Chapter 162

By this point, the two attached soul bones pieced together have an added power that is not simply one plus one equals two; it is a leap similar to a soul bone set, appearing as a single attached soul bone, yet each's soul skill and origin remain unchanged—this is the prototype of divine gear, a combination of non-homologous soul bones.

"I didn't expect you to still have an attached soul bone on your wrist; I modified my soul bone's shape to fit and better cover your palm," Xiong Jun's weak yet surprised voice echoed in Qian Renxue's sea of spirit.

Facing Qian Renxue, his rough voice held none of the previous arrogance; his words almost overflowed with intimacy and approval.

After becoming a soul spirit, Xiong Jun truly retained his will; he also saw part of Qian Renxue's memory, causing him to change his opinion of her considerably—Qian Renxue's personality is quite similar to his, both enjoying battle.

The light faded, and the entire Nuoding Academy returned to calm. Immediately, an orange soul ring rose trembling from beneath Qian Renxue's feet.

The soul ring forged by a ferocious beast soul spirit is a strange orange.

"Roar—" a mighty bellow suddenly rang out; Qian Renxue's newly obtained orange soul ring blazed, her body turning illusory for a moment, then a dark gold figure shot out from her soul ring and landed before her.

The towering figure exceeded fifteen meters, its whole body covered in dark gold fur; a pair of eyes held no emotion, filled with coldness and cruelty. The arms were especially huge and thick, both foreclaws dark gold blades over a meter long. When the thick arms spread, the claws merely following his body through the air produced a faint "hiss".

The Darkgold Terrorclaw Bear is extremely formidable in attack, defense, and speed—terrifying in close combat and possessing super explosive power at range.

Among top-tier soul beasts, it has always ranked among the foremost, a terrifying soul beast capable of opposing a true dragon.

Like silk and threads, strands of dark gold light mist emanated from the Darkgold Terrorclaw Bear's body, then poured into Qian Renxue from all directions.

These dark gold mists first wrapped around her angel wings behind her, then followed the wings upward until they drilled into Qian Renxue's body.

"Roar—" another earth‑shaking roar, Xiong Jun's voice clearly brimming with excitement.

The massive Darkgold Terrorclaw Bear's silhouette gradually shrank, and the pure white angel feathers on Qian Renxue slowly took on a dark tint, the white turning to gold‑white, the luster becoming more brilliant, while the internal veins like wing bones quietly turned dark gold, making her look ever more formidable.

Her aura grew ever stronger; the pairs of angel wings behind her fluttered lightly, the already majestic wings, after merging with the eighth soul ring, began to gradually widen.

Martial soul enlargement undoubtedly symbolizes one's own advancement.

Jin Huang'er inwardly exclaimed in admiration; from now on, probably no one could stop Qian Renxue. It seems her eighth soul ring should possess a skill that comprehensively amplifies her martial soul.

Rays of light gradually converged; Qian Renxue slowly opened her eyes, and at that instant a flash of icy coldness flickered in her pupils before vanishing, her sharpness fully revealed.

Because Jin Huang'er had been watching her closely, she was astonished to see that when Qian Renxue opened her eyes, her deep‑purple pupils became vertical slits, filled with cold and blood‑thirsty light—but this sign lasted only a moment before returning to normal, gradually clearing.

This should be some special change brought by the fusion of the Darkgold Terrorclaw Bear soul spirit; it will pass after recovery.

Qian Renxue now felt her body brimming with matchless power; the changes brought by Xiong Jun's soul spirit went far beyond her martial soul and soul rings. Her inner blood essence surged, already at its peak, so much so that even without her control, the vigorous blood essence actively began to condense a second blood‑essence soul ring.

Qian Renxue drew a deep breath; instantly, a pure holy song hummed, blood flowed, and along the blood‑essence meridians it circulated rapidly, her inner blood essence surging to burst forth—her whole body quickly showed golden markings, golden divine patterns covering her, her angel wings becoming as vast as to obscure the sky.

At that moment, her eight soul rings all vanished, two rose‑gold light rings rose from beneath Qian Renxue's feet, and her body grew a little taller. A sacred, noble aura swiftly gathered; the sound of her blood essence flowing within could be clearly heard even by Jin Huang'er and the others.

With the exertion of blood‑essence power, Qian Renxue's eyes quickly turned dark gold, and her aura grew ever stronger.

