Chapter 7: Bai Lu, I Want You to Absorb a Ten-Thousand-Year Third Soul Ring!
"What do you mean?"
Zhu Zhuqing froze.
If she didn't have something, why look at others?
"If you don't have a hundred-thousand-year soul bone, then look around and see if someone else does. And if they do… hehe."
A ruthless glint flickered in Bai Lu's eyes.
"You're… not joking, are you?"
The girl looked at "herself" and swallowed lightly.
The only soul master she had ever heard of, possibly possessing a hundred-thousand-year soul bone, was Bibi Dong, the Pope of Spirit Hall.
She was the Pope. A twin martial soul possessor. How could Zhu Zhuqing possibly snatch anything from her?
"Don't limit your vision so narrowly. As for the right leg bone of the hundred-thousand-year Blue Silver Emperor, I happen to know exactly where it is."
Bai Lu spoke calmly, as though discussing where to buy vegetables.
The air inside the stone chamber instantly froze.
Zhu Zhuqing's eyes widened in disbelief as she stared at her clone—or rather, at Bai Lu speaking through it.
"I… I don't believe you!"
Her clear voice trembled slightly.
She might not be exceptionally clever, but she certainly wasn't foolish.
"That's a hundred-thousand-year soul bone! If you really knew where it was, you would've taken it long ago!"
"Little kitty, this world is far more complicated than you imagine."
Bai Lu chuckled lightly.
"Even priceless heavenly treasures are guarded by protectors. Something as valuable as that right leg bone would naturally be no exception."
He was referring, of course, to Ah Yin, the hundred-thousand-year Blue Silver Emperor Tang San's mother.
He remembered clearly: after sacrificing herself to Tang Hao, she had left behind her right leg bone. Tang Hao had not absorbed it but preserved it instead.
And in the original story, the location where Tang Hao hid Ah Yin was described in remarkable detail.
How detailed?
Detailed enough that during the time Bai Lu had spent in this world, he had secretly searched the mountains near Holy Soul Village, and without much effort, he had already found the valley where the Blue Silver Emperor was hidden.
Unfortunately, at that time, he had neither reached the hundred-thousand-year cultivation level nor made up his mind to transform into a human.
He wasn't about to risk having a giant hammer descend from the sky and end his life just to steal a soul bone.
If he succeeded—perfect.
If he failed?
Even if he survived, Tang Hao would never leave Ah Yin there again.
Once the soul bone's location changes, the opportunity might be lost forever.
"…."
Zhu Zhuqing fell silent.
She suddenly realized Bai Lu was far more mysterious than she had imagined.
Before even reaching a hundred thousand years, he had already prepared resources for transformation.
Now that he had sacrificed himself, he was still plotting for a hundred-thousand-year soul bone.
This… was madness.
After a long pause, she asked softly,
"If a powerful guardian is protecting it, do we even stand a chance of obtaining it?"
If even Bai Lu before transformation hadn't dared to touch it, then the guardian had to be at least a hundred-thousand-year soul beast or a Titled Douluo.
As for her?
At full strength, she might barely contend with a Soul Elder.
"Do you trust me?"
Bai Lu did not explain. Instead, he gently brushed the loose strands of hair from her forehead behind her ear and looked at her steadily.
"I trust you."
Zhu Zhuqing gazed into "her own" beautiful eyes and nodded firmly.
If she couldn't even trust herself, then changing her fate would be impossible.
"Then listen to me. Don't hesitate. Leave immediately. Our destination is Nuoding City."
Bai Lu released her and stood up.
Before, he hadn't known the timeline and could do nothing.
But now that he had deduced it from Zhu Zhuqing's age and circumstances, there was no reason to abandon the Blue Silver Emperor's right leg bone.
Because aside from the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Tournament a few years later, it was only now the perfect opportunity to steal it.
"Our path is destined to be extraordinary."
"Ordinary soul bones are unworthy of you. Only the most supreme soul bones can support us to the very end."
