Chapter 515: A 99,999-Year Soul Bone - Part 15
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"Master, are you alright?"
No sooner had Ye Wen stepped back into the courtyard than Huo Yu'er, with her sharp eyes, rushed over to him. She immediately began circling him anxiously, her gaze filled with deep concern.
But instead of feeling touched, Ye Wen pressed down on the squirming Huo Yu'er and said irritably:
"Do you even know who your master is?"
Huo Yu'er wriggled in Ye Wen's broad palm, then pushed herself free with both hands. "I was just worried about you, Master~"
Ye Wen rolled his eyes, exasperated, and turned his attention to the other women waiting for him in the hall. Though he knew his strength ensured he was never in danger, it was still somewhat comforting to be so earnestly cared for in this world where no one knew his true identity.
"All right, can't you have a little more faith in your master's abilities? Go to bed, all of you. You have a competition tomorrow, and I don't want my Tianxing Academy's debut match to end in any abnormal losses."
Though Ye Wen's words carried a hint of reprimand, the women felt warmth in their hearts. After all, aside from the two princesses, most of them were like floating weeds without roots. Even though they knew Ye Wen was incredibly strong—perhaps even at the level of a god—they couldn't help but feel fear and unease whenever he left their side.
Now that Ye Wen, their guardian figure, had returned, they exchanged warm greetings with him before retreating to their rooms.
Xu Jiujiu, however, was brimming with curiosity about the details of the battle.
But as someone mature and composed, she suppressed her curiosity, gave Ye Wen a slight bow, and excused herself, leaving the group of sisters to their cozy reunion.
Watching the now silent hall, Ye Wen sank wearily onto the sofa.
The combined strength of Da Ming and Er Ming—two divine-official-level fighters—meant nothing to Ye Wen. However, controlling his immense power to precisely defeat them without killing them had been mentally exhausting.
Yet, no matter how tired he felt, Ye Wen would never show his negative state to his disciples. Their fates were already tragic enough; they didn't need the added burden of guilt or emotional manipulation.
After taking a brief moment to compose himself, Ye Wen retired to his room.
On the desk, he laid out four soul bones in a neat row: two left arm bones, one right arm bone, and one leg bone. Excluding the duplicate left arm bone, this collection nearly comprised half the soul bones a soul master might need. But Ye Wen's expression remained calm and unimpressed.
After all, these were merely ordinary-grade soul bones. Having seen countless divine treasures, Ye Wen had long grown indifferent to such mundane items.
Still, these soul bones would make excellent equipment for newcomers like Huo Yu'er.
Of course, before handing them over to her and the others, Ye Wen planned to make a few modifications.
In the Douluo Continent, it was widely known that soul bones were closely tied to the cultivation of soul beasts. Over ten thousand years of exploration, soul masters had come to believe that inflicting great pain and negative emotions upon a soul beast before its death significantly increased the chances of generating soul bones.
However, this was merely speculation among soul masters.
Even after ten millennia, soul bones remained rare and unattainable treasures for most soul masters—a prize beyond reach.
But Ye Wen knew this rule to be true.
When he had reshaped the rules of Douluo Star, he had clearly seen this principle written into the fabric of reality.
Still, because this rule disproportionately targeted soul beasts and risked inciting conflict between humans and soul beasts, Ye Wen had erased it entirely. And with the advent of the Divine Armor era, soul bones had naturally become obsolete.
Returning to the present, since soul bones were intrinsically linked to a soul beast's cultivation, even gods could not create a hundred-thousand-year soul bone without triggering the heavenly tribulation of the Douluo World.
Fortunately, the timing of the soul bone tribulation was flexible, much like that of hundred-thousand-year soul beasts. After breaking through the hundred-thousand-year threshold, there was a grace period of a thousand years before facing the tribulation.
But unlike soul beasts, soul bones were inanimate objects and lacked the option to transform into humanoid forms.
This flexibility allowed newly ascended gods, who inherited divine positions, to enhance their soul bones' age without immediately facing the same tribulations as soul beasts.
Moreover, newly ascended gods typically spent only a century in the Douluo Plane before ascending further, far too short a time to encounter the tribulation.
It was another example of the Douluo God Realm's shameless rules.
Wherever there were shameless individuals, however, there were also upright ones. At least the Angel God's inheritance was generous, providing its successors with a full set of soul bones immune to tribulations while imposing strict moral requirements on the inheritor.
Unfortunately, no matter how perfect someone's character might be, a love-struck mind was beyond saving.
At this thought, two radiant figures cloaked in holy light flickered through Ye Wen's mind. His gaze wandered momentarily before snapping back to focus.
Back to work~
To summarize, if one wished to avoid triggering a heavenly tribulation thousands of years later, the maximum age limit for a soul bone was 99,999 years.
If a soul bone exceeded this limit and reached a hundred thousand years, it would automatically be recorded by the warped rules of the Douluo World, potentially leaving behind hidden dangers.
For now, Huo Yu'er and the others were still too inexperienced for Ye Wen to make drastic changes. Thus, using his divine power, he upgraded all the soul bones to the maximum safe age of 99,999 years.
As for the hundred-thousand-year soul bones required for Divine Armors, he would deal with that later.
After enhancing the four soul bones to their peak potential, Ye Wen began encoding specific soul skills into three of them, excluding the Ice Jade Scorpion left arm bone.
As previously mentioned, the soul skills gained from absorbing soul bones were not fixed for most soul masters—with a few exceptions.
This variability occurred because most soul masters did not understand how to harness the fundamental rules embedded within the soul bones, leaving them to rely on random outcomes. But as a God King, Ye Wen found it trivial to exploit the loopholes in these rules and solidify specific soul skills directly.
A short while later, Ye Wen examined his handiwork and nodded in satisfaction.
The left leg bone was destined for Jiang Nannan. Her Soft Bone Rabbit martial soul made her the ideal candidate for a leg-based soul bone.
99,999-Year Galewind Panther Left Leg Bone
- Soul Bone Skill: Heavenly Gale Flash
Effect: Increases speed by 100% for three minutes.
Unsurprisingly, the right arm bone was a strength-oriented soul bone. Among Ye Wen's female disciples, though Xiao Xiao's Three Lives Soul-Sealing Cauldron had some affinity for strength, the one who truly suited this attribute was Tang Ya.
After all, Tang Ya possessed not only the lifeforce-rich Blue Silver Emperor martial soul but also years of training in the Tang Sect's secret techniques. Since the sect's hidden weapon skills relied heavily on precise hand movements, enhanced strength would greatly amplify her effectiveness in combat.
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