Dugu Bo's pupils constricted, and he instinctively took half a step back.
He had lived for seventy years and seen plenty of strange Martial Souls, but none had ever been like Xing Tian's—so deathly, like an evil ghost crawling straight out of hell.
Especially that aura of evil. It was far more than mere darkness: violent, savage, cruel, and seemingly capable of devouring everything.
"What is this?"
Dugu Bo suddenly froze. "Martial Soul Semi-Mimicry?"
Xing Tian had already woken up and stood, stretching his pleasantly loosened limbs. The Mantis Martial Soul behind him hadn't disappeared, and it was making similar movements.
Xing Tian asked in confusion, "Martial Soul Semi-Mimicry?"
Dugu Bo explained, "I forgot to tell you about this earlier. Quite a few Beast Soul Masters on the continent cultivate this way. Once they reach the Soul Saint realm, they can switch between two states."
Xing Tian immediately understood. His state was somewhere between Martial Soul Possession and Martial Soul Mimicry. It combined the advantages of both, while also inheriting their drawbacks.
Looking at Xing Tian's fully manifested Martial Soul, Dugu Bo said, "Your Martial Soul now possesses three attributes: darkness, evil, and death. How about calling it the Dark Evil Spirit Mantis?"
"That's a fine name. Thank you, Your Excellency Dugu!"
Dugu Bo walked slowly over to the corpse of the Dark Night Fierce Mantis and said to Xing Tian, "You're highly talented, so I might as well tell you a little more. After Soul Masters hunt Soul Beasts, they must make use of the corpses."
"Soul Beast corpses are valuable, too. If you cook them properly, eating the meat can strengthen your body. But insects are an exception. There are hardly any insect Soul Beasts that taste good."
"A Soul Beast's hide, fur, and scales can be made into armor. Its claws, fangs, and bones can be used to make weapons. At the very least, you can sell them for some Gold Soul Coins."
"But the most important thing is to check whether the Soul Beast dropped a Soul Bone. It's a treasure every Soul Master dreams of. You'll learn what Soul Bones can do after you enroll, so I won't go into it now."
"The higher a Soul Beast's cultivation and quality, the greater the chance it'll drop a Soul Bone. The Dark Night Fierce Mantis is a top-tier Soul Beast, but this one had only cultivated for two thousand years. It shouldn't have dropped a Soul Bone. I'll show you how to handle the corpse."
Dugu Bo bent down and began carefully processing the body.
Suddenly, Dugu Bo's body stiffened, his features twisting. "This can't be..."
He sprang to his feet and waved a hand. Thick, dark-green mist spilled out, corroding the Dark Night Fierce Mantis's corpse into black liquid and leaving behind two black objects.
Dugu Bo held out both hands, and the objects fell into his palms, one in each.
Xing Tian took a look. They were a pair of bones, each about the length of a human arm but a little thinner. They were jet-black all over, like black glass.
They were Soul Bones—and a pair of arm bones. Unlike ordinary Soul Bones, which gave off light, these seemed to devour the light around them.
Dugu Bo's face soured, and the corner of his eye twitched. He shoved the two Soul Bones into Xing Tian's hands. "Take them! This is ridiculous. A thousand-year Soul Beast dropped Soul Bones, and not just one, but two—a matching pair of arm bones. What kind of dogshit luck is this?"
Xing Tian asked, puzzled, "Didn't you say Soul Bones were treasures every Soul Master dreams of? You don't want them? You helped me solve my Martial Soul problem, so take these two as payment."
Dugu Bo said irritably, "How could I take something from a junior like you? Besides, I did it to repay a debt. If I accepted payment, how would that count as repaying it?"
"Besides, I'm a Titled Douluo and a Poison-type Soul Master. Neither the age nor the attributes of these Soul Bones suit me!"
"What's more, Soul Bones only reach their full potential when absorbed by you, since they come from the same source as your Soul Ring. But I should warn you: once absorbed, a Soul Bone can't be removed. These are only thousand-year Soul Bones, so their age is a little low for someone as talented as you."
Looking at the Soul Bones in his hands, Xing Tian thought, Soul Bones are a little like the relics from my previous life. But if Soul Beast corpses can be used to forge weapons, then Soul Bones should work too. Maybe I could even refine them into... If so, the idea I had just before I died in my previous life might actually come true.
Just then, Dugu Bo said, "Soul Bones are also called Treasures of the Blood River. If anyone finds out you have one, you'll invite trouble and countless greedy eyes, even if they're only thousand-year Soul Bones."
"So when we get back, ask Brother Ye for a Storage Soul Tool to keep them in. You'll find out what a Soul Tool is when the time comes."
"Let's go."
Dugu Bo was about to take Xing Tian flying back to Ye Mansion when Xing Tian stopped him. "Wait!"
"What is it? You're not thinking of trying to get more Soul Bones, are you? Forget it. Increasing the chances of a Soul Bone dropping would require slaughtering Soul Beasts on a massive scale, and that's expressly forbidden across the continent."
Xing Tian shook his head. "No. I think I've reached another bottleneck. I can attach another Soul Ring."
"What!"
Dugu Bo was so astonished that he'd lost count of how many times he'd been surprised that day. He immediately grabbed Xing Tian's wrist and examined him thoroughly. "You've really reached level twenty!"
But that wasn't what shocked Dugu Bo most. He found that Xing Tian seemed to have an evil spirit guarding his body. If he didn't have the cultivation of a Titled Douluo, he might not have been able to examine him at all.
More frightening still, Xing Tian didn't seem like a living person, but neither was he dead. His life force was extraordinarily vigorous, and yet he was steeped in deathly stillness. Dugu Bo couldn't believe that two such utterly opposite states could exist in the same person.
"Even a thousand-year first Soul Ring couldn't raise someone's level by ten, especially since some of its origin had to be used to give your Martial Soul form."
Dugu Bo puzzled over it, unable to make sense of what had happened. Then, at last, he seemed to think of something.
Dugu Bo stared blankly at Xing Tian, his face full of disbelief. This doesn't make sense. Didn't the people from Spirit Hall confirm that he had Innate Full Soul Power? If he really had more than ten levels, the testing crystal ball should have shown it. Could the people from Spirit Hall have been so stupid that they didn't notice the problem? Or did this kid deliberately hide it? Or did he simply forget to mention it?
Dugu Bo took a moment to settle himself, then asked, "When you were tested for Innate Soul Power, what happened to the crystal ball?"
"It filled with light."
"Could it really be because you died and came back to life, causing your Martial Soul to mutate after birth? But that old Ghost didn't go through anything like this." Dugu Bo was still baffled.
"Your Excellency Dugu, what's wrong?"
Dugu Bo explained, "Kid, the highest Innate Soul Power isn't actually level ten. It's level twenty."
"I once heard a legend. The inherited Martial Soul of the former Pope's line in Spirit Hall was the Six-Winged Angel. Their ancestor broke through the limits of Soul Masters and ascended to godhood. His descendants became the gods' representatives and received the blessing of their divine ancestor, granting them Innate Soul Power at level twenty."
Before you continue