"Elder Wang, I told you-the young master's talent and temperament far surpass anything you imagined."
In the distance, Wang Xian'er stood atop a snowy hill with Luo Shan and Mo Yunxing, watching Su Yuan, who had just finished his battle.
Hearing Mo Yunxing praise Su Yuan, Wang Xian'er smiled and nodded gently.
"Xiao Yuan was right. Your guidance has truly paid off. Though he's still a little green, he can already be considered a qualified Battle Soul Master."
One day, three battles.
In the first battle, against the snow wolf, Su Yuan had shown the courage to face an enemy on a narrow road, the composure to remain calm in danger, and no shortage of the fighting spirit to battle to the bitter end.
In the second battle, against the incredibly swift snow rabbit, Su Yuan had shown his steadier side. Its agility hadn't made him impatient or flustered; instead, while defending, he had seized upon an opening it exposed when attacking him.
Though the snow rabbit had escaped in the end, that battle had already been his victory.
As for this final battle, against an ice bear far stronger than himself, Su Yuan had put his human intelligence to good use. If he couldn't beat it head-on, he would take advantage of the conditions and terrain.
He had enraged the ice bear, letting anger cloud its mind, then lured it step by step into his trap before killing it with ease.
From an elder's perspective, Su Yuan had already done exceptionally well for someone just starting out.
Their role was to guide and protect him, letting Su Yuan walk the road he needed to walk himself.
"Hmm?"
As she pondered, Wang Xian'er seemed to catch something out of the corner of her eye. When she focused her gaze on it, she froze.
"A Soul Bone?!"
"You can't have both fish and bear paws, so I'll give up the fish and take the bear paws." Humming a simple tune, Su Yuan waved away the Ice Dragon Claw on his hand, his eyes brightening.
The snow rabbit Old Mo had caught earlier had been outstanding in both texture and flavor, giving Su Yuan a taste of the warm welcome offered by the Far North's delicious ingredients.
He even planned to keep that snow wolf to eat himself once he returned, rather than sell it as materials.
As for this ice bear, it would surely make an even greater feast.
Bear-type soul beasts were generally packed with nutrients. In his previous life, Su Yuan had often heard of the deliciousness of bear paws, which were ranked first among the Eight Delicacies and praised by countless people.
Of course, in his previous life, bear paws' position at the head of the Eight Delicacies had been more symbolic than anything. Their actual flavor probably couldn't even beat braised pig trotters. It was purely those damned landlords trying to outdo one another.
But the Douluo Continent was different. Soul beast meat was unquestionably countless times better than ordinary animal meat, and their bodies were nourished by soul power year after year. Not only was it delicious, it was also incredibly nourishing.
Douluo's famous eating-stream celebrity-the old glutton Xuan Zi-had nothing but praise for bear paws.
Granted, the paws he praised belonged to dark gold terrorclaw bears rather than ice bears, but both were top-tier bear-type soul beasts. Even if ice bears couldn't match dark gold terrorclaw bears, they probably weren't far behind, right?
With that thought in mind, Su Yuan took out a cleaver, infused it with soul power, and sliced off both of the ice bear's front paws with two swift strokes.
Though he had never handled this ingredient before, Su Yuan still knew the general method for cooking bear paws. Once he returned to Star Luo City, the cooks in the princely estate would surely serve him a delicious, nourishing pot of bear paws.
Wait...
Why was this bear paw glowing?
Seeing the faint icy-blue light shining from the severed end of the bear paw, Su Yuan instinctively froze for a moment.
This wasn't Cooking Master Boy. Where had glowing food come from? Besides, wasn't glowing food supposed to be a finished dish? What ingredient glowed before it was even cooked?
"Holy shit, a Soul Bone!" Su Yuan quickly caught on, blurting out a choice national expression.
"Wait, does this make any sense? Why would a six-hundred-year soul beast drop a Soul Bone?"
Granted, this ice bear had died a rather humiliating death, and it had been absolutely boiling with rage before it died. Its negative emotions had been intense, and its racial bloodline was strong enough, too.
But... wasn't six hundred years still a little too low?
Even as he thought this, Su Yuan's hands didn't slow. He took out a smaller boning knife and gradually cut the glowing bones free from the bear paw.
Icy blue. The bones of a left palm.
Su Yuan fell silent.
What, did you have Dark Gold Dreadclaw too?
"Xiao Yuan, is that a Soul Bone?" Wang Xian'er's surprised voice sounded beside Su Yuan.
"Yes, a Soul Bone. It looks like an external soul bone, too, for the left palm." Su Yuan nodded and handed the palm bones to Wang Xian'er.
She took them and examined them carefully before suppressing her delight and placing the Soul Bone back in Su Yuan's hand. "It is indeed an external soul bone. It doesn't fall under the left arm category, so absorbing these palm bones won't affect your ability to absorb a left arm bone in the future."
"What heaven-high good fortune!"
Only then did Luo Shan and Mo Yunxing finally arrive. Hearing Su Yuan and Wang Xian'er's conversation, the brothers exchanged glances, each seeing the same look of existential doubt in the other's eyes.
He'd gotten a Soul Bone just like that?
And an external soul bone at that?
Heaven knew, as Soul Douluos, each of them had absorbed eight Soul Rings in his lifetime, and the number of soul beasts they had personally killed was at least in the triple digits.
Yet they had never seen a Soul Bone drop from their own kills. Not even once!
Su Yuan had merely come out to gain some experience and killed a measly six-hundred-year ice bear, only for it to drop an external soul bone?
Luo Shan was still questioning his life, but Mo Yunxing quickly recovered.
If you didn't have that luck, you simply didn't have it. No amount of talking would change anything. Some people were born to be protagonists. By attaining Soul Douluo cultivation, they had already surpassed 99.9 percent of the people on the Douluo Continent.
There was no need to let their thoughts run wild.
"I once heard that a powerful figure in history also obtained an external soul bone for his left palm, and eventually became a Titled Douluo with tremendous offensive power." After a moment's thought, Mo Yunxing recounted a story he had once heard.
"That's true. That Titled Douluo was named Black Left, and he once earned a formidable reputation as the Dark Left Hand. But that was a very long time ago." Wang Xian'er nodded, confirming Mo Yunxing's account.
"Moreover, the external soul bone that Douluo Black Left obtained for his left palm came from a dark gold terrorclaw bear, not an ice bear."
"But Xiao Yuan's left palm bone from this ice bear is already very powerful, and it suits your attribute perfectly!"
Su Yuan paid no attention to the three of them talking. After putting away the ice bear ingredients, he had already turned an inquiring gaze toward Wang Xian'er.
Understanding his look, Wang Xian'er said without hesitation, "The sooner you absorb a Soul Bone, the better, of course. If you absorb it now, you'll be able to withstand an older Soul Ring when you absorb your third one."
"First, find somewhere quiet to recover, then start absorbing the Soul Bone right away. Once you've finished, we'll look for your third Soul Ring!"
The earlier battle had taken a considerable toll on Su Yuan, especially when the ice bear had sent him flying. His internal organs had suffered a significant impact.
Before absorbing the Soul Bone, it was essential for him to get himself back into proper condition.
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