Kill the Crystal Bear!

Shadow resurrection also consumed Soul Power, but the expenditure was extremely low.

Yet as the Crystal Bear swept through the Shadow Soul Beasts like a gale scattering fallen leaves, Cheng Xiao's eyelids could not help twitching. As the Shadow Soul Beasts repeatedly shattered into crystals and revived, his Soul Power was draining at a visible rate.

"Damn! At this rate, it might exhaust me to death instead!" Cheng Xiao felt a chill in his heart. This thing was far too brutal.

The Crystal Bear rampaged forward, flattening everything in its path. Trees collapsed, gradually covered by crystal, then shattered into powder by the aftershocks of both sides' clashes.

The Shadow Soul Beasts were no exception. Wherever they were struck by its paw was immediately covered in crystal, which then crawled upward like poison until it encased the entire Shadow Soul Beast and shattered it beneath the Crystal Bear's paw.

"We need to attack its weak point."

Cheng Xiao gritted his teeth as memories buried deep within his mind surfaced.

The Crystal Bear had a body of copper and bones of iron, making it exceptionally difficult to kill. However, it possessed an extremely fatal weakness—the back of its neck. That area was incredibly fragile, and its central nervous system was located there!

With that thought, Cheng Xiao immediately controlled the Shadow Soul Beasts to swarm forward. He then ordered the Heart-Shattering Bee, Spotted Head Boa, and Nine-Segment Wolf Spider to stand by, ready to deliver a fatal blow to the Crystal Bear.

The Crystal Bear had an exceptionally violent temperament. Before being killed by humans, it would choose to self-destruct, which was why very few people could obtain its Soul Ring.

Cheng Xiao had no intention of letting the Crystal Bear self-destruct. The Shadow King was also known as the King of the Undead. At its core, its power combined souls with shadows. If the soul itself was erased, it naturally would not be possible to summon a shadow.

That was why he had specifically chosen these three venomous Soul Beasts. He had to paralyze its nerves immediately, making it difficult for it to control its own body and choose to self-destruct.

"Lightning Stripe Tiger, attack its abdomen! Tiger Demon Cat, attack its eyes and disrupt its vision!"

The Lightning Stripe Tiger obeyed the command and slammed fiercely into the Crystal Bear's abdomen. The Crystal Bear instantly flew into a rage, turning the Lightning Stripe Tiger into crystal before sending it flying and smashing it to pieces.

However, at that moment, the Tiger Demon Cat turned into a black shadow and flashed toward the Crystal Bear's golden eyes. The Crystal Bear immediately raised its paws before its face, causing the Tiger Demon Cat's attack to miss.

"Perfect chance! Heart-Shattering Bee!"

The Heart-Shattering Bee was incomparably fast. It vanished from sight entirely, leaving only the sonic boom produced by its violently vibrating wings.

In a single flash, while the Crystal Bear's vision was blocked, the Heart-Shattering Bee arrived behind its head. A stinger gleaming with a cold light emerged from its tail.

"Tap!"

It looked like an incredibly light movement, as though it had merely brushed against it, but the wasp's stinger had already shot into the back of the Crystal Bear's neck!

"Roar!"

A pained, furious roar reverberated through the forest. The deadly venom rapidly spread through its entire central nervous system, and the Crystal Bear seemed to stiffen as its massive body toppled over uncontrollably.

"Nine-Segment Wolf Spider! Spotted Head Boa! Hurry! Don't let it self-destruct!"

Everything depended on this!

The Nine-Segment Wolf Spider's and Spotted Head Boa's poisons did not act quickly. Under normal circumstances, they would have been turned into crystal before they could even approach the Crystal Bear. But with the Heart-Shattering Bee taking the lead, the Crystal Bear no longer had the strength to resist.

The Nine-Segment Wolf Spider swiftly climbed onto the Crystal Bear's head. Its two enormous front pincers plunged into the Crystal Bear's eyes like sharp arrows, reaching straight into its brain. Within moments, the poison spread throughout its entire brain!

The Spotted Head Boa also bit down on the back of its neck, its venom glands instantly pumping every last drop of poison into the Crystal Bear's body!

