External Soul Bone

Just as Xu Ningxin and Xu Tianxiang thought Shen Lian had finished absorbing the Spirit Ring and was about to wake up.

A freezing wind swept across Shen Lian's calm face in the Martial Arts Arena. Xu Ningxin had just stepped forward to drape a cloak over her son when a heart-rending scream suddenly tore through the sky.

Shen Lian's curled body convulsed violently on the ground. His ten fingers dug deep into the bluestone slabs, and the blood seeping from beneath his nails instantly evaporated into white mist.

"Xiao Lian!"

Xu Ningxin staggered forward, ready to rush to him, but Xu Tianxiang's iron-pincer-like arm stopped her.

The old emperor's dragon robe fluttered without wind, shock rippling through his eyes. The crimson energy coiling around Shen Lian twisted like living creatures, shredding his robes inch by inch.

That energy continuously seeped into his skin, gathering into strange protrusions on his back, as though some colossal beast was about to break free from its cocoon.

Xu Chengye's hand tightened around his spear, trembling slightly as the spear tip unconsciously scraped sparks from the ground.

He had never seen such a horrifying scene. His cousin Shen Lian looked like a sacrificial offering consumed by flames, his pain-twisted face reminding Xu Chengye of the phoenix said to be reborn in fire.

"Wh... what is happening?"

His voice trembled, but no one answered.

Shen Lian's screams gradually sank lower, replaced by the sharp, cracking explosions of bones breaking and reforming.

Xu Tianxiang's pupils contracted sharply, while uncontrollable ecstasy surged through him. He recognized Shen Lian's condition at once—this was clearly a sign of an External Soul Bone!

Such a heaven-sent opportunity was something that could only be encountered by chance. It appeared perhaps once in a century across the entire Sun-Moon Continent, yet it had fallen upon his grandson.

Xu Tianxiang watched the crimson joints continuously growing from Shen Lian's back. Those metallic structures extended at a visible speed, eventually becoming a pair of fiery wings more than ten feet long.

The instant the wings unfurled, the snow in the Martial Arts Arena vaporized. Shen Lian slowly opened his eyes, two crimson flames flickering within them.

With a thought from Shen Lian, the wings flapped lightly, and the gust they raised sent the guards within thirty feet flying to the ground.

Xu Chengye looked up at the figure in the air, and his spear clattered to the ground.

Never had he desired power so desperately. As he watched Shen Lian control those wings and carve graceful arcs through the air, envy and longing churned within him.

He secretly swore that one day, he would scour the Soul Beast Forest for a Soul Beast capable of flight. Even if he had to give everything, he would obtain wings of his own.

"Xiao Lian, that's enough! You're still naked!"

Xu Ningxin cried and laughed at the same time.

Shen Lian finally snapped out of it. Looking down at his bare body, the tips of his ears instantly turned red.

In embarrassment, he darted toward the trees, his wings leaving trails of burning light behind him.

A moment later, Shen Lian emerged after changing into fresh robes. Though his expression was still somewhat awkward, the light in his eyes was brighter than ever.

Xu Tianxiang stepped forward and heavily patted his grandson on the shoulder, pride filling his dragon-like eyes.

"Good, good! An External Soul Bone truly belongs only to a peerless genius!"

The wind in the Martial Arts Arena lifted the hem of Shen Lian's new black robes, while Xu Tianxiang's dragon-patterned jade belt swayed lightly at his waist.

The old emperor rubbed the black jade ring on his thumb, his eyes blazing.

"Xiao Lian, what level is your Soul Power now?"

As his words fell, Shen Lian lowered his eyes and sensed the Soul Power within his body. The fire-attributed energy of the Crimson Flame Sparrow Spirit surged through his meridians like a rushing river.

Shen Lian flicked a finger, and a wisp of crimson flame leaped from his fingertips, remaining condensed despite the cold wind.

"After absorbing the Spirit Ring and the External Soul Bone, my Soul Power is currently level twenty-three."

