At that moment, someone who had been watching the Soft-Bone Rabbit's corpse spoke up immediately:
"The 100,000-year Spirit Bone it dropped is gone. That Spirit Master who hunted the human-form Spirit Beast can't have gone far. We need to chase them now."
"Even if we lost the 100,000-year Spirit Ring, we must recover that Spirit Bone. If His Holiness the Pope asks, we'll all be in trouble."
A Spirit Sage led half the team to track Ignaz's possible escape route, while those left behind grew increasingly frustrated over the lost 100,000-year Spirit Ring.
"Which Spirit Master would be so wasteful… refusing a 100,000-year Spirit Ring?"
"If I ever find out who it is… I'll make sure they pay."
Two hours later, the pursuers returned to the site where Xiao Wu had been killed. As the red 100,000-year Spirit Ring dimmed and began to vanish, their anxiety peaked. They desperately hoped for a way to prevent the unclaimed ring from disappearing—but no such option existed. In their grief-stricken eyes, the ring dissipated entirely, leaving only the Soft-Bone Rabbit's corpse behind.
"What now? Might as well make the best of it. Let's take the body back—Soft-Bone Rabbit meat still has tremendous nutritional value, and even outside the Spirit Hall, its price is off the charts."
"Agreed!"
A Spirit Sage absorbed the rabbit's corpse into a Spirit Storage Conductor, and the remaining team left, each face lined with worry.
......
Meanwhile, sitting atop a waterfall, Tang San suddenly bolted upright, as if something had hollowed him out from the inside. Anxiety clouded his eyes.
"Xiao Wu—"
"Dad, something must have happened to Xiao Wu. I need to go find her."
"No."
Tang Hao's gaze was stern as he spoke:
"The place we were staying is very close to the Starry Forest. Xiao Wu isn't in any real danger. Your worry is unnecessary."
"Dad, I promised I'd protect her, but—"
Before Tang San could finish, Tang Hao stepped in front of him, patting his shoulder with weighty authority:
"Xiao San, understand this: Xiao Wu needs to grow too. If she's always under your protection, she won't adapt to human life. Right now, your only goal is to master the Hao Tian Hammer. Train under the waterfall until you reach eighty-one strikes."
"Only with enough strength can you truly protect the one you love."
Tang Hao then shared the full story of his past with Ah Yin—how he met her, and her ultimate sacrifice—so Tang San could fully understand the reality and the Tang family's hatred toward the Spirit Hall.
Tang San finally calmed, his resolve hardening.
"I won't betray my father's teachings. The Spirit Hall killed my mother, destroyed our family, and Ignaz is a hateful man. I will grow stronger, avenge my family, and protect Xiao Wu."
With that, Tang San grabbed a suitably weighted wooden hammer and headed toward the waterfall. Tang Hao watched with satisfaction, knowing that at least for now, his son could focus completely on training.
......
Meanwhile, in a small-town inn, Ignaz sat in his temporary room, extracting the Soft-Bone Rabbit's left arm bone.
"Hopefully, the Spirit Skills in this left arm bone match the original description."
He sat cross-legged as the bone hovered before him. As his Spirit Power flowed, the Spirit Energy of the left arm bone activated, naturally moving to his left hand to begin fusing with it.
Just as Ignaz thought it was safe to fully absorb the bone, a fragment of Xiao Wu's lingering soul shot out from the Spirit Bone and invaded his Mental Sea.
Xiao Wu had died with immense resentment. Her soul, now residing in the bone, was even stronger than before. No longer in a fragile human form, she appeared as a 100,000-year Soft-Bone Rabbit Spirit Beast. She furiously assaulted a critical barrier within Ignaz's Mental Sea—but with his overwhelming mental power, Ignaz would not let a fragment succeed.
As Xiao Wu's lingering soul prepared another desperate strike, a blood dragon energy form suddenly burst from a black vortex, charging at the 100,000-year Soft-Bone Rabbit. The rabbit soul fearlessly counterattacked, but even it could not overcome the blood dragon. Two razor-sharp claws slashed, striking the rabbit and hurling it backward. Then, with a heavy swing of its tail, the blood dragon smashed the rabbit into a semi-destroyed state. Seizing the moment, it opened its maw and swallowed the rabbit soul whole.
With the Soft-Bone Rabbit soul gone, Ignaz's absorption process neared completion. He slowly opened his eyes and exhaled, satisfied.
"Excellent. I didn't expect the original Spirit Ring skills to become Spirit Bone skills."
The two skills from the 100,000-year Soft-Bone Rabbit's left arm bone were teleportation (a space-based skill) and a Void Spirit Skill. Both required minimal Spirit Power—teleportation allowed sustained movement within a two-mile range, consuming only half his Spirit Power.
"With these two near-godlike skills, even a Titled Douluo won't intimidate me. If I find a weakness, I can seriously injure them—or at the very least, escape. Who among them could catch me with teleportation and flight, not to mention the Spring Breeze Rebirth skill to quickly restore Spirit Power?"
Fully satisfied, Ignaz left the inn. After checking out, he mounted a 200-year-old Gale Horse and set off north toward Tian Dou.
Meanwhile, the Spirit Hall pursuers returned to the Spirit Hall with the Soft-Bone Rabbit corpse. They respectfully presented it to Bibi Dong and reported everything they had witnessed.
Bibi Dong's anger flared immediately.
"Unbelievable! A Spirit Master dared to hunt a 100,000-year Spirit Beast right under the Spirit Hall's nose and didn't even absorb the Spirit Ring. Incredible audacity."
"Send people, at all costs, to find the culprit."