"Roar!"

A weak wail rose up. The Crystal Bear could no longer resist. Its cry was low and lingering, carrying a trace of sorrowful desolation as it traveled far through the woods.

The Crystal Bear fell silent, but Cheng Xiao still did not dare approach. Only when the Crystal Bear had completely died and a purple Soul Ring rose from its body did Cheng Xiao let out a breath and cautiously walk over.

"Stand Up!"

The Crystal Bear's shadow did not move.

"Stand Up!"

The second command was slightly sterner, as though he were enraged by the Crystal Bear's resistance.

"Buzz!"

The shadow beneath the Crystal Bear merged into its corpse. Then, under Cheng Xiao's gaze, it was dragged out of the Crystal Bear's body and took on the appearance it had in life, crouching before him.

As the shadow became independent, the Soul Ring on the Crystal Bear's body seemed to dim somewhat.

"There's hope!"

Cheng Xiao's eyes lit up. Since he could summon the Crystal Bear's shadow, absorbing its Soul Ring should have at least some guarantee of safety.

Cheng Xiao decided to absorb the Crystal Bear's Soul Ring!

The Crystal Bear's attribute was not particularly compatible with the shadow attribute, but powerful and unique Soul Beasts like the Crystal Bear and Dark Golden Dreadclaw Bear were enough to make Soul Masters overlook attribute compatibility.

Besides, Cheng Xiao's Martial Soul was the Shadow King. He did not need to consider evolving his Martial Soul through attributes. Now that a Crystal Bear Soul Ring with just the right cultivation was sitting before him, how could Cheng Xiao possibly give it up?

However, before absorbing the Soul Ring, he still needed to do one thing...

Cheng Xiao drew his sharp blade and began cutting into the Crystal Bear's corpse, only to discover that he could not cut through it at all. The blade in his hand could not even break the Crystal Bear's defense!

"Isn't this defense a little too insane?" Cheng Xiao was speechless.

His eyes shifted, and Cheng Xiao looked toward the Crystal Bear's shadow.

"You do it yourself..." Cheng Xiao coughed twice and turned his head aside.

"Woo, woo..."

The Crystal Bear whimpered twice, sounding slightly aggrieved.

Making an undead creature dismember its own corpse from when it was alive—what kind of hellish joke was that...

Cheng Xiao was struggling to keep a straight face.

The Crystal Bear's shadow tore through the thick fur of its own corpse, ripped open the muscle tissue, and exposed the bones.

Cheng Xiao carefully searched through the exposed skeleton for something.

"I wonder if it has an External Soul Bone..." Cheng Xiao felt around the bones of the Crystal Bear's two front claws. He had not forgotten the lesson of Tang San absorbing the Eight Spider Lances.

There was a certain chance that an External Soul Bone would be absorbed along with the Soul Ring. He did not want any unexpected accidents while absorbing the Soul Ring later.

This Crystal Bear was already close to the limit of what he could absorb. If an External Soul Bone decided to interfere while he was absorbing the Soul Ring, he would be completely screwed.

He was not Tang San. He did not have the Protagonist's Halo, letting him survive no matter how recklessly he courted death. And when he truly died, there were still two old bastards with no sense of fair play standing in the sky, shamelessly bending the rules.

"No Right Palm Bone or Right Arm Bone..." Cheng Xiao felt somewhat disappointed.

The Crystal Bear was a mutation of the Dreadclaw Bear. If it produced a Soul Bone, the abilities of the Right Arm Bone and Right Palm Bone would be the most powerful.

Unfortunately, he did not have such good luck.

Moving on to the left paw, Cheng Xiao repeated the process, having the Crystal Bear tear open its fur and muscle tissue to expose the bone.

This time, however, there was no need to search at all. The moment the Crystal Bear pulled aside the layer of muscle, it discovered something different!

The Crystal Bear's Left Palm Bone was crystal-clear like a gemstone, refracting dazzling rainbow light beneath the sun. The multicolored radiance instantly made Cheng Xiao hold his breath. Though he had mentally prepared himself long ago, he still could not suppress his excitement at this moment!

"Left Palm Bone!"