Just as Bai Chen had anticipated, with the Dark Gold Terror Bear's death, the soul bone that had served as its raw material reappeared.
The soul bones of Spirit Ascension Platform guardians could only exist within the Platform itself and could not be taken outside, so he had no choice but to absorb it here.
Bai Chen tucked the soul bone into his clothing, wandered around the nearby area for a bit, and found Yuan En Yehuī sitting in a tree.
Seeing that he was safe and unharmed, a visible wave of relief washed over Yuan En Yehuī's eyes. She dropped down to meet him and asked:
"How did it go — did you deal with that bear?"
"Of course. The fact that I chose to fight it means I was already confident I could win."
Bai Chen laughed cheerfully and said to Yuan En Yehuī:
"Yuan En, please stand guard for me. I need to absorb the spoils of battle."
"Hm? Alright."
Yuan En Yehuī was a little dazed, but she nodded obediently.
Only then did Bai Chen relax, and he sat down on the spot.
No matter how powerful he was, he wouldn't dare absorb a soul bone alone. During absorption, his combat strength would drop to its absolute lowest — if someone ambushed him then, he'd have nothing but tears left. With Yuan En Yehuī present, at least she could keep an eye on the surroundings for him.
He took out the Dark Gold Terror Bear's right palm bone and began to absorb it.
The moment he started absorbing, he felt a surge of powerful energy pour into his body, as though it meant to burst open his meridians.
It had to be said — the Dark Gold Terror Bear's strength was genuinely formidable. In this era, unlike in Tang Hao's time, he didn't possess the relevant domain to help him, so he could only endure it with his own body and willpower.
Fortunately, this Dark Gold Terror Bear was ultimately only a century-old specimen. In terms of raw power, it was in a completely different league from the thousand-year-old Dark Gold Terror Bear. With Bai Chen's current strength, absorbing its soul bone was still quite manageable.
Perhaps because the two of them were already very close to the intermediate Spirit Ascension Platform, no soul masters or soul beasts came to disturb his absorption throughout the entire process.
By the time the sky had gradually deepened to full darkness, Bai Chen opened his eyes once more.
Yuan En Yehuī immediately asked:
"How was it?"
Seeing that he had absorbed this soul bone, she understood the situation at once.
Although she wasn't privy to the Spirit Ascension Platform guardian's intelligence, she could at least tell that this was a soul bone produced by that Dark Gold Terror Bear — and from the look of it, it was even an externally-attached bone.
Bai Chen clenched and unclenched his fist, and said in a contemplative tone:
"Strength increased by roughly thirty percent, I'd say."
Not much — but then again, this was only a century-old soul bone. One couldn't ask too much of it.
What Bai Chen truly cared about was what kind of ability it had brought him.
As his thoughts stirred, just as in another era, five sharp claws extended from his fingertips.
But they were different. Perhaps under the influence of the Demon Evil God Tiger's energy, these five claws were not dark gold in color, but a deep, abyssal black. Across their black surface, golden veins wound and coiled, emanating an aura of sinister nobility —
He could feel it — just like his tail hook, these five claws could also carry the evil attribute, vastly amplifying their striking power.
The unfortunate part was that, unlike his tail hook, they could not inject evil energy into a target, making it difficult for them to synergize with his Evil Explosion soul skill.
"Well, having something is better than having nothing."
Bai Chen shrugged.
He was not a greedy person. After a brief moment of disappointment, he quickly adjusted his mindset.
So far he had only been testing the soul bone's inherent properties. Next, he should try the soul skill that came attached to it.
Following the instinctive knowledge that welled up in his mind, Bai Chen extended his hand and channeled soul power into the bone.
Then, something extraordinary happened — five enormous black claws materialized and floated in the air above his right hand.
"Oh? This is..."
These five claws were like an enlarged version of the Dark Gold Terror Bear's right palm bone, yet with some subtle differences — their outer appearance resembled five sharp sickle blades.
The instant these five sickle blades appeared, the soul power inside his body began plummeting at a terrifying rate.
Bai Chen felt no panic. He furrowed his brows slightly and gradually reduced his soul power output.
As the channeled power weakened to a certain point, one of the five sickle blades suddenly vanished — leaving four.
Then three, two, one — and finally they disappeared entirely.
"Hmm..."
"How is it?"
Seeing Bai Chen's contemplative expression, Yuan En Yehuī couldn't wait and asked again with curiosity.
Bai Chen snapped back to his senses and explained with a smile:
"Quite a good harvest. I've gained a very useful soul skill this time."
Clearly, the Dark Gold Terror Bear's right palm bone of this era had been affected by some influence and undergone a certain mutation. Whether in terms of its inherent properties or its attached soul skill, it differed significantly from the one in the other timeline.
Overall, however, the foundation of the skill was still the Dark Gold Claws.
As for the specific differences…
First: duration.
Tang Hao's Dark Gold Claws had a single strike's worth of power — in other words, they could only sustain for a single instant.
By comparison, the Dark Gold Claws of this era could manifest in the world for an extended period of time. The soul power consumption was enormous, but overall it did offer one more option.
Second: output adjustment. These Dark Gold Claws could reduce the number of claws summoned by decreasing the soul power channeled into them.
In Bai Chen's experience, there were many times when five claws was overkill for the enemy at hand — one claw would have been enough to finish the job — yet he still had to pay the cost of five. That was quite painful.
This trait's greatest advantage was that it allowed for a degree of soul power conservation, preventing excessive waste.
And last — the final characteristic: every claw carried the evil attribute.
The evil attribute not only greatly amplified the Dark Gold Claws' striking force, granting them properties beyond mere sharpness, but could also devour a portion of the enemy's power, effectively replenishing Bai Chen's soul power.
All things considered, Bai Chen was extremely satisfied with this Dark Gold Terror Bear right palm bone.
"Let's rest up and then get ready to move out," he said.
After finishing his account of the rewards from this endeavor, he said with a light smile:
"Our assessment isn't over yet — we can't afford to let our guard down."
True enough. Their assessment was meant to continue until this Spirit Ascension Platform's surge period ended. Simply defeating this Dark Gold Terror Bear didn't count as finishing.
But looked at from another angle, now that both the Flame Magic Lion pack and the Dark Gold Terror Bear had fallen at Bai Chen's hands, there was truly nothing left inside this beginner Spirit Ascension Platform that could pose a threat to him.
And Bai Chen had no intention of going to challenge the intermediate Spirit Ascension Platform. What he intended to do was the same as always — simply hunt soul beasts unilaterally and improve himself.
Oh wait — this time, he also had a teammate along.
Bai Chen chuckled inwardly. With Yuan En Yehuī at his side, he led her away from the depths of the beginner Spirit Ascension Platform and headed back in the direction they had come from.