Such a Weak Soul

"Phew..."

Flender slowly exhaled a foul breath after finishing his meditation, feeling the swelling in his bones ease considerably.

Fortunately, his Soul Power had merely been depleted. A little rest would be enough for him to recover.

It was like the Clear Sky Sect's secret technique, Ring Detonation—using the explosion of Spirit Rings to convert their stored energy into attack power. Detonating all nine rings at once could even bring one close to the power of a god. The price was merely that the Spirit Rings needed around three days to recover, and each use had to be separated by thirty-six days to prevent permanent damage.

In other words, the cost of this explosive secret technique was simply a cooldown period.

But that was not the limit. Whether Spirit Masters or Soul Beasts, when their lives were hanging by a thread, they could burn the source of their life force to enter an even more powerful Berserk state.

That price was no longer just a matter of waiting for a cooldown, but if it was for survival, everything was worth it.

To deal with these two Griffins, Flender had not been pushed to that point. Once he recovered roughly ten percent of his Soul Power, he would be able to move freely again.

Yet the moment he rose, Flender ran headlong into Zhao Wuji's beaming face.

"Old miser, look what this is!"

"What is it...?"

"A Spirit Bone!"

Flender's gaze flicked over, and the instant he noticed the gleaming luster in Zhao Wuji's hand, he rushed over at incredible speed. Zhao Wuji did not even have time to react.

"Hm?"

By the time Zhao Wuji reacted, Flender was already holding the Spirit Bone up to the sun, examining it with astonished clicks of his tongue.

"I never thought we'd have such damn luck. Looks like fortune is on our side after all."

"You're faster than a dog eating shit." Zhao Wuji's mouth twitched.

"What did you say?"

"No, nothing."

Zhao Wuji immediately backed down. Flender studied the Savage Bear Spirit Bone for a few moments before tossing it back.

"Keep it for now. I'll absorb that Spirit Ring first. We can talk about everything else afterward."

"Old miser, you really trust me that much?"

Zhao Wuji laughed, but he did not reach out to take the Spirit Bone.

"You earned it yourself, so keep it yourself. Besides, a bone taken from a bird should naturally be absorbed by a birdman like you."

"I've always been tough as nails. I don't need something so light and flimsy."

"Once you absorb that Griffin Spirit Ring, Boss, you should be able to absorb this Spirit Bone more easily too. They came from the same kind of Soul Beast, after all."

Lu Qibin and the other two agreed as well. They all understood perfectly well who the Spirit Bone belonged to.

"No need to feel bad, Boss. Just treat us to a big meal."

Shao Xin waggled his brows. Compared to a Spirit Bone that did not suit them very well, they would rather pluck some feathers from that iron rooster.

Flender shook his head with a laugh and said nothing more, simply putting the Spirit Bone away.

"Treating you to a meal is out of the question. But if I get the chance in the future, I'll equip each of you with a full set of suitable Spirit Bones."

"Tch..."

Thanks to the forbidden knowledge in his mind, Flender knew how to create Spirit Bones artificially. After all, so-called God-Bestowed Spirit Rings and God-Bestowed Spirit Bones were manufactured after the fact.

Even if limitations in materials and other factors meant he could not make true God-Bestowed items by hand, their effects would still be no worse than ordinary Spirit Rings and Spirit Bones.

Perhaps even...

Flender glanced at Zhao Wuji and the others. Perhaps one day, he might have the chance to evolve all of his old brothers' Martial Souls.

Mutations could be induced artificially after birth, even deliberately guided in a beneficial direction.

Zhao Wuji and the others had no idea what Flender was thinking. They merely curled their lips, believing that this old miser was once again being stingy as usual. As for the Spirit Bones he had promised them—

If there were suitable ones, Flender would certainly be willing to share them. But Spirit Bones were things one could only stumble upon by chance.

"Enough chatter. Guard me. An hour will pass in the blink of an eye."

With that, they stopped wasting words. They all focused themselves, recovering with all their strength while remaining vigilant of their surroundings.

Flender also walked over to the corpse of the Ninety-Thousand-Year Griffin and sat down cross-legged. Using his remaining Soul Power, he drew over the Ten-Thousand-Year Spirit Ring, black enough to swallow all light.

He inwardly lamented the waste. Flender now possessed knowledge of Soul Spirits as well, but unfortunately, he was not a spiritual-type Spirit Master and lacked the necessary materials. Otherwise, he truly would have liked to give Soul Spirits a try.

For now, Flender could only absorb this Ninety-Thousand-Year Spirit Ring normally.

The phantom of a Wind Eagle slowly appeared behind Flender. As the Ninety-Thousand-Year Spirit Ring drew closer, it became increasingly solid and lifelike.

Suddenly, the Ten-Thousand-Year Spirit Ring violently contracted and slipped over the Wind Eagle phantom. In an instant, raging energy surged forth like a mountain flood—endless in quantity, its quality like flowing steel.

Flender instantly felt as though he had been swept into an EF5 tornado, his entire body about to be torn apart.

His energy-filled flesh began to tremble, and Flender immediately drove his spiritual power to absorb it.

But at that moment, a flash suddenly appeared before Flender's closed eyes, and a space that could not be described by any color emerged.

The Mental Sea.

This was Flender's Mental Sea. In the past, its only visitor had been himself, along with two tenants who were practically reduced to ashes.

But now, a new guest had appeared here.

A black phantom emerged, thick and sticky like mud in a swamp. At a speed that seemed slow but was actually instantaneous, it re-formed into a familiar figure.

That Ninety-Thousand-Year Griffin no longer possessed the majestic and proud bearing it had in life, nor the imposing aura of the skies. Instead, it was an amalgamation of negative emotions—unwillingness, resentment, greed, madness, and more.

Soul Shock!

The souls of Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts began to mature and gained the ability to attack. Spirit Masters below level fifty could not suppress them.

This Ninety-Thousand-Year Griffin's soul was even close to fully mature. It had developed humanlike emotions and intelligence, making its Soul Shock after death even more terrifying.

Flender looked at the malicious Griffin soul before him, his eyelids lifting slightly.

Flender still vaguely remembered the Griffin's gaze at death. It had not contained only absolute unwillingness, but also sincere envy and longing.

The Griffin was undoubtedly a wind-attributed Soul Beast. Thus, it naturally craved Flender's Ultimate Wind on an instinctive level.

"I am the victor, so... become my strength. I will carry your nourishment and climb to greater and farther heights."

Flender stared at the Griffin and grinned, baring his teeth.

In that instant, a faint breeze abruptly appeared throughout the entire Mental Sea.

The Griffin soul was horrified and desperately tried to pounce forward, but with a single gust of that breeze, it could not move even one step.

More wind gradually blew in. The Griffin soul trembled harder and harder until it collapsed into scattered sand, its soul blown into fragments like starlight.

Flender's consciousness sank, and windlike Soul Power began to blow through his body from within, traveling through his limbs and channels until the Spirit Ring was calmed.

In reality, Zhao Wuji and the others watched as another ring of breeze wound around Flender's body, forming a small tornado.

The Spirit Ring's violent aura faded away, while Flender's presence grew increasingly steady.

The four of them silently sighed to themselves. This old miser was becoming more and more like a monster.