Martial Soul Evolution

The group followed Wu Changkong out of Spirit Pagoda and onto Eastsea Academy's Soul Tool Bus. At this time, it had just turned seven in Eastsea City. The sun had only just shown itself, and sunlight streamed in through the bus windows, giving everyone a refreshed, uplifted feeling.

This time, their gains in the Spirit Ascension Platform had been enormous, and the air was filled with cheer. Laughter and merry voices rang out nonstop.

The atmosphere between Zhang Yangzi and Xie Xie was especially lively. Gu Yue and Wang Jinxi occasionally said a few words as well.

As soon as Tang Wulin got on the bus, he sat down beside Wu Changkong and said in a low voice, "Teacher Wu, I also got a chance from the Blacksmith's Association to enter the Spirit Ascension Platform during the Rampage Period. What do you think I should do?"

"Hmm?" Wu Changkong was a little surprised for a moment. To get a ticket to the Spirit Ascension Platform during the Rampage Period from the Blacksmith's Association, it seemed Tang Wulin's talent for forging was quite good!

After thinking for a moment, Wu Changkong said, "You don't need to go in for now. Your Soul Spirit should have reached the limit your Spiritual Power can endure, right? Right now, the number and strength of the soul beasts inside the Spirit Ascension Platform will keep increasing. You won't gain much even if you go in, and even if you obtain Spiritual Power, you won't be able to absorb it. Keep this Rampage Period Spirit Ascension Platform ticket for yourself and use it next time, or sell it! Aren't you short on money? It should bring you a fair bit of funds!"

After hearing Wu Changkong's words, Tang Wulin chuckled and said, "Teacher Wu, I don't have any good channels. Could you point me toward a convenient place?"

Wu Changkong was taken aback, not expecting Tang Wulin to have been waiting for him here, and said, "Forget it. In a couple of days, I'll take you to an auction and show you the way."

Tang Wulin said gratefully, "Thank you, Teacher Wu!"

Seeing that Tang Wulin and Wu Changkong had finished talking, Lin Xingyu walked forward and said, "Teacher Wu, I gained quite a lot in the Spirit Ascension Platform earlier. I'd like to talk to you in private."

Wu Changkong looked at Lin Xingyu, nodded, and said, "Come to my office after we get to school."

"All right!"

After that brief exchange, Lin Xingyu and Wu Changkong said nothing more to each other. The scenery outside the window raced backward, and soon, the group returned to Eastsea Academy.

The others went back to the dormitory, while Lin Xingyu followed Wu Changkong to his office.

After entering the office, Lin Xingyu casually closed the door and looked around. There was no one else there.

Wu Changkong turned around, looked at Lin Xingyu, and said, "What is it?"

"Teacher Wu, look!" As soon as Lin Xingyu finished speaking, his right hand had already reached out. At the same moment, the Soul Power within his body surged along his meridians and gathered toward his right hand.

Five streaks of dark golden light suddenly shot out from the tips of his five fingers. Each one was straight and slender, a full foot long, just like five finely forged short blades, their edges bared and their cold gleam dazzling.

These five sharp blades condensed from Soul Power were tightly wrapped in a layer of agile dark golden radiance. The light seemed alive, cheerfully flowing along the blades' outlines, shining brilliantly.

The instant the light appeared, the surrounding air seemed unable to bear the burden and let out a string of faint yet sharp sizzling sounds. It was like a giant stone had been thrown into a calm lake, rippling out in layer after layer, and also like it had been forcibly torn open by these unstoppable blades. Folds in the air, almost imperceptible to the naked eye, rapidly spread outward with the blades at their center.

At the same time, a sharp, fierce aura spread out.

"Dark Gold Dreadclaw!" Wu Changkong's pupils shrank, and the icy expression that had always been on his face changed for the first time. "Is this what you gained after killing that Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear in the Spirit Ascension Platform?"

Lin Xingyu had thought it over before telling Wu Changkong about this matter. First of all, there was definitely no way to hide it. The staff of the Spirit Ascension Platform would discover the loss of this Soul Bone sooner or later. When the time came, a check of the records would make it clear whose hands this Soul Bone had ended up in.

