don't rush to refuse. The reason I don't want this Soul Bone is that my Martial Soul is the Elemental Dragon, which doesn't have a high demand for speed-type Soul Bones. Furthermore, my own control over space can already compensate for my speed shortcomings, so the benefit of this Soul Bone to me is limited," Lin Yuan explained slowly.

Wang Dong quickly added, his pink-blue eyes full of sincerity, "Me too. My Goddess of Light Butterfly is inherently skilled in speed and flight, so the speed increase from the Void Light Demonic Leopard Left Leg Bone isn't a critical need for me. But you're different. Your Martial Soul is the Spiritual Eye, which leans towards mental control, and both your speed and defense are weaknesses. With this Soul Bone, it can not only compensate for your speed disadvantage, but the attack skill will also give you an additional means of self-preservation, maximizing your contribution to the team."

Huo Yu Hao looked at the pouch handed to him, his fingers trembling slightly, his eyes filled with emotion. He understood the preciousness of a Soul Bone better than anyone; it was a treasure that could help a Soul Master break through their limitations, but how could he calmly accept the concession of his two companions? He repeatedly waved his hands. "No, this is too valuable! I didn't play much of a role in the competition; it was all thanks to Lin Yuan-ge and you working hard. The Soul Bone should go to you two."

Seeing this, Lin Yuan directly stuffed the pouch into Huo Yu Hao's arms, his tone leaving no room for doubt. "The team's victory was never the contribution of just one person. Your Spiritual Detection was crucial to us easily winning the competition. Without your early prediction of the opponents' movements, how could we have fought so smoothly? Moreover, your current strength is relatively weaker, and you need this Soul Bone more to improve. We are teammates; there's no need to be so formal."

Wang Dong also stepped forward and patted Huo Yu Hao's shoulder. Uncharacteristically, he didn't argue with Lin Yuan but chimed in, "Lin Yuan is right. If you feel bad about it, just help us with enemy detection a few more times in the future, okay? Hurry up and accept it; if you keep refusing, it'll feel like we're strangers."

Huo Yu Hao tightly clutched the warm pouch in his arms, feeling the dense soul power fluctuations emanating from the Soul Bone within. His nose stung, and his eyes welled up slightly. He looked at his two companions who genuinely cared for him and nodded heavily. "Thank you! I will definitely make good use of this Soul Bone and play a greater role in the team from now on, never betraying your intentions! As for not becoming a core disciple, I've come to terms with it. The academy's refusal to approve me as a core disciple is fair; I need to work even harder to prove myself."

"Well said," a familiar voice suddenly came from nearby. Zhou Yi walked slowly towards the three, giving Huo Yu Hao a deep look, a rare expression of relief and satisfaction on her face. "Yu Hao, I came specifically to find you, and I didn't expect you to have already figured it out yourself. I am very pleased, as expected of my disciple. You guys took first place among the freshmen, so I also have a prize for you." As she spoke, the silver bracelet-like storage soul tool on her wrist flashed, and a pouch appeared in her hand, which she then handed to Huo Yu Hao.

To Huo Yu Hao and Wang Dong's stunned amazement, this pouch was identical to the one Director Du Wilun had just given them. Only Lin Yuan had a knowing expression.

"Do you remember the battle against Ning Tian, Wu Feng, and Nanmen Yun'er? I bet with their homeroom teacher at the time and won this Soul Bone. Although it's considered of poorer quality among Soul Bones, it has fusion properties. If you can find two more Soul Bones with similar attributes, you can fuse them through this one. For someone who needs it, it's a priceless treasure, but the possibility of gathering three Soul Bones with similar attributes is too small. I suggest you fuse it directly. This is an arm bone, named the Secret Technique Soul Left Arm Bone. In a sense, it's not a true Soul Bone because it wasn't dropped by a single Soul Beast."

"The acquisition method for this Secret Technique Soul Bone is special and brutal: choose any type of Soul Beast, slaughter one hundred of them within half an hour, and then use a secret technique to draw out their soul rings, and there's a ten percent chance of obtaining one. This is considered a relatively simple way to acquire a Soul Bone, but due to the low success rate and its extreme cruelty, very few Soul Masters would do this. If fused directly, it can provide a five percent increase in soul power for the Soul Master. Don't underestimate this increase; it's permanent, and as your cultivation reaches higher levels, the effect of this increase will become very apparent."

