Huo Lei's Secret Weapon, External Soul Bone

At that moment, the Vajra Tiger swung its right claw again, and five golden claw blades appeared once more. Relying on the defense of his Lava Armor, Huo Lei charged straight at them.

"Damn it! I'm going all out!"

Huo Lei gritted his teeth, clenched both fists, and swiftly attacked the Vajra Tiger.

Bang! Bang! Bang~

The sound of metal colliding with rock rang out once more.

Huo Lei was still knocked back again and again by the impact of the five claw blades. The Lava Armor on his body flickered between bright and dim, extremely unstable.

"This is bad! My Soul Power is almost depleted."

Huo Lei panted heavily, staring fixedly at the Vajra Tiger before him.

The Vajra Tiger opened its bloody maw and pounced straight at him.

"Is this brat really going to lose just like that?"

Standing atop a tree trunk, Jin Shan's expression turned solemn. He had already prepared to step in and save him at any moment.

Huo Lei and the charging Vajra Tiger drew closer and closer: six meters, five meters, four meters...

When they were only three meters apart, Huo Lei moved. He raised his right arm and aimed directly at the Vajra Tiger's bloody maw. His left hand swiftly slapped and gripped his right forearm, and a metal arrow three inches long and as thick as a chopstick shot out at high speed, flying straight through the Vajra Tiger's mouth and into its body.

Awooo~

The Vajra Tiger let out a miserable cry.

Huo Lei threw himself backward toward the ground, avoiding the Vajra Tiger, which could not stop due to its momentum.

As the Vajra Tiger landed and missed him, its body lay on the ground convulsing nonstop. It howled miserably in pain.

By then, Jin Shan had already arrived at Huo Lei's side.

Huo Lei sprang to his feet with a kip-up. Ignoring the teacher beside him, he rushed straight toward the Vajra Tiger, which was twitching and groaning on the ground.

He reached the Vajra Tiger, mounted it directly, raised his fist, and rained blows crazily upon its head.

"I'll hit you! I'll hit you! I'll hit you~"

A short while later, the Vajra Tiger beneath Huo Lei had stopped breathing, and a purple Soul Ring floated out.

"Brat, it's already dead. Stop!"

Jin Shan walked over and reminded him.

"I'll hit you!"

"Urgh~"

Huo Lei was only putting on a show by swinging his fists. He was not strong enough to kill the Vajra Tiger beneath him; the arrow was what had truly done the job.

The reason he did this was to deliberately put on an act for his teacher.

Huo Lei even struck a pose resembling that of a kung fu king. "Teacher, wasn't your disciple mighty?"

"You little brat, you've got some skills."

Jin Shan's face was full of satisfaction. At the same time, he curiously looked at Huo Lei's right arm. "Brat, tell me honestly. What interesting thing are you hiding in your sleeve?"

"Teacher, your eyes are truly sharp. You even noticed that. It's just a little trinket, nothing worth mentioning."

Huo Lei replied with a cheeky grin.

"Cut the nonsense. Take it out and let your teacher have a look. Otherwise, this old man will do it himself."

Pretending he was about to make a move, Jin Shan approached Huo Lei.

"Teacher, I'll do it myself."

He rolled up his sleeve, revealing a metal tube-like object on his right forearm.

"Did that arrow just now come from this thing?"

Jin Shan stepped forward and examined it curiously.

"Yes! I made this several years ago. I named it the Sleeve Arrow."

"Sleeve Arrow?"

"An arrow hidden in one's sleeve! A fine name."

"Hurry and introduce your Sleeve Arrow to your teacher. Be as thorough as possible, and do not conceal anything."

Jin Shan looked at Huo Lei expectantly.

"This Sleeve Arrow fires one arrow at a time and has a range of around thirty meters. If the opponent is caught off guard at close range, killing a Soul King would not be a problem. The key is that it doesn't require Soul Power."

"It doesn't require Soul Power?"

Jin Shan froze for a moment.

"You brat, you really can do it! You're always grinning and acting foolish, yet you actually managed to develop something like this. This..."

