Absorbing the Soul Bone, Spring Breeze Brings New Life

Su Yang was in no hurry. He traveled steadily, first resting for a night in a small town outside Notting City. Only the next day did he hire a mule cart and leisurely make his way toward Holy Soul Village.

He did not rush straight toward his destination. Along the way, he ate when he should eat and slept when he should sleep, even finding the leisure to chat with the old cart driver about the local harvest.

Three days later, he confirmed that Tang San and his group had completely left Notting City behind, with no intention of turning back. Only then did he get off the cart in a small grove outside Holy Soul Village.

Holy Soul Village was a remote little village, with dozens of households scattered through a mountain hollow. Smoke curled from chimneys, chickens crowed and dogs barked. It looked every bit like a peaceful rural settlement.

Su Yang did not enter the village. He circled around to the hillside behind it and followed a narrow path nearly swallowed by weeds, going deeper and deeper until even the sounds from the village had completely vanished. Only then did he stop.

Before him stood a steep cliff face. At its base was a small pool, its water crystal clear, reflecting the drifting white clouds overhead.

Beside the pool was a cave entrance, mostly concealed by vines.

Su Yang took a deep breath. He had kept himself calm throughout the journey, but now that he had arrived, his heartbeat still quickened beyond his control.

He did not know whether the arrangements in this life would match the original story. After all, this world had already changed beyond recognition so many times.

If this place had changed too, then this trip would have been for nothing, and he would have delayed his journey to Shrek Academy for no reason. He steadied himself, pushed aside the vines, and slipped inside sideways.

The cave was dim and damp, and the air carried the raw, earthy smell of stone and mud. The ground was somewhat slippery.

Su Yang did not immediately head deeper inside. He stood at the entrance and waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness before carefully examining his surroundings.

The stone walls were rough and uneven, covered in moss. With his palm pressed against the wall, he slowly felt his way forward from the entrance into the depths.

His fingertips traced every crack and indentation, overlooking no suspicious mark. After feeling his way inward for around seventy or eighty feet, his fingers suddenly touched an unusual depression.

The edges of that depression were unnaturally smooth, utterly out of place against the coarse stone wall around it, as though they had been deliberately polished.

Su Yang's heartbeat quickened slightly. He steadied himself and tried pressing hard along the pattern of the depression. With a soft click, a sound came from deep within the stone wall.

On the wall before him, a stone that looked no different from any other loosened slightly. Su Yang held his breath, slid his fingers inside, gripped the edge of the stone, and pulled hard. A hidden compartment was revealed.

Inside the cramped space lay a wooden box in silence. Its color had darkened with age, and its corners bore signs of wear. It had clearly endured the passage of many years.

Su Yang's hands trembled slightly. He carefully lifted out the wooden box and weighed it in his hands. It was not light. Finding a flat stone, he sat down, placed the box across his knees, and slowly opened the lid.

A faint blue glow spilled from the box, casting a pale blue sheen across his entire face. Inside, a crystalline Soul Bone lay quietly atop a piece of silk.

Its color resembled a blue gemstone from the depths of the sea, its surface rippling with a sheen like living water. Between its flowing patterns seemed to lie verdant vitality. One glance was enough to tell that it was extraordinary.

This Soul Bone contained the power of the forest, the mark left behind by the Blue Silver Emperor. The Hundred Thousand Year Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone.

Taking it meant that he and Tang San would be locked in a fight to the death from then on.

But he quickly crushed that flicker of hesitation.

Tang San was not the only one fighting in this world. He, Su Yang, was also a transmigrator. Since he was here, he had to survive, grow stronger, and stand at the pinnacle of this continent.

Stealing Tang San's opportunity meant that once that guy grew up, they would inevitably clash sooner or later. But so what? The moment he transmigrated here, he had been destined to compete with this world's favored child of the heavens.

The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, Immortal-Grade Herbs, and all sorts of opportunities—was he supposed to hand them all over to others? Rather than live at someone else's mercy, he might as well take a gamble. Since he had chosen to fight, he would fight to the end.

Su Yang did not think any further. Taking a deep breath, he removed the Soul Bone from the box and pressed it against his right leg.

In an instant, agony exploded through him. His leg felt as though it were being forcibly torn apart and reassembled. An immense, nearly berserk force surged from the Soul Bone into his meridians, rampaging through his body like an unbridled wild horse.

It was like a towering tide, rushing forth as it tried to tear him apart from within. Su Yang gritted his teeth. Veins bulged across his forehead one by one, while large beads of sweat crashed down his cheeks.

His entire body trembled. This pain was on an entirely different level from when he had absorbed Xiao Wu's Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone.

The Blue Silver Emperor Soul Bone carried the life force of an entire forest—wild, vast, and surging. That power struck his meridians with searing pain, as though every inch of flesh and blood were being pierced by needles and roasted by fire.

But at that moment, the two Immortal-Grade Herb martial souls within him stabilized the situation for him.

The red light of Lovesick Heartbreak Red surged from his dantian like a gentle hand, slowly pressing down the frenzied power.

The golden light of the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum followed close behind, dissolving into streams of warmth that guided the energy through his meridians, spreading it little by little.

Both Immortal-Grade Herb martial souls were plant-type and naturally compatible with the Blue Silver Emperor's attributes, like the finest medicinal catalysts, gradually dispelling the lingering wildness within the Soul Bone.

The pain gradually faded amid the long torment. After an unknown amount of time, Su Yang finally let out a long breath and slowly opened his eyes.

He lowered his head to look at his right leg—the Soul Bone had completely merged with his body. Only a faint blue pattern remained on the surface of his skin, like some mysterious mark.

He closed his eyes and sensed the flow of Soul Power within his body. He discovered that it had crossed the threshold of level thirty-nine and settled firmly at level forty.

The transformation in his Soul Power, from quantity to quality, left his entire body feeling refreshed.

Then, a realization of a soul skill flooded into his mind: Spring Breeze Brings New Life. It possessed powerful healing abilities; even regenerating a severed limb was no issue, and it even came with the ability to fly.

Su Yang opened his eyes, a smile rising in them. He stood up, moved his legs a little, and tried circulating his Soul Power. His body truly became light enough to rise from the ground, hovering in midair.

Outside the cave, the sunlight was perfect. Su Yang stepped out and narrowed his eyes at the distant horizon.

He could already imagine the expression on Tang San's face when he discovered in the future that someone had gotten to this Soul Bone first. He could not help laughing. "Sorry, Tang San. I'll hold onto this for you first."

He turned and headed toward Shrek Academy. His steps were much lighter than when he had arrived.