The Five Elements War Bow, Su Ling's External Soul Bone

Flender flew into the air, while Zhao Wuji charged straight into the swarm of Bloodthirsty Demon Ants and unleashed his full power.

His aim was to draw the Bloodthirsty Demon Ant King's attention so Flender could find an opening to kill it.

With Zhao Wuji abandoning the defensive line, the hundred-year and thousand-year Bloodthirsty Demon Ants began rushing toward Su Ling.

Seeing the countless Bloodthirsty Demon Ants, Xiao Wu cried out in horror, "Brother, this... there are too many! How could we possibly hold them off?"

Tang San said, "Xiao Wu, do your best, but make sure you stay safe."

"Okay!" Xiao Wu nodded. "You too, Brother."

Dai Mubai said nothing, though his expression was rather strange. It was hard to tell whether seeing so many Bloodthirsty Demon Ants had caused it.

Beside Su Ling, Ma Hongjun was trembling all over.

Oscar ran out and called, "Tang San, Xiao Wu, Second Brother Dai, catch!"

He gave each of them three sausages: two for recovery and one swift-flight Mushroom Sausage. If anything went wrong, they could fly into the air. After all, these Bloodthirsty Demon Ants could not fly.

When he returned, Ning Rongrong also ate a Recovery Sausage and began providing support to Ma Hongjun and Zhu Zhuqing.

Watching Su Ling absorb his Soul Ring, Ning Rongrong could not help sighing inwardly. Could Su Ling fail to absorb a Soul Ring again?

Why hasn't he finished yet?

"They're here!" Zhu Zhuqing was sparing with her words.

Dozens of Bloodthirsty Demon Ants had already appeared around Su Ling, including a thousand-year one.

Ma Hongjun immediately unleashed his Soul Skill, Phoenix Fire Line.

A stream of flame shot out, burning the attacking Bloodthirsty Demon Ants, but it was nowhere near enough.

Then another Phoenix Fire Line shot out.

His Phoenix Fire Line was far better suited to dealing with these Bloodthirsty Demon Ants than Zhu Zhuqing's individual attacks, as it could kill them over a wide area.

Its only drawback was how much soul power it consumed. As a mere Soul Grandmaster, Ma Hongjun could not keep it up for long.

He could only fight while eating the Recovery Sausages Oscar made.

Meanwhile, on Flender's side, Zhao Wuji had drawn the attention of most of the Bloodthirsty Demon Ants, especially the thirty-thousand-year Bloodthirsty Demon Ant King.

An opening! Flender finally seized his chance.

He swooped down from the sky and, with his Martial Soul Avatar active, unleashed his strongest offensive Soul Skill-his sixth.

The Bloodthirsty Demon Ant King had been careless, or perhaps it simply lacked intelligence. After all, it was only thirty thousand years old, and Zhao Wuji's attacks had completely engrossed it.

When Flender's attack came down, it had made no preparations to defend itself.

Boom! A thunderous crash rang out.

Flender's all-out strike truly did succeed in killing the Bloodthirsty Demon Ant King.

After the thirty-thousand-year Bloodthirsty Demon Ant King died, its Soul Ring appeared.

What's this?

Flender discovered something unusual on the Bloodthirsty Demon Ant King's corpse. It had actually dropped a Soul Bone.

"Good. Very good."

He immediately put the Soul Bone away, thinking that the Bloodthirsty Demon Ants ought to retreat now.

Yet the Bloodthirsty Demon Ants showed no intention of retreating.

"Something's wrong. This is exactly like what happened that time." Flender finally realized something was amiss.

He flew back into the air and examined the area carefully, his eagle eyes gleaming.

"What's that?"

Flender noticed that all the Bloodthirsty Demon Ants seemed to be heading toward one spot, where an inconspicuous little box stood open.

Swooping down, Flender picked up the box and flew away.

Who would have thought that, at that very moment, the Bloodthirsty Demon Ants would begin chasing in the direction Flender had flown?

"They finally retreated." Not far from Su Ling, Ma Hongjun collapsed onto the ground.

If the Bloodthirsty Demon Ants had not left, he would have been the one leaving. His soul power was almost completely drained, without a drop to spare.

"Is it over?" Oscar asked.

"It looks like it!" Ning Rongrong said.

Everyone was exhausted now. Only Oscar was still in reasonably good shape.

"Luckily, Su Ling wasn't affected," Zhu Zhuqing said softly.

People could sense what was happening outside while absorbing a Soul Ring. Even without being directly attacked, many could become unsettled and fail as a result.

A little while later, Zhao Wuji returned.

"Teacher Zhao, where's the dean?" Dai Mubai asked first.

Zhao Wuji said, "Flender killed the Bloodthirsty Demon Ant King and flew off that way. I think he'll be back soon."

"His luck was pretty good, too. That fellow Flender got a Soul Bone. I'm truly envious."