Hearing this, Lin Yuan frowned slightly. As the Dragon God, he instinctively repulsed this method of forging a Soul Bone by slaughtering fellow Soul Beasts. Soul Beasts were an integral part of the Douluo Continent's ecosystem, and more importantly, they were the subjects of him, the co-lord of Soul Beasts. Such cruel methods caused a cold glint to flash in his purple eyes.

Furthermore, he had lived in the Star Dou Great Forest for five full years, spending his days with countless Soul Beasts, whom he had long regarded as his own kind. This act of indiscriminately slaughtering weaker Soul Beasts for the sake of power touched his bottom line.

With this thought, Lin Yuan bid farewell to Zhou Yi and then walked towards the classroom, his steps unconsciously quickening, his silver-white hair ribbon drawing a sharp arc behind him. He needed to find a secluded corner to calm the turbulent emotions stirred by the Secret Technique Soul Bone. Passing by the shore of Sea God Lake, the morning mist had yet to dissipate, and the lake's surface rippled with fine waves, but it couldn't reflect his currently solemn expression.

"Forging bone with the lives of a hundred beasts, such methods, and they dare to call it a secret technique," Lin Yuan muttered to himself, a cold glint flashing in his purple eyes. In the Star Dou Great Forest, Sister Bi Ji had once said that even weak Soul Beasts were life, and indiscriminate slaughter would only invite the backlash of nature. Yet, human Soul Masters, for the sake of power, could devise such cruel methods. This further diminished his good impression of Shrek Academy.

While lost in thought, light footsteps sounded from behind him. Wang Dong, carrying newly received textbooks, caught up, his pink-blue short hair dotted with morning dew. "Lin Yuan, why are you walking so fast? We still need to discuss how to divide the Soul Bone Teacher Zhou gave us!"

Lin Yuan stopped and turned, suppressing the coldness in his eyes, and pointed in Huo Yu Hao's direction. "Still give it to Yu Hao. The Secret Technique Soul Bone can increase soul power and also aid in his spiritual power cultivation. It will be more useful to him than to us."

Wang Dong was taken aback, then nodded. "That works too; neither you nor I can really use it anyway. But speaking of which, that method is too terrifying. Killing a hundred Soul Beasts just to get one, no wonder Teacher Zhou said it was of poor quality."

"It's not of poor quality; it's stained with blood," Lin Yuan's voice deepened. "Soul Bones are the condensation of power after a Soul Beast's death. One should hold reverence for them, not deliberately forge them in such a manner."

Wang Dong didn't reply. Although he found it cruel, he also understood the law of the jungle in the Soul Master world.

A moment later, the two walked side-by-side back to the teaching building. Among the four freshman classes, Class One was undoubtedly the strongest, but it didn't have the largest number of students. The Attack-type and Control-type combined had just over sixty people, while Class Four, a mixed class, had the most students.

As Lin Yuan entered, he immediately attracted the attention of all the students, especially the female students, whose gazes instantly locked onto him like spotlights. A few bolder girls in the front row quietly took out embroidered dragon-patterned badges and played with them, their eyes betraying their excitement. In the back row, some were whispering and discussing.

Seeing this, Wang Dong instinctively squeezed closer to Lin Yuan, his brow furrowed slightly, but he didn't speak out in protest. After spending some time together, he had long grown accustomed to Lin Yuan being the center of attention wherever he went. He complained verbally but had mentally taken on the responsibility of protecting this troublesome class monitor.

Although the classes had been reorganized, Lin Yuan and Wang Dong's seats remained unchanged. Xiao Xiao also finally got her wish and sat to Lin Yuan's left. At the same time, Lin Yuan noticed that Dai Hua Bin, Zhu Lu, and Cui Yajie were sitting in the back, two rows behind them. As soon as he entered, Dai Hua Bin gave him a cold glance.