Rrrip!
The back of Lou Xu's shirt tore open as fiery-red wings unfurled behind him, fluttering gently.
Firelight rippled across them!
Layers of gold and orange feathers adorned their tips, like fiery clouds forged in the molten glow of sunset.
Lou Xu tried controlling them with his thoughts. The wings fluttered disobediently a few times, moving awkwardly as sparks scattered down and landed at his feet with faint hisses.
"Are these... an External Soul Bone?!"
Overwhelmed with delight and surprise, Lou Xu reached behind him to stroke the wings. They felt warm, as though magma flowed slowly beneath the feathers.
The External Soul Bone from the Flamecloud Unicorn had already fused with his spine, continuously strengthening him.
The Flowing Fire Cloudburning Wings.
Information about three Soul Skills naturally surfaced in his mind.
Flowing Fire provided a fifty-percent burst of movement speed, leaving continuously burning cloudfire along his path!
Cloud Shadow created a flame clone with thirty percent of his strength that could use Soul Skills. The clone would automatically dissipate once its Soul Power ran out!
Burning allowed flame attacks to invade an enemy's body and burn away their Soul Power!
At the same time, his two purple Soul Rings rippled faintly, and two more Soul Skills imprinted themselves in his sea of consciousness.
First Soul Skill: Bellows Flame Breath. It unleashed high-temperature flames that could either coat his Martial Soul for close-range bursts or be scattered outward to deal area damage, with an additional thirty-percent armor-piercing effect!
Second Soul Skill: Flame Flash. It transformed him into flame, granting an enormous movement-speed boost for a short time. Its effect rivaled teleportation, making it a godlike skill for both retreating and charging in!
"Not bad luck!"
The Silver Dragon King's gaze lingered on the Flowing Fire Cloudburning Wings for a moment. After that brief assessment, she urged him on.
"You've finished absorbing the Soul Rings. Can you treat me now?"
The Ferocious Beasts all turned their gazes toward him as well.
Lou Xu nodded in agreement.
The old man had merely fainted. The priority now was to heal the Silver Dragon King as quickly as possible, then leave this place at once.
He swung the anvil in his left hand. Flames engulfed the two Soul Beast corpses, reducing them to ash in an instant and drawing all their pure life energy into it.
His Soul Power and vitality increased slightly.
The change was so minute that he failed to notice it.
After assessing the energy, however, Lou Xu frowned.
This much energy was enough to forge a minor item, but a minor item definitely would not suffice to treat the Silver Dragon King's injuries.
He looked up at the Silver Dragon King and shook his head, his voice low.
"There isn't enough life energy. The treatment will be far less effective. Give me more things containing life energy-Soul Bones, Soul Beast materials, medicinal herbs, anything will do."
"No need for all that trouble."
The Silver Dragon King answered without hesitation.
She turned toward Tian Meng beside her, whose divine consciousness had been sealed, scooped out a large chunk of his body with a dragon claw, and casually tossed it toward Lou Xu.
Duang~
The chunk hit the ground and bounced, wobbling like an oversized piece of jelly, with wisps of cold vapor rising from it.
Lou Xu observed a second of silence for Tian Meng, then accepted without ceremony. Flames surged from the anvil, enveloping and absorbing the chunk.
As the chunk grew smaller, the forge-anvil shone with scorching light from the immense life energy pouring into it.
Lou Xu was deeply shaken.
The life energy now inside the forge-anvil exceeded that of the two entire thousand-year Soul Beast bodies by hundreds of times!
If not for his insufficient Soul Power, this energy could have let him forge two high-grade divine artifacts!
His eyes instantly burned with eagerness. Looking at the Ice Silkworm, who had shrunk by less than five percent, he swallowed softly.
Brother Sky Dream...
Forget nurturing a god.
Come help me nurture divine artifacts instead!
"So long, so big..."
"At least fifty high-grade divine artifacts!"
Lou Xu sized him up while gesturing with his hands, his gaze lingering hungrily on Tian Meng's life-energy-rich silkworm body.
No wonder the Ferocious Beasts coveted his body. Lou Xu wanted it too!
If he could absorb Tian Meng's entire body and forge two Guardian Angels, one for himself and one for the old man, wouldn't that be wonderful?
The forge-anvil let out a cheerful hum, feeding a portion of the life energy back into Lou Xu.
Soul Power surged, and his cultivation instantly reached rank twenty-five!
This time, he clearly felt it: absorbing life energy could actually increase his Soul Power and vitality!
