The three-year period has passed: Soul Skills and the future

Three years passed in the blink of an eye.

Xiang Yang was preparing to end his elementary school life. His Soul Power Level had reached eleven, and at the end of last month, he had obtained his First Soul Ring with help from Grandmaster and Tang San.

The Soul Ring came from a Radiant Vine, a vine-type plant Soul Beast with golden-yellow patterns on its surface that glowed only during the day. It grew one golden flower for every ten years of cultivation and could bear one golden fruit for every hundred. According to books, the Soul Beast would turn purple if it reached a thousand years, but no one had seen one progress beyond that. A rough conjecture was that a thousand years was the limit of this Soul Beast's bloodline.

The fruit was quite appealing to Soul Beasts, as it could directly increase their Soul Power a little. It was of little use to humans, though, doing nothing beyond slightly speeding up their Soul Power recovery for that day. Moreover, once picked, it had to be eaten the same day, or it would wither and lose its effect by nightfall.

If ranked as a Martial Soul, it would fall into the intermediate category at best.

The one Xiang Yang absorbed had been specially selected from a cluster of vines and had four hundred years of cultivation. Hunting it had been easy and taken little effort, and the three of them had also obtained four fruits. Unfortunately, they hadn't tasted very good, so they hadn't deliberately gathered any more.

This was mainly because Tang San and Xiao Wu had both obtained their Second Soul Rings two months earlier. Capturing an ordinary four-hundred-year plant-type Soul Beast had been as easy as reaching out and grabbing it.

Aside from lashing and wrapping around its targets, the Radiant Vine's only means of attack was to hurl its fruits and detonate them. In Xiang Yang's estimation, their power was about the same as the snap pops from his previous life, and once used, they needed time to grow back. Fortunately, it was a Soul Beast, after all, so a week was enough.

Aside from making a loud noise and giving someone a fright, they seemed useless. But the Soul Beast he had chosen naturally wasn't truly useless. After checking carefully, Xiang Yang found in a travelogue that the Radiant Vine glowed only during the day because it absorbed the sun's energy far more efficiently than most Soul Beasts. It spent the night digesting that energy, so it didn't glow then.

From Xiang Yang's observations, the plants here were much like those in his previous life and underwent a similar form of photosynthesis. Most of the heaven and earth primordial Qi absorbed by plant-type Soul Beasts was Sun-attribute energy.

By comparison, the Radiant Vine was one of the best choices among Soul Beasts of the same age. Besides, there was only one Soul Hunting Forest around Nuoding City, so there weren't that many species to choose from.

All things considered, it was the best target, and the effect provided by its Soul Ring was just as Xiang Yang had expected. His Martial Soul had already been like a sun, and after absorbing the Radiant Vine, its originally green stalk and leaves gained golden patterns, while the light from its flower head shone even more brilliantly.

His Martial Soul had also become more efficient at absorbing sunlight energy. If its efficiency before absorption was one, afterward it had become 1.5. It seemed insignificant now, but that wouldn't be the case in the future.

That wasn't even his greatest gain. Xiang Yang had discovered that he could directly control the sunlight energy within his Martial Soul. The important word here was "directly."

Normally, the only energy a Soul Master could directly control was the Soul Power inside their body. Unless a Soul Master's spiritual power was strong enough to extend beyond the body, they couldn't even attempt to control the heaven and earth primordial Qi outside. This usually required the cultivation of a Titled Douluo, which was also why, regardless of their Martial Soul, anyone who reached the Titled Douluo rank could fly.

One thing had to be understood: strictly speaking, the sunlight energy didn't belong to Xiang Yang. It could only be considered as being stored inside his Martial Soul. Although a Martial Soul was part of a Soul Master, that was merely a figure of speech; it didn't mean the two were truly one and the same.

Otherwise, how could he have been burned by sunlight energy? Xiang Yang had imagined how nice it would be if it really did count that way. At the rate his Martial Soul stored sunlight energy, it would have taken him less than half a day to go from level one to level ten.

First Soul Skill: Sunlight Seed

The consumer's Soul Power and stamina recovery speed increased by 20%, while their Soul Power and physical attributes increased by 10% across the board.

Unlike the skills of most support-type Soul Masters, whose effects lasted only a few minutes, Sunlight Seed's effects could last around ten minutes, depending on the Soul Master's own attributes. With Tang San's Blue Silver Grass, for instance, it lasted twelve or thirteen minutes, while for Xiao Wu it lasted less than eight.

It might even harm Soul Masters with negative attributes.

With his current Soul Power, he could use it thirty or forty times a day without a problem. Moreover, it was a rare Soul Skill that could grow. Like the Soul Skills of Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Soul Masters, its boosts could increase as its user's level rose. If Xiang Yang reached the Titled Douluo rank, the two boosts from his First Soul Skill would reach 100% and 50%, respectively.

