Chapter 132: The Broken One Clan

"This thousand‑year earth feral rat is our prey; it was meant to be the Third Soul Ring for my disciple, but you hunted it down, forcing us to find another suitable thousand‑year Soul Beast."

"We're not unreasonable; we'll give you these two thousand‑year dark demon bone vultures as compensation, and then this matter will be settled, okay?"

There were five of them in total, one a middle‑aged man just over forty with a sly look in his eyes, the other four youths around twenty, all dressed in the same sect's attire.

Tie Li grabbed one of the thousand‑year dark demon bone vultures, tossed it to the other side, and held the other vulture tightly in his hand.

"What do you mean by this?" the middle‑aged man said threateningly. Seeing that Tie Li had no elder with him, he intended to cut to the chase and immediately snatched the two thousand‑year dark demon bone vultures from Tie Li.

"Since you want them all, then show your skill." Tie Li showed no sign of yielding.

If it were just an ordinary thousand‑year Soul Beast corpse, giving it away would be fine, but Tie Li, holding the vulture, sensed something odd.

This gave him a suspicion: it would be impossible to hand this thousand‑year dark demon bone vulture over to the other side.

The violet Purple Thunder Hammer released Lightning Light, its Soul Ring Configuration of two yellow and two violet ready to unleash a soul skill at any moment.

The other side also had five people; aside from the leading middle‑aged man, the remaining four gave him little sense of danger.

"Hahaha, since you're not that clueless, don't hang me…"

"Sss"

Unfortunately, his words were not finished, and he didn't even have time to release his martial soul or Soul Ring.

A cold flash pierced his body, simultaneously destroying his vitality.

"Break… Break Soul Gun…"

The middle‑aged man stared in disbelief at the martial soul that had pierced his body, then, having lost his vitality, he collapsed to the ground.

Eradicating the root, the other four youths naturally could not let it go.

Tie Li surged up quickly; under the amplification of the First Soul Technique and the Third Soul Technique, he annihilated the four within a few breaths.

"A Fenglei Sect inheritance disciple? Looks like you're lucky to have escaped the hands of the Spirit Hall."

The two appeared before Tie Li, a man and a woman; the man was older, over forty, the very one he had just slain, and seven Soul Rings floated on his body.

The woman was about thirty, with faint traces of time on her face, a full figure, and a distinctive aura.

From their martial souls one could discern their identities; Tie Li sensed no malice from them.

"The Broken One Clan?" Tie Li's gaze still held caution.

The two did not find it odd; the Fenglei Sect had been brutally purged by the Spirit Hall, and even its former affiliated sects turned their spears against them.

The Spirit Hall even posted a high bounty, hunting down Fenglei Sect disciples.

Every fugitive Fenglei Sect disciple was extremely vigilant, hostile toward any faction.

The Fenglei Sect had a good relationship with the Broken One Clan; Fenglei often bought elixirs from them, and thus the Broken One Clan learned some of Fenglei's secrets.

The man and woman before him held high positions in the Broken One Clan, so they knew these secrets, such as the markings on Tie Li's martial soul hammer handle.

Three markings, signifying the status of an inheritance disciple!

Their reason for aiding Tie Li was not only the good ties between Fenglei Sect and the Broken One Clan, but also a shared enemy. If they could gather the remaining forces of Fenglei and unite them, they would be formidable.

"No need to be so wary of us; back then Fenglei Sect helped our Broken One Clan, and this time we can likewise offer assistance."

Tie Li felt little about this; he had incidentally obtained a Thunder Stone Seal, and was not a true inheritance disciple of Fenglei Sect.

If he were to say that, they would not only disbelieve him but think Tie Li was insulting them.

Therefore, before them, Tie Li could only be forced to negotiate as a Fenglei Sect inheritance disciple.

"Any kind of help is acceptable?" Tie Li suddenly asked.

From their tone, he seemed to have underestimated the relationship between Fenglei Sect and the Broken One Clan, and also underestimated the standing of an inheritance disciple within Fenglei Sect.

The two were puzzled, but still replied.

"Within the limits of our ability, we will of course give our full support, but if it exceeds our capacity, we are powerless."

"Then how should I find you?"

One of them walked to Tie Li's ear and disclosed their current hideout.

"Alright." Tie Li noted it down.

"We have a mission, so we won't say more."

"Mm."

Watching them leave, Tie Li finally looked at the thousand‑year dark demon bone vulture in his hand.

He tore open the vulture's corpse, and a special soul bone came into view.

Tie Li immediately stored the soul bone in his storage ring, his eyes still gleaming with excitement.

The only regret was the bone's attribute: the dark attribute of the dark demon bone vulture, which counters his own Thunder and Lightning Attribute; if he absorbed it rashly, the two major attributes might clash violently inside him, and he would be the one injured.

But how to transform the bone's dark attribute into the Thunder and Lightning Attribute he needs?

The method Tie Li could think of was just like his earlier cultivation within Inner Baidi, using prolonged Thunder and Lightning Attribute tempering to gradually purge the bone's dark attribute.

This is the gentlest approach, ensuring the soul bone's integrity.

But it requires a long period.

Tie Li thought briefly and planned to return to Baidi, using the tempering of a Thunder Attribute Plant-type Soul Beast to strip the bone's dark attribute.

He would hide his trail as much as possible; Bolia could at any moment mobilize the Spirit Hall's forces to hunt him.

He left from the other side of the Star Dou Great Forest, but before departing, the vulture's bone wings could not be wasted—they could be sold at a decent price at a merchant.

This time, Tie Li, along the way, did not enter any city, resting only in the wilderness.

Upon returning to Baidi, an inexplicable sense of warmth rose in his heart.

The Thunder Attribute Plant-type Soul Beast swayed its vines, seemingly sensing Tie Li's return, emitting a friendly soul‑power ripple.

As he stepped into Baidi, his martial soul subconsciously manifested, and the three markings at the end of his hammer handle were strikingly visible at that moment.

The shared origin aura increased Tie Li's affinity with the Thunder Attribute Plant-type Soul Beast once more.

The instinct from his martial soul let Tie Li sense the inner circle of Baidi, near its deepest region, where an inexplicable summons lingered.

This is Tie Li's first time stepping into the inner circle, but only on its outer rim; the plant‑type Soul Masters of the inner circle are all Thousand‑Year Tier, and the Thunder and Lightning Attribute they release makes Tie Li's soul power inside become active.

Before this, Tie Li extracted the soul bone, and the discordant dark attribute caused the soul bone to emit a strange sound.

Sitting cross‑legged on the ground, Tie Li wrapped it with soul power, preventing the soul bone from being destroyed by Lightning Light.

(End of chapter)