Ye Lin Really Did Get a Spirit Bone!

Ning Rongrong set down the water flask in her hand and turned slightly toward Xiao Wu.

"We originally said around five thousand years, but Ye Lin said Grandmaster had actually told him he could absorb anything under ten thousand years. Dean Flender confirmed it too, so he chose this six-thousand-year Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear."

She glanced at the swirling purple glow in the middle of the clearing.

"Judging by how he looks now, the absorption isn't too hard on him. He should be safe."

Xiao Wu nodded and asked no more, waiting quietly.

Just then, Tang San moved.

He rose from the edge of the group, spread his arms, and rushed straight toward Xiao Wu.

He arranged his face into an expression of exquisite emotion.

His eyes reddened slightly, his lips trembled, and a sheen of tears gathered around his eyes.

"Xiao Wu!"

"You're back! You're finally back! If you hadn't made it, if I'd lost you, I wouldn't have known how to go on!"

His arms were spread as wide as they could go, ready to close around her.

"I wanted to go save you myself, but they stopped me. Thank goodness you're back now, or I'd have regretted it for the rest of my life!"

Xiao Wu watched him charge at her without so much as blinking.

Her third Spirit Ring flashed, and she vanished from where she stood.

The next instant, she appeared two steps to the side.

Tang San lunged at empty air, but his arms had already closed.

They closed around Ma Hongjun, who had been standing a short distance behind Xiao Wu.

Before Ma Hongjun could react, Tang San had wrapped him in a full-on embrace.

Tang San buried his face in Ma Hongjun's chest. His shoulders trembled as he continued his heartfelt confession.

"I missed you so much... I really can't live without you... It was only when I nearly lost you that I finally realized how I feel about you..."

Ma Hongjun froze, both hands hovering in midair with nowhere to go.

He looked down at the head still nuzzling against his chest.

Dai Mubai buried his face in his palm. His shoulders shook once, then again, as though he couldn't hold it in.

Oscar crouched beside a tree root, one hand clamped over his mouth and the other gripping the fabric over his knee.

At last, he couldn't hold back any longer.

A snort of laughter escaped him.

"Hahahaha!"

Oscar doubled over, clutching his stomach.

"Fatty! Who knew Tang San felt that way about you? Look how tight he's holding you! He's buried his face right in there and rubbing up against you like he can't get enough!"

At Oscar's words,

Dai Mubai completely lost it too.

He leaned back against the tree trunk.

"Hahahaha! Maybe I should ask the dean to switch my room with Tang San's. Let those two share! They're obviously so close, it's perfect!"

Ma Hongjun's face went from white to red, then from red to purple.

He threw his arms out, planted both hands on Tang San's shoulders, and shoved hard.

"Tang San! Get off me! What the hell! Get off!"

Tang San reeled backward. After two stumbling steps, he lost his balance and landed on his backside.

He sat there in a daze, looking first at Ma Hongjun's purple face, then at everyone around them doubled over with laughter.

At last, he realized what had happened.

He had hugged the wrong person.

Tang San's face flushed instantly.

He scrambled up and wiped his hands haphazardly on his clothes, forcing a smile uglier than a grimace.

"Uh... I didn't see clearly just now. Wrong person. I hugged the wrong person..."

As he spoke, he turned his head and looked toward Xiao Wu again.

Xiao Wu stood two steps away, arms folded across her chest. Her face showed little expression.

But the look in her eyes had turned noticeably colder.

Xiao Wu took two steps back.

"Get lost. Don't hug me."

She paused.

"Tang San, I appreciate that you would've saved me."

Tang San stopped in his tracks. His outstretched hand hung in the air before he slowly drew it back.

He gave an awkward laugh.

"We're friends, after all... Of course I'd save you. Of course."

After Tang San said they were friends, the clearing fell quiet for a moment.

That had shut everyone up.

Friends with you?

Who said anything about being friends?

Ooh, "we're friends," are we?

It sounded ridiculous.

Tang San sat back down in his original spot without another word, his eyes fixed on Ye Lin.

At that moment, Tang San's thoughts rang out.

Ye Lin really deserves to die.

He's even absorbing a Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear of such a high age. Why didn't it burst him apart? He actually endured a six-thousand-year Spirit Ring, and he looks perfectly fine.

And that Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear clearly held a deep grudge against Ye Lin. That greatly increased the odds of it dropping a Spirit Bone.

With his damn luck, Ye Lin might actually get one.

If a Spirit Bone really drops for him, I'm going to be furious.

The campfire fell quiet for another moment.

Absorbing the Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear's Spirit Ring meant Ye Lin might also obtain a Spirit Bone.

The value of a Spirit Bone went without saying. Among everyone present, only a handful possessed one.

They were all happy for Ye Lin.

They hoped he would get it.

They hadn't known that deepening a spirit beast's grudge could increase the odds of a Spirit Bone appearing.

Another hour passed.

The night wind swept through the forest.

Ye Lin sat cross-legged, the purple light around him no longer churning as fiercely as before. Its halo slowly contracted.

His third Spirit Ring finally began to stabilize beneath him.

Then his right hand suddenly moved.

Five streaks of dark-golden light burst from the back of his hand at once.

Like five golden short blades, they emerged between his finger bones, rapidly lengthening and curving as they traced five dark-golden arcs through the air.

When the light faded, five long, dark-golden claws had appeared on his right hand, each more than twice the length of his fingers.

The claws extended from his knuckles as though embedded in his bones.

At the sight,

Dai Mubai shot to his feet.

"Holy shit!"

His shout exploded from him, several pitches higher than usual.

"A Spirit Bone! Ye Lin really got a Spirit Bone!"

Oscar sprang up too.

"An External Soul Bone? And it's claws? They look exactly like the Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear's!"

"I remember Grandmaster saying in class that External Soul Bones are the most valuable Spirit Bones. Ye Lin didn't just get a Spirit Bone—he got an External Soul Bone!"

Ma Hongjun crossed to Dai Mubai in two strides and craned his neck toward Ye Lin, muttering,

"Five claws... Good grief, those are the Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear's claws!"

"Did Ye Lin grow its claws on his own hand?"