Star Dou Forest, deep in its heart.
"Th-this is actually Big Brother's Spiritual Origin?!!" Sensing his lost Spiritual Origin return, the voice sounded somewhat surprised.
"Could that guy have finally reached his limit?"
"What a pity. If this continent allowed that race to break through the hundred-thousand-year mark, Soul Beast Realm would surely have had a place for him."
"Wait a second!" The voice from before suddenly rose, its tone changing.
"Why should Big Brother feel sorry for that guy?"
"That was a... robber just as bad as the ones who imprisoned Big Brother here!"
As he spoke, the voice brimmed with indignation, carrying the resentment of someone who had long been oppressed.
Back then, he had been nothing more than an exceptionally lucky Ice Silkworm. By a stroke of luck, he'd stumbled into a mine of Ten Thousand Year Mysterious Ice Marrow, where he ate and slept, slept and ate, and somehow broke through to nine hundred and ninety thousand years.
But the Ice Silkworm race had a low ceiling. Its limits were simply too low.
Any Soul Beast that saw him had eyes shining with greed. They treated him like a walking energy pack, all wanting to take a bite and absorb his perfectly pure Origin to help themselves break through.
It was during those dark, sunless days that he met the Mirror Shadow Beast Emperor.
Facing an Ice Silkworm whose attack power didn't even match that of an ordinary ten-thousand-year Soul Beast, with a defenseless "Manchu-Han Imperial Feast" laid out before him, the outcome was obvious.
Though he'd fought with everything he had to escape, the Mirror Shadow Beast Emperor had still seized the chance to bite off a huge chunk of his Origin.
It was that very chunk of Origin that had allowed the Mirror Shadow Beast Emperor to become the first of his clan to break through the hundred-thousand-year mark.
Thinking of that only made him angrier.
"Enough, you worm! What are you carrying on about over there?"
As he muttered to himself, a voice as coarse as muffled thunder suddenly exploded through the dim little space, making the air tremble.
"Keep babbling and see if I don't sew your mouth shut!"
Though a thousand grievances boiled in his heart at the blunt threat, he could only plaster on a fawning smile and apologize:
"Yes, yes! This little one will shut up right away. I won't bother you any longer, sir."
Seeing how readily he'd fallen into line, the coarse voice couldn't bring itself to lash out again. It merely snorted heavily before leaving in a huff.
Sensing that the other's attention had finally shifted away from him, the rage in his heart didn't fade. If anything, it burned hotter.
He swore under his breath, so quietly that only he could hear:
"Just you wait. Sooner or later, Big Brother will make you pay."
"Now that my Spiritual Origin has returned, it should only take a few years for Big Brother to escape this damned place."
As he spoke, he secretly sped up the process of shedding his old body.
He was preparing to escape this cage.
When the day came that he had fully left his body behind, even the strongest being across from him wouldn't be able to detect his movements.
Then he'd be free as a bird in the vast skies.
Far North Snow Forest.
Tang Wu sat cross-legged in the snow, eyes closed. The silver-gray Head Soul Bone in his forehead glowed softly.
The light brightened and dimmed, like breathing.
About an hour later, the light faded completely into his body.
He slowly opened his eyes. A third vertical pupil flashed in the middle of his forehead, then vanished.
His Soul Power Level climbed once more, reaching level forty-nine.
He hadn't broken straight through the level-fifty bottleneck, but 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.
Its effect was simple to the point of being outrageous.
Within a radius of one thousand meters, no matter how slight the movement, it couldn't escape his eyes and ears.
But don't underestimate this commonplace ability to see a thousand miles and hear a whisper. It might look unremarkable, but information gathering was a noble role!
A battle fought with preparation and one fought without were entirely different things.
While others were still groping around like blind men trying to size up an elephant, he'd already seen his opponents' underwear clear as day.
Tang Wu got to his feet, stretched his limbs, and grinned.
"Good grief. Keep this up and I'll turn into the ultimate life-form."
The Soul Hunting Operation had come to an end.
The three didn't linger in the Far North Snow Forest.
On the way back, Tang Wu activated his fourth Soul Skill. A pair of Wind Shadow Falcon wings unfolded behind him, and he beat them as he soared into the sky.
He was actually fast enough to keep up with Dugu Bo, a Titled Douluo, flying at full speed.
The return trip was much shorter. In less than a day, the three of them were back at the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well.
That alone showed just how absurdly powerful his fourth Soul Skill was.
A three-hundred-percent boost to flight speed was simply not something a level-forty-nine Soul Ancestor should have been capable of.
"Little Poison, don't forget what you promised me."
Dugu Bo left those words behind, then turned and walked away from the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well without looking back.
The events of the past few days had been more shocking than everything that had happened in the first half of his life combined.
He needed to find somewhere quiet and take some time to digest it all.
The sacrifice of a hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast, an existence that was nine hundred and ninety thousand years old, and Tang Wu's outrageously powerful fourth Soul Skill...
Any one of those things would have been enough to rock the entire Soul Master World if word got out.
Only after Dugu Bo's figure had disappeared into the distance did Tang Wu sidle up to Tang San with a mysterious air and lower his voice.
"Bro, get your level up to forty as soon as you can. I've got a surprise for you when you do."
"Oh?" Tang San raised an eyebrow. Seeing his little brother put on such a deliberately mysterious act, he couldn't help laughing.
"What surprise? Why all the secrecy?"
"I said it's a surprise, so of course I can't tell you ahead of time! Anyway, you'll find out when the time comes."
Tang San didn't press him.
He knew his little brother might be flighty and unserious most of the time, but when it mattered, he never fooled around.
If he said it was a surprise, then it wouldn't disappoint.
After breaking through to Soul Ancestor, Tang Wu had faintly sensed an inexplicable call from the southwest, as though something were waiting for him in the unseen distance.
Having read the script, he knew perfectly well that it was the Blue Silver King calling to him.
According to the original story, Tang San should have condensed a Blue Silver Life-Bound Soul Ring with the Blue Silver King's help and completed his transformation.
Tang San had given him the chance to temper himself in the Ice and Fire Well, so Tang Wu couldn't play favorites.
That was why he chose to give Tang San the chance to condense a Blue Silver Grass Life-Bound Soul Ring.
"All right." Tang San nodded and didn't think much of it.
Unlike in the original story, Tang San hadn't used Infernal Delicate Apricot or Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass to temper his body. He still had room for three Immortal Herbs, which could maximize his improvement.
In the end, he chose three Immortal Herbs: Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew, which trained the eyes; Eight-Petal Immortal Orchid, which strengthened his foundations and nourished his essence; and Primordial Immortal Grass, which raised his Soul Power.
As for the Nine-Grade Purple Mushroom...
Sorry, Gangzi, there wasn't any for you.
After swallowing the three Immortal Herbs, Tang San sat cross-legged beside the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well, his Soul Power surging through him like a tide.
His aura rose in layer upon layer: level thirty-three, level thirty-four, level thirty-five...
In the end, with the combined medicinal power of the three Immortal Herbs, his level leaped to thirty-eight.
At most, it would take him three months to break through to level forty.