A flash of gold in Qian Renxue's eyes, the second rose‑gold ring lit up, her whole body instantly rose, her figure suddenly becoming taller; the golden markings on her body turned blood‑red, covering every part except her face.

Judgment Holy Body.

Compared to the first attack‑type Angel Judgment, this state‑type Qian Renxue will undoubtedly be used more readily.

The shrunken, palm‑sized Xiong Jun stared, bewildered: "What is this? Why does Qian Renxue have two soul rings again? The color is quite nice."

Qian Renxue looked at Xiong Jun clenching his fist, "Want to give it a try?"

Xiong Jun's body had now shrunk to palm size, he cutely shook his head, watching her fist, his dark gold body also trembling slightly.

"I can sense that you now carry a mysterious attribute power that seems to counter my Golden Behemoth bloodline; if I were touched, I'd probably suffer greatly—what soul ring is this?"

Qian Renxue dispelled the blood‑essence power from her body; even without the blood‑essence and martial soul true form state, her hooded white robe did not dissipate—it is something condensed by soul power, and it feels quite comfortable to wear.

"The soul‑ring ability condensed from blood essence—in this state, all my abilities gain the Judgment attribute; relying on it, I possess the power to counter any divinity and bloodline."

Xiong Jun blinked, "Blood‑essence condensed into a soul ring? Does this mean humans can now form soul rings without hunting soul beasts? Perhaps Bi Ji's dream has a hint of possibility."

Qian Renxue saw his thought, shook her head: "That's impossible; possessing vast blood‑essence power undoubtedly requires a top‑tier martial soul, ordinary soul masters cannot do without soul beast soul rings, let alone blood‑essence soul masters being able to abandon martial soul soul rings—humans are greedier than any creature, and no one would give up a chance to gain power."

Xiong Jun snorted coldly, "I certainly know human greed; it's not your place to lecture me!"

But soon Xiong Jun seemed to feel his attitude was too harsh, not good for future relations, so he turned his head and said coldly, "Want to try my Darkgold Terrorclaw?"

Qian Renxue raised an eyebrow; her left palm suddenly emitted a dark gold glow under Xiong Jun's will, and sensing it, she swung her left hand. Five unmatched dark gold light blades tore through the air, the near‑pure gold metallic energy within warping space violently.

Darkgold Terrorclaw! This is the Darkgold Terrorclaw Bear clan's secret art; Xiong Jun even, after breaking the hundred‑year limit and transforming into a ferocious beast, thereby comprehended his own created soul skill—Heavenrending Claw! This Darkgold Terrorclaw is an immensely powerful single‑target attack, usable by Xiong Jun alone or bolstered by Qian Renxue's various extreme attributes.

This is the advantage of soul spirits—being able to fight independently of the host. Of course, they still rely on the host itself.

With a thought, Qian Renxue drew Xiong Jun into her body; the deep‑purple eyes hidden beneath her hood grew somewhat hot—this soul spirit fusion brought her considerable benefit.

The most obvious gain is the soul ring and soul bone obtained from the Darkgold Terrorclaw Bear. A 400,000‑year soul ring became her eighth soul ring for the Angel Martial Soul; as a ferocious beast soul spirit, Xiong Jun can also grant her a ninth soul ring.

However, her ninth soul ring already has a target, and the Darkgold Terrorclaw Bear's mighty innate soul skills are all in hand; she does not intend to continue condensing that bear's soul ring.

From the soul bone: Darkgold Terrorclaw, Frenzy; plus from the soul ring: Darkgold Protective Body and Terrorclaw Meteor Fall.

That palm bone, nearly 440,000 years old, subjected her physique to the tempering and refinement of metallic power, giving her a notable boost.

Even Xiong Jun comes with an innate soul spirit ability—the Behemoth Opening Heaven Axe!

This Behemoth Opening Heaven Axe is based on the Darkgold Terrorclaw Bear clan's prized Golden Behemoth bloodline, condensed from Xiong Jun's entire bloodline power. It is a vastly stronger ability than Heavenrending Claw, but because it relies on Xiong Jun's bloodline power, using it once basically requires him to withdraw, rest, feel spiritually drained, and continually eat to replenish his deficit.

After all, Xiong Jun himself has no means to replenish his bloodline, nor has he condensed a bloodline core.

