Fusing the Bone in the Ruined Temple, Mastering Shadow Step

Zhu Zhuqing's injuries had healed completely on the third day.

That evening, she knocked on Nan Feng's door and stood in the doorway, her black hair tied in a neat ponytail. She moved her left shoulder twice to show him. Her movements were clean, with no stiffness.

"I'm ready," she said.

Nan Feng nodded and tucked his short staff behind his waist. The two left the inn, one behind the other.

Dusk spread over Suotuo City from the west, and there were fewer pedestrians on the streets than during the day. Waves of noise rolled in from the direction of the Great Soul Arena.

Nan Feng led Zhu Zhuqing through the old district in the eastern part of the city and out along a dirt road that hardly anyone used.

Three li outside the city stood an abandoned, ruined temple. Most of its roof had collapsed, and only three of its four walls remained. The statue of a god lay on the floor inside, shattered into several pieces. Wild grass grew thick along the bases of the walls, dew clinging to its blades.

Nan Feng had scanned the area with Treasure-Appraising Spirit Light when he passed by a few days earlier. There were no Soul Beasts or signs of habitation within a hundred paces. Only three walls of the ruined temple remained, and the wind rushed through the gap, blowing the wild grass to one side.

Zhu Zhuqing stood in the middle of the ruined temple and looked around, then took off her cloak and draped it over a broken wall.

She took the Shadow Leopard Left Leg Bone from her sleeve. The deep-cyan Soul Bone glowed with a cold, eerie light in the dusk, its Soul Power fluctuations steady and enduring.

She looked down at the Soul Bone and fell silent for a few breaths.

"Five thousand years," she said. "My Soul Power is only at level thirty-one. When an ordinary Soul Master absorbs a five-thousand-year Soul Bone, the pressure on their meridians is too great."

"Your Hell Spirit Cat and the Shadow Leopard have attributes in common." Nan Feng stood two steps away. "The spirit cat's darkness attribute can resonate with the leopard bone's darkness attribute, reducing the rejection. But the stronger the resonance, the greater the impact during fusion."

"While you absorb it, I'll use Tower Suppression to cover your whole body and hold down the energy running wild in your meridians. Just focus on guiding the Soul Bone's fusion. Leave the suppression to me."

Zhu Zhuqing nodded and sat cross-legged in the middle of the ruined temple.

She pressed the Soul Bone against the outside of her left leg, closed her eyes, sank deep into her consciousness, and directed her Soul Power to touch it.

The instant the Soul Bone came into contact with her Soul Power, it gave a low hum. Deep-cyan light burst from its surface and spread along her left leg, quickly covering the whole limb.

Zhu Zhuqing's body tensed sharply. Her hands clenched the fabric over her knees, her knuckles turning white.

The Soul Bone's energy surged into her meridians. That deep-cyan Soul Power carried the Shadow Leopard's agility and resonated fiercely with the Hell Spirit Cat's darkness attribute. The two forces collided and intertwined inside her.

The energy of a five-thousand-year bone was too great a burden for Zhu Zhuqing at level thirty-one. The walls of her meridians swelled under the strain, and the flow of her Soul Power sped up and slowed down erratically as the bone's energy ran wild.

Like a runaway horse charging madly through a river channel.

Nan Feng activated Tower Suppression, covering Zhu Zhuqing's entire body.

A cyan halo spread out beneath her feet. Nan Feng controlled the suppressive force, keeping it gentle but firm.

The power of Tower Suppression seeped into her meridians like a soft yet sturdy net, wrapping around the rampaging bone energy and pressing its onslaught back inch by inch.

Zhu Zhuqing's clenched fingers loosened a little. The fabric over her knees had been crushed into two bunches of wrinkles. Her breathing steadied from its earlier rapid pace.

The process lasted nearly half a shichen.

Nan Feng's Soul Power was steadily consumed, and a fine layer of sweat beaded on his forehead. It ran down his temples to his chin and dripped onto the front of his robe.

He raised a hand and wiped his eyes, maintaining Tower Suppression's output without interruption.

With Tower Suppression's help, the Soul Bone fusion progressed inside Zhu Zhuqing step by step. The deep-cyan light spread from her left leg over her entire body, finally merging into the darkness-attribute Soul Power of her Nether Civet Martial Soul.

Her presence rose noticeably the moment the fusion was complete. The veil of shadow around her had become more than twice as solid as before.

A Soul Bone Skill took shape deep within her consciousness.

Zhu Zhuqing opened her eyes. The deep-cyan light on her left leg receded, leaving an extremely fine dark marking on the inside of her ankle.

She stood and moved her left leg a little, then tried circulating her Soul Power.

Her figure blurred for an instant, and she moved three steps away, her whole body seemingly wrapped in a layer of shadow.

