Wind Thunder Wings
It was a black Soul Ring, fifteen thousand years old. As it rose into the air, even the wind in the canyon seemed to stop.
But Ning Buhui's gaze did not linger on the Soul Ring. Something else drew his attention: beside the Wind Thunder Winged Tiger's corpse, about half an arm's length away, a ball of soft white light was slowly rising from the side of its belly. The light was not dazzling, but it was exceptionally bright, like a lamp just lit in the canyon's dimness. Something was wrapped inside it, its outline hazy but gradually taking solid shape.
His heart suddenly skipped a beat.
No way.
Ning Buhui's throat tightened, and a few words flashed through his mind: External Soul Bone! He remembered that part of the book from his previous life all too vividly. The scene where Tang San's Eight Spider Lances burst from his body after he encountered the Man Faced Demon Spider had haunted his dreams for several nights. But that was the protagonist's privilege, luck found once in ten thousand. It was already absurd enough that he had transmigrated after death with his memories intact. Now he had encountered a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast that dropped an External Soul Bone? Could something like that really happen to him?
The white light finally stabilized and drew inward layer by layer, revealing what lay inside.
It was a pair of wings. Shrunken countless times over, they were only the size of a palm, translucent and made of something like goose feathers. The left wing was mostly white with a faint hint of cyan, while the right was mostly black, threaded with fine streaks of purple. The two wings lay together, their patterns distinct, every tiny bone at their tips clearly visible. They hovered quietly above the tiger's corpse, trembling slightly, as though they might fly away at any moment.
Ning Buhui stood rooted to the spot, motionless for a long while.
"Not bad luck," Bibi Dong's voice came from behind him. Though calm, it carried a trace of surprise that was extremely difficult to conceal.
Ning Buhui turned to look at her. Bibi Dong's gaze rested on the pair of wings, and her brow twitched almost imperceptibly. As she understood it, the chance of a Soul Beast dropping a Soul Bone was already one in a thousand, to say nothing of the one-in-ten-thousand chance of an External Soul Bone. Even in all of Spirit Hall's vaults, there were only a handful of Soul Bones, and each required a great deal of contribution to obtain. Ordinary people would struggle even to catch a glimpse of one. Now a newly formed External Soul Bone hovered before him, like a pie falling from the sky that had landed squarely on his head.
"Teacher, is that..." His voice was still a little hoarse.
"An External Soul Bone," Bibi Dong said. "The Wind Thunder Winged Tiger's wing bones. The chance of a Soul Beast dropping an External Soul Bone is extremely low, less than one in ten thousand. They're exceedingly rare. You really stumbled into some dogshit luck. This alone made the trip worthwhile."
Ning Buhui took a deep breath. Of course he knew how precious External Soul Bones were. Ordinary Soul Bones could only replace a part of the body, but External Soul Bones could grow additional limbs without occupying one of the six major Soul Bone slots. They also evolved as a Soul Master's cultivation grew, so the earlier one obtained them, the greater their potential for growth. Tang San's Eight Spider Lances had initially been only of thousand-year quality, yet they had later evolved into the Sea God's Eight Wings. Huo Yuhao's Dark Gold Dreadclaw and Evil Eye had also evolved into Super Divine Artifacts as he grew. As for the pair of wings before him, regardless of their abilities, he was obtaining them at just level thirty. As long as he could grow without mishap, his future achievements would be limitless.
"Don't rush just yet." Bibi Dong walked in front of him and lifted her chin. "You haven't absorbed the Soul Ring. By the rules, the one who made the kill must absorb the Soul Ring before absorbing the External Soul Bone. No one else can absorb it even if they want to."
Realization dawned on Ning Buhui, and he hurriedly tore his gaze away from the wings. He sat down cross-legged again and pressed down his surging emotions, layer by layer. He took a deep breath, let it out, then breathed in again... Only after several rounds did his heartbeat slowly settle.
He extended his right hand and released the Nine Hell Soul-Suppressing Pagoda. The pagoda hovered above his palm, its twin yin-yang fish circling it. Soul Power surged from his palm, drawing the black Soul Ring slowly toward him. The Soul Ring hovered above his head. Ning Buhui closed his eyes and prepared to absorb it, and an immensely heavy, violently savage surge of Soul Power poured into his meridians through the Nine Hell Soul-Suppressing Pagoda. It was like a freezing river carrying shards of ice into his body through his arm. Ning Buhui shuddered, and a layer of fine sweat instantly broke out on his temples.
Although his body had undergone another round of strengthening, absorbing a fifteen-thousand-year Soul Ring would still be far from easy. This time, the Soul Power was fiercer than the Soul-Binding Vine's. The forces of wind and lightning churned and tangled in his meridians like two vicious snakes twisted together. The twin yin-yang fish on the pagoda swam at tremendous speed, helping him suppress the rampaging Soul Power. He steadied his mind, repeatedly sorted and divided the turbulent Soul Power, then sent it into every limb and bone.
With the experience of his first two absorptions, this one was agonizing but remained under his control. Waves of piercing pain still came one after another as energy coursed through his meridians, but with each surge, the Soul Power grew a little calmer. Gradually, the energies of wind and lightning stopped tearing at each other. Like wild horses that had been tamed, they merged into exceptionally pure Soul Power, spreading evenly through his body before finally joining the Soul Power throughout him.
About two hours later, the black Soul Ring had been completely absorbed. Ning Buhui slowly opened his eyes and let out a long breath. He was drenched in sweat, as though he had just been pulled from the water. He tried circulating his Soul Power and felt that his meridians had more than doubled in width. His total Soul Power had also increased sharply, and his Soul Power Level had leaped from thirty to thirty-four.
All of that was within his expectations.
He looked down at his palm. His fingertips were still slightly numb. Level thirty-four-a seven-and-a-half-year-old Soul Elder. If word got out, no one on the entire continent would believe it. But he had no time to rejoice over his level. His gaze had already lifted again, settling on the pair of wings still trembling slightly a few steps away.
"Go on," Bibi Dong said. "Absorb it."
Ning Buhui rose and walked over to the wings. They seemed to sense him approaching and trembled more violently, like a butterfly newly emerged from its chrysalis, eager to find somewhere to land. He crouched down and pressed his right hand against the ball of light. It felt warm and cool against his palm, like a piece of jade that had spent a long time in a stream. He closed his eyes and sent his spiritual power into it. The wings instantly transformed into a stream of energy that entered his body through his arm.
This time, the pain was unlike any he had felt before. It was the pain of flesh being torn apart.
When the Soul Bone entered his body, his whole back felt as though something had ripped a slit beneath his shoulder blades. Heat, searing heat, pushed outward from both sides of his spine. He could hear his bones cracking and feel his flesh stretching apart as something grew inch by inch from beneath his shoulder blades. It was a pain that bored into his heart and bones. It felt as though the bones in his back were being shattered and reassembled, and then an entirely new set of limbs and organs was growing out of his body. He gritted his teeth and knelt on the ground with both hands braced against it, his back arching uncontrollably.
No one could help him through this pain. He could only endure it alone, bearing it bit by bit through sheer willpower. Gradually, Ning Buhui could no longer feel time passing. His thoughts seemed to have ground to a halt, and he held on by willpower alone, the pain already numbing him. At last, the pain slowly receded, giving way to a gentle warmth.
Six hours had passed while Ning Buhui held on, and Bibi Dong had cleared a space nearby and built a fire. He lay on the ground panting for quite a while before bracing himself against his knees and slowly sitting up.