Early the next morning, Qian Xunji summoned Qian San to the back mountain again. "Your dad brought you something good this time."
Qian Xunji smiled mysteriously and brushed his right hand over his storage ring.
In an instant, a soft, pure white light lit up Qian San's face. A strange skull lay quietly in Qian Xunji's palm.
An indescribable wave of spiritual power spread outward like a spring breeze. Qian San merely took a deep breath, and the mental energy he had spent practicing the Zheng Fuyu Sword Technique over the past few days was instantly restored.
"Is... is that a Spirit Bone?" Qian San sucked in a sharp breath, staring cautiously at the object in his father's hand.
"To be precise, it's a Head Soul Bone from a Sacred White Nine-Glory Illusion Butterfly with a hundred and ninety thousand years of cultivation," Qian Xunji said calmly.
"That Phantom Butterfly wasn't skilled in physical combat, but its mental power was terrifying. It could even create illusions capable of trapping a Peerless Douluo. Your Soul Skills already work well together, but constructing more complex weapons requires tremendous mental power. Even with that unusual eye technique of yours, you're still too weak."
Qian Xunji held the Spirit Bone out to Qian San. "This Head Soul Bone can transform your mental power. To you, it's a priceless treasure."
Qian San was stunned.
A hundred and ninety thousand years? A Head Soul Bone?
Gulp. Qian San swallowed hard, his eyes instantly reddening. Instead of reaching for it, he stumbled back a step and stammered:
"D-Dad, this... this is too precious! You... you should use it yourself! A Spirit Bone of this caliber can only reach its full potential with you!"
Warmth rose in Qian Xunji's heart at the sight of his son, but he glared and snapped, "Cut the crap! I've already absorbed one."
"I absorbed the sect's inherited Six-Winged Angel Head Soul Bone ages ago. I've only got one head. How am I supposed to absorb a second one? You want me to strap it to my backside?"
Qian Xunji grabbed Qian San's hand and forced the Spirit Bone into his arms. His tone left no room for argument:
"Stop fussing! I risked my life to get this. If you don't absorb it, who will? Hurry up, sit down cross-legged. I'll watch over you."
Qian San clutched the warm Spirit Bone, feeling the vast mental power flowing from it. He looked up at his father's face, outwardly annoyed but full of affection, and two streams of tears rolled down his cheeks.
In his previous life at the Tang Sect, fellow disciples had schemed against one another for profit. They would fight to the death over even a tattered manual. Yet in this life, his father had placed a treasure that could drive the entire continent mad into his hands without a moment's hesitation. The weight of that fatherly love was ten thousand times greater than that of a hundred-and-ninety-thousand-year Spirit Bone.
"Thank you, Dad..." Qian San choked out, wiping away his tears. He refused no longer. Sitting cross-legged, he solemnly pressed the Sacred White Nine-Glory Illusion Butterfly's Head Soul Bone against his forehead, slowly closed his eyes, and began circulating the Mysterious Heaven Skill.
In an instant, the Spirit Bone turned into a mass of pure white liquid and seeped bit by bit through the space between Qian San's brows into his Sea of Awareness.
The vast white mental power surged through his Sea of Awareness like a tsunami. Qian San gritted his teeth, clinging to a sliver of clarity as the inner force of the Mysterious Heaven Skill mingled with his mental power, gradually breaking down and ordering the immense foreign energy.
Qian Xunji stood nearby, soft golden holy light glowing at his fingertips, ready to stabilize his son's Sea of Consciousness the moment he could no longer hold on.
Time passed, minute by minute.
The chill in the woods gradually dispersed in the breeze before dawn, and two hours slipped by unnoticed.
Hum—
A nearly tangible purple-gold light shot from Qian San's eyes like a sword. It reached more than three feet before slowly fading into the air. Nourished by the hundred-and-ninety-thousand-year Spirit Bone, his Purple Demon Eye had skipped straight past the Subtlety Realm and reached the Mustard Seed Realm!
His mental power was not the only thing transformed. At that moment, the Soul Power within Qian San erupted.
Level forty!
Qian San felt the vast Sea of Awareness within his mind, and his whole body trembled with excitement.
"How do you feel?" Qian Xunji asked with a smile.
"Dad, it's incredible!" Qian San sprang to his feet.
"It feels like several brains are working together in my head! This Spirit Bone pushed my Soul Power straight to level forty, and it really does have two Soul Skills!"
"Oh? Tell me about them." Qian Xunji's eyes shone with approval.
Qian San excitedly held up two fingers.
"The first skill is called Nine-Glory Divine Net. It's a detection skill that works both passively and actively. My mental power can instantly cover a thousand-meter radius. Within that area, every rustle of grass, even the paths of Soul Power flowing through an enemy's body, appears in my mind as though slowed down, with no blind spots!"
Qian Xunji nodded. The skill seemed tailor-made for Tang Sect Hidden Weapons, somewhat like Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection. With a full-circle radar free of blind spots and the ability to see motion slowed down, it would be an immensely powerful aid both in combat and in making Hidden Weapons.
"And the second?"
"The second skill is called Phantom Heart Multi-Thread!"
"It's an ingenious method of controlling multiple things at once! Once activated, it can instantly split my mental power into dozens of independent strands, each able to control one object with precision."
It was somewhat like the Heart Separation Control of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect—or rather, the Seven Treasure Overlord Sect—but from what he had seen so far, its effects were far superior.
To demonstrate, Qian San activated his first Soul Skill.
A great mass of blue-silver Liquid Metal poured from his palm. Under the control of Phantom Heart Multi-Thread, it burst apart in midair into dozens of tiny components: gears, springs, slots, triggers... The metal pieces flew together and joined as though they had lives of their own.
In just two seconds, a complete, finely crafted Godly Zhuge Crossbow, gleaming with a cold metallic sheen, floated before Qian San!
"With this Soul Bone Skill, my Liquid Metal is no longer limited to simple swords and blades. As long as I have the design in my head, I can use my mental power to make dozens of parts at once in an instant, maybe even hundreds in the future, and assemble any complex Hidden Weapon out of thin air!" Qian San was so excited he nearly cried.
Hidden Weapons were practically his faith. This Soul Skill would let him make all kinds of them with ease. He could not imagine a Soul Skill better suited to him.
Before you continue