Xia Ming looked at the soul bone before him, as though it had been tailor-made for him, and all hesitation vanished from his heart.
He accepted the Dark-Gold Terrorclaw Left Palm Bone with both hands. It felt slightly cool to the touch, yet he could clearly sense the surging power pulsing within it.
"Many thanks to Senior Brother and the two elders for standing guard."
Xia Ming bowed, then sat cross-legged once more and pressed the dark-gold palm bone against the back of his left hand.
The violent clash between the soul bone's energy and his body that he had anticipated did not occur.
The incomparably tyrannical source power of the Dark-Gold Terrorclaw Bear flowed into Xia Ming's body, yet it was like a stream merging into the sea, causing no great disturbance.
The wild, unyielding tearing intent contained within the soul bone's energy unexpectedly settled on its own when it encountered the top-tier bloodline of the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff within Xia Ming.
The palm bone of the Dark-Gold Terrorclaw Bear was indeed overwhelmingly tyrannical, enough to make most Soul Masters suffer agony like being carved by a thousand blades during fusion, even risking backlash from failure.
But no matter how tyrannical it was, how could it compare to the bloodline of the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff of old?
Xia Ming only felt a gentle yet tingling sensation of fusion emanating from the bone in his left palm. The pressure and tearing pain he had expected were entirely absent.
The entire process went far more smoothly than he had imagined.
As the soul bone's energy was fully absorbed and fused, Xia Ming's Soul Power also rose accordingly, officially reaching rank thirty-nine.
Half an hour later, the dark-gold radiance around Xia Ming's left hand completely withdrew, and the palm bone had vanished.
He slowly opened his eyes. His left hand looked no different from before.
Yet an unprecedented sense of control and hidden explosive power was clearly imprinted upon his senses.
"How was it?" Yan Shaozhe looked at him expectantly. "Did you inherit the Dark-Gold Terrorclaw?"
The corners of Xia Ming's mouth lifted, and a glint of eagerness flashed through his eyes. "It went exceptionally smoothly. As for whether I inherited it..."
He looked at Yan Shaozhe, his tone carrying a hint of challenge. "Why not experience it for yourself, Senior Brother?"
He raised his left hand. A flash of dark-gold light appeared, and five dark-gold claws over a foot long, shaped like crescent blades, instantly sprang forth as though they had naturally grown from his finger bones!
Dark-gold ripples flowed across the claws like water. The air along their edges warped, releasing a teeth-grinding cutting sound.
Their mere existence radiated an aura of invincible sharpness.
Then, with a thought from Xia Ming, his third Soul Ring suddenly lit up!
The instant the Soul Ring flashed, a strange fluctuation that seemed capable of tearing apart everything spread out from Xia Ming.
"Watch closely, Senior Brother!" Xia Ming shouted as he fiercely swung his left arm!
There were no elaborate tricks, only the simplest and most direct horizontal tear!
Five dark-gold claw streaks ripped through the air and shot straight toward Yan Shaozhe!
Yan Shaozhe did not let down his guard. With a thought, he instantly formed three incomparably condensed shields of light-element Soul Power before himself, each sufficient to easily withstand the full-force attack of an ordinary Soul Douluo.
He had deliberately controlled the shields' strength at the Soul Douluo level because he wanted to properly test the power of this strike.
Yet what happened next made his pupils contract sharply!
When the five dark-gold claw streaks touched the first shield, the light on its surface flickered violently.
But it was not violently shattered. Instead, it was directly ignored by some strange force!
The claw streaks barely slowed as they passed through the second shield, then the third...
Screech—!
A soft sound like fabric being torn apart.
The three shields before Yan Shaozhe, enough to leave Soul Douluos helpless, were pierced through by the five claw streaks as though they did not exist!
The claw streaks did not lose their momentum. They precisely swept across the sleeve of Yan Shaozhe's raised left arm as he blocked.
His sleeve instantly turned into scraps.
Even more shocking, however, were the five shallow yet unmistakably clear bloody marks left on Yan Shaozhe's skin!
Though they were merely superficial wounds and instantly healed under the effects of Soul Power, the marks themselves already explained everything.
"It actually managed to injure me!"
Yan Shaozhe looked at the blood marks rapidly vanishing from his arm, undisguised shock appearing on his face.
He knew very well the strength of the defenses he had just set up, and he understood even more clearly how resilient his body was.
The penetrating power of that strike had completely exceeded his expectations!
Xia Ming stood with his claws retracted. The claws on his left hand slowly withdrew as the dark-gold radiance faded.
He looked at Yan Shaozhe and explained, "Senior Brother, being able to break through your defenses was not solely the effect of the Dark-Gold Terrorclaw soul bone. More importantly, it was due to my third soul skill."
He paused, then explained the soul skill he had just obtained in detail:
"This soul skill is called Sky-Rending Tear. Its effect is that it can ignore any defense formed from Soul Power. I imagine even a Soul Guidance Shield would be no exception."
As soon as he said this, not only Yan Shaozhe, but even Elder Song and Elder Zhuang beside him drew sharp breaths.
Ignore all Soul Power defenses?
This was simply the nightmare of every defense-type Soul Master and Soul Engineer!
It could be called a rule-level divine skill for breaking defenses!
"Furthermore, after this soul skill is used, the attack power of my next attack will double on top of all existing enhancements."
Xia Ming continued, excitement gleaming in his eyes.
He was very satisfied with the effects of this soul skill.
Ignoring all defenses was already extraordinary enough, not to mention that it also doubled attack power.
One had to know that this was a precious independent multiplier.
After activating his first and second Soul Rings, his attack power was already increased by 350%. After using this soul skill, his next attack would have nine times its original power.
What a terrifying number that was!
Combined with the effect of ignoring all Soul Power defenses, as well as the ultimate physical offense granted by the Dark-Gold Terrorclaw soul bone...
Just imagining the power of this combo was enough to make one's scalp tingle.
With this soul skill activated, Xia Ming could even threaten some Title Douluos.
Of course, while this soul skill was powerful, its Soul Power consumption could not be underestimated.
One use consumed a quarter of Xia Ming's current Soul Power.
Even with the rapid recovery granted by his second soul skill, he simply could not use it many times.
Xia Ming told the others present all of this.
For a moment, the clearing fell into brief silence.
Yan Shaozhe, Elder Song, and Elder Zhuang, three experts standing at the pinnacle of the continent, looked at one another and saw deep shock in each other's eyes.
Ignoring all Soul Power defenses, doubling final attack power through an independent multiplier, combined with the terrifying base attack power of the Dark-Gold Terrorclaw soul bone and the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff Martial Soul...
This was no longer merely a powerful ten-thousand-year soul skill.
It was practically a divine skill born for challenging opponents above one's level and creating miracles!
After a long while, Yan Shaozhe let out a long breath. He looked at Xia Ming, his expression complicated.
"The Soul Ring and soul bone you obtained this time are likely worth far more than we initially expected.
What an incredible Sky-Rending Tear!
Given time, this soul skill may become the nightmare of all your enemies!"
Before you continue