First Meeting with Tang San

"Big sister, what is an External Spirit Bone?"

He had to play dumb.

A six-year-old village child, even if he had read a few old picture books, could not possibly recognize a supreme treasure of the Spirit Master world like an External Spirit Bone.

Ling Yuan took a deep breath, trying to steady her voice as she crouched down to meet his eyes.

"Spirit Bones are formed when a soul beast's soul power condenses within its bones after death. Only a very small number of soul beasts produce Spirit Bones, and the stronger the soul beast, the greater the chance it will produce one."

She raised a finger and tapped several spots on her body.

"Conventional Spirit Bones are divided into six types—skull, torso bone, left arm bone, right arm bone, left leg bone, and right leg bone. A Spirit Master can equip at most six, corresponding to those six positions."

Ye Xunhuan cooperatively showed a look of realization.

"But External Spirit Bones are different." Ling Yuan's tone grew more serious. "They attach to the surface of the body and do not occupy any of the six conventional positions. It is like gaining an extra Spirit Bone slot out of thin air. More importantly, External Spirit Bones can evolve as a Spirit Master's cultivation rises, and their potential is practically limitless."

She paused, her gaze at Ye Xunhuan extremely complicated.

"Xunhuan, do you know how precious this palm bone is? Even Spirit Hall only has a handful of External Spirit Bones in its stores. Its value even exceeds that of a Hundred-Thousand-Year Spirit Bone."

Ye Xunhuan widened his eyes at the right moment, his tone innocent. "Then do you want it, big sister?"

"What?" Ling Yuan's voice rose a pitch.

"I said, do you want it, big sister?"

Ye Xunhuan was not merely being polite. If Ling Yuan wanted it, he was willing to offer her this Spirit Bone.

"No, no need." Seeing how serious he was, Ling Yuan's tone softened completely, strange light glimmering in her ruby-like eyes.

"This Spirit Bone may be good, but it is not suitable for me. Generally speaking, a Spirit Master is most compatible with a Spirit Bone produced by the soul beast that gave them their Spirit Ring. Wait until we reach Martial Soul City before absorbing it. I'll stand guard for you."

As she spoke, she handed the Spirit Bone to Ye Xunhuan.

Ye Xunhuan nodded obediently and carefully stored the blood-colored palm bone in the Storage Soul Tool Ling Yuan had given him.

The palm bone felt slightly heavy in his hand, and its surface was warm, as though life pulsed within it.

I'll find a suitable one for big sister later.

Ling Yuan stood and stored the two plump bear paws in her Storage Soul Tool, then scraped up a large piece of honey and wrapped it in leaves.

"Who would have thought that we'd find an unexpected reward just from wanting to roast two bear paws? Let's get ready to leave."

Before long, the two finished packing and headed toward the forest's outskirts along the path they had taken in.

Ling Yuan walked ahead, her soul power perception constantly covering a radius of a hundred meters as she remained wary of every approaching presence.

Ye Xunhuan followed behind, sensing the changes brought about by his increased soul power as he walked.

After roughly half an hour, the trees around them gradually thinned, and the scent of human habitation in the air grew stronger.

They had already approached the outer region of the Star Dou Forest.

Suddenly, fierce sounds of battle came from the dense woods ahead.

The clash of metal, bursts of soul power, a sharp hissing sound, and the shouts of two humans mingled together.

Ling Yuan stopped, and her soul power perception instantly extended forward.

"Eight hundred meters ahead, someone is fighting," she said quietly. "Two human presences: one is a level 29 Great Spirit Master, and the other is level 10 and has yet to absorb a Spirit Ring. There is also the presence of a snake-type soul beast. Its age... is around four hundred years."

Ye Xunhuan's heart suddenly tightened.

Four hundred years.

Two humans.

The outskirts of the Star Dou Forest.

Could it be...