Before Jin Shan could finish, Huo Lei cut in. "Teacher, to you, this is just scrap metal, but to your disciple, it's a treasure that can save my life. At present, only the two of us know about it. I hope you'll keep this secret for your disciple."

Seeing Huo Lei's pitiful, pleading expression, Jin Shan nodded slightly. "Fine. Your teacher will keep it secret for you."

"Thank you, Teacher!"

Huo Lei immediately beamed with joy. He lowered his sleeve and took a sharp dagger from his Storage Ring.

"Let's see whether this Vajra Tiger with two thousand years of cultivation produced anything good."

Huo Lei moved around the Vajra Tiger's body, searching for the Soul Bone that Soul Masters dreamed of obtaining.

"Nothing?"

"What a letdown!"

Huo Lei angrily stabbed the dagger in his hand into the Vajra Tiger's right paw.

Clang!

A crisp metallic sound caught the master and disciple's attention.

"Hm? That sound..."

"Something's wrong!"

"Brat, pull out the dagger, quickly!"

Jin Shan hurriedly urged him.

"Teacher, no need to get so worked up, right? I probably hit a bone."

Huo Lei looked utterly unconcerned as he muttered under his breath, but he obediently pulled out the dagger.

The instant the dagger was pulled free, golden light burst from the wound on the tiger's paw.

"This is...?"

Master and disciple were both stunned, exchanging a glance.

"Teacher, I'll take it out."

Excited, Huo Lei began cutting it free with the dagger.

Before long, a paw bone appeared in Huo Lei's hand. It looked as though it had been forged from gold, its five tiger claws as sharp as daggers. Golden light radiated from it, dazzling and chilling.

"External... Soul Bone! It's a rare External Soul Bone!"

Looking at the Soul Bone before him, Jin Shan's voice began to tremble.

"Teacher, please take it!"

With a smile, Huo Lei held the Soul Bone in both hands and offered it to Jin Shan.

"Brat, this is an External Soul Bone, a treasure that can continuously evolve. You're not going to absorb it?"

Jin Shan's eyes widened as he stared at his disciple in astonishment.

"An External Soul Bone is indeed a rare treasure, but it isn't particularly suitable for me. Not only does this Soul Bone share your attribute, but it also comes from the same type of beast as your martial soul. It suits you better. Besides, you once gave a Soul Bone to my father as well. First, this is to repay your kindness. Second, it is a selfish wish of mine—I hope Teacher can break through soon and become even stronger, so your disciple can have more face."

Huo Lei's impassioned speech moved even Jin Shan, a Titled Douluo.

"Brat, I did not misjudge you. Since you've put it that way, your teacher won't stand on ceremony."

Jin Shan accepted the Soul Bone excitedly, his face filled with a gratified smile.

"Brat, put away this Vajra Tiger and quickly restore your Soul Power. Your teacher must absorb this External Soul Bone as well."

With a wave of his right hand, Huo Lei stored the Vajra Tiger in his newly acquired Storage Ring. He then took an arrow from his red Storage Ring and loaded it before sitting cross-legged to meditate with peace of mind.

Watching his disciple enter meditation, Jin Shan also began absorbing the External Soul Bone.

For Jin Shan, absorbing a Soul Bone that was only two thousand years old was as easy as turning his hand. Since it shared both his attribute and beast type, its compatibility was extremely high. He completed the absorption in only a short while. Because the Soul Bone's age was too low, the slight increase in Soul Power was merely a drop in the bucket to him.

Jin Shan looked at Huo Lei's figure, his eyes full of affection. "How wonderful it would be if this child were my grandson. Since I have nothing to do, I'll grill some meat for him!"

An hour later.

Huo Lei woke from meditation, his Soul Power mostly restored. He then finished the grilled meat skewers Jin Shan had specially prepared for him.

Burp~!

"I'm full. That was satisfying. Teacher's cooking is pretty good."

Satisfied, Huo Lei rubbed his slightly bulging belly and rested half-reclined against a large tree.

"Brat, do you want to learn your teacher's craft?"

Jin Shan teased.

"Maybe later!"

Huo Lei looked utterly uninterested.

Just as the master and disciple rested and joked around, cries for help came from deep within the forest.