External Soul Bone Comes with a Heart? Transformation

Soul Beast: Mutated Golden Flame Sacred Armor Beetle. Age: 1,800 years. Absorption Probability: 100%. Compatibility: 91%. Greatly increases cultivation talent.

Wang Qi arrived alone at the secret chamber where the Mutated Golden Flame Sacred Armor Beetle was imprisoned. Seeing the changes in the Simulation Panel information once again confirmed his previous speculation.

The absorption probability had reached the maximum, but because of Wang Qi's cultivation over the past year, the compatibility had dropped from 93% to 91%.

Fortunately, the compatibility had not fallen below 90%. Although the glow indicating an increase in cultivation talent was not as intense as it had been when he was sixteen, it still fell within the range of a major increase.

"I hope absorbing this Soul Ring can raise my cultivation talent to level seven, or even level nine."

After saying that, Wang Qi sealed the chamber and used the mechanisms within to kill the Mutated Golden Flame Sacred Armor Beetle.

The process of absorbing the Soul Ring did not take much effort from Wang Qi. He even had the energy to inspect his Attribute Panel. He had been better off not looking—one glance nearly shattered his composure.

His cultivation talent had risen from only level 5.9 to level 6.9. This so-called major increase in cultivation talent had brought him less improvement than the Mutated Blazing Vine.

At the same time, the External Soul Bone he had been longing for—the reason he had kept avoiding Lin Yan while absorbing Soul Rings—had not appeared either.

Wang Qi remembered that when Tang San obtained his External Soul Bone in the Original Work, it had fused with him almost the instant he finished absorbing the Soul Ring.

Why was it different for him? With Martial Soul Possession, one yellow and one purple Soul Ring, both beyond this era's understanding, appeared beneath his feet. The purple Soul Ring shone, and Wang Qi's entire body was immediately enveloped in golden flames. When the flames dispersed, a translucent suit of Flame Armor appeared over him.

Soul Skill: Golden Flame Armor. Effect one: prolonged exposure to sunlight and the absorption of fire-element energy could increase Soul Ring Age.

Effect two: after Golden Flame Armor possessed the body, strength, speed, and defense increased by 100%.

The Soul Skill had two effects, and Wang Qi was quite satisfied. Its second enhancement was no weaker than Dai Mubai's White Tiger Vajra Transformation, yet it still failed to meet Wang Qi's expectations.

With 91% compatibility and a major increase in cultivation talent, if this was all there was to it, Wang Qi would never have needed to scheme over this Second Soul Ring for so long.

Increase Soul Ring Age? Wang Qi was absolutely certain that raising Soul Ring Age was extremely difficult. Even at a one-to-one-hundred rate, after a hundred years, it would at most become a ten-thousand-year Soul Ring.

A ten-thousand-year Soul Skill would not help Wang Qi as much as he had imagined. What he wanted was an increase in talent.

"No, a major increase in cultivation talent definitely isn't limited to this. Besides, the Soul Skill I obtained isn't identical to the one from the simulation."

"The Soul Skill might be able to condense tangible armor, but that is absolutely not something a mere thousand-year Soul Skill could accomplish. There must still be an External Soul Bone. There has to be."

"In Douluo Dalu I, External Soul Bones were absorbed alongside the Soul Ring when a Soul Master absorbed it, but that does not necessarily mean that is their only form."

"In Douluo Dalu II, External Soul Bones seemed to drop directly."

Perhaps he was comforting himself, or perhaps he truly believed it, but his attention unconsciously shifted to the corpse of the Mutated Golden Flame Sacred Armor Beetle.

He dismantled it and removed its flesh. Wang Qi was not skilled enough to carve it apart with the finesse of a master butcher, but he could still disassemble it through brute force.

Six legs. He pried open the shell and tore away the flesh, but found nothing.

Its head. The brain had been smashed into pulp, yet there was still nothing.

He peeled away the golden carapace inch by inch, but found nothing.

Just as Wang Qi was about to give up, he discovered a section of front chest armor linked to the heart at the Sacred Armor Beetle's chest. It emitted fluctuations of Soul Power.

"This is... an External Soul Bone?"

Soul Bones were bones in essence and energy in nature, but what was this External Soul Bone doing connected to a heart made of flesh? Wasn't this too absurd?

Holding the External Soul Bone of chest armor connected to the heart, Wang Qi was completely dumbfounded. He began recalling how he had looked in the simulation after using Martial Soul Possession and releasing his Soul Skill.

The Soul Power fluctuations were concentrated at his chest, and the External Soul Bone's location was indeed the chest armor. But what was he supposed to do with this heart?

Wang Qi treasured his life greatly. Under such unusual circumstances, he did not dare absorb it recklessly. If something went wrong, he might die without even knowing how.

Unfortunately, his Simulation Eye could only appraise items containing the aura of life. Soul Bones? They were pure energy, and the Simulation Eye could do nothing about them.

"Should I find someone to absorb it as a test? Once it fuses... forget it. What if that heart is some great opportunity? If it can't be removed after fusion, I'll suffer a huge loss."

"I remember that releasing a Soul Skill was... release the Soul Skill, Martial Soul Possession."

"Right, I remember that in the Simulation Realm, I seemed not to have undergone Martial Soul Possession."

"Right. Rather than undergoing Martial Soul Possession like a Beast Martial Soul before, I directly..." Wang Qi looked at the External Soul Bone connected to the heart, a reckless gleam flashing in his eyes.

The more someone cherished his life—especially when that person was young, and especially when that young person could see what success looked like—the more they liked courting death.

Wang Qi had succeeded in the Simulation Realm. There was no reason he could not succeed in reality.

What? He relied too heavily on the Simulation Eye? Wang Qi had level-three Innate Soul Power. Without the Simulation Eye, even with all kinds of resources supporting him, he would at most be level fifteen by now. Other than relying on the Simulation Eye, what else could he rely on?

Rely on his Martial Soul? A leveling system that let one break through Soul Power bottlenecks simply by absorbing Soul Rings, like an online game, was even more suspicious.

"Fuck it, I'm doing it."

Without any further bravado, Wang Qi released his Soul Power and made contact with the External Soul Bone. Like flowing sand, it slowly dissipated and merged into his chest.

Suddenly, an intense pain struck him. This agony did not come from Wang Qi's body, but from his Martial Soul.

Standing behind Wang Qi and mirroring his movements, the Blazing Humanoid Martial Soul began to tremble and gradually drew closer to him.

At the same time, its face, once obscured by flames and indistinct, slowly became clear. Its features gradually approached the handsome face Wang Qi had possessed in his previous life.

When the Martial Soul came within a certain distance of Wang Qi, that face from his previous life was engulfed in golden flames. It gradually distorted and began shifting toward Wang Qi's face in this life. Its body also shrank, dwindling from an adult's form toward Wang Qi's current build and appearance.

Thump. Thump. A dull, powerful heartbeat rang out as Wang Qi's body and Martial Soul were wrapped in golden flames.

Thump. Thump. The golden flames gradually swallowed Wang Qi whole, finally turning into a golden egg burning with fire.

Thump. Thump. The heartbeat sounded again. As Wang Qi endured pain as though his soul were being torn apart, he also felt a comfort like returning to his mother's embrace.

Thump. Thump. Wang Qi lost consciousness. At that moment, the Blazing Humanoid Martial Soul gradually fused with his physical body and entered a stage of transformation.

At the same time, Wang Qi's Second Martial Soul, the Medicine Refining Furnace, was automatically released. It floated above the Golden Egg, enjoying the tempering of Golden Flame.

There would be no causality issues involving before and after his transmigration, nor would there be a second consciousness or anything of the sort.