Almost instinctively, he activated the perceptive ability granted by the Behemoth Bloodline—a kind of intuition beyond ordinary soul power perception. Like an ancient colossal beast surveying its territory, it could capture subtler fluctuations of presence.

His Spirit-Linking Realm, at great mastery, spread outward.

His spiritual power flowed ahead like water, passing through layer upon layer of branches and leaves and reflecting the scene eight hundred meters away in his mind.

In a small forest clearing, one snake and two people were locked in combat.

The snake was entirely emerald green and around four meters long. Its body was covered in diamond-shaped scales, while its triangular head held two scarlet snake eyes filled with savage malice.

A Mandala Snake.

Four hundred years old.

Ye Xunhuan's breathing abruptly quickened.

Then he looked at the two people—

One was a seemingly six-year-old boy with a thin build, blue hair, and blue eyes. A clump of utterly ordinary Blue Silver Grass martial soul coiled around his left hand.

Tang San.

The other was a middle-aged man, thin and sharp-featured, dressed in a faded gray robe. Beside him stood a strange creature.

It looked like a dog, but its body resembled a fat pig. It was more than one and a half meters long, and its girth was nearly the same.

Its entire body was covered in short, pale purple fur. Two huge floppy ears drooped softly down its sides, and its large round dark-blue eyes had a gentle expression.

Four short, thick legs supported its bloated, round body, while a round lump of flesh protruded from the top of its head. Whenever its fat body moved, its plump buttocks swayed from side to side.

Yu Xiaogang.

He looked exactly as described in the original work.

It seemed Tang San had only just awakened his martial soul as well.

Ye Xunhuan frowned slightly. These two should have appeared in the Soul Hunting Forest instead.

According to the original plot in the Soul Hunting Forest, the Mandala Snake would suddenly erupt when Yu Xiaogang let down his guard, biting him at incredible speed and paralyzing him with its venom.

Tang San would then kill the Mandala Snake in his desperate situation, absorb its Spirit Ring, and obtain his first soul skill, Blue Silver Entanglement.

Come to think of it, Tang Hao had apparently been so disgusted by Yu Xiaogang's eye for choosing Spirit Rings that he had specifically injured this Mandala Snake and tossed it over.

Even so, that dancing master still could not win. If Tang San had not turned the tide, Yu Xiaogang, the future Sea God and Asura God's legendary master, would have died young.

Ye Xunhuan's divine sense remained tightly locked on the scene eight hundred meters away as his mind raced.

He could certainly choose to stand by and let the plot unfold as it had in the original work, allowing Tang San to gain the Mandala Snake's Spirit Ring and leaving everything unchanged.

But he did not want to.

Ye Xunhuan had no intention of letting Tang San have it too easy.

Hehehe.

He had yet to find a clear target to test his strength after obtaining his first soul skill. He could also take the chance to disgust Tang Hao.

A four-hundred-year Mandala Snake was a hard battle for this master and disciple duo, but to him, it was nothing more than a punching bag.

When the time came, the two of them would even have to thank him.

"Big sister." Ye Xunhuan suddenly spoke, his tone amused. "There's a fight ahead. Should we go take a look?"

Ling Yuan looked at him in surprise.

After spending several days together, Ling Yuan knew Ye Xunhuan disliked excitement. If he had taken the initiative to say he wanted to go look, there had to be another reason.

"Then let's go take a look."

Ling Yuan scooped Ye Xunhuan up, turning into a streak of crimson light as she shot toward the sounds of battle.

Within a few breaths, they had reached the edge of the battlefield.

The moment they landed, they witnessed an extremely bloody scene.

The Mandala Snake seized an opening and bit Yu Xiaogang in the crotch. In an instant, blood flowed everywhere.

"Aooooo!" A pig-like scream rang out.

As a man himself, Ye Xunhuan felt a chill surge through him, and goosebumps erupted all over his body. No wonder Yu Xiaogang and Liu Erlong could only be husband and wife in spirit later on.

What a sin. What a sin.