A Mere External Soul Bone: Purple Cloud Wings

A Mere External Soul Bone: Purple Cloud Wings

"Do you believe I'd die with you?" Seeing Huo Yuhao sizing her up with a lecherous look, Ma Xiaotao clenched her pearly teeth and threatened him.

"Whatever." Huo Yuhao shrugged. "If you can do it, feel free to try."

Seeing how utterly unmoved he was, Ma Xiaotao truly wanted to bite him to death. Her feelings toward Huo Yuhao had always been immensely complicated. For one thing, she had fallen into the hands of the Holy Spirit Cult because of him. Yet he had not taken advantage of her; instead, he had expended tremendous effort to use his bizarre ability to awaken her Martial Soul. Afterward, he had even warned her that the Holy Spirit Cult would release her, preventing her hot-tempered self from dying in the Evil Soul Masters' den.

Calling him a benefactor was fair enough—he had completely resolved the trouble of her Evil Fire, leaving her path ahead smooth for the rest of her life.

Calling him an enemy was fair enough too—he had turned her into a woman in the illusion of her Martial Soul awakening. And although he clearly knew the Holy Spirit Cult would release her under pressure from the Light-Dark Twin Dragons, he had still planted a Mental Imprint within her. Even a Limit Douluo like Mu En could not detect its existence inside her body.

"Sister Xiaotao, you came at just the right time. I need your help with something." Huo Yuhao stopped teasing her. He had planted the imprint on Ma Xiaotao in the first place because he hoped to have a bargaining chip that would put him on equal footing with Shrek Academy in the future. "I need a soul bone—a spatial soul bone that's over ten thousand years old."

"You wish. How could a Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone with spatial attributes be so easy to find?" After a brief moment of thought, Ma Xiaotao shook her head. Setting aside their astronomical price, spatial soul bones themselves were exceedingly rare.

"I believe the inner courtyard has some in its collection, and I'm not in much of a hurry." Huo Yuhao grinned, but Ma Xiaotao understood that as long as she failed to find that so-called spatial soul bone, he would not release her from his control.

Ma Xiaotao shot him an irritated glare. Her expression was enchantingly alluring, and coupled with the temptation of her soaked clothes, she nearly made Huo Yuhao's nose bleed.

"By the way, how did you dare come to our Shrek Academy? Aren't you afraid I'll reveal that you're the Holy Spirit Cult's Holy Son and have you arrested?" Ma Xiaotao threatened hatefully.

"Damn! Didn't I fall into the Holy Spirit Cult's hands just like you did?" Huo Yuhao rarely cursed. Without blushing or missing a beat, he said, "Do you have any idea how much torment I suffered in the Holy Spirit Cult over the past year? How much effort it took me to escape and come to glorious Shrek Academy to seek protection?"

Of course, Ma Xiaotao could not possibly know what sort of torment Huo Yuhao meant, though it was the kind every man would want.

"They value you so little that they let you come to the academy without even a guard?" Ma Xiaotao looked suspiciously into Huo Yuhao's eyes, as if trying to determine whether he was lying.

"Ahem, I did bring one..." Huo Yuhao rubbed his nose awkwardly. "Something happened, and I shook her off." Well, if she was lucky, she was probably back in the Holy Spirit Cult nursing a pregnancy...

Though Ma Xiaotao did not fully believe his nonsense, he did indeed have leverage over her at the moment. As the personal disciple of Yan Shaozhe, the dean of the Martial Soul Department, she was qualified to select and take some items from the inner courtyard's treasure vault.

"New Student Class Nine, right? I'll bring the soul bone to you after some time."

Ma Xiaotao flew away without looking back. As a fire-attribute Soul Master, wet clothes were no problem for her. Huo Yuhao, on the other hand, was in considerably more trouble. Classes had already begun, so he could only return to his residence the way he came and change clothes.