This further strengthened their belief in the theory of compatibility between Martial Souls and Soul Rings.

Incidentally, Tang San's First Soul Ring had come from Jade Dew Moss, which they had found beside a spring on their second day in the Soul Hunting Forest. Along the way, they had encountered only a few small Soul Beasts, such as rabbits and deer.

This plant was normally food for many Soul Beasts, but most of the Soul Beasts in the Soul Hunting Forest were carnivores. On top of that, few people hunted this kind of Soul Beast, allowing Tang San to take his time choosing one.

After he absorbed it with ease, his Blue Silver Grass took on quite a few moss-like characteristics and looked much thicker. Tests showed that its toughness had also improved greatly: it held out for five minutes under attacks from a fire-attribute Soul Master of the same level before turning to ash. Both Tang San and Grandmaster were very satisfied with this.

An unexpected bonus was the effect of the Soul Skill Clear Dew Drink. When activated, it condensed a Blue Silver Grass leaf, which secreted clear, transparent grass dew that gathered into a drop the size of a fingernail.

Drinking the dew had multiple effects, including rapidly relieving fatigue, calming the mind, and slightly accelerating the healing of wounds. None was particularly powerful on its own, but its advantages lay in its versatility, lack of side effects, low consumption, and long shelf life. Some of its effects could also grow stronger as its user's level rose, though the increase wasn't as great as Xiang Yang's. After all, Blue Silver Grass itself wasn't a Food-type Martial Soul, at least not for humans.

Tests showed that with level-thirteen Soul Power, Tang San could use it more than a hundred times in succession. The dew could also be stored separately; the grass leaf was merely a container.

Xiang Yang therefore suggested putting it all in a drinking cup and taking a sip when needed, equivalent to consuming the effect a dozen or so times at once. Later, several of them independently switched to larger cups, which meant that Tang San's Soul Power stayed below half at all times except at night.

That day, when the academy's two morning classes ended, Xiang Yang stopped Tang San and Xiao Wu.

"Tang San, Xiao Wu, I'm getting ready to leave," he said, dropping a bombshell that startled them both.

"What happened? Did something happen to your family?"

Tang San spoke first, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes. After three years of spending time and exchanging ideas with Xiang Yang, he had long considered him a good friend, especially since Xiang Yang had helped him a great deal with Martial Soul cultivation and theory. If someone had...

"Yeah, Little Sun, tell Sister Xiao Wu what's wrong. Is someone bullying you? Sister Xiao Wu will take care of them." She patted her chest as she spoke. She was now a level-twenty-one Soul Grandmaster, a considerable expert in Nuoding City.

"No." Xiang Yang looked at the blackboard ahead and said calmly, "It's just a bit wasteful. If we stay here any longer, we'll be wasting too much time. Don't you think so?"

Tang San immediately fell deep in thought. "Huh? Isn't it pretty good here? There's food and fun, and I have loads of little brothers. Besides, we still have three years until graduation, don't we?" Xiao Wu didn't know which wire had come loose in the glowing boy's head for him to start saying things she couldn't understand again.

"No, Xiao Wu. To be precise, the graduation requirement for an elementary Soul Master Academy is only to reach level ten and obtain a Soul Ring," Tang San corrected her. "The two of us could even graduate from an intermediate Soul Master Academy now and go straight to an advanced one."

"Yes, exactly. Besides, the academy can no longer help us grow. Never mind you, Xiao Wu—Tang San and I stopped needing to attend classes long ago." At this, Xiao Wu, who was never willing to admit defeat in an argument, didn't refute him. After all, she had obtained her Second Soul Ring, [Red-Eyed Moonshadow], because of his theory, and it was much better than the several options she had originally planned.

At first, she had thought little of it. As a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast who had undergone Soul Beast Transformation, how could her understanding of her own Soul Skills possibly be inferior to that of an underage human child?

But the result told Xiao Wu that while she couldn't quite be said to have no talent in this area, it was close enough. She could only concede. Her new Soul Skill was too strong—"it tastes so good" never went out of style!

In Xiang Yang's view, the combination of Xiao Wu's skills in the original story had been far too messy. Each was good on its own, and a few could even be called divine skills, but somehow, put together, they became a lump of crap.

That was why he wanted to arrange a more reasonable combination. In any case, as a transformed Soul Beast, Xiao Wu didn't need to specifically hunt corresponding Soul Beasts for her first six Soul Rings. He only needed to suggest a plan.

Xiao Wu's Second Soul Skill: Red-Eyed Moonshadow

Its outward appearance was similar to that in the original story: her eyes turned red in both cases. But unlike Charm, which merely emitted a red light, this Soul Skill turned Xiao Wu's eyes blood-red throughout when activated, and silver crescent-moon patterns appeared in them.

