Southwest Direction's Call

Deep in the core of the Star Dou Forest.

"This... is this actually my spiritual origin?!!" Sensing the return of the missing spiritual origin, the voice carried a hint of surprise:

"Could it be that the guy finally couldn't hold on any longer?"

"What a pity. If this continent didn't forbid that race from breaking through the hundred-thousand-year threshold, he would surely have had a place in the soul beast world."

"Wait, that's not right!" The previous voice suddenly rose in pitch, its tone shifting:

"Why should I feel pity for that guy?"

"He is, after all... just another bandit, just like those who have imprisoned me here!"

When saying this, the voice was filled with indignation, carrying the resentment of one who had been oppressed for far too long.

Back in the day, he was nothing more than an incredibly lucky ice silkworm who stumbled into a mine of Ten Thousand Year Mysterious Ice Marrow. He ate and slept, slept and ate, and in a daze, he broke through to nine hundred and ninety thousand years.

But the potential of the ice silkworm race was set; it was simply too low.

Every soul beast that saw him would have eyes glowing with greed, treating him like a mobile energy pack. They all wanted to take a bite, to absorb his essence—which was pure to the extreme—to aid their own breakthroughs.

It was during those dark, sunless days that he encountered the Mirror Shadow Beast Emperor.

Facing an ice silkworm whose attack power was inferior even to an ordinary ten-thousand-year soul beast, and seeing a "full-course banquet" with no power to resist laid out before him, the outcome was predictable.

Although he risked his life to escape, the Mirror Shadow Beast Emperor still managed to bite off a large chunk of his origin.

It was precisely by relying on that mouthful of origin that the Mirror Shadow Beast Emperor became the first of his race to break through the hundred-thousand-year threshold.

Thinking of this, he became even angrier.

"Enough, you bug! What are you squabbling about over there!"

Just as he was muttering to himself, a rough voice like a muffled thunderclap suddenly exploded within this dark little space, shaking the very air.

"If you keep on blathering, do you believe I'll sew your mouth shut?"

Facing the blunt threat of that rough voice, even though he had ten thousand grievances in his heart, he could only quickly plaster a fawning smile on his face and grovel:

"Yes, yes, this little one will shut up right now and stop bothering you, old master."

Seeing him so sensible, the rough voice didn't press the issue, merely snorting heavily before sullenly retreating.

Sensing that the entity's attention had finally shifted away from him, the foul air in his heart not only failed to dissipate but burned even hotter.

He secretly swore, his voice so low that only he could hear it:

"Just you wait. I will make you all pay the price sooner or later."

"Now that my spiritual origin has returned, I expect that in a few years, I will be able to escape this damn hellhole."

As he spoke, he secretly accelerated the process of shedding his old shell.

He was preparing to break free from this cage.

The day he completely detached from his physical body, even the strongest entity opposite him would not be able to detect his movements.

By then, the sky would be wide enough for the bird to fly.

Far North Snow Forest.

Tang Wu sat cross-legged on the snow, his eyes tightly shut, the silver-gray external soul bone on his forehead emitting a soft glow.

The light pulsed, brightening and dimming like a breath.

About an hour later, the light completely retracted into his body.

He slowly opened his eyes, a third vertical pupil flashing across his forehead before vanishing.

His soul power level climbed once more, reaching level forty-nine.

Although he hadn't directly broken through the fifty-level bottleneck, he was only a step away.

As for the soul bone skill, it was as plain and straightforward as its name: Clear Eyes and Sharp Ears.

The effect was outrageously simple.

Within a radius of one thousand meters, no matter how small the movement, nothing could escape his eyes and ears.

But do not underestimate this common "thousand-mile eye, wind-following ear" ability; although it seemed unremarkable, this was a high-tier intelligence-gathering position!

A battle fought with preparation and one fought without are two completely different things.

While others were still "blind men feeling an elephant," he could already see the very undergarments of his opponents.

Tang Wu stood up, stretched his limbs, and grinned:

"Good grief, if this keeps up, I'm going to become an ultimate lifeform."

The Soul Hunting Operation ended there.

The three of them did not linger in the Far North Snow Forest.

On the return journey, Tang Wu directly activated his fourth soul skill, unfurling a pair of Wind Shadow Falcon wings behind his back and taking flight.

The speed was actually enough to keep up with the full-speed flight of Dugu Bo, a Titled Douluo.

The return trip was greatly shortened, and in less than a day, the three of them returned to the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well.

From this point alone, one could see just how monstrous this fourth soul skill truly was.

A 300% increase in flight speed was a velocity that someone at his level, a forty-ninth-rank Soul Ancestor, should never have been able to achieve.

"Little Poisonous One, don't forget what you promised me."

Dugu Bo tossed these words over his shoulder and turned to leave the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well without looking back.

The events of these past few days were more shocking than everything he had experienced in the first half of his life combined.

He needed to find a quiet place to properly digest it all.

A hundred-thousand-year soul beast sacrifice, a nine-hundred-ninety-thousand-year existence, and that absurd, earth-shattering fourth soul skill of Tang Wu's...

Any one of these things, if leaked, would be enough to shake the entire soul master world.

Once Dugu Bo's figure disappeared into the distance, Tang Wu mysteriously leaned in toward Tang San and lowered his voice:

"Brother, hurry up and get your level to forty. I have a surprise for you then."

"Oh?" Tang San raised an eyebrow. Watching his younger brother's feigned mysterious demeanor, he couldn't help but chuckle:

"What kind of surprise is it, being so secretive?"

"I said it's a surprise, so I definitely can't tell you in advance! In any case, you'll know when the time comes."

Tang San did not press him.

He knew that although his brother was usually flighty and unreliable, he never faltered when it was time to be serious.

Since he called it a surprise, it certainly wouldn't disappoint him.

After breaking through to become a Soul Ancestor, Tang Wu had vaguely sensed an inexplicable calling from the southwest, as if something in the netherworld was waiting for him.

Having read the script, he knew clearly that it was the Blue Silver King calling out.

According to the original plot, Tang San should have condensed his Blue Silver life-bound soul ring with the help of the Blue Silver King to complete his transformation.

Since Tang San had given the opportunity to temper his body in the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well to him, Tang Wu naturally couldn't favor one over the other.

Therefore, he chose to leave this opportunity to condense the Blue Silver Grass life-bound soul ring to Tang San.

"Alright then." Tang San nodded, not thinking much of it.

Unlike in the original work, because Tang San had not absorbed the Blazing Apricot Delicate and the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass to temper his body, he still had three slots for immortal herbs, allowing him to maximize his own potential.

He ultimately chose three immortal herbs: the Autumn Dew of Insight for eye-training, the Eight-Petal Immortal Orchid for consolidating his foundation, and the Primordial Immortal Grass for boosting soul power.

As for the Nine-Grade Purple Mushroom.

Sorry, but there's no share for you, Gangzi.

With the three immortal herbs in his stomach, Tang San sat cross-legged beside the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well, his internal soul power surging like a tide.

His aura climbed layer by layer: thirty-third rank, thirty-fourth rank, thirty-fifth rank...

In the end, under the combined medicinal effects of the three immortal herbs, his level leaped to the thirty-eighth rank.

In three months at most, he would be able to break through to the fortieth rank.