No one in Spirit Hall paid any attention to Lin Yue's departure.
By then, the atmosphere in Spirit Hall had gradually grown tense.
Everyone had been learning, one after another, that places where Soul Beasts had once roamed were now completely empty.
The Star Luo Empire and Heaven Dou Empire in particular had an overwhelming advantage in numbers. They had almost confirmed that every Soul Beast within their borders had disappeared.
"How could this happen..."
After Qian Renxue, disguised as the crown prince of the Heaven Dou Empire, confirmed the news, she was stunned.
It all felt utterly absurd.
Since ancient times, Soul Beasts had lived alongside humans on Douluo Continent, and human Soul Masters had always depended on them to cultivate.
Soul Beasts were also necessary for Soul Masters to obtain their Soul Skills.
She had never imagined that one day, every Soul Beast on Douluo Continent would vanish.
Qian Renxue knew all too well how outrageous and serious this was.
The order that had governed Douluo Continent for tens of millions of years was about to be shaken.
The cultivation system of Soul Masters was also on the verge of collapse.
Yet those weren't what concerned her most.
What worried her most was her own cultivation.
She had spent all these years undercover in the Heaven Dou Empire, and her cultivation had been delayed considerably. Even now, she was only a Soul Emperor.
At her age, anyone who could break through to Soul King would be considered a peerless genius. But for her, this was a delay.
"If all the Soul Beasts have disappeared, does that mean I'll never be able to break through to Soul Saint?"
"Does that mean I can't fulfill Grandpa's wish?"
At the thought, Qian Renxue's heart filled with confusion and helplessness.
"Snake Lance, do you think there's any point in me staying in Heaven Dou?"
"I might never be able to advance any further as a Soul Master!"
Qian Renxue looked helplessly at Snake Lance Douluo, suddenly at a loss as to what she should do.
"Young Mistress, where there's a will, there's a way. You needn't be so pessimistic!"
Snake Lance Douluo was also shocked when he heard the news, but as a Titled Douluo who was already advanced in years, he remained relatively calm.
"Elder Snake Lance, do you have a solution?"
At his words, Qian Renxue looked at Snake Lance Douluo with hopeful eyes.
"Young Mistress, let me share my thoughts."
Snake Lance Douluo nodded slightly, then said calmly, "According to the information we have, the Soul Beasts have indeed all disappeared. But the plants and animals without Soul Power are still here, and so is the Soul Power between heaven and earth."
"Young Mistress, you understand what that means, don't you?"
Snake Lance Douluo stopped there. He had already made himself quite clear.
"I understand!"
"As long as the plants and animals remain, and the Soul Power between heaven and earth is still here, new Soul Beasts will surely be born!"
"Even if the new Soul Beasts have very low cultivation, as long as there are new Soul Beasts, there will be new Soul Rings. Even a white Ten-Year Soul Ring would be enough to let me advance to the next Soul Master rank."
Qian Renxue spoke excitedly, and much of the confusion in her eyes vanished.
This meant that although absorbing Soul Rings of such low quality would affect her future cultivation, at least she knew she'd still be able to cultivate.
With the quality of her Martial Soul, even if she absorbed nothing but white Soul Rings for her remaining slots, she could still become a Titled Douluo.
It was the ordinary Soul Masters who would suffer, especially those at lower ranks. Without high-quality Soul Rings, their Martial Souls would never evolve. Many ordinary Soul Masters who could once have advanced to Soul King or Soul Emperor might now spend their entire lives stuck at Soul Elder or Soul Ancestor.
Without enough evolution in their Martial Souls, they would hit a wall at certain ranks and never break through.
Otherwise, there wouldn't be the saying, "To break through to Titled Douluo, your Soul Ring Configuration must be the best possible."
Seeing that Qian Renxue had recovered somewhat, Snake Lance Douluo breathed a sigh of relief.
There was something he hadn't told her.
New Soul Beasts might be born in the future, but they might also disappear the moment they appeared.
"Elder Snake Lance, hurry back to Spirit Hall and report the news."
"Spirit Hall must have gathered plenty of information too. If you send them what we've learned, that woman will have a more complete picture."
Once she had calmed down, Qian Renxue immediately gave Snake Lance Douluo his orders.
"Yes, Young Mistress!"
"I'll return at once."
Snake Lance Douluo answered, then slowly retreated until he disappeared from Qian Renxue's sight.
"Phew..."
"Does this mean I'll really have to absorb white Soul Rings from now on?"
Watching Snake Lance Douluo leave, Qian Renxue's expression drooped again. Her voice was full of bitterness and reluctance.
"Master, it's right there!"
"I can sense it. That Soul Bone is still there."
After leaving Spirit Hall and flying for some time, Lin Yue finally arrived at the waterfall hidden in the mountains behind Holy Soul Village.
Whoosh—
Ah Yin carried Lin Yue straight down behind the waterfall.
That's right. Ah Yin had carried Lin Yue the entire way.
Ah Yin had a flying Soul Skill, so she could fly much faster than Lin Yue could with Soul Power, and it saved his Soul Power too.
Hum—
After they reached the place where Ah Yin had originally been planted, she stretched out a hand. The box buried beneath the ground rose up at her gesture.
When the box opened, a Soul Bone glowing with a soft light floated into view.
"Master, here!"
Ah Yin took the Soul Bone that should have belonged to her in both hands, then passed it to Lin Yue.
"Good. I won't stand on ceremony, then."
"I'll use it for now, and once I get a better one, I'll give it back to you."
Lin Yue accepted it, a faint flicker of delight in his eyes.
Once he absorbed the Soul Bone, he would gain two more Soul Skills.
Although the two Soul Skills left behind by Ah Yin's Soul Bone weren't meant for combat, they were better than nothing.
It was still much better than having no Soul Skills at all. He'd make do with them for now.
Titled Douluo could remove Soul Bones, but only those in the limbs, and only by cutting off the corresponding arm or leg.
However, Spirit Hall had already developed a secret method to remove Soul Bones directly. They simply hadn't made it public.
With Ah Yin, who excelled at healing, assisting him, the procedure would be even simpler.
Hum—
With Lin Yue's Titled Douluo cultivation, it didn't take long for him to successfully absorb the Blue Silver Empress 100,000-Year Right Leg Bone.
The Soul Bone gave Lin Yue two Soul Skills and improved his physical constitution.
It was a pity that, just as when Tang San absorbed this Soul Bone in the original story, it didn't raise his level.
Lin Yue's Soul Power Level remained at 91.
But Lin Yue wasn't worried about his cultivation. The Soul Beasts that had completed domestication in the Containment Shelter could provide him with a steady stream of feedback.
Once he had tamed all the powerful Soul Beasts inside, he could reach level 99 just by lying around.
"Let's go. I'll carry you this time!"
Lin Yue put an arm around Ah Yin's slender waist, leaped into the air, and used his newly acquired Soul Bone Skill to fly.
Boom—
Less than fifteen minutes after Lin Yue and Ah Yin left, a figure landed quickly behind the waterfall.
When Tang Hao saw that the place where Ah Yin had once been planted was completely empty, he let out a piercing wail:
"No—!"