When Wu Feng and the other two returned to the villa, Huo Yuhao, who had skipped class all day, was tinkering with the Purple Cloud Eagle corpse he had bought from the Bone Gambling Arena that day on the first floor.

Although Bibi Dong could sense a strange fluctuation of energy from the corpse, that energy was simply too faint, so Huo Yuhao had never paid it much attention. To him, his greatest gain that day had instead been Xie Huanyue's friendship.

"What are you doing? Why didn't you go to class all day?" The moment Wu Feng returned, she flopped onto the sofa without a shred of elegance, her curvaceous figure exceptionally eye-catching.

"Hehe, I'm preparing for the upcoming freshman assessment." Huo Yuhao smiled mysteriously and beckoned to the three girls. "I have a big treasure for you. Come see who it suits best."

"What good thing is it?" Ning Tian immediately grew interested. After spending several days together, they all knew that Huo Yuhao had extremely high standards. Anything he called a good thing was certainly no ordinary item.

The three girls gathered around and watched as Huo Yuhao forcefully tore a pair of wings from the Soul Beast's corpse. Faint energy flowed across them.

"Is this... a soul bone?" Ning Tian cried out in shock. The importance of soul bones to Soul Masters went without saying. As the Grandmaster had put it ten thousand years ago, when facing an enemy: more rings and more bones, unleash your skills in a wave; fewer rings and fewer bones, turn around and run.

Another difference between soul bones and soul rings was that, unlike soul rings, they did not have to be used by the person who killed the Soul Beast. Once obtained, soul bones could even be sold, and one could buy needed soul bones in certain special places. Any soul bone, no matter how ordinary, was worth a fortune and in short supply.

Generally speaking, only exceptionally powerful Soul Beasts that experienced certain special circumstances at death could leave behind soul bones. They did not appear as reliably as soul rings, which every Soul Beast possessed. Thus, soul bones were extraordinarily rare and valuable.

Nearly all soul bones were formed from a Soul Beast's Soul Core, becoming the part that had been most distinctive in life after death. Spiritual-type Soul Beasts usually produced head bones, strength-type ones arm bones, speed-type ones leg bones, while those with formidable overall strength produced torso bones. Generally, Soul Beasts without Soul Cores found it extremely difficult to provide soul bones. Of course, Soul Beasts with slightly higher bloodline grades could possibly produce soul bones before cultivating into Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts.

"Oh my god, it's even a flight-type External Soul Bone!" Nanmen Yun'er also recognized what the pair of wings was. If ordinary soul bones had their upper limits determined by the Soul Beast's age, then External Soul Bones could continuously grow stronger along with their Soul Master! This was the most special and also the rarest type of soul bone, a unique existence apart from the six major categories of soul bones. Its value was almost comparable to that of a top-tier soul bone. To Soul Masters, it was second only to a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring.

The most special trait of an External Soul Bone was that it evolved as its owner's Soul Power increased. Therefore, the earlier one absorbed an External Soul Bone, the better. If an ordinary soul bone had a one-in-a-thousand chance of appearing from a Soul Beast, then the chance of an External Soul Bone appearing was not even one in ten thousand.

As a Soul Master with a flight-type Beast Martial Soul, she understood perfectly what flight capability meant to a Soul Master below the Titled Douluo level who could not fly.

"This is far too precious!"

"It's just an External Soul Bone." Huo Yuhao waved his hand. Seeing that all three girls wanted it but were too embarrassed to say so, he found it amusing. There was only one pair of Purple Cloud Wings. Giving them to Wu Feng would solve her poor mobility caused by her inability to fly. Giving them to Ning Tian would allow her to protect herself well in a melee once she gained flight. Giving them to Nanmen Yun'er would take her speed to another level.

"Yuhao, you decide." Ning Tian's little face had turned bright red from excitement, but she knew this belonged to Huo Yuhao. Rather than deciding among themselves, it was better to let him decide for them. At the same time, it would reveal which of them he cared about more...

