205 End Of Seclusion

The lion king's words caused Sheng Feilong to turn around, staring at its dead body. He had completely forgotten about the Soul Bone of the lion king because he was too focused on everything else that was going on. "Senior, is it really okay for me to take your Soul Bone?"

"If I didn't want you to take it, would I tell you about it? Unlike normal Soul Bones, it doesn't possess a remnant of my will; Everyone could absorb it, but who would be worthy of it?" The lion king spoke with the same indifferent calmness as before, as if what it said were obvious facts.

Sheng Feilong walked over to its corpse, ready to check its head when the lion king's voice sounded out again. "Not the head. Check the torso." A hint of hesitation stopped Sheng Feilong in his tracks. "Torso..? Senior, you don't possess a Skull Type Soul Bone?"

"Correct, I don't." The lion king calmly admitted, pausing for a moment but starting to speak again upon seeing Sheng Feilong's confused expression. "I've told you, that our pride was attacked 40.000 years ago; My dear brother lost one leg, while I was heavily injured. I had to destroy my own Soul Bone, forging it anew inside my body to heal from my injuries."

The lion king's voice was as calm and indifferent as before, shocking Sheng Feilong even more as something like this was an incredible secret, even more so when knowing that the attack the king mentioned injured two 100.000-years-old Three-Eyed Golden Lions. "...Senior, what happened back then? Who could possibly hurt Senior and Ancestor Wuyong to this extent?"

"40.000 years ago, human civilization was but in its infancy, yet powerful Soul Beasts were already roaming the world for hundreds of thousands of years. Us Golden Lions are survivors of the olden times; Some of the hardiest, most adaptable, but by far not the strongest that ever existed. Take your little Ancient Hypnotic Toad Spirit Soul, for example. I might know about them, but when I was born, they were already extinct, yet their Spirit Power and mental abilities far surpass even that of Three-Eyed Golden Lions." The lion king casually laid down again, not caring that Sheng Feilong was cramming through its corpse at the same time.

Sheng Feilong, though, stopped when the lion king mentioned the Ancient Hypnotic Toad. "My little toad is that strong...?" His voice was somewhat disbelieving; Not that the lion king cared about that, though: "Of course it it; It is an ancient Soul Beast of times where even True Dragons still wandered this world; How could it be weak? While the Soul Skills I will provide you might be stronger, think about how powerful the Ancient Hypnotic Toad will become once it reaches the same cultivation as I."

The lion king shifted its position, glancing at the Purple Forest Witch that had fallen asleep on its back. "The same goes for the Purple Forest Witch. While not extinct, nor as powerful as the Ancient Hypnotic Toad, it is still incredibly powerful and will eventually reach the same strength as I. You have to take good care of both of them; They will become your most powerful allies within due time."

After speaking its part, the lion king lowered its head and closed its eyes, ignoring what was going on around it and seemingly dozing off. "Senior..." Sheng Feilong stood still in front of its corpse, focusing on what was going on in his spiritual consciousness. He couldn't believe through how much trouble the lion king must have gone to reach this point.

To calmly accept its own death, to begin with; To become the Spirit Soul for a human, who had hunted its kind down thousands of years ago and even accept its own inferiority to the other Spirit Souls within Sheng Feilong's spiritual consciousness. All this, and it only asked for Sheng Feilong to protects its pride in the future.

Sheng Feilong pulled a shortsword out of his Spacial Ring, bowing before the lion king's body after finding the spot that would most likely contain the Soul Bone. He cut it open, carefully searching for the Soul Bone.

Just a few moments later, he held the massive Soul Bone in its hand; nearly the size of Sheng Feilong's own torso and formed like a spinal column with a dozen ribs attacked to it – A full fledged, 177.000-years-old Torso Type Soul Bone.

Still, Sheng Feilong was a bit confused; Unlike what one would expect from Soul Bones, the lion king's torso Soul Bone looked more like normal bone that a spiritual treasure. It's colour was an ivory white, with barely a few hints of the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's trademark golden colour. 'Did Senior... have to substitute its own bones with a Soul Bone to survive...?'

A terrifying thought ran through Sheng Feilong's head, but he quickly shook it off and carefully placed the Soul Bone in his Spacial Ring. With the lion kng asleep, he didn't wish to simply absorb it – The history behind it interested him too much and, after obtaining such a treasure, he wanted to consult with Song Weihan first.

He turned his head towards the exit, bowing before the lion king's body once more. Now, after all this, it was finally time for Sheng Feilong to leave the cave. He could still clearly see inside the cave thanks to the power he obtained from the pool of Sheng Wuyong's blood and the changes to his eyes and thoughtlessly wandered through down the pathway.

