Clear Sky's Worries; External Soul Bone!

"Clear Sky Hammer..." Tang Chen murmured, spreading open his palm.

A massive hammer phantom, pitch-black throughout and wreathed in dark crimson patterns, emerged in his palm. It was heavy, domineering, as though it could suppress mountains and rivers.

Yet as Tang Chen looked at it, there was little joy in his eyes.

Everyone said that the Clear Sky Hammer was the world's strongest offensive tool martial soul, but Tang Chen himself understood:

The Clear Sky Hammer had become renowned across the continent not because the martial soul itself was invincible, but because of him, Tang Chen—because of the Ring Detonation and Great Sumeru Hammer he had created, as well as the Self-Created Soul Skills passed down by his forebears, such as the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer and Clear Sky Nine Absolutes.

These Self-Created Soul Skills had excavated the Clear Sky Hammer's potential to its utmost limits and elevated it to the altar of legend.

The strong one was Tang Chen, not the Clear Sky Hammer!

He was the pillar holding up the Clear Sky Sect.

"What if I leave..." Tang Chen's voice was nearly inaudible, fading into the vast, empty hall.

Several days later, in the Star Dou Great Forest.

Li Yuntian, Yang Wanqing, and Zhang Qingxuan had set out early that morning and had now quietly entered the outskirts of the core region.

"Wanqing, what age soul ring do you want this time?" Li Yuntian asked in a lowered voice, turning his head to look at his wife walking beside him.

A faint, almost imperceptible blush crossed Yang Wanqing's face. She shot her husband a mildly reproachful look. "An eighty-thousand-year one. These past few years... we haven't gone without Whale Rubber. My physique has improved quite a bit, and I can already withstand an eighty-thousand-year soul ring."

At the mention of it, she recalled the look on her husband's face when Zhang Qingxuan had told them years ago of Whale Rubber's marvelous effects of strengthening the body and fortifying one's foundation.

From then on, the rare substance had never been absent from their home, under the lofty pretense of "strengthening their foundation." Yet every time after "taking supplements," she would wake the next day with a sore waist, embarrassed and annoyed.

Still, the persistence had produced remarkable results. Li Yuntian's Ninth Soul Ring, obtained from a Red Flame Tiger King of over ninety-nine thousand nine hundred years, had not only greatly increased his strength but had also seemingly raised the quality of his Green Fire Sword martial soul by a tier. His flames now carried a faint blue-gold sheen.

"Godmother, the Wind Spirit Swallow martial soul is light and swift. If we find a Soul Beast with a pure wind attribute that excels in speed or sharp cutting attacks, it may allow your martial soul to advance even further!"

Zhang Qingxuan's calm, gentle voice sounded beside her.

"Mm, we'll do as you say." Yang Wanqing nodded. She had absolute faith in her adopted son's judgment.

Her husband's nearly perfect Ninth Soul Ring had been chosen by this child from among countless powerful Soul Beasts.

The three searched the core region of the Star Dou Great Forest for an entire afternoon. They encountered several ten-thousand-year Soul Beasts, but none suited their needs, whether because their cultivation was insufficient or their attributes were incompatible.

As the sun drifted westward, the forest grew increasingly dim.

"Screech—!"

A long cry that pierced the clouds and split stone suddenly shattered the forest's silence!

The sharpness and arrogance contained in that cry made all three of them tense as they looked upward.

High in the sky, a giant eagle circled with its wings spread wide. Under the fading glow of the setting sun, its feathers gleamed with a cold blue-gray metallic light.

Its wingspan stretched more than ten zhang. Every beat of its wings stirred the air into visible whirlwinds.

"A Storm Hunting Eagle! Dual wind and metal attributes, feathers like iron, claws that tear through the wind. It is exceptionally compatible with the Wind Spirit Swallow martial soul. Judging by its aura, its cultivation should be around eighty thousand years."

Joy flashed through Zhang Qingxuan's eyes.

Li Yuntian exchanged a glance with his wife. When Yang Wanqing nodded, he said nothing more.

