Outside the Ascension Pavilion, fine snowflakes drifted silently, cloaking the Hao Tian Sect's ancient architecture and distant mountains in pristine white.
The chill in the air paled against the agony of Huo Yuhao's waiting.
He stood like a snow-carved statue on the icy stone steps, motionless, his gaze fixed on the closed door before him. Every second stretched into an eternity.
Though his "reunion" with Wang Dong'er had been brief, the years of "brotherhood" he'd cherished transformed instantly and naturally into something deeper and fiercer the moment he learned she was a woman.
Huo Yuhao was such a man: whoever offered warmth and help in his darkest, most desperate hours would be engraved in his heart, repaid tenfold—but that help must be true salvation in a snowstorm, not mere ornamentation on silk.
Wang Dong'er was undoubtedly the brightest light in his life. Now that this light flickered near extinction, he would give everything to reclaim it.
Creak—
The door opened.
Niu Tian's towering figure emerged, his expression grave, unreadable.
Huo Yuhao all but stumbled forward, his voice raw from tension and anxiety: "Uncle Niu, did you find a way?"
Niu Tian halted, his gaze settling on Huo Yuhao's desperate, hopeful face. He nodded solemnly:
"In the Ascension Pavilion, I found notes left by Dong'er's father. They mentioned that, for strengthening foundations and physique without side effects, the Yearning Heartbroken Red truly is the king of immortal herbs. But next in efficacy are high-quality soul bones."
"Soul bones?" The hope flaring in Huo Yuhao's eyes dimmed momentarily. He interrupted urgently:
"But Dong'er is unconscious—she can't actively fuse soul bones! And… not long ago, she just fused a hundred-thousand-year Three-Life Wolf Ape soul bone granted by the clan, yet not only did it fail to help, she soon after fell into a coma!"
Niu Tian remained expressionless, but inwardly he winced. Such a coincidence? Fusing a soul bone before collapsing?
The timing was almost too perfect… but he buried the thought immediately.
This step was indispensable to the plan.
He pressed on with the script: "Dong'er's condition is extraordinary, critically severe. Ordinary soul bones won't suffice. We likely need hundred-thousand-year soul bones—only their immense life essence and soul power origins can strengthen her physique and turn the tide. And probably not just one."
He paused, studying Huo Yuhao's reaction. "The Hao Tian Sect's heritage runs deep. We can provide hundred-thousand-year soul bones. What matters now is—how many empty soul bone slots remain on your body?"
Huo Yuhao's eyes clouded with confusion. He replied instinctively: "I… I have one hand, one leg, and my head bone slot empty. I've already fused the Ice Explosion Technique soul bone, the instant movement soul bone, and the torso bone from the Far North. Only those three remain."
Niu Tian shook his head firmly, his tone unquestionable: "The head bone slot is too dangerous—tied to the spiritual sea. The slightest misstep means utter ruin. We cannot risk it."
His tone shifted. "But I recall Dong'er mentioning that your soul powers perfectly synchronize, and your martial soul fusion skills are peerless. If so… I have a method that might work."
Huo Yuhao's eyes blazed with renewed hope, grasping at the lifeline. "What method? Uncle Niu, please tell me!"
"You will fuse the hundred-thousand-year soul bones." Niu Tian spoke slowly, each word deliberate. "With your will and physique, you'll first endure the violent energy surges during fusion, tempering away the soul beast's ferocity within them, and partially assimilate their attributes with your own soul power."
"While the soul bones haven't fully stabilized within you—when their origin power is most active—I will intervene. Using a special technique, I'll guide this 'purified' and 'tempered' soul bone essence from your body into Dong'er's. This may bypass her inability to actively fuse while comatose."
"I agree!" Huo Yuhao blurted, as if fearing the chance would vanish if delayed.
But reality crashed in. His voice lowered, uncertain. "But… Uncle Niu, the power of a hundred-thousand-year soul bone… I'm not sure I can withstand that pressure…"
"This is the greatest risk of this method." Niu Tian admitted frankly, his gaze piercing. "And throughout the entire 'bone transfer' process, you must remain conscious!"
"Only consciousness lets you guide your soul power in sync, ensuring the preliminary fusion direction is correct. Only then can you precisely coordinate the energy output when I extract the essence."
"This means you must endure not only the agony of fusing the soul bones, but also the torment of having that partially fused essence forcibly ripped from your body afterward!"
"When it's done, the limbs where you fused the bones—arm and leg—will suffer severe damage to meridians and bones. You'll be immobile for a long time… possibly permanently crippled."
Huo Yuhao's face showed no fear. Instead, a near-mad resolve hardened his features:
"I'm not afraid! Uncle Niu, I've had extraordinary opportunities—my physique and spiritual power far exceed my peers. I believe I can endure it! Let's begin! Should we return to the academy immediately?"
Seeing Huo Yuhao's urgency, Niu Tian sighed inwardly but kept his expression steady: "Take Dong'er back to Shrek Academy with Second Brother to prepare. Stabilize her condition."
