"Congratulations. You're a true Soul Master now too," Lin Yang said with a smile.
"Haha." Zhao Bufan smiled, clapped Lin Yang firmly on the shoulder, and spoke warmly,
"It was all thanks to your help holding off the Blazing Fire Wolf."
"Don't worry, Lin Yang. We're brothers. I'll definitely help you find the most suitable soul ring."
At this familiar form of address, so utterly different from before, Lin Yang raised his eyebrows slightly, but not a ripple stirred in his heart.
Just then, Zhao Zhuo, who had long since grown impatient waiting nearby, propped himself up and stood. The burns on his arm were still gruesome.
He looked at Zhao Bufan, his voice brooking no argument,
"Nephew, now that you've got your soul ring, isn't it time to give me the Soul Hunting Writ you promised?"
Without another word, Zhao Bufan took the Soul Hunting Writ straight out of his robes and tossed it to Zhao Zhuo, even putting on a considerate expression.
"Uncle, you're badly hurt. Hurry out and get treated. You don't need to worry about the rest."
Something flickered deep in Lin Yang's eyes as he quietly glanced at Zhao Bufan out of the corner of his eye.
After absorbing his soul ring, his roommate's attitude had done a complete about-face. He was like an entirely different person.
Not only had he readily handed over the Soul Hunting Writ, he even seemed... impatient to get Zhao Zhuo to leave.
Was it simply because he had absorbed a soul ring and become a Soul Master?
Or was it because...
Lin Yang's gaze swept over the Blazing Fire Wolf's corpse beside them, seemingly without intent.
With a slight shift of thought, he activated Transparent World.
The view before his eyes abruptly changed.
The Blazing Fire Wolf's corpse began turning transparent, revealing its fur, muscles, blood, and bones in succession.
At the corpse's foreleg, a bone roughly the size of a palm was giving off faint fluctuations.
Under Transparent World, those faint fluctuations were like a candle flame in the darkness, dazzlingly bright.
So that's it, Lin Yang understood.
It really did drop a soul bone...
He was even a little surprised. Could Zhao Bufan actually be the protagonist?
His very first Soul Beast hunt had yielded a rarely seen soul bone.
Although it was only a hundred-year soul bone, a soul bone was still a soul bone. Its value was immeasurable.
No wonder Zhao Bufan wanted Zhao Zhuo to leave as soon as possible.
Wealth moved people's hearts, let alone a treasure as precious as a soul bone.
Taking the Soul Hunting Writ, Zhao Zhuo weighed it in his hand and snorted. "That's more like it."
After receiving the writ, Zhao Zhuo did not leave immediately as Zhao Bufan had hoped. Instead, he walked toward the Blazing Fire Wolf's corpse.
Zhao Bufan's pupils contracted slightly. Without thinking, he stepped sideways and blocked his path to the corpse.
His voice also took on a barely perceptible tension.
"Uncle, what are you doing?"
Lin Yang sighed inwardly. He was still too young.
Wasn't that as good as telling someone outright that something was strange about this corpse?
What was more, Zhao Zhuo was an old hand who had spent years clawing his way through the Soul Master World.
Sure enough, Zhao Zhuo narrowed his eyes with a hint of suspicion.
"Nephew, I put my life on the line and did my part against this Blazing Fire Wolf too. Surely there's no problem with me selling it for a little money?"
"Well..."
A trace of panic flashed through Zhao Bufan's eyes, but he still feigned composure as he said,
"Uncle, this was the first Soul Beast I ever killed, after all. I want to keep it as a memento."
"Is that so?"
A half-smile appeared at the corner of Zhao Zhuo's mouth, a sharp gleam flashing in his eyes.
"Then I'm sorry, but I'm taking this corpse today... Move!"
Zhao Zhuo shouted harshly.
Zhao Bufan's face turned ashen. Gritting his teeth, he stood before the Blazing Fire Wolf without giving an inch.
"Uncle, don't force me."
"Haha."
Watching his nephew's reaction, Zhao Zhuo was now certain of his guess, and his face filled with extreme excitement.
His face flushed, and his voice began trembling with excitement.
"Is there a... soul bone inside this corpse?"
Though the words "soul bone" were spoken softly, they exploded like thunder in Zhao Bufan's ears.
