Zhang Lexuan accepted Ji Lin's betrothal gift, but she did not immediately absorb the Silver Moon Flood Dragon's soul bone. She planned to return to Shrek Academy and use the power of the Golden Tree to assist in absorbing the ten-thousand-year soul bone. While she could absorb it on her own, utilizing the Golden Tree's life force would make the process safer and more efficient.
In the original story, Xiao Xiao nearly lost an arm when trying to absorb a mere thousand-year Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear soul bone. If not for Huo Yuhao stepping in and absorbing the soul bone himself in time, Xiao Xiao would have been permanently crippled.
Even Huo Yuhao, who had the Life Gold at the time, almost died during the process.
Although the Silver Moon Flood Dragon wasn't as terrifying as the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear, ten-thousand-year soul bones weren't something to take lightly—especially a torso bone, the most important of the six types of soul bones.
Soul bones are divided into six categories: left leg bone, right leg bone, left arm bone, right arm bone, skull, and torso bone. Among them, the torso bone is the strongest, followed by the skull, then the right arm, left arm, left leg, and right leg. Soul bones from soul beasts under ten thousand years only provide one skill, but ten-thousand-year soul bones always grant at least two.
Of course, there's also the external soul bone, but that one is too rare to mention.
After taking care of the Silver Moon Flood Dragon, the next goal was to help Ji Lin obtain his third soul ring. They needed to find a soul beast around eight thousand years old. Zhang Lexuan didn't hurry back to Shrek Academy; she wanted to help Ji Lin secure his third ring first, and then leave the Star Dou Forest together.
Though they didn't find a suitable fire-element soul beast, they stumbled upon a purple sword bamboo around eight thousand years old. This bamboo was named Purple Sword Bamboo due to its entirely purple body and sword-shaped leaves.
Purple Sword Bamboo changes color and segment count with age—at a hundred years it's Yellow Sword Bamboo, a thousand years it's Purple, ten thousand years it's Black, and at a hundred thousand years it turns Crimson. The more bamboo segments, the older the plant. This one had eight segments, meaning it had cultivated for eight thousand years.
The soul skills granted by Purple Sword Bamboo are generally soul power projection techniques, highly favored by sword-type martial soul users because the skills usually involve sword energy projection—both dazzling and powerful.
Upon seeing this bamboo, Ji Lin immediately made his decision. No sword martial soul user could resist the allure of sword energy projection—not even him.
After absorbing the eight-thousand-year soul ring from the Purple Sword Bamboo, Ji Lin indeed gained such a skill.
Third Soul Skill: Scarlet Flame Sword QiAllows the user to release sword energy entwined with crimson flames to attack enemies. The current maximum range is 30 meters, with damage decreasing as distance increases. Range and power increase with level.
Its essence is a technique involving soul power projection. With deep study, Ji Lin might even create a self-developed soul skill so stunning that a single slash could summon a dragon.
With his third soul ring acquired, having saved Zhang Lexuan, and now with a future wife, this trip to the Star Dou Forest was nothing short of fruitful.
After leaving the forest, it was time for farewells.
"Lexuan-jie, wait for me at Shrek Academy. When I turn twelve, I'll enroll. And when I graduate from Shrek, I'll marry you."
Ji Lin held Zhang Lexuan's hand, his face full of sincerity.
"Mn, I'll wait for you."
Zhang Lexuan simply nodded and replied softly.
"Then it's a promise, Lexuan-jie!"
Ji Lin waved goodbye, watching Zhang Lexuan walk away until her figure completely disappeared from view. Then, he turned to Chi Yuan.
"Let's head back, Chi Yuan-teacher. We've been gone for quite a while. Jiujiu-jie is probably getting anxious."
Chi Yuan looked at Ji Lin with a strange expression. Just a moment ago he had vowed to marry Zhang Lexuan after graduation, and now he was rushing back to his fiancée. Scumbag! Truly a scumbag!
Ji Lin ignored Chi Yuan's odd look. Since he had decided to build a harem, he no longer cared about the "scumbag gaze."
The two hurried back to Star Luo City. Upon hearing of his return, Xu Jiujiu immediately rushed to Ji Lin's room to wait.
Seeing the graceful figure of Xu Jiujiu at the door, Ji Lin felt a brief pang of guilt—about one second—before stepping forward to give her a warm hug.
"I'm back, Jiujiu-jie. Did you miss me?"
"Of course I did. Was your trip to the Star Dou Forest successful? Did you gain a soul skill you like?"
Xu Jiujiu replied with a smile.
"Mn, I got a soul skill I really like. A lot happened too."
Ji Lin enthusiastically shared his journey in the Star Dou Forest—how he saved a disciple from Shrek's inner court, how he slew a ten-thousand-year soul beast, and more.
Of course, he omitted the part about what happened with Zhang Lexuan. He simply said he had saved her life, and that now with a Shrek inner court senior sister watching over him, he'd be able to walk tall at Shrek as long as he didn't violate core principles.
Chi Yuan, watching Xu Jiujiu's eager expression while listening to Ji Lin's tale, and noticing her long, flowing violet hair, looked more and more awkward. She felt like Xu Jiujiu was unknowingly being cheated on.
Not wanting to play third wheel any longer, Chi Yuan greeted them briefly and left for her own room.
Ji Lin pulled Xu Jiujiu into the room and closed the door. He had her remove her shoes and kneel on the bed, while he lay his head on her soft lap. Today, Xu Jiujiu wore white stockings, lacking the seductive allure of her usual black, but exuding a pure charm.
Lying on her lap, Ji Lin suddenly remembered the soul bone he obtained from the treasure chest earlier.
It was from the eighth chest he opened at age eight—a ten-thousand-year Starlight Deer Torso Bone. Because it came from the treasure system, Ji Lin already knew the two soul skills it granted.
One was Starlight Conversion—it could convert other types of soul power into starlight attribute.
The other was Starlight Teleportation—it could teleport the user and teammates to any location within their spiritual perception range and could also record spatial coordinates for long-distance travel.
It was an incredibly powerful spatial-type divine ability.
Starlight Conversion, in particular, was a divine skill for Xu Jiujiu.
As a Star Crown Soul Master, she could only cultivate at night, needing to absorb starlight to improve her power. Every one of her soul skills required the storage and absorption of starlight.
Starlight Conversion allowed her to absorb energy even during the day by converting it to starlight.
This meant her training would no longer be restricted to nighttime—her cultivation speed would greatly increase.
Since opening that chest, Ji Lin had planned to give the soul bone to Xu Jiujiu. He just hadn't found the right moment—until now.
After gifting one ten-thousand-year soul bone to Zhang Lexuan, he couldn't neglect Xu Jiujiu. Both were future wives—he couldn't show favoritism.
He sat up and took out the ten-thousand-year Starlight Deer Torso Bone from his storage space, handing the radiant bone to Xu Jiujiu.
"Jiujiu-jie, this is a ten-thousand-year Starlight Deer Torso Bone. Chi Yuan-teacher and I got it by chance. It's a perfect match for your Star Crown martial soul—take it."
Xu Jiujiu was still puzzled by Ji Lin's actions, but when she saw the soul bone, she was completely drawn in. She felt a powerful attraction from it. Upon hearing that it was a ten-thousand-year soul bone, she didn't reject it—one, because the bone clearly resonated with her, and two, because she considered herself Ji Lin's future wife. What he gave her was like transferring from one hand to the other.
Of course, receiving such a valuable gift couldn't go unrewarded. So—
"Xiao Lin, let's continue what we didn't finish last time."
That night, for the first time, Ji Lin learned the difference between a peck and a kiss. When tongues touched—that was a kiss.