External Spirit Bone!

Zichuan closed his eyes and carefully sensed the mysterious connection that had formed between the Heart of Destruction and his new Spirit Ring.

With a slight movement of his thoughts, a scorching, violent force pumped out from his heart and instantly swept through his entire body!

"Hah!"

He let out a low shout. A faint dark-gold sheen spread across his skin, and his muscles subtly swelled. It was not an exaggerated expansion, but his entire presence abruptly rose to a new level!

A dark-red radiance flared deep within his eyes. A pressure even fiercer and more battle-hungry than the pure aura of destruction from before spread outward.

"First Soul Skill: Battle Blood Boiling." Zichuan felt the power surging through his body as he spoke the name of his Soul Skill, his voice carrying a metallic ring.

"The effect is a fifty percent reduction in pain during activation... and..." He paused, a flash of delight appearing in his eyes. "A thirty percent increase to all attributes!"

"Hiss!"

Du Busi sucked in a sharp breath, his bull-like eyes widening round. "Thirty percent?! All attributes?! A first Soul Skill?!"

He grabbed Zichuan by the shoulders, squeezing hard enough to make him bare his teeth in pain.

"Good lad! Say that again! Thirty percent to all attributes?! Soul Power, strength, speed, defense, mental power... all of it counts?"

"All of it." Zichuan nodded firmly. Even he was stunned by the effect of this Soul Skill.

A thirty percent boost to all attributes would be a godlike skill for any Soul Master, let alone as a first Soul Skill!

Moreover, as his Soul Power increased, the basic effect of the Soul Skill might grow stronger as well! As expected of a Soul Skill produced by a Millennium Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear—it was utterly domineering!

"Good! What a Battle Blood Boiling!" Du Busi paced back and forth excitedly, slapping his thigh.

"This is practically a Soul Skill tailor-made for you! Combined with the double Soul Power and double recovery granted by your two hearts, activating this Soul Skill will let your combat strength soar to a terrifying level for a short time! Against opponents of the same rank... no, even those ten or twenty levels above you might not be able to beat you!"

Zichuan thought that was not all, either. After all, he still had two major domains.

"Destruction Domain. Effect: Suppresses all non-friendly units within the domain by twenty percent in all attributes, while reducing their recovery speed for vitality, Soul Power, and mental power by twenty percent."

"Life Domain. Effect: Increases all friendly units within the domain by twenty percent in all attributes, while increasing their recovery speed for vitality, Soul Power, and mental power by twenty percent."

With one side strengthened and the other weakened, the gap between them could be widened enormously.

Zichuan smiled as well. Just as he was about to say something else, a thunderous rumble suddenly came from his stomach.

A fierce hunger surged over him like a tide, instantly washing away the joy of gaining such powerful strength.

Only then did he remember that from awakening his martial soul in the morning, to absorbing the Whale-Shark Meat, to absorbing the Millennium Spirit Ring, he had not eaten or drunk anything. His body had also undergone immense exertion and strengthening, leaving it in desperate need of energy.

Du Busi froze for a moment, then burst into laughter. "Hahaha! Hungry? That's normal! Absorbing a Spirit Ring consumes a tremendous amount of energy, especially a Millennium Spirit Ring! Come on, we've got ready-made ingredients right here!"

With a wave of his hand, he pointed at the mountain-like corpse of the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear on the ground, green light gleaming in his eyes.

"This thing is packed with nourishment! Especially for your body right now! I'll show you what I can do today and let you taste what real heavenly food is!"

No sooner said than done. Du Busi moved swiftly, forming a blade with Soul Power and slicing off two huge pieces from the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear's plump hind leg. He then gathered dry firewood and lit a bonfire.

This was clearly not his first time doing this in the wilderness. His movements were practiced, and before long, the bear meat was roasting over the fire, sizzling as fat dripped from it. A rich meaty aroma mingled with a faint charred fragrance, making Zichuan's stomach growl even louder.

Before the meat was fully cooked, Zichuan was already growing impatient.

Du Busi tore off a piece that was crisp on the outside and tender within, handing it to him. Zichuan took it without caring about the heat and stuffed it into his mouth ravenously.

The instant the meat entered his mouth, Zichuan's eyes lit up.

The Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear's meat was firm and springy, packed with chewiness. It also contained abundant Soul Beast essence and Bloodline Power. Every bite turned into a warm current that nourished his body, eased his hunger, and even allowed him to feel his depleted Soul Power slowly recovering.

"Delicious!" Zichuan praised indistinctly, then ate even more fiercely.

