Yu Xiaogang sat down cross-legged on the spot, channeling his soul power into the god-bestowed soul bone.

He began the absorption!

That's right—

He didn't give it to his disciple, Tang San.

He didn't give it to his close friend, Flender.

He didn't give it to the highly talented Oscar or anyone else either!

He chose to absorb it himself.

After all… it was an external soul bone!

Yu Xiaogang had been stuck at Rank 29 for far too long. If he could successfully absorb this external soul bone, he'd at least break through to Rank 30.

With some effort—

Rank 40, even 50, wasn't entirely out of reach.

In comparison—

Tang San was merely a tool to validate his theories. Even with a Titled Douluo father, he wasn't worth sacrificing an external soul bone over.

Diyi Hong hadn't expected this turn either.

A bit of a shame—he didn't get to set Tang San up.

But an unexpected reward came with it.

Tang San's facial expressions were comedy gold.

(ω) ↓Σ(っQДQ;)っ↓

凸(艹皿艹)

The face-changing king was back at it again!

[「God of Emotion」: We didn't manage to trap Tang San, but capturing that reaction face? Totally worth it.]

[「God of Rakshasa」: That two-faced bastard! Always scheming! Don't tell me… back then, he got close to me just to steal the Spirit Hall's library materials too?]

[「Phoenix God」: Be confident. Remove the "don't tell me."]

[「God of Speed」: I still don't get it. You, a Saintess of the Spirit Hall, fell for that?]

[「Nine-Colored Goddess」: I'm also curious.]

[「God of Rakshasa」: I was young and foolish! His flowery words fooled me!]

[「Phoenix God」: But seriously, what do you guys think this soul bone will turn into?]

[「God of Speed」: No idea. It's always a gamble.]

[「Nine-Colored Goddess」: Can it be an external soul bone, though?]

[「God of Speed」: It has happened before. But god-bestowed soul bones, like god-bestowed spirit rings, don't come with evolution traits.]

[「Phoenix God」: That's good to hear.]

[「God of Rakshasa」: Let it be the trashiest thing possible! Don't let that scum catch a break!]

The gods in the livestream all focused their attention across space and time.

As if they'd cursed Yu Xiaogang with a collective divine hex.

The shapeshifting god-bestowed soul bone slithered across his body before finally settling at his tailbone. There, it morphed into a thin, pink-hued bone…

He really got an external soul bone?!

But before Rakshasa God could start cursing—

The tailbone grew out into a curled, 30-centimeter-long stubby tail—

A pig tail!

A pink one, no less!

Against Yu Xiaogang's black robes and stern face—

It looked absolutely ridiculous.

"Pfft—"

Diyi Hong burst out laughing.

And once he started, everyone else joined in, unable to contain themselves.

"Hahaha—"

"A pig tail?!"

"A pink one?!"

"Goes great with his pig martial spirit!"

"Gahahaha!"

Tang San didn't laugh.

So what if it's a pig tail?

It's still an external soul bone!

Yu Xiaogang was unfazed as well. He closed his eyes, concentrating—

Huh?

Still Rank 29?

That can't be right…

Oh!

The pig tail had only a 233-year age?

What the hell?

233 years?

Who's ever heard of an external soul bone that low in age?!

Fine. No big deal.

External soul bones have potential to evolv—

Wait, what?

It can't evolve?!

No soul skill either?!

Yu Xiaogang's eyes snapped open. He glared furiously at Diyi Hong.

"What's going on with this external soul bone?!"

"233 years, can't evolve, no skill—"

"You knew this all along, didn't you?!"

Diyi Hong looked stunned.

Huh?

He had been racking his brain for a way to get this soul bone back before Yu Xiaogang benefitted from it—

And now you're yelling at him?

[「God of Rakshasa」: YES! Karma! Pure, uncut karma!]

Clearly a half-typed edit that pivoted mid-thought, but no one cared.