With a thought, the Green Fire Sword appeared in his hand. He lightly tapped off the ground, shooting into the sky like an arrow released from its bow.

Nine soul rings—yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, black—circulated around him as the pressure of a Title Douluo spread out without restraint.

Violent collisions of energy and furious eagle cries immediately rang out overhead.

Blue-red sword light intertwined with blue-gray gales, churning the clouds endlessly.

Moments later, Li Yuntian drifted back to the ground, carrying a Storm Hunting Eagle with broken wings and scorched wounds on its chest so deep that bone could be seen.

Though it was barely breathing, the ferocity in its eyes had yet to fade.

Without the slightest hesitation, Yang Wanqing drew a specially made dagger and ended the aerial tyrant's life. A deep black soul ring rose from its corpse.

Yang Wanqing immediately sat cross-legged, focused her mind, and began absorbing the soul ring.

Zhang Qingxuan stood several steps away on guard, but his gaze was suddenly drawn to an extremely faint glimmer of blue light at the base of the giant eagle's right wing.

The light flashed and vanished. Had his senses not been so sharp, it would have been almost impossible to notice.

Could it be... an External Soul Bone?

His heart stirred. He stepped forward, golden light faintly glowing from his right palm as he gently pressed it against the joint of the eagle's wing bones.

The golden light seeped in like water. With a soft crack, an External Soul Bone in the form of wings was revealed beneath the shattered bones.

It resembled a miniature eagle wing. Its natural patterns swirled like flowing wind, and as he held it in his hand, a breeze spontaneously gathered around it, faintly resonating with the wind elements between heaven and earth.

"Qingxuan, is that... an External Soul Bone?!" Li Yuntian's pupils shrank as he lowered his voice.

Though he had never seen one in person, he knew full well how precious it was. Soul bones were already one in ten thousand, while External Soul Bones were anomalies even among soul bones, capable of evolving alongside their Soul Masters.

In an age when hundred-thousand-year soul rings and soul bones were nearly legends, this was an unquestionable supreme treasure. Its value might even surpass that of an ordinary Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone.

Zhang Qingxuan picked up the blue-gray bone wing and examined it carefully for a moment. Then he looked at Yang Wanqing, who was fully focused on absorbing the soul ring. After a brief pause, he directly tossed the soul bone to Li Yuntian.

"When Godmother wakes up, ask what she thinks."

"Whether she absorbs this External Soul Bone herself or... saves it for Yingxue."

His tone was calm. He held no attachment whatsoever to this External Soul Bone, a supreme treasure of the Soul Master world!

Li Yuntian caught the soul bone and froze at his words.

He looked down at the peerless treasure in his hand, then looked up at the indifferent Zhang Qingxuan. In the end, he gave a bitter smile and nodded.

He carefully stored the soul bone in his storage Soul Tool, his gaze returning to his wife as he shook his head helplessly.

Given how much you two adore that girl, this External Soul Bone will sooner or later be hers.

Just then, a hoarse, arrogant voice suddenly came from the shadows of the forest to the side:

"Yuntian, why are you hesitating over such a treasure?"

All three turned their heads at once and saw two figures slowly emerge from behind ancient trees.

The leader was a gaunt old man with high cheekbones, dressed in a dark-gold martial outfit embroidered with a pitch-black Clear Sky Hammer emblem on the chest. He stood with his hands behind his back, his hooked gaze fixed directly upon Li Yuntian as he spoke in a tone that allowed no dispute:

"Yang Wanqing is a member of the Breaking Clan, an affiliate of my Clear Sky Sect. Any External Soul Bone she obtains must naturally be handed over to the sect. That is the rule. Must this old man remind you?"

He paused, his gaze sweeping over Yang Wanqing, who was still absorbing her soul ring, while an inscrutable curve appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"Besides, if she knows what's good for her, this old man might... even consider allowing her to return to the Breaking Clan."

As his words fell, the air in the forest suddenly congealed.

Li Yuntian and Zhang Qingxuan's faces both darkened.