It had two effects. The first was a passive boost to herself. While her eyes were red, Xiao Wu's speed, including both movement and nerve response, and the circulation speed of her Soul Power would increase by 30%. She would also gain a degree of immunity to pain and negative spiritual conditions. It was similar to going berserk, but with much smaller side effects: at most, she would suffer a period of mental fatigue.

Second, she only needed to meet her opponent's eyes once while her eyes were red. At any point within the next minute, she could then launch a single, one-sided spiritual shock. A moon would appear in the target's sight, temporarily covering their field of vision. The stronger their spirit, the less they would be affected, which was outwardly reflected in how full or thin the moon in their eyes appeared.

The maximum duration was also one minute. As the effect neared its end, the arc of the moon in the opponent's eyes would shrink until it vanished completely. However, that situation meant Xiao Wu's strength was already enough to completely suppress the opponent, so she wouldn't need the Soul Skill anyway.

Moreover, because it was only a one-sided, one-time spiritual shock, unlike Charm in the original story, it didn't require a comparison of both sides' spiritual strength. Even if the disparity was too great, she wouldn't suffer any backlash.

Combined with the boost from her First Soul Skill, Waist Bow, Xiao Wu could easily take down a Soul Master ten levels above her with a single combo. In Xiang Yang's words, she was a high-burst assassin-type fighter.

Xiao Wu hadn't yet considered leaving Nuoding City. After hesitating, she said, "But there's no need to graduate early, is there? Going to those intermediate Soul Master Academies wouldn't be much use, and you can't get into an advanced one." She was reluctant to leave her life here behind, so she came up with a reason she thought was passable.

Xiang Yang disagreed. "Hmph, how could sparrows understand the ambitions of a swan! Think about it: with my cultivation speed of three levels a year, plus the two of you, how could any academy refuse us? Besides, we're not going to an ordinary academy. Tang San!" As he finished, he looked at Tang San, giving him a signal with his eyes.

Tang San was a little taken aback, but he picked up the conversation anyway. "Right. Xiao Wu, do you remember the Monster Academy Teacher told us about?"

"Huh? You talk about so many things every day. How am I supposed to remember?" Xiao Wu didn't care about all those odds and ends, especially since she couldn't understand some of what they said. "Anyway, it's enough for you two to remember."

The two boys sighed in unison. Tang San ended up explaining, "The Monster Academy Teacher mentioned is in Suotuo City in the Balak Kingdom. Its philosophy is to accept no ordinary students, only monsters—in other words, only genius Soul Masters." Though Tang San wasn't quite sure what was special about the academy, since Teacher had made this arrangement himself, Tang San naturally had no objections. He believed Teacher must have made the decision for his sake.

"Oh, that academy without even a grade?" Xiao Wu remembered, but her reaction was the same as before. "I'm just saying, with our qualifications, what advanced academy couldn't we get into? Why do we have to go to some no-name, fly-by-night academy?"

Tang San didn't know much about it either, so he could only say, "Teacher must have his reasons. There should be circumstances there we don't know about. I'm sure Teacher's arrangement can't be wrong."

"All right, all right." Seeing him say that, Xiao Wu could only wave her hand.

"I know a little, because there's a Soul Saint there." Xiang Yang's words moved them both. "Really?"

"Absolutely. In the Soul Master World, there's a group known as the Golden Iron Triangle. Grandmaster is one of its members, the Horn of Wisdom.

"I made a few inquiries at Spirit Hall and found out that another member of the trio back then was the Horn of Flight. His Soul Power Level was already approaching the Soul Saint rank. Judging by his age at the time, it's impossible for him to have made no progress after all these years. He most likely broke through to the Soul Saint rank long ago. There were also some rumors that he took a number of friends to the Balak Kingdom and opened a Soul Master Academy with them. It caused quite a stir at the time, but after a good many years, they gradually faded from notice."

"I see. If the rumors are true, then the Monster Academy Teacher wants me to attend should be the one opened by that Soul Saint expert."

"Mm, there's a good chance of that. The most important thing a Soul Master Academy can offer its students is resources. For a Soul Master's cultivation, the most common and important resources are suitable Soul Rings. This Monster Academy has at least one Soul Saint-level expert. And even if the people who can be friends with a Soul Saint aren't Soul Saints themselves, they can't be much weaker.

"Faculty like that are much stronger than those of the vast majority of advanced Soul Master Academies. And I heard that because of its philosophy, the academy has fewer students than teachers most of the time. If we go there, we won't have to worry about our next several Soul Rings."

Xiang Yang's final analysis made both of them nod. Even though Xiao Wu could obtain Soul Rings without hunting Soul Beasts, she understood very well how much an expert could help a low-level Soul Master.

If her parents hadn't been Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts, it would have been very difficult for her to cultivate to a hundred thousand years on her own. After all, while the Soft Bone Rabbit couldn't quite be said to have no bloodline, it was about on par with Blue Silver Grass. At best, because it was an animal-type Soul Beast, it was somewhat stronger as an individual.