Chapter 239 – The Final Strike
At that moment, however, the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear’s body glowed with a golden light again. Tang Wulin’s claws penetrated the light, but the force behind his strike weakened significantly. Though his golden dragon claw could resist the strength of this light, the rest of his body could not.
Before he could slice open the bear’s neck, the light blasted him away.
Even so, he still managed to tear a small chunk of flesh off the bear’s neck before being sent flying. Crimson blood dotted with specks of gold bubbled out of the wound.
The bear bellowed in pain and bolted off of the ground. It had been many years since it had last been injured and hadn’t expected that today, an insignificant human would dare to wound it.
In the end though, its defense was formidable. Even if Tang Wulin could grab it with his claw, there was a chance that the crushing effect would be useless.
Not giving Tang Wulin a chance to regroup, the bear brandished its claws and attacked him. Tang Wulin, still in midair, was helpless to evade. His death seemed imminent; Xu Xiaoyan’s ice wheel would not make it in time, while Gu Yue was still submerged in the light, preparing her own attack.
Tang Wulin tried to summon his Bluesilver Grass, only to discover that the dark-gold light had disrupted his internal soul power and left it too frenzied to control.
I’m done for. Tang Wulin wore a bitter smile as he bravely faced his impending doom.
Yet at that moment, a figure jumped in front of the bear’s attack.
The figure was instantly torn to shreds, and the protective layer of soul power on his body completely scattered. However, he did manage to save Tang Wulin from this fatal strike.
“Xie Xie!” Tang Wulin cried out. Although no one could truly die in the spirit ascension platform and they were used to the terrifying sensation of death by now, being ripped apart was still an unbearable torture! Xie Xie would suffer terribly from the after-effects.
As Xie Xie drew his last breath, Tang Wulin could see the determination in his eyes.
It was as if Xie Xie was telling him, Avenge me!
Tang Wulin managed to break free of the Duskgold Dreadclaw bear’s influence by using the Mysterious Heaven Method and rolled away from its claw swipes. Despite his red eyes and emotional torment, Tang Wulin continued to dodge while sending vine after vine of Bluesilver Grass after the bear.
The Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear was overcome with bloodlust after being wounded and completely ignored Xu Xiaoyan and Gu Yue in favor of pursuing Tang Wulin.
Though Tang Wulin’s clothes were already in tatters and exhaustion weighed him down like shackles, his eyes shined with resolution.
Xie Xie, I will avenge you!
With Xu Xiaoyan occasionally shooting ice spears at the bear as artillery support and taking advantage of the terrain, Tang Wulin successfully evaded all of the bear’s attacks by a hair’s width.
“Wulin!” Tang Wulin’s eyes lit up when he heard this lovely voice.
The Bluesilver Impaling Array appeared once more. This time though, instead of targeting the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear, it was aimed at Tang Wulin himself! The spikes boosted him up into the air, neatly avoiding the bear’s attack!
At that same instant, four brilliant rays of blue, red, yellow and green light surrounded the bear. They spun around it before transforming into mystical four-colored chains that bound it in place
The bear howled in rage as it sensed this. Dark-gold light surged out of its body, only to be routed by the elemental chains that prevented it from breaking free.
This elemental lock could barely hold the bear for a second; blood seeped from the corner of Gu Yue’s mouth as she struggled to maintain it.
Tang Wulin dropped from the sky headfirst in a golden blur, his claws in front of him to slice the bear’s head.
Ding!
Though his claws managed to penetrate the fur, the bear’s incomparably hard skull blocked his attack.
Tang Wulin was stunned. Don’t tell me even my dragon claw can’t kill it?
The bear snarled as it struggled free from the chains. They shattered into thousands of multi-colored lights that twinkled like the starry sky. Blood gushed out of Gu Yue’s mouth and she collapsed in Xu Xiaoyan’s arms.
“Die already!” Tang Wulin, eyes bloodshot and growling, channeled all his strength into his claws.
His claws trembled. Then sharp cracking sounds could be heard.. A moment later, the raised arms of the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear went limp.
Tang Wulin slumped down, his claws no longer latched onto the bear’s skull. His claw’s crushing effect had activated at the most crucial moment.
The bear’s ruthless pair of eyes lost their spark of life as its body slowly fell over.
Strangely, its body did not transform into spirit energy like other soul beasts but into a dark-gold light that gradually took form.
Tang Wulin disregarded this strange phenomenon. He leapt off the bear before it collapsed and dashed over to Gu Yue and Xu Xiaoyan’s side.
“Gu Yue, are you okay?” His voice was tinged with anxiety.
Gu Yue’s eyes were shut tight and her complexion pale, but a faint smile could be seen on her lips. Seeing this smile, Tang Wulin let out a breath of relief. Everything would be fine as long as she was still alive.
“Let’s go back now. We need to check on Xie Xie.” The thought of Xie Xie made him anxious. Xie Xie sacrificed himself for me.
Just as he was about to slap the button on the back of his hand, Xu Xiaoyan tugged on his arm. “Captain, what is that?”
She pointed in the direction the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear. Tang Wulin’s gaze followed her finger, thinking something had happened with the Duskgold Dreadclaw bear. Its body had indeed disappeared into particles of dark-gold light, but in its place was a twinkling dark-gold light.
This is…
He stood up and quickly made his way over.
He was stunned by what he saw on the ground.
It was something he had never seen before. It resembled the bones of a human hand, but the dark-gold cloud pattern seemed to suggest it was forged from some alloy. Even more confusing was that this item was clearly not metal and felt like a living thing.
Tang Wulin stooped down to pick it up. Wow! This bone is heavy! He returned to the other two.
“What is this? Do you know?” Tang Wulin asked Xu Xiaoyan.
Xu Xiaoyan was also at a loss as she examined the dark-gold bone. “I don’t know either. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“It’s a soul bone,” Gu Yue feebly said. She had regained consciousness some time ago and had already opened her eyes.
“A soul bone?” Tang Wulin and Xu Xiaoyan trembled at the words. Of course they knew what a soul bone was; it was one of the rarest items in the world of soul masters!
Soul bones and soul rings had their similarities and differences. Soul rings were tied to one’s cultivation, and once one reached the limit, they would need another soul ring to continue cultivating.
Soul bones, on the other hand, were not essential to soul masters and wouldn’t affect one’s cultivation. Since ancient times, however, soul bones were the symbol of a powerful soul master as soul bones improved the soul master’s body while also granting a soul skill related to it.
The bone in Tang Wulin’s grip was clearly for the right hand. If it truly was a soul bone, then fusing with it would greatly boost the power of one’s right hand and grant a soul skill related to one’s right hand.
“This is a soul bone? Why did a soul bone appear? This is the spirit ascension platform. Isn’t this an illusory world?’ Tang Wulin asked in confusion. This soul bone was like spirit energy, it had form. So just why then, did it appear in the spirit ascension platform?