Chapter 58: Enhancements to the External Soul Bones & Overall Strength
Seeing Dugu Bo obediently shut his mouth, Guang Ling once again wore a satisfied smile.
Dugu Bo, however, silently grumbled in his heart: Go ahead and enjoy your moment. Once Yan Yan and this kid get together, even if you're stronger than me and older than me, by seniority, you'll have to call me Uncle.
Han Li had been secretly observing the expressions of the two and couldn't help but curve his lips into a smile. These two sure had an interesting way of getting along.
Perhaps due to the noticeable changes in Han Li's external soul bones, which now resembled transformations from a head soul bone, Dugu Bo misjudged them. After staring for a while, he couldn't help but ask, "What kind of soul beast's skull is this? It's really strange I've never seen anything like it before."
Hearing this, Guang Ling's lips curled slightly upward in disdain as he shot Dugu Bo a look. Hah! A wild Title Douluo with no real knowledge he doesn't even recognize external soul bones.
(Note: Misjudgment. Dugu Bo actually knows about external soul bones; this is just slightly exaggerated.)
Just as Dugu Bo was about to turn to Guang Ling clearly about to engage in yet another war of words Han Li quickly spoke up to divert his attention.
"Senior, this isn't a head soul bone but two external soul bones. They weren't like this originally, but when my martial soul evolved, they leveled up along with it. Right now, they've just barely reached fifteen thousand years."
Dugu Bo sucked in a sharp breath, staring at Han Li's antennae and right eye with pure envy, unsure what to say.
Just barely… fifteen thousand years…
Dugu Bo's chest felt tight.
After a long pause, he turned to look at Guang Ling.
"The Spirit Hall sure is filthy rich two external soul bones? As a master, you sure didn't hold back. Then again, given Han Li's talent, I suppose it's worth it."
Hearing the praise, Guang Ling felt quite pleased but still maintained a calm façade.
"You've got it wrong. The Spirit Hall indeed has plenty of resources, and I do care for my disciple, but we don't have so many soul bones lying around that we'd just hand two external ones to a child. Han Li got both of these himself when acquiring his soul rings."
Dugu Bo froze. He hadn't expected that answer.
His expression turned odd as he glanced at Guang Ling's smug look.
Since it wasn't the Spirit Hall or you who provided them, what the hell are you acting so proud for? If I didn't know better, I'd think you dropped these soul bones yourself.
But considering Guang Ling's personality, Dugu Bo was smart enough not to say this out loud.
Then, something clicked in his mind, and his eyes widened.
"You were only Rank 23 before this… So you're saying you got an external soul bone each time you obtained a soul ring?"
Han Li nodded calmly, confirming it.
"…Damn, kid, your luck is unreal. I've lived an entire lifetime, and today's the first time I've ever seen an external soul bone now I'm looking at two at once."
Dugu Bo circled Han Li twice, scrutinizing him carefully before reluctantly withdrawing his gaze.
You want one? I know where you can get another. Just head to Star Dou Forest, wipe out every Man Faced Demon Spider under three thousand years, and maybe you'll find one.
Han Li silently mocked him in his mind but kept his thoughts to himself. If he actually said that out loud, he'd really be treated as a freak.
As for the Eight Spider Lances, he still intended to intercept them in the future, but giving up a soul ring slot for them wasn't worth it. He planned to keep them for his own people instead.
Besides, to be honest, he wasn't particularly fond of the idea of spider legs or poison. He wanted to be an underhanded fighter, sure, but he preferred to do so in a way that was overwhelmingly dominant and visually striking.
Poison? His martial soul already had fire poison and ice poison.
Spider legs? Maybe they looked good on a pretty girl, but not on him. His back was reserved for wings whether real or artificial.
He subtly glanced at Dugu Bo. The Eight Spider Lances were originally part of his plan to rope him in, but since things had deviated, he figured if he got along well with Dugu Yan, he might as well give them to her.
After all, external soul bones grew with their owners. Giving them to a Title Douluo wasn't ideal since their growth potential would be limited. That was the main reason he hadn't suggested getting the Eight Spider Lances for his master back in Star Dou Forest.
"Alright, forget about him for now. Tell me exactly what's changed."
Guang Ling grabbed Dugu Bo, who was still gawking, and turned to Han Li.
"The abilities haven't changed much mostly just enhancements to their original functions. The antennae are still linked to my first soul skill. Their basic functions have significantly improved, and my elemental affinity has upgraded to full elemental control 100% mastery. While the soul power expenditure is fine, the mental energy cost has increased quite a bit."
"Additionally, my sensitivity to temperature changes has greatly increased, making it easier to detect hidden enemies. Also, when releasing a spiritual attack through my antennae, the boost has increased to 2.5 times the original power, and I can now selectively infuse either fire or ice attributes, causing enemies to either enter a berserk state or suffer mental sluggishness."
"As for the Eagle Eye, its base abilities have been significantly strengthened, and it now has a pseudo x ray function it can see through an opponent's soul power circulation patterns. However, this is extremely soul power intensive. Based on my estimates, I can't maintain it for more than three minutes before running dry."
"The Eagle Eye's original 'fragile point' marking ability has also evolved. Now, in addition to marking a target, I can choose to apply a burning or freezing effect. Moreover, healing type soul skills used on a marked target will have their effectiveness reduced by half. The damage boost for my next attack against a marked enemy has also increased to 50%."
After explaining everything, Han Li ignored their reactions, retracted his external soul bones, sat back down, and resumed eating.
For a long time, neither spoke. They simply picked up their chopsticks and ate in silence.
It wasn't until they had nearly wiped out two days' worth of food reserves that they finally set their utensils down, leaning back in their chairs in satisfaction. With time to digest the information, Guang Ling and Dugu Bo finally came to terms with Han Li's absurdity.
A freshly advanced Rank 30 Soul Elder… with a physical strength and defense equivalent to a Rank 60 Soul Emperor (if slightly weaker), a soul power density and destructive force rivaling that of a Rank 50 Soul King, and a spiritual power strong enough to briefly harm a Soul Sage when combined with his abilities…
All in all, disregarding sustained combat, in terms of raw burst power, treating Han Li as a Soul Emperor wasn't an exaggeration.
And the kid wasn't even eight years old yet.
"…By the way, Han Li, now that your spiritual power and elemental control have improved, has your ability to manipulate arrows gotten better?" Guang Ling suddenly asked.
Han Li blinked, then nodded.
"It has. I can now fully control elemental arrows."
Then, scratching his head awkwardly, he added, "But, Master, did you forget? My soul power itself is now highly corrosive. Even if I can fully control my arrows, the moment they pierce a body, Soul Kings and above might resist it for a while, but anyone below that would still suffer serious damage. They're just too weak."
"So… you still can't spar?" Guang Ling asked, his headache growing.
"Oh, not necessarily. I can detonate my arrows before impact. Even if I only use the shockwave from the energy burst, most Soul Elders wouldn't be able to handle it. Hmm… honestly, even if I just stood still and threw fireballs and ice spears, I think I'd still win."
Dugu Bo's mouth twitched violently.
He had no rebuttal.
After all, he had participated in Han Li's tests he did have the power to back up those words.
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