"He's bleeding!"
As the injured party, Zhu Qiaoqiao did not help carry the bodies like Tian Wenlong and Fang Rui.
She stayed by Zhao Liuyun's side, intently watching his Soul Ring absorption process.
Seeing the abnormal phenomenon of blood seeping through his skin, which wouldn't typically occur when people absorbed a Soul Ring, her brows furrowed, and a hint of worry flashed in her eyes.
"Six hundred-plus years, it should be a Soul Ring that a normal person can absorb. Why is he bleeding?"
Tian Wenlong put down Ye Ye's body.
"Liuyun once said, 'He is a Spirit-type Soul Master, and the first Soul Ring he absorbed came from a mutated White-patterned Purple Scorpion, which didn't bring him much physical enhancement.'"
This statement, combined with the power of his Soul Skill, was very convincing.
"This is a hurdle. Liuyun has been working hard to temper his body precisely so he can overcome this hurdle."
Tian Wenlong was also somewhat anxious, like an ant on a hot pan, but he still had to appear calm:
"We can't help much. We can only rely on him."
Fang Rui remained vigilant, guarding the surroundings against any possible sneak attacks from Soul Beasts.
Wu Qianming closed his eyes and was adjusting his breathing, still recovering.
With the damage to his spirit, he would need to rest for a while.
The focus of everyone's attention, Zhao Liuyun, was in the midst of a fierce battle.
Energy ravaged his body, and his Soul Power struggled to resist within his meridians.
Zhao Liuyun now understood why Tang San had an extra layer of tenacity when absorbing Soul Rings.
While willpower was important, the [Unceasing Vitality] characteristic of the Mysterious Heaven Skill was paramount.
The Soul Power was tough and long-lasting, capable of quickly regrouping after a defeat to link up a second attack.
Repeatedly defeated, yet repeatedly fighting on!
And though defeated, he had not lost.
The Soul Ring energy, like water without a source, could not outlast the Soul Power, which had long-lasting endurance due to the blessing of the [Unceasing Vitality] trait.
Zhao Liuyun's body seemed to be misting with blood everywhere, but the energy was being conquered little by little, rapidly and efficiently strengthening his flesh, bones, and meridians...
In comparison, the battlefield in his Sea of Spirit was even more perilous.
This was still maintained only because Zhao Liuyun's spirit was inherently powerful.
If he hadn't possessed this Silver Dragon Eye External Soul Bone, the spiritual battle should have been quickly won.
But there is no 'if' in this world.
The External Soul Bone was still more appealing.
Inside the Sea of Spirit, centered around the Silver Dragon Eye, the residual spiritual power of the Ghost Eye Demonic Dragon Spider was wantonly corroding.
It contained no consciousness, only a trace of savage instinct, yet it remained fierce and untamable.
The Dragon Might pressing so close made it impossible for Zhao Liuyun's spiritual power to concentrate. His scattered resistance was like striking a stone with water, only capable of splashing sporadic, broken waves.
He did not panic, and the method he adopted was very simple.
To summarize it in two words—
Strategic Retreat.
Trading space for time, using time to adapt to the Dragon Might in the spiritual space, and allowing the spiritual power of the Ghost Eye Demonic Dragon Spider to be further diluted.
Even with the Soul Bone as its anchor, it was still a rootless duckweed. When the quality lowered, Zhao Liuyun's scattered spiritual power could win the fight!
One-third.
The spiritual power from the Ghost Eye Demonic Dragon Spider's Soul Ring had expanded to nearly one-third of the territory in the Sea of Spirit!
Zhao Liuyun finally adapted somewhat to the oppression of the Dragon Might, and his spiritual power was no longer as scattered as before.
His eyes narrowed—the time had come!
Counterattack!
Zhao Liuyun's spiritual power surged like angry tides, launching a fierce assault toward the Silver Dragon Eye.
Due to the Dragon bloodline factor, the spiritual power of the Ghost Eye Demonic Dragon Spider was indeed higher in quality, with a ferocious and extraordinarily tyrannical aura.
However, lacking the guidance of consciousness, its instinctive energy output was extremely rigid.
Zhao Liuyun's spiritual power was greater in quantity and more agile.
He adopted a strategy of divide and conquer, constantly crushing the large clusters through violent collisions.
Simultaneously, he ground down and absorbed the opponent's small forces, step by step compressing their range of activity.
Until, within the entire Sea of Spirit, only the Silver Dragon Eye remained.
The vertical pupil of the Dragon possessed unmatched might. Even though this eye was not born from a true giant dragon, and the power remaining within it was scarce, it still made hearts chill.
