Where Was Its Corpse?

Xu Xiaonian did not notice their shocked expressions. At that moment, he was walking hand in hand with Xu Xiaotang into the stone hut Deacon Long had temporarily built with his soul power.

The stone hut had been built around the Hell Three-Headed Hound's corpse, enclosing both siblings and the beast.

They closed the Stone Gate.

Inside the dim stone hut, the dark purple glow radiating from the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger martial soul became the only source of light.

Xu Xiaonian sat cross-legged and activated the Evil God Mark Method, slowly absorbing the magnificent, fantastical black soul ring.

The next instant.

The vast, violent soul power within the soul ring immediately rampaged through his body. Even with a physique comparable to a Soul Ancestor's, he struggled to withstand it.

Faint bloody lines spread across Xu Xiaonian's body, as though he might burst apart and die at any moment.

Watching beside him, Xu Xiaotang's face was full of worry. But she also knew this was not the time for her to act. She could only choose to trust her younger brother.

Then the turning point came.

Brilliant golden holy light suddenly appeared, holding its own against the eerie dark purple glow and lighting up the entire stone hut.

The Holy Spirit Purcell martial soul appeared, resembling the six-winged angel martial soul in shape, but with a more divine, slender form.

A magnificent purple soul ring rose from beneath his feet. Holy Spirit Purcell's tightly closed eyes abruptly opened, his azure eyes, evocative of the boundless universe, filled with divinity and indifference.

The bloody patterns on Xu Xiaonian's body slowly faded, and his tightly furrowed brows relaxed. Clearly, he had fully withstood the surge of soul power from the soul ring.

The Eternal Soul Ring's passive skill increased his physical constitution, Spiritual Power, and bodily resilience by three hundred percent whenever the soul ring empowered him.

He had passed the first hurdle of absorbing a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring.

Xu Xiaotang's expression did not relax in the slightest, because she knew the hardest hurdle had yet to come.

Sure enough.

Xu Xiaonian's previously calm expression suddenly twisted in agony. His Spiritual Power fluctuated continuously and spilled outward, as though something were rampaging through his Sea of Consciousness.

"It's time!"

Xu Xiaotang seized the precise moment, holding her breath and concentrating. Through the Retainer Mark on her head, she poured all her Spiritual Power and soul power, carrying the aura of nine-heart Begonia, into his body.

Meanwhile, inside Xu Xiaonian's Sea of Consciousness.

A Hell Three-Headed Hound that seemed to be in its prime repeatedly attacked the body Xu Xiaonian had formed from his Spiritual Power.

Relying on the additional three hundred percent Spiritual Power granted by the Eternal Soul Ring, Xu Xiaonian fought the Hell Three-Headed Hound to a stalemate.

Soul skills could not be used in the spiritual world. They could only compete in reserves, wearing down each other's Spiritual Power.

Just as both sides were about to suffer grievous damage.

A spiritual force suffused with the fresh green vitality of early spring, as though all things were returning to life, began healing and replenishing his Sea of Consciousness.

Xu Xiaonian immediately returned to full health and launched a furious barrage at the dumbfounded Hell Three-Headed Hound.

As a mournful bark echoed through the Sea of Consciousness, the Hell Three-Headed Hound's body dissipated, turning into dense Spiritual Power that nourished the Sea of Consciousness.

In the real world, a black soul ring radiating immense pressure slowly rose from beneath the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger martial soul's feet.

Xu Xiaonian also absorbed all the considerable soul power remaining within the Soul Ring, and his soul power level began skyrocketing.

In mere moments, it soared to level fourteen. Finally, as time passed, Xu Xiaonian's soul power level settled at sixteen.

Watching the scene before her, the slightly pale Xu Xiaotang knew he had succeeded. The deep worry in her eyes finally dissipated, giving way to a gentle smile at the corners of her lips.

Outside the stone hut.

The black-robed figure was still fully focused on absorbing the Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring.

Hu Liena had finished absorbing hers first and slowly emerged from meditation. She was initially pleased with the Pink Mist Miasma soul skill granted by the Jade-Faced Fox, marveling at how different a Thousand-Year Soul Ring truly was.

At the same time, she could not help imagining what it would be like to obtain a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring after reaching level fifty.

But that would probably take a long time. Perhaps seven or eight years?

Hu Liena slowly opened her eyes.

What greeted her was a stone hut in the distance, with Elder Ju, Ghost Elder, and Deacon Long standing nearby, their expressions somewhat grave.

Hmm... why can't I see little Xiaonian? Or Xiaotang?

With that question in mind, Hu Liena approached and asked, "Elder Ju, where did Xiaonian and Xiaotang go?"

Chrysanthemum Guan raised his hand and pointed toward the stone hut, his expression grave. "He's absorbing a soul ring inside."

Hu Liena paused briefly. "You found a suitable thousand-year soul beast for little Xiaonian so quickly? That's great."

There were already two ten-thousand-year soul beast corpses here, yet some blind thousand-year soul beast still came running over. What an idiot.

Even if we hadn't killed such a stupid soul beast, it probably wouldn't have lived much longer. At least we gave it a quick end ahead of time.

As Hu Liena thought this, her expression suddenly froze. She realized something seemed to be missing.

"Ghost Elder, where's the other Hell Three-Headed Hound's corpse?"

At those words, all three men's expressions grew complicated. Deacon Long pointed at the stone hut and asked in return, "What do you think?"

Hu Liena looked left at the stone hut where Xu Xiaonian and his sister were, then right at the three men's strange expressions, and sank into thought.

"Could it be?!" Hu Liena's expression turned to shock.

Deacon Long thought she understood. He shook his head and said, "We didn't want things to turn out this way either. It's just—"

"Could it be that you used the Hell Three-Headed Hound's corpse as bait to attract the soul beast Xiaonian needed?" Hu Liena's face filled with amazement.

"The corpse of a high-level soul beast is very attractive to low-level soul beasts. No wonder that soul beast came blundering over here... looking at it that way, it wasn't actually all that stupid."

"Uh..." Deacon Long was instantly speechless. "I doubt any soul beast could be stupider than you."

Hu Liena wore an innocent expression, unable to understand why she had been insulted. How could she possibly be less intelligent than a soul beast?!

Gui Mei rubbed his forehead and said bluntly, "It's Xu Xiaonian. He's inside absorbing the Hell Three-Headed Hound's Soul Ring."

His words fell.

Hu Liena froze for a few seconds, then her face abruptly turned white. "Y-you're saying little Xiaonian is absorbing a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring? But isn't that something only a Soul King could possibly absorb?"

"With his frail six-year-old soul and Spiritual Power, how could he withstand the lingering soul shock inside the Hell Three-Headed Hound's Soul Ring?"

"Why couldn't you talk him out of it?"

Seeing that Hu Liena was beginning to lose control of her emotions, Deacon Long said in a low voice:

"Please calm down. Of course we tried to dissuade him. Perhaps he has some hidden means of making himself immune to the soul shock."

"After all, Xu Xiaotang's reassuring expression when she vouched for him didn't seem fake. No one understands Xu Xiaonian better than she does."

Hearing this, Hu Liena calmed down a little. She knew Xu Xiaotang should be even more worried about little Xiaonian than she was. Without absolute confidence, she surely would not have let him absorb a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring.

But what if something went wrong?

At the thought that such an adorable, well-behaved little boy, who had solemnly promised to protect her from harm, might die inside, Hu Liena could not calm down no matter how she tried.