He definitely could not do what Tang Wulin had done in the original work. After Tang Wulin took this Soul Bone, he went straight to Shrek Academy. With him inside Shrek Academy, outside forces had no way to cause trouble for him. Whatever else one might say about Shrek Academy, they definitely protected their own. But Lin Xingyu still had to stay at Eastsea Academy for another two and a half years! He could not run, so he needed a strong enough backer.

Wu Changkong's character was still very decent, and he was good enough to his students. For now, he would rely on Wu Changkong to hold things up, then find a faction to join in a couple of days.

"This is an External Soul Bone! Aren't you afraid I'll become greedy?" Wu Changkong said. External Soul Bones were the most special kind among all Soul Bones. They could grow stronger as a Soul Master's cultivation grew stronger. As long as the Soul Master kept growing stronger, an External Soul Bone could rival a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone, or even surpass a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone!

And the right palm bone of the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear was top-tier even among External Soul Bones! Spirit Pagoda would definitely investigate the loss of this External Soul Bone!

"I trust Teacher Wu!"

Hearing Lin Xingyu's words, warmth stirred in Wu Changkong's heart. After pondering for a moment, he said, "No one should have discovered this yet. I'll tell Dean Yu Zhen about your performance. We paid the ticket to enter the Spirit Ascension Platform, so it's only right that you gained something by killing a soul beast. If people from Spirit Pagoda come, Dean Yu Zhen will help you resolve it. Come find me tomorrow, and I'll help you thoroughly fuse with this External Soul Bone! But after this, I'm afraid you'll owe a huge debt!"

Lin Xingyu nodded and said, "Thank you, Teacher Wu, but I feel that I'll enter Deep Meditation soon. This feeling is very strong. I should be able to completely fuse with this External Soul Bone very soon." As for the debt he would have to repay in the future, would that debt be a problem then? Lin Xingyu was still very confident in himself. In the future, he would definitely be able to repay it easily! If there really was a problem, that was for his future self to worry about!

In a couple of days, once he completely absorbed this External Soul Bone, there would be no way to strip it away anymore. At that point, they could only have him repay the debt!

"Then that makes things easier. Go back to the dormitory and meditate immediately. A chance like this can't be wasted. I'll go talk to the old dean and pull in some more support for you!" Although he was somewhat surprised that Lin Xingyu could accurately sense that he would enter Deep Meditation next, Wu Changkong still stated the next solution. After speaking, Wu Changkong left the office directly.

After leaving Wu Changkong's office, Lin Xingyu went straight back to his dormitory. Earlier, when he said he had sensed an opportunity, he had not been deceiving Wu Changkong. However, what he had sensed was not the aura of Deep Meditation. Instead, he felt that his Martial Soul was about to evolve!

Previously, Lin Xingyu had clearly recognized his various desires and accepted the reality that he was only a mortal, thereby reaching clarity of mind and seeing his true nature. The degree of his Martial Soul's evolution had greatly increased, but in the end, it was still just a little short!

Moreover, over the past three months, Lin Xingyu had meditated nonstop and changed his blood nonstop. He was only the tiniest bit away from his Martial Soul Second Awakening! Now that he had obtained the Soul Bone of the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear, although Lin Xingyu sensed that the Soul Bone's improvement to his body was very small, the last gap in his Martial Soul Evolution had been completely filled!

Lin Xingyu took one final look at his surroundings, then directly activated "High-Dimensional Vision" and entered a meditative state.

The moment he activated "High-Dimensional Vision," Lin Xingyu felt his field of view constantly rising. His whole being seemed to have entered a God's-eye perspective. What made it different from a God's-eye perspective, however, was that Lin Xingyu relied on his own perception to determine the range of "High-Dimensional Vision." If there was somewhere the perception of his outside self could not reach no matter what, then "High-Dimensional Vision" could not see it either.

But through "High-Dimensional Vision," it was as if he possessed a pair of celestial eyes beyond the mortal world. Lin Xingyu's perception instantly pierced through the many barriers of his body. Whether it was the faint tremble of capillaries beneath his skin, the hidden textures deep within his bones, or even every subtle rhythm between his organs, every corner inside and outside his body appeared with perfect clarity in his consciousness.

Not only that, even the flowing path of Soul Power through his meridians, like a murmuring stream, every slight surge and spiral, could be seen clearly by him without the slightest omission.

