Soul Bone Skill: Parting (The Double Update Has Burned Me Out)

At the first faint light of dawn, Tang Yin stopped on a cliff outside the mountains.

The Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone had been inside him for a night. As he sat cross-legged and circulated his Qi, he could clearly feel a gentle yet vast life force flowing through the newly grown bone-it was something his mother had left behind, something that belonged to him.

He rose, closed his eyes, and tried to summon that power.

The power surged up from his right leg, spread over his waist and spine, then receded beneath his feet like a tide. Tang Yin suddenly felt his body grow light, and he actually rose more than three meters into the air. He struggled instinctively, immediately tilting sideways and plunging straight down. His back struck a rock below the cliff, and the searing pain of broken bones shot up his spine.

He grunted and was about to use Life Returning to Origin when he saw a gentle blue light shine from his right leg bone. The light flowed like water throughout his body, leaving a tingling itch wherever it passed. The sensation of his bones breaking receded inch by inch, and the shattered bones realigned and mended at a speed visible to the naked eye. In the blink of an eye, not even a trace remained. Soul Bone Skills really were formidable, far beyond the reach of Soul Skills.

Wildfire could not burn it all away; the spring breeze brought it back to life.

Tang Yin pushed himself up against the rock and flexed his back. It was completely unharmed. He looked down at his right leg, a flicker of shock crossing his eyes. An ordinary Soul Master would have been bedridden for at least three months after a fall like that.

He walked back to the edge of the cliff, but this time he did not close his eyes.

The blue light rose again, and he took to the air. At first he still wobbled, like a bird just learning to fly. Gradually, he found the rhythm of that power-it was not a matter of struggling, but of riding it. Wind flowed beneath his feet, and the vitality of the entire forest held him aloft. Tang Yin spread his arms and swept out over the cliff, flying close to the morning mist, Blue Silver vines trailing a faint green streak behind him.

After flying more than five kilometers, he came to a steady stop above the treetops and looked down at the mountains and wilderness speeding past beneath him.

Tang Yin raised his hand and looked at the Blue Silver vines forming in his palm, then lifted his gaze to the eastern horizon. A streak of golden-red morning light hovered in the direction of Heaven Dou City.

He gave a faint smile.

This time, he could catch up with the wind.

After returning from Holy Soul Village, Tang Yin first went back to Nuoding Academy.

The academy was just as it had always been: the bells, the training grounds, the ringing sound of students reading aloud. He had spent two years here, from six to eight, like a stone wrapped in moss, quiet and utterly inconspicuous. But today, he was going to cross himself off its roll.

Two people were waiting for him at the academy gates.

Tang San stood there with a sword in his arms, silently watching his younger brother. The twins' faces were seven parts alike, though the younger brother's eyes and brows were a little colder. Xiao Wu stood beside him, her eyes already rimmed red.

"Heaven Dou Royal Academy." Tang San's voice was level, as though confirming something he had long known but had been unwilling to believe.

"Mm."

"Why?"

"Our paths are different," Tang Yin said. "Brother, your path is here. Mine is elsewhere."

Tang San fell silent for a long time. He had seen many things clearly before his younger brother-in the past two years, the silence in his brother that he could not understand had grown heavier and heavier. He reached out and patted his brother on the shoulder, saying only, "Don't let anyone take advantage of you."

Tears welled in Xiao Wu's eyes too. "Ah Yin, can't we stay together?"

Tang Yin looked at the two of them, unsure what to say.

After a long silence, Tang Yin finally spoke. "I'm in a hurry to level up. You two do your best."

Just as he was about to leave, Tang Yin displayed his Martial Soul and Soul Rings. "Little San, Soul Ring theory isn't absolute. If your body is strong enough, or you can recover quickly, the Second Soul Ring can at least be a thousand-year one."

A purple Soul Ring appeared, leaving both of them stunned.

"If nothing unexpected happens, see you at the Soul Master Tournament."