Oscar shuddered all over, his eyes suddenly clearing. A fine layer of cold sweat instantly beaded on his forehead.
He saw the knife suspended in midair, the unconscious Clear-Heart Fox on the ground, Teacher Zhao's stern face, and Xiao Qing watching him with a calm gaze.
A flicker of understanding rose in his heart. A Soul Beast was a Soul Beast; obtaining a Soul Ring was an inevitable step on the path to advancement for a Soul Master.
He could feel pity, but hesitation and weakness in the world of Soul Masters could mean death.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, no longer looking at the Clear-Heart Fox's beautiful fur or its frail appearance.
He forcibly suppressed every distracting thought, leaving only one clear conviction: I need this Soul Ring.
Then he gritted his teeth. The arm holding the dagger stopped trembling, and he suddenly plunged it downward.
The unconscious Clear-Heart Fox's body convulsed violently. It let out a brief, almost inaudible whimper, then fell completely lifeless.
A bright yellow Soul Ring slowly emerged from its corpse.
Oscar let go of the dagger and stumbled down to sit on the ground, breathing a little heavily.
Suddenly, his cheek felt cool. He reached up and touched it, his fingertips brushing something damp.
Looking at the moisture on his fingertips, Oscar couldn't help freezing.
Why was he crying? Was it the Clear-Heart Fox's final breath affecting him, or the reluctance deep in his own heart? Perhaps it was both.
Oscar couldn't figure it out, and he didn't want to dwell on it.
Perhaps because of his tears, Oscar didn't immediately absorb the yellow Soul Ring. Instead, he went off to one side and began digging into the soil with his dagger.
His movements were a little slow, but he dug with great care.
Zhao Wuji said nothing. He stood nearby with his arms folded, watching without urging him on.
Seeing this, Xiao Qing wisely kept quiet and watched Oscar in silence.
Before long, a shallow pit was ready.
Oscar gently placed the Clear-Heart Fox's still-warm corpse in the pit, pushed the soil back in, and buried it.
At the end, he placed a few pebbles from the stream on top as a simple marker, a gravestone for the Clear-Heart Fox.
Only after finishing everything did he sit cross-legged where the Clear-Heart Fox's body had originally lain. His gaze was firm and calm, no longer clouded by hesitation.
He reached out and drew the bright yellow Soul Ring toward him with his Soul Power. It floated over and settled around him.
The absorption went more smoothly than expected.
Perhaps because Oscar had buried its body with his own hands, the Clear-Heart Fox's lingering will within the Soul Ring had diminished, allowing Oscar's Soul Power to merge with it with unusual ease.
The yellow light gradually merged into Oscar's body. His aura steadily grew stronger, and the bottleneck that had held him back instantly crumbled to dust. In the end, his Soul Power settled at a new level.
When Oscar opened his eyes again, a flash of brilliance flickered in his gaze. His Soul Power Level had reached twenty-one.
"How did it go? What does your Soul Skill do? Is it different from what you expected?"
Zhao Wuji asked eagerly. This would shape Oscar's future development, and it would also prove whether the approach Xiao Qing had proposed was sound.
If Xiao Qing's approach was right, then both he and Oscar were destined to go down in history, and the history of Soul Masters would turn a new page.
Oscar didn't answer right away. He seemed to be recalling and confirming something.
Zhao Wuji waited for quite a while before Oscar finally raised his right hand and called out, "Clear Heart Sausage!"
A special sausage appeared in his hand. It was moon-white from end to end and gave off a fragrance that calmed the heart and focused the mind.
On closer inspection, a faint purple glow flowed across its surface.
Zhao Wuji froze. For the first time, a look of unmistakable astonishment appeared on his face. His attention wasn't on the Clear Heart Sausage in Oscar's hand, but on Oscar's incantation.
For a moment, Zhao Wuji even wondered if he'd heard wrong. He hurriedly grabbed Oscar by the shoulders and asked, "What did you just say? Say it again!"
Watching Zhao Wuji's excitement, Oscar could barely keep the smile from his lips. But to keep the act going, he forced down his amusement and looked at Zhao Wuji with a bewildered expression.
"Teacher Zhao, what's wrong? Wasn't I just reciting my incantation as usual?"
"No, your incantation was 'I've got a sausage—'"
Zhao Wuji had just started to repeat Oscar's old incantation when he saw Xiao Qing struggling not to laugh. He immediately realized Oscar was messing with him, and scolded him with a laugh:
"You little rascal, you even dared to set me up and make a fool of me! All right, tell your teacher how your incantation changed!"
An incantation, especially one as specific as Oscar's, was part of a Martial Soul's form of expression and rules. It rarely changed.
This was the first time Zhao Wuji had encountered such a thing.
It seemed the Clear-Heart Fox's Soul Ring hadn't merely granted a Soul Skill. On a deeper level, it had changed Oscar's Martial Soul, causing it to mutate.
Seeing that Zhao Wuji had seen through his scheme, Oscar could only shrug helplessly. He'd wanted Zhao Wuji to say that incantation aloud!
Oscar then explained to Xiao Qing and Zhao Wuji why his incantation had changed.
"You're saying that Clear-Heart Fox was grateful to you for burying its corpse, so it burned up the remnants of its soul to alter your Martial Soul?! What a joke! Even a teahouse storyteller couldn't come up with something like that!"
Zhao Wuji felt that the common knowledge about Soul Masters he'd built up over so many years had taken several blows in just the past few days!
"Teacher Zhao, the Clear-Heart Fox is a spirit-type Soul Beast that can calm an enemy's hostility. It wouldn't be strange for it to have an unusual ability like this."
Xiao Qing offered his own theory. His notes contained very little information about spirit-type Soul Beasts, and the few records there were had come from what Xiao Qing's father had heard from others.
Zhao Wuji was about to speak when he realized he was getting a little worked up. He quickly changed the subject, turning his attention back to the "Clear Heart Sausage."
"Oscar, how effective is your Clear Heart Sausage? How long does it last? What's the cost?"
Oscar sorted through the information he'd received from his Martial Soul before answering:
"Taken regularly, it calms the mind, clears away distracting thoughts, and improves concentration. Taken in battle, it greatly increases resistance to attacks from spirit-type Soul Skills."
"Depending on the eater's mental strength, the effects last about half an hour to an hour. It costs me a little more Soul Power to make than a Recovery Big Sausage."
After hearing this, a smile slowly spread across Zhao Wuji's face. He patted Oscar hard on the shoulder, making him stagger.
"Good! Very good! The effects are exactly as expected, even better! The change to your incantation is a good thing. It'll be more convenient to use from now on, and more... well, more dignified."
He clearly had some reservations about Oscar's old incantation too. After handing the Clear Heart Sausage back to Oscar, he turned to Xiao Qing, who had been silently watching. His eyes were filled with even greater approval.
"Your approach was right."
Xiao Qing nodded slightly and gave a polite smile. Zhao Wuji's praise didn't particularly excite him. He'd had Oscar try this in the first place for the sake of his own cultivation.
Xiao Qing's gaze shifted from the Clear Heart Sausage in Oscar's hand to the depths of the forest.
Oscar had successfully obtained his Soul Ring. Next, it was time to search for the last material needed to evolve Xiao Feng's bloodline.
He spoke calmly. "Teacher Zhao, where do we go to look for the wolf pack?"
The smile faded from Zhao Wuji's face, and his usual stern expression returned. He looked toward the depths of the forest and said:
"Let's rest for fifteen minutes first, so Oscar can get used to his new Soul Skill. Then we'll set out and pay a visit to the wolf pack in Sunset Forest."
Before you continue