The instant he stepped into "High-Dimensional Vision," Lin Xingyu's senses seemed to be suddenly polished bright, and he perceived the fluctuations of his Martial Soul with perfect clarity. In an instant, the Fire Element and Gold Element drifting freely in the air seemed to be drawn by an invisible force, swarming over with Lin Xingyu at the center.

In the deepest, boundless depths of the Sea of Consciousness, everything had originally been shrouded in hazy, dim light, quiet and mysterious. The light that symbolized his Martial Soul erupted without warning, like a supernova on the verge of burning out, swelling violently in an instant.

The intense light spread rapidly like raging flames, sweeping forward with the force to topple mountains and overturn seas. It became blindingly brilliant, every ray seeming to contain endless energy, as if it meant to completely ignite and burn this Sea of Consciousness that carried his soul and power, turning it into a furnace of energy.

As the Martial Soul evolved, the Sea of Consciousness was flooded by the domineering aura of conquest, the bloodiness of slaughter, the frenzy of destruction, the chilling cold of death, and the disarray of madness. All sorts of extreme and terrifying auras wildly spilled out, intertwining and colliding like surging tides. The reek of iron and blood and the searing heat of blades and fire fiercely mingled and churned in the realm of spirit, filling it with a terrifying aura as if doomsday had descended.

At the same time, a majestic surge of Bloodline Power flowed endlessly along the patterns of his skin, the veins of his bones, the surroundings of his organs, and the channels of his meridians. Wherever it passed, every tiny corner of his body was carefully "caressed" by it, without ever pausing in the slightest.

As it surged forward, the sound it produced was like the heaven-shaking roar of a flood dragon. That sound pierced through the many barriers of his body, carrying endless vitality and power as it echoed through every inch of flesh and blood, every cell, as if shouting to every cell in his body and transmitting vigorous life force.

It made Lin Xingyu become even more "inhuman"!

In the blink of an eye, the entire room seemed to be dragged into purgatory by some mysterious power, transforming into a huge blazing furnace. Heat waves rolled outward from Lin Xingyu as their center, surging and spreading in all directions. The temperature in the room seemed like an unbridled wild horse, soaring all the way up. The air was baked until it twisted and warped, as if it would be directly ignited by Lin Xingyu's majestic Bloodline Power in the next second, filling the room with suffocating heat.

The Martial Soul that had originally only looked like a suit of cold armor was now undergoing some earth-shaking transformation. A phantom flickered constantly inside the armor, appearing and disappearing. On closer inspection, it was shockingly Lin Xingyu's own appearance.

Gradually, as time passed, Soul Power, Spiritual Power, and Bloodline Power continuously fused into the Martial Soul, and that phantom became more and more real.

Finally, a phantom took complete shape. The Martial Soul Second Awakening was complete! No! It could not be called Martial Soul Second Awakening. It should more appropriately be called Martial Soul Evolution!

Lin Xingyu's Martial Soul was now a thorough and complete super Martial Soul. Lin Xingyu could even sense that he should also have a Martial Soul Domain, only it had not appeared because his Soul Power was too low. According to Lin Xingyu's estimation, the domain should appear around level fifty!

At this moment, his Martial Soul was no longer a pure suit of armor. Inside the armor was Lin Xingyu himself! A True Body Martial Soul!

Lin Xingyu's Martial Soul suddenly appeared, and a suit of armor instantly wrapped around his entire body. The cape on his back snapped and billowed, red as if soaked through with fresh blood, shocking to behold. Blood and qi surged around him, and terrifying fluctuations spilled out, chilling the heart.

In an instant, the surrounding Gold Element and Fire Element seemed to be pulled by a powerful invisible gravity, frantically swarming toward where Lin Xingyu was. These elements were like subjects devoutly paying homage to their king, orderly yet incomparably eager as they spun rapidly around him.

Previously, when Lin Xingyu controlled the Gold and Fire Elements, he still had to expend some effort. Every mobilization was accompanied by difficult attempts and cautious probing. Yet at this moment, his control over the Gold and Fire Elements had already reached the realm of commanding them as easily as moving his own arm. With a turn of thought, the elements changed nimbly according to his will, either condensing into sharp blades or transforming into roaring flames, as if these elements had long since become part of his body and were connected to his mind.