After a long while, Lin Mu slowly opened his eyes, a faint dark-golden light flashing within them.
He could clearly feel the surging soul power inside his body.
"As expected of a four-hundred-thousand-year soul bone. Not only has my soul power advanced to more than halfway through Level 95, but my physical strength has also increased significantly."
After examining himself, Lin Mu grew even more eager to complete the remaining three soul bones.
Under normal cultivation, increasing even a single rank might take several years. But by absorbing high-quality soul bones, he could potentially break through to Level 99 within a short period.
Currently, he possessed the left arm, right arm, and right leg soul bones. He still lacked the left leg, torso, and head soul bones.
The left leg soul bone did not need to be of exceptional quality, anything over one hundred thousand years would suffice.
However, the torso and head soul bones had to be top-tier, at least over two hundred thousand years old.
After all, these two were the most crucial parts among the six soul bones.
Especially the torso soul bone. Aside from the Deep Sea Demon Whale King, only the Ice Emperor of the Far North was known to possibly drop one of slightly comparable quality.
If Lin Mu went all out, he could contend with the Deep Sea Demon Whale King. Even if he failed to kill it, his speed would allow him to retreat safely.
But there was a problem.
The Deep Sea Demon Whale King was closely tied to the Sea God's Nine Trials. Killing it prematurely might affect Xiao San's trial.
Now that Lin Mu had already gained the approval of two gods, there was no need for him to compete for the Sea God's inheritance.
Although the Tsunami Armor was highly compatible with the Sea God's divine position, Lin Mu had no intention of inheriting it.
On one hand, he rarely used that armor.
On the other, since he already possessed a divine inheritance opportunity, competing for the Sea God's throne would be unnecessary.
Even if the Sea God were stronger than an ordinary first-level god, it made little difference to him.
Therefore, to avoid interfering with Xiao San's Sea God Nine Trials, he would abandon the idea of hunting the Deep Sea Demon Whale King.
That left the Ice Emperor, or perhaps some of the other unknown ferocious beasts.
Though ice and water attributes differed somewhat, the distinction was not significant. Moreover, absorbing soul bones was unlike absorbing soul rings, so attribute compatibility was less critical.
"Right… sacrifice allows one to freely choose which soul bone slot to fill."
At this thought, Lin Mu shook his head inwardly.
He already possessed nine soul rings. Accepting another sacrifice was impossible unless he first removed an existing ring.
In the original story, Tang San, in order to revive Xiao Wu, used the divine artifact, the Sea God Trident, to forcibly strip away the first four soul rings of his Blue Silver Grass, thereby obtaining four new ones.
Logically speaking, other divine artifacts should also be capable of stripping soul rings.
However, although Lin Mu had obtained the recognition of two gods, unlocking the divine inheritance required reaching Level 99, and he had yet to decide whether he would inherit it at all.
Suddenly, a new possibility came to mind.
The Evil Emperor, the second-ranked among the ferocious beasts.
Although it resided on the Sun Moon Continent, an unknown distance away, locating it would not be difficult with the Hurricane Armor's speed.
Hunting the Evil Emperor would likely yield an external soul bone and significantly enhance his spiritual power.
As for the head soul bone, if he absorbed the External Vertical Eye from the Evil Emperor, the base quality requirement would no longer need to be excessively high; even a one-hundred-thousand-year head soul bone would suffice.
"Master, what are you thinking about?"
Just as Lin Mu was deep in thought, Tang San finished his cultivation and looked up curiously.
Hearing his disciple's voice, Lin Mu suppressed his thoughts.
Compared to hunting soul bones, the more important matter now was bringing Tang San on further training.
He had only reached eighty percent completion of the main quest and had already obtained the Thunder Atlas Armor. If he achieved one hundred percent completion, he could hardly imagine the reward.
Lin Mu reached out and flicked Tang San lightly on the forehead.
"I was thinking about your mother."
"Really?"
Instead of being embarrassed, Tang San looked delighted, clearly eager for his master to spend more time with Ah Yin.
Lin Mu rolled his eyes.
Even if he were willing to care for the widow and orphan, Ah Yin had not yet fully resurrected, there was little he could actually do.
At that moment, Ah Yin's illusory figure emerged once more. Her beautiful eyes were fixed on Lin Mu, and a faint blush colored her cheeks.
"Mr. Lin Mu… you may see me anytime you wish."
Seeing his mother take the initiative, Tang San nodded in satisfaction.
His master had always given selflessly to both him and his mother. Such a great debt of gratitude was impossible to repay, but if they became family, there would be no need to speak of repayment.
"Ahem… if there's time…"
Feeling slightly uncomfortable under Ah Yin's tender gaze, Lin Mu quickly changed the subject.
"Little San, what do you think of the Clear Sky Sect?"
"Huh?"
Tang San, who had been observing the interaction, took a moment to process the question.
After a pause, his gaze drifted toward Tang Xiao and the others in the distance. A complicated expression flickered across his face.
Logically speaking, the Clear Sky Sect should be considered his ancestral home. Though he felt no real attachment to it, he still experienced a faint sense of regret at how things had unfolded.
It was all that disheveled drunkard's fault.
If Tang Hao had not insisted on taking his mother away, and even attempted to kill her twice, none of this would have happened.
Suppressing his resentment, Tang San answered objectively,
"Master, in my opinion, the Clear Sky Sect, as the number one sect in the world, is second only to Spirit Hall in overall strength. With their unique techniques, Clear Sky Hammer Soul Masters are overwhelmingly stronger than other Soul Masters of the same level."
"Correct," Lin Mu nodded. "The reason the Clear Sky Hammer is known as the number one tool spirit lies in those unique techniques."
Tang San's eyes brightened with understanding.
"Master, do you want me to learn the Clear Sky Sect's secret techniques?"
"That's right. You cannot focus solely on cultivating Blue Silver Grass. Your other martial soul is equally important."
A sharp glint flashed in Lin Mu's eyes.
Although he had crippled Tang Xiao and the others' cultivation, teaching the Clear Sky Sect's secret techniques did not require soul power.
The only regret was that Tang Xiao and the others had not mastered the Great Sumeru Hammer.
In their generation, only one person could learn it. But Tang Hao was dead, and only Tang Chen truly understood its usage.
"Master… would they really be willing to teach me such ultimate techniques?" Tang San asked hesitantly.
Given everything that had happened, why would they agree?
"Don't worry. I have my methods."
As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Mu vanished.
In the next instant, he reappeared before Tang Xiao and the others.
Startled by his sudden arrival, they nearly collapsed.
After regaining his composure, Tang Xiao glared at him angrily.
"Lin Mu! Even if you've crippled our cultivation, you will never enslave us!"
"I have no interest in enslaving you," Lin Mu replied calmly. "I only wish to make a deal. Whoever is willing to teach my disciple the Clear Sky Sect's Nine Absolutes, I will allow that person to leave this place."