"Worthy of having once been the ruler of the world!"
Zhao Liuyun lamented, as his spiritual power surged forward like a storm, wave after wave.
Absorbing a Soul Bone required taking the hard way. Without the inheritance of a hundred-thousand-year Soul Bone connected by blood, there was no gentle path to take.
To show respect, he would go all out.
Six hours passed in the blink of an eye.
His body surface went from seeping blood to emitting a gentle luster. The pain gradually lessened, and the Soul Ring's power was finally completely worn away and began its transformation.
"It should be fine now." Zhu Qiaoqiao's face was pale, her eyes full of exhaustion.
Fang Rui exclaimed with joy, "He passed this hurdle."
The Soul Ring absorption was complete. Zhao Liuyun was immersed in the transformation brought by the Soul Bone.
As a Spirit-type External Soul Bone, the transformation naturally occurred in his Sea of Spirit.
He could sense that his already vast Sea of Spirit was continuously expanding outward, simultaneously becoming tougher.
His spiritual power received additional tempering, becoming more condensed.
After another two hours, the transformation ceased.
Zhao Liuyun estimated that now, one instance of Dream Creation should be enough to take down an average Soul King.
Filled with joy, he opened his eyes.
Beside him, Uncle Tian and Fang Rui were diligently guarding him.
A slight curve formed on Zhao Liuyun's lips as he was about to announce the good news, when his expression suddenly changed.
A tearing, sharp pain suddenly came from the center of his forehead, slightly above his brow, before it violently split open, revealing a silver-white Dragon Eye that emitted a heart-stopping fluctuation.
Seeing Zhao Liuyun frown, the two men were about to inquire.
The next moment, they were shocked by the anomaly of the silver pupil growing on his forehead.
"Virtuous nephew, this... what is this thing?" Tian Wenlong was stunned at first, and distant memories were stirred from the depths of his mind.
His eyes instantly became captivated.
"You, how did you grow the eye of that Ghost Eye Demonic Spider?"
Zhao Liuyun sensed the sudden, intense malice in Tian Wenlong's heart, and his own heart turned cold.
He tapped his toes lightly, and his figure retreated like the wind, decisively avoiding the hand reaching from behind him.
"Uncle Tian, I don't know either."
He tried to gloss over it, while secretly activating [Hypnosis], intending to wipe away that thread of malice.
But, he couldn't do it!
This was an obsession; Tian Wenlong had linked it to the Soul Bone!
The malice transformed into killing intent at an alarming speed.
Tian Wenlong's look of regret flashed away. He looked at him with a yearning gaze and said softly:
"This is not something a Soul Ring can cause. This is a Soul Bone, isn't it?"
Though the two words, "Soul Bone," were spoken softly, they weighed heavily on the ears of the others.
In an instant, several pairs of eyes focused sharply on the silver pupil on Zhao Liuyun's forehead, and greed began to breed in everyone's hearts.
Because of the words "Soul Bone," a palpable malice appeared in everyone's hearts!
"This is not a Soul Bone. Soul Bones only exist in the six main parts: the two arms, two legs, torso, and head. This is a mutation caused by absorbing a Soul Ring."
Zhao Liuyun forcefully suppressed his emotions and debated in a low voice.
He truly did not want to draw swords against these companions with whom he had once fought side-by-side, and he continued to use [Hypnosis] to try and soothe everyone's emotions.
Wu Qianming's malice was the first to dissipate, followed closely by Zhu Qiaoqiao.
Both were injured and had greatly reduced combat power. Perhaps they had no intention of competing, or perhaps they remembered their past friendship—
In any case, they regained their composure.
Fang Rui's malice transformed into killing intent, wrapping around his heart like a poisonous snake, refusing to dissipate.
He was hesitating, wavering between killing and not killing.
"This is a Soul Bone! Besides the Six Great Soul Bones, there are legends of External Soul Bones!" Tian Wenlong was extremely excited, his voice trembling with emotion.
A hint of sorrow flashed in Zhao Liuyun's eyes, and his heart instantly turned cold as iron.
Yes, a Soul Bone was hailed as a treasure capable of causing brothers to fight and couples to turn against each other...
They had only known each other for a little over a year. What did this small friendship amount to?
What's more, he had even mentioned the name "External Soul Bone"...
No matter how kind he was in the past, how sincere he was to others, or how much help he had offered me—
This killing intent was real, and not faked in the slightest!
Those who wish to kill me, none are exempt from being killed!