"Fool!"
Wang Zhong extended his arm, embracing the tip of the nose of the pair of little foxes, which was tiny for them but a considerable size for him. It felt warm and smooth, like holding a piece of warm, cool jade.
"You are my martial soul, existing like a companion that grew up with me until now."
"Immortality and invincibility are indeed the ultimate desires of everyone, including myself."
"But if the way to obtain them is to harm the people and things I cherish around me, then to me, they are merely dust that can be discarded at will."
"You are the most important things to me."
Up to this point, Wang Zhong had only encountered the human devil Ning Wudi once, but that person's inhumane and bloodthirsty actions filled him with extreme disgust and anger.
Four years of Bibi Dong's tutelage had instilled a trace of ruthlessness and coldness into Wang Zhong's character, but no matter how cold-blooded or ruthless he became, he could not bring himself to be as cruel as Ning Wudi, who treated human lives like straw and human flesh like food.
Survival of the fittest; if you don't kill him, he will kill you!
This was something he had personally experienced in the Death Valley, taught by Bibi Dong.
A single soul bone had incited several soul masters who entered the Death Valley to harbor murderous intent towards him, a stranger. Although they all died in the end, Wang Zhong was depressed for a full month after that day.
Bibi Dong offered no comfort or explanation, merely staying by Wang Zhong's side quietly.
A month later, Wang Zhong came to terms with himself.
Killing was not inherently bad; it protected himself and those important to him.
As long as those important existences behind him remained unharmed, it didn't matter how many people he killed.
Whether it was sin or evil, as long as the cherished things behind him were forever smiling and happy, it was worth it, even if his hands were stained with blood and he was scorned by thousands!
He was not a great man, a sage, or a guardian of the continent. All he cared about were those few people and those sincere and passionate emotions.
Other things were worthless!
Feeling the warmth and heat emanating from the tip of his nose, the little fox's gaze grew increasingly gentle and warm.
Although it had lost its physical body, it had gained some peculiar emotions, feelings it had never experienced even when it had reached the pinnacle of the beast world.
Sensing the little fox's gradually softening emotions, Wang Zhong asked with a light smile, "Alright, now you know, right? I can't possibly join them."
"Although I have many questions I want to ask, I know my own strength is too weak. Even if I knew the answers, it would be of no use."
"Let's focus on doing things one step at a time first."
"For example, how to absorb this soul bone."
The little fox's body gradually shrunk before Wang Zhong's eyes. When it finally became level with him, it nuzzled his cheek and then said, "To absorb that soul bone, you must first make it your own!"
"Make it my own?" Wang Zhong felt confused. Didn't all soul bones become part of one's body after absorption?
"Yes!" The little fox nodded solemnly and slowly said, "Normally, with the great power of the Holy Spirit Cult's leader, no one on the entire continent could achieve this."
"But fortunately, you are precisely someone who can!"
"Something I can do, but others cannot?" Wang Zhong frowned at this statement and fell into thought.
In fact, there were quite a few such things, but after careful consideration, Wang Zhong believed it should be related to three factors.
First, the little fox; second, the tree martial soul; and third, himself.
The first two were easy to understand: the two martial souls were blessed with unique qualities, their origins were mysterious and unfathomable, and they were terrifyingly powerful. The third was Wang Zhong's extremely peculiar physical ability.
That terrifying life force, close to infinite regeneration, was truly incomparable to others.
But upon further thought, Wang Zhong excluded himself. Just the human devil alone made him despair. He was nowhere near capable of comparing himself to figures like the Holy Spirit Cult's leader.
As Wang Zhong was making his conjectures, the little fox had already provided the answer.
"The natural energy condensed by the tree martial soul can cleanse all traces related to Ning Wudi and the Holy Spirit Cult's leader from the soul bone!"
"After being washed by the natural energy, the soul bone will become entirely your possession, and even if Ning Wudi were to be resurrected, he wouldn't be able to take it away."
Wang Zhong nodded repeatedly, then withdrew from the sea of consciousness of his spiritual power, opened his eyes, and began to communicate with the tree martial soul.
Soon, several streams of green natural energy from around the apartment surged towards Wang Zhong's room.
Gathering the incoming streams of green energy in his hand, he then brought the soul bone over and placed it in his other palm. The natural energy enveloped it entirely, permeating into the soul bone bit by bit.
The entire bone began to change color, from its original iridescent glow to a state resembling an emerald.
Watching the natural energy continuously penetrate the soul bone and dye it green, Wang Zhong felt a bit perplexed, as he didn't feel like anything was being eliminated.
But as this thought arose in his mind, wisps of bloody energy and wisps of dark energy crawled out from within the soul bone as if they were alive.
They resembled parasitic worms filled with death and foul odor.
These worm-like bloody and dark energies, upon emerging from the soul bone, suddenly became extremely ferocious. They writhed wildly, trying to burrow back into the soul bone. Some even attempted to break through the encirclement of natural energy and attack Wang Zhong outside.
However, the natural energy seemed to have a powerful restraining and purifying effect on this dark and red aura.
Before they could escape the soul bone, they vanished without a trace under the purification of the natural energy. Even the energies that attempted to burrow back into the soul bone were forcibly pushed out and completely purified.
Seeing the green energy exert its might and completely purify the dark and bloody energies, turning the entire soul bone into a jade-green color, Wang Zhong did not immediately retrieve the soul bone.
Instead, he communicated with the tree martial soul, condensed more natural energy, and once again tightly enveloped the soul bone.
He initially thought it was just a moment of caution and disgust, but to Wang Zhong's immense surprise, under this high concentration of natural energy coverage and penetration, a creature no thicker than a chopstick, resembling a black and red little snake, actually emerged from the soul bone. It coiled tightly around the soul bone, hissing and flicking its forked tongue, appearing ferocious and terrifying.
But even so, that black and red little snake was entirely purified under the engulfment of the natural energy, without even a chance to attack Wang Zhong.
After letting the soul bone soak in the natural energy for a while longer, a full hour passed without any abnormalities appearing. Wang Zhong finally breathed a deep sigh of relief.
The moment that little snake appeared from the soul bone, Wang Zhong involuntarily shivered. It was evil, extremely cold, and utterly bizarre.
If not for the little fox's reminder, who would have believed that such a thing could be hidden within a soul bone?
As the natural energy in his hand was about to dissipate, Wang Zhong felt the tree martial soul, hidden in the void, tremble slightly.
The natural energy that was about to disperse enveloped Wang Zhong's entire body, circulating in and out like a cleansing wash. He could clearly feel the scouring sensation.
As Wang Zhong felt puzzled, he suddenly heard something in his body shatter.
At this moment, he also recalled Ning Wudi's finger strike in the flames.
That person had planted some hidden hand on him, but the tree martial soul sensed the abnormality in Wang Zhong's body and instinctively purified it.