Something's Wrong with the Martial Soul

Bao Liang set aside his doubts for the time being and looked at Xiao Hongchen, who was still sitting cross-legged.

He couldn't make heads or tails of the feedback from his First Soul Skill hitting its target just yet, so he decided to put it aside for now.

The most important thing now was to watch Xiao Hongchen safely swallow that two-thousand-year-old Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear Soul Ring.

Jing Hongchen and Meng Hongchen kept watch beside him, and neither made a sound.

Time trickled by. After about the time it took an incense stick to burn, Bao Liang noticed that although the pain had not entirely faded from Xiao Hongchen's face, his breathing had steadied, and the bulging veins at his temples were gradually subsiding. He no longer looked as though his meridians might snap at any moment.

Only then did the three of them breathe a collective sigh of relief.

"He should be out of danger," Jing Hongchen said quietly, his tense shoulders relaxing a little.

Bao Liang nodded, but his gaze shifted from Xiao Hongchen to the corpse of the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear that Jing Hongchen had smashed to pieces not far away.

He blinked, suddenly interested, and turned to Jing Hongchen. "Grandpa Jing, since Xiao's out of danger, should we check that Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear and try our luck?"

Jing Hongchen was taken aback. "Try our luck at what?"

"An External Soul Bone, of course." Bao Liang spoke as though it were only natural. "It's not like you don't know how absurd Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bears are, right? Rumor has it their kind is famous for being likely to grow External Soul Bones.

"We've already gone this far. Why not have a feel around while we're at it? What if we hit the jackpot?"

Jing Hongchen looked at Bao Liang, then at the mangled bear corpse, its bones crushed to pieces by his Soul Power. After a moment's silence, he nodded seriously.

"All right, let's try our luck."

Wasting no time, he crouched down and sent his Soul Power into the bear's corpse like a thin stream, feeling through it inch by inch.

At first, Jing Hongchen had been skeptical. The chances of an External Soul Bone appearing were extremely low to begin with, and he had practically smashed this bear to pieces. It was already a stroke of luck that its Soul Ring had survived, so how could he hope for a Soul Bone?

But when his Soul Power reached the right claw, his fingertip suddenly stopped.

There was something there that felt completely different from the other bones-violent and solid, with a faint, razor-sharp fluctuation of Soul Power.

Jing Hongchen's eyes lit up. He took out the Soul Tool knife he carried with him and carefully cut open the right paw.

The next instant, a dark-gold bone shaped like a beast's claw lay quietly in his palm.

"Holy shit! There really is one?!" Even Jing Hongchen couldn't help swearing. Meng Hongchen's eyes went round too, her little mouth forming an "O."

Bao Liang looked at the bone, realization dawning on him.

In Peerless Tang Sect, which he had read before transmigrating, a two-thousand-year-old Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear had likewise produced an External Soul Bone. The one before them had clearly only just reached two thousand years, so it was probably the one from the original story.

He hadn't expected them to be so lucky as to run into the very bear that would drop a Soul Bone.

Jing Hongchen excitedly turned the External Soul Bone over in his hands, its dark-gold sheen flowing between his fingers. Then, as though something had occurred to him, he looked up at Bao Liang and Meng Hongchen.

"Don't look at me, Grandpa Jing," Bao Liang said, waving his hand decisively. "I can't use it right now.

"I'm mainly cultivating my Explosion Martial Soul at the moment. It'll be a long time before I cultivate my Second Martial Soul."

"It doesn't suit me either." Meng Hongchen decisively followed suit, shaking her head. "My Vermilion Clear Ice Toad has the poison attribute. I can't use a bear paw bone."

Jing Hongchen watched the two children take turns neatly removing themselves from consideration, both amused and gratified. "You two... all right, this goes to Xiao.

"I'll make it up to you two later."

"Come on, we're all family here." Bao Liang waved a hand, then his eyes darted. "But Grandpa Jing, there really is something I want. What do you think?"

Jing Hongchen swept his hand out. "Buy it! You can buy anything! As long as money can buy it, get whatever you want! Same for you, Meng!"

"Thank you, Grandpa! You're the best!" As soon as Meng Hongchen heard she could buy things, she threw herself into Jing Hongchen's arms, rubbing against him affectionately.

Bao Liang watched from the side, grinning. Being the grandson-in-law really did come with good benefits.

Once the fuss was over, Bao Liang went back to watching over Xiao Hongchen as he absorbed the Soul Ring.

Nearly six hours passed, and the light in the forest had dimmed by several shades when Xiao Hongchen finally finished absorbing the Soul Ring and snapped his eyes open.

The moment he did, he saw three heads thrust right in front of him-Bao Liang, Meng Hongchen, and Jing Hongchen, their eyes fixed on him.

"Whoa! What are you doing?!" Xiao Hongchen jolted in fright, nearly curling back into his cross-legged position.

"Xiao, don't speak yet!" Jing Hongchen grabbed his shoulder and held the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear's External Soul Bone, a right paw bone, in front of him. "Your Soul Ring has only just stabilized. Absorb this External Soul Bone while you're at it."

