Di Tian Lacks Strategy, Silver Dragon Has Little Wisdom (Part 2)

Every bone here pulsed with a faint ripple of soul power.

Clearly, these were not mere decorative ornaments, nor were they the remnants of some morbid hobby left behind by Gu Chensha or Wangcai after finishing their prey.

They were... all Soul Bones!

She hurriedly pried open the remaining four chests—the second, the third... they were all filled with Soul Bones!

From thousand-year to ten-thousand-year, from head to limbs, the variety was complete, with the quantity totaling several dozen pieces.

Soul Bones were the rarest treasures in any era, the ultimate pursuit of every Soul Master.

Though they shared the same origin as Soul Rings, they were worlds apart:

Every Soul Beast was guaranteed to produce a Soul Ring upon death, but the probability of a Soul Bone appearing was less than one in a thousand.

While a Soul Ring could only be absorbed by the one who dealt the killing blow, Soul Bones could be freely traded and inherited; even the most common hundred-year Soul Bone was a priceless commodity with no market.

The production of Soul Bones followed strict laws:

Mental-type Soul Beasts mostly produced Head Bones, Power-type beasts produced Arm Bones, and Speed-type beasts produced Leg Bones. The Torso Bone, representing the greatest overall strength, could only be condensed by top-tier Soul Beasts.

Usually, only Soul Beasts with exceptionally high bloodline grades had any chance of producing a Soul Bone before reaching the hundred-thousand-year mark.

Ordinary Soul Beasts might not condense a single piece even after cultivating for ten thousand years.

Even the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, with its wealth rivaling a nation, might not be able to assemble a complete set of compatible Soul Bones.

The fact that Martial Soul Hall could offer a few Soul Bones as prizes for the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament had already shaken the entire Soul Master world.

What made them even rarer was that Soul Bones were not easily preserved.

If a hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast failed to advance into a Fierce Beast, or if a Fierce Beast failed its tribulation, the explosion of its Soul Core would cause the Soul Bones to vanish along with it.

If a Soul Beast failed its reincarnation, was struck in the Soul Core, or had its soul power forcibly plundered, the Soul Bones would likewise disappear.

What Zhuqing did not know was that even in later ages, Soul Bones remained the most precious of resources.

They were used to construct the super soul-spirit framework for the Spirit Ascension Platform.

Even after the technology for artificial Soul Bones was developed, the exorbitant costs meant they could only be used as special rewards for top-tier Soul Masters.

Gu Chensha's figure slowly coalesced beside her. Watching her stunned, catatonic expression, a faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

He reached out and waved a hand before her eyes.

"Come back to your senses."

Zhuqing shook her head, barely managing to clear her mind, her voice still trembling.

"Teacher, these..."

"These are all yours."

Gu Chensha's tone was indifferent, as if he were speaking of a trivial matter.

Zhuqing stared blankly.

"All... all of them are mine?"

"Mm."

Gu Chensha nodded. "In these five chests, there are 39 thousand-year Soul Bones and 69 ten-thousand-year Soul Bones, totaling 108 pieces."

"O-o-one..."

Zhuqing looked as if she had been broken; her rosy lips parted, but she couldn't form a complete sentence for a long time.

She subconsciously took a step back, her legs turning to jelly, nearly collapsing to the ground.

She wondered if she was still dreaming, if this was just a hallucination.

One hundred and eight Soul Bones!

What kind of concept was that?

Even if one emptied the entire royal treasury of the Star Luo Empire, they probably couldn't scrape together this many!

"One hundred and eight pieces, you heard correctly."

Gu Chensha reached out to steady her, preventing her from falling.

Zhuqing pinched herself hard, the sharp pain confirming that this was no dream.

Her cheeks flushed with excitement and her heart hammered against her ribs, but she soon furrowed her brows, asking in confusion.

"Eh? Why are there more ten-thousand-year Soul Bones than thousand-year ones?"

"Because few thousand-year Soul Beasts can condense Soul Bones unless their bloodline is exceptionally strong."

Gu Chensha said calmly, "And the number of ten-thousand-year Soul Beasts I have hunted is far greater than those of the thousand-year variety, and their rate of producing bones is also higher."

Zhuqing nodded as if she understood, crouching down to carefully examine the Soul Bones in the chest.

Gu Chensha stood beside her, following her gaze as he introduced them casually.

"A Medusa Skull that just reached twenty thousand years. Its core skill, 'Medusa's Gaze', can temporarily petrify energy or physical targets."

"A three-thousand-year Wind Shadow Leopard Right Leg Bone. It significantly increases base speed and comes with a short-range teleportation ability."

"A Wisdom Skull condensed from ten thousand years of spirit, significantly enhancing spirit and soul power circulation efficiency."

"A thirty-thousand-year Explosive Burning Flame Right Arm Bone, capable of instantly unleashing explosive flame attacks with extremely low soul power consumption."

His tone was indifferent, as if discussing pebbles by the roadside, yet every word was enough to drive a large number of Soul Masters into a frenzy.

Although he had collected these items, it didn't mean he held them in high regard.

Zhu Zhuqing listened, her eyes wide, feeling almost embarrassed to have him continue.

Suddenly, a left leg bone emitting a faint purple glow caught her attention.

The entire bone was lustrous, with faint cyan patterns unique to the wind element flowing across its surface.

Just looking at it made her Hell Spirit Cat Martial Soul stir restlessly within her.

She couldn't help but reach out and gently pick up the bone.

The cool bone surface touched her fingertips, and an extremely compatible soul power spread through her arm and entire body, making her heart ripple.

"A Rapid Advance Wind-Chasing Left Leg Bone, from a ninety-thousand-year Wind Demon Tiger."

Gu Chensha raised an eyebrow and continued his introduction, "It comes with the skill 'Galloping Air-Breaking Slash,' which triples speed upon activation."

"The left leg condenses soul power into wind blades, capable of unleashing multiple consecutive slashes."

As his words fell, a sense of unease inexplicably arose within him.

This soul bone, and the champion prize from the All-Continent High-Level Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament in the original plot, the one Zhu Zhuqing eventually obtained, were from the same type of soul beast and the same part.

Even though their ages were vastly different—one thirty thousand years, the other nearly a hundred thousand years.

This astonishing coincidence still gave him a strange feeling of "worldline convergence."

He detested this feeling of being manipulated by an invisible hand.

But he didn't say anything more, merely watching her quietly, leaving the final choice to the young girl.

Zhu Zhuqing indeed liked this soul bone very much.

That sense of compatibility couldn't be faked; by fusing it, both her speed and attack power would be greatly enhanced.

However, after caressing it for a moment, she quickly made up her mind.

Zhu Zhuqing gently placed the soul bone back into the box.

She knew very well that choosing a soul bone compatible with her Hell Spirit Cat would most rapidly increase her current strength.

But, at some point, she had come to trust the potential of the Primordial Demon Spider Emperor more.

That was Teacher's true form, the most precious gift Teacher had left her, transcending life and death.

By following Teacher's path, she would surely reach a higher place than she would have originally.

Moreover, she didn't want to walk the path of destiny that had already been written.

The path she wanted to walk was one that belonged only to her, a path taken together with Teacher.

She raised her head, her cool face etched with a hint of confusion, which paradoxically gave her a unique kind of charm.