Another Soul Bone! An External Soul Bone!

He first cast a speed boost on himself.

His time flow accelerated around him. Combined with the formidable physique granted by the Golden Dragon King Seal, it looked like nothing more than an instant to outsiders...

Yet his body crossed more than ten meters and appeared before the Phantom Crystal Butterfly.

Fast.

Too fast!

So fast that the Phantom Crystal Butterfly did not even have time to react.

And when the Phantom Crystal Butterfly tried to resist...

Its time had already been altered.

Han Li's spiritual power precisely locked onto the space around the Phantom Crystal Butterfly, slowing the flow of time in that area.

The Phantom Crystal Butterfly's movements became extraordinarily sluggish.

Its wings beat slowly at an almost motionless pace, and even the speed at which it gathered spiritual power had been stretched to merely a fraction of its original rate.

In Han Li's eyes, this ten-thousand-year Soul Beast was like a frozen painting.

Boom!

Han Li threw a punch.

Brilliant golden light burst from his right fist, and golden scales instantly covered his entire arm.

But under the acceleration of time, the speed and power of that punch were amplified to a terrifying degree.

His fist instantly pierced through the Phantom Crystal Butterfly's body, and purple light exploded outward from within it in all directions.

A scream, slowed severalfold, gradually rang out.

The sound was warped and strange, like an audio clip played back at several times slower speed. Deep and prolonged, it echoed through the forest for a long while before fading.

Han Li accelerated his own time once again.

His body flashed to the side in an instant, avoiding the energy shockwave unleashed when the Phantom Crystal Butterfly shattered.

The Phantom Crystal Butterfly fell to the ground. Its translucent purple body gradually collapsed and disintegrated, turning into a dense halo of light.

That halo emitted a gentle glow, dense and pure.

Within the Spirit Ascension Platform during the Riot Period, it would take one hundred seconds for this spiritual energy to be fully absorbed.

Han Li did not hesitate. He stepped forward and absorbed it directly.

After all, he had killed this ten-thousand-year Soul Beast.

He was not about to leave it for anyone else.

One hundred seconds was not exactly short.

But for him, standing still and waiting for the spiritual energy to finish absorbing was hardly difficult.

Moreover, his spiritual power covered an area several hundred meters around him. He would sense the approach of any Soul Beast or Soul Master in advance, enough to let him respond calmly.

Then his eyes lit up.

After he absorbed the halo, at the instant the spiritual energy completely merged into his body, an object emerged from the fading light and quietly floated in midair.

A Soul Bone.

That was right. After the halo was absorbed...

A Soul Bone had actually appeared!

It was a palm-sized purple Soul Bone.

It was shaped like the outline of an exquisite butterfly, entirely translucent and giving off a faint purple glow.

Silver-white patterns flowed across its surface, identical to those on the Phantom Crystal Butterfly's wings, intricate and mysterious.

And it was also an External Soul Bone.

A right-eye Soul Bone.

Seeing this, Han Li reached out and grabbed the Soul Bone.

Then he began absorbing it.

The instant the Soul Bone touched his eye socket.

A cool stream of energy poured in through his right eye and spread toward his Spirit Sea.

The sensation was peculiar, like a drop of ice water falling into a lake within his eye, sending ripples spreading outward in circles.

Han Li closed his left eye. His right eye felt slightly sore and warm as purple light lit up from deep within his pupil before gradually fading.

Very soon, the Soul Bone was fully absorbed.

Han Li opened both eyes. A faint purple gleam appeared deep in his right eye, then vanished in an instant.

At that moment, his pupil became deep and crystalline, as though it could see through all illusions.

But the change lasted less than a second before returning to normal. Nothing unusual could be seen from his appearance.

Feeling the increase in his spiritual power, Han Li was overjoyed.

The instant he finished absorbing this spiritual-attribute External Soul Bone, it gave his spiritual power a tremendous boost.

His spiritual power had already reached six hundred and ninety-seven.

Now, with the enhancement from this Soul Bone...

It had risen another step.

Though he was still some distance from the next major realm, the improvement was quite substantial.

This trip to the Spirit Ascension Platform had been an absolute windfall.

A ten-thousand-year External Soul Bone, and one with a spiritual attribute at that—such a priceless treasure was rare even in reality.

This right-eye Soul Bone had also given him a Soul Skill—Mind Control.

Just as the name implied.

It allowed him to control the spiritual power of others.

Naturally, the degree of control depended on the difference between their spiritual power levels.

If the other party's spiritual power was far below Han Li's, he could directly invade their spiritual world and influence their judgment, emotions, and even actions.

But if their spiritual power was close to or greater than his, controlling them would become vastly more difficult and might even fail completely.

However, the greater the difference, the deeper his control would be.

If the gap in spiritual power was sufficiently enormous, he could even directly alter someone else's thoughts, making them believe they had willingly made a certain decision.

Perfect!

At that moment, the corners of Han Li's mouth rose slightly.

The Golden Dragon Claw provided power on the physical level, Time Control provided tactical support, and now Mind Control provided interference on the level of consciousness.

It could be said that his ability system was becoming increasingly complete, with fewer and fewer weaknesses.

After sorting through the gains from this trip, Han Li turned and darted toward Tang Wulin and the other two.

The three were not in great condition.

Although Han Li had blocked the Phantom Crystal Butterfly's mental attack in time, the aftereffects had still affected them somewhat.

Xie Xie clutched his head as he leaned against a tree, his face slightly pale.

A layer of cold sweat covered Tang Wulin's forehead, and his breathing was rapid.

Gu Yue was comparatively composed, but the light in his eyes was dimmer than usual.

When they saw Han Li return...

All three raised their heads at once.

"Han Li, are you all right?"

Tang Wulin spoke first, his voice filled with concern.

Han Li waved a hand.

"I'm fine."

Xie Xie, on the other hand, was incredibly excited.

"Han Li, you actually killed that ten-thousand-year Soul Beast!"

Han Li did not answer that question. Instead, he looked at the three of them and asked.

"How did your assessment go?"

Tang Wulin came back to his senses, glanced at the time, then nodded.

"It should be time."

Han Li gave an "Mm" and said.

"Let's go. We're leaving."

At this moment, the atmosphere in the Spirit Pagoda room had yet to fully settle from the earlier tension.

Han Li swept his gaze across the room.

He discovered that besides Ye Yingluo, Wu Changkong, and the Spirit Pagoda staff member, there were now two additional people.

One was Yu Zhen, the headmaster he knew well.

The other was Elder Chen, the person in charge of the Eastsea City Spirit Pagoda branch whom they had met once before.

Elder Chen was quite old, with graying hair, but his back was straight. He wore a dark robe, and although his expression was kind, his eyes were exceptionally sharp.

At that moment, he stood beside Yu Zhen, staring fixedly at Han Li.