Although this forty-thousand-year-old Ice Bear was severely injured, its intelligence had not been affected. Every time it fled a certain distance, it would use the power of ice and snow to conceal its tracks and bloodstains.
It had only been running for a few minutes, but that was enough for it to disappear into the vast snowy plains. Unfortunately for it, the one chasing was not Haote and his group, but Oscar, who could now rely on his third soul skill to achieve unmatched speed.
Oscar shot forward like a streak of light, instantly covering several hundred meters, and from the moment he began pursuing the Ice Bear, he had been heading in the correct direction.
Within just one minute, the enormous body of the Ice Bear, over eight meters tall, appeared in his field of vision.
The fleeing Ice Bear noticed Oscar rapidly approaching and was utterly shocked.
It had done everything possible to erase its trail. Even if it could not completely shake off a human Soul Sage, it should not have been caught up to this quickly.
What it did not know was that from the moment it started fleeing, Oscar's powerful spiritual sense had already locked onto it.
This clone of Oscar possessed all the power of his true body. Although he no longer had the hundred-and-fifty-thousand-year head soul bone due to the duplication of his sausage, his spiritual strength and physical attributes remained unaffected.
Moreover, Gu Rong himself already possessed six fully equipped soul bones. Combined with Oscar's body and Gu Rong's martial soul and soul bones, their fusion resulted in strength greater than the sum of both parts.
So from beginning to end, this Ice Bear had never escaped Oscar's grasp.
Watching the Ice Bear still desperately running, Oscar's lips curved into a playful smile. In the next moment, as he sped forward, his sixth black soul ring lit up.
With the release of the sixth soul ring, a deep black hole silently appeared in front of him, and Oscar dove straight into it.
This was Gu Rong's sixth soul skill, and among all his skills, the most mysterious one , the Gate of Space.
This sixth soul skill originated from a Void Demon Dragon. Its effect allowed one to open a spatial gate anywhere within the range of their spiritual sense.
It was precisely because this skill was so unpredictable that Gu Rong was known as the most mysterious Title Douluo.
With Oscar's current spiritual strength comparable to that of a Title Douluo, he could teleport anywhere within nearly ten thousand meters using the Gate of Space.
However, he did not wish to reveal too much in front of Haote and the others, so he waited until he was out of their sight before using it.
Oscar entered the black hole, and in the next instant, another black hole appeared ten meters in front of the Ice Bear's path. The next second, Oscar flew out of it.
The scene was too sudden and bizarre for the Ice Bear to react. Oscar emerged from the black hole with a pure white light shining around his right arm.
In a flash, he appeared before the Ice Bear. As he swung his right fist, countless massive bone spikes over five meters long erupted from it, stabbing toward the Ice Bear's huge body.
"Thorn Armored Dragon Right Arm Soul Bone Skill: Bone Explosion Meteor!"
At such close range, the Ice Bear had no time to dodge. It could only hastily muster its remaining soul power to defend itself as best as it could.
Unfortunately, this time it faced Oscar, whose soul power had reached level seventy-five, with true strength far surpassing the Soul Sage level.
Furthermore, all of Gu Rong's soul bones were at least ten-thousand-year level. This meant Oscar's attack was a full-force strike using a ten-thousand-year soul skill, combined with the strangeness of the sixth soul skill. The sudden attack left the Ice Bear with no chance to defend.
Countless sharp bone spikes pierced through the air. Even though the Ice Bear tried its best to defend, its thighs, paws, and even abdomen were punctured. Its massive body was nailed to the ground, completely powerless to resist.
The Ice Bear, once again heavily wounded, was now on the verge of death. There was no possibility of escape left. Oscar calmly looked at it. With such a perfectly compatible seventh soul ring, Haote's strength would surely improve significantly.
Without hesitation, Oscar broke its limbs, grabbed one of its paws, and began dragging the Ice Bear back to the place where Haote and his group had fought it.
The Ice Bear endured excruciating pain, its eyes locked on Oscar's back. It could only emit weak, pitiful cries as its blood left a red trail in the snow. Its life force grew weaker and weaker until Oscar returned to Haote's location.
At that moment, Haote's teammates had just begun meditating to restore their soul power. Though Haote himself was also drained, he remained on guard for his team. As he scanned the area, he saw Oscar dragging the Ice Bear back.
He had expected Oscar might catch up and help capture the wounded Ice Bear, but he had never imagined he would return so soon.
How long had it been? Not even ten minutes, and judging by the fact that Oscar had dragged the bear back, most of that time must have been spent walking back.
Was this the power of a true prodigy? Oscar looked barely thirty years old yet already possessed the strength of a Soul Sage. Haote had once suspected his youthful appearance was deceptive, but now there was no doubt.
Even though the Ice Bear had been gravely wounded, none of them could have killed it alone, much less in such a short time.
Oscar tossed the nearly dead Ice Bear aside and said calmly, "It's yours."
Haote immediately bowed deeply to him. "I will never forget your kindness, Senior. If you ever need my help, as long as it's not a death mission, I will give my all!"
Oscar patted his shoulder and handed him a Super Recovery Sausage. "Restore your soul power first. I'll guard you."
Haote accepted it without hesitation. He did not believe Oscar would bother poisoning him,if Oscar wanted him dead, there would be no need for tricks.
After eating the sausage, Haote was stunned. Its effect was astonishing. He sat down cross-legged and began restoring his energy at full speed.
