External Soul Bone, Dark Gold Dreadclaw

The back courtyard of the Spirit Hall Branch in Nuoding City.

Elder Ma and Sisi went into the kitchen, where pots and pans clattered. Sisi rolled up her sleeves and hauled out the biggest iron pot. Elder Ma fed firewood into the stove. Flames licked the bottom of the pot, and steam rose.

In the courtyard.

Su Yuntao crouched beside the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear's corpse, a short knife in his hand.

"Let's cut off the bear paws first." He licked his lips. "I've never eaten the paws of a four-hundred-year-old Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear in my life."

Lin Yuan crouched opposite him.

The short knife sank into the joint of the right forepaw. Su Yuntao pressed down with his wrist, guiding the blade along the seam between the bones. The hide peeled back, exposing dark-gold muscle to the air.

"Wait."

Lin Yuan caught his hand.

The knife tip had struck something. Not bone. Bone shouldn't be this hard.

Su Yuntao frowned and turned the blade, cutting through the surrounding muscle. A dark-gold piece of bone emerged from the flesh.

Dark gold through and through.

It was shaped like a palm, but five long, narrow blades extended from its front like miniature dreadclaws. A dark-gold glow flowed across their edges, and a heart-stopping sharpness filled the air.

Su Yuntao's hand froze.

Lin Yuan's pupils contracted.

An External Soul Bone.

The chance of a Soul Bone appearing was one in a thousand; for an External Soul Bone, it was less than one in ten thousand. Once perfectly fused, the bone would evolve as its host grew, bound to his soul and flesh, following him through life and death.

The Dark Gold Dreadclaw Right Palm Bone.

When Huo Yuhao had first fused with the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Right Palm Bone, he could tear through a Millennium Soul Beast's defenses with one swipe. Later, as his Soul Power rose, the dark-gold claws that sprang from his five fingers could even rip space apart.

"A Soul Bone?"

Su Yuntao's voice dropped to a whisper. His expression changed, and he jerked his head up, scanning the courtyard. Beyond the wall, there was only the rustle of wind through leaves.

He snatched up a clean piece of burlap, wrapped the Soul Bone in three layers, and stuffed it into Lin Yuan's bundle.

"Keep it hidden."

Lin Yuan looked at him.

"Brother Su, do you know what this is?"

"A Soul Bone." Su Yuntao pressed the bundle shut. "As for what kind, I don't know. And I don't need to." He stared into Lin Yuan's eyes. "Remember this: unless you're at death's door, never let anyone know you have this Soul Bone. Anyone."

His hand rested on the bundle, his knuckles white with the force of his grip.

"A Soul Bone can turn blood brothers against each other."

Lin Yuan said nothing.

He knew how powerfully Soul Bones tempted Soul Masters. An ordinary Soul Master could go a lifetime without seeing one. Even Titled Douluo would risk their lives for a Soul Bone.

Su Yuntao was only an ordinary level-twenty-six Soul Master.

From beginning to end, he had not reached a single inch closer to the Soul Bone.

"What are you looking at?" Su Yuntao glared at him. "Hurry up and cut off the bear paws. Your sister Sisi is waiting to put them in the pot."

Lin Yuan lowered his head.

"...Thank you."

Su Yuntao didn't answer. He bent over the meat and kept cutting.

By the time the smell of meat drifted from the kitchen, night had fallen completely.

Sisi was sweating over the stove. As she chopped ginger, she shouted into the courtyard, "Su Yuntao, are those bear paws ready yet? The water's boiled three times already!"

Su Yuntao dropped the last piece of bear meat into a wooden basin and carried it into the kitchen. "Coming, coming. Cutting up a four-hundred-year-old Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear is like cutting stone."

Sisi took the basin and tipped the meat into the pot. Hot oil hissed, and fragrance burst into the air. She put on the lid and dusted off her hands.

"There. Now wait for it to cook."

Elder Ma carried the largest round table into the courtyard. Sisi brought out a basin of red-braised bear meat, a basin of clear-stewed bear paws, and a huge pot of rice. The Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear's meat was firm, with a thick layer of fat. The broth had cooked to a milky white, with golden beads of oil floating on top.

Guga jumped from Lin Yuan's arms, his black-bead eyes fixed on the basin of meat.

"Smells so good, guga."

Dark Gold Guga jumped down too, her dark-gold eyes staring unblinkingly at the meat.

Sisi picked up a piece of braised meat and put it in the bowl before Guga. He held it in his two stubby hands and took a bite, his black-bead eyes narrowing to slits.

"So tasty, guga!"

Dark Gold Guga didn't wait for Sisi. She grabbed a piece herself and stuffed it into her mouth. Her dark-gold eyes lit up.

"...Tasty, guga."

The two little creatures began to eat.