With that, the White Tiger Clone dissolved into motes of light.
"I understand."
Zhu Zhuqing straightened slowly, smoothing the wrinkles in her clothing.
Her voice was cold, yet resolute.
"I won't absorb these soul bones. But I will take them. When the time comes, I'll use them where they're needed and let them realize their final value."
"Smart."
Bai Lu's tone carried approval.
"Now, pack everything."
"Alright."
Zhu Zhuqing began organizing the cave, using the largest storage bracelet to pack away all of Bai Lu's inheritance.
The soul bones and the most important items were stored separately in another storage ring.
At last, she stood in the center of the cave, surveying what had once been Bai Lu's "home."
"Let's go. Time to walk a new path."
"Mm."
She calmed her thoughts, bent down, and crawled out of the cave.
The midday sunlight filtered through the treetops, dancing across her black hair and dyeing it gold.
"To successfully obtain the hundred-thousand-year soul bone, should I first acquire my third soul ring?"
Zhu Zhuqing inhaled the fresh forest air and asked inwardly,
"With my current physique, I should be able to absorb a soul ring over two thousand years, right?"
"Small. Your vision is too small."
In her spiritual sea, Bai Lu shook his head with a faint laugh.
"You absorbed my soul ring and soul bone, awakened a second martial soul, and your physique has improved severalfold. And this is all the ambition you have?"
"…Isn't that enough?"
She thought about it.
Ordinary soul masters could absorb around a 1,500-year soul ring for their third ring.
She had undergone such a drastic transformation, yet was only thinking of two thousand years; perhaps she really had underestimated herself.
After some thought, she proposed what she believed to be safe.
"Then… three thousand five hundred years?"
"I know. Normally, your third soul ring limit is about 1,700 years. The so-called optimal configuration is Yellow, Yellow, Purple, Purple, Black, Black, Black, Black, Red."
Bai Lu spoke leisurely before changing his tone.
"But since you've already stepped outside the rules, why continue obeying them?"
"Then how many years do you think I should choose?"
Zhu Zhuqing frowned, thinking hard, before boldly venturing,
"Five thousand years?"
That was already the limit she dared consider. Any higher, and she feared her body wouldn't withstand it.
"No. Not yet."
Bai Lu's gaze turned distant as he spoke words that stunned her.
"Later, I want you to absorb a ten-thousand-year third soul ring."
"Ten thousand?!"
Zhu Zhuqing froze in place, instinctively thinking he was joking.
Others progressed Yellow, Yellow, Purple, Purple, then only reached Black.
And Bai Lu wanted her to skip Purple entirely and go straight to Black?
This was beyond reasonable or unreasonable.
It was downright heaven-defying.
She was only at rank 30!
"What I'm saying is entirely logical."
Bai Lu had his calculations.
To absorb a ten-thousand-year soul ring, two factors must be considered: physical constitution and spiritual shock.
Zhu Zhuqing had fused with the Slaughter Head Bone, and Bai Lu himself resided within her spiritual sea.
She had nothing to fear from spiritual shock.
Even the remnant soul of a hundred-thousand-year soul beast would be no match for Bai Lu.
Therefore, the only factor limiting her was physical endurance.
Once she absorbed the Blue Silver Emperor's soul bone, even at rank 30, she would simultaneously possess a second martial soul, a hundred-thousand-year soul ring, and two hundred-thousand-year soul bones.
In this world, it would be unprecedented and likely never repeated.
Moreover, one of those soul bones carried a passive healing ability—
Wildfire Cannot Destroy the Grass, It Grows Again With the Spring Wind.
With so many extraordinary enhancements, even if she couldn't immediately absorb a ten-thousand-year soul ring, she wouldn't be far from it.
As long as they found another way to further strengthen her physique, absorbing a ten-thousand-year third soul ring would no longer be a fantasy—
but a theoretically sound and achievable reality.
End of Chapter