Mist filled the cave, while the waterfall's thunder was shut out beyond the rock walls.
Lu Xuan lowered his eyes, his cold gaze falling on Xiao Wu, who lay unconscious on the ground.
This hundred-thousand-year Soft Bone Rabbit, once carefree in the Star Dou Great Forest, was now like a fish on the chopping block.
Not a ripple crossed Lu Xuan's face, nor did he show the slightest pity.
He slowly raised the Asura God Sword in his hand. Beneath the dusky blue glow, its dark red edge glittered with a heart-chilling gleam.
"It's over."
With a barely audible murmur, Lu Xuan turned his wrist and delivered a clean, decisive slash.
Blood flashed, and Xiao Wu's life was utterly severed in that instant.
At the very moment she breathed her last.
An immense surge of blood-red light, filled with sorrow and fury, shot skyward from Xiao Wu's delicate, gradually cooling body!
It was a soul ring of the deepest blood red.
The terrifying pressure of the Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring instantly swept through the entire cave, shaking loose stones from the ceiling.
Lu Xuan's expression remained unchanged. With a thought, he put away the Asura God Sword.
Immediately afterward, a scepter radiating a rich emerald glow appeared in his palm-his second martial soul, the Life Scepter!
The gem atop the scepter blossomed with a sacred, gentle light of life.
It formed an intensely striking visual contrast with the raging blood-red soul ring.
Lu Xuan sat cross-legged and guided the Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring, drawing it onto the Life Scepter little by little.
Violent energy rampaged through Lu Xuan's body, but his meridians, tempered through a thousand hammerings and a hundred refinings, remained as steady as a mountain.
For two full hours, red and green light intertwined and flickered within the cave, as though a god were reshaping heaven and earth.
Finally, with a clear hum, the blood-red soul ring grew completely still.
It hovered steadily over the Life Scepter, radiating an intoxicating halo.
With the absorption complete, Lu Xuan slowly opened his eyes and exhaled a breath of stale air.
Then his gaze shifted to the open box on the stone table.
Inside, the crystalline Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone radiated a blue-and-gold glow as gentle as rippling water.
"An ultimate life attribute. It's practically tailor-made for my Life Scepter."
A satisfied smile curved Lu Xuan's lips.
He happened to be short of soul bones right now.
Without the slightest hesitation, he reached out and pressed this supreme treasure against his right leg.
In an instant, a vast, rich surge of life energy, like a spring breeze bringing nourishing rain, poured madly through his right leg into every limb and bone!
Lu Xuan felt every cell in his body cheering and leaping for joy.
His mind, slightly weary from absorbing the soul ring, instantly returned to its peak.
Blue-and-gold light enveloped his entire body in an enormous cocoon of light.
Driven by this immense energy, the soul power within Lu Xuan surged wildly like a river bursting through its banks!
Boom!
The combined energy of the Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring and Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone brought him an increase of five levels.
Now, Lu Xuan's soul power had risen from its original level 83 to level 88.
The light faded, and Lu Xuan rose to his feet.
As he felt the surging power within him, deep as an abyss and vast as an ocean, his gaze grew even more unfathomable.
He turned toward the spot where Xiao Wu's body had dissipated. A Left Arm Bone lay there quietly, emitting a faint red glow.
Lu Xuan stepped forward, picked it up, and weighed it in his hand.
Yet he merely tossed it into his Storage Soul Tool rather than choosing to absorb it.
A Soft Bone Rabbit's soul bone still falls a little short in the end.
Lu Xuan made his assessment inwardly.
His standards were extremely high now. Although this soul bone was also a hundred thousand years old.
For the time being, it still failed to catch his eye.
Perhaps some would wonder.
If he thought so little of a Soft Bone Rabbit, why had he unhesitatingly absorbed the eighty-thousand-year Medusa Skull he had obtained from Dugu Bo?
The reason was simple-how could a bottom-tier soul beast like a Soft Bone Rabbit compare to Medusa?
That was a ferocious beast with a top-tier bloodline!
Moreover, it was an exceptionally rare Head Soul Bone.
High-ranking soul beasts with spiritual-power attributes were already as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns, and obtaining a skull from one was something one could only encounter, never seek.
The true value of that eighty-thousand-year Medusa Skull was no less than that of an ordinary Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone.
"Now I'm still missing a left leg bone and both arm bones."
Lu Xuan rubbed his chin, a glint of cold calculation flashing through his eyes.
"But there's no hurry. There are at least two hundred-thousand-year guard dogs in the Core Area of the Star Dou Great Forest."
"When the time is ripe, I'll naturally be able to gather all the soul bones."
After putting everything in order, Lu Xuan turned and walked toward Golden Crocodile Douluo, who had been silently standing guard at his side all along.
"Second Uncle, I'm preparing to set out for the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect near Heaven Dou City."
Lu Xuan stated his next plan directly, a sharp gleam in his eyes.
"I'm going to seek out Sword Douluo Chen Xin!"
At this, Golden Crocodile Douluo raised his brows slightly, an approving smile appearing on his imposing face.
"Good. Although I've never heard of this Sword Douluo, someone who takes the sword as his title cannot be weak. He suits the purpose of your journey."
But after a moment's consideration, he shook his head and said, "However, this time I won't openly accompany you."
"You're going purely to exchange insights on the sword. If I, Spirit Hall's Second Worship, accompany you to their doorstep with great fanfare."
"Those people from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect will surely think Spirit Hall intends to move against them, needlessly stirring up conflict between factions."
Golden Crocodile Douluo patted Lu Xuan's shoulder and spoke earnestly.
"You rarely venture into the outside world. Apart from our Spirit Hall, almost no one in this world knows your true identity."
"Go alone and challenge them as a swordsman of the younger generation."
"I imagine those fellows will be mindful of their standing and won't make things difficult for you!"
"I understand, Second Uncle."
Lu Xuan nodded. Golden Crocodile's considerations were indeed thorough.
Before leaving, Lu Xuan's gaze fell upon the Blue Silver Emperor swaying in the sunlight at the center of the cave.
He strode forward without the slightest tenderness. Soul power surged from his fingertips, forming a sharp blade.
He sliced straight through the surrounding rock and yanked out the slender blue-and-gold grass, roots, soil, and all!
The Blue Silver Emperor seemed to sense a mortal threat. Its blades trembled violently, giving off faint, pleading spiritual fluctuations.
But Lu Xuan merely sealed it coldly inside a specially made Jade Box.
"It's right along the way." Looking at the Jade Box in his hand, Lu Xuan's lips curved into a meaningful sneer.
"The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and Sunset Forest are both near Heaven Dou City."
"If I plant you somewhere like the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, a place that wrests the wonders of creation from heaven and earth, I imagine you'll grow a little faster..."
"When the time comes, you'll be of even greater use."
Fierce winds howled as Lu Xuan and Golden Crocodile Douluo parted ways outside the waterfall.
Clad in black, with a longsword on his back, he became a sharp streak of light and sped straight toward Heaven Dou City.
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