On the third day after leaving Nuoding Academy—
Dust-covered and travel-worn, Lin Yang emerged from a dense forest. Looking at the towering mountain range that reached up into the clouds, a smile finally appeared on his face.
He'd been hurrying with all his strength these days, but the place where Tang Hao had hidden the spirit bone was really out-of-the-way and treacherous.
Even knowing the rough location, it still took quite a lot of effort to get here.
Now, it was right within his reach.
Lin Yang stepped into the mountain range, and soon the sound of thunderous rumbling reached his ears. It was the roar of a waterfall.
Following the sound, he walked out of the forest.
The instant he exited, his vision suddenly opened up.
A huge valley lay at his feet—lush, verdant, and picturesque.
Opposite him, a waterfall over twenty meters wide poured down from a great height, crashing into a pool and sending out a deafening roar.
The water was crystal-clear, shimmering under the light, like a mirror set into the valley.
"I finally found it."
Lin Yang muttered under his breath, ripples surging in his heart.
Taking a deep breath, he let out a sharp whistle.
"Fweee—!"
Almost as if it had heard his call, a pitch-black crow flew out from the dense forest, wings flapping as it descended with a series of "caw caw" cries to land on his shoulder.
"Good work."
Lin Yang took out a strip of dried meat from his ring, tore it up, and handed it to the crow.
Once the crow had eaten its fill, his excitement gradually settled. He tapped his toes lightly and sped towards the waterfall.
Before long, Lin Yang was standing at the base of the falls.
He looked up, reached out, and touched the roaring curtain of water—it was both fierce and heavy.
Without a certain level of strength, one wouldn't even be able to stand steadily beneath this waterfall, much less find the cave hidden behind it.
No wonder Tang Hao felt so at ease leaving things here…
After taking a look around, Lin Yang stepped onto a few rocky ledges along the cliff face, and with several light jumps, he landed on a slightly protruding boulder.
Then he summoned his martial soul. The spirit ring at his feet suddenly lit up.
First spirit skill: Sharp Gold—activating the power of Sharp Gold, doubling the sharpness of his martial soul.
"Hiss—!"
Lin Yang exhaled a hot breath, then slashed forward in a sudden, fierce motion.
"Sever!"
Draw the blade to sever water!
A roaring fire-dragon surged out.
In an instant, the more-than-twenty-meter-wide waterfall was actually cleaved clean in midair.
Using that brief moment, Lin Yang easily located the switch on the rock wall behind the waterfall.
With a light step, he moved swiftly to the switch and pressed it.
Before the door had fully opened, his figure flashed and slipped into the darkness beyond.
Behind him, the waterfall crashed down again with an earth-shaking rumble.
Ignoring the sound, Lin Yang let flames surge across his sword, lighting up the cave.
The cave wasn't large, barely ten square meters in total.
In the center of the cave was a mound of earth, atop which a frail Blue Silver Grass tenaciously grew.
On closer inspection, this Blue Silver Grass was different from the ones outside. Each leaf bore fine golden patterns.
It radiated a faint aura of nobility.
This was the emperor among Blue Silver Grass—the Blue Silver Emperor.
Lin Yang carefully examined it and gently touched its leaf.
The leaf trembled slightly, seemingly aware, and even curled around his finger for a moment before quickly retreating.
The Blue Silver Emperor's consciousness had not yet awakened. That reaction had only been a pure instinct.
Lin Yang sighed emotionally.
Once an emperor among Blue Silver Grass, now reduced to a mere noble bloodline in a body weaker than even a hundred-year spirit beast—pitifully weak.
Truly a tiger fallen to flat plains and bullied by dogs.
He soon stopped paying attention to the Blue Silver Emperor and began searching for the hidden spirit bone.
Before long, he found a lead box tucked away along one side of the rock wall.
The box was a meter long and extremely heavy.
Staring at the lead box cradled in his arms, Lin Yang's breathing grew faster.
He sat down in one corner of the cave and placed the box in front of him. Taking a deep breath, he slowly lifted the lid.