[「Nine-Colored Goddess」: This soul bone's a total scam—but a satisfying one!]

[「Phoenix God」: Lucky the streamer didn't absorb it himself, or we'd be laughing way harder.]

[「God of Speed」: This was supposed to go to Tang San, but the guy got greedy. Sucks to be him.]

[「God of Emotion」: Idiot! He should've given it to Tang San! DAMN IT!!!]

Human pain is not shared equally.

Yu Xiaogang was seething with rage—

While everyone else, both mortals and gods, laughed until they cried.

Especially Tang San.

Sweating profusely, he was beyond thankful he hadn't absorbed that thing.

He glanced at Yu Xiaogang's backside—

That wagging pink pig tail.

Tang San instinctively stepped several meters away.

Demon! Curse! Get away from me!

Purge all evil spirits!

"Answer me!" Yu Xiaogang roared. "You knew, didn't you?! You did this on purpose!"

Diyi Hong finally composed himself and replied with a shrug, a head tilt, and a smirk.

"Did I force you to absorb it? Who's to blame?"

"That soul bone was so ambiguous in function I used it for a gamble."

"Honestly—"

"You think I'd waste an external soul bone just to test a theory with you?"

"And besides—"

"Soul bones focus on boosting physique. Not all of them come with a soul skill."

"You didn't even know that?"

"Some master of theory you are."

Yu Xiaogang was trembling with fury, his chest heaving with unspeakable anger—

But he had no retort!

Utterly humiliated!

He couldn't breathe!

He was about to explode!

"Aaaarghhhh!!!"

He panted furiously, trying to calm down. He circulated his soul power—

Trying to retract that pink pig tail back into his body.

Fine, it's trash. But it's still external.

And he was still Rank 29. He hadn't lost anything.

But—

"What?!" Yu Xiaogang's expression twisted. "This external soul bone… can't be retracted?!"

Now even Diyi Hong was stunned.

Even a low-grade test piece shouldn't be this bad, right?

But Yu Xiaogang was drenched in sweat, clearly failing to retract the tail—

That pink pig tail remained proudly on display.

Diyi Hong couldn't help but burst out laughing again.

[「God of Rakshasa」: GOOD! That arrogant bastard, parading around with a pink pig tail—let's see if his she-dragon still likes him now!]

[「God of Emotion」: Damn it! Why wasn't it Tang San who got that thing?!]

[User「God of Speed」has gifted: 「God-Bestowed Soul Bone」×4]

[「God of Speed」: That's my whole stash. Streamer, make it count.]

[「God of Emotion」: Give them to Tang San! All 4! One has to turn out crap!]

[「God of Emotion」: Shove them down his throat if you have to! Trick him into a god realm fragment, then force them in!]

'Uh…'

'Emotion God, calm down a little.'

'Even god-bestowed soul bones are hard to remove once absorbed.'

'Limbs and torso you can just chop off and regrow.'

'But if it's a head bone, especially a rare one, the resurrection light can't bring you back without a full corpse.'

'That's basically giving it away for free!'

Now that it was spelled out—

Yeah, that made sense.

[「God of Emotion」: Fine. Just get him a pig tail or something equally dumb. I'll pay generously!]

'You got it. I'll keep an eye out.'

The God of Emotion finally calmed down.

But—

Yu Xiaogang had no such luxury.

He tugged, stuffed, twisted, and curled that pig tail—

But nothing worked. It wouldn't retract into his body.

It wasn't an external soul bone anymore.

It was a new body part!

Desperate, he tried covering it with a fresh long robe—

But—

"Riiiip—"

Even as a defective piece—

It was still sharp as hell.

The tail pierced straight through the robe and stubbornly curled back into the open—

And that…

Was the final straw for Yu Xiaogang's sanity!

[T/N: lmao Huo Yuhao is my favorite character so far. His rage boner to Tang San is the best thing in this fic.]

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