It's been about an hour since Huang Jialong and Yuanen Yehui felt the powerful burst of Soul Power from within deeper into the cave and they had returned to cultivating silently. Only the crimson-maned lion was still focused on what was going on deep in the cave; Thanks to this, it was the first to hear the footsteps echoing through the pathways.

Soon after, Sheng Feilong came into view; He still wore the same casual attire from before, spotless and devoid of any dirt, but as the crimson-maned lion looked at it, an invisible pressure seemed to radiate off of Sheng Feilong. The crimson-maned lion had felt this before – when faced with the Golden Lion's old king – but not as intense as right now.

It lowered its head ever so slightly, observing Sheng Feilong's every move and scanning over him once with its Spirit Power. "You have become stronger once more... Now, you truly hold my king's power..." Sheng Feilong stopped in front of it, with a respectful distance between the two of them and bowed. "Junior Sheng Feilong greets the new king of lions. I apologize for not greeting you before, Senior."

"...There is no need to greet me as king for you, who is so much closer to obtaining our brethren's true power." The crimson-maned lion answered with a good natured tone, pleased by Sheng Feilong's respectful approach. A moment later, though, its expression turned more solemn. "My king, he..."

"After Senior become my Spirit Soul, I was able to see him in his full glory; Great and powerful as it was in its prime, yet with all the wisdom he obtained through the years. It is incredible. Senior is currently resting after helping me to truly awaken my blood, bestowing a new Soul Ring upon me and telling me a few things." Sheng Feilong replied calmly, causing the crimson-maned lion to simply nod its head before standing up.

The new lion king walked towards the exit of the cave, its strong presence and the sounds of its movements pulling Huang Jialong and Yuanen Yehui out of their meditation. The two of them looked at the lion king with confused expression; Huang Jialong spotting Sheng Feilong first. "You're back."

His voice was calm, but loud enough for Yuanen Yehui to also notice Sheng Feilong. Sheng Feilong smiled, throwing Huang Jialong's Spacial Ring back to him, while the latter eyed him up and down. Without even looking, Huang Jialong caught the ring and put it back at his finger. "It's been a month since you left with the old lion king. Did you manage to awaken your bloodline?"

Sheng Feilong nodded his head, smirking at the same time. "Yeah, I did... And not only that." He paused for a moment, his Soul Power rising, quicjkly displaying the pressure of a Soul Saint to Yuanen Yehui and Huang Jialong. Yuanen Yehui's eyes twinkled, while Huang Jialong's expression playfully soured. "You've already surpassed me..."

"Your fault for not putting enough effort into cultivating. You've got to focus more." Sheng Feilong said with a laugh, walking towards the two of them. The crimson-maned lion had already left the cave by now, so the three of them were rather relaxed.

Rolling his eyes at Sheng Feilong, Huang Jialong retorted with an annoyed sneer. "Yeah right; Easy enough for you to say with all this cheat-like help from your Ancestor and the old lion king." Sheng Feilong started chuckling at his answer, but didn't probe any deeper, instead, his attention was drawn to Yuanen Yehui. "You're already a Soul Emperor?"

A surprised expression flashed on Yuanen Yehui's face. She had been suppressing her energy this whole time and made no moves that would hint at her current strength, yet Sheng Feilong instantly saw through her. "Yeah, that's right. How did you know?" Again, Sheng Feilong only smiled lightly. "My eyes got a bit special after awakening my bloodline..."

"Your eyes..?" Huang Jialong tilted his head before his eyebrows rose sharply. "You opened the third eye? The Three-Eyed Golden Lion's legendary third eye?" Yuanen Yehui also stared at Sheng Feilong, both of them unable to truly belief him. However, Sheng Feilong lightly shook his head. "No, I haven't opened the third eye yet. My bloodline awakening has a few more steps; One of the rudimentary being the ability to see the flow of energy in the air and even living and inanimate objects. That's the level I'm at."

The two of them nodded, Yuanen Yehui fixedly staring at Sheng Feilong's forehead. "Then, what if you truly open the third eye..?" The latter could already guess what she was thinking and laughed. "Don't worry. It won't be a physical eye. More like a spiritual one than can be opened and closed at will.. Like the red symbol on my head when I use my Spirit Essence."

Yuanen Yehui nodded, heaving a slight sigh of release, to which Huang Jialong and Sheng Feilong could only chuckle. A few moments later, Huang Jialong looked back at the two of them. "Anyways... it's been half a year already. We should return home."