Because these Spirit Bones had all come from renowned Spirit Masters, Chen Ming knew their characteristics, origins, ages, and approximate skills.
But truthfully, apart from the Clear Sky Sect's two Inherited Soul Bones, Chen Ming thought very little of the rest.
Even Spirit Bones from ten-thousand-year Spirit Beasts differed in quality and value. A ten-thousand-year Spirit Bone and a 99,999-year Spirit Bone both counted as Ten Thousand Year Soul Bones, but their base attributes differed enormously. The bloodline of the Spirit Beast they came from also had a tremendous influence on their value.
There was a saying in the Spirit Master World: "For Spirit Rings, age mattered; for Spirit Bones, quality mattered."
Specifically, when absorbing Spirit Rings, one should choose the oldest possible. Even if the Spirit Beast's quality was not particularly good, the Spirit Ring provided by an older Spirit Beast would still surpass those provided by the vast majority of younger, higher-quality Spirit Beasts.
For Spirit Bones, however, one should select those dropped by Spirit Beasts with superior bloodlines whenever possible. The skills provided by younger, higher-quality Spirit Bones were often stronger than those provided by older, lower-quality ones.
Some Spirit Bones even came with powerful skills that Spirit Masters could never obtain by absorbing Spirit Rings.
Dark gold terrorclaw was one such skill. Aside from being guaranteed to appear in a dark gold terrorclaw bear's External Palm Bone, it also had a small chance of forming in the Pair of Arm Bones provided by a dark gold terrorclaw bear.
Tang Hao was a Spirit Master focused purely on strength. His first consideration when absorbing a Spirit Bone was not how powerful its skill was, but how much it could enhance his body and how much of an advantage it could give him in battle, especially during Ring