Combining Hardness and Softness
The process of absorbing the Soul Ring was completely smooth. Compared to the Soul Hunting, Zhou You encountered almost no difficulties in this stage, as easily as eating a meal.
Yang Tianxiong's ability to accept things had greatly improved by this time, and he felt somewhat numb.
I'm still a little curious. "What is your Second Soul Skill?"
Zhou You didn't hide anything, but there was no point in just talking. He re-manifested the Heaven- and Earth-Harmonizing Umbrella and then drew the Umbrella Sword.
The next moment, a purple Soul Ring rose up and was placed on the sword hilt.
Yang Tianxiong was somewhat dazed. Thousand-Year Second Soul Ring! This was incredibly rare. Even now, he still felt like he was in a dream.
It was all so easy, so natural, that he could hardly believe it.
Thinking back on all the cases he had heard of before, the vast majority of people who tried to absorb a transcendent Soul Ring either suffered serious injuries or their bodies simply exploded.
Looking back now, he realized he actually believed Zhou You's nonsense and let him try to absorb Thousand-Year Soul Ring. If anything went wrong, wouldn't Elder She skin him alive?
But perhaps Zhou You's expression was too calm and too matter-of-fact, making people unconsciously believe him.
And as it turns out, his confidence was not unfounded.
Whether fighting the Sawtooth Silvergrass or absorbing the Soul Ring, Zhou You's performance was impeccable, and everything seemed to go so smoothly.
It went so smoothly that he almost forgot it was actually a rather astonishing thing.
Zhou You had no idea what Yang Tianxiong was thinking at that moment. He sent his Qi into the Umbrella Sword, feeling it being reshaped under the influence of the Soul Ring, undergoing a kind of formalized reorganization that he did not understand, forming a new [Spell Formula].
Then Yang Tianxiong saw that the Umbrella Sword in Zhou You's hand suddenly shot forward, extending rapidly from a few tens of centimeters to one meter, two meters... and finally stopping at a length of about five meters.
Logically, with such a length, the weight of the Umbrella Sword should increase significantly, and the center of gravity should shift forward.
But judging from Zhou You's expression, that sense of weight seemed to be completely absent.
In reality, it didn't exist, because the [Light as Nothing] characteristic was still there. Zhou You couldn't feel the weight at all. He held the Umbrella Sword horizontally and slowly swept it from left to right, cutting down swathes of reeds in half and causing them to fall neatly.
"Actually, it could be extended a bit more," Zhou You said, "But beyond five meters, the Soul Power consumed would be even greater, which wouldn't be worth it."
The sharpness of the Umbrella Sword itself is only passable; it is not Light as Nothing, the shortcomings can be made up for through swordsmanship.
Therefore, in actual combat, he would add a layer of Sword Qi buff to the Umbrella Sword. As a result, energy allocation would be relatively tight. At least at the lower level, Soul Masters do not have the capital to squander Soul Power recklessly.
Zhou You's Qi quality is higher, but in terms of consumption, it's not much less than Soul Power. Moreover, this is Thousand-Year Soul Ring, and while his Soul Skills are stronger, the consumption will be slightly greater than that of an ordinary Soul Master's Second Soul Skill.
This is just a demonstration; the actual effects of this Soul Skill will only be revealed in real combat.
Yang Tianxiong, at least, didn't understand how much of a role "extending" could play in a battle.
But Zhou You didn't explain; instead, he immediately demonstrated another effect of this Soul Skill.
With a slight flick of his wrist, the once straight sword suddenly became supple. As he swung his wrist, the sword traced an arc in the air like a snake.
His movements became faster and faster, and the sound of strong winds cutting through the air filled the air. The Umbrella Sword danced around him like a dragon, and for a moment, even the wind became dangerous.
Then he began to use footwork, and the supple blade of the sword moved with him, protecting him completely. With the naked eye, it was impossible to even see where the tip of the sword was.
The air was filled with the whistling sounds of swords cutting through the air; it felt as if the Umbrella Swords were everywhere, and one never knew when they would strike.
Of course, Yang Tianxiong could distinguish it with his eyesight, but he was certain that at least at the Soul Elder stage, it would be difficult to see the movement trajectory of the sword. In the state of a soft sword, the movement speed of the sword tip could even reach the speed of sound.
Zhou You was using at this point could no longer be called swordsmanship, but rather whip techniques!
Suddenly, he ducked his head, a flash of silver light behind him, and the tip of a sword appeared out of nowhere, like a venomous snake flicking its tongue, darting out and then retracting in an instant.
Yang Tianxiong understood that if there were any enemies in front of Zhou You at this moment, they would probably have already been killed by the suddenly appearing sword tip.
He was getting more and more confused; where did they learn these tricks from...?
After the drill, Zhou You stood still, and the Umbrella Sword had somehow returned to its original state.
"That's roughly it. Under the effect of the Second Soul Skill, this sword can be both hard and soft, long and short, controlled at will, and its speed can be adjusted at will."
"In its Hard Sword form, the sword's hardness is greatly increased, making it very difficult to break; in its softened form, its toughness is greatly increased, making it extremely difficult to break free once bound by it."
"Moreover, the blade is covered with countless tiny serrations. It must be the Sawtooth Silvergrass that gave the Umbrella Sword this characteristic, which was an unexpected bonus. If you are caught off guard and it bites you, it can cut off a large piece of flesh."
Yang Tianxiong grinned, thinking to himself, "Your Soul Skill is a bit underhanded."
He was a seasoned Soul Douluo, and Power Attack System at that, so he was able to discern the threat posed by this Soul Skill from Zhou You's words.
This Second Soul Skill is not like Yan's instantaneous burst type, which can produce huge damage at once. Instead, it is a type that can be continuously effective. In fact, it is more like Control System skill.
However, compared to the pure control skills of ordinary Control System, this Soul Skill also has extremely strong destructive power.
In any case, once you're entangled by a soft sword, unless the enemy has a body of steel, as Zhou You said, even if you manage to break free, you'll still leave behind a large chunk of flesh and blood!
Zhou You's Second Soul Skill may not be the strongest among all similar Soul Skills, but it is certainly the most balanced in all aspects and the most troublesome.
Especially when combined with his combat techniques learned from who-knows-where, the threat he poses far exceeds that of an ordinary Soul Grandmaster.
Yang Tianxiong suspected that he could now easily defeat most Soul Elder, considering that Zhou You had not only the Umbrella Sword as a "spear" but also the Heaven- and Earth-Harmonizing Umbrella as a "shield"!
It possesses both offensive and defensive capabilities.
The "shield parry" skill was already difficult to deal with, and now there's an offensive skill too! Hey! The upcoming combat training is going to be quite a spectacle.
However, Yang Tianxiong still offered a reminder: "When sparring with the students, try to go easy on them."
"Okay." Zhou You nodded obediently.
The abilities he just mentioned are only the basic effects of his Second Soul Skill; he hasn't even mentioned the power after adding Sword Qi. Hmm, imagine being whipped by a whip imbued with Sword Qi —that feeling, heh...
In short, this Second Soul Skill has made up for Zhou You's lack of offensive capabilities. Relying on the anti-armor to win every time was still a bit passive. Now, he can finally take the initiative in the battle.
To be conservative, if we were to fight Yan or Xie Yue now...
One move is enough.