Here, a Magnet

Soul Bones had a very low drop rate, and the younger the beast, the lower that rate became. That much was true.

But on the Douluo Continent, there was another way to increase the drop rate of Soul Bones: make sure a Soul Beast died with enough resentment, and its chances of producing a Soul Bone would rise considerably.

In practice, however, even with that increased probability, killing a Soul Beast still did not guarantee a Soul Bone. It still came down to luck.

Making a Soul Beast harbor enough resentment before death was actually extremely difficult.

If you sent a Five-Ring Soul King to brutally slaughter a Hundred-Year Soul Beast, it would accomplish nothing. Soul Beasts believed above all in the law of the jungle.

Eating the weak and being eaten by the strong were simply the natural order of things.

As for torturing a Soul Beast before killing it to increase its resentment...

The truth was that most Soul Beasts had pain receptors nowhere near as sensitive as those of humans.

Any Soul Master who observed carefully in a Soul Beast forest would discover this.

Many herbivorous Soul Beasts could survive for ten days or half a month with half their rump missing and their intestines dragging outside their bodies.

These Soul Beasts might not even understand what pain was.

Raiding the nests of older, somewhat intelligent Soul Beasts with young did work quite well, though.

But a method like that, which tore them out by the roots, was only safe if carried out in secret. If the Shrek Inspection Team found out, they would respond at the speed of light, and their iron fist would come crashing down in minutes.

The Shrek Inspection Team was not just there to crack down on Evil Soul Masters. Whenever something threatened to dig up the roots of the entire Soul Master World, the inspection team would respond at the speed of light.

The fundamental reason the Shrek Inspection Team fought Evil Soul Masters as if their lives depended on it was that Evil Soul Masters needed to prey on ordinary people to cultivate, and ordinary people were the foundation of the Soul Master World.

Ordinary people bustling through cities, ordinary people tilling the fields, ordinary families giving birth to Soul Masters with innate Soul Power-all of these were essential to keeping the Soul Master World functioning healthily.

Once they disappeared, the Soul Master World would collapse in an extremely short time.

That was the real reason Evil Soul Masters deserved death more than anyone.

Not only did their deeds provoke the wrath of heaven and the hatred of men, but they were also sacrificing the entire Soul Master World's future in exchange for their own power.

For precisely that reason, the Soul Bone Chen Ping had obtained was exceptionally hard to come by.

This Soul Bone had dropped because the resentment in this Lesser Touch Dragon King's heart had truly been ignited into an explosion.

First, it had been sleeping peacefully when it suddenly took two incendiary bombs.

Then it had mistaken its target and chewed up its own bodyguard, the Evil Pincer Bug, alive.

Only at the end had it realized that bastard Chen Ping was stirring up wind and rain behind its back. Before it could retaliate, Chen Ping had stabbed it a dozen or so times, stabbing its Soul Ring right out of it.

For a Lesser Touch Dragon King with such a small brain, that was a considerable amount of resentment.

Chen Ping instinctively glanced at Bei Bei, but quickly turned away again.

That was the good thing about befriending someone filthy rich: you did not have to worry about them deciding to murder you for your treasure over a slightly larger sum of money.

Chen Ping did not believe that bullshit about poverty breeding scheming and wealth nurturing a conscience.

But he had to admit that, among penniless people like himself, plenty would indeed consider murder and theft over a sum of several tens of thousands of Gold Soul Coins.

For Bei Bei, however, the equivalent question was: would you kill a newly acquainted friend, an interesting junior with potential, over a little pocket money?

Taking out his dagger, Chen Ping carefully pried the Soul Bone loose through the Touch Dragon King's wound, and his eyes immediately lit up.

This Soul Bone was of quite good quality.

As everyone knew, a Soul Bone's quality usually depended on its age, the caliber of the Soul Beast that produced it, and finally, how complete the Soul Bone was.

Aside from its disadvantage in age, this Soul Bone definitely passed muster in both the caliber of the Soul Beast that had produced it and its completeness.

It was a right arm bone. Although it consisted only of the forearm and lacked the humerus, the ulna, radius, and even the details of the hand bones were all perfectly intact, with nothing missing.

Even Bei Bei felt that he had seriously underestimated this Soul Bone's value.

A Soul Bone in such complete condition could easily attract wealthy collectors with money to burn. A price exceeding a hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins was by no means impossible.

Chen Ping understood this too, and a flash of delight immediately crossed his face.

Rather than absorb this Soul Bone, Chen Ping wanted to sell it outright and buy a batch of medicinal ingredients so he could keep dosing himself.

One Soul Bone would give him, at most, one level of Soul Power, a hundred-year skill, and a certain improvement in his physique.

That looked good early on, but after level thirty, its significance would become very small.

Yet if he exchanged this Soul Bone for a hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins, that money would be enough to spare him any financial worries until he reached Soul King.

But before Chen Ping could put the Soul Bone away, his Willow Wood Staff Martial Soul appeared in his hand of its own accord, without him summoning it.

"Huh?"

Now, never mind Bei Bei-even Chen Ping himself wore a look of shock.

"My Martial Soul seems to be telling me it really wants this Soul Bone... What does that mean? Is it telling me this Soul Bone is important to me, and that I'd better not sell it?"

Chen Ping spoke hesitantly, hoping for some help from Bei Bei, Shrek's star student.

Bei Bei had never encountered this situation either. He rubbed his chin and thought for a long while before stammering, "Maybe, maybe, um... Oh, right!"

As though something had occurred to him, Bei Bei abruptly clapped his hands. "I've heard that when Soul Masters absorb Soul Bones, it's best to absorb one that dropped together with their own Soul Ring. That gives the best results."

"Perhaps that's why your Martial Soul reacted on its own."

"Aside from telling us Soul Masters its name when it awakens, it's very rare for a Martial Soul to display any fluctuations on its own."

"Only when something like an opportunity for deep meditation or some other great opportunity appears might a Martial Soul react."

"Although absorbing a hundred-year Soul Bone like this might take up a slot you could otherwise use for another Soul Bone in the future, it really is rare for a Martial Soul to react on its own."

"Ultimately, you'll have to make the decision yourself."

After Bei Bei finished speaking, Chen Ping's gaze grew conflicted as he looked at the arm bone in his left hand.

Was he really going to give up several tens of thousands, perhaps even a hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins, to absorb a Soul Bone like this?

It felt like such a loss!

But Bei Bei had a point. A Martial Soul reacting on its own was far too rare. Even a little hesitation might cause him to miss a fateful opportunity.

Gritting his teeth, Chen Ping made up his mind. It's only a hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins! I refuse to believe I can't earn that much. It's just one little Right Arm Soul Bone-I'll absorb it!

Steeling himself, Chen Ping pressed the right arm bone toward the right arm holding his Willow Wood Staff.

But in the next instant, just as it had when absorbing the Touch Dragon King's Soul Ring, the Willow Wood Staff sucked the Soul Bone out of Chen Ping's hand with a clack, drawing it snugly against the staff.