One piece after another. Their bowls emptied, then the basin. Sisi brought out another basin, and Elder Ma brought another pot of rice. Empty bowls piled up before the two Gugas like twin hills.

Su Yuntao's chopsticks stopped in midair, his mouth hanging open.

Sisi covered her mouth, her eyes round with astonishment.

Elder Ma's hand stopped stroking his beard.

Guga and Dark Gold Guga were still eating. Their stubby hands reached for the last piece of meat at the same time. Black-bead eyes glared into dark-gold eyes, and dark-gold eyes glared back.

"Mine, guga."

"...Mine, guga."

The meat tore in half.

Lin Yuan's mouth twitched.

He already couldn't afford to feed one Guga. Now there were two.

He needed to find a way to make money, and fast.

After dinner, Su Yuntao pulled Lin Yuan aside.

"Come with me."

Su Yuntao's home was a small tiled-roof house in the west of Nuoding City. He shut the door, drew the curtains, and took the burlap bundle from inside his clothes.

"Absorb it here. I'll stand guard."

Lin Yuan sat cross-legged and unwrapped the burlap. The Dark Gold Dreadclaw Right Palm Bone gleamed dark gold in the candlelight. Its five blades trembled faintly, as though alive.

He took a deep breath.

He channeled Soul Power into his palm and guided it toward the Soul Bone. Dark-gold light erupted. The Soul Bone dissolved into a mass of dark-gold liquid and burrowed into his right palm.

Agony.

His bones creaked. His five fingers spread beyond his control, his nails turning into dark-gold claws as a thick dark-gold carapace covered the back of his hand. The lingering will of the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear roared in his mind. Its savage intent battered his consciousness like a rising tide.

Lin Yuan gritted his teeth.

Guga jumped from his arms and stood beside him, staring with unblinking black-bead eyes. Dark Gold Guga jumped down too and tilted her head.

"...You can do it, guga."

The time it took an incense stick to burn passed.

The dark-gold light slowly faded. Lin Yuan opened his eyes and raised his right hand. At a thought, five dark-gold claws sprang from his fingers, each half a foot long, their edges glinting coldly. A sharp, oppressive presence filled the air, exactly like the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear's when it was alive.

He gave his hand a light sweep.

The wooden table beside him fell into five pieces, its cut surfaces smooth as mirrors. Flecks of dark-gold light lingered along the cuts.

Su Yuntao sucked in a breath.

"So this is an External Soul Bone? It's just like that bear's claws."

Lin Yuan retracted the claws, and his right hand returned to normal. He looked down at his palm. A dark-gold mark had appeared there, shaped like a miniature bear claw. He clenched his fist and felt a ferocious power lying dormant in the bone, waiting to be unleashed.

"Let's go. Back to the dorm." Su Yuntao patted his shoulder. "Remember what I said."

"I will."

The door to Dorm Seven stood ajar.

Lin Yuan pushed it open. Xiao Wu sat on the edge of her bed, swinging her legs. When she saw him, she jumped down.

"You're finally back!"

Then she saw the two Gugas.

"Huh?"

Xiao Wu crouched and stared at Guga for a long while, then stared at Dark Gold Guga just as long. She reached out and poked Dark Gold Guga's cheek.

Dark Gold Guga tilted her head.

"...Guga."

Xiao Wu's eyes lit up.

"Lin Yuan! You have another one! What kind of Martial Soul is this? She's so cute! And dark gold! What's her name? Can she talk too? Her eyes are so pretty!"

Lin Yuan set both Gugas on the bed.

"Dark Gold Guga."

"Dark Gold Guga." Xiao Wu repeated the name, picked her up, and held her before her eyes. "Hello! I'm Xiao Wu."

Dark Gold Guga looked at her for three seconds.

"...Hungry, guga."

Xiao Wu paused, then burst out laughing.

"Just as greedy as Guga!"

Lin Yuan lay down on the bed and stared at the ceiling. The two Gugas sprawled beside him. Guga poked Dark Gold Guga's cheek with a stubby hand, while Dark Gold Guga concentrated on gnawing a dry biscuit she had found somewhere.

Xiao Wu leaned over the side of the bed and watched them, reaching out to poke Dark Gold Guga's belly. Dark Gold Guga rolled over, wrapped her stubby hands around Guga's arm, and went on sleeping.

Xiao Wu smiled, her eyes curving into crescents.

"Lin Yuan."

"Mm?"

"Will you summon more of them later?"

"Probably."

"Then will you be able to feed them all?"

Lin Yuan closed his eyes.

"...Ask me tomorrow."

Xiao Wu lingered at the bedside for a while longer before tiptoeing back to her own bed. Moonlight spilled through the window onto the two Gugas—the Penguin Suit and Dark Gold Bear suit huddled together, their stubby hands resting on each other. Even in their sleep, they kept smacking their lips.