"Could this be another External Soul Bone?" Jing Chen guessed.
A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast was guaranteed to produce a Spirit Bone. This bone was undoubtedly a Spirit Bone, not part of the Golden Tortoise's corpse.
After ruling out the standard six Spirit Bones, the only remaining possibility was an External Soul Bone.
It was just that its appearance was far too strange. After absorbing and releasing it, would his hand turn into a turtle shield?
The thought made Jing Chen laugh. It was simply too ridiculous.
"I hope it looks better when I release it after absorbing it," Jing Chen said with a chuckle.
His luck was excellent. A Hundred Thousand Year Spirit Bone had even become an External Soul Bone, so the benefits it brought him after absorption would be even greater.
Still, he was somewhat puzzled. He could not understand why an External Soul Bone had appeared instead of a normal Spirit Bone.
In the original story, after Huo Yuhao killed the Evil Eye Tyrant Sovereign, he obtained an eyeball External Soul Bone.
That was because all six of his Spirit Bone slots were filled, which was why an External Soul Bone appeared.
But Jing Chen only had an Ice Crystal Behemoth Left Palm Bone. He had no Spirit Bones in his other body parts, so why had an External Soul Bone appeared?
He could not figure it out and could only explain it as good luck—he had encountered a low-probability event.
In truth, when Soul Beasts produced Spirit Bones, they often prioritized the Spirit Bones of the strongest parts of their bodies.
For example, ape-type Soul Beasts usually produced arm bones, wolf-type Soul Beasts usually produced leg bones, while Soul Beasts like the Evil Eye only produced skull bones.
The Golden Tortoise's strongest feature was its shell. Compared to its shell, the strength of its other body parts was several levels lower.
When it produced a Spirit Bone, it would prioritize producing one similar to its shell—namely, an External Soul Bone.
Of course, it could also produce a Torso Bone, but the probability was lower than that of an External Soul Bone.
Since it prioritized producing an External Soul Bone and had a one hundred percent chance of producing a Spirit Bone, the situation Jing Chen encountered arose.
His encounter with an External Soul Bone this time was not a low-probability event, but a highly probable one.
Just like Xu Sanshi in the original story, if he had killed this Golden Tortoise normally and absorbed its Soul Ring, he might also have obtained this External Soul Bone.
However, he had chosen the route of completely fusing with it, merging the Golden Tortoise's entire body into his shield.
This caused the External Soul Bone that could have appeared to merge with his shield instead, resulting in no Spirit Bone appearing.
Otherwise, this Hundred-Thousand-Year Golden Tortoise would definitely have provided Xu Sanshi with a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone.
Jing Chen calmed himself and carried the Spirit Bone toward a corner of the Time and Space Divine Tower. He intended to place it there and had no plans to absorb it for now.
He kept valuable items in the Time and Space Divine Tower. It was far safer here than in a Storage Ring.
Eight Spirit Bones had already been neatly arranged in this corner. Adding this one made nine in total.
These Spirit Bones had all been obtained after Yi Yi hunted Soul Beasts. Only one was thirty thousand years old, while all the others were over fifty thousand years old.
Among them were two at the Hundred Thousand Year level: this Golden Tortoise External Soul Bone and a White Armored Earth Dragon Torso Bone.
The Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear Right Arm Bone, which was over ninety-five thousand years old, was also of a quality comparable to a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone.
Super Soul Beasts like the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear had a very high chance of producing Spirit Bones. Since it was also close to becoming a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, its odds were nearly one hundred percent.
The only thing Jing Chen found somewhat regrettable was that this Spirit Bone was not a right palm bone, so it was not quite top-tier.
Fifty-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts had a relatively high chance of producing Spirit Bones. Over the years, Yi Yi had killed dozens of them but only obtained six, so their luck had actually been rather poor.
The two Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bones and the Spirit Bone that was over thirty thousand years old were not included in that count.
He had obtained quite a few Spirit Bones, but Jing Chen had not chosen to absorb a single one. He planned to wait and see.
Once a Spirit Bone was absorbed, there was no way to remove or replace it unless one mutilated oneself.
If he rushed to absorb a Spirit Bone now and encountered a better one later, would that not be a waste?
It was precisely because of this mindset that he had not rushed to absorb them. The Spirit Bones were here anyway, and he could absorb them whenever he wanted. There was no need to hurry.
Of course, another reason he was not absorbing them for now was that he feared he might not be able to withstand the impact of a Spirit Bone's energy.
He really wanted to absorb that Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear Right Palm Bone, which was over ninety thousand years old.
But he feared that its energy would be too violent for him to endure, so he temporarily abandoned the idea.
"Sometimes, having Spirit Bones with too high an age isn't necessarily a good thing," Jing Chen sighed as he looked at the Spirit Bones.
He did not plan to absorb any of these Spirit Bones for the time being. At the very least, he would only consider it after reaching level forty.
For now, he could only look at them and not touch them, which made his heart itch.
"Yiyi! I'm so hungry!" Yi Yi ran over from afar and leaped onto Jing Chen's head, scratching at his hair in dissatisfaction.
Jing Chen lifted Yi Yi off his head and held it in both hands. Seeing the little fellow looking half-dead from hunger, he felt both distressed and amused.
Yi Yi had remembered his instructions well and had not eaten raw meat, which was why it had become so hungry.
Although he understood that it was normal for beasts to eat raw meat, he still found it somewhat uncomfortable and had not allowed Yi Yi to do so.
"I'll cook something for you right away." Jing Chen gently stroked Yi Yi's soft fur.
He did not inspect the Life Gold for the moment and instead walked to one side, where large blocks of ice were piled up.
Each block of ice contained a Soul Beast corpse. Afraid that the meat would spoil, Jing Chen had frozen them.
Before freezing them, Jing Chen had also cut them up to reduce the space they occupied and make them easier to store.
There were thirteen large blocks of ice in total. One had been placed casually, while the others were neatly stacked.
The twelve large ice blocks were stacked in three layers, with four blocks on each layer. Even so, they occupied nearly a quarter of the Time and Space Divine Tower's interior.
There were far more things inside the Time and Space Divine Tower than there had been three years ago. Aside from these ice blocks, there were also many metals, taking up nearly half the space.
The place where the Golden Tortoise had previously been was one of the relatively open quarter sections of the Time and Space Divine Tower.
Jing Chen melted the casually placed block of ice and put the chunks of Soul Beast meat inside into a pot.
After filling the pot, he added no more meat and began heating it to cook.
While the meat cooked, Jing Chen picked up the two fist-sized pieces of Life Gold and began studying them carefully.
Holding the metal, he could sense the immense vitality contained within it.
Jing Chen tried injecting Soul Power into the metal, but there was no reaction. He then tried absorbing its vitality.
This attempt actually had some effect. The vitality within the metal flowed into his body.
Although the amount was very small, it proved that the life energy within the metal could be absorbed.
He also tried placing the Life Gold against his forehead, thinking about absorbing it.
The result disappointed him. He could not fuse the Life Gold into his Sea of Consciousness like Huo Yuhao had.
Second chapter today. The new book is setting sail—please bookmark it and vote with recommendation tickets.
Before you continue