A torrent of pitch-black motes surged from the charred remains of the Demon Willow, coalescing in the air above into a soul ring tinged with red-black hues.
"Ye Yu, quickly absorb the Demon Willow's soul ring!"
Under the urging of Dugu Bo, Ye Zilan, and Ling Zhantian, Ye Yu stepped forward and sat cross-legged beside the remains of the Demon Willow.
Summoning his Blue Silver Glimmer Jade Tree martial soul, he closed his eyes and began circulating his Inner Core Technique.
In an instant, the Demon Willow's 90,000-year-old soul ring was drawn to him and settled upon his martial soul.
The next moment, an overwhelming torrent of violent soul power—filled with malevolence, rage, and resentment—poured into Ye Yu's body, madly assaulting his meridians.
At the same time, a mental shockwave laced with hostility tried to strike his spirit.
Unfortunately for the Demon Willow, Ye Yu's current physique was far too powerful.
The soul power? Not even a challenge.
As for the mental assault? As a plant-type soul beast, the Demon Willow's spiritual force paled in comparison to that of beast-type soul beasts at similar levels.
And Ye Yu had been cultivating the Inner Core Technique, harmonizing body, energy, and spirit for six years now. His spiritual strength was already formidable—and after consuming the immortal herb Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew, it had not only surged in power but undergone a qualitative transformation.
The Demon Willow's soul ring couldn't shake him in the slightest.
Within just a few hours, Ye Yu had fully absorbed and refined the Demon Willow's soul ring.
But just as the process completed, a cluster of soul power condensed from the soul ring surged into Ye Yu's body and fused with one of his ribs.
With the prior experience of gaining the Thunderous Hell Prison Spear external bone from absorbing the Thunder Prison Vine, Ye Yu instantly recognized what had happened.
He had acquired another external soul bone.
He wasn't surprised. After all, the Demon Willow possessed over 90,000 years of cultivation and an exceptional bloodline—its chances of dropping a soul bone were very high.
What did surprise him, though, was how painless this fusion process was.
"How do you feel, Ye Yu?"
As Ye Yu opened his eyes, Dugu Bo, Ye Zilan, and Ling Zhantian quickly gathered around with concern.
"I'm fine, Grandpa, Aunt Ye, Uncle Ling."
Ye Yu stood up, a calm smile on his face as he glanced at the sixth soul ring now circling his body—a deep red-black 10,000-year ring. His heart stirred slightly.
He was a Soul Emperor now.
Just one more ring, and he'd reach Soul Sage. Once he gained the seventh soul skill—Martial Soul Avatar—his strength would undergo another explosive transformation.
After refining the Demon Willow's soul ring, Ye Yu tested out his new sixth skill.
Knowing the Demon Willow's traits, he had expected it to be either Parasitism or Devour—and he wasn't wrong.
He named this sixth skill:
Devouring Parasitism.
When activated, Ye Yu's Blue Silver Glimmer Jade Tree would gain the ability to devour an enemy's life force and soul power, converting them into its own sustenance to maintain its existence and growth.
Any excess energy would be fed back into Ye Yu himself.
Moreover, while the skill was active, the Blue Silver Glimmer Jade Tree would also gain parasitic abilities.
Broken-off parts—whether leaves, blossoms, or root tendrils—could burrow into a soul master's body and drain their soul power and flesh.
Even more strangely, the silver-white flowers on the tree, which had bloomed after absorbing the Undying Laurel's soul ring, also produced pollen with parasitic effects.
This development made Ye Yu feel... a little weird.
His martial soul really was beginning to resemble something out of Hashirama's Mokuton arsenal.
It could even devour soul power and life force now.
After absorbing the Demon Willow's soul ring, Ye Yu gauged his current cultivation.
For a typical Rank 60 Soul King, absorbing a 90,000-year soul ring would result in a massive leap in levels.
But Ye Yu had long since compressed his soul power and even formed a soul core.
His soul power quality now matched a Titled Douluo.
So absorbing this high-level soul ring was like a Titled Douluo absorbing it—raising his level only to around Rank 63.
With his sixth soul ring secured, Ye Yu and his group set off back toward Heaven Dou City.
On the road, Ye Yu experimented with his new external soul bone.
He soon figured out its soul skill and named the soul bone:
Demon Willow Fluff.
It resembled the Thunderous Hell Prison Spear in that it had a dual-component structure.
The main body was fused with one of his ribs.
When activated, Ye Yu could produce a child component—a strange, elongated, white-jade-like structure glowing with dark light, resembling an oversized willow fluff.
He named its ability:
Demon Willow Parasitism.
Though it shared the word "parasitism" with his sixth soul skill, it functioned very differently.
The Demon Willow Fluff burrowed directly into the target's body and grew internally like a secondary nervous system.
Ye Yu could either:
Forcefully absorb the target's soul power and life essence via the fluff, or
Leave the fluff in place as a beneficial implant, like an auxiliary meridian system.
In that case, it would act similarly to his Undying Laurel Heart, serving as a soul power storage system, and could help the host safely absorb over-limit soul rings by storing the excess energy their body couldn't handle—preventing soul burst and death.
In short, it was an external bone that could be used for great good—or extreme evil.
Moreover, this external soul bone wasn't limited to producing a single fluff.
It could continuously produce more.
However, Ye Yu didn't yet know just how many fluffs the bone's core could produce in total.
A few days later, the group returned to Heaven Dou City.
That evening, back at the Dugu Residence, when Dugu Yan saw that her grandfather and Ye Yu had returned, she ran up excitedly.
"Ah Yu! Grandpa! You're back!"
"Ah Yu, are you a Soul Emperor now?!"
Her emerald eyes sparkled with joy and curiosity.