Absorbing the Head Soul Bone.

"Hoo~" Qian Daoliu let out a long breath, suppressing the slight excitement in his heart as he turned to look at Murong Huai.

"Good, Huai'er. This Red Barbarian Cannon is of immeasurable value to our Martial Soul Hall. You have performed a great service."

Hearing this, Murong Huai scratched his head. "Teacher, as the Holy Son of Martial Soul Hall, it is only right that I make some contributions to the organization."

"Sigh, there is no need to be humble. Credit belongs where credit is due." Qian Daoliu waved his hand and continued:

"You are still young, so I will not grant you too much real power for now. How about this: choose two Soul Ancestors from Martial Soul Hall to serve as your personal bodyguards. How does that sound?"

"I will listen to you, Teacher." Murong Huai nodded.

Qian Daoliu then turned to the master craftsmen and ordered:

"Hear my command: the five of you shall lead the remaining craftsmen of the Engineering Department to focus exclusively on forging this Red Barbarian Cannon. I do not demand quantity; build as many as you can before the army departs. However, there is one condition: the cannonballs must be sufficient, and the quality must be absolutely guaranteed."

"We obey your command." The men quickly bowed in response.

The blueprints Murong Huai had previously provided also mentioned assembly-line methods, using molds to create identical parts, which would significantly increase production speed.

Afterward, the group returned to the Pope Palace. Qian Daoliu looked at Murong Huai and said slowly:

"Huai'er, you have worked hard for nearly a month. You should take some rest now. By the way, I have checked your physique, and it is superior even to a Soul Ancestor. Therefore, you should go and absorb that Soul Bone."

"Yes, Teacher."

After speaking, Qian Daoliu looked at Guangling and said, "Guangling, give Huai'er the list of Soul Ancestors belonging to the Pope Palace so he can choose two guards. Tell Xiongshi to return as well; rest up and prepare for the great war."

"Yes, Your Holiness." Guangling and Xiongshi bowed in response.

Murong Mansion.

"Hoo~ With the Red Barbarian Cannon now available, I imagine Martial Soul Hall's conquest will proceed more smoothly." Murong rubbed his temples.

Knock, knock, knock!

At that moment, a few knocks sounded at the door. "Holy Son, His Holiness has sent over a list."

"Come in."

Upon receiving Murong Huai's response, Tu Zhen pushed the door open, walked in, placed the list gently on the table, and turned to leave.

Murong Huai opened the list, which recorded the names of all Soul Ancestors belonging to the Pope Palace.

"Zi Wu, Martial Soul Purple Smoke Blade, level 89 Soul Ancestor.

Qingzhou, Martial Soul Ghost Vine, level 88 Soul Ancestor.

Demon Bear, Martial Soul Blood Demon Berserk Bear, level 82 Soul Ancestor.

Ghost Leopard, Martial Soul Black-Striped Ghost Leopard, level 81 Soul Ancestor.

..."

The Pope Palace had over a hundred Soul Ancestors, not counting those belonging to the Worship Hall and the Elder Hall. However, while the number of Soul Ancestors was significant, very few could break through to become Titled Douluo; having one or two out of a hundred reach that rank was already quite impressive.

In the original work, during the Spirit Hall Empire era, it was explicitly mentioned that the empire possessed sixty to seventy thousand spirit masters. Martial Soul Hall had not yet consolidated the major sects, yet it already had over a hundred Soul Ancestors. The two great empires combined had fewer than a hundred, with most of the rest scattered among the major sects.

On the list, Murong Huai also saw several familiar names: Demon Bear, Ghost Leopard, Ling Yuan, and so on—all of whom would become Titled Douluo elders of Martial Soul Hall in the future.

"Oh? These two are on the list as well? Then it shall be you two." Murong Huai saw two names and became interested.

"Yue Guan, Martial Soul Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum, level 83 Soul Ancestor.

Gui Mei, Martial Soul Ghost Vine, level 83 Soul Ancestor."