At first, Du Busi watched with a smile, thinking the boy had quite an appetite. But before long, his smile stiffened.

Zichuan held a piece of roasted meat larger than his face in one hand, and in just a few bites, he had gnawed it down to nothing but bone. Then he stared eagerly at the other piece roasting over the fire.

Du Busi hurriedly tore off another large chunk for him. Zichuan accepted it and continued devouring it like a whirlwind.

One piece, two pieces, three pieces...

Zichuan's stomach seemed bottomless. He was only six years old and not particularly large, yet the meat he had eaten already weighed nearly half as much as his own body!

And he ate incredibly fast, chewing only a few times before swallowing, as if he did not need to digest anything at all.

Du Busi could barely roast the meat as quickly as Zichuan ate it. In the end, Zichuan simply took over himself, condensing dark-gold claws with Soul Power to carve up the cooked bear meat even more efficiently.

"Good heavens..." Du Busi stared in utter disbelief, forgetting even to turn the meat in his hands. "Kid... that appetite of yours... were you a starving ghost in your last life?"

Zichuan felt a little embarrassed as well, but the hunger that seemed to come from the depths of his soul drove him to keep eating.

"Teacher, I don't know either. I just feel incredibly hungry. Every cell in my body is crying out for food... Maybe it's because of the two hearts, and the strengthening earlier consumed too much."

Du Busi nodded thoughtfully. "That makes sense. Your two hearts provide double the power, so naturally their consumption must be double too—perhaps even more. Strengthening the body also requires enormous amounts of energy. Fine, being able to eat is a blessing! Eat more and grow strong!"

He simply placed the entire hind leg over the fire to roast, then tore off a piece for himself and joined Zichuan in feasting heartily.

Zichuan was eating with great relish when a sudden crisp crack sounded from inside his mouth, making his teeth go numb.

"Ptooey!" He spat out a fragment of bone and clutched his cheek, baring his teeth in pain. "What was that? Why was it so hard?"

Du Busi leaned over to look. What Zichuan had spat out was a small dark-gold bone fragment covered in strange patterns. Under the firelight, it glimmered with a restrained radiance.

"This is..." Du Busi's pupils abruptly shrank. He snatched up the fragment and examined it carefully, then suddenly turned to the bear paw roasting over the fire. Though fragrant and charred, its claws remained intact.

With a pull of his Soul Power, he drew the massive bear paw through the air. Ignoring the heat, he gripped it with both hands and wrenched it apart!

Crack!

The bear paw split open at once, exposing its interior. Yet at the center of the palm bones was not ordinary bone, but a special piece that was deeper in color, denser in texture, entirely dark gold, and bizarrely shaped—as though claw patterns had naturally grown upon it!

An incredibly dense Soul Power fluctuation and a fierce aura poured out from the bone!

"An... an External Soul Bone?!" Du Busi's voice rose into an incredulous shriek of ecstasy. "The Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear's right palm bone! An External Soul Bone! Hahaha! Heavens! You've been far too kind to my disciple!"

Zichuan was dumbfounded too, even forgetting the pain in his cheek. An External Soul Bone? One from a Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear? Was his luck... not a little too absurd?

Spirit Bones were already incomparably precious, while External Soul Bones were the finest among them—rare treasures one could only encounter by chance, with immense potential for growth!

And an External Soul Bone from a Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear had an extremely high chance of granting its innate Soul Skill—the Dark Gold Terrorclaw! That was a terrifying attack capable of tearing through space!

This was like gold bricks falling from the sky—no, diamonds—and landing straight in his mouth! It had nearly chipped his teeth, too!

"Quick! Absorb it!" Du Busi was so excited that his hands trembled. He carefully extracted the Dark Gold Palm Bone and handed it to Zichuan. His gaze was blazing yet utterly clear, filled only with pure delight and not the slightest greed.

"The earlier an External Soul Bone is absorbed, the better it fuses with the body! Kid, this opportunity of yours... it defies the heavens!"

Zichuan accepted the Dark Gold Palm Bone, which still retained some warmth. It felt smooth to the touch, yet impossibly heavy, and the violent energy contained within made his heart palpitate.

Just as he was about to sit cross-legged and attempt to absorb it, a sudden change occurred!

"ROAR!!!!!"

A deafening bear roar filled with endless grief and fury exploded from deep within the forest like a thunderclap striking level ground!

The sound rolled toward them, carrying terrifying pressure that made the ancient trees around them tremble and shed leaves. The bonfire flickered unsteadily under the sonic waves, while Zichuan's blood and energy churned, and his eardrums stabbed with pain.

Immediately afterward, the ground began to shake!