Dark Sky-Splitting Claw, an External Spirit Bone Drop

"Yan, we found one!"

"You found one?! A dark-attribute or draconic Soul Beast?"

Yan Jingchuan, who had been washing his face by the river, swiftly stood up.

But Du Busi's answer completely exceeded his expectations.

"Neither. It's a Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear, between five hundred and six hundred years old."

A Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear?!

Yan Jingchuan could not help but be startled. Of course he knew this kind of Soul Beast—it was practically famous.

In the original story, both Huo Yuhao and Tang Wulin ten thousand years later had deep ties to this kind of Soul Beast, and both possessed Soul Bones produced by Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bears.

This kind of Soul Beast was extraordinarily powerful. At a thousand years, it could contend with ten-thousand-year Soul Beasts; at ten thousand years, it could rival ordinary Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts.

"So, do you want it?"

Du Busi did not act immediately, instead asking Yan Jingchuan for his opinion.

The best Soul Rings for the Dark Sacred Dragon martial soul were undoubtedly those produced by dark-attribute or draconic Soul Beasts. Yet the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear was of extremely high quality and also suited the Dark Sacred Dragon's assault-oriented path.

"Yes, of course. A hundred-year Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear is something you can only hope to encounter!"

Yan Jingchuan answered at once.

Du Busi, who had been about to move, suddenly stopped. He looked at Yan Jingchuan with slight hesitation.

"Isn't its age a little too high? Can your body withstand it?"

Understanding Du Busi's concern, Yan Jingchuan patted his chest.

"Don't worry, Senior Du. Even if I fail, you bear no responsibility. If I explode and die, it will only prove that I was not good enough."

What a joke. Before Yan Jingchuan awakened his martial soul, he had often spent his own money buying rare treasures to strengthen his foundation, including whale glue that could greatly improve physical fitness.

His physique was not something an ordinary Soul Master could compare to. Otherwise, he could never have circled the Star Dou Great Forest and run all the way to Heaven Dou City on his own.

"Since you say so..."

Du Busi instantly brought Yan Jingchuan above the heads of two giant bears.

The two giant bears were one large and one small. The larger one was clearly close to ten thousand years old, while the smaller one was the hundred-year Soul Beast Du Busi had mentioned.

Sensing the two men, both Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bears raised their heads. Their tall, imposing bodies stood upright as they roared without pause, their golden claws long and sharp, gleaming with a fierce light.

"Hmm? There are other people nearby. They seem to be from Shrek."

Du Busi's Hyper Douluo-level spiritual power allowed him to detect a Shrek squad.

Rather than worrying at Du Busi's words, Yan Jingchuan became somewhat excited.

"I hope they don't come over. If they come looking for death, then they can't blame us..."

If they ran into each other later and those people tried to pick a fight, Yan Jingchuan would have more than enough reason to deal with them. There was no reason to pass up tenfold Soul Power cultivation efficiency.

Du Busi nodded, fully agreeing with Yan Jingchuan's way of handling things.

The two Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bears below were still roaring incessantly when Du Busi waved his right hand, accompanied by overwhelming spiritual pressure.

"Quiet!"

Without any suspense, both Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bears collapsed to the ground, unable to move.

Du Busi descended with Yan Jingchuan and casually killed the older bear.

Possessed by the Dark Sacred Dragon, Yan Jingchuan's right arm transformed into a black dragon claw. He had to personally kill the Soul Beast he needed.

Aiming at the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear's head, Yan Jingchuan brought his dragon claw down.

With a crisp sound of flesh splitting, the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear let out a low whimper. The attack had only scratched its skin.

"So hard!"

Yan Jingchuan could not help marveling at the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear's thick hide.

"Strike its eye socket. Hitting anywhere else is just scratching an itch for it."

Du Busi reminded him.

Without another word, Yan Jingchuan's dragon claw passed through the eye socket and directly destroyed the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear's brain.

A yellow hundred-year Soul Ring rose from the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear's corpse.

Yan Jingchuan sat cross-legged, drawing the Soul Ring onto himself. He closed his eyes and focused as he began absorbing it.

Du Busi once again spread out his spiritual power to guard Yan Jingchuan.

The absorption process went fairly smoothly. Still, even with Yan Jingchuan's physique and spiritual power, it took a full six hours to successfully absorb the Soul Ring. The extraordinary quality of a Soul Ring produced by a Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear was beyond doubt.

