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He wasn't here because he was poor. As one of the shareholders of Treasure Pavilion, he owned seventy percent of the shares in a milk tea shop chain, earning him a considerable annual income. He could easily afford a few soul bones.
The problem was that these soul bones weren't easy to find.
The Ice Jade Scorpion and Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear soul bones were among the rarest. Besides being expensive, they were extremely difficult to locate on demand.
As for the Wind Baboon, it was simply too pathetic. Most Wind Baboons were only at the ten- to hundred-year level; a thousand-year one was rare, let alone a ten-thousand-year one. And lower-ranked soul beasts have a very low chance of producing a soul bone.
This was where the academy stepped in.
Once the academy's massive operation started, finding these soul bones was still challenging, but the process would be many times faster. Treasure Pavilion already had a small stockpile, and by issuing a public notice, they could quickly gather the targeted soul bones.
A few minutes later, Yan Shaozhe returned.
He tossed Su Wen a storage soul guide ring, then casually sat back down and took a sip of his still-warm tea. "Inside are three soul bones: one from a Wind Baboon, one from an Ice Jade Scorpion, and one from a Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear. The Wind Baboon one was the hardest to find—just over three thousand years old, and apparently a mutant. The other two are ten-thousand-year bones. Try them out first. If they work..."
He didn't finish the sentence.
But Su Wen understood. If it worked, all he needed to do was ask. Treasure Pavilion's full resources would be mobilized to acquire every relevant soul bone in existence. When it came to matters like this, Shrek Academy was absolutely reliable.
"Alright!"
He nodded solemnly.
The office was too cramped, so he pulled Yan Shaozhe into Xiao Jin's Poké Ball space.
"Whoa~"
Looking at the vast expanse within, Yan Shaozhe couldn't help but exclaim, "Well, no wonder these little fellows are so content to stay in here all day—they're living the high life."
Su Wen handed the soul bones to his three spirit beasts.
"Xiao Jin, you go first. Place the soul bone on your left paw." Su Wen focused his gaze on Xiao Jin. The Dean had given him the left paw bone of a Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear. If this was going to work, this was the way to do it.
After all, his main fighting strength came from his spirit beasts. If he absorbed the soul bones himself, the effect would be minimal.
"Roar~"
Xiao Jin let out a low growl, gripping the soul bone tightly in his left paw.
Under the watchful eyes of Yan Shaozhe and Su Wen, the bone glowed faintly before dissolving into a ball of light and merging into the bear's paw, vanishing from sight.
"It worked?!" Yan Shaozhe's pupils contracted sharply, and he instinctively looked at Su Wen.
Su Wen's expression brightened.
On Xiao Jin's status panel, a new entry had appeared out of nowhere:
[Soul Bone Skill (Full): Darkgolden Terrorclaw — Already possesses this skill; damage increased by 40%]
A forty percent damage boost?
Percentage-based increases were Su Wen's favorite. But what pleased him even more was that his experiment had succeeded—his spirit beasts could gain skills not only through evolution, but also through soul bones.
Better yet... the soul bone could be removed.
Su Wen couldn't hide his smile.
With a thought, the soul bone reappeared in Xiao Jin's paw, and the (Full) mark disappeared from the soul bone skill slot, leaving it empty once again.
From his guess, the slot was full because of rank limitations. If Xiao Jin evolved again, another slot might open.
"Rejected by the body?" Yan Shaozhe frowned when the soul bone was removed, but after Su Wen explained, his brows slowly relaxed. "Your martial soul really is a monstrous thing."
Hurricane and Ice Emperor also took turns testing their bones.
They obtained two new skills: [Wind Wall] and [Ice Spike].
The first was a defensive skill that blocked damage, though slightly weaker in effect. The second was an area-of-effect attack, condensing dozens of ice spikes in mid-air to strike enemies, much like a meteor shower.
"Buzz..."
The Ice Emperor's emerald pupils locked onto Hurricane, an intense chill radiating from his body. Dozens of razor-sharp ice spikes formed around him. With a flick of his scorpion tail, they shot forward.
"Roar~"
Hurricane let out a deep growl.
A fierce gale swirled before him, forming a seamless wind wall.
Thump!
Thump!
One by one, the ice spikes slammed into the barrier, but as their numbers grew, some began piercing through small openings left by earlier impacts.
The remaining spikes shot straight toward Hurricane.
But his speed was extraordinary. In the blink of an eye, he vanished, leaving only a neat row of ice spikes embedded in the ground.
"So it can break through Hurricane's wind wall..."
Su Wen stroked his chin in thought.
It wasn't that the wind wall was weak. Even a ten-thousand-year soul beast's ranged attacks would have been blocked by its strength. But Hurricane's soul bone was only three thousand years old, a clear disadvantage against ten-thousand-year opponents. And his wind attribute was still ordinary Gale Wind—not yet at the ultimate level.
"So? Want me to start gathering more of these soul bones for you?" Yan Shaozhe was practically eager to move.
"Alright." Su Wen nodded after a moment of thought.
Since the bones could be removed, he might as well stockpile a few top-quality ones. But after today, he also had his eyes set on that ten-thousand-year Ice Jade Scorpion bone at the Star Luo Empire auction. The Ice Explosion technique was too tempting to pass up.
In the original story, Huo Hang's Ice Explosion was so powerful partly because of the Ice Emperor's torso bone. Naturally, Su Wen had no intention of missing out on that either.
Ice Emperor torso bone + Ice Explosion—stacked together, the power would be unprecedented. At worst, it would be a brown-ranked skill, and possibly even break through to deep blue.
"Oh, and bring me a few Blood-Red Baboons too. I want to test the bones of other baboon species," Su Wen added casually.
"Got it!"
Yan Shaozhe turned to leave—
Only to be met by an endless stretch of mountains. He blinked, then realized they were still inside the Poké Ball. Turning back, he patted Su Wen on the shoulder.
"Let me out."
Su Wen: "..."
Without permission from him or his spirit beasts, this Poké Ball really was like a prison.
Perhaps one day, he could use it for a sneak attack—
Like Elder Yi's undead dimension, carrying a group of Shrek Academy elites into the Sun Moon Empire for an ambush...
Yan Shaozhe returned once more.
This time, the soul guide ring in his hand contained dozens of soul bones.
"An enhanced [Wind Blade]? So-so."
"[Extreme Cold Storm]? Pity the power's lacking."
"Oh? This Darkgolden Terrorclaw right arm bone also gives [Darkgolden Terrorclaw]—haha! I'll just slap my opponent to death with one in each hand."
"Huh, the Blood-Red Baboon's soul bone works too?!"
Su Wen blinked in surprise.
Hurricane absorbed a Blood-Red Baboon's left arm bone, and a new line appeared on his panel:
[Soul Bone Skill: Blood Frenzy — For thirty minutes, doubles all physical attributes. Afterward, the user will be weakened for twelve hours.]
(End of Chapter)