Gui Mei and Yue Guan were the two henchmen under Qian Xunji and Bibi Dong in the original work. They were Super Douluo in strength, formidable among the elders, and possessed the Martial Soul Fusion Skill—Two-Pole Static Domain.

It was a pity, though; one was killed by Tang San in a sneak attack with the Sea God Trident, and the other passed away in despair... truly tragic and lamentable.

"Haha, in that case, Senior Brother, your Junior Brother will take the lead. Since I've encountered them, the ending for these two will have to change."

Murong Huai suddenly remembered something.

"Eh, right. It seems this Yue Guan is also well-versed in immortal herbs, and his Martial Soul is the immortal-grade herb Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum. Perhaps I can plan a trip to the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well later."

After circling the two names, Murong Huai had Tu Zhen return the list to the Pope Palace.

Afterward, Murong Huai took out the head Soul Bone gifted to him by Qian Daoliu—a nine-thousand-plus-year Heaven-Deriving Unicorn Emperor Soul Bone, which could be said to be second only to a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone.

The Heaven-Deriving Unicorn was also an extremely powerful spirit beast, possessing immense mental power and the ability to utilize the power of Heaven-Deriving to inflict special damage on enemies, capable of negating the attacks of most spirit beasts and spirit masters.

If it could reach the hundred-thousand-year level, it would likely be no less powerful than a Titan Giant Ape; in any case, it was far better than some old rabbit.

Thinking of this, Murong Huai still couldn't understand how two common Soft Bone Rabbits could cultivate to a hundred thousand years. Weren't those things just a dish on the dinner table?

Subsequently, Murong Huai sat cross-legged on the bed, placed the skull against his forehead, and began to absorb it. Golden light flowed across his brow.

Absorbing a Soul Bone was not as difficult as absorbing a spirit ring; there was basically no danger. It only required converting spirit power to fuse with it, which was straightforward enough.

After about half an hour, Murong Huai slowly opened his eyes. Golden light shimmered in his pupils. Suddenly, the scene before him became incredibly clear: the fine cracks on the table, the dust falling from the door frame, Outside the window, the patterns on the branches and leaves of the ancient trees in the courtyard, the trajectory of the cicadas' wings, the slight trembling of the wind chimes, the footsteps of the servants... everything was crystal clear.

Murong Huai scanned his surroundings before closing his eyes once more. When he reopened them, their color had returned to normal.

"Whew, as expected of a ninety-thousand-year head spirit bone. It has boosted my spiritual power to such an extent that it is definitely at the level of a Spirit Saint. If my sea of consciousness hadn't reached its limit, it could have been even stronger, though it will continue to grow as my cultivation improves."

This head spirit bone also granted Murong Huai a spirit bone skill, a mental-type spirit ability named--Heaven-Deriving Paradox Tampering.

The effect of this spirit ability is quite unique; it can briefly rewrite regional reality logic to inflict Paradox Tampering upon an enemy. The causal chain of the opponent's next spirit ability (excluding spirit bone skills) will be distorted.

It ignores level restrictions. The higher the opponent's spirit power, the greater the consumption of one's own spirit power, though it will never exceed fifty percent of one's total spirit power.

For example, if an enemy releases a fire-type spirit ability, the flames might burn back toward the caster. Or, a skill intended to heal an ally might be converted into a debuff, and acceleration might turn into deceleration.

It can even tamper with the "prerequisites" of an enemy's spirit ability. For instance, if an auxiliary-type spirit master needs to chant an incantation to release a skill, the content of that incantation might be altered. To give an example, the spirit abilities of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda would be disrupted; chanting for an acceleration skill might instead release a strength boost. In short, even he has no idea which skill will actually manifest...

Murong Huai could not help but shake his head.

"To think this spirit ability appeared on a Heaven-Deriving Unicorn Emperor; truly, the hearts of beasts are not what they once were. If this were used on the Martial Soul Fusion Skill of Gui Mei and Yue Guan, would it just end up freezing them in place?"