"Good! Level twenty-three, excellent!"

Xu Tianxiang clapped and laughed heartily, making the bronze war drums at the edge of the Martial Arts Arena hum and tremble.

Xu Tianxiang pointed toward the distant bluestone target wall. The Purple Imperial Heaven-Extinguishing Dragon embroidery on his dragon robe seemed to come alive.

"Quick, let Grandfather see your soul skill!"

Shen Lian turned his wrist, and the Dragon-Slaying Blade condensed into existence in his palm.

Cold light flowed across the Dragon-Slaying Blade. When the first yellow-purple Spirit Ring rose beneath his feet, the stone lions on the target wall suddenly began to ooze molten slurry like candle wax.

"Watch closely, Grandfather."

Shen Lian lowered his stance, the blade tracing a semicircle through the air. Then he shouted.

"Second Soul Skill—Flame Sparrow Peerless!"

The temperature of the Martial Arts Arena soared the instant the blade light swept forward.

Xu Chengye watched in astonishment as glasslike flames ignited along the Dragon-Slaying Blade. Shen Lian swung so quickly that only afterimages remained, and sonic booms even rang through the air.

Even more astonishingly, the slashing blade aura condensed into the phantom of a Vermilion Bird spreading its wings. The fiery bird shrieked as it crashed into the target wall, scorching a three-foot-wide black mark into its surface while continuous explosions came from within the wall.

"Th... this is a soul skill that comes with a Soul Beast manifestation?"

Xu Tianxiang abruptly rose to his feet, his dragon boots shattering the golden bricks beneath them.

The shadow guards behind him simultaneously gripped their sword hilts, only to see that what seeped from the cracks in the target wall was not broken stone, but burning liquid rock.

Shen Lian smiled faintly, and a blood-red glow suddenly burst from his back.

Two pairs of crimson wings unfolded layer by layer. The outermost main wings gleamed with a metallic luster, their roots covered in flame patterns resembling runes.

"External Soul Bone Skill—Crimson Flame Divine Wings!"

Shen Lian beat his wings and rose into the sky, leaving burning streaks in their wake. Xu Chengye discovered in horror that the gilded patterns on his spear were melting.

At Shen Lian's command, tens of thousands of flaming feathers shot out from beneath the wings.

Though those feathers appeared thin and light, they blasted bowl-deep craters into the ground upon impact. The bluestone slabs of the Martial Arts Arena bubbled as if molten lava had been poured over them.

Xu Ningxin instinctively drew her son into her arms, only to feel the heat radiating from Shen Lian's wings. It was not a searing heat, but a gentle warmth that pulsed like a heartbeat.

"This External Soul Bone's soul skill..."

Xu Tianxiang reached out with trembling hands, but an invisible wall of fire stopped him three inches from the wings. Then he continued.

"It can simultaneously provide flight and area attacks... Xiao Lian, do you know what this means?"

The old emperor pointed at the burning target range in the distance. Those flaming feathers had actually formed a complete Vermilion Bird totem on the ground. He continued speaking to Shen Lian.

"Throughout the recorded history of the Sun-Moon Continent, there has never been such a perfect External Soul Bone! Xiao Lian, you may even be able to touch that legendary realm."

Shen Lian hovered in midair, feeling the perfect harmony between his wings and Soul Power.

He looked down toward the center of the Martial Arts Arena, where Xu Chengye was poking at the molten pits in the ground with his spear. The spear tip melted instantly.

Of course, Shen Lian knew what realm Xu Tianxiang meant. It was becoming a god.

Then Shen Lian said to Xu Tianxiang.

"Grandfather, don't worry. I'll work toward it."

Hearing Shen Lian's words, Xu Tianxiang burst into hearty laughter before saying to him.

"Grandfather believes in you. When that time comes, our imperial family will be one that has produced a god."

After saying that, Xu Tianxiang rubbed Shen Lian's head again.