Assimilated External Soul Bone

Zhao Ming did not answer. Right now, he had no attention to spare for answering.

At the instant that stabbing pain struck, he clearly sensed something condensing deep within his brow.

Without a doubt, it was an external soul bone! And one located in the eyes!

The most important reason the Netherworld Sword Lion King could become a top-tier soul beast was the Netherworld Eye in the center of its brow.

That vertical eye was the most refined part of its entire body, containing all of its spiritual power talents.

When Zhao Ming made his wish, he had specifically mentioned an external soul bone. Treasure-Dropping Coin had clearly not disappointed him. After the Netherworld Sword Lion King died, its Netherworld Eye was merging into Zhao Ming's body in the form of a soul bone.

But just as that external soul bone was about to fuse with Zhao Ming, an unexpected change occurred.

Nine-Breath Qi Absorption began operating on its own.

This cultivation art, which Zhao Ming had practiced for two years, was usually as gentle as water—calm and detached. Yet now, as though some bottom line had been touched, it began circulating through his body with an irresistible force.

The spiritual energy of heaven and earth seemed to answer some summons, surging madly into Zhao Ming's brow from all directions. It became an invisible torrent that violently washed over the external soul bone that had just taken shape.

Zhao Ming felt the solidified energy in his brow rapidly dissolve beneath the cleansing force of Nine-Breath Qi Absorption.

Yet at the same time, the abilities contained within that soul bone did not vanish. Instead, carried along by the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, they evenly merged into his eyes.

It was an extraordinarily wondrous experience. Zhao Ming felt as though his eyes had been immersed in a pool of warm spiritual spring water. His eyes were undergoing a peculiar transformation—not a change in appearance, but an evolution in function.

Nine-Breath Qi Absorption would not permit any form of soul bone to exist within Zhao Ming's body, not even an external soul bone.

But it did not unreasonably erase the soul bone's abilities as well. Instead, it assimilated and dissolved the soul bone itself, preserving all the abilities contained within it and integrating them into Zhao Ming's body.

Zhao Ming felt that this method seemed even better than fusing with a soul bone. The difference between abilities directly integrated into one's body and abilities wielded through the "intermediary" of a soul bone was self-evident.

The process lasted around fifteen minutes. When Nine-Breath Qi Absorption finally stopped circulating, Zhao Ming slowly opened his eyes.

Then he froze.

The world before him had changed.

Star Dou Forest was still the same Star Dou Forest: towering ancient trees, dense shrubs, mottled shadows beneath the branches. Everything looked no different from before.

But in Zhao Ming's eyes, the world had become incomparably clear and transparent.

He could see the finest veins on a leaf dozens of meters away. He could catch the path of a mote of dust drifting through the air. He could even see the subtle fluctuations of soul power flowing around Snake Spear Douluo's body.

It felt as if someone had lifted a thin veil from before his eyes, allowing every minute detail of the world to appear in perfect clarity.

His eyes had already fused with the Netherworld Eye ability of the Netherworld Sword Lion King, granting him an effect called "Insight."

As the name implied, this ability allowed Zhao Ming to see through an opponent's moves.

Before anyone attacked, there would always be exceedingly subtle signs: muscles tightening, shifts in their center of gravity, changes in their gaze, the mobilization of soul power.

Ordinary people could not detect such signs at all, but before Zhao Ming's "Insight," they were as clear as lamps in the night.

With this information, he could predict his opponent's next move in an instant and respond in advance.

At its core, combat was a war of information.

Knowing where the opponent's next attack would land, knowing when they would reveal an opening—this was the highest level of combat talent.

Besides predicting attacks, "Insight" greatly enhanced Zhao Ming's dynamic vision and also increased the speed at which his spiritual power recovered.

The Netherworld Eye had originally been a spiritual power-type soul bone. After merging into his eyes, Zhao Ming's spiritual power recovery speed was nearly twice as fast as before.

This effect might seem insignificant, but it was extremely practical in actual combat, especially now that he possessed his third soul skill.

Speaking of his third soul skill, Zhao Ming's third soul skill was called "Netherworld Entanglement."

The effect of this soul skill was to turn spiritual power into chains and directly bind the opponent's soul.

It sounded no different from an ordinary control-type soul skill, but in truth, the domineering aspect of "Netherworld Entanglement" lay in its locking mechanism. Once the soul skill was released, the spiritual power would automatically track and lock onto the target. Unless the opponent's spiritual power vastly surpassed Zhao Ming's, there was simply no way to evade it.

This was a lock-on soul skill with a one hundred percent hit rate.

If an enemy bound by "Netherworld Entanglement" had weaker spiritual power than Zhao Ming, they would be absolutely incapable of breaking free from the spiritual restraints. During that time, their body would completely lose the ability to move, frozen in place and unable to budge, able only to endure attacks passively. The maximum duration was five seconds.

Five seconds might not sound long, but Unfixed Storm, reputed to be the number one control divine skill in the Divine Realm, could only forcibly control someone for three seconds.

In high-level soul master battles, victory and defeat were often decided in the blink of an eye.

Being immobilized for five seconds meant the opponent could calmly charge up and unleash their strongest attack, while you could only watch helplessly as it struck your body, unable even to defend yourself.

Even if the opponent's spiritual power was stronger than Zhao Ming's, "Netherworld Entanglement" was not without effect.

It would still take effect, but the duration of the restraint would shorten according to the strength of the opponent's spiritual power.

Even experts whose spiritual power far surpassed Zhao Ming's would be bound for at least an instant. And in a life-and-death battle, that instantary pause was often the dividing line between victory and defeat.

Furthermore, "Netherworld Entanglement" could be used against more than one target. It could also be cast on a group, though the more people it locked onto, the shorter the control duration became.

At present, it could control up to ten people at once. If those ten people had weaker spiritual power than Zhao Ming, they would all be forcibly controlled for one second.

And as Zhao Ming's soul power level increased, the number of people he could control would also rise.

What pleased Zhao Ming even more was that "Netherworld Entanglement" came with an exceptionally powerful supplementary effect when cast: devouring the opponent's spiritual power to nourish himself.

During the period of restraint, the soul skill would continuously draw out the opponent's spiritual power, converting it into the purest spiritual energy to replenish Zhao Ming.

And while in this state of spiritual power replenishment, all of Zhao Ming's attributes would increase by 30%.

All in all, "Netherworld Entanglement" was a composite soul skill that combined control, devouring, and enhancement. Across all of Douluo Continent, one could count on one hand the number of soul masters who could obtain a soul skill of this level from their third soul ring.

It controlled and locked down enemies, devoured and weakened opponents, and enhanced and strengthened himself. With all three effects combined, it was a perfect third soul skill.

Zhao Ming stood up, moving his somewhat stiff limbs, then smiled at Snake Spear Douluo, who had been standing guard beside him with a tense expression.

"Uncle Snake Spear, I succeeded."