vncnus 20. Absorbing the Soul Bone: An Extremely Painful Trial
20. Absorbing the Soul Bone: An Extremely Painful Trial
It took Ling Bing a while to accept this astonishing fact: the ancient ice dragon, or rather, the frost ice dragon's torso bone, actually belonged to him.
But quickly realizing his lapse in composure, Ling Bingtian swiftly regained his composure and responded to the Ice God with divine respect once more: "Thank you for bestowing this treasure. I, Bingtian, have lost my composure. I hope you will forgive me." His words were utterly devoid of politeness.
Just kidding, if someone gives away such a precious treasure and I just exchange a few polite words, what if the Ice God takes it back? This is not the time to be polite.
"No problem. Now you can absorb it. I will protect you here." The Ice God, having calmed the waves in his heart, returned to his familiar posture and continued in an indifferent tone, "I erased the resentment of the frost dragon contained within it due to death when I became a god. You can absorb it with peace of mind in this space."
"Yes." Ling Bingtian was overjoyed. He hadn't expected the Ice God to be so helpful, even removing the resentment of the dead soul beast in the soul bone for him. He had been a little worried about whether his inexperienced body could successfully absorb the soul bone, but now it seemed that he had worried too much.
Without hesitation, Ling Bingtian used his soul power to pull the frost dragon skeleton in front of him, which was emitting a powerful soul power fluctuation. Under the pull of his soul power, it quickly floated from above the crack to in front of him.
Now that they were closer, Ling Bingtian could observe the priceless soul bone more closely.
This was a massive bone, unlike the palm-sized or forearm-sized soul bones he had seen before. It was almost the size of a normal adult's spine. It emitted a faint icy blue hue, and the dense, almost liquid-like soul power fluctuations seemed to freeze the air around it.
Ling Bingtian felt as if his breathing was so rapid that he was about to fly away. He didn't know if it was because he was too excited or if the air had really frozen.
Following his most primal impulse, Ling Bingtian sat down cross-legged, adopting a posture suitable for meditation, while using his soul power to guide the torso bones floating in front of him.
As expected, the torso bones quickly moved to Ling Bingtian's back with his soul power. Thinking of the methods his family had taught him for absorbing soul rings and soul bones, Ling Bingtian began to mobilize the soul power within his body.
Throughout the entire process, the Ice God remained silent, observing Ling Bingtian with an indifferent gaze. This was his first test. The Ice God thought to himself, if Ling Bingtian couldn't even pass this test, then even if he was qualified to participate in the Divine Trial, he would likely find it difficult to achieve great things.
Ling Bingtian was naturally unaware of the Ice God's thoughts. Unfortunately, Ling Yongsheng and Ling Yongming, who were beneath the altar, were also frozen in place. Otherwise, they would have told Ling Bingtian, who hadn't yet learned much about soul bones, that the higher the level of the soul bone, the more extreme the pain the body would experience during absorption.
Poor Ling Bingtian began his first soul bone fusion under such circumstances.
The moment the piece of frost dragon torso bone came into contact with his body, Ling Bingtian realized the seriousness of the situation.
cold!
This was his body's first reaction to the Frost Dragon's torso; an extreme chill instantly erupted within Ling Bingtian's mind. The icy cold seemed to freeze Ling Bingtian's entire soul, spreading from the inside out with lightning speed throughout his body. For a moment, Ling Bingtian felt as if his thoughts were frozen, with only the chill remaining in his mind.
Before Ling Bingtian could adjust, a powerful icy blue light burst forth from his upper body, tearing his outer garment to shreds. His entire upper body seemed to change from flesh-colored to icy blue in an instant.
When the icy blue light reached its peak, the Frost Dragon's torso bones finally began to enter Ling Bingtian's body from the tailbone upwards, and began to merge into Ling Bingtian's spine.
The instant the Frost Dragon's torso bone entered Ling Bingtian's coccyx, Ling Bingtian's body, which was sitting cross-legged on the altar, shuddered violently. The coldness was no match for the pain caused by the sensation that his coccyx seemed to be instantly erased and replaced by something.
This kind of pain originating from the spinal nerves is simply beyond human control. With this jolt, Ling Bingtian's eyes bulged out instantly, like a goldfish about to jump out of its sockets; tears, snot, and saliva flowed uncontrollably, and all the hair on his body stood on end; all the muscles and fat on his body began to tremble incessantly, trying to alleviate this unbearable pain.
In an instant, Ling Bingtian even lost the ability to breathe, and his sea of consciousness seemed on the verge of collapsing at any moment. But at this moment, the dim and lusterless divine pearl in his sea of consciousness lit up, as if it had been provoked, flashing a dim, icy blue light.
Although dim, it was highly effective. In that instant, the sea of spirit turned into a pale ice-blue, which slowly pulsed through every corner of Ling Bingtian's sea of spirit, greatly alleviating the extreme pain wherever it passed.
"Hmm?" This scene surprised the Ice God, who was preparing to intervene because he sensed that Ling Bingtian's mental sea was on the verge of collapse. In His view, Ling Bingtian actually resisted the extreme pain with his willpower and stabilized his mental sea. How incredible!
"It seems I have indeed found a worthy successor." Looking at the miracle unfolding before him, the Ice God felt a deep sense of satisfaction. This successor was truly remarkable, possessing not only exceptional talent but also an incredibly strong will. It seemed the day he could finally relinquish his divine position was not far off.
The Divine Pearl's status is far above that of the Ice God. Even if the Ice God were to use some of the energy it had absorbed over the years to activate its remaining power to help Ling Bingtian, the Ice God would not be able to sense its existence.
With the help of the divine pearl, Ling Bingtian's body finally felt some relief, but the fusion of his soul bones would not stop.
Soon, the trunk bones that had completed the replacement of the coccyx began to merge into another bone on top of the coccyx.
As it merged, the terrifying spasms and pain within Ling Bingtian's body would follow to that bone, bringing with it extreme agony. Realizing the difficulty of fusion, Ling Bingtian tried to resist it with his willpower, but having never experienced any great trials in his past or present lives, how could he possess such strong willpower?
Despite his desperate attempts to endure, Ling Bingtian's body continued to react violently to the fusion process. Fortunately, the Ice God hadn't been entirely passive; at least He had immobilized Ling Bingtian's body, ensuring the complete fusion of the Frost Dragon's torso and bones. Otherwise, given Ling Bingtian's current convulsing and trembling state, the fusion process would likely have ended on its own long ago.