"Fox seductress~!" Ning Rongrong said jealously as she watched Hu Liena and the others walk away.
Qian Yu smiled at her reaction.
Next came the main event: Zhu Zhuqing absorbing her Spirit Ring. Everyone was eager to see what kind of Spirit Ring she would get. As for a Spirit Bone, they didn't even dare to dream of one.
"Zhuqing, go finish off that Shadow Moon Demon Wolf." Qian Yu smiled encouragingly at Zhu Zhuqing, then began recovering his Soul Power while helping her.
Zhu Zhuqing gently approached the Shadow Moon Demon Wolf, whose limbs had all been crippled.
The Shadow Moon Demon Wolf was on its last breath, suffering terribly. It glanced at Zhu Zhuqing, then closed its eyes, resigned to its fate.
Zhu Zhuqing raised her hand and brought it down, ending the Shadow Moon Demon Wolf's life before beginning to obtain her third Spirit Ring.
The Shadow Moon Demon Wolf had lived for four thousand years. At the sight of its bright purple Spirit Ring, Zhu Zhuqing felt a little afraid at first. The other girls were curious, but also couldn't bear to watch.
But when she saw Qian Yu's encouraging expression,
Zhu Zhuqing finally steeled herself and absorbed her third Spirit Ring.
Off to the side, Qian Yu silently nodded at Zhu Zhuqing's decisiveness.
He called out to the Divine Eye in his mindscape. "Divine Eye, I'm counting on you."
"Hmph, Qian Yu, I've noticed you've got quite the luck with women!" the Divine Eye teased him, half jokingly.
Although the Divine Eye teased Qian Yu, it dutifully absorbed the power of the Shadow Moon Demon Wolf's third Spirit Ring.
The Shadow Moon Demon Wolf's purple Spirit Ring gradually turned transparent.
Before long, the Spirit Ring's age had dropped to over 1,700 years, exactly the normal maximum limit for a third Spirit Ring.
Zhu Zhuqing felt no discomfort at all throughout the process.
As Zhu Zhuqing neared the end of absorbing the Spirit Ring, the Divine Eye returned the excess years to her.
At last, Zhu Zhuqing opened her beautiful eyes.
With a look of disbelief, she lit up her third Spirit Ring—a four-thousand-year one.
She then used her third Spirit Skill, Shadow Moon Instant Slash, on a tree some distance away.
Behind Zhu Zhuqing appeared the Hell Spirit Cat. Soul Power gathered in her twin claws, and dark ink-colored blades wrapped in pale silver moon patterns. When activated, the skill let her borrow the power of the shadow moon to flash a short distance, appearing instantly at any shadow within ten meters. Her claw blades fell with the force of a wolf's howl, and the wind of their swing unleashed a moon-energy shock wave that tore through defenses while numbing her opponent's meridians.
The afterimage she left behind lingered for half a breath, confusing her enemy's vision. Empowered by the shadow moon, her strikes became far more explosive, perfectly suited to the ambush tactics of an Agility Attack System. Her purple Spirit Ring gleamed as she flashed through the shadows, each strike aimed to kill.
The tree in the distance snapped in two. At the same time, Zhu Zhuqing appeared ten meters away from the group.
"Not a bad Spirit Skill." As a Titled Douluo, Sword Douluo could naturally tell that Zhu Zhuqing's third Spirit Skill combined offensive power with an enhancement to the agility of her Hell Spirit Cat. It was truly an extraordinary Spirit Skill.
The girls were also so stunned by the power of Zhu Zhuqing's third Spirit Skill that they could hardly speak.
"Congratulations, Zhuqing!" the girls said. "By the way, what level is your Soul Power now?" They were curious just how powerful a four-thousand-year Spirit Ring was.
"I've reached level 38," Zhu Zhuqing said, her eyes bright with delight.
"What?" Everyone looked at her with envy.
"Zhuqing, how did you manage to absorb that four-thousand-year Shadow Moon Demon Wolf Spirit Ring?" The girls were impressed by her powerful third Spirit Skill, but they were also curious how she had absorbed a Spirit Ring that exceeded the limit.
Zhu Zhuqing could only shake her head, admitting that she didn't know.
With no other choice, the girls turned to look at Qian Yu.
Qian Yu could only say that it was a secret.
That left the girls with no choice but to keep quiet.
"All right. Now that Zhuqing has her third Spirit Ring, we'll continue looking for suitable Spirit Rings for the others," Sword Douluo, the team's guardian, told them.
