Beyond what he had already discovered, Xu Yang noticed one more ability:
He could focus his gaze to release and control the Sun True Fire.
This flame's temperature was unimaginably high—theoretically without limit. It could even burn Soul Power directly and possessed properties such as indestructibility, purification, and corrosion.
When combined with his enhanced vision, Xu Yang felt it resembled a certain eye technique from an anime he remembered—only his Sun True Fire was far more tyrannical.
"Brat, you alright? What's going on with your eyes?"
Seeing that Xu Yang had stabilized, Gu Rong stepped forward with concern. Dugu Bo, Dugu Yan, and Ning Haiyan also gathered, visibly worried.
"I'm fine," Xu Yang replied with a smile. The golden light in his eyes slowly faded, returning to their usual appearance. "It's an ability I gained after absorbing the Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew. You could say it's similar to an External Spirit Bone, but for my eyes. I call them the Sun Golden Eyes."
"As for that golden flame—it's called Sun True Fire, the inherent flame of my Sun Martial Soul. I wasn't able to use it before since I had no flame-based soul skill. But now, I suppose it counts as a lucky breakthrough."
"Then what about the golden flames you used before?" Dugu Yan asked curiously.
"That was just ordinary flame-type Soul Power," Xu Yang explained. "Not True Sunfire. The True Sunfire is formed from the fusion of Ultimate Fire and Ultimate Light, making it much more potent. The golden flames I used previously were still part of the Ultimate Fire spectrum, just not refined enough to qualify."
"Good. As long as you're okay," Gu Rong exhaled in relief, his expression softening. Then he picked up the unconscious golden Three-Tailed Fire Crow, which was still limp, and tossed it in front of Xu Yang. "Here's your target. I've knocked it out. Time to absorb it."
Looking at the crow's head, Xu Yang noticed it was layered with fist marks, suggesting Gu Rong had punched it unconscious more than once. He suspected that if the crow so much as stirred, Gu Rong would knock it out again instantly.
Without wasting time, Xu Yang summoned his Sun Sacred Blade and drove it directly into the crow's skull, twisting it to ensure the kill. The beast spasmed instinctively, its six-meter wings flaring out one last time before it finally went limp.
With its brain destroyed, the crow's body soon expired—and a black soul ring emerged above it.
Xu Yang didn't hesitate. He drew the soul ring toward himself and began the absorption process.
As the fusion began, the violent Soul Power within the mutated Three-Tailed Fire Crow surged wildly through his meridians.
Xu Yang immediately sensed that this soul ring was far stronger than expected. He entered a dual state of visualization and meditation, guiding the wild energy along the proper channels.
"Blockage leads to stagnation—better to reroute."
Xu Yang only knew a limited number of meridian pathways, so his Soul Power techniques had always followed the principle of redirection. When faced with a blocked pathway, he would instead channel the flow through nearby minor meridians.
Over time, he'd discovered that, beyond the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, the human body also contained countless subtle channels—like the synapses of the nervous system—controlling the body's most minute responses to Soul Power.
After about thirty minutes, the chaotic Soul Power began to calm and was slowly drawn in by his Martial Soul.
Suddenly, Xu Yang's consciousness grew hazy, and he found himself in a vast, azure space—like a boundless ocean, where the water shimmered like stars. In the center of this spiritual sea, a blazing sun hung high.
It was his spiritual sea—and hovering at its center was the remnant soul of the Three-Tailed Fire Crow.
Xu Yang instinctively tensed. This was the most dangerous part of soul ring absorption.
As soon as the crow's remnant soul saw him, it let out a silent shriek of hatred and launched itself at his spiritual form, its body cloaked in golden flames. Simultaneously, it activated the lingering Soul Power within the ring, assaulting his body and meridians from the outside.
Xu Yang found himself besieged on all sides—but thanks to his multi-threaded consciousness, he managed to hold his ground.
Outside, both Gu Rong and Dugu Bo were visibly tense. Their hands clenched tightly, ready to intervene at a moment's notice. They knew this was the most dangerous stage, and Gu Rong was already preparing to forcibly interrupt the absorption if anything went wrong.
Within his spiritual sea, Xu Yang gradually gained the upper hand. The golden flames of the crow proved ineffective against him, forcing the remnant soul into close-quarters combat.
But it was only a fragment, a fading will with no way to replenish its strength. It grew weaker by the minute.
Even so, Xu Yang didn't lower his guard. He hadn't forgotten—this Fire Crow's true trump card was its golden light.
Sure enough, as its strength waned, the crow's remnant soul grew desperate.
If it failed here, it would be erased from existence. It had no choice but to gamble everything on one final strike.
"Screee!!"
With a piercing cry, the crow opened its beak and fired a beam of golden light straight toward Xu Yang's forehead.
"Finally... I've been waiting for this!"
Xu Yang grinned. Between his hands, Soul Power twisted into a golden mirror-shield, which he raised in front of him.
The moment the beam hit, Xu Yang pushed forward—and successfully reflected the blast skyward. However, the recoil knocked him back over ten meters, his hands tingling from the impact.
"What insane power... Even prepared, I was still forced back. And that was just the aftershock."
His eyes sparkled with excitement. If just the remnant version of this skill was that powerful, what kind of might could it unleash once converted into his own soul skill?
On the other side of the battlefield, the crow's soul finally dissipated into motes of light—its last attack spent.
Xu Yang confirmed its complete annihilation, then turned his focus back to fully refining the power within the soul ring.
Outside, both Gu Rong and Dugu Bo sensed his energy stabilizing and slowly relaxed.
Xu Yang had passed the most dangerous phase.
All that remained was to refine the remaining essence—and the new soul ring would be his.