Xiao Hongchen froze. A Soul Bone had dropped?

His gaze moved between the bone, Bao Liang, and Meng Hongchen, plainly asking, "Is this really for me?"

Seeing him hesitate, Bao Liang threatened him outright. "Hurry up. If you don't want it, I'll take it and make soup. Try me."

"I want it! Who said I didn't?!" Xiao Hongchen snatched up the Soul Bone, his cheeks reddening slightly. He awkwardly squeezed out a "Thanks," then closed his eyes and began absorbing it before anyone could react.

At that point, Jing Hongchen turned to Bao Liang and asked casually, "Little Bao Liang, do you have any requirements for your Second Soul Ring?"

Bao Liang had been staring absently at the bone in Xiao Hongchen's hand. Hearing the question, he came to his senses and said seriously, "Grandpa Jing, I want an elementalization Soul Skill.

"I've searched through all the books, and only found a record of that possibility in one kind of Soul Beast called a Fire Sylph.

"Grandpa Jing, do you know where these Soul Beasts can be found in the Star Dou Great Forest?"

Jing Hongchen was delighted to hear it. "If you'd asked about Light Sylphs or Sylphs or the like, I might not have known.

"But if you're asking about Fire Sylphs, I really do know where they are.

"That's because my Fifth Soul Ring came from a Fire Sylph."

Bao Liang's eyes lit up.

"If a Fire Sylph is your target, you can take your pick of any age below ten thousand years for your Second Soul Ring." Jing Hongchen patted his shoulder. "After all, you have Ultimate Flame, so you naturally have a stronger suppressive effect on the fire attribute. Absorbing it will go much more smoothly for you than for anyone else.

"In a bit, I'll take you straight there to catch one."

"Okay, Grandpa Jing!" Bao Liang agreed happily.

After that, Bao Liang and the other two fell silent again, waiting for Xiao Hongchen to absorb the Soul Bone.

This time was much faster. With the Soul Ring he had just absorbed as a foundation, the External Soul Bone fused smoothly with him. In less than an hour, Xiao Hongchen opened his eyes again.

He flexed his right hand, and five dark-gold, blade-shaped bone claws grew from his fingertips. An incomparably sharp presence spread out from him.

"Third Soul Skill, Gold Condensation." Xiao Hongchen opened his hand, and metal powder silently gathered in his palm. In an instant, it formed a small Soul Tool dagger, then scattered like flowing sand. "It can quickly condense metal powder, or even metal elements, into solid form. It can also work in tandem with my First Soul Skill, Metal Manipulation, to instantly construct complex Soul Tool arrays.

"The Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear's External Soul Bone skill is its signature ability-Dark Gold Dreadclaw."

He paused, a trace of pride flashing in his eyes. "And because I absorbed a Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear Soul Ring and also fused with this external right paw bone, my Third Soul Skill can also construct a dark-gold defense as strong as the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear itself, with a damage-reflection effect as well.

"After it takes sixteen attacks of any kind, it automatically triggers a Dark Gold Dreadclaw counterattack as powerful as the External Soul Bone's skill. I can control both the attack's range and how it strikes.

"When my Soul Power Level and External Soul Bone improve further, the number of hits needed to trigger it can go down."

Bao Liang, Meng Hongchen, and Jing Hongchen were all stunned when they heard this.

"...Is the effect really that heaven-defying?" Bao Liang murmured.

Meng Hongchen covered her little mouth. "Xiao, isn't your Third Soul Skill a bit too ridiculous?"

Seeing the three of them so shocked, Xiao Hongchen was beyond pleased with himself. The corners of his mouth rose uncontrollably, and no matter how he tried, he couldn't suppress his pride. He looked just like a little rooster that had just won a battle.

"Nothing special, just a genius." He raised his chin, and for once didn't snap at Bao Liang.

After Xiao Hongchen finished regulating his breathing, Jing Hongchen filled him in on everything that had happened-from Bao Liang's idea to "fish for Soul Beasts," to the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear appearing, Jing Hongchen crushing it and finding the External Soul Bone, the bone going to Xiao Hongchen, and Bao Liang going to catch a Fire Sylph.

When Xiao Hongchen had heard it all, he looked at Bao Liang with a more complicated gaze, which finally turned into a "Thanks."

Then Jing Hongchen led the three of them toward the habitat where he had found Fire Sylphs all those years ago.

The deeper they went into the forest, the darker it grew. The branches of ancient trees tangled like ghostly claws, and the fallen leaves underfoot were thick enough to swallow their ankles.

Jing Hongchen led the way, with the three children following behind. None of them dared let their guard down.

But as they made their way forward, Meng Hongchen suddenly leaned close to Bao Liang and asked in a low voice,

"Little Baozi, I didn't get a chance to ask while Xiao was absorbing his Soul Ring earlier-did something go wrong with your Martial Soul?"

Bao Liang stopped in his tracks.

He remembered how he had stared at his right hand earlier, mulling over the feedback from his First Soul Skill hitting its target. So Meng Hongchen had noticed all along.

"...Sister Meng, you're pretty observant."