Chapter 74: Sparring

Zhou Heng's words made Dugu Bo look at Dugu Yan to the side.

Dugu Yan also shook her head and said, "I'd better not; perhaps there will be better soul bones later."

"Besides, Grandpa, if you absorb this soul bone, you can also gain more strength and better help me obtain soul bones."

Dugu Yan did not want to absorb this soul bone either; her cultivation had improved rapidly over this past year, and she was about to break through to level forty.

Perhaps there would be better soul bone options in the future, so leaving it for Dugu Bo was the best strategy.

Seeing that neither of them wanted this soul bone and considering these issues, Dugu Bo decided to absorb it himself first and find some suitable soul bones for them later.

Dugu Bo no longer stood on ceremony, sat cross-legged on the spot, pressed the torso bone in his hand against his chest, circulated the soul power within his body, and began to refine this torso bone.

Half an hour later, Dugu Bo had completely refined the soul bone, and the Life Energy within the soul bone that had never been absorbed was also absorbed by Dugu Bo, causing Dugu Bo's soul power to gain some growth.

Although he did not break through to level ninety-five, it was close; as long as he accumulated some more soul power, Dugu Bo would have the possibility of a breakthrough.

Feeling the aura of Dugu Bo, which had increased by a notch, Zhou Heng suddenly thought about the upcoming sparring match—did this count as aiding the enemy?

Feeling his soul power increase once again, Dugu Bo was incomparably delighted in his heart, and ignoring Dugu Yan and Zhou Heng, he flashed away to continue dealing with the Earth Dragon corpse.

Sometimes, when one should be muddled, one must be muddled.

Watching Dugu Bo leave in a flash, Zhou Heng naturally guessed Dugu Bo's thoughts and immediately grabbed Dugu Yan, who was still confused, to continue what they were doing before.

Soon, Dugu Bo had finished roasting the Earth Dragon corpse, turned his head to look in the direction of Zhou Heng and the other, and shouted, "Come over and eat!"

After hearing the voice, Zhou Heng and Dugu Yan quickly arrived at Dugu Bo's side and began to eat the roasted meat, accompanied by dry rations from the Storage Soul Guidance Device and fine wine treasured by Dugu Bo.

The meal lasted for an hour, and by the time they finished, it was already nearly three o'clock in the afternoon.

Feeling his satisfied stomach, Dugu Bo looked at Zhou Heng to the side and said, "Little Heng, shall we have a spar now?"

"Alright, it's just the right time to let you see the benefits after condensing a Soul Core." Zhou Heng also had the intention to fight; he had gained significant benefits from condensing his Soul Core this time and naturally wanted to show them off properly.

Zhou Heng, Dugu Bo, and Dugu Yan walked out of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well together. After arriving outside, the two found a relatively flat place to serve as the battle site, stood on opposite sides, and confronted each other.

Dugu Yan stood to the side, acting as the referee.

"Ready, begin!" Dugu Yan quickly announced the start of the battle and then rapidly retreated from the two's battlefield.

Before Zhou Heng could react, Dugu Bo had already made his move, with his first through fourth soul rings lighting up together.

Four different types of poisonous gas gathered around Dugu Bo, and then, the four gases blended and intertwined, turning into a pink gas mixed with emerald green.

This poisonous gas rushed toward Zhou Heng at high speed, wanting to test Zhou Heng's strength.

Watching the poisonous gas rushing toward him, a layer of crimson flame appeared out of thin air around Zhou Heng and charged toward the gas.

Around the crimson flame, the air twisted continuously, and the high temperature of the flame caused the poisonous gas to ignite the moment it made contact, turning it into nothingness.

Seeing that the poisonous gas had no effect at all, Dugu Bo did not hesitate and released the soul skill of the twenty-thousand-year Earth Dragon torso bone he had just absorbed; a golden light was released from Dugu Bo's body, making his physique much stronger.

The soul bone skill Dugu Bo obtained this time was named Earth Dragon Body, and its function was very simple: to boost the user's physical strength by 200% within five minutes.

As a poison-attribute Spirit Master, Dugu Bo's biggest flaw was the lack of a one-hit kill ability.

This was also a common problem for poison-attribute Spirit Masters; although they possessed large-scale destructive capabilities, the eruption of their toxins had time limits.

If, during this period, a Spirit Master with extremely powerful individual combat strength rushed over to fight you to the death, a poison-attribute Spirit Master would basically be unable to defeat the opponent.

Now that Dugu Bo had obtained a soul bone skill that strengthened his own body, it could be considered as compensating for his own shortcomings.

