Xue Qinghe, the Eldest Prince

Jiang Ci'an's idea was simple.

He would use the natural process of soul bone formation upon a soul beast's death as a reference, study the underlying laws and principles, and then apply them to his own skeleton, guiding his bones to undergo a qualitative change and transform into soul bones.

At the same time, during this transformation process, he would actively intervene in their structure to construct Spirit Aperture Slots within them.

In other words, he did not need to obtain soul bones from the outside world.

His goal was to turn his own skeleton into soul bones.

Furthermore, because it was a transformation of his own skeleton, there was a high probability that it would possess natural growth potential like an External Soul Bone, gradually strengthening alongside the soul master's own growth!

Perhaps at the very beginning, it would only be equivalent to a ten-year soul bone for the whole body, but as the soul master's cultivation increased, it would gradually become a hundred-year, thousand-year, ten-thousand-year, or even a hundred-thousand-year set!

Although, according to his deductions, self-condensed soul bones likely would not come with soul skills like normal soul bones.

However, the benefit was that once the condensation was successful, these soul bones would provide an astonishing boost to his physique, similar to the Battle Armor of ten thousand years later, directly enhancing his combat power.

Moreover, if he could condense "Spirit Apertures" on these self-condensed soul bones, the various buffs provided by the apertures themselves—such as increased Soul Power recovery speed, enhanced mental power, improved energy absorption efficiency, and comprehensive strengthening of physical fitness—would by no means be weak.

And most importantly, there was that growth potential, an advantage that no external soul bone could compare to.

To put it more figuratively, he was sacrificing a few skill modules in exchange for pure numerical growth in the future!

Undoubtedly, this was a highly promising direction.

But as of now, there were many difficulties that required time to overcome bit by bit.

Jiang Ci'an looked at the soul bone in front of him, which was condensing at an extremely slow speed, his eyes deep in thought.

Theoretically, constructing a single Spirit Aperture on a single soul bone was not difficult.

With the successful experience of the Eye of Life and Elder Yi's guidance at his side, transforming the bone in a specific location into a soul bone with a built-in Spirit Aperture, while difficult, was not insurmountable.

But the problem was, he didn't want just a single soul bone or a single Spirit Aperture.

He wanted a complete set.

Six parts of the entire body, a complete set.

If he only condensed a Spirit Aperture on one soul bone, its effect would ultimately be limited.

Spiritual power, Spirit Apertures, and Spirit Stoves were a whole in the Knight System that cooperated with and promoted each other; if he only took one of them, the effect would be greatly diminished.

But if multiple Spirit Apertures existed simultaneously, he might encounter new problems.

Much like the situation often encountered by knights above the eighth rank in the Throne of Seal world, namely, the conflict between multiple Spirit Apertures.

Different Spirit Apertures would repel each other for various reasons, so he could not just consider condensing a single soul bone; he had to be systematic, consider the coordination and cooperation between the Spirit Apertures, and design a set of Spirit Aperture distribution schemes that were compatible and could even enhance each other.

Jiang Ci'an was silent for a moment, then raised his hand, and the Xiao Wu soul bone condensed and fell into his palm.

The domain of "Time Control" covered his entire body, and the next moment, his figure suddenly vanished.

If he wanted to construct a complete set of self-condensed soul bones, he still needed to find a reference...

Heaven Dou City.

Grand Prince's Mansion.

Today was the birthday of Xue Qinghe, the Grand Prince of the Heaven Dou Empire.

The entire mansion was decorated with lanterns and streamers, and the entrance was bustling with a constant stream of carriages. From high-ranking court officials to local dignitaries, from imperial relatives to members of noble families, almost every person of status in the entire Heaven Dou Empire had arrived.

Inside the main hall, guests were clinking glasses and laughing boisterously.

Amidst the crowd, Grand Prince Xue Qinghe, dressed in moon-white finery, was mingling with the guests with refined manners.

His face was handsome, his brows carried a perfectly measured gentleness and approachability, and a faint smile played on his lips, leaving no room for criticism and exuding the true demeanor of a prince.

After chatting briefly with another powerful minister, Xue Qinghe smiled and apologized, leaving the hall under a pretext.

He walked through the corridor and returned to his study.

He closed the door.

In an instant, the gentle smile on the prince's face vanished, replaced by an inexplicable coldness.

He—no, she—was in a very bad mood right now.

The minister from just a moment ago was truly fickle.

Not long ago, she had bribed him with a significant amount of Gold Soul Coins to ensure he would lean toward her regarding the choice of the crown prince.

However, only two months later, the man had reneged on his previous promise and come running to complain about a deficit in military funding, claiming that his subordinates had been owed pay for years and that he needed more support.

She had given him so many Gold Soul Coins, and he had spent them all in two months?

Xue Qinghe sneered in her heart.

For such a greedy person to sit in such an important position was truly a waste.

Her eyes were cold, and as if she had already made a decision, she was about to speak, but she paused slightly.

She frowned and asked tentatively:

"She Long? Ci Xue?"

The voice fell, but there was no response.

Inside and outside the study, the silence was somewhat abnormal.

Xue Qinghe's expression shifted slightly; a premonition stemming from her martial soul made her instinctively alert, yet the next moment...

Her body froze.

An invisible domain had quietly enveloped the surroundings at some unknown point.

Her Soul Power ceased to circulate, her heart stopped beating, and even her body was locked tight, unable to move.

Everything came to a complete standstill, as if time had stopped at this very moment, with only her consciousness barely managing to function.

What on earth is happening?!

Her remaining consciousness thought in fragments, struggling to maintain a sliver of clarity, and the next moment, she instinctively tried to mobilize her Soul Power to break through the current restraint.

However, She could do nothing.

She could not even blink.

She could only remain like a doll fixed inside a glass cabinet, eyes wide open, staring at the empty study before her, unable to do a thing.

But in the next instant, A figure appeared abruptly.

It was a youth.

She could not describe how this youth had appeared.

It seemed as if he had stepped out from the void, traversing space, or perhaps he had been here all along, and she simply hadn't noticed him until she saw his figure just now.

The youth looked significantly younger than her, his frame slender and upright, though still a fraction shorter than her own.

And those golden eyes, shimmering with a faint luster, paired with a face that was excessively handsome, made it truly difficult to ignore his presence.

She was certain she had never seen this youth before.

But she had no time to dwell on that now.

At this moment, only one thought occupied her mind:

Enemy!

Almost instinctively, her remaining consciousness poured every ounce of effort into trying to mobilize the Soul Power within her, desperate to break through that invisible seal.

Alas, it remained useless.

She watched helplessly as the youth approached.

She watched as the youth's gaze landed on her face.

Those golden eyes, shimmering with a faint luster, revealed a touch of indifference that was hard to ignore, as if he were merely examining an interesting object.

Then, under her gaze, the youth raised his hand and slowly reached toward her body.