"Our spirit rings—you should already know about them, right?"
The Fire Dragon King chuckled and pointed at the golden sun and the icy-blue moon that hovered above in Xiao Lin's consciousness space.
"The sun and the moon?" Xiao Lin asked in return.
"Yes and no. I'm not the moon; I'm also a sun, just that mine is blue."
The Ice Dragon King, naturally unwilling to admit inferiority to the Fire Dragon King, immediately countered.
Hearing those words, Xiao Lin suddenly grasped something.
So it was the Solar Star and the Lunar Star—in the old myths, they were considered equal in rank.
And beyond those, there was also the Ziwei Star.
"My future soul cores will also take this form?" Xiao Lin asked the Ice-Fire Dragon Kings.
"Of course. When we help you condense them, I'll be the core," said the Ice Dragon King.
"Bullshit! Obviously I'll be the core!" the Fire Dragon King roared right back.
"Xiao Lin, let me tell you—fire is useless. Water, ice—that's what truly matters!"
"Crap! Water and ice are useless. For pure offense, fire is unmatched!"
"Utter nonsense! My Absolute Zero can freeze your flames with ease!"
"Screw you! And why don't you mention how my fire ignites your ice?"
…
As the two Dragon Kings bickered endlessly, Xiao Lin quietly slipped out of the mental space.
Back in reality, he began pondering what his future soul cores would look like.
Since the two Dragon Kings likened them to celestial bodies, then cultivating soul cores in such a manner must indeed be the best approach. With their guidance—both being dragons of great knowledge—his soul core condensation would yield twice the result with half the effort.
But could his soul cores surpass even the Dragon Kings'?
The solar system seemed too small—should he form a galaxy instead?No, impossible. He didn't have that kind of ability.
Counting carefully—Ice and Fire made two; Gold, Lightning, and Earth added three more—that was five. With Chaos included, that made six cores in total.
In terms of potential, Chaos was undoubtedly the greatest.But Ice and Fire came with the richest resources.
The Gold attribute came from his Dragon Staff martial soul—innately powerful and very fitting.Earth would eventually become part of his true martial soul, tied closely to his body.
…
This left Xiao Lin in a real dilemma.
Which attribute should serve as the core?
He thought for a long time, but no perfect arrangement came to mind. Still, he managed to sketch out a few basic plans:
Chaos at the center, with the five attributes of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth forming five planets.
Chaos at the center, with the five attributes as satellites orbiting in a pentagon.
Six equal cores—no distinction, all balanced.
Considering that the frequency of soul cores needed to resonate together, Xiao Lin felt the second plan was the most reliable. It was also the neatest in arrangement.
"HAHAHAHA! I did it! Brother Lin, I did it!"
Suddenly, Tang San's jubilant shout rang out.
He burst out of his room, raising the Windchaser Left Arm Bone high in the air, and dashed over to Xiao Lin with excitement.
"Brother Lin, look! I engraved the soul power array for your third soul skill onto the soul bone!"
Tang San handed him the Windchaser Bone. Xiao Lin immediately noticed that a piece of Flame Ore had been embedded into it.
This Flame Ore came from near the Ice-Fire Yin Yang Well, close to the extreme hot spring. A mere ordinary stone, but long imbued with fiery spiritual energy, it had already become flame-aspected.
"Nice work, Little San."
Xiao Lin stroked the soul bone and praised him.
He had forgotten to tell Tang San how one could even carve arrays onto the indestructible surface of a soul bone. Unexpectedly, Tang San had wrapped the bone in Flame Ore and inscribed the formation onto the ore instead.
"Hehe, Brother Lin, I tested it—the soul power array works fine. I just don't know… once I absorb this soul bone, will the Flame Ore be absorbed too? And if it does, can its function still manifest together with the soul skill?"
Tang San scratched his head sheepishly. That was his only concern now.
"Indeed, Little San, your question is sharp. This really is a big issue."
"The ore can definitely enter the body, as long as it isn't rejected."
Xiao Lin thought about it—after all, in his past life, surgeries placed steel pins inside people, and it wasn't a problem.
"The real question is, once absorbed, can it still function with the soul skill? Can it enhance the bone skill?"
"Also, when a soul master absorbs a soul bone… where exactly does it go? Does it fuse with the human skeleton itself?"
Was it literally merging with the bone?
"No rush, no rush. I'll need more research."
Xiao Lin realized just how sloppy his own thinking had been. Without Tang San's help—and his sheer action-oriented nature—he might have taken forever to uncover such problems.
"Alright then, I still need to refine the soul power array more anyway. For now, this is just a low-tier Heart of Flame imitation."
Since Xiao Lin wasn't finished researching either, Tang San took the bone back.
The current boost from this imitation Heart of Flame was less than one-fifth of Xiao Lin's soul skill, so it needed more work.
After Tang San left, Xiao Lin looked curiously at his own right leg bone.
Of the four of them who had entered the Ice-Fire Yin Yang Well, only Xiao Lin had fused with a soul bone. He couldn't rely on others' experiences.
Touching his right leg, he carefully sensed the bone's location. It was in his shin, near the knee, not even half the length of his calf.
The Chaos Right Leg Bone wasn't long, but its chaotic soul power filled his entire leg.
If anyone wanted to steal it, they'd have to chop off his leg entirely.
Most importantly, he felt no foreignness—no rejection. His soul power flowed more smoothly than ever, as though the soul bone had replaced his meridians to circulate soul power for him.
Fusion.
The seamless, indistinguishable connection was an incredible sensation.
Was this how Beast Martial Soul users felt when possessed by their spirits?And when they reached the Martial Soul True Body state, would the sensation be similar?
Unfortunately, Xiao Lin's martial soul was an instrument-type, the Dragon Staff—inseparable from him, yes, but not comparable to a beast-type fusion.
And although he had used external soul bones before, he could feel the dragon horns sprouting from his head at the time.
Yet this Chaos Right Leg Bone wasn't large, and there was no space in his thigh for another bone.
If he had Tang San's Blue Silver Grass regeneration ability, Xiao Lin might have even cut off his calf to examine it properly.
Knowing he wouldn't figure it out anytime soon, Xiao Lin instead focused his attention inward, on the fusion of his right leg bone.
This soul bone's ability was fusion. Perhaps there were deeper connections to uncover.
(End of Chapter)