External Soul Bone

Tang Yin steadied his form in mid-air, his sharp gaze locked onto the Wolf King on the ground.

He hadn't paid much attention before, but now, observing it closely, he discovered that a small patch of fur at the center of the beast's brow was a dark, metallic gold.

Furthermore, while a standard Shadow Gale Wolf King was indeed larger than an ordinary wolf, this one was a full size larger than any of the others present.

It was indeed a mutation; because of this mutation, its abilities had evolved, shifting from mere concealment of presence to true invisibility, and its speed had increased significantly.

"This isn't an ordinary Wolf King, but a mutated Shadow Gale Wolf King! Its age has already reached a thousand years!" Tang Yin called out from the air to warn Tang Hao.

Tang Hao, who was clearing out the last of the common Gale Wolves, heard this and swept his Clear Sky Hammer horizontally, knocking away a lunging wolf beast before turning his head toward the Wolf King.

He saw the Wolf King's figure blur once more, and in the next second, it appeared directly behind Tang Hao, its sharp claws wreathed in shadow energy, aiming straight for his heart.

Clearly, seeing that it could do nothing to Tang Yin in the air, the Wolf King intended to repeat its previous tactic and ambush Tang Hao.

"Cheap tricks." Tang Hao didn't even look back as his fourth purple spirit ring suddenly lit up—Clear Sky Body Protection!

A solid barrier of spirit power instantly expanded. The Wolf King's claws struck the barrier with a harsh, grating sound, yet could not advance even an inch.

Shock flashed in the Wolf King's eyes, and it attempted to fade away and flee once more. But Tang Hao's combat experience was vast; he had long anticipated this, and his third spirit ring lit up immediately—Gravity Suppression!

With the Clear Sky Hammer as the center, the gravity within a ten-meter radius suddenly multiplied.

Just as the Wolf King intended to vanish, it was dragged down by the sudden gravity field, its movements stalling.

"Now!" Tang Yin seized the opportunity, his first spirit ring lighting up—Move Like Thunder!

He dove downward, his speed lightning-fast under the boost of his spirit skill. He clenched his hand behind his back, instantly projecting a dagger, and aimed straight for the Wolf King's vital waist and abdomen.

This was the common weakness of lupine spirit beasts; the bones in their waist and abdomen were relatively fragile.

The Wolf King managed a desperate sidestep, but Tang Yin's hand-blade grazed its spine, drawing a spray of blood.

Awoooo~

Tang Yin had timed his ambush with exquisite precision; the Wolf King, unable to dodge in time, suffered a deep, bone-reaching wound to its waist.

However, this completely enraged the Wolf King. It let out a skyward howl, its spirit power fluctuating violently, and even in its severely wounded state, it forcibly activated its mutation ability to turn invisible once more.

"Planning to fight to the death? A pity I won't give you the chance." Tang Yin understood that while his ambush had severely wounded the Wolf King, it wouldn't kill it instantly, so he flew back high into the air the moment his strike landed.

Tang Hao, watching from the side, narrowed his eyes and muttered, "Bold yet meticulous. He understands his own strengths and weaknesses, and can calmly analyze the situation and make targeted choices during battle."

Tang Hao felt a sense of pride in his son's excellence. If not for the fact that he hadn't awakened the Clear Sky Hammer martial soul, Tang Yin would have been, in his eyes, the more suitable candidate for his vision.

"But they are siblings by blood after all. Even if he doesn't care for this old father of his, he will surely support his Third Sister in the future!"

These thoughts flashed through Tang Hao's mind before he looked at the Shadow Gale Wolf King, having no intention of intervening further.

The Wolf King had first endured two of his spirit skills, then suffered a critical ambush from Tang Yin; even if it wasn't dead, it was at the end of its rope. The final blow needed to be delivered by the owner of the spirit ring.

The Shadow Wolf King, having forcibly pushed its abilities, had clearly exhausted its final strength. After breaking away from Tang Hao and Tang Yin, it had no intention of attacking again. Instead, it cast a deep, lingering look toward the direction where the wolf pups had fled before turning and bolting in the opposite direction without looking back.

Tang Yin's eyes narrowed as he witnessed the Wolf King's behavior, but he soon gave a breezy smile.