Each stack... amounted to roughly a three-thousandths increase overall.
If the two thousand-year Soul Beasts had each granted one stack, absorbing that Tian Meng jelly had given him at least ninety stacks!
Isn't this a tank engine?!
Lou Xu's heart pounded wildly. His gaze toward Tian Meng grew even more fervent, and he even considered using his condition to ask for him.
Only after several more looks did he force himself to reluctantly turn away.
There's time yet. Plenty of time ahead.
It's time to forge my first divine artifact!
Lou Xu steadied his breathing and summoned his Martial Soul. He slammed the anvil onto the ground and drove the Primal Fire at full power to refine the life energy.
Scorching heat spread outward, drawing startled, sidelong looks from the Ferocious Beasts.
He picked up his hammer, braced his stance, and drove tremendous force through his waist and abdomen into both hands, bringing the hammer crashing down on the life energy being refined atop the anvil!
Clang! Clang!
Hammer and anvil collided, producing rhythmic metallic strikes.
"Wasn't he supposed to heal our lord? What is he doing?"
"He seems to be... forging something?"
Several Ferocious Beasts stared at the scene in bewilderment.
Deaf to the sounds around him, Lou Xu immersed his mind in the inherited memories and followed their forging methods, hammering step by step.
Life energy surged from the forge-anvil. Refined by the Primal Fire and struck by the hammer, it slowly took shape.
At the same time, as he forged, Lou Xu used the hammer handle as his brush and the Primal Fire as his magic, engraving one obscure, unfathomable rune after another into it.
Before the beasts' eyes, an item resembling a sash gradually formed.
"Whew..."
After a long while, Lou Xu exhaled a stale breath. His arms ached so heavily that he could barely lift them.
Just one final step!
The hammer abruptly shifted, crashing down with an unstoppable momentum!
Clang-clang! Ting-!
A clear, lingering metallic note rang out.
Quicksilver Sash! Complete!
Deep silver light flowed across the entire mid-grade divine artifact.
Its effects were resistance to negative statuses and the periodic dispelling of all negative statuses!
He wiped the sweat from his forehead. The immense expenditure of Soul Power had nearly exhausted him, and more than half the life energy stored in the forge-anvil had been drained.
Lou Xu inwardly clicked his tongue.
He had underestimated the difficulty of creating something from nothing.
Looks like I'll have to prepare some materials in advance from now on, Lou Xu thought as he held out the sash.
A dragon claw swept through the air with a gust and snatched it away.
The Silver Dragon King examined the unassuming sash, doubt in her eyes.
"This is your method?"
She marveled at Lou Xu's ability to create something from nothing, but if this object did nothing for her injuries...
"Place it against the wound and inject Soul Power."
Lou Xu struggled to sit cross-legged, giving instructions as he recovered his strength.
"The Quicksilver Sash is only a mid-grade divine artifact. It can't turn into a soul seal and merge with your body, nor can it absorb energy on its own."
"Its periodic immunity effect requires you to inject Soul Power at regular intervals."
Still dubious, the Silver Dragon King pressed the Quicksilver Sash against the fissure beneath her ribs.
As she injected Soul Power, the Quicksilver Sash instantly emitted a deep white radiance, enveloping all the black mist within the fissure!
"Mmm..."
Warmth swept through her body, and she could not help letting out a soft murmur.
Within the gentle white light, the black mist no longer churned and rampaged. Her Soul Power circulated without obstruction, and after tens of thousands of years of relentless torment, she finally gained a moment's respite!
Roar!
An impassioned dragon's cry soared into the sky, like a fledgling tasting the freedom of the blue heavens for the first time, or a trapped beast finally escaping the cage that had held it for so long!
Sensing her aura steadily strengthening, the Ferocious Beasts excitedly prostrated themselves and cheered, their voices shaking the Mirror Lake space!
"Congratulations, my lord! You no longer have to suffer through slumber!"
"With our lord recovered, there's hope for the revival of Soul Beasts!"
"Our lord no longer has to endure the torment of illness! Wonderful!"
"My lord, lead us in storming the Divine Realm!"
Just then, Lou Xu's calm voice poured over their ecstasy like a bucket of cold water.
"Everyone, don't celebrate just yet..."
"This divine artifact can only suppress the injury. It can't eliminate it."
"For a complete recovery, you'll have to wait until I can forge a top-grade divine artifact."
As Lou Xu's words fell, the feverish atmosphere abruptly cooled.
Before you continue