External Soul Bone, Zhu Zhuqing

Buzzz~~~

A black soul ring slowly floated up from the corpse of the Blazing Savage Bear.

The soul ring radiated deep, powerful fluctuations of soul power as it hovered silently in the air, like a planetary ring.

Shi An glanced at it and was about to leave when a sudden fluctuation of soul power froze his step midair.

It was not a fluctuation from the soul ring, but an aura that was both extremely familiar and extremely unfamiliar to him.

Soul bone!

Shi An's eyes instantly lit up. Well, Bear Brother, you'd traveled thousands of miles to deliver a soul bone. What a good bear!

The ground writhed, delivering the Blazing Savage Bear's corpse before him.

Shi An could clearly see that the Blazing Savage Bear's left paw was emitting a fiery red soul power aura.

Soul bones were divided into left arm bones, right arm bones, left leg bones, right leg bones, torso bones, and external soul bones.

The soul bone on this Blazing Savage Bear's left paw was clearly not a left arm bone, which meant it could only be an external soul bone.

Shi An could not help marveling at just how good his luck was.

When he absorbed his second soul ring, he had obtained an external soul bone in the form of wings.

Now that he had come to absorb his fifth soul ring, he had somehow obtained another external soul bone.

Though it was not compatible with him, an external soul bone was still an external soul bone. Its value was no less than that of a hundred-thousand-year soul bone.

Shi An pulled a stone knife from the ground and slashed directly at the Blazing Savage Bear's left paw.

Pshht~~~

The stone knife was not as blunt as he had imagined. It was exceptionally sharp, easily cutting through the Blazing Savage Bear's skin.

Its flesh peeled back, revealing the soul bone beneath, which glimmered faintly.

Shi An removed it. It was fiery red and unstained by any blood or flesh, crystal-clear like a work of art.

Shi An examined it for a moment, finding it quite miraculous.

Then he stored it in his storage soul tool.

Shi An had bought this storage soul tool back when he was in Vast Sea City. It had cost him several thousand gold soul coins, yet its storage space was only two cubic meters.

The Star Dou Great Forest remained dark and damp. After several days, Shi An still had not found any trace of the Earth Wyvern.

He had even begun to suspect that the Earth Wyvern had either relocated or been slaughtered.

That was not impossible.

"Last day. If I still can't find it, I'll pick another target."

Shi An muttered to himself as he stood atop Puppet Snake's head, rampaging through the mixed region of the Star Dou Great Forest.

If he encountered something he could beat, he drove it away. If he encountered something he could not beat, he ran without hesitation.

He had thrown the mixed region of the Star Dou Great Forest into utter chaos. All the soul beasts within dozens of kilometers had been stirred into an uproar.

The soul beasts he drove away trespassed into other soul beasts' territories, and conflict naturally followed.

Soul beasts that won drove their opponents away or killed them; those that lost fled once more.

The chaos even spread to the outer regions.

Within a dense forest, a figure darted through the trees.

Her figure was like a ghost, leaping through the foliage with the agility of a cat.

Yet she was in poor condition. Her clothes had long since been torn to shreds by branches, exposing large swaths of snow-white skin.

That snow-white skin was covered in wounds, large and small. Some had already healed, but more were still steadily bleeding.

Whoosh~~~

Behind her, a gray vine shot up like a venomous snake, winding toward her body.

The girl nimbly twisted aside, narrowly dodging the vine. She glanced back at the dense forest behind her, then quickened her pace and ran forward.

However, before she had gone more than a few dozen meters, a meteor hammer came spinning toward her face.

If that blow landed, her head would likely burst open on the spot.

The girl pushed off a large tree beside her with the tip of her foot, flipping backward through the air. The meteor hammer whistled past her back, and the gust it created sent her hair flying.

Tap~

The girl landed on the ground without making much sound.

Yet seven or eight figures emerged from the dense forest around her, surrounding her completely.

Their eyes were mocking and cold, as though they were sizing up a fleeing kitten.

"Second Miss, stop running. Wouldn't it be better to come back with us obediently? Why insist on suffering out here?"

The burly man standing atop four soul rings—white, yellow, yellow, and purple—looked Zhu Zhuqing up and down greedily. He swung a meteor hammer in his hand, clearly the strongest among them.

"That's right, Second Miss. We're rough men. If we accidentally... well, brothers can still enjoy you while you're warm! Hahaha!!"

"That wouldn't be so bad, hahaha!!!"

A wave of jeering immediately rose from the surrounding crowd.

Hearing their filthy words, Zhu Zhuqing bit her lower lip tightly, her gaze as cold as an icy pool.

She had already made up her mind. If she truly had to die here today, she would find a soul beast.

Rather than let a soul beast eat her, she would never fall into these people's hands.

"Enough! Stop talking nonsense. Take her down quickly so we can go back and report."

A woman holding a dagger spoke up. She was also a woman, and naturally could not stand listening to their vulgar words.

The group exchanged glances and was just about to act when a roar came from the forest to one side.

"Roar~~~"

Then, tree after tree toppled over. There was no need to look to know that something massive was approaching them.

"Stay alert!"

The expressions of those who had been about to attack Zhu Zhuqing instantly turned wary.

They had indeed accepted a mission to bring Zhu Zhuqing back to the Star Luo Empire.

But now that danger had appeared, the mission was naturally forgotten.

No mission or gold soul coins were more important than their lives.

Zhu Zhuqing had originally been prepared to die.

But when she saw that those pursuing her were too occupied to care about her, a glimmer of hope flashed through her eyes.

Thud, thud, thud~~~

Heavy, rapid footsteps approached. Trees to the side crashed down in both directions, revealing a powerful figure.

A thick, massive white horn appeared first before their eyes, followed by a five-meter-tall beast.

Its thick limbs brimmed with strength, while its burly body resembled both a tank and a freight truck charging forward at full speed.

The faces of the group instantly turned pale at the sight of such a colossal creature.

"Giant-Horned Rhinoceros!" The leading Soul Ancestor let out a shrill cry. "Why would this kind of soul beast appear here?!"

Yet the Giant-Horned Rhinoceros did not even glance at them as it charged straight toward them, crushing everything in its path.

There was even humanlike terror in its eyes, as though some great horror was pursuing it from behind.

Seeing this, Zhu Zhuqing pushed off the ground and swiftly climbed the large tree beside her. Then, without looking back, she fled into the distance.

Those chasing her had no attention left for the already-escaping Zhu Zhuqing. Each wished they could grow a few more legs as they fled desperately in every direction.