A Soul Bone was unquestionably a treasure. As long as its quality was decent, a thirty-thousand-year Soul Bone would be priceless even in a market, with its value starting at a million Gold Soul Coins.

Even in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, experts as powerful as Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo did not possess a single Soul Bone.

With the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's wealth, if a Soul Bone those two needed appeared, the sect would certainly pay through the nose for it. Forget a million Gold Soul Coins-they would probably be willing to pay two million.

However, useful Soul Bones were rarely available for purchase on the continent. Those who possessed one generally used it themselves.

If they could not use a Soul Bone, most would keep it to exchange with someone else for one they could use.

Soul Bones readily offered for sale either belonged to Soul Masters desperately short of money, were of extremely poor quality, or had effects as unappealing as chicken ribs-too meager to enjoy, yet a pity to discard.

That was why Zhao Wuji grew rather excited as he spoke about it.

"Dai Mubai, what's wrong? You look awful. Were you injured earlier?" After speaking, Zhao Wuji noticed something wrong with Dai Mubai's complexion.

"It should just be from overexerting my soul power and stamina. I'm not injured," Dai Mubai hurriedly explained.

"As long as you're not injured. Everyone, get some rest. I think we're safe for the time being," Zhao Wuji said.

Everyone ate another Recovery Sausage. About half an hour later, Flender finally flew back.

Flender did not say much upon returning. He simply had everyone continue resting while they waited for Su Ling to finish absorbing his Soul Ring.

An hour later!

The conversion of the soul power within Su Ling's body finally finished.

All his soul power had now transformed into Five-Element Soul Power.

Just moments earlier, his Martial Soul had finally evolved exactly as described in his family's legacy.

The Water Moon Bow had evolved into the Five Elements War Bow!

Oh? This Golden-Armored Earth Dragon brought another reward!

Su Ling sensed it as soon as he finished absorbing the Soul Ring.

"Dean, come look! Is that a Soul Bone beside Boss Su?" Oscar asked in surprise.

Flender looked over, his expression turning excited. "Th-this... this is actually another External Soul Bone, and a ten-thousand-year one at that!"

An External Soul Bone?

Everyone looked over.

Su Ling also realized that the Golden-Armored Earth Dragon had dropped an External Soul Bone. Now this is the proper way to use a passive skill. Luck truly hasn't let me down.

At that moment, however, Su Ling had no desire to continue by absorbing the External Soul Bone.

Although he had not participated in the battle outside, he had sensed its intensity. Everyone had fought desperately to protect him.

Almost every one of them had fought to their very limits.

So Su Ling opened his eyes and put the External Soul Bone away.

"Su Ling, why aren't you absorbing the Soul Bone?" Flender asked.

Looking at everyone's condition and the densely scattered Bloodthirsty Demon Ant corpses, Su Ling said, "Dean, this isn't a suitable time. I can't keep putting everyone in danger. I can absorb this Soul Bone after we return anyway."

"That works too," Flender said.

"Everyone, thank you. If you ever need help, count me in," Su Ling said. His gratitude was heartfelt, not merely empty words.

"Big Brother Su, you said it yourself. You can't go back on your word later," Ning Rongrong said.

"Of course not," Su Ling said.

"Let's go. We shouldn't linger here. Let's hurry out of the Star Dou Great Forest," Flender said.

Tang San greatly envied Su Ling's ability to absorb a Soul Ring beyond his normal limit. Along the way, he asked curiously, "Big Brother Su, absorbing a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring must have brought you considerable gains, right?"

"That's right, Big Brother Su. What level is your soul power now?" Ning Rongrong asked.

Su Ling answered honestly, "Level forty-two. Only one level more than usual. Looking back, the gains weren't worth the danger. You must be cautious about absorbing Soul Rings beyond your limits."

"Only level forty-two? I thought you'd gain at least three levels. Just two levels for that much danger really isn't worth it. Not worth it at all," Oscar muttered.

"Dean!" After speaking, Su Ling walked over to Flender.

"Su Ling, is something the matter?" Flender asked curiously.

"Thank you for not stopping me, and for letting me absorb Soul Rings according to my own cultivation method," Su Ling said.

"It's fine, as long as you can succeed in the future," Flender said.

In fact, to persuade Flender, the original Su Ling had long since told him about the Water Moon Bow evolving into the Five Elements War Bow.

Otherwise, Flender would never have agreed to let Su Ling absorb Soul Rings of different attributes. To an outsider, that would undoubtedly seem like reckless nonsense.

Su Ling smiled and said, "This Golden-Armored Earth Dragon had both metal and earth attributes, so I succeeded this time."

With that, Su Ling released his evolved Martial Soul, the Five Elements War Bow.

Su Ling had no need to conceal it from Flender or the people around him.

After all, they lived together every day. If they did not learn about it today, they would tomorrow, so there was no harm in telling them sooner.