She was twenty percent faster than before. The path of her movement was almost impossible to follow with the naked eye.

She looked down at her right hand. A layer of dark-cyan light hovered over her palm, with leopard spots flowing through it.

"Shadow Step," Zhu Zhuqing said, satisfaction in her voice. "Short-distance teleportation. It's twice as fast as the Hell Spirit Cat's ordinary movement technique."

Nan Feng withdrew Tower Suppression and bent his left knee, bracing himself against the ground.

Half a shichen of continuous output had consumed nearly thirty percent of his Soul Power. Zhu Zhuqing stood three steps away and watched him, her black eyes fixed on him for two breaths before she walked over.

She took a small porcelain bottle from her sleeve and handed it to him.

"Drink it. It restores Soul Power."

Nan Feng took it and swallowed a mouthful. The medicinal liquid in the porcelain bottle was thick, and its bitterness slid down his throat, lingering at the back of his tongue for a long time. The Soul Power in his dantian began to recover slowly.

Zhu Zhuqing sat down beside him and stretched out her left leg, moving it twice. She bent her knee and straightened it again, repeating the motion three times to confirm that the Soul Bone fusion had left no discomfort.

"While you were helping me suppress it, I sensed a kind of power circulating in your tower," she said. "It was warmer and heavier than Soul Power, like it was seeping up from somewhere very deep."

Nan Feng returned the porcelain bottle to her.

What she had described was probably the Power of Creation seeping through the crack in the door on the tower's third level. While he was helping Zhu Zhuqing suppress the Soul Bone's backlash, that warmth had seeped into her meridians along with the power of Tower Suppression. The amount was small, but it had indeed played a part in the fusion.

Nan Feng could feel that the crack in the third-level door had widened a little during the assistance he had just given. The output of the Power of Creation was a fraction stronger than before.

It wasn't because his Soul Power had increased, but because he had deepened his understanding of that power through practical use.

"I'm leaving tomorrow." Zhu Zhuqing stood, brushed the dirt from her knees, and put her cloak back on. "I'm returning to the Star Luo Empire. There are still some matters at home I need to deal with."

Nan Feng stood as well.

"I'm going to Heaven Dou City the day after tomorrow."

Zhu Zhuqing walked to the ruined temple's entrance, paused, and turned her head to look at him.

Moonlight shone in through the half-collapsed roof, casting the contours of one side of her face into sharp relief.

Her gaze rested on Nan Feng's face for two breaths.

"You helped me absorb this Soul Bone, so I owe you a favor. If you ever need anything, come find me in the Star Luo Empire," she said. "The Zhu Family isn't a major clan in the Star Luo Empire, but people there listen to what we have to say."

Nan Feng nodded.

Zhu Zhuqing turned and walked into the dusk. Her dark figure moved swiftly along the dirt road outside the city, her footsteps making no sound on the hard, dry earth. Within a few breaths, she had melted into the shadows of the distant trees.

Nan Feng stood in the ruined temple and watched her retreating figure disappear, then drew back his gaze and lowered it to his right palm.

The deep-black underlying light of the Soul Ring in his palm pulsed against his skin, answering the cyan light in the crack at the base of the tower, one rising as the other fell.

While he had been helping Zhu Zhuqing absorb the Soul Bone, the crack in the tower's third-level door had widened by ten percent. The output of the Power of Creation had become a little more substantial than before.

He could now sense the outline of the seal deep within Xiao Wu's Martial Soul more clearly. He still needed to reach level forty in Soul Power before he could truly touch it, but he had taken another step closer.

He sat cross-legged in the ruined temple and circulated the Primordial World Qi Refining Art to replenish the Soul Power he had consumed.

Half a shichen later, he opened his eyes. The temple was darker than before, and the moon had moved above the gap in the roof. More than half of his Soul Power had recovered, and it flowed a little more smoothly through his meridians than before.

He stood and walked out of the ruined temple. The night wind rushed through the gap in the wall, pressing the hem of his robe against his legs. The lights of Suotuo City in the distant darkness looked like a handful of scattered gold flecks.

He would stay in Suotuo City one more day tomorrow to check on what was happening at Shrek Academy. He would set out for Heaven Dou City early the following morning.

Nan Feng twirled the short staff once in his hand, tucked it back behind his waist, and followed the dirt road back the way he had come.

The deep-black underlying light of the Soul Ring in his palm pulsed against his skin, answering the cyan light in the crack at the base of the tower, one rising as the other fell.

Soul Power at level thirty-four. The crack in the third-level door had opened another fraction.

The moon emerged from behind the clouds, shining on the empty dirt road outside Suotuo City and stretching his shadow long as he returned to the city.