In the darkness of night, Yan Jingchuan opened his eyes. Du Busi immediately came over.

"How was it? What Soul Skill did you get?"

The corners of Yan Jingchuan's mouth unconsciously rose. Bracing himself on his legs, he stood upright as a yellow Soul Ring appeared beneath his feet.

"The Soul Skill it gave me is called Dark Sky-Splitting Claw. It carries the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear's sharpness and can ignore seventy percent of an opponent's defense."

"How much? Seventy percent?!"

Du Busi's eyes widened in utter disbelief.

"Why don't you try it yourself?"

"Come on!"

Words alone could not convey the full effect. Du Busi wanted to experience it personally.

The Dark Sacred Dragon let out a roar. The hundred-year Soul Ring flashed, and Yan Jingchuan swung his dragonized right arm forward.

Five claw streaks darker than the night itself shot toward Du Busi.

Du Busi raised a hand and took them head-on. The claw streaks dissipated upon striking him, as though they had done no damage at all.

Yet his expression became utterly fascinating.

"Impressive! This is already comparable to the third Soul Skill of an ordinary three-ring Soul Elder."

"I have Senior to thank for finding this Soul Ring for me!"

Du Busi laughed heartily.

"Enough. Now that the Soul Ring matter is settled, let's leave quickly."

Unwilling to remain in the Star Dou Great Forest any longer, Du Busi wanted to leave as soon as possible.

"Please wait a moment, Senior!"

Noticing the corpses of the two Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bears, Yan Jingchuan decided to see whether they had produced any Soul Bones.

After searching the two corpses, a treasure-like radiance lit up when he inspected the paw of the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear that was over nine thousand years old.

Looking at that Soul Bone, Du Busi blurted out, "An External Spirit Bone!"

Yan Jingchuan had not expected a Soul Bone to actually drop.

"Over here..."

An unfamiliar voice sounded. Du Busi did not even turn his head, but Yan Jingchuan saw someone wearing an ugly green uniform appear and immediately recognized him as a Shrek student.

The youth stared blankly at the corpses of the two Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bears for a moment, then his gaze fell upon the External Spirit Bone in Yan Jingchuan's hand.

The youth's eyes became exceptionally heated, filled with greed.

He carefully examined Yan Jingchuan and Du Busi, thinking, If I kill these two half-grown brats, the Soul Bone will be mine. No one will ever know.

With that thought, he raised his voice and demanded harshly, "Who are you? Why did you kill my Soul Beasts?"

That sentence amused Yan Jingchuan, while Du Busi nearly doubted his own ears.

Since when did Soul Beasts belong to you?

Yan Jingchuan was not surprised in the slightest. Shrek people had always been this shameless.

"Senior, you were the one who killed this Soul Beast. The Soul Bone should belong to you."

As he spoke, Yan Jingchuan held the Soul Bone out to Du Busi.

Du Busi froze. He looked into Yan Jingchuan's eyes, which did not hold the slightest trace of greed, as though what he held was not a priceless treasure of the Soul Master world.

An External Spirit Bone was even rarer than a Soul Bone from any part of a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, because it could grow along with its Soul Master.

The best example was Tang San's Eight Spider Lances from ten thousand years ago, which had ultimately evolved into the Sea God's Eight Wings.

"You don't want it? This is an External Spirit Bone!"

Du Busi wanted to reach out and take it, but for some reason, he did not move for a long while.

Yan Jingchuan truly did not care much about this Soul Bone. To him, giving it to Du Busi was the best choice.

If Du Busi had not helped him, he did not know when he would have obtained his first Soul Ring and continued cultivating, even if Du Busi had initially only wanted to disgust Shrek.

Du Busi could absorb it himself and rapidly raise it to the level of a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast; or he could give it to Long Aotian of the Noumenon Sect, repaying Du Busi for his help.

Yan Jingchuan had always been this way: whoever helped him, he helped in return. Whoever wanted to kill him or harm him, he would repay them a thousandfold or a hundredfold.

While the two were pushing the Soul Bone back and forth, the ignored Shrek student in the distance could no longer endure it.

The red-eyed youth summoned his martial soul, and a slender golden sword landed in his hand.

"You two damned little beasts, hand over the Soul Bone! Only this genius is qualified to fuse with it!"