Zhang Lexuan said confidently,
"Don't worry. Mu En said your body can withstand the power of any Soul Ring below ten thousand years old. You'll have no problem absorbing this one."
Lin Yun nodded. He had no idea what Mu En's reasoning was, but he'd only asked to make himself seem more normal.
Before this, the fragment of the thing inside him called the Holy Spirit had already told him that he could absorb Soul Rings below ten thousand years old.
Lin Yun himself also had confidence in his Skeletal Bone Dragon Martial Soul.
As Zhang Lexuan guided the purple Soul Ring onto him, she looked at the corpse of the Fear Demon Dragon on the ground. She hesitated, then drew her dagger and muttered to herself,
"It's a resource, either way. The academy isn't short on supplies right now, but bringing it back would still earn me a modest amount of credit."
As Lin Yun absorbed the Soul Ring, he felt a warm sensation spread through his body. There was none of the pain of his meridians being expanded by Soul Power. Instead, he felt something strange.
It was as though he were merging with something different. At that moment, Electrolux stirred in the Sea of Consciousness.
Electrolux manipulated Lin Yun's spiritual power and opened a passage in the Sea of Consciousness.
Only then did Lin Yun understand what was happening. It was just like Tang San absorbing the Eight Spider Lances External Soul Bone: as he absorbed the Soul Ring, he was absorbing the Fear Demon Dragon's External Soul Bone too.
Lin Yun opened his eyes. He had finished absorbing the Soul Ring, and now he could feel both his new Soul Skill and the External Soul Bone.
Like the Evil Eye External Soul Bone Huo Yuhao had in the original story, this one was a new eye growing in the middle of Lin Yun's forehead.
By rights, it shouldn't have had vision, but with Electrolux's help, it did.
As Lin Yun felt the unique sensation of seeing through three eyes, he gradually adjusted to this unusual perspective. Then he noticed what made this eye different.
Unlike his original pair, which saw images formed by light, this eye saw Soul Power.
Lin Yun stared at Zhang Lexuan. Through his third eye, she seemed to have no flesh or bones at all—only a human-shaped mass of Soul Power, operating with incredible precision.
Yet that mass of Soul Power was currently chaotic and muddled, nearly blocked at every turn. Clearly, she still hadn't fully absorbed the essence of her Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring.
A Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring was the greatest treasure in the Soul Master World because its essence was dozens of times greater than that of an ordinary Soul Ring. Absorbing that power all but guaranteed a place among the Titled Douluo.
But Zhang Lexuan had absorbed it with too much difficulty, and its attributes didn't suit her. Though she was temporarily keeping that power from erupting inside her by suppressing it with her own Soul Power,
if things continued this way, most of that power would eventually go to waste. It would be a terrible loss of her potential.
Lin Yun looked at Zhang Lexuan. She noticed his gaze too, and in her surprise, the short blade in her hand clattered to the ground.
It was no wonder Zhang Lexuan was startled. Lin Yun was now covered in black Soul Power, with faint ghostly wails echoing through it. Behind him loomed the enormous phantom of a three-headed Skeletal Bone Dragon, and a third eye had opened in his forehead.
That third eye radiated a fear so chilling that it made her shudder. If Zhang Lexuan hadn't had such keen senses,
she might have instinctively fired a Moonlight at him.
However, once Zhang Lexuan confirmed he was a friend, not a foe, she couldn't help taking another look at Lin Yun's new appearance.
The black Soul Power traced and deepened the lines of Shrek Academy's uniform, transforming Lin Yun's face, which had previously seemed too boyish.
His presence seemed more mature, as though he were a ruler who commanded fear.
Lin Yun wasn't simply standing there in a daze. He was actually experiencing the changes this state brought.
This was the effect of his third Soul Skill, Fear Monarch: it absorbed the fear of all nearby living beings and used it to kindle the Fire of Terror within him.
As long as fear existed in the world, no one but Lin Yun could extinguish this flame.
That was the skill's visible effect—its special effects, as people called them. Its true power was even more domineering: it increased his attack power by eighty percent, imbued every attack with the power of fear, and caused his opponent's Soul Power to rapidly drain away under the weight of their own terror.
At the same time, it healed all his external wounds.
Like the Chongming Divine Fire of the Chongming Bird, as long as fear still existed in the world, this flame could keep healing Lin Yun's external wounds.
Feeling this power, Lin Yun thought that for a thousand-year Soul Skill, its effects were far too strong.
He was already looking forward to what his later ten-thousand-year and Hundred Thousand Year Soul Rings would bring.
After absorbing the Soul Ring, Lin Yun's Soul Power had reached the peak of level thirty-three. He was just one step away from level thirty-four.
Zhang Lexuan watched Lin Yun as he began to put away the effects of his Soul Skill, feeling dazed for a moment.
Until now, out of gratitude and because of her promise to Mu En, she had kept her eyes on Bei Bei, like his nursemaid.
Later, when Mu En told Zhang Lexuan she didn't have to keep her promise, she had refused mostly because she had grown used to Bei Bei and thought she would never again feel anything for anyone.
Now that she had seen Lin Yun, that feeling in her heart had come roaring back to life.
Lin Yun walked up to Zhang Lexuan. Seeing that she wasn't reacting, he waved a hand in front of her face.
"Senior Sister, what's wrong? Are you still with me?"
Zhang Lexuan came to her senses and lightly tapped Lin Yun on the head. Then she said,
"Since you've absorbed it successfully, let's head back. I'm sure the academy will be pleased with your new power."
Lin Yun glanced at his hand, then said,
"I hope they don't just treat me like an Evil Soul Master and wipe me out."
Zhang Lexuan smiled.
"They didn't treat people from the Xu Family of the Xuanming Sect as Evil Soul Masters, even though they have some rather abnormal cultivation methods. Your situation won't get you treated like one either."
"Just relax."
Lin Yun nodded. Although he still had doubts about what Zhang Lexuan had said, he nodded anyway.
Just as they had flown over the mountain ridge, Lin Yun suddenly wrapped an arm around Zhang Lexuan's waist and shot straight into the sky with her.
The next moment, pink mist surged beneath them, and Zhang Lexuan's annoyance with Lin Yun immediately turned to astonishment.
Lin Yun tossed Zhang Lexuan up, letting her stand with both feet on his shoulders. They formed a human pyramid, and he said to her,
"We've been ambushed. Senior Sister, you didn't inhale any of that mist, did you?"
Zhang Lexuan shook her head, her expression turning just as cold. The mist had already covered the mountain, and they couldn't see what was inside. She turned to Lin Yun and said gravely...
Before you continue