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Absorbing a soul ring as high as 80,000 years was an extremely laborious task even for Xiao Zhan.
His situation was better than Su Wen's had been—his body wasn't erupting with blood—but the massive impact of soul power still prevented the four juniors from getting too close.
This time, it took Xiao Zhan a full half-month to absorb this single soul ring.
The majestic pressure of soul power slowly retracted, and a pitch-black soul ring settled outside the seven existing rings around Xiao Zhan's body.
Two yellow, two purple, and four black—eight soul rings shone in harmony, radiating terrifying fluctuations of soul power.
Sensing Xiao Zhan's soul power aura, Dugu Bo's expression turned solemn.
Judging by these fluctuations, it felt as though Xiao Zhan could almost rival him now.
Moreover, given Xiao Zhan's Power Attack System methods, Dugu Bo estimated that he would find it particularly difficult to deal with him.
"Uncle Zhan, how is it? Does the soul skill match your expectations?" Su Wen asked with considerable anticipation.
Xiao Zhan nodded.
"The effect of my eighth soul skill is indeed to condense a fire seed."
Furthermore, it could condense multiple fire seeds.
His eighth soul skill had become a support-type skill, yet he didn't feel the slightest bit dejected. On the contrary, he was very satisfied.
He extended his right hand, and a large amount of flame gathered as the surrounding Heaven and Earth Origin Qi continuously poured into it.
Xiao Zhan's eighth soul ring flashed, and the flames were constantly compressed, eventually becoming a dark red fire seed. Outside the seed, flames continued to burn steadily.
Even after he cut off the supply of soul power, the fire seed continued to absorb external energy to convert into flame power for combustion.
"This is the general effect of my eighth soul skill."
Ning Rongrong and Dugu Yan weren't very interested. Looking at the eighth soul skill Xiao Zhan displayed, they didn't have much of a reaction. Dugu Bo and Gu Rong were interested, but they couldn't understand the significance of Xiao Zhan choosing such a skill.
This was an 80,000-year Flame Overlord; he had used its soul ring to guide and complete the fire-seed-type soul skill of his current conception, but why did it seem completely unworthy of such a soul ring?
However, they didn't raise any questions.
They knew Xiao Zhan's advantage lay in self-created soul skills. This soul skill had only just been acquired and hadn't shown its true effects yet.
Just as everyone was about to leave, Xiao Zhan called them to a halt.
"Wait a moment."
He looked at the Flame Overlord's corpse. A cluster of flames gathered on his right fist, covering his palm to form a flaming hand-blade.
Watching Xiao Zhan's movements, the pupils of Gu Rong and Dugu Bo constricted simultaneously.
Could it be—
"A soul bone!"
Ning Rongrong cried out in surprise.
She had been wondering why she felt a strange sensation. It turned out her Martial Soul had sensed a treasure.
Xiao Zhan had already sliced open the Flame Overlord's corpse, revealing a crystal-clear soul bone within.
This soul bone was very complete, and it was actually a torso bone!
Gu Rong and Dugu Bo both sucked in a breath of cold air.
The value of this soul bone was immeasurable!
Seeing this, Su Wen remained silent.
This Flame Overlord had been hunted by the trio of Dugu Bo, Gu Rong, and Xiao Zhan. Among them, Xiao Zhan had contributed the least and had already absorbed the Flame Overlord's soul ring. Regarding the distribution of this soul bone, Dugu Bo and Gu Rong had the most right to speak.
After a long silence, the two looked at each other, appearing to have made a decision.
"The effects are maximized only when a soul ring and soul bone from the same soul beast are absorbed together. You should keep this torso bone for yourself to absorb, Xiao Zhan," said Gu Rong, who was the stronger of the two.
Dugu Bo also nodded, clearly agreeing with Gu Rong's decision.
Xiao Zhan visibly relaxed. He cupped his fists toward the two Title Douluos and said, "My thanks to you both."
Although he hadn't reached the level of a Title Douluo yet, his true strength was already roughly on the same level.
During the previous battle with the Flame Overlord, he was only a notch weaker than Dugu Bo. After absorbing the soul ring and truly breaking through to become a Soul Douluo, his soul power had surged all the way to Rank 83. If he absorbed this soul bone as well, he would inevitably possess the strength to stand on equal footing with a Title Douluo.
Therefore, his manner of address had changed.
Nevertheless, Xiao Zhan still carried a hint of respect, feeling very grateful to Gu Rong and Dugu Bo for giving up this soul bone.
"The Old Sword Fan and I both already have torso bones. Even if we forcibly took this one, there wouldn't be a suitable candidate for it back at the sect."
"This soul bone's attribute conflicts with mine."
The two hadn't just considered the maximum benefit of absorbing a matching ring and bone; they also considered their own current circumstances.
Helping to hunt this 80,000-year Flame Overlord was just one favor, but with the addition of this soul bone, Xiao Zhan's debt to them grew significantly.
Given Xiao Zhan's character, Dugu Bo effectively gained a reliable friend of the same rank, while the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect gained a guest elder with Title Douluo-level combat power—the kind of guest elder who would truly exert himself for the sect.
"Rest assured, you two. I, Xiao Zhan, will keep this favor in my heart and will surely repay it."
Xiao Zhan chose to absorb the soul bone on the spot.
Five days later, Blazing Academy City.
Su Wen and the others arrived at Blazing City and took a good night's rest.
Xiao Zhan headed to Blazing Academy to find Huo Tianyang, informing him of the possibility of sea soul beasts causing trouble in the waters near East Sea City.
Of course, before that, he didn't miss the chance to give Huo Tianyang a surprise.
Although his eighth soul skill hadn't been successfully developed into a secret technique yet, the solid-state soul power he possessed after his breakthrough alone allowed him to suppress Huo Tianyang.
"Sigh, I didn't expect you to actually succeed in breaking through." Huo Tianyang was extremely shocked that Xiao Zhan could break through at Rank 79, past a bottleneck that many Rank 89 Soul Douluos couldn't even bypass.
However, although his tone was full of disdain and annoyance, in his heart, he was actually relieved for Xiao Zhan.
At the very least, the "Fire Demon" Xiao Zhan hadn't been trapped at Rank 79 for life because he had taken the wrong path.
"Haha, little Tianyang, your Brother Zhan only gave you a head start for a few years. Now that we're both Soul Douluos, I'll definitely break through to Title Douluo before you!" Xiao Zhan laughed heartily, slapping Huo Tianyang's shoulder with great force.
"Hmph, you make it sound so easy," Huo Tianyang said, rolling his eyes.
Was becoming a Title Douluo really that simple?
"By the way, Tianyang, there's one more thing I want to ask your opinion on."
"What is it?" Huo Tianyang glanced at Xiao Zhan and asked flatly.
"Inviting you to join the Academium."
"The Academium?"
"Yes, a power that Xiao Wen is preparing to create." Xiao Zhan briefly described the information regarding the Academium that Su Wen wanted to establish.
"Why would he have the idea of starting a faction?" Huo Tianyang's expression was strange, filled with some confusion.
"According to Xiao Wen, the purpose of the Academium is to promote the development of the Spirit Master world, research theories, expand theories, and popularize the application of theories to the general Spirit Master public. It's not really a faction in the traditional sense, but more like a coalition, similar to..."
Xiao Zhan thought for a moment and made an analogy.
"Similar to the Spirit Hall before Chi Xunji took office as the Supreme Pontiff."
(End of Chapter)