As the absorption of the soul ring approached its conclusion, the mental impact had already subsided.
The moment the golden light entered Xu Yang's forehead, he sensed it immediately. With just a moment of thought, he guessed what this golden light was.
It could only be an external attached spirit bone.
However, recalling the Sun Sacred Beetle's distinctive large horn sent a chill down Xu Yang's spine.
He certainly didn't want to have prominent horns on his head during battles. Even if those horns could provide him with impressive combat power and soul skills, he didn't need them.
After all, combat power was one thing; looking good was a lifelong concern.
Moreover, if the external attached spirit bone appeared elsewhere, it wouldn't necessarily diminish its power.
Thus, Xu Yang quickly divided a portion of his focus to control a part of his soul power to envelop the energy light mass at his forehead, guiding it through his meridians toward his right hand. He wanted to move this external attached spirit bone to his hand.
"However, are those horns too ugly? I should reshape it while the external attached spirit bone isn't fully formed! This is a perfect opportunity to test out my third soul skill!"
After pondering for a moment, Xu Yang made a quick decision. Although he hadn't completely absorbed his third soul ring yet, he was just one step away and could still utilize soul skills.
His third soul skill was named Sun Sacred Blade. It was similar to what he had previously guessed—a rare weapon-type soul skill akin to the Blue Silver Overlord Spear. However, what Xu Yang condensed was a Tang knife adorned with solar patterns—the most iconic soul skill of the Sun Sacred Beetle.
Now he intended to use this soul skill to reshape the external attached spirit bone in his palm from horns into a Tang knife.
"Third Soul Skill: Sun Sacred Blade!"
The purple-black soul ring shimmered with light as the golden energy in Xu Yang's palm began to elongate rapidly, soon taking the shape of a Tang knife. It slowly solidified into a Tang knife made of golden bones that he grasped in his hand.
"..."
Madam Ning watched in astonishment; she had never seen anyone capable of changing the position formed by an external attached spirit bone and reshaping it into a blade.
Just then, the originally purple-black soul ring transformed entirely into black. The eerie black light captivated her attention, causing her gaze to shift from the external attached spirit bone back to the soul ring above it.
Soul Douluos could see through the essence of soul beasts, so Madam Ning understood why this soul ring had evolved into a ten-thousand-year ring.
The Sun Sacred Beetle's most important feature was not just its armor but that prominent horn on its head, which gathered most of its essence—especially the essence contained within this external attached spirit bone far exceeded that of other bones of similar age.
Earlier, when Xu Yang used his third soul skill while still in the process of absorbing the soul ring, his body instinctively absorbed some of the essence from the external attached spirit bone. Ultimately, this overlap allowed the soul ring to evolve successfully into a ten-thousand-year ring.
She had never witnessed such a scenario before but had heard about similar cases; they were exceedingly rare and not widely known. It was only because she was currently at Seven Treasures Glazed Tile School that she had seen similar instances before.
That is to say, when a soul master absorbs a corresponding source spirit bone, their soul ring at a critical point can evolve—just like Xu Yang's situation where both were between thousand-year and ten-thousand-year levels.
Half an hour passed quickly. Xu Yang opened his eyes and exhaled a breath of turbid air before feeling his own state.
His soul power level had reached thirty-three and was just one step away from thirty-four. The nearly ten-thousand-year soul ring combined with the external attached spirit bone allowed his soul power to surge forward rapidly—far beyond what an ordinary soul master could compare with.
Most importantly wasn't just the increase in soul power but also an enhancement in physical strength. The immense power from nearly ten-thousand-year soul beasts continually washed over him, significantly improving his physical quality. This enhancement wasn't merely about increased strength but rather comprehensive improvement across all aspects.
He felt as if he now possessed bones as strong as steel; Xu Yang seriously suspected that without using martial spirits or soul power, he could fight on par with ordinary Great Soul Masters relying solely on physical strength.
Summoning forth his martial spirit and gazing at that black soul ring left Xu Yang somewhat bewildered. If he remembered correctly, the absorbed soul ring should have been a purple-black nine-thousand-year one—not this current ten-thousand-year one!
He looked over at Madam Ning with confusion in his eyes.
"This is due to the spirit bone. If you absorb a corresponding spirit bone while your soul ring is at its critical point, there is a certain probability that it will increase in age. You were quite lucky to encounter such an occurrence that allowed your soul ring's age to successfully evolve into a ten-thousand-year one!" Madam Ning explained with a smile in her eyes.
Upon hearing this, Xu Yang focused on the golden Tang knife still in his hand—he couldn't believe that simply absorbing an external attached spirit bone would allow his third ring to reach ten-thousand years. How could others live like this?!
Suppressing his inner laughter, Xu Yang began testing out the abilities of this external attached spirit bone's skills.
Unlike ordinary weapon-type soul skills, external attached spirit bones were like additional bones growing from one's body; when summoned, they emerged from within oneself. Therefore they couldn't be removed easily. Had he not thought quickly and moved this spirit bone into his palm, he would have truly struggled with how to use it.
The skill associated with this Tang knife external attached spirit bone was simple: it could unleash blade energy or slashes by converting the inputted soul power into blade energy for projection.
Additionally, there was another method: condensing blade energy atop the spirit bone itself to enhance damage during close combat.
Xu Yang swung the Tang knife toward a nearby tree; golden blade energy shot out rapidly and split the tree cleanly in half—its cut smooth as glass as it fell to the ground.
"Third Soul Skill: Sun Sacred Blade!"
The black soul ring radiated dark light as a Tang knife identical to that of the external attached spirit bone appeared in Xu Yang's left hand; however, their materials were entirely different—one clearly made of bones while the other resembled metal. This illustrated the distinction between an external attached spirit bone and its associated skills.
Then Xu Yang swung his left-hand Tang knife toward another tree with force; again releasing golden blade energy that sliced through it like tofu—splitting it cleanly in half once more.
"Compared to blade energy released through techniques, blade energy produced by my spirit bone is twice as powerful and much faster. This is still without complete integration; after thorough fusion, I believe its capabilities will continue to grow."
"Of course! This skill has truly given me great surprises! Besides being able to summon forth my Sun Sacred Blade using my soul power, it surprisingly has three methods of use—what an unexpected delight!"
Xu Yang's thoughts raced as he quickly grasped how both the external attached spirit bone and third soul skill functioned together.
"Yang'er! This external attached spirit bone actually resembles your third soul skill perfectly—it's somewhat redundant!" Madam Ning suddenly spoke up after observing for some time.
(End of Chapter)