Dugu Bo's already powerful body, under the enhancement of the soul bone skill and soul power, tore through the air, bringing with it a gust of wind as he rushed toward Zhou Heng at high speed.

Behind him, the wind force swept across the ground, leaving only a row of footprints deep in the earth.

"Kid, take this!"

Facing Dugu Bo's violent offensive, Zhou Heng swayed his body and disappeared from his original spot, using the powers of Extreme Ice and Extreme Earth together.

The ground under Dugu Bo's feet was eroded by the Water Element, rapidly turning into a swamp, which slowed down Dugu Bo's speed.

At the same time, under Zhou Heng's feet, vines grew rapidly, and under the ability of Extreme Wood, they transformed into trees, growing at high speed.

As the trees grew, they hooked together, forming thick wooden walls that trapped Dugu Bo inside.

This move of Zhou Heng's was modeled after the techniques of a powerful wood-style ninja in a manga he had seen in his previous life; originally an offensive move, Zhou Heng had modified it into a trapping/defensive move.

Dugu Bo's charging speed was blocked by the mud under his feet, and seeing the wooden walls growing, he gave up the idea of testing the defensive power of the wooden walls with his physical body.

Instead, he used his soul skill; the pink gas mixed with emerald green appeared again, and at the same time, Dugu Bo leaped up from within the poisonous gas, his soul power lifting him as he flew into the air not covered by the wooden walls.

In the air, green wind elements gathered on Dugu Bo's legs, making his body light and reducing the consumption of his soul power.

This was the soul bone skill of the two 33,000-year Wind-Crying Ghost Leopard left and right leg bones he had absorbed previously; the soul bone skills of these two bones were identical, named Wind Spirit Favor, which could increase the user's speed by 100%.

The two leg bones Dugu Bo absorbed should have been dropped by a pair of Wind-Crying Ghost Leopard brothers; after the two soul bones were absorbed by Dugu Bo, their soul bone skills could actually stack, directly increasing Dugu Bo's speed by 200%.

This made Dugu Bo's flying speed in the air even faster.

After flying out of the range of the wooden walls, Dugu Bo looked at Zhou Heng standing in the distance and launched an attack again, releasing his eighth soul skill, Time Solidification.

Dugu Bo was worried that Zhou Heng might be killed by his single strike, so he did not release his ninth soul skill.

Therefore, as soon as Zhou Heng saw a flash of white light, he realized that Dugu Bo had activated his eighth soul skill.

Thus, he exerted himself to gather Extreme Gold, shrouding himself in several layers of golden light barriers, and at the same time, activated the Indestructible Golden Body cultivated by swallowing the Strange Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum.

This process was completed in just an instant.

At this moment, Dugu Bo's soul skill also reached Zhou Heng, directly freezing Zhou Heng's movements, and even the soul power within his body was about to be stopped by the Time Solidification soul skill.

However, the Soul Core within Zhou Heng's body had been rotating on its own; facing Dugu Bo's Time Solidification soul skill, although the Soul Core stalled for a moment, it only stalled for less than two breaths of time before it regained its ability to function.

The Soul Core mobilized soul power on its own, impacting the effect of the Time Solidification soul skill.

This greatly reduced the duration of Dugu Bo's eighth soul skill; the soul skill that should have lasted for over ten seconds now showed signs of the environment becoming unstable and the soul skill being dispelled after only a few seconds.

After activating Time Solidification, Dugu Bo arrived at Zhou Heng's side, wanting to attack Zhou Heng's physical body directly.

However, with the defense formed by Extreme Gold, no matter what attack Dugu Bo unleashed, he could not shatter these defenses. He could only wait for the Time Solidification soul skill to dispel on its own.

After Time Solidification was dispelled, Zhou Heng immediately felt his soul power flowing away rapidly, but with the help of the Soul Core, the recovery speed of the soul power within Zhou Heng's body was expected to take less than twenty seconds to fully restore the soul power he had consumed.

This time, Dugu Bo did not use poisonous gas, but instead transformed his poison-attribute soul power into a rough long spear, and then, while the enhancement from the torso bone was still active,

he threw this soul power spear with all his might toward the light barrier shrouding Zhou Heng.

Under Dugu Bo's powerful strength, the long spear turned into a green line, instantly vanishing from Dugu Yan's sight, and when it appeared again, it had already arrived before the golden light barrier.

It collided with the golden light barrier.

"Crack—crack—"

A piercing friction sound rang out, making Zhou Heng, who had just recovered from the Time Solidification soul skill, and Dugu Yan, who was watching the battle from the side, feel as if their eardrums were aching from the sting.