"Why be so sentimental at a time like this?" he muttered to himself, watching the stumbling Wolf King. Without hesitation, he followed in pursuit...

Puff--

A few minutes later, in a dense forest, Tang Yin pulled the dagger from the Wolf King's heart and delivered a final strike to its throat. Confirming the Wolf King was truly dead, Tang Yin sat cross-legged, waiting for the spirit ring to manifest.

The spirit ring condensed by this Wolf King was highly likely to be a thousand-year ring, but Tang Yin still intended to absorb it. After all, he had consumed Whale Rubber, and this was his second ring; he had the confidence.

Just as he expected, a faint purple spirit ring soon floated up from the Wolf King's corpse, which was naturally seen by the approaching Tang Hao.

"A thousand-year spirit ring!" Tang Hao's expression darkened as he said in a deep voice, "Give it up. Even if it has only just entered the thousand-year level, it is not something a level twenty spirit master like you can absorb!"

Though Tang Hao didn't understand the theories, he possessed this much common sense. After all, in the current Douluo Continent, no matter how monstrous a genius was, their first and second spirit rings were always yellow; only at the third ring would one begin to absorb thousand-year rings.

"Begin." Tang Yin had no intention of responding to Tang Hao, and with great decisiveness, he drew the spirit ring toward himself and began the absorption.

"Hmph!" Tang Hao glared as Tang Yin treated his words like wind in his ears, but seeing that Tang Yin had already begun, he could only stop in his tracks, helpless.

In his eyes, Tang Yin was already ruined. He prepared himself to interrupt the process at any moment; after all, failing to absorb a spirit ring was still better than dying.

Meanwhile, under Tang Hao's protection, Tang Yin guided the purple spirit ring down with his spirit power.

The moment it made contact, violent energy surged into his body—the erosive power of the shadow attribute and the sharpness of the wind attribute rampaged through his meridians.

Tang Yin let out a muffled groan, cold sweat beading on his forehead, yet he steadily circulated his Mysterious Heaven Skill to guide the spirit power.

Time ticked by, and in the blink of an eye, it was the next morning.

"He's actually going to succeed?" Tang Hao, who had been watching Tang Yin the entire time, saw the aura around him gradually stabilize and was filled with disbelief.

A thousand-year second ring! He had actually succeeded!

"Is this child's talent truly this terrifying?" Tang Hao, his mind in turmoil, looked uncertain. For the first time, he felt a sense of regret for Tang Yin.

"If only it were the Clear Sky Hammer, this child..." Just as Tang Hao was conflicted, a sudden change occurred—

The back of the Wolf King's corpse suddenly split open, and a pair of bones shrouded in silver-gray mist slowly rose. The bones presented a streamlined, beast-like structure with dark patterns flowing across the surface, emitting a fluctuation that was of the same origin as the spirit ring but even purer.

"A spirit bone!" Tang Hao's pupils constricted.

And judging by its form, this was no ordinary torso or limb spirit bone, but the even rarer external head spirit bone!

The silver-gray bones seemed to be drawn to Tang Yin, slowly drifting toward him and adhering to his forehead. The moment they made contact, the bones "melted" like a living thing, seeping beneath his skin. Tang Yin's entire body shuddered violently, and a tearing pain erupted from his shoulder blades, as if something were about to burst out from within his body.

"Hold on! Guide your soul power to fuse with it!" Even if his relationship with Tang Yin was poor, Tang Hao was extremely anxious at this moment and could not help but call out a reminder.

This was an External Soul Bone, something that could be sought but never found! If only it were Third Sister!

However, Tang Yin had already begun absorbing the External Soul Bone, so even if he wanted to snatch it now, it was too late.

"If you weren't my son, I would have killed you without hesitation even if it meant failing to obtain the External Soul Bone," Tang Hao muttered, his expression grim as he watched Tang Yin, who was currently in deep meditation.

Tang Yin was naturally unaware of Tang Hao's internal thoughts.

At this moment, he gritted his teeth, concentrating all his spirit on controlling his soul power to envelop and absorb the External Soul Bone.

He did not know how much time had passed, but the pain gradually turned into a numbing itch, eventually transforming into a natural sensation, as if it were an extension of his own arm.

Tang Yin stirred his thoughts, and a silver-gray light surged from between his brows, subsequently etching a pattern resembling a wolf's head onto his forehead.