Lin Yun stared in surprise at the brocade pouch in Zhang Lexuan's hand. Then Zhang Lexuan pressed it into his palm.
"Inside is an eighty-thousand-year-old Terror Claw Dragon's left arm Soul Bone. Its inherent Soul Skill is Rend. It lets all of the user's attacks inflict tearing damage, preventing wounds from being healed by healing-type Soul Skills below your level and continuously draining Soul Power."
"As for the pouch itself, it's a level-three Storage Soul Tool with two hundred cubic meters of storage space. It just can't hold living things."
Lin Yun's expression grew a little more serious.
"Does this belong to you, or to the academy?"
Zhang Lexuan said, "It was spoils from a Soul Master I killed a year ago for doing evil. This Soul Bone isn't compatible with me, so I can't absorb it. Mu En told me to deal with it myself, but I never found the right person to give it to."
"After all, while it is an eighty-thousand-year-old Soul Bone, it might grant the person who absorbs it a second, unknown Soul Skill. It also has specific requirements: the person must be an unmarried male Soul Master with a dragon-type Martial Soul and a dark attribute."
Lin Yun raised an eyebrow and looked at Zhang Lexuan.
"Senior Sister, you're not messing with me, are you?"
Zhang Lexuan said with a perfectly straight face, "Of course not. Why would you think that?"
The corner of Lin Yun's mouth twitched.
"Because you're practically reciting my name. Can something really be this much of a coincidence?"
Zhang Lexuan looked at Lin Yun and said seriously, "Believe it or not, it's up to you."
Lin Yun smiled, then said, "All right, then I'll take you at your word. This is a gift from you, and the academy has nothing to do with it."
Zhang Lexuan nodded. "Mm. That's settled. You can absorb the Soul Bone after you get back. Come take a walk with your senior sister."
Lin Yun agreed and said to Zhang Lexuan, "You feed me, so I serve you. Tonight, I'm all yours. Just say the word, and I'll make sure these two treasures are worth it."
Zhang Lexuan's face reddened before his eyes. She shoved him and said, "Stop being ridiculous. What do you mean, 'yours' or 'mine'? We're nowhere near that stage yet."
Lin Yun pretended to look confused and asked, "What stage?"
A faint blush spread across Zhang Lexuan's face. For once, she showed a touch of girlish shyness.
"Never mind. Come on, let's walk around campus. I heard the Outer Court has focused on physical training these past few years. Your senior sister will put you to the test."
Zhang Lexuan set off first. Perhaps under the influence of Lin Yun's Pupil of Fear, she had finally emerged from that night, and even her gratitude toward Mu En no longer felt so overwhelming.
Instead, she had developed a few genuine feelings for Lin Yun, who had pushed her to take that step. As Lin Yun weighed what to do next, Zhang Lexuan changed the subject and began speaking.
"I looked into that duke's family again afterward. They really were a pitiful family."
At the mention of it, Lin Yun's attitude turned sour. He said sarcastically, "Oh, what a tragedy. I wonder which bastard organization was behind it. So hard to guess."
Zhang Lexuan coughed and said, "You can vent to me, but don't go saying things like that in public. It's no joke if someone hears you. You already have an Evil Martial Soul."
Lin Yun gazed at the moon and continued, "Yeah. Even now, I'm still an Evil Martial Soul. I just don't understand—didn't Bone Douluo from ten thousand years ago refrain from doing evil?"
Zhang Lexuan said, "Your Skeletal Bone Dragon is a mutated variant, after all. And the darkness attribute of Bone Dragons is real... Of course, the academy is in the wrong in some ways, too. In most ways, actually."
Lin Yun glanced at Zhang Lexuan and stopped her from going on. He took hold of her wrist and said, "You just warned me not to say too much in public, yet you're the one going further and further out of bounds. I'm only an Outer Court student, at least. You're the Inner Court's eldest senior sister."
Zhang Lexuan's expression dimmed. She took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "If I could choose, I'd rather be an ordinary little girl, staying by my parents' side, instead of the Inner Court's eldest senior sister."
Lin Yun didn't try to comfort Zhang Lexuan too much. She might have moved on in her mind, but the sorrows of the past had only hardened into a thorn inside her. One day, without warning, it would surface and stab her right in the heart.
Chu Zhengzhang's story wasn't quite the same as Zhang Lexuan's, but in both cases, one noble family had been oppressed by another.
And both had been in the Dou Ling Empire.
He wondered if that was simply the way the nobles there operated.
It was no wonder Zhang Lexuan had been reminded of the past and lost control of her emotions in the aftermath.
After a long while, Zhang Lexuan suddenly looked up and said, "Enough. Being sad and reminiscing won't change anything. Absorb your Soul Bone here. I'll protect you."
Lin Yun nodded. From the moment he'd received the Terror Claw Dragon Soul Bone, he'd felt an instant affinity with it.
It was less than a hundred thousand years old, but Lin Yun was already looking forward to fusing with it.
Lin Yun sat cross-legged, took out the Terror Claw Dragon Soul Bone, and began absorbing it...
Before you continue