Before returning to his room to rest, Nan Zhuliu handed Nan Zhou the Storage Soul Tool containing the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Bone. "Dad, take a look at what's inside."
As Nan Zhou took the Storage Soul Tool, he extended a thread of spiritual power into it.
When he saw what was inside, his eyes widened in disbelief.
It was none other than the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Bone that the Soul Master squad had obtained back then!
Nan Zhuliu smiled. "I promised you that whatever Mom had, you would have too."
Nan Zhou let out a deep sigh.
That sigh seemed laden with countless feelings that words could not describe. After brewing for a long time, they finally condensed into a single sentence. "Our Zhuliu has truly grown up."
After giving the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Bone to Nan Zhou, Nan Zhuliu did not forget the Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear External Palm Bone he had also obtained.
There was still about half a month until Shrek Academy's admissions period ended, just enough time to fuse with the Soul Bone.
Nan Zhuliu held the Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear External Palm Bone in his right hand, then began circulating his Soul Power to connect with the Soul Power within the bone.
But he immediately discovered, to his surprise, that the Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear External Soul Bone could not establish a connection with his right hand.
Could this be a left palm bone?
Most of what Nan Zhuliu knew about the Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear External Palm Bone stopped at the fact that only the right palm bone could fully unleash the might of the Darkgolden Terrorclaw Soul Skill. Coupled with the fact that the difference between the two was not that great to begin with, he had subconsciously overlooked the existence of a left palm bone.
He transferred the Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear External Left Palm Bone to his left hand, and this time, he easily established a connection.
Under the effects of his Soul Power, the left palm bone slowly turned into a puddle of dark-golden liquid, then seeped into Nan Zhuliu's left hand bit by bit, bathing his entire left hand in warmth.
Under the natural suppression of the Golden Dragon King Bloodline, the lingering will and Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear bloodline within the Soul Bone did not even dare think of resisting. Even as they were being fused, they had to obediently take the initiative to cooperate.
Thus, the entire fusion process that followed went smoothly. Without even the slightest discomfort, Nan Zhuliu successfully fused with the Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear External Palm Bone.
Nan Zhuliu exerted a little force with his left hand, carefully sensing his current strength.
It truly lived up to being one of the top Soul Beast species most adept at offense and strength. It had actually increased his strength considerably, even though the enhancement of the Golden Dragon King Bloodline had already raised it to an extremely terrifying level.
Now, he could probably crush a Soul King to death with the strength of his left hand alone.
But he also knew that victory or defeat in battle was not determined by who had greater strength, but by who was more powerful overall.
After sensing the new, instinct-like ability he had gained, Nan Zhuliu could hardly wait to try out what ability the Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear External Palm Bone had given him, if not for the fact that he was currently in a hotel room.
He wondered whether it was Tang Wulin's Golden Dragon Terrorclaw, the standard Darkgolden Terrorclaw, or some other ability produced by evolution and mutation spurred by the Golden Dragon King Bloodline.
As soon as dawn broke, Nan Zhuliu eagerly went outside the city with his father to try out his newly acquired Soul Bone skill.
It was worth mentioning that after Jiang Jingyan fused with the Ten-Thousand-Year Cang Thunder Beast leg bone, the ability she gained was somewhat similar to Nan Zhuliu's Annihilation.
Both released a Lightning Domain, but hers could not convert the surrounding energy into lightning particles and use them to increase its attack power as Annihilation could, nor could it restore her own condition.
Nan Zhou's newly acquired Soul Bone skill was an ability similar to Martial Soul mimicry. It could summon Crimson Nether to assist in battle, with strength slightly below his own.
This Soul Skill compensated to a great extent for his weakness in head-on combat.
With Crimson Nether drawing the enemy's attention from the front from then on, Nan Zhou, an agility-attack-type Soul Master, could find an opportunity to enter the fray from the side and catch the enemy off guard.
As for Nan Zhuliu, he tried injecting Soul Power into the Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear External Soul Bone, but there was no response whatsoever.
He frowned almost imperceptibly, then let his Prison-Subduing Dragon Martial Soul possess him and manifested his Golden Dragon Claw.
The moment it manifested, he noticed that the tips of the Golden Dragon King's claws seemed to have become sharper, with an additional metallic sheen.
Injecting Soul Power again, Nan Zhuliu immediately felt as though something was about to erupt from his Golden Dragon Claw.
He swung his arm, and a heart-pounding dark-golden claw projection swept through the air without making the slightest sound.
Nan Zhou stared dumbfounded beside him.
No matter how he looked at it, the imposing might of this Soul Skill far surpassed the skills granted by the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Bones he and his wife had obtained.
Nan Zhuliu recalled what had just happened. That claw strike had consumed nearly a third of his Soul Power, its effective attack range seemed to reach a hundred meters, and its power was enough to easily tear a Soul King apart.
In other words, with the Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear External Palm Bone, he could now easily kill a Soul King within a hundred meters with a raise of his hand.
Moreover, he could increase the power and range of his Darkgolden Terrorclaw by consuming more Soul Power.
Nan Zhuliu's heart gave an involuntary thump. This was practically a divine skill.
Furthermore, at the instant the Soul Skill erupted, he seemed to gain an insight and unconsciously tried combining Darkgolden Terrorclaw with Dragon Transformation.
If he could combine Darkgolden Terrorclaw with his self-created Soul Skill, Dragon Transformation, Nan Zhuliu hardly dared imagine how beautiful that sight would be.
And since the Soul Skill granted by the Darkgolden Terrorclaw External Palm Bone was no longer truly Darkgolden Terrorclaw, Nan Zhuliu felt fully justified in giving it a new name: Heaven-Tearing Claw.
When they returned to the hotel, Huo Lingtong was already up and eating breakfast with Jiang Jingyan.
"Lingtong, what are your plans from here?" Jiang Jingyan asked.
Shrek Academy's term would begin soon, and without an admission slot at Shrek Academy, Huo Lingtong could not keep following Nan Zhuliu forever.
Nan Zhou and his wife did not mind taking her back to the Dou Ling Empire and arranging for her to cultivate at a local Soul Master academy.
At those words, Huo Lingtong instinctively turned to look at Nan Zhuliu.
Nan Zhuliu said, "Dad, Mom, you don't need to worry. I'll arrange for Lingtong to study at Shrek Academy with me."
Nan Zhou and his wife exchanged glances. Although they did not know how Nan Zhuliu would arrange for Huo Lingtong to enter Shrek Academy, it would be good for the two children to have each other's company there.
Huo Lingtong, on the other hand, was startled. She had originally thought that when Nan Zhuliu said he would help her find a Soul Master academy, he simply meant an ordinary Soul Master academy that would accept her. Never had she imagined it would actually be Shrek, renowned as the continent's number one Soul Master academy.
"Then how are you going to do it?"
"Let's see once Shrek Academy starts accepting students."
There were still a few days before Shrek Academy began admissions. Without trying, he would not know whether his first method would work.
If it did not, he would try the next one. As long as he had enough methods, one of them was bound to work.