My eyes are a ruler, absorbing a soul bone

"Xiao Xiao, how come you don't make a sound when you walk?"

"Honestly, is it that I don't make a sound, or that you two only have eyes for each other and don't notice anyone else?" Xiao Xiao's tone carried a hint of sarcasm.

"Besides, even if I didn't make a sound, couldn't your Spirit Eyes sense me coming, Huo Yuhao?"

At Xiao Xiao's words, both of them chose to stay silent.

"Are you two dating?" Xiao Xiao stared at them scrutinizingly.

Huo Yuhao answered in a slight panic, "Xiao Xiao, what are you talking about? We're both boys. How could we be dating?"

"Oh, stop pretending. I've already figured out that you two are together! And you should know Wang Dong is a girl by now, right?"

"How did you know?" Huo Yuhao was astonished. He had thought he was the first to discover that Wang Dong'er was a girl.

"Hmph, of course I knew. My eyes are a ruler. Nothing gets past these eyes of mine."

"And you! You've been sleeping with Wang Dong for so long, yet you never noticed she was a girl. I really don't know what to say to you."

Huo Yuhao wanted to argue, but he had no grounds to do so.

Indeed, after all this time, they had even slept in each other's arms, yet he still hadn't realized Wang Dong was a girl. Mainly, he had never dared to let his thoughts go in that direction.

"What did you mean by the Shrek Seven Devils just now?" Huo Yuhao forcibly changed the subject.

"They're selecting the Shrek Seven Devils. The core disciples are already the strongest students in each year, right? Then they pick seven people from the core disciples across several years. Isn't that choosing the Shrek Seven Devils? A new group of Shrek Seven Devils is chosen every five years."

Huo Yuhao paused. Put that way, it really did make sense.

Wang Dong'er looked at Xiao Xiao, thinking she was incredibly clever to have guessed even that.

Xiao Xiao sighed. "It's just a shame we're too weak. If we were fourth- or fifth-year students now, we could still fight for a spot. This selection format really is a little unfair. The fifth-year students have studied for three more years than we have."

"Actually, it's not as though we have no chance at all," Wang Dong'er suddenly said.

"What do you mean?" Both of them looked at Wang Dong'er.

"Aren't seven people supposed to remain at the end? We can cling to some powerful legs. Seven of us can band together, then find a way to eliminate everyone else, right?"

Huo Yuhao frowned slightly. "But we don't even know what the battle format will be. If it's one-on-one, how could we beat them?"

Wang Dong'er suddenly realized she had let something slip and hurriedly added, "I have some inside information. This assessment will be a free-for-all with dozens of people fighting on one big platform. The final seven left on the platform will pass the selection."

"If that's the case, then we really might have a chance."

Huo Yuhao pondered. "Then whose powerful legs should we cling to?"

Wang Dong'er said, "Can't Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi participate too? We can just team up with them when the time comes."

"Right, and there's Senior Brother He Caitou. He should be participating from the Soul Tool Department too. Senior Brother He Caitou is really strong. If we can form a team, our chances of winning will be even better," Huo Yuhao added.

Xiao Xiao was brimming with enthusiasm. "All right! We're bound to run into them once the selection starts. We can secretly team up then."

To stand out in the selection competition, everyone trained hard in the days that followed.

Huo Yuhao made a trip to the Soul Tool Department to equip himself with some soul tools he could use during the selection competition.

The best way for Wang Dong'er to improve her strength was to absorb her soul bone.

That evening, Wang Dong'er took out the Golden Radiance Left Arm Bone.

The golden light radiating from the soul bone lit up the entire room.

"Will there be any problems absorbing an eighty-thousand-year soul bone?" Huo Yuhao asked, a little worried.

"Don't worry. Soul bones are much easier to absorb than soul rings."

"The reason soul rings are difficult to absorb is that they contain a great deal of resentment left by soul beasts before they died, which attacks a soul master's spiritual power. If the absorption fails, their mind will be damaged. They might even become an idiot."

"Soul bones, on the other hand, mainly hold a soul beast's power. The only thing to worry about is whether you can withstand that terrifying power."

Wang Dong'er steadied her breathing, preparing to absorb the soul bone.

Huo Yuhao sat opposite her and watched.

"All right, here goes."

Wang Dong'er raised her left arm, and the Golden Radiance Left Arm Bone merged into it little by little.

The golden light bathed Wang Dong'er's entire body in gold. At the same time, she could feel immense power surging through her arm.

The soul bone's power was highly compatible with Wang Dong'er's light attribute, so absorbing it was not particularly difficult.

Wang Dong'er slowly converted part of the soul bone's power into her own soul power.

About half an hour later, Wang Dong'er opened her eyes.

"Did it work?" Huo Yuhao asked.

Wang Dong'er nodded. "It worked!"

"That's wonderful!" Huo Yuhao immediately hugged Wang Dong'er.

Wang Dong'er wrapped her arms around him in return.

"Try it out! See what soul skill it gives you."

Sensing the soul bone's power, Wang Dong'er said, "This soul bone's soul skill is called Golden Radiance. It can be applied to other soul skills to enhance their light attribute."

"It's actually an all-purpose support soul bone!"

Huo Yuhao was somewhat astonished. He had heard Teacher Wang Yan explain in class that soul bones of this kind were exceedingly rare. Moreover, as the user's cultivation rose, they could enhance one additional skill.

Wang Dong'er unfurled her Radiant Goddess wings and unleashed her first soul skill.

Her wings shone with an even more dazzling light than before.

"Its power has increased by at least twenty percent, and it also consumes less soul power than before," Wang Dong'er said, describing the effects she sensed.

After learning about the soul bone's effects, Huo Yuhao was incredibly envious.

Had Wang Dong'er known, she would definitely have scolded him: You already have a four-hundred-thousand-year soul bone, and you're still envious of an eighty-thousand-year one?

"Why don't we try seeing whether it can enhance our Haodong Power?" Huo Yuhao suggested.

"All right." Wang Dong'er held out her hand.

Instead of taking Wang Dong'er's hand, Huo Yuhao hugged her directly.

Their soul power flowed out, and Haodong Power began to circulate.

Wang Dong'er then activated Golden Radiance's effect.

Sure enough, their Haodong Power circulated considerably faster than before. Moreover, this was almost entirely an innate effect of the soul bone and consumed practically no soul power.

In other words, their soul power would increase much faster whenever they cultivated together from then on.

Huo Yuhao smiled. "I feel like we really are a match made in heaven."

Wang Dong'er was a little surprised. She hadn't expected Huo Yuhao to say something like that.

"All right, let's sit back down. We only need to hold hands to cultivate."

"No, no! I just want to hold you like this. Besides, I feel like we cultivate even faster when we're hugging."

Ever since learning that Wang Dong'er was a girl, Huo Yuhao had become even clingier.

They cultivated in each other's arms like that for several hours, then fell asleep holding each other.