"Okay!" the girls replied in unison. They were all eager to see if Qian Yu could help them absorb Spirit Rings beyond their limits, too.
Just as everyone was preparing to leave,
the Divine Eye reminded Qian Yu, "Kid, collect that Shadow Moon Demon Wolf's corpse."
"Okay." Qian Yu knew the Divine Eye needed power to recover its strength.
So, in front of everyone, he placed the Shadow Moon Demon Wolf's corpse into his Soul Tool.
"Zzzzt, zzzzt."
"What is this thing?" The Divine Eye spat out a palm-shaped bone with an exasperated grunt.
The bone landed in Qian Yu's hand.
It felt cold as soon as he touched it.
"Uh, a Spirit Bone?" Qian Yu asked the Divine Eye in disbelief.
"I guess. I don't like this thing, so I spat it out."
Qian Yu was speechless. "You don't like Spirit Bones? Divine Eye, do you have any idea how precious a Spirit Bone is on the Douluo Continent? Especially an External Soul Bone that can grow with its owner."
"Hmph, Qian Yu, I'm going to digest this power and recover. Don't bother me unless you have to."
After saying that, the Divine Eye stopped responding to Qian Yu.
Qian Yu was left standing there, utterly dumbfounded.
"Uh, Zhuqing, wait a moment." Qian Yu called to Zhu Zhuqing from behind the group.
"Huh? Me?" Zhu Zhuqing blushed and looked at Qian Yu.
The other girls all turned to look at Qian Yu, too. Sword Douluo also watched him with an amused expression as the girls' attention fell on him.
Under everyone's gaze, Qian Yu felt immense pressure. He could only brace himself and say to Zhu Zhuqing, "Zhuqing, hold out your hand. I have something good for you!"
"Ah!" Zhu Zhuqing's face turned even redder.
"He's giving me something... Could it be..." Zhu Zhuqing's imagination ran wild, and her cheeks grew even rosier.
In the end, Zhu Zhuqing shyly held out her hand.
The other girls were secretly jealous, but for the sake of their friendship, they held back.
All their eyes were fixed in unison on Qian Yu and Zhu Zhuqing.
Qian Yu took a warm, jade-like palm bone from his hand.
The Shadow Moon Demon Wolf Palm Bone was dark as ink from end to end, with silver moon patterns flowing between the joints. A layer of dark silver bone armor, thin as a cicada's wing, covered each knuckle, and the claw tips glimmered with a cold, eerie light, as if tempered in frost beneath the moon. A wolf-shaped pattern seemed to drift across the bone's surface. When Soul Power flowed into it, the silver patterns shone as they followed the moon's power. At its center lay a pale silver, crescent-shaped crystal—the core of the Spirit Bone's power.
"A Spirit Bone?" The moment the Shadow Moon Demon Wolf Palm Bone touched her hand, Zhu Zhuqing felt as if she were dreaming.
The girls and Sword Douluo looked at the External Soul Bone in Zhu Zhuqing's hand with envy.
"It's for me?" Zhu Zhuqing asked Qian Yu in disbelief.
Qian Yu nodded. "Mm-hm."
Zhu Zhuqing stood stunned for a moment, then hurriedly refused. "No, Qian Yu, this is too precious. I can't accept it." She placed the palm bone back in Qian Yu's hand.
She was still savoring how warm and smooth it had felt, like fine jade.
"Zhuqing, as the master of Feather Gate, I order you to accept it."
Seeing Zhu Zhuqing hesitate and refuse, Qian Yu simply invoked his authority as master of Feather Gate and ordered her to accept the Spirit Bone.
"But..." Zhu Zhuqing tried to refuse again, but Qian Yu's stern expression stopped her cold.
The girls secretly breathed a sigh of relief. At least it was only a Spirit Bone. If it had been a token of affection, they wouldn't have stood a chance.
"Did that come from the Shadow Moon Demon Wolf just now?" Sword Douluo was a man of great experience. Seeing that the wolf's corpse had disappeared and only a pool of blood remained, he immediately put two and two together.
"Yes," Qian Yu could only answer with a nod.
The girls looked at one another, at a loss for words.
"Zhuqing, this Spirit Bone came from the Shadow Moon Demon Wolf. It suits both your third Spirit Ring and your Martial Soul, the Hell Spirit Cat. Absorb it and see what Spirit Skill you get," Qian Yu told her.
"Okay." Zhu Zhuqing was excited.
Before you continue