Twin Cyclops Eyes

At the thought of the possible "horrific outcome,"

Long Zhanye's interest in these two incomparably precious External Soul Bones plummeted, and he even felt a trace of resistance.

The moment Old Man Gu saw his expression, he guessed what he was thinking.

His eyes widened as he barked, "You brat!"

"What are you spacing out for?! This is a heaven-sent opportunity that countless people could only dream of! And you're actually hesitating?!!"

"If you don't dare, this old man will take them for you!!"

As he spoke, Old Man Gu actually reached for the two eyeball-shaped External Soul Bones.

Alarmed, Long Zhanye no longer had the leisure to fret over their appearance.

No matter what, these were spoils he had earned by risking his life. How could he let this old man "take advantage" of him?

He quickly turned sideways to block him, scooping the two warm eyeballs protectively before himself like a little beast guarding its food. "No! They're mine!"

"Then what are you dawdling for?!" Old Man Gu blew his beard and glared.

Long Zhanye gritted his teeth and steeled himself. "Then I'll absorb them! At worst... I'll wear a mask from now on!!"

Just as he was about to begin absorbing the Soul Ring and attempt to guide the External Soul Bones, Old Man Gu stopped him again.

"Wait."

"What now?" Long Zhanye watched Old Man Gu warily, thinking the old man was plotting something else.

Old Man Gu was so irritated by his expression that he laughed. He raised a hand as though to knock him again.

In the end, he merely snorted. "Brat, what do you take this old man for? Do you think I covet your little things?!"

His expression turned serious, and his tone grew solemn. "I want you to..."

"Absorb that Hundred Thousand Year Head Spirit Bone you obtained earlier as well!"

Long Zhanye froze. "Now? Together?!"

"That's right!" Old Man Gu said firmly. "You're about to absorb a Forty-Thousand-Year Soul Ring. The impact on your Soul Power and the tremors in your soul will both reach their peak!"

"At that time, your body and spiritual power will be highly active, and your capacity to absorb will be at its strongest!!"

"Take this chance to fuse that Hundred Thousand Year Head Spirit Bone as well. Perhaps the two can complement each other and bring twice the benefit in one stroke!"

"The fusion process for External Soul Bones may be rather painful and unusual."

"But with the foundation of a Hundred Thousand Year Spirit Bone and the Head Spirit Bone's stabilizing effect on your spiritual power, perhaps it will help you endure and control it better."

Long Zhanye considered it and felt that Old Man Gu made sense. He nodded. "All right!"

He carefully took out the jade box he had kept stored away in his Storage Soul Tool.

He opened the lid.

A vast fluctuation filled with powerful life energy and boundless spiritual power, carrying even a faint and strange numbing sensation, spread through the air.

Lying quietly within the jade box was the Hundred Thousand Year Head Spirit Bone from the Demon Eye Demon Tree.

It was entirely dark green, its surface carved with intricate patterns resembling tree rings and demonic eyes, radiating an extraordinary aura.

Long Zhanye simultaneously directed his Soul Power and spiritual power toward the two eyeball-shaped External Soul Bones floating silently in the air.

The absorption process was far longer and more difficult than anticipated.

Though the fusion of the Head Spirit Bone and the absorption of the Forty-Thousand-Year Soul Ring contained immense energy and were fraught with danger,

with Long Zhanye's resilient body, repeatedly tempered by medicinal power, supporting him, the process advanced steadily without major incident.

About six hours later, the Head Spirit Bone had successfully fused with his skull, and the Soul Ring had smoothly entered his Heavenly Eye Martial Soul.

His Soul Power surged again, breaking through level fifty-three in one go and reaching level fifty-four!

His spiritual power underwent a qualitative leap as well, becoming incomparably solid and sharp, as if he could perceive the slightest details.

Yet those two eyeball-shaped External Soul Bones became the greatest variable and challenge.

Rather than directly fusing into corresponding bones like ordinary Spirit Bones, they slowly circled and floated around Long Zhanhai.

As though they possessed a will of their own, they carefully "observed" and "selected" a suitable place to fuse.

They emitted a grayish-white glow, sometimes approaching his arms, sometimes sweeping past his back, and sometimes hovering before his face...

Old Man Gu and Zhua Yun watched from the side, dumbfounded and tense beyond measure.

It was their first time witnessing the fusion process of External Soul Bones firsthand, especially ones in such an unusual form.

After a long while, the two circling eyeballs finally seemed to have made their choice.

Bang! Bang!

Two faint, muffled sounds, as if something had fitted into place!

Long Zhanye's vision blurred.

Those two grayish-white eyeballs transformed into two streaks of light and shot straight at his own eyes with lightning speed!

"Aah—!!!"

Long Zhanye did not even have time to react. It felt as if red-hot iron spikes had been viciously driven into his eyes!

It was as though boiling concentrated sulfuric acid had been poured into them! An unimaginable, tearing pain exploded from his eyes and swept through his entire body!

"My eyes!!" he howled in agony, clutching his eyes tightly with both hands.

The pain was so intense that he could not help shaking his head from side to side, trying to throw off that horrifying burning and invasive sensation!

The terrifying part was—

he could clearly feel those two foreign eyeballs frantically trying to "seize" the positions of his original eyes!

It was as if they wanted to forcibly expel his natural eyeballs and replace them!

That horrifying sensation of foreign objects invading, forcibly fusing, and rejecting his own body nearly drove him into a mental collapse.

Before his eyes was a bloody darkness tangled with Chaos, accompanied by unbearable agony.

Long Zhanye was horrified. This is bad! Could it be that these External Soul Bones... are trying to take my eyes?!

The extreme pain battered his nerves, and his consciousness began to blur.

He desperately tried to stay awake and circulated his Soul Power to resist, but the fusion agony rising from the depths of his eyeballs, as though it acted directly upon his spiritual power, was simply impossible to resist.

After an extremely suppressed groan, Long Zhanye's vision went completely dark.

As though every ounce of strength had been drained from him, he fell straight backward.

"Brat!"

"Junior Brother!"

Old Man Gu and Zhua Yun's expressions changed drastically. They hurried forward to examine him.

Long Zhanye's eyes were tightly closed, while an eerie grayish-white glow faintly flowed beneath his eyelids.

His entire body was drenched in sweat, and his breathing was weak and disordered. He was clearly enduring an unimaginable fusion process.

"Master, this..." Zhua Yun looked anxiously at Old Man Gu.

Old Man Gu frowned deeply as he stared fixedly at Long Zhanye's eyes. He said in a low voice, "The fusion of External Soul Bones has always been dangerous and unpredictable..."

"Much less this kind that fuses directly with sensory organs... Whether it is fortune or disaster depends entirely on him."

"All we can do is stand guard and ensure that he is not disturbed by the outside world. Let's hope... this brat can pull through."

Even his voice carried a rare trace of tension and worry.