"The storage place for those specific hundred-thousand-year soul bones isn't within the clan. I must retrieve them myself. I'll follow shortly."
Huo Yuhao, frantic for Wang Dong'er's sake, accepted Niu Tian's words without question. He nodded sharply: "Understood! We leave at once!"
Watching Huo Yuhao and Tai Tan vanish into the sky, Niu Tian flashed to the heavens, transforming into a streak of light racing toward the vast ocean.
The Hao Tian Sect had secluded itself for ten thousand years; even its disciples' soul rings were granted by Tang San. Where would they find ready-made hundred-thousand-year soul bones?
Fortunately, the Sea God commanded the ocean—he could summon hundred-thousand-year soul beasts from the deep…
Niu Tian comforted himself inwardly: 'The beasts I slay were evil, burdened with karmic debt. All… for XIao Wu's and Xiao Qi's safety.'
A Limit Douluo's speed defied imagination. Niu Tian's true form was the Divine Beast Sky Azure Ox Python, once a Divine Official. Though suppressed by the plane's laws, briefly tearing through the Douluo Continent's relatively "fragile" spatial fabric for short-distance travel was no great hardship.
Why was this world's spatial structure so "fragile"? The deeper reasons touched upon ten-thousand-year schemes.
Thus, almost as soon as Huo Yuhao and Tai Tan arrived at Shrek Academy with Wang Dong'er and informed Elder Xuan and Yan Shaozhe of the situation, Niu Tian descended from the sky, three hundred-thousand-year soul bones pulsing with formidable energy in hand.
After returning, Huo Yuhao had already briefed Elder Xuan and Martial Soul Department Dean Yan Shaozhe on the Hao Tian Sect's "bone replacement" treatment plan.
Both men frowned deeply at this unthinkable method. Elder Xuan drained his wine gourd in one gulp; Yan Shaozhe's face was etched with worry.
The technique sounded perilous beyond reason—utterly unheard of.
Yet these two warriors, more skilled in combat than healing, could devise no better lifesaving strategy no matter how hard they racked their brains.
Moreover, they understood better than anyone Huo Yuhao's feelings for Wang Dong'er—they could never persuade him to abandon this sole hope.
Thus, they exchanged a worried glance and forced themselves to believe: 'With two Limit Douluos of the Hao Tian Sect personally guarding the process… surely nothing catastrophic will happen?'
Huo Yuhao's friends, led by Gu La, could offer no help. They could only wait anxiously outside the designated quiet chamber.
As Niu Tian and Tai Tan led Huo Yuhao inside, with Elder Xuan entering as Shrek's representative to safeguard the process, Gu La's heart tightened—not with fear, but curiosity. He knew Wang Dong'er was a God King's daughter; she would be fine.
After hearing the shocking "treatment procedure" from Yan Shaozhe, Gu La's mind had been flooded with silent curses.
'Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!'
'Devising such a "cure" is less healing than exquisite torture… Truly Tang Sect disciples—innovative in torment. I'd bet Tang San himself redesigned this "exam question."'
Gu La always felt a strange déjà vu on this Douluo Continent: Human emotions, especially love, seemed incomplete without soul-searing pain.
If lovers lacked heart-wrenching memories, their bodies must endure immense suffering—otherwise, their love lacked "certification," seeming unworthy.
As an "outsider," Gu La couldn't comprehend this philosophy. Yet witnessing it firsthand always left him profoundly shaken.
He dared not release his spiritual power to probe the room, fearing interference with the critical treatment.
He envied Huo Yuhao's innate Spiritual Detection soul skill—all-seeing yet subtly refined, far surpassing ordinary spiritual scans.
But Gu La had other methods. Future sight couldn't pierce space, so he glanced one second into the past, his eyes mirroring the room's interior.
Inside the quiet chamber, the air was thick enough to solidify.
Two beds lay side by side. Huo Yuhao lay next to Wang Dong'er, stripped to shorts, his lean but now fragile-looking body exposed.
On a stand beside him rested three soul bones—shimmering with restrained yet terrifying energy.
Why three? Naturally, Niu Tian—or rather, the Tang San behind him—deemed two hundred-thousand-year soul bones insufficient to compensate for the missing Yearning Heartbroken Red. To ensure the plan's success, even exceeding the original goal, three were necessary.
Additionally, one "misplaced" soul bone required handling—Huo Yuhao's fused left leg instant movement soul bone.
Per the plan, this old bone must first be removed to allow Huo Yuhao to fuse a new hundred-thousand-year right leg bone, whose power would then be channeled to Wang Dong'er.
A cruel performance was about to begin.
Niu Tian and Tai Tan stood at the bedside, solemn-faced, a trace of complexity hidden deep in their eyes.
Elder Xuan waited nearby, brow furrowed, his cloudy eyes filled with worry and pity.
"Yuhao," Niu Tian intoned gravely, "the process will be excruciating. You must stay conscious. Guide your soul power to cooperate with us—only then can the soul bone energy be fully assimilated and safely transferred to Dong'er. If you lose consciousness, all is lost. Both your lives will be in peril."