Within fifteen minutes, his depleted soul power was completely restored, and his spirit was at its peak again.
He bowed again. "Senior, your generosity is beyond repayment. This sausage must be incredibly valuable."
Oscar waved his hand. "It's valuable, yes, but if you recovered too slowly and missed this Ice Bear, that would be the real loss."
Haote froze, then turned to the Ice Bear, noticing its breathing was nearly gone. Due to blood loss and severe injury, it was about to die.
He wasted no more time, summoned his martial soul, and transformed into a massive Ice Bear giant. He brought his paw down heavily on the Ice Bear's head, ending its life.
As he did, he noticed a hint of relief in the Ice Bear's eyes, as if being killed had freed it.
Seeing its shattered limbs and the bloody holes through its body, Haote could almost understand that final look.
He had to admit, this Soul Sage senior was indeed ruthless. Yet, despite his ferocity, Haote felt that Oscar bore no malice toward him.
Though one should always be cautious in the world of soul masters,especially in the wilderness,Haote somehow instinctively trusted Oscar.
That intuition had always kept him alive, allowing him to reach level seventy.
As the black ten-thousand-year soul ring slowly formed above the Ice Bear's corpse, Haote suppressed his thoughts, sat down cross-legged, and began to meditate.
Once he successfully absorbed this soul ring, he would advance to the rank of Soul Sage.
Oscar sat casually on a nearby boulder, scanning the area calmly. Aside from Haote, the other six were meditating to restore their soul power.
However, none of them were completely relaxed; they all kept their guard up despite Haote's protection.
Everyone had seen Oscar return and give Haote that precious sausage. They all knew its worth and that Oscar would not be handing more of them out, so they continued recovering the normal way.
Many of them silently envied Haote's luck at meeting such a powerful and generous ally, though at the same time they cursed under their breath. Oscar was helping Haote, but once Haote absorbed the soul ring, all of them would end up having to help Oscar in return.
Given Haote's personality, as long as Oscar's requests weren't suicidal, he would help wholeheartedly,after all, he owed Oscar a great debt.
Oscar continued surveying the surroundings, though in truth, his spiritual sense had already confirmed that within ten miles there were no soul beasts stronger than ten thousand years.
The Ice Bear had a strong territorial instinct, and apart from weaker beasts under ten thousand years that posed no threat, any powerful soul beast entering its domain would have been attacked mercilessly.
Thus, the area was now safe, with only minor threats from lesser beasts.
As Oscar idly scanned the area, his gaze stopped on the Ice Bear's corpse beside Haote.
Haote was now fully focused on absorbing the seventh soul ring, unable to notice anything else.
Oscar slowly walked toward the Ice Bear's body. His right hand transformed into a sharp bone dragon claw. As he sensed the residual soul power within the body, his expression shifted slightly.
He slashed the corpse open, and after a few moments, he extracted a large, crystalline bone.
It was a forty-thousand-year Ice Bear torso soul bone.
Oscar smiled faintly as he held it.
This was truly unexpected. He had only intended to help Haote obtain a soul ring and perhaps recruit him later, but he had accidentally altered the original course of events,this Ice Bear had dropped a soul bone.
A torso soul bone over forty thousand years old was a top-tier treasure. In the soul master world, soul bones were extremely rare, and ten-thousand-year ones were nearly impossible to find.
Thinking back to the Ice Bear's suffering, Oscar could understand how this bone had been produced.
Apart from hundred-thousand-year soul beasts, which always produce soul bones, those below that level only produce them by chance.
One way to increase the chances was to cause the soul beast extreme resentment and despair before death.
Oscar had unintentionally done just that,torturing the Ice Bear and plunging it from hope into utter despair, leading to the creation of this soul bone.
The moment he took the bone out, he felt six distinct spiritual presences locking onto him. He didn't need to guess where they came from.
Two of them were from Soul Elders and could almost be ignored; spiritual power only increased greatly after reaching the Soul King level. Before that, it was too weak to matter.
That was why soul masters below level fifty could not normally withstand the mental shock of absorbing a ten-thousand-year soul ring.
Of course, exceptions like Oscar and Dugu Yan existed.
They had each consumed immortal-grade herbs,Oscar the Water of Yearning Autumn, and Dugu Yan the Emperor Love Broken Heart Red,greatly enhancing their spiritual power. Such fortunes were nearly impossible to replicate.
Another method was to absorb a head soul bone of at least ten-thousand-year level, which could also boost spiritual power enough to handle a ten-thousand-year ring even before level fifty.
But opportunities like these were almost impossible for ordinary soul masters to find.
Oscar remained calm, unfazed by the six people watching him. He stored the forty-thousand-year torso soul bone in his soul guide and began dissecting the Ice Bear further.
He wasn't doing it to claim the corpse,it was part of the team's reward. He was simply hungry and had not eaten bear paw in a while.
Expertly, he removed the two front paws,the most delicious part of the bear, with tender, elastic meat and perfect texture, far superior to the hind paws.
Glancing at the six meditating teammates, Oscar lit a campfire not far from Haote and began preparing one of the front paws.
Within ten miles, no soul beasts remained that could threaten him. He had nothing to worry about.
His spiritual sense constantly swept the surroundings; any movement would be detected instantly. Cooking a bear paw was hardly a problem.
The firewood he carried was of a special kind,it could burn fiercely even in the freezing snow and emitted no smoke.
As the flames rose, Oscar focused intently on cooking the bear paw, as if there were nothing more important in the world.
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