In that instant, a blue-gold radiance charged with the aura of life burst from the box, flooding the entire cave with light.
Lin Yang's gaze locked onto what lay within.
It was a piece of pure blue-gold crystal, translucent like fine jade, as perfect as an art piece.
This was… the hundred-thousand-year Blue Silver Emperor right leg bone!
Lin Yang lifted the spirit bone from the box. Just holding it, he could clearly feel the surging vitality within.
It was as if the bone in his hand were alive.
This hundred-thousand-year spirit bone came with two skills: Flight, and Wildfire Cannot Destroy the Grass, It Grows Again With the Spring Wind.
The former needed no explanation.
The latter, however, was an extremely powerful life-type healing ability that could not only restore injuries but even regrow severed limbs.
To any spirit master, these two abilities were exceptionally practical.
For Lin Yang, though, the greatest value lay in the immense life force contained inside the bone. He needed that vitality to mend the flaws in his Demon Blood martial soul.
To become the first "Demon" who could stand under the sun.
He quickly stored the spirit bone in his soul-tool ring, put the lead box back where it was, erased his traces, and left the cave. On the other side of the valley, he found a secluded cave to settle in.
After calming his excitement, Lin Yang didn't hesitate. He took out the spirit bone and pressed it directly to his right leg.
Buzz—!
The instant it touched his leg, a low hum rang out.
Lin Yang felt a cool current suddenly surge from his leg, racing across his entire body.
In his vision, that crystal-clear spirit bone quietly vanished, transforming into countless blue-gold streams that circulated around his right leg.
"Ah…"
The vitality-laden coolness made him involuntarily let out a low groan.
The feeling was pleasant down to the bones, as if every cell in his body had undergone a thorough spa treatment, leaving him relaxed and languid.
He quickly tore himself away from the comfort, sat cross-legged, and began circulating the Great Sun Meditation Technique.
The overwhelming energy within the spirit bone was refined directly into spirit power.
By the end of his first academic year, Lin Yang's spirit power had already reached level 17.
After two months of vacation, he had smoothly advanced to level 18.
Now, under the enormous power of the hundred-thousand-year spirit bone, his spirit power surged past barrier after barrier until it reached level 20.
He couldn't break through further for the moment due to lacking another spirit ring.
This didn't surprise him at all.
He lifted his left hand, and the Demon Blood martial soul manifested in his palm with a yellow ring slowly floating around it.
Under his guidance, all the remaining energy within the spirit bone was channeled into the Demon Blood martial soul.
Without limiters, the Demon Blood was like a bottomless demon, greedily devouring every wisp of energy without wasting even a trace.
The Demon Blood martial soul swelled at a speed visible to the naked eye.
In just a few breaths, it grew from the size of a pigeon's egg to that of a baby's head.
"Pop—!"
With a sound like a bubble bursting, a purple spirit ring formed quietly beside the first ring.
At the same time, the original yellow spirit ring seemed to break past a certain threshold, its color deepening until it too became a deep violet.
Seeing this, Lin Yang was overjoyed.
As he had guessed, spirit rings that naturally formed from the Demon Blood martial soul could indeed break through their initial age limit and upgrade on their own.
The prerequisite was vast amounts of energy.
Now, both of his rings were thousand-year rings—the first at two-thousand years, the second at five-thousand.
And it didn't stop there.
Once he obtained the second ring, the restriction on his spirit power was lifted again.
Lin Yang cut off the energy supply to the Demon Blood.
Like a scumbag who pulled up his pants and pretended nothing had happened, he converted all the remaining spirit bone energy into pure spirit power.
By the time the very last wisp of the spirit bone's power was exhausted, Lin Yang's spirit power had already reached level 24.
From level 18 to level 24—a six-level leap, plus two thousand-year spirit rings.
He had pushed the power of this hundred-thousand-year Blue Silver Emperor spirit bone to its absolute limit, leaving nothing unused.
Even if he handed the Blue Silver Emperor spirit bone to someone else later, all they would gain were the two abilities, not this ocean of energy.
That was the benefit of being the first absorber.