Xiao Chen honestly hadn't expected the system's reward for recovering a Black Mane Wolf's soul to be this good.
He immediately opened the Soul Bone description and inspected it.
Soul Bone: Black Mane Wolf Head Soul Bone.
Age: 400 years.
Effect: Increases a Soul Master's mental strength.
Attached Skill: Black Mane Devouring Thought. Releases a mental energy shock that stuns the opponent. (The duration depends on the user's mental strength!)
"Now that's a treasure!" Xiao Chen was secretly delighted. The Soul Bone was only four hundred years old, but its attached skill was excellent.
He could already picture himself covered in Soul Bones someday, invincible wherever he went. His heart brimmed with irrepressible anticipation.
But just as Xiao Chen was filled with hope, the system spoke up. "Host, this Soul Bone is too old for you to fuse with."
Xiao Chen: "???"
"System, this isn't a Spirit Ring, so why the hell can't I fuse with it?" Xiao Chen protested.
System: "Soul Bones and Spirit Rings are essentially the same, so you can only fuse with Soul Bones that are ten years old or younger!"
Xiao Chen: "..."
"Damn it, I got excited for nothing!" Xiao Chen cursed under his breath. "So what's the point of rewarding me with something I can't even use?"
"You can give it to someone else. That kid's Second Soul Ring came from a Black Mane Wolf, so this Black Mane Wolf Head Soul Bone is an excellent match for him," the System Spirit said, pointing at Ma Yan, who was fusing with his Spirit Ring nearby.
"More importantly, the Soul Bones produced by this system have no connection to this world. In other words, this gives that kid a ticket to breaking this world's rules. It also lays the groundwork for your ultimate mission!" the System Spirit continued.
The system certainly had a long-term vision.
Xiao Chen first looked at Ma Yan, then slowly swept his gaze across the others.
He had only just met the five of them, but after spending a few hours together, he could tell they were decent people.
"System, if a high-level Soul Master sees this Soul Bone, will they notice anything unusual?" Xiao Chen asked.
The System Spirit thumped its chest and assured him, "Host, don't worry one bit. Even if those old geezers from the Divine Realm came down, they wouldn't be able to figure out a thing!"
Xiao Chen nodded slightly. In that case, he could safely give the Soul Bone to someone else.
So he deliberately made a bit of noise to draw everyone's attention.
"Xiao Chen, don't deal with the Black Mane Wolf's corpse yet. The smell of blood is too strong and could attract other nearby Soul Beasts!" Chu Ruolan warned him.
But the moment she finished speaking, she saw Xiao Chen stab the top of the Black Mane Wolf's head with the dagger at his waist.
Lin Feng and the others saw Xiao Chen ignoring orders and were about to scold him, but then they noticed a faint glow appearing where he had stabbed the wolf's head.
The next moment, a palm-sized bone shaped like a fragment of a wolf's skull peeled away from the top of the Black Mane Wolf's head.
"A Soul Bone?" Chu Ruolan cried out.
Lin Feng, Su Qing, and Zhou Ming couldn't see what was happening. They stood frozen, too shocked to say a word.
The four of them hurried over, eager to see if it was real.
"A Soul Bone? And a Head Soul Bone, too? B-but this is only a four-hundred-year-old Black Mane Wolf!" Lin Feng's hand shook violently around the Azure Steel Sword, his eyes full of disbelief.
Beside him, Su Qing covered her mouth and murmured in disbelief, "A Hundred-Year Soul Beast dropped a Soul Bone... This is the first time I've ever seen one. I'd never even heard of it before!"
Zhou Ming's eyes were wide as he stared blankly at the Soul Bone. For a long moment, he couldn't say a word, overwhelmed with shock.
They looked from one another to the Soul Bone, astonishment plain on every face. None of them had expected the very first Soul Beast they hunted after entering the Star Dou Forest to drop an exceedingly rare Head Soul Bone.
They didn't suspect Xiao Chen of anything. They simply assumed he had noticed something unusual about the Black Mane Wolf and gone over to investigate.
Xiao Chen tactfully stepped aside to give Chu Ruolan room. Since he wasn't strong enough, he couldn't give it to them openly; he could only let them believe the Soul Bone had dropped from the Black Mane Wolf.
I wonder what Chu Ruolan will do with this Soul Bone, Xiao Chen thought.
He knew all too well how precious Soul Bones were in the Douluo Continent.
Even blood relatives or teammates who had spent every day together could turn on each other and become bitter enemies over a Soul Bone. Such things happened all too often.
Chu Ruolan drew the Soul Bone into her palm and examined it closely. Lin Feng and the others watched it with burning eyes.
After a moment, Chu Ruolan finally spoke. "This Soul Bone came from a Black Mane Wolf, the same kind of Soul Beast as the one that gave Ma Yan his Second Soul Ring. He's the best match for it, so he should fuse with it. What do you think?"
As she spoke, she turned to look at Lin Feng and the others.
Though Lin Feng, Su Qing, and Zhou Ming still eyed the Soul Bone eagerly, they immediately nodded in agreement with Chu Ruolan.
Chu Ruolan nodded, then turned to Xiao Chen.
Seeing this, Xiao Chen promptly said, "I have no objections!"
Chu Ruolan smiled and nodded before saying, "Good. Once Ma Yan finishes absorbing his Spirit Ring, he can fuse with the Soul Bone as well!"
Before she had even finished speaking, Chu Ruolan felt the Soul Bone in her hand tremble slightly, as if a faint force were trying to break free.
She could clearly feel that the Soul Bone seemed to have a mind of its own, impatient to escape her grasp and fly toward Ma Yan, who was absorbing his Spirit Ring not far away.
Chu Ruolan frowned. She had never encountered anything like this before.
She knew very well that absorbing a Soul Bone and a Spirit Ring at the same time could easily overwhelm a Soul Master with the resulting surge of Soul Power.
At best, their meridians would be shattered; at worst, they would explode. Even if the Soul Bone and Spirit Ring came from the same source, absorbing them together was extremely dangerous.
Yet strange waves of energy continued to ripple from the Soul Bone, giving Chu Ruolan the distinct feeling that this was the perfect moment for Ma Yan to absorb the Spirit Ring and Soul Bone together.
She felt that if they missed this chance to resonate with the same source, fusing them later would be much harder—and they might even lose something in the process.
With that thought, Chu Ruolan immediately let go.
As soon as the Soul Bone was freed, it seemed to come alive and flew straight toward Ma Yan, who was absorbing his Spirit Ring. It hovered above his head.
The Soul Bone gave off a soft, dark-gray glow, resonating with the aura of the Spirit Ring Ma Yan was absorbing. It gradually seeped into him and began to fuse with the ring in tandem.
The absorption process had been somewhat strained, but after the Soul Bone joined in, it became astonishingly smooth. The violent Soul Power was quietly soothed, with no conflict or backlash.
This was naturally the system's doing.
Normally, when a Soul Master killed a Soul Beast, the dying Soul Beast would harbor tremendous resentment toward them, making its Spirit Ring difficult to absorb.
But the Soul Bones produced by the system contained a trace of the Black Mane Wolf's spiritual essence. Absorbing and fusing them together would not only prevent any conflict with the Spirit Ring, but also draw out more of its potential.
The Spirit Ring would normally have taken about half an hour to absorb. With the Soul Bone's help, Ma Yan finished absorbing the ring and fusing with the Soul Bone in just over ten minutes.
Before you continue