He wasn't doing this because he was broke. As a shareholder of the Treasure Pavilion and owner of seven-tenths of the milk tea shop franchise, his annual income was considerable; he could afford a few soul bones.
But these particular soul bones were hard to find.
Ice Jade Scorpion and Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear bones were among the rare ones. The high price was one thing; targeted acquisition was truly difficult.
As for Wind Baboons… they were simply too weak. Most were ten to a hundred years old, thousand-year ones were uncommon, not to mention ten-thousand-year. Low-tier soul beasts had a very low probability of producing soul bones.
This was where the academy came in.
When a massive machine starts turning, finding such bones is still hard, but the speed increases manyfold—especially since Treasure Pavilion already had stock and could issue notices to collect more.
A few minutes later.
Yan Shaozhe returned.
He tossed Su Wen a storage ring, then leisurely sat back down and sipped the still-warm tea. "Inside are three soul bones: one each from a Wind Baboon, Ice Jade Scorpion, and Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear. The Wind Baboon was the hardest—only a bit over three thousand years, and the original beast seems to have been a variant. The other two are ten-thousand-year. Try them. If it works…"
He didn't finish.
But Su Wen understood. If it worked, as long as he asked, the entire Treasure Pavilion would mobilize to collect all related soul bones for him. On this front, Shrek Academy was utterly reliable.
"Great!"
He nodded solemnly.
The office was too small, so he dragged Yan Shaozhe into Little Gold's Poké Ball.
"Whoa~"
Gazing at the vast inner world, Yan Shaozhe couldn't help but exclaim, "Good grief, what kind of immortal life are these little guys living? No wonder they prefer staying in here."
Su Wen handed the soul bones to his three pets.
"Little Gold, you first. Press the soul bone to your left claw." Dean Yan had given a Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear's left claw bone. If it worked, this was how to use it.
After all, his main combat power came from soul beasts. If he himself absorbed the bones, the benefit would be limited.
"Roar~"
Little Gold growled, clenching the soul bone in his left paw.
Under Su Wen and Dean Yan's gaze, light flickered, and the Dark Gold claw bone turned into a cluster of light and merged into the paw, vanishing.
"It worked?!" Dean Yan's pupils shrank as he looked to Su Wen.
Su Wen's face lit up.
On Little Gold's status panel, a new line had appeared:
[Soul Bone Skill (Max): Dark Gold Dreadclaw — Already have this skill; increases this skill's damage by 40%.]
Damage increased by 40%?
He loved percentage boosts. But more importantly, his experiment had succeeded—not only could they gain skills via evolution, but also through soul bones…
But… could it be removed?
Su Wen couldn't hide his smile.
With a thought, a soul bone reappeared on Little Gold's paw, and the (Max) mark vanished from the soul bone skill slot, leaving an empty "Soul Bone Skill" entry.
He guessed that for now, one bone filled the slot—probably a rank limit. After another evolution, perhaps another slot would open.
"Rejected by the body?" Seeing the bone expelled, Dean Yan frowned. After Su Wen explained, his brows gradually relaxed. "Your martial soul is downright monstrous."
Gale and Ice Emperor tried next.
They gained two soul bone skills—[Wind Wall] and [Ice Spikes].
The former was defensive, able to block damage, though a bit weaker; the latter was an AoE: condensing dozens of ice spikes midair and shooting them at the enemy, akin to Meteor Shower-type skills.
Vmm—
The Ice Emperor's emerald eyes fixed on Gale opposite her, a powerful extreme-cold aura radiating out. Razor ice spikes formed and hovered around her; with a flick of her scorpion tail, they shot toward Gale.
"Roar~"
Gale growled.
A gale whipped up before him, and a wind wall formed in an instant, sealing every gap.
Thunk! Thunk!
Dull thuds rang out.
The ice spikes were held outside the wall, but more and more began to punch through its absolute defense. Subsequent spikes threaded through the holes made by earlier ones.
They streaked for Gale.
But he was absurdly fast, leaving only a row of ice spikes planted in the ground where he'd stood.
"So it can break Gale's Wind Wall…"
Su Wen rubbed his chin.
It wasn't that Gale's Wind Wall was useless. Even the ranged attacks of a ten-thousand-year soul beast should be stopped by it. But this Wind Baboon bone was only three thousand years—outclassed by ten-thousand-year. And Gale's current attribute was still short of the ultimate.
"So? Want me to start sourcing these soul bones for you?" Dean Yan could hardly wait.
"Please." Su Wen nodded after a brief thought.
Since they were removable, he might as well stockpile some high-quality soul bones. And after today, Su Wen was determined to win that ten-thousand-year Ice Jade Scorpion soul bone at the Star Luo Empire auction. Ice Explosion was a god-tier skill he had his eye on.
In the original, Huo's Ice Explosion was so powerful partly thanks to the Ice Empress's torso bone. He absolutely couldn't pass up the Ice Empress either…
Ice Empress torso bone + Ice Explosion—the synergy would be unprecedented. At worst it'd be brown grade; maybe even break into deep blue.
"Bring me a few Blood-Red Baboons as well. I want to try other baboon soul bones…" Su Wen added.
"Got it!"
Dean Yan spun on his heel to leave.
But he faced a stretch of mountains and blanked for a second before remembering he was inside a Poké Ball. He turned back and patted Su Wen's shoulder.
"Let me out."
Su Wen: "…"
Without a command from him or his pets, this ball really was like a cage.
Maybe he could use it for a nasty trick someday?
Like Elder Yi's necromancer domain—ambushing the Sun–Moon Empire with a group of Shrek powerhouses?
…
Dean Yan returned yet again.
This time his soul tool ring held dozens of soul bones.
"[Wind Blade], enhanced? So-so."
"[Extreme Cold Storm]? Power's a bit lacking, shame."
"This Dark Gold right arm bone is also [Dark Gold Dreadclaw]? Hahaha, one in each hand—slap the enemy to death."
"Huh, Blood-Red Baboon soul bones work too?!"
Su Wen froze for a moment.
He watched Gale merge a Blood-Red Baboon left arm bone, and a new line appeared on the panel:
[Soul Bone Skill: Blood Fury — lasts two quarters of an hour; increases all physical attributes by 100%, but causes weakness for twelve hours afterward.]
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Advanced chapter here: p-atreon.com/Sajaboyzzz
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