Xiong Jun now is an energy body with substance, little different from before—still able to touch reality; an energy‑body soul spirit likewise possesses bloodline energy akin to blood‑essence power. In the world of the Douluo Continent, soul spirits, though a special existence formed from the souls of dead soul beasts, can still exchange energy with their hosts.

Blood‑essence power, as a manifestation of vital energy, when a soul spirit fuses with its host can, through mingling with the host's soul power, to some extent exhibit bloodline energy similar to blood‑essence power.

Animal‑type soul beasts possess bloodline; plant‑type soul beasts possess spiritual energy.

Compared to animal‑type soul beasts, plant‑type ones have infinite disadvantages, yet they also have an advantage: they are pure, born solely of heavenly and earthly primordial energy, having no bloodline, only spiritual energy.

In battle or recovery, this soul spirit's blood‑essence‑like energy can help the host strengthen physique, heal wounds, and so on; moreover, this power grows with the depth of fusion between soul spirit and host, the soul spirit's own quality improvement, etc.

The only regret is that the vast majority of the Darkgold Terrorclaw Bear's power went into soul rings, soul bones, and the soul spirit, so the boost to soul power is not obvious; Qian Renxue's soul power rose only one rank, reaching eighty‑four, three of which were her previous accumulation.

For a full fifteen years, this was the first time Qian Renxue knew her soul power level; due to repeated compression, her soul power appears only eighty‑four, yet her total soul power amount is several times that of an Ultimate Douluo.

"Xiong Jun, you've just finished merging with me; first consolidate your origin."

Xiong Jun gave a soft hum, seemingly displeased that Qian Renxue underestimated him: "Even as I am now, I won't affect future battles! Of course, I won't help you fight ferocious beasts!"

He suddenly thought of something and quickly added, "Except the Ten Thousand Monster King!!"

The Tianmeng Ice Silkworm watched Xiong Jun sink into the sea of spirit with a hum; Xiong Jun's done, now it's your turn! The Tianmeng Ice Silkworm and Jin Huang'er's current states are entirely formed by a thread of mental power, having no substance; their origins still reside in the sea of spirit and soul imprint, so for Qian Renxue to touch them in reality she must wrap her body in mental power to feel even a slight contact.

Here I am, Xue'er!

"I'll go first! I'll go first! Xiao Xue, I'm the first to arrive!" Jin Huang'er kept flapping her wings, chirping noisily.

The soul imprint on her chest blazed, four pairs of wings unfurled again, the golden sun pattern slowly radiated rings of light outward, and beneath Qian Renxue's feet, the six‑pointed star was likewise golden.

Red, red, red, red, red, red, red, platinum, orange‑gold! Together with Jin Huang'er's sword‑shaped soul ring, each of the nine soul rings symbolizes strength and ultimate perfection.

"Just come together, right?"

Qian Renxue sank her mind and spirit into the Sea of Spirit and the soul imprint, raised her right hand, a cluster of rose‑gold light ignited, and she began chanting the incantation of the equal contract.

Unlike Xiong Jun, Jin Huang'er and Tian Meng Bingcan had long ago voluntarily merged their power and spirit imprints into Qian Renxue; the soul‑spirit seal was already completed by Tian Meng Bingcan and Jin Huang'er. Moreover, their completion could be said to be even more successful, because they had already fused with Qian Renxue and were essentially part of her.

The soul‑spirit ceremony was finished; only the contract remained, and the required spirit power had been fully absorbed long ago.

The once turbulent Sea of Spirit and the soul‑imprint space gradually calmed under Qian Renxue's incantation. Tian Meng Bingcan and Jin Huang'er fell silent, hovering quietly in their respective spaces.

Qian Renxue ignored the eager little Xiao Qing in the soul‑imprint space; it is part of a martial soul of an angel and cannot become a soul‑spirit, and moreover its condition is no different from a soul‑spirit, so there was no need for extra effort.

Qian Renxue's eyes gradually turned gold, she raised her right hand, and traced rune after rune in the air, sending them toward the two beasts.

Tian Meng Bingcan slowly closed its eyes, and each rune settled upon it. Its massive body shrank slightly, gentle spirit power swirled around, and Tian Meng Bingcan's aura began to change wondrously, bit by bit.

Though Tian Meng Bingcan's originally ethereal body was shrinking, it gradually became more solid, and the breath of life grew increasingly intense.