He had never imagined that, despite his best efforts to hide the soul bone's existence, Zhao Zhuo would expose it so easily with a single remark.
A trace of regret welled up in his heart, only to be drowned by an even stronger sense of danger.
The soul bone had been exposed. He absolutely could not hand it over now.
He knew very well that even if he gave Zhao Zhuo this soul bone, Zhao Zhuo would not let anyone else leave alive, all to protect the secret.
A soul bone was a priceless treasure. Once word got out, a two-ring Soul Master like him certainly could not hold on to it.
Only silencing every witness would eliminate future trouble forever.
"Martial Soul Possession!"
Zhao Zhuo wasted no more words. With a fierce shout, gray light enveloped his entire body again.
His first and second soul rings lit up beneath his feet at the same time. He unleashed his full strength immediately, charging at Zhao Bufan to kill him.
In his eyes, only Zhao Bufan, a one-ring Soul Master, posed any threat.
"Lin Yang, join me and kill him!"
At that moment, Zhao Bufan likewise completed Martial Soul Possession with a roar. His eyes were bloodshot as he said urgently,
"As long as we kill Zhao Zhuo, we'll split the soul bone equally."
"A fool is a fool."
Zhao Zhuo sneered, his assault not slowing.
"One newly advanced one-ring Soul Master, and another without a soul ring. You two actually dare to stop me?"
"Be good and leave both your lives and the soul bone behind!"
At that moment, just one hundred-year soul bone had turned a blood-related uncle and nephew into enemies, their murderous intent laid bare.
Greed brought ruin!
Before a soul bone, what difference was there between humans and evil spirits?
As a bystander, Lin Yang saw it most clearly.
Whichever of the two survived to the end, he would be the most unwelcome "witness."
Even though he had little interest in this hundred-year soul bone.
"Fine. I'll gamble just this once!"
Lin Yang murmured. With a metallic shing, Crimson Interval was already in his hand.
Meanwhile, Zhao Bufan had only just absorbed his soul ring, and his Soul Power was merely rank eleven.
His combat experience was even more limited. How could he possibly be a match for the seasoned Zhao Zhuo?
The instant they clashed, a tremendous force struck, numbing Zhao Bufan's arms and sending him flying backward in a sorry state.
Pfft!
Zhao Bufan tasted blood in his throat and spat out a mouthful.
But he dared not hesitate in the slightest. The hundred-year yellow soul ring beside him instantly blazed with light.
"First Soul Skill, Blazing Flame Impact!"
A fireball slightly smaller than the one the Blazing Fire Wolf had spat out earlier roared toward Zhao Zhuo like a cannonball.
"Paltry tricks."
Zhao Zhuo gave a derisive snort. His speed abruptly increased by thirty percent, and he dodged the fireball with a donkey roll.
A scorched pit instantly blasted open where he had stood.
Immediately afterward, the muscles in his legs gathered strength, and two deep craters abruptly burst open in the ground.
His figure sprang up like a phantom, appearing before Zhao Bufan almost in the blink of an eye.
He raised his right hand. His sharp nails had now become the Grim Reaper's scythe, carrying a bloody wind as they slashed toward Zhao Bufan's neck like lightning.
If that strike landed, Zhao Bufan's neck would likely be severed on the spot.
It's over-!
A trace of despair seeped into Zhao Bufan's eyes.
He could only watch helplessly as the shadow of death steadily grew.
"Haha!" Zhao Zhuo laughed savagely, his twisted face like that of a terrifying evil spirit.
At the very instant those sharp claws were about to touch Zhao Bufan's neck.
A streak of red firelight traced a graceful arc.
Like a startled swan, like lightning, it cut in from the side without warning.
Zhao Zhuo's expression abruptly froze, and then he felt his vision begin spinning wildly.
At the edge of his spinning vision, he suddenly glimpsed his own headless body pitching forward under its momentum.
What... what was that?
As his final thought faded, his consciousness sank into eternal darkness.
Thud!
His head hit the ground and rolled several times through the dust.
His wide-open eyes still seemed to hold a trace of astonishment!
Under Zhao Bufan's profoundly shocked gaze, Lin Yang slowly sheathed his blade. A faint trace of flame seemed to linger in the air.
"Sun Breathing, First Form: Dance!"
Before you continue