Looking at the bone radiating a faint cyan glow, everyone was filled with curiosity.
Huo Wu asked,
"Brother Yan, this looks like a soul bone, right?"
Yan nodded, then picked up the soul bone.
"Judging from the appearance, this should be a right leg soul bone."
"Who would've thought a soul bone would drop from a Wolf Bandit."
Shui Bing'er speculated,
"This must be one of their leaders."
Suddenly, Huo Wu seemed to recall something and grew a bit excited.
"Brother, didn't you and Brother Tian each kill a cyan-colored Wolf Bandit just now? Maybe they also have soul bones."
"You're right. Brother Tian, let's go take a look!"
Huo Wushuang was also getting excited.
The two of them then went to check the corpses of the two cyan-colored Wolf Bandits.
But after thoroughly searching, they couldn't find even one soul bone.
Huo Wushuang said.
"Seems like the one Brother Yan killed was the true leader. Probably because of that soul bone, it had stronger combat power than the others and became the leader."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Yan said,"This should be a soul bone over ten thousand years old. Looks like a Bloodthirsty Berserk-type."
As Yan spoke, he handed the soul bone to Feng Xiaotian.
"Xiaotian, it suits you well. Take it."
"For me?"
Feng Xiaotian was momentarily stunned, unable to believe it.
He hadn't expected Yan to just hand over such a precious soul bone.
"This is a soul bone! You're not keeping it for yourself? You're just giving it to me?"
"It doesn't really suit me. Among us, you're the one who can make the best use of it."
Huo Wu smiled and said,
"Brother Tian, since it's Brother Yan's intention, just accept it."
"Thank you, Brother Yan."
Feng Xiaotian didn't refuse any longer and accepted the soul bone.
Afterward, the group gathered the Wolf Bandit corpses together, and Yan incinerated the mountain-like pile of bodies with a wave of fire.
Once everything was taken care of, the group descended the mountain.
Before heading up the mountain, they had left the carriage in a still-standing house in a village at the foot.
Upon descending, they returned to that house.
"This was the last village destroyed by those Wolf Bandits. If only we had gotten here earlier."
"Bing'er, you don't need to blame yourself. We've already killed those Wolf Bandits and avenged the villagers. They can now rest in peace."
"Mm."
"It's getting late. Let's rest here for the night."
Afterward, they did a quick tidy-up.
The three girls rested inside the carriage.
Yan leaned in a corner.
Feng Xiaotian absorbed the soul bone.
Huo Wushuang kept watch.
Several hours passed quietly.
The morning sunlight spilled into the shabby house.
Everyone woke up.
Huo Wu asked."Brother Tian, did you finish absorbing the soul bone?"
"Yeah. It really is a Bloodthirsty Berserk-type soul bone."
Even though Feng Xiaotian had taken over the night watch in the latter half, he looked quite refreshed.
"This soul bone allows me to enter a berserk state, increasing my speed, attack, and defense by one hundred percent. However, there's one drawback once the soul bone is activated, I can't use any soul ring skills."
"Don't you still have your self-created soul skill? That should still work, right?"
"Yeah, it does. My Gale Demon Wolf Slash becomes even stronger in berserk mode."
"That's awesome! Congrats, Brother Tian."
Everyone was genuinely happy for Feng Xiaotian.
Still, Feng Xiaotian looked a bit worried.
"With my current strength, I don't know if I can fully control it. Once I enter the berserk state, I might lose my rationality."
Yan suggested:
"Then don't use it for now. Wait until your spiritual power becomes stronger, or until you obtain a spiritual skull bone then use it."
"Yeah. Brother Tian, you'll definitely use it in the future anyway," Huo Wu added.
"Mm. Oh right, after absorbing this soul bone, my soul power has also broken through to level sixty."
"That's amazing!"
Hearing this, everyone was even happier.
This meant they could now go to the Star Dou Great Forest together to hunt soul beasts.
Yan said,"Then let's all go to the Star Dou Great Forest to help Xiaotian find a suitable soul beast. Bing'er, if we don't find a good match there, I'll go with you to the Frozen Forest."
"Okay."
It had been two months since Yan left Spirit City.
He guessed that Hu Liena should have already obtained her sixth soul ring and left the Star Dou Great Forest.
Although he'd been away for quite some time, resolving the issue with the Wolf Bandits was a significant accomplishment.
Now that the matter of the Wolf Bandits had been taken care of, it was time to come clean with everyone.
Yan said,"Actually, the reason I came to find you all this time is because I was carrying out a mission. The Pope, Bibi Dong, hopes that you'll consider joining Spirit Hall. Spirit Hall's influence is expanding rapidly, and it might soon conquer the two great empires."
"What?! Is Spirit Hall planning to unify the entire Douluo Continent?"
"That's right. And honestly, it might not be a bad thing. The two empires are constantly at odds, always at war. The ones who suffer are always the poor people at the bottom. Spirit Hall's policies toward commoners are better than either of the empires. If the Douluo Continent could be unified, there would be no more wars."
Feng Xiaotian suddenly said,
"Brother Yan, has Spirit Hall already started acting? I heard that the Strength Clan in Heaven Dou City was wiped out. Was that Spirit Hall's doing?"
Yan nodded.
"It's fine if I tell you the truth it was indeed done by Spirit Hall, and I personally took part in it."
Everyone was shocked upon hearing this.
Yan explained:
"You don't know this, but under Tang San's guidance, the Strength Clan developed hidden weapons with devastating power.
With proper training, even ordinary people could use these hidden weapons to kill soul masters in the fortieth or even fiftieth ranks.
This posed not only a threat to Spirit Hall, but also to the soul master world as a whole. It could disrupt the balance among soul masters.
The Strength Clan had already secretly crafted thousands of such hidden weapons for the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan. So we had to eliminate them."
Only now did everyone understand why Spirit Hall had seemingly destroyed the Strength Clan without reason.
"So that's how it is. That little punk from Shrek designed hidden weapons that powerful? If you have something like that, what's the point of even cultivating?"
"Yeah, not only is he a poison master, but the deadly hidden weapons he's developed are even more complex than you'd think."
"That guy even has twin martial souls and comes from the Clear Sky Clan. If someone like him went down the wrong path, he could become a terrifyingly evil soul master."
"Exactly. No matter what, we can't ally ourselves with that little punk."
Everyone was in agreement.
Huo Wu asked:
"Brother Yan, what would happen if we chose not to join Spirit Hall?"
"Bing'er had asked me that too. I'll try to mediate from within. In any case, I won't become your enemy."
"Brother Yan, we wouldn't be your enemies either. We'll go along with your arrangements."
"Alright. Let's not worry about that for now. First, let's head to the Star Dou Great Forest to help Xiaotian and Bing'er obtain their sixth soul rings."
Yan knew that the events to come might still change. The Heaven Dou Empire could end up being controlled by Qian Renxue disguised as Crown Prince Xue Qinghe.
Who would truly become the ruler of Spirit Hall in the end was still uncertain.