He sat cross-legged, adjusted his breathing, and brought his mind into the best possible state.
Then he gently guided it with his Soul Power.
As if summoned, the yellow Soul Ring drifted over and settled directly around him.
The instant the Soul Ring entered his body, a vast, scorching surge of energy crashed into his meridians!
Ye Feng grunted. It felt as though every meridian in his body had been lit like a fuse; searing pain and heat instantly spread through every limb and bone.
Daring not to slack off, he immediately focused his mind and guided the violent energy along a fixed route through his body.
Time passed slowly amid the torment.
Five hours later, sunlight spilled through gaps in the leaves.
Ye Feng's tightly shut eyes snapped open!
The yellow Soul Ring revolving around him shone brilliantly, then slowly faded into his body and disappeared.
He had absorbed it successfully.
He slowly rose to his feet. Feeling the Soul Power within him, now several times stronger than before, he was filled with a sense of power unlike anything he had ever experienced.
He clenched his fist and willed it.
"First Soul Skill: Radiant Body!"
Brilliant golden light burst from within him, forming a faint golden aura over the surface of his body.
A powerful sensation surged from deep within his muscles, and even his body's defenses seemed to have improved tremendously.
Soul Skill effect: Awakens the Martial Soul Origin, increasing his strength and defense by thirty percent and his light attribute by ten percent!
What's more, this Soul Skill didn't consume much Soul Power and could last for around ten minutes, without any side effects.
This boost... was outrageous!
If this wasn't the standard bonus from a top-tier Soul Beast, Ye Feng wouldn't believe it even if he were beaten to death!
Even the First Soul Rings of those top-tier Beast Martial Souls gave roughly the same boost!
Just as he was about to carefully test the Soul Skill's effects, an unexpected change struck!
A stabbing pain erupted without warning in both his eyes, as if two red-hot brands had been forcibly shoved into his eye sockets!
"Argh!"
Ye Feng grimaced in agony and clutched his eyes, his legs almost giving way beneath him.
The pain came quickly, and went just as quickly.
After a moment, he slowly lowered his hands. Two beams of golden light, each about an inch long, shot from his eyes and lingered without fading.
This! This was...
An External Soul Bone!
What on earth had he done to deserve such incredible luck!
A stream of information naturally flooded into his mind.
External Soul Bone: Pupil of Light Dawn.
It possessed powerful mental perception, and came with a Soul Bone Skill.
Skill: Light of Insight.
Effect: Greatly enhances dynamic vision and perception, allowing him to see through a certain degree of fog, illusions, and invisibility. He could even detect the paths of energy flowing through the air.
This opportunity had truly been worth risking his life for!
What's more, the Pupil of Light Dawn was only at its first stage. New abilities would unlock as his strength increased!
Fortune truly favored the bold. The ancients hadn't lied!
Feeling the increase in his Soul Power, he still couldn't determine his exact level, but it had definitely surpassed level eleven.
There was still more than a month until school started. He could hunt a few more Hundred-Year Soul Beasts around the forest's outskirts and trade them for Gold Soul Coins, preparing for his future cultivation!
Having made up his mind, he dragged the Radiant Lion's corpse out of the tree hollow, got his bearings, and headed for the town.
When Ye Feng returned to the familiar teahouse, the owner, who had been holding a teacup and sipping from it, spat out his tea with a "Pfft!" It splashed across the entire table.
"You... You actually made it back alive?"
The owner looked as if he'd seen a ghost.
The other customers also turned to stare at him in surprise. Some Soul Masters who had seen Ye Feng a few days earlier looked utterly incredulous.
"That kid's got some luck. The beast tide hasn't even stopped, and he made it out of the forest alive?"
"Look at his injuries. They're awful."
"Hey, he's alive. What more could he want?"
"What's he dragging behind him? A lion?"
"My god! Look at its fur and size. It's a Hundred-Year Soul Beast! He hunted one all by himself?"
Ye Feng ignored the chatter around him and grinned at the owner.
"Boss, I just got lucky. I wanted to ask, where in town can I sell a Soul Beast's corpse?"
The moment he said this, the area fell silent. Everyone's eyes fixed on the lion's corpse behind him, their gazes tangled with envy, jealousy, and greed.
With everyone watching, Ye Feng followed the owner's directions and dragged the lion to the entrance of the biggest restaurant in town.
The restaurant owner was a burly middle-aged man. When he saw the lion's corpse Ye Feng had dragged over, he was taken aback. He came outside and clicked his tongue.
"Kid, you've got guts. You even managed to hunt a top-tier Soul Beast like this."
"You flatter me, senior. I just got lucky."
Ye Feng answered modestly:
"I wonder, senior, what price you'd offer for this Soul Beast? Also, could you tell me what it's called?"
The restaurant owner's expression turned strange at once.
"What? You don't even know what kind of Soul Beast this is, and you still went hunting it?"
The crowd, drawn over by the commotion, immediately broke into a chorus of jeers.
"What's going on? He didn't even know what he was hunting? What a greenhorn."
"Maybe he just found it lying around? Or stole the corpse?"
"Sounds about right. Otherwise, how could he not know its name?"
"Now the boss is going to fleece him. He doesn't know the going rate, so he deserves to get ripped off."
The restaurant owner ignored the chatter. He crouched to inspect the lion's corpse carefully, then stood and looked at Ye Feng with a complicated expression.
"Kid, listen carefully.
"This thing is called a Radiant Lion. It's an extremely rare light-attribute Soul Beast, and its bloodline is no less precious than that of some dragon-blooded Soul Beasts!"
"Since you risked your life to get it, I won't cheat you."
"One price: six hundred Gold Soul Coins, and I'll take it! If it were alive, it'd be worth at least three thousand Gold Soul Coins!"
Hiss!
At that offer, the crowd couldn't help sucking in a breath. The way they looked at Ye Feng changed completely.
Six hundred Gold Soul Coins!!
"Deal!"
Ye Feng agreed without the slightest hesitation.
The restaurant owner gave him an approving look and quickly had someone bring over a Gold Soul Coin card loaded with five hundred coins, along with a heavy money pouch.
"There are five hundred on the card and one hundred in the pouch. Count it."
"Thank you, senior."
Ye Feng took the money and turned to leave beneath the crowd's practically murderous, envious stares. His pace quickened, and soon he was running straight for the edge of town.
He was carrying a fortune. This was no place to linger!
Someone might have their eye on him.
Now, only that narrow tree hollow was safe!
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