Picking up the Golden Dragon Spear and the soul bone, Tang Ni smiled at the still-weak Xiao Lin.
"Here, this is for you."
She tossed Gana's soul bone in front of him, then plopped down beside him.
"Xiao Lin, brat, you actually have an external soul bone."
"Hm?"
Xiao Lin, still drained of soul power, reacted sluggishly. Only after a moment did he process what she said.
"Oh, right. Don't tell anyone else."
It wasn't that Xiao Lin distrusted Ye Lingling and the others. He just didn't want to explain too much or draw unnecessary attention.
Tang Ni stared deeply at him, then silently nodded. But in her heart, she thought: I must work even harder. If Xiao Lin has an external soul bone, then I must get one too.
Dark Devilgod Tiger… you're already marked for death! she swore inwardly.
"Ye Lingling and the others—what should we do about them?"
After a while, Tang Ni suddenly asked. Over the past few days, she had already become close sisters with Ye Lingling, the only other girl in the group. Naturally, she worried about her.
"They'll be fine. Medusa's petrification is just a soul skill—it hasn't touched the level of universal law. It can't be true petrification. Once the petrification's soul power dissipates, they'll be safe."
Although Xiao Lin said this, he still curiously glanced back at Ye Lingling and the others.
Still, for a soul skill, this petrification has lasted unusually long…
He remembered the Demonic Eyed Tree from before, which had cut off his and Tang San's connection of body and spirit. Yet they'd broken free quickly.
If a control-type skill could really last this long, then what's the point of power-attack or agility-attack soul masters existing at all?
Take the Shi brothers, for example. In this lifetime, they'd evolved from simple defense-types into defensive soul masters with some control ability. Their taunt skill alone was an S-rank soul technique in Xiao Lin's eyes—it could even affect a Titled Douluo for a fraction of a second.
Compared to that, the petrification binding Ye Lingling's group felt absurd.
"Strange… could it be because of this soul bone?"
From the fallen foe they had only retrieved… a ten-thousand-year left leg bone. Xiao Lin wasn't entirely sure what was going on.
"So, what do we do now?"
Tang Ni looked at the almost-recovered Xiao Lin and asked directly. In her view, waiting for Ye Lingling's group to recover on their own wasn't wise. The right move was to retreat quickly before enemies arrived again.
"Yeah, let's take them with us."
"I'll carry the Shi brothers," Xiao Lin added, putting the ten-thousand-year soul bone away as he stood. His stamina had long since recovered—only his soul power was lacking. Carrying them wouldn't be a problem.
He summoned the Flood Dragon Staff, tied the two bulky Shi brothers onto it, slung it over his shoulder, and headed northward.
To avoid possible pursuers, Xiao Lin chose the safest direction: deeper into the core of the Extreme North.
Behind him, Tang Ni followed with Ye Lingling in her arms. Competing silently with Xiao Lin, she noticed he was still ahead of her, so she quickened her pace.
In the spiritual domain—
The two Dragon Kings were evaluating Xiao Lin's devious battle strategy.
Though they disdained such methods, they had to admit his cleverness.
"I knew Xiao Lin was sharp since childhood. That eases my mind."
The Fire Dragon King boasted, satisfied with Xiao Lin's cunning. If only I'd thought like this back then, I wouldn't have perished alongside the Ice Dragon King.
"Pfft. What's it got to do with you?" the Ice Dragon King retorted. "Still, I'll admit it—Xiao Lin's soul power control is impressive. Hardly any wasted. His combat intelligence isn't bad."
After all, Xiao Lin was their chosen successor—their hope of resurrection, a candidate for godhood. The stronger he became, the better for them.
"Sigh, enough about Xiao Lin. Tell me—wasn't that human soul master earlier far too twisted?"
The Fire Dragon King referred to Gana, shocked that a human would commit such grotesque acts just to grow stronger—merging other soul masters' powers into himself.
"Indeed. Who would bother fusing such weak forces?" the Ice Dragon King sighed.
The two Dragon Kings had seen only the strongest—born god-beasts who died early. Naturally, they had never seen such bizarre methods of fusion.
Hearing this, Xiao Lin joined the conversation.
"Soul beasts aren't like you Dragon Kings, born powerful. As you've said, soul power in this world comes from the Dragon God's divine force—or the gods' divine force. Originally, ordinary animals gained this power, evolving along different paths. Some grew strong, some weak, some adapted well, others poorly. That's natural.
"But I think this human path of relying on fusion isn't right. How can true growth rely entirely on external things—on soul rings from beasts?
"The correct path should be for humans to condense their own soul rings, drawing true strength from within."
This was Xiao Lin's conclusion, drawn from understanding the rules of Douluo Continent.
"Soul masters should create cultivation methods, absorb heaven and earth's spiritual energy, and, when it's time to break through, condense their own rings. Soul rings shouldn't be the main source of soul skills—self-created skills should be."
The more he spoke, the more sense it made to him. How can power come without effort? Depending solely on soul rings only encourages laziness and lack of wisdom.
"You're right, Xiao Lin," the Ice Dragon King agreed. "We soul beasts create our soul skills entirely on our own."
He didn't fully understand why this world was structured differently from others.
Could this too be part of the Dragon God's plan? he wondered. The Fire Dragon King thought the same.
The Dragon God hadn't allowed soul beasts to become gods—including dragonkind themselves. But at the same time, the Dragon God also didn't want humans monopolizing all godhood.
Compared to other worlds, the Fire Dragon King believed, Douluo Star had the greatest potential—enough to form an entire God Realm.
"God Realm?" Xiao Lin caught the implication immediately. That sounds serious…
"Oh right, Dragon Kings—can you see what ability this new soul bone grants?"
Xiao Lin wasn't particularly interested in the ten-thousand-year soul bone—unless it matched the quality of his Chaos Left Leg Bone.
"Can't tell."
"Never seen soul power fluctuations like it."
"Feels similar to that man's ability."
"Probably some kind of fusion skill."
"What's the use of such a skill anyway?"
The two Dragon Kings, once so glorious, had no concept of what a "trash skill" looked like.
"Alright then… must be a fusion skill."
Though uncertain, Xiao Lin trusted their judgment.
So who should get this soul bone? Tang San probably wouldn't want it. Maybe Xiao Wu? Or I could just sell it to Ye Lingling's team…
(End of Chapter)