"Yes, Grandpa!" Tang Feng turned, his eyes blazing. "This Scarlet Flame Pterosaur was the one that gave me my External Soul Bone. It truly lived up to its pedigree as a dragon Soul Beast of noble blood!"
"What is this Soul Bone called? Has it given you any skills?" Yang Wudi asked in rapid succession. As a Soul Douluo, he understood the value of an External Soul Bone better than anyone.
"I named it the Flame Dragon Wings," Tang Feng said slowly after closing his eyes to sense it for a moment. "Besides granting me powerful flight capabilities, using the Flame Dragon Wings increases all my attributes by fifty percent, and my speed by a full hundred percent!"
"What's more, an External Soul Bone evolves as its Soul Master's rank rises." Tang Feng paused, unable to conceal the excitement in his voice. "As the Flame Dragon Wings continue to evolve, those boosts will also increase, eventually reaching a hundred percent for all attributes and two hundred percent for speed!"
"Hahaha!" Yang Wudi threw back his head and laughed. "With these Flame Dragon Wings, your weakness in speed has been completely remedied, and you can fly as well. I no longer need to worry about your ability to stay alive. Now I can let you train here with complete peace of mind!"
After his laughter subsided, Yang Wudi changed the subject and urgently cautioned Tang Feng, "But an External Soul Bone is exceedingly precious, worth as much as a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone. You would be lucky to see one in a thousand years. Before you fully fuse with it, you must never reveal it casually before others, or you will surely invite death! An innocent man becomes guilty simply by possessing a precious jade!"
"Don't worry, Grandpa." Feeling his grandfather's concern, Tang Feng quickly nodded solemnly. "I will never reveal it lightly."
Yang Wudi patted Tang Feng's shoulder in relief and continued, "Right, what is your Soul Power level now? And what is your ten-thousand-year fourth Soul Skill?"
Tang Feng took a deep breath and explained slowly, "This Soul Ring gave me nearly three levels of Soul Power at the Soul Ancestor rank. I'm now at the peak of level forty-two, and I feel I can break through to level forty-three at any moment. My fourth Soul Skill is called 'Flame Dragon Soul-Chasing Break,' and it consists of three steps."
"The first step is a passive boost. It consumes 5% of my Soul Power to activate, instantly increasing my movement speed by 50% and attack power by 100% for 30 seconds."
"Mm, that's normal." Yang Wudi stroked his beard, understanding flashing through his eyes. "The Scarlet Flame Pterosaur is extremely fast, so it makes sense that it would provide a speed boost."
"The second step is target lock and pursuit. It consumes 10% of my Soul Power. I can use my spiritual power to lock onto a target's presence in advance and brand them with an invisible dragon flame mark. The locking range depends on my spiritual power, and currently reaches 100 meters.
Once locked on, all the target's evasive movements appear in slow motion in my perception, and they cannot escape through conventional concealment methods. My next hammer strike can instantly carry me right before the primary target, covering up to 100 meters. The charge automatically corrects its direction, so the target cannot escape the lock.
The Scarlet Flame Pterosaur's innate dragon flames coil around the hammer, increasing its attack power by another 100%, for a total boost of 200%. The instant it hits, it releases a blast of heat at two thousand degrees, enough to melt refined iron."
"So that's it!" Yang Wudi said in understanding. "It's the same as the Scarlet Flame Pterosaur's method of attack. When I fought it, I felt as though its fireballs kept locking onto me and pursuing me, and I couldn't shake them off! In the end, I could only take them head-on! Your Soul Skill perfectly replicates this Scarlet Flame Pterosaur's method of attack!"
"The third step is additional damage. After a hit, the dragon flames burrow into the target's Soul Power circuits like a festering sore clinging to the bone, continuously burning their Soul Power, blood and Qi, and meridians. Every second, they deal true damage equal to 5% of my total Soul Power, lasting for 5 seconds."
"During the burn, the target's movement speed drops by 20%, and the effects of all healing Soul Skills are reduced by 50%. It cannot be dispelled through conventional means. Only purification two major realms above me can remove it."
Hearing this, Yang Wudi immediately recalled the piercing, burning pain from the earlier battle and unconsciously touched his chest. "I was wondering why, after clashing with those fireballs, my Soul Power and meridians burned as though pierced by thousands upon thousands of steel needles. So that was why!"
"Never mind that, hahaha!" Yang Wudi threw back his head and laughed, his laughter brimming with boldness and gratification. "This Soul Skill boosts both speed and attack power, while also providing an absolute lock and continuous burning... It's practically a divine combat skill made for your Clear Sky Hammer! With this Soul Skill, agility-attack Soul Masters will no longer have any advantage against you!"
Finishing in one breath, Yang Wudi patted Tang Feng's shoulder and could not help marveling, "Your Fourth Soul Ring is already a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring, and you also have a ten-thousand-year External Soul Bone. Your current strength can absolutely rival a high-level Soul King. You could even put up a fight against an ordinary low-level Soul Emperor!"