"You're all my girlfriends. Just distribute it according to your abilities. I'll give you a few more soul bones when I get the chance." Huo Yuhao waved a hand with the air of someone filthy rich.

"Pah! Who's your girlfriend?" All three girls blushed and spat in unison.

"Do you think soul bones are cabbages by the roadside?"

"Hahaha, I'm going to sleep. You girls figure it out yourselves." Huo Yuhao did not like making such choices himself. It would be unfair to the other two girls.

With that, Huo Yuhao walked toward the second floor with his hands behind his head.

The three girls looked at one another. A flight-type External Soul Bone, even rarer than a Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone, and this guy was just giving it to the three of them? Thinking of how he had called them his girlfriends, their pretty faces reddened even further.

That night, Huo Yuhao only felt that his haven of tenderness had become even more wonderful. Ning Tian and Nanmen Yun'er cast aside their shyness and threw themselves into his arms before he had even fallen asleep. The straightforward Wu Feng hugged him while wearing only underwear. Through the thin cloth, he could fully feel the smooth skin hidden beneath. No wonder emperors throughout history did not enjoy attending morning court—so that was why.

Three months passed.

Unlike the development in the original story, Huo Yuhao had not obtained two Mysterious Water Pills from Xu Sanshi, nor had he received a Soul Ascension Pill from the Sea God Pavilion elders. The reason was that he believed forcibly raising Soul Power or squeezing out one's potential through external objects was merely a dead end.

There were no so-called alchemists in this world, so Huo Yuhao absolutely refused to take those pills that merely mashed medicinal herbs together by force.

Unless the legendary Senior Xiao Huohuo of the Gathering Treasure Pavilion, famed throughout the world for his alchemy, was still alive, Huo Yuhao would not mind learning alchemy from him.

Under Mujin's targeted guidance, the overall strength of New Student Class Nine advanced by leaps and bounds.

If one had to name the student who had changed the least in New Student Class Nine over these three months, it was undoubtedly Huo Yuhao.

When he had first enrolled, his Soul Power had already reached level twenty-nine, placing him among the top students in the class. His Spiritual Power was also unrivaled throughout the class, without question.

Yet three months later, Huo Yuhao had completely changed. He looked idle all day long, letting his mind wander after listening to only half of each lesson. Since his Soul Power had not improved at all, several classmates had already surpassed him.

This disappointed Mujin greatly. Even Ning Tian and the other two girls who lived with him were puzzled by his rate of improvement. They clearly felt that Huo Yuhao absorbed World Spirit Energy and Life Energy every day while asleep. Why had his Soul Power not increased at all?

Moreover, unlike the original Huo Yuhao, who joined the Soul Guidance Department to study, Huo Yuhao in this life did not even intend to step through the gates of the Soul Guidance Academy, much less become an outstanding Soul Engineer.

Even so, Mujin could still sense that Huo Yuhao was becoming increasingly unfathomable. In particular, the refinement of his Soul Power foundation was beyond comparison, even for a teacher at the Soul King level like her.

Meanwhile, Huo Yuhao learned that because Wang Dong had joined the Tang Sect, she often gathered with Beibei and Tang Ya, usually bringing along Xiao Xiao, who had fallen for her. Xu Sanshi, influenced by Tang Buddha's divine sense, also occasionally joined them to eat, drink, and have fun.

Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao, the two talented freshmen with Twin Martial Souls, were highly favored by Zhou Yi. Thus, they had also become acquainted with He Caitou, a disciple under Fan Yu, Zhou Yi's husband from the Soul Guidance Department. Although Jiang Nannan still treated Xu Sanshi with indifference, her relationship with Tang Ya remained excellent. Including Tang Ya, the Seven Monsters of this generation from the original story were now all gathered.

After class that day, Huo Yuhao finally received the news from Ma Xiaotao that he had been eagerly awaiting.

Four updates today. Only three or four hours left, brothers—cheer me on!