As Tian Meng Bingcan transformed into its own soul‑spirit, it was separating from its original spirit origins, truly leaving all those spirit origins to Qian Renxue.

The life‑origin imprint forged from a million‑year lifespan and the spirit origin it gave to Qian Renxue are Tian Meng Bingcan's two greatest treasures. At this moment, under the contract's effect, its life‑origin imprint seemed awakened, continuously radiating massive life force.

Yet this life force does not merge with Qian Renxue; amid the fluctuations, it gradually makes Tian Meng Bingcan's body increasingly solid.

Jin Huang'er's situation is the opposite of Tian Meng Bingcan's; if Tian Meng Bingcan's gift to Qian Renxue felt like a separation, then Jin Huang'er represents a deeper fusion—she, whose once‑weakly linked sword‑shaped soul ring truly became part of Qian Renxue.

Finally, the last rune of Qian Renxue's incantation materialized successfully, and the contract was formed.

A flash of white light and red light shone together, and the silhouettes of Tian Meng Bingcan and Jin Huang'er appeared. Tian Meng Bingcan, now only palm‑sized, suddenly rose upward, its golden little eyes brimming with excitement. A golden imprint appeared on its forehead, resembling an eight‑winged angel—this is the contract belonging to Qian Renxue.

Jin Huang'er also bore a similar imprint on her forehead, except hers took the form of an angelic holy sword.

Qian Renxue and they completed this incantation far faster than when she had just merged with Xiong Jun; the difficulty was worlds apart. Qian Renxue didn't even sense any abnormal fluctuations in her spirit power or soul power, and the contract was fully completed.

From this moment on, Jin Huang'er and Tian Meng Bingcan also became her soul spirits—the second soul spirit and the third soul spirit!

At this point, Tian Meng Bingcan could truly be called a miniature version—about six or seven inches long, as thick as a little finger. Its whole body was as crystal‑clear as white jade, and even in its slight wriggling it emitted a faint fragrance.

The life force it radiated even made Qian Renxue feel as if she had acquired another piece of living gold. Especially Tian Meng Bingcan's pair of golden little eyes, which shone like yellow diamonds.

"Woohoo! My true form can finally emerge! Hahaha! I'm going to have a big feast!"

Compared to Tian Meng Bingcan, Jin Huang'er is much larger—over five meters tall. Her brilliant feathered tail majestically trails behind, and hot flames periodically flare from her body with each breath, causing all her feathers to tremble with excitement.

"Xiao Xue! Xiao Xue! Where's my shed skin?" Tian Meng Bingcan asked impatiently as soon as it appeared.

Qian Renxue had just taken the shed skin out of her storage bracelet, and it turned into a streak of light that rushed toward Tian Meng Bingcan.

The layer of Tian Meng Bingcan's shed skin emitted a faint white glow, and as Tian Meng Bingcan swayed, it gently draped over it.

Tian Meng Bingcan opened its mouth and bit the central part of the shed skin; immediately, a faint halo of mixed white and gold spread over its body, gradually merging completely with the skin.

The halo on the skin's surface began to intensify, contracting slowly just as Tian Meng Bingcan had done in Qian Renxue's Sea of Spirit. Gradually, the skin fully contracted and merged seamlessly with Tian Meng Bingcan.

Having absorbed the shed skin, Tian Meng Bingcan, unlike the normal soul spirit Jin Huang'er, can exist independently of Qian Renxue's soul power, drawing on its own life‑origin to absorb the world's elemental energy and replenish its life force, as if reborn. Of course, this relies on the contract between the two; without it, its body would collapse.

Jin Huang'er stared hungrily at the glowing Tian Meng Bingcan, finding the huge insect especially appetizing—she wanted to take a bite, not knowing how long it had been since she last ate real food!

Jin Huang'er and Tian Meng Bingcan, like the earlier Xiong Jun, each granted Qian Renxue a new soul‑spirit ability.

Xiong Jun is the Bimon Sky‑Cleft Axe formed from the golden Bimon bloodline; Tian Meng Bingcan's million‑year soul ring creates a Life‑Reflection Shield, and Jin Huang'er possesses the fortune‑type ability "Mildew Frost Flame"; each soul‑spirit ability fits their respective personalities and traits.

(End of chapter)