Figures of the Age, Look to the Present

Two Soul Bones.

It seemed that the owner of this tomb had been, at the very least, a Soul Douluo-level powerhouse in life. He might even have been a Title Douluo.

Although Soul Bones were incomparably rare and could only be encountered by chance, it was not much of a problem for high-level Soul Masters to acquire two or three.

The difficult part was gathering a complete set of Soul Bones.

To find six or even seven Soul Bones from different body parts was simply impossible without backing and extraordinary luck.

Take Ghost Douluo Gui Mei, for example. He currently possessed three.

One of them had been acquired by himself. Of the other two, one had been rewarded by the previous Pope, Qian Xunji, while the other had been bestowed by the current Pope, Bibi Dong.

As a veteran who had served under two Popes and had always been a favorite at the Pope's side, his foundations were naturally far deeper than those of ordinary people.

"You two keep these Soul Bones for yourselves."

Gui Mei spoke blandly, then walked straight to the coffin and stopped beside it. With a raised hand, he drew the rusted token from within into his grasp.

He wanted to use the token to uncover the tomb owner's identity.

Unfortunately, too much time had passed. Rust had completely obscured the writing on the token's surface, making it difficult to discern anything.

With a soft sigh, Gui Mei swept his sleeve and stored all the dry bones within the coffin into his Storage Soul Tool.

Without saying another word, he silently looked toward Xu Yuan and Hu Liena, who were holding the two Soul Bones and staring wide-eyed at each other.

"How do we divide them?" Xu Yuan looked across at her.

Of the two Soul Bones, one was a left arm bone and the other a left leg bone. The leg bone was of a higher age, produced by a ten-thousand-year soul beast, and contained formidable Soul Power. The arm bone was far inferior, less than ten thousand years old.

"You take the leg bone. I'll take the arm bone." Hu Liena made the choice without hesitation.

"How could that work?" Xu Yuan disagreed.

"My Martial Soul is the Demon Fox. Besides my tail, my claws are also extremely powerful. With the arm bone, it'll be like adding wings to a tiger."

Hu Liena directly took the arm bone.

"I'm your senior sister. It's only right that I yield to my junior brother. Besides, you were the one who deduced this place in the first place.

If it weren't for you, we wouldn't even have gotten this Soul Bone."

Since she had put it that way, Xu Yuan found it hard to refuse. He truly did need a leg bone right now.

He was a long-range Tool Spirit Soul Master. In battle, he needed to keep his distance from his opponents.

Although he could enhance himself with wind-element power to increase his speed, he was still far slower than agility-attack Soul Masters.

With this leg bone, his speed while maneuvering and fleeing would undoubtedly increase. In the future, he would no longer need to fear agility-attack Soul Masters.

Seeing this.

Ghost Douluo's lips curled upward in gratification.

On the continent, there were no shortage of fathers and sons turning on each other, or brothers fighting among themselves, over a mere Soul Bone. Yet when facing Soul Bones that countless Soul Masters would fight tooth and nail for, these two could still be so courteous and yielding. It was enough to prove their character.

"Let's go. We've taken their things, so we should move them to a better resting place."

With his hands clasped behind his back, Ghost Douluo was the first to leave the tomb.

Seeing this, Xu Yuan and Hu Liena each stored their Soul Bones in their Storage Bracelets and followed after him.

At the mountaintop.

Ghost Douluo dug a new grave, though it was not as large as the one below. Three meters deep, it was just enough to hold a coffin.

The coffin in the underground tomb had decayed beyond use, so Xu Yuan and Hu Liena used local materials to make a new one.

It might not have looked particularly impressive, but they had made it with their own hands, and their sincerity was unmistakable.

After they finished.

The three placed the dry bones they had collected below into a small jar, put the jar into the new coffin, and buried it there.

They raised a small grave mound and burned several sticks of incense.

Watching Xu Yuan and Hu Liena respectfully bow before the grave beside him, and looking at the thin wisps of smoke slowly rising from the incense, Gui Mei could not help but feel somewhat moved.

So what if one was a Title Douluo? So what if one's cultivation was high? Without reaching level one hundred, after two hundred years, one would still become nothing more than a handful of yellow earth!

Hu Liena glanced at him. After finishing her bow, she stepped aside, not daring to disturb him.

Xu Yuan, however, walked forward and stood shoulder to shoulder with Ghost Douluo. Raising his eyes toward the scenery at the foot of the mountain, he sighed emotionally at the sight.

"The green mountains remain, while sunsets redden time and again..."

"..."

Ghost Douluo, who had been feeling rather melancholic, nearly burst out laughing at his words. He kicked Xu Yuan in the backside, sending him stumbling.

"You little brat, what the hell are you sighing about here?!"

Green mountains remain, while sunsets redden time and again? Have you even reached your sunset years, and you're already saying that?

Yet after Xu Yuan's interruption, much of Ghost Douluo's negative mood immediately dissipated.

Xu Yuan grinned and scratched the back of his head. "Wasn't it because you suddenly got all emo, sir?"

Gui Mei shook his head, too lazy to say anything to him.

"Let's go. It's time to head back."

Hu Liena hurried forward and supported his arm. "Grandpa Ghost, I'll help you."

Gui Mei stumbled and nearly fell to the ground. In irritation, he flicked his sleeve.

"This old man isn't so old that he needs someone to support him!"

Seeing this from behind, Xu Yuan laughed several times, feeling rather high-spirited.

"The land is so lovely, it has made countless heroes bow low.

To count the figures of the age, look to the present!"

Hearing this, Hu Liena, who was following behind Gui Mei, could not help turning back. Her enchanting eyes were filled with an inexplicable radiance.

To count the figures of the age, look to... the present?

Gui Mei curled his lip but said nothing. Young people being innocent and high-spirited was perfectly normal.

After a few years of being beaten down by society, they probably would no longer be so recklessly unaware of the vastness of heaven and earth.

Tianxing City.

By the time the three returned, it was already afternoon.

They should have returned directly to Spirit City. After all, they had enjoyed themselves and gained two Soul Bones, so the trip had been well worthwhile.

But Xu Yuan suddenly remembered what Lao Yu had said before. His younger son was also going to undergo Martial Soul Awakening this year.

If not for Lao Yu, Xu Yuan had no idea how much longer it would have taken him to obtain a Soul Bone.

Returning a peach for a plum, it was only right for him to go visit.

He had heard that Lao Yu's eldest son was also a Soul Master. His younger son was probably not bad either. If his talent was decent, Xu Yuan planned to bring him along to Spirit Academy.

That was why they returned to Tianxing City.

After finding a restaurant in the city and eating lunch, the three went to Spirit Hall to ask around. They quickly learned Lao Yu's address.

It was a small, relatively secluded house on the outskirts of the city.

It was not large, but it was more than enough to house a family of four.

What Xu Yuan had not expected, however, was that when they arrived, another group of people was already standing outside Lao Yu's home.

Xue Celou stood before the house with a paper fan in hand, elegant and refined, his smile as gentle as a spring breeze.

At his left and right stood an attendant each, five Spirit Rings circling their bodies and displaying the strength of Soul Kings.

Across from him, Lao Yu was being held down and forced to kneel by two people who also had five Spirit Rings circling their bodies.

Nearby, a boy around ten years old lay motionless on the ground, with bloodstains on the earth.

A middle-aged woman stood behind them in terror, clutching another boy and holding his head. She appeared to be Lao Yu's wife and younger son.

At the sight, fury immediately surged in Xu Yuan's heart.

"Let them go!"