Looking at the purple soul ring, then again at the dead Man-Faced Demon Spider—which now looked like a broken piece of purple art—Salas wondered:
"So the soul bone isn't inside the soul beast, but inside the soul ring?"
Salas had already searched the dead spider's body, but it didn't contain the expected soul bone.
Recalling the original work as a reference, Salas could only guess that the soul bone was inside the soul ring.
"Then... BREAK."
Without hesitation, Salas used his soul power to directly shatter the soul ring.
He also forcefully reverted back to his normal form—but he didn't mind.
As dots of light from the broken soul ring returned to the dead Man-Faced Demon Spider's body, they began to condense.
Within a few minutes, the soul bone had fully taken shape.
Digging out the purple soul bone with his hand—one adorned with eight small, folded spider legs at the edges—Salas looked at it with excitement.
"Finally got it... My future god-level external soul bone. Heheh," Salas laughed inwardly.
For a minute, he had worried that the Man-Faced Demon Spider wouldn't produce a soul bone. Fortunately, he'd stayed calm and quick-witted. Otherwise, this soul bone might have gone to someone else...
After all, a few hours later, when the soul ring would have naturally disappeared, the soul bone would return to the spider's body. If someone got lucky, it'd become their wedding dress...
Salas immediately stored the external soul bone in his soul ring.
Now that he was in his normal form, he had to leave quickly.
"Fortunately, I'm always wearing this cloak..."
Spreading his spiritual power, Salas noticed a group of people approaching.
"It must be Zhao Wuji and the others... Those Dragon Snake old duo will come too... Best I take my leave."
Glancing once in Tang San's direction, Salas turned and quickly left the area.
"Sigh... I wanted to teach him some good morals. Now it seems... it's not the best time," Salas felt a little regret. But he quickly shook it off and disappeared into the distance.
---
Nearly a week later.
Platinum Bishop's Mansion, Heaven Dou City.
Inside his cultivation room—filled with all sizes and types of hammers—Salas sat cross-legged in the center and began absorbing the external soul bone.
As he started, the bone—initially solid—turned phantom-like and merged into Salas's spine.
Salas braced himself for the expected pain. After a series of crackling sounds, the eight spider legs also fused with his rib bones... and with that, the process ended.
But the pain never came.
"Um? So why did Tang San cry out in pain? Maybe... since I have a physique at the level of Titled Douluo, it wasn't as troublesome as it was for him," Salas thought.
His movements didn't stop. He soon removed his robe. Standing bare-chested, Salas looked at his skinny body.
"No eight-pack. Not even a six-pack..." he muttered, dissatisfied.
As he willed it, with a low crackling sound, a series of spider legs emerged from his back.
"This process is a little painful... but with practice, it'll get easier."
Seeing four spider lances on each side—nearly two meters long—Salas was excited.
He curiously touched the edge of one lance, feeling the sharp point.
"Quite sharp..." Although it didn't cut his skin, Salas could estimate its deadliness.
At the very least, it could now pierce a Soul King's body. And with future evolution, it would only become more formidable.
After a series of experiments with his new 'toy,' Salas finally retracted it back into his body.
He could feel that the bone hadn't completely merged with him yet. But for someone like him, that wasn't a big issue. He just needed to temper it with his powerful soul power. Eventually, it would fully fuse with his vertebrae.
"At that point, I'll be able to use it like a natural extension of my body... unlike now, where I have to will it into action."
"Next... I just have to wait for my subordinate's report. Once I confirm that Dugu Bo won't be going to Sunset Forest for a few days, I can make my move," Salas thought, planning ahead.
He no longer feared Dugu Bo. Before, he would've been cautious, but now, with his first soul skill, he didn't care.
Still, knowing Dugu Bo's whereabouts was essential.
If Salas wanted to absorb the Immortal Grasses without worry, Dugu Bo couldn't be there.
He was sure his Mirroring Stealth would deactivate once he began absorbing the grasses.
So, he had to wait until Dugu Bo went to visit his granddaughter.
---
Three days later
It didn't take long.
Just three days later, Shi San returned with news: Dugu Bo had come back to his mansion last night from somewhere.
Coincidentally, the day before had been a rainy day...
"Time to move... No—time to completely move," Salas thought.
Without delay, he went directly to the Treasury of the Spirit Hall Temple.
The Treasury was heavily guarded—but it couldn't stop Salas, the hall master himself.
Inside, he took all the valuables and money into his storage ring.
"Hehe... Since I'm leaving anyway, I'll help them keep this. It's the least I can do for Spirit Hall," Salas smiled wickedly as he transferred millions of gold coins into his ring.
As one of the two Spirit Hall Temples, Salas's temple was responsible for the Heaven Dou Empire—which meant they collected funds from the royal family to subsidize soul masters.
This money would then be divided and sent to other Spirit Hall branches throughout the empire.
Since the new month hadn't started yet, all the funds for next month—plus the treasures saved over the past five years—were still inside the Treasury.
Now, all of it belonged to Salas.
"The original Salas rose to this position all thanks to Spirit Hall... As a commoner by birth, it's not wrong to say that without Spirit Hall, there would be no Soul Douluo Salas today."
"I can feel his loyalty to Spirit Hall... So I've decided to repay the hand that fed me—by carrying all this weight," Salas puffed out his chest righteously, carrying tons of treasure, determined to 'help' Spirit Hall.
"Sigh... I know this world will misunderstand me. Even Spirit Hall will send someone to hunt me down... But I'm okay with it. What good man hasn't been misunderstood by the world?"
"Since I'm walking the path of repaying the original Salas's gratitude, it's inevitable..." With a small tear in his left eye, Salas left the Treasury, looking very, very lonely.