The Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear was worth a try.
No matter how strong it was, it was still only five thousand years old.
He just needed to make it through this period.
Besides, Electrolux was there to back him up.
Sitting cross-legged beside the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear's corpse, Feng Piaoling raised his hand and released his Talisman Martial Soul. He circulated the Green Lotus Sword Art to draw in the energy within the Spirit Ring and absorb it into his body.
Boom!
The moment the Spirit Ring's energy entered his body, it transformed into an extremely domineering Soul Power.
In an instant, the Green Lotus Sword Art seemed to catch the scent of blood. Like a famished wolf, it surged out of his dantian and almost immediately enveloped the domineering Soul Power formed from the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear's Spirit Ring, refining it with savage force.
"What domineering Soul Power. If this were another Spirit Ring of the same age, the Green Lotus Sword Art would refine it in an hour or two at most. But refining this one is as slow as a tortoise, several times slower—perhaps even more than ten times."
The greater the energy contained in a Spirit Ring, the slower it was to refine. That was also why the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear was so infamous across the Douluo Continent.
Its bloodline endowed it with Soul Power of astonishing strength.
That gave it attack and defense beyond anyone's expectations.
It was the very foundation of its ability to fight opponents above its level.
An hour passed.
Soft popping sounds came from inside Feng Piaoling's body.
His dantian, already expanded considerably by the Green Lotus Sword Art, expanded further, like a balloon being inflated.
At its center, a pure, transparent vortex suddenly spun faster, like a sentient nebula.
It pulsed and shifted without pause, absorbing the incoming Soul Power.
At the same time, Feng Piaoling's meridians widened. The forceful energy of the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear battered them, leaving them painfully swollen.
But under the Green Lotus Sword Art's protection, they never ruptured.
A day passed. A haze of blood had long since covered Feng Piaoling's skin.
His body was also wracked with bulging veins as he endured pain far beyond what an ordinary person could bear.
Two days passed, and things were still the same.
Only on the third day did the pain begin to ease.
From within Feng Piaoling's Spirit Sea, Electrolux had been watching the changes in his body the entire time.
To his surprise, Feng Piaoling's Soul Power was circulating along a route that was incredibly intricate yet wondrously precise.
As he absorbed and refined the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear's Spirit Ring, that route grew ever more intricate and refined.
His Soul Power grew denser along with it.
Compared to before, its density had increased by at least thirty percent.
At last, it formed a special route through his meridians, circulating regularly throughout his body without end.
"A heaven-gifted genius."
Without thinking, Electrolux voiced his admiration.
Over those three days, he had witnessed the birth of a new cultivation method.
And Feng Piaoling had created it through constant experimentation.
Though its circulation route complemented the method he had used before, it had broken free of its original form. It increased both the speed of his Soul Power circulation and its quality.
It was plainly no work ghostwritten by someone else.
In other words, this method had been created entirely by the boy before him, who was not yet twelve.
Even Electrolux had to admit that, had they lived in the same era, he would have paled beside Feng Piaoling.
As long as Feng Piaoling did not fall, he was destined to go farther than Electrolux ever had.
After a long while, Feng Piaoling opened his eyes and slowly exhaled a breath of stale air. Joy spread across his face. He had finally reached the fourth level of the Green Lotus Sword Art.
The fourth level gave him roughly thirty percent denser Soul Power than the third.
But that was only compared with Feng Piaoling, who cultivated the Green Lotus Sword Art. For Tang Ya and Bei Bei, who cultivated the Mysterious Heaven Skill, the increase would be far greater.
At least double.
By that calculation, Feng Piaoling's Soul Power was at least four times denser than theirs.
Even compared with the complete Mysterious Heaven Skill, it was at least three times denser.
And ordinary Soul Masters couldn't even compare.
Not only that, but Feng Piaoling had finally broken through the bottleneck at level thirty, where he had been stuck for half a year. He had reached roughly level thirty-four and a half.
About two levels came from his own accumulation; the remaining two and a half came from absorbing the five-thousand-year-old Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear Spirit Ring.
"Shrek opens in two days. With my Earth Escape Talisman, I can get there in one day at most. Until then, I should consolidate my cultivation."
Feng Piaoling knew how important a solid foundation was. The firmer the foundation, the higher one could build. Without a solid foundation, everything was a castle in the air, liable to collapse at any moment.
Take that Brothel Phoenix from ten thousand years ago. His cultivation was clearly sufficient, but because he had been lazy and neglected his training when he was young, his foundation was weak.
And so—in the end, the phoenix became a god, but lost the Swift and her soul.
That was why Feng Piaoling placed such importance on his foundation.
By his reckoning, the first six levels of the Green Lotus Sword Art would focus less on offense and more on building a solid foundation. Once it was firm enough, he could turn his attention to improving his attack.
Until then, the Spirit Ring skills of his Talisman Martial Soul and his Soul Tool were more than enough.
"I almost forgot. There's this, too."
Feng Piaoling raised both hands and spread his fingers. Five streams of dark gold light extended from each one.
The blades from his left hand were about a foot and two inches long, while those from his right were about a foot and five inches. Broad at the top and narrow at the base, they were shaped like blades. Dark gold light rippled across them like waves. The moment they appeared—
Both of Feng Piaoling's hands turned completely dark gold. His fingers and the sharp blades became one, indistinguishable from each other, as if the blades were extensions of his fingers.
"I can't believe I absorbed an External Soul Bone along with the Spirit Ring, just like that nobody from ten thousand years ago did when he absorbed the Man Faced Demon Spider's Spirit Ring. And it's a pair of palm bones, too. What a pleasant surprise."
Musing to himself, Feng Piaoling controlled the two External Soul Bones. Like Wolverine, the superhero from the Marvel movies in his previous life, he casually swiped his claws across the ground.
The ground proved as soft as foam. Without a sound, the claws carved two deep marks into it.
"Just as expected of the Dark Gold Terrorclaw, famed for its ferocious attacks. This power is incredible. Still, until I've fully fused with these two Soul Bones, I'd better keep them hidden from other people."
Feng Piaoling moved, and the dark gold claws vanished like melting snow. His hands returned to normal as well.
He glanced at the corpse of the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear before him. Soul Beast meat could increase one's cultivation speed and tasted delicious, too. The bear paws of a Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear were an especially rare delicacy.
Luckily, the temperature in this underground cave was low. Even after three days, the corpse had not spoiled.
So he butchered the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear and cleaned the meat. Then he used a Fire Bomb Talisman to control the power, making a fireball that wouldn't explode. He roasted a piece of meat and drank some water.
After filling his stomach with a simple meal,
he returned to cultivating and consolidated his foundation.
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