Huo Yuhao drew a deep breath and nodded firmly. "I understand, Uncle Niu. Begin! I can endure it!"
Tai Tan stepped forward. Earth-yellow light gathered around his thick palm. "Boy, endure this! First step—remove your existing right leg soul bone."
Before his words faded, his clawed fingers pressed toward Huo Yuhao's right knee. A domineering yet precise force pierced inward—shattering the unbreakable rule that only Spirit Beast Douluos could extract soul bones.
"Ugh—!"
Huo Yuhao felt as if a red-hot branding iron twisted inside his leg, tearing something free.
Agony arched his body. Veins bulged on his forehead; sweat poured like rain.
He bit down hard, muffled groans escaping his throat.
The hundred-thousand-year instant movement soul bone—once fused with his bones and meridians—was forcibly activated, loosened, as if tearing a living bone from his flesh.
Elder Xuan's eye twitched. He turned away, then forced himself to watch, staring intently.
Niu Tian focused wholly, hands forming seals. Gentle, powerful green soul power enveloped Huo Yuhao's leg—aiding Tai Tan's extraction while shielding his bones from destruction.
This lasted an incense stick's time. When the silver-glowing hundred-thousand-year right leg bone was finally lifted from Huo Yuhao's limb, his leg was a mess of blood and torn flesh, trembling weakly. He gasped for air, face deathly pale.
"No pause, Yuhao. Focus! Fuse the first hundred-thousand-year right leg bone."
Niu Tian's voice cut through. He lifted a hundred-thousand-year right leg bone radiating primal energy, pressing it slowly against Huo Yuhao's wound.
Boom—!
Pain ten times worse flooded Huo Yuhao's body. The hundred-thousand-year soul bone's immense energy and lingering beast will surged like a breached dam.
His bones creaked under strain; meridians felt shredded. The beast's savage will stormed his spiritual sea, seeking to consume him.
"Hold your mind! Circulate the Xuantian Technique! Guide it!" Niu Tian's voice boomed like temple bells in Huo Yuhao's mind.
Huo Yuhao's eyes turned crimson. Willpower alone drove him to rotate the Xuantian Technique, channeling his Ultimate Ice soul power like taming a wild horse—gradually guiding, tempering, fusing the violent energy.
Frost formed on his skin, only to melt from inner heat—a torturous cycle.
Tianmeng Ice Silkworm, Ice Empress, even the Snow Empress spirit soul labored within his spiritual sea to stabilize his mind.
Time blurred. When the hundred-thousand-year right leg bone's light dimmed, fusing preliminarily with Huo Yuhao's leg, Niu Tian already held a second hundred-thousand-year right arm bone.
"Continue! Right arm!"
Same agony descended anew! Huo Yuhao's right arm felt seared in a furnace, then frozen in ice—repeating endlessly.
His clenched fists bled where nails pierced palms, but he held on. Love for Wang Dong'er and unyielding will bore him through.
When both bones fused, Huo Yuhao's aura surged—powerful yet chaotic. His body neared its limit; his eyes glazed.
"The final, most critical step!" Niu Tian's voice turned solemn. "I'll now extract your right leg soul bone's essence and channel it to Dong'er."
"This will hurt more than fusion. You must 'release' it willingly—while staying conscious and guiding the flow."
Niu Tian placed hands on Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong'er's right legs. His pure, vast soul power bridged them.
Tai Tan guarded Wang Dong'er's heart meridian and body, ensuring she could absorb the incoming power.
"Begin!"
Niu Tian guided Huo Yuhao's soul power to reverse-extract the freshly fused hundred-thousand-year soul bone essence!
"AH—!!!!!!"
This time, Huo Yuhao couldn't suppress it. A soul-shattering scream tore from his throat!
It felt like a dull blade scraped his leg bone inch by inch, tearing out what had just taken root.
And he had to stay conscious—using his own soul power to "push" the energy away.
His body convulsed violently. Sweat and blood soaked the sheets beneath him.
Elder Xuan closed his eyes, unable to watch. His fists tightened.
Niu Tian and Tai Tan's brows were knotted, sweat on their foreheads. Every motion must be exact—no margin for error.
Time crawled. Huo Yuhao's screams faded to unconscious whimpers, yet he never lost consciousness. Willpower alone sustained him, cooperating with Niu Tian's guidance.
Finally, when the hundred-thousand-year right leg bone's essence flowed into Wang Dong'er, painting her pale cheeks with faint color, Niu Tian exhaled.
"Success… for the first part…" His voice held fatigue.
Huo Yuhao lay drenched, limp on the bed. His right leg and arm hung lifeless, temporarily numb. Only the faint rise of his chest proved he lived.
The left leg soul bone transfer would test him anew…
Outside the room, though soundproofed, Huo Yuhao's muffled then unleashed screams weighed heavily on the waiting crowd.
Gu La leaned against the wall. After watching awhile, he turned away. Too cruel. He shook his head, muttering inwardly:
"What a ruthless man… or rather, what a ruthless pawn of fate and 'father-in-law'…" he whispered, his tone complex.
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