Tang Feng nodded and hefted the Clear Sky Hammer, which now weighed over four thousand jin. Feeling the new strength surging through his body, his heart swelled with heroic spirit.
Tang Feng knew that from this moment on, he was no longer a fledgling eagle in need of shelter, but a young dragon that had truly awakened, ready to write his own legend in this primeval forest fraught with danger.
"Grandpa!" Tang Feng turned, his eyes blazing with determination. "Now I'm even more confident about staying here to train. I'll escort you back to Soul Hunting Town first, then train here for a while. Once I'm done, I'll return to the Clear Sky Sect. My paternal grandfather must already be growing anxious from waiting."
As soon as he finished speaking, Tang Feng keenly caught the change in his grandfather's eyes. The instant the words "Clear Sky Sect" were uttered, a hatred etched into his very bones surged into Yang Wudi's eyes-a coldness woven from the ruin of his family, the humiliation of abandonment, and fury.
But it lasted only an instant. When the old man's gaze settled on his grandson's vibrant face, that ruthlessness melted like ice and snow, becoming a trace of complicated tenderness.
Yang Wudi let out a long sigh and clapped his palm heavily on Tang Feng's shoulder. "Silly boy, do I need you to escort me? Do you think your grandfather can't walk that little distance? You, on the other hand..."
Yang Wudi's voice abruptly turned stern. "While you're training here, you must stay fully alert. Don't act rashly, and don't push yourself just to prove your strength!"
By the end, the old man's eyes were filled with worry and reluctance to part. "Before you return to the sect, remember to send me a letter to let me know you're safe."
Warmth flooded Tang Feng's heart. "Grandpa, don't worry! I promise I won't take risks lightly!"
Yang Wudi waved a hand, though his voice had grown a little hoarse. "Good. Then let's part here for now!"
With that, Yang Wudi strode toward the edge of the forest without looking back.
Tang Feng straightened and watched his grandfather's retreating back. Only after that gray-white figure had completely vanished into the depths of the dense woods did Tang Feng slowly turn, leave the volcano, and head elsewhere.
At the boundary between the territories of thousand-year and ten-thousand-year Soul Beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest, mist lingered year-round beneath towering ancient trees. Occasionally, the oppressive presence of a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast swept past like an undercurrent, cowing all the beasts.
Tang Feng moved through the woods, his spiritual power spreading like mercury spilling across the ground as he searched inch by inch for the most suitable place to settle.
Three days later, Tang Feng was drawn by the roar of rushing water. It came from an enormous waterfall hidden between cliffs.
The cliff rose more than ten zhang high, with a silver-white curtain of water crashing down its center. Over thirty meters wide, the cascading torrent struck the pool below, throwing up clouds of spray that formed a seven-colored rainbow bridge in the sunlight.
Amid the swirling rainbow mist, an inward-recessed rock ledge was faintly visible halfway up the cliff, polished smooth as a mirror by years of rushing water.
"This is the place." Tang Feng extended his spiritual power into the waterfall and discovered that the cliff behind the ledge was actually solid granite extending several zhang inward-the natural foundation for a cave dwelling.
Unfurling the Flame Dragon Wings, Tang Feng shot through the curtain of water like scarlet lightning amid rising currents of scorching air.
The foothold was only large enough for one person to stand on, with a roaring deep pool below and a curtain of water blotting out the sky above. Tang Feng nodded in satisfaction. The Clear Sky Hammer appeared in his hand, and hammer shadows multiplied.
"Bang, bang, bang!!!"
Stone chips flew from the hard rock wall under the heavy blows, but skillfully controlled force confined them within a one-chi radius, preventing the sound from escaping.
Three double-hours later, a crescent-shaped stone chamber two zhang deep and one zhang wide and high had begun to take shape.
Next, he carved out a flat-topped stone bed at the innermost side of the chamber. The waterfall served as a curtain over the outer entrance, making the hollow interior completely impossible to detect from outside.
Once everything was ready, Tang Feng laid a perimeter around the waterfall and scattered some medicinal powder. Upon contact with the moisture in the air, the powder released a faint, bloody sweetness that made Soul Beasts under a thousand years old unwilling to approach.
Night fell, and the roars of beasts rose and fell throughout the Star Dou Great Forest.
Behind the waterfall, candlelight cast a cool glow. Tang Feng sat cross-legged on the stone bed, circulating his Soul Power to recover from the internal injuries and replenish the Soul Power expended in the day's fierce battles. His bruises slowly faded beneath the gentle Soul Power.
Mist swirled outside the cave. Occasionally, nocturnal Soul Beasts came to the pool to drink, completely unaware that behind the waterfall, Tang Feng's sharp eyes were watching them coldly through gaps in the water curtain.
From now on, this would be Tang Feng's home in the Star Dou Great Forest. Each day he would set out from here, fighting at sunrise and returning at sunset.
With the waterfall as its door and the mist as its curtain, the granite chamber became a tranquil place for Tang Feng to heal, meditate, and work through his staff techniques.