Body Talent

The instant the ring settled around him, Fang Ling felt as though his right hand had been plunged into scalding hot water.

A slightly burning yet warmly comforting energy surged wildly into his body.

He immediately closed his eyes, immersed his consciousness within, and began to meditate, guiding his Soul Power through his body.

The scorching current circulated throughout his entire body, reaching every corner.

The torrential influx of primordial power from the Star-nosed Mole continuously washed over the Scythe Martial Soul.

Because they were incompatible, just as Teacher Song had explained to him, it did little to enhance his Martial Soul.

But his body received tremendous benefits.

In the talent section, one... no, two things began to emerge hazily.

Two gray phantoms gradually surfaced as the absorption of the spirit ring deepened.

However, Fang Ling was still absorbing the spirit ring and did not notice.

As the hot current gradually diminished, all he felt was his body burning fiercely.

The bottleneck that had trapped his cultivation at level ten suddenly shattered amid that searing incubation.

The tiny flow of Soul Power had now expanded into a babbling stream.

The spirit ring absorption was successful, and an indescribable sense of comfort washed over him.

Fang Ling felt as if he had soaked in a perfectly heated hot spring, every cell in his body radiating heartfelt joy.

The next moment, he opened his eyes, a blazing gleam flashing within them.

He summoned his Scythe Martial Soul, and a yellow ring slowly revolved around his body.

After sensing it briefly, Fang Ling grinned, wearing the smile of a victor.

"Finished absorbing it? You look very happy. I suppose the soul skill's effects are enough to satisfy you."

The Principal rubbed his head.

"Mm! Extremely satisfied!" Fang Ling replied.

"As long as you're satisfied."

"Star-nosed Moles excel at reaction speed, but because they are weak, the enhancement their spirit rings provide to soul masters has always been rather low. It's good that you're satisfied."

The Principal clapped his hands, drawing over everyone who had been standing guard.

"This soul hunt went very well. No one disobeyed orders, and no one met with an accident. I'm very pleased."

"But we can't relax yet. We must leave the Soul Hunting Forest first."

He issued his orders. "The final person has obtained their spirit ring. Now, under the teachers' guidance, proceed in an orderly manner toward the Soul Hunting Forest's entrance."

"I'll bring up the rear."

Everyone began to line up.

Fang Ling returned to the middle of the group as well.

On the carriage, though his expression remained calm, he could not conceal the excitement in his heart.

The Hundred Year Spirit Ring from the Star-nosed Mole had granted him an extremely important soul skill for his close-combat path—Star Mole Transformation.

It was a self-enhancement soul skill, a specialized enhancement. Once the spirit ring was activated, his Nerve Reflex speed increased by thirty percent!

Though it provided no boost to his Martial Soul, anyone who saw it would call it a godly close-combat skill.

As for the Principal's claim that the enhancement was low, was thirty percent really low?

After pondering for a moment, Fang Ling decided that it was already very high.

The only possibility was that others did not receive such a large increase—perhaps only ten or fifteen percent?

After thinking it over from every angle, he could only conclude that the Stats Panel was amazing.

And that was far from all. When his gaze fell upon the talent section, it was even more astonishing.

Just as he had expected, besides granting a soul skill, the spirit ring had also brought him a new talent.

Unlike the Mandala Snake's spirit ring, which had merely improved Tang San's physique and such without allowing him to grow venom glands and secrete poison.

The Star-nosed Mole's spirit ring had brought Fang Ling an entirely new talent category—Body Talent!

The name naturally referred to talents related to one's own body.

The first one.

Reflex Lv2 (Body Talent, a talent granted to you by a Hundred Year Star-nosed Mole Spirit Ring. Passive Nerve Reflex speed increased by 30%.)

The word "passive," in particular, deeply caught Fang Ling's attention.

Passive meant constant. It meant that even without activating his spirit ring, his body's innate Nerve Reflex speed was already 130% of what it had originally been!

It was equivalent to being given a spirit ring for free.

With the Reflex talent combined with activating the spirit ring, the two stacked together increased it by a full 160%.

Nerve Reflex differed from other categories like attack, defense, or resistance—it was special.

With stronger Nerve Reflex, he could dodge enemy attacks faster, react faster when attacking, and change moves faster.

Higher Nerve Reflex also made Body Technique easier to use.

It would allow him to fight with greater composure and leave himself more room to maneuver.

This directly strengthened him by more than half. He would need time to adapt to it.

The second one was just as important as reflexes.

Digestion Lv2 (Body Talent, a talent granted to you by the Hundred Year Spirit Ring of a Star-nosed Mole. It grants you greater food utilization efficiency and energy absorption efficiency. You can now survive by eating nutrient-rich soil. Of course, merely survive.)

Teacher Song had mentioned this before. Star-nosed Moles ate both meat and plants; in an emergency, they could survive by eating dirt.

Fang Ling had never expected that this would form a talent as well.

It seemed that when hunting Spirit Beasts in the future, he would have to pay attention to their habits too.

Compared with the immediate effects brought by the improvement in Nerve Reflex, the Body Talent of Digestion was more focused on the future.

The more one ate, the faster one grew. That was an eternal truth.

The more energy one took in, the better one could grow.

The same training would naturally yield better results.

The panel did not specify exactly how much the efficiency had improved. He would have to wait until he returned to the academy to conduct tests.

But regardless of how much the efficiency had increased, compared to the purpose of this trip, it was still a free bonus.

Just like how other people's paper always seemed better to use, no matter how lousy a freebie was, Fang Ling would call it good.

Not to mention that this one was extremely useful.

Both talents were Lv2, which meant that a Hundred Year Spirit Ring provided Lv2 talents.

Would a Thousand Year one be Lv3?

Would a Ten Thousand Year one be Lv4?

Fang Ling made a guess inwardly, then tossed the thought aside.

He could only confirm it after obtaining one in the future. Daydreaming now was pointless.

When hunting the Star-nosed Mole, the Spirit Ring and talent were the main gains, but the Points he obtained were equally important.

Because it was only a Spirit Ring that had just reached a hundred years, after absorbing it and combining it with the Soul Power he had cultivated before, he had only barely risen one level.

Fang Ling was now at Level Eleven Soul Power, with 4 Points.

It had increased from the original two Points to four.

One Hundred-Year Soul Beast had given him a full two Points!

And after reaching level eleven and officially becoming a Soul Master, increasing his Soul Power Level did not consume as many Points as he had imagined.

It only took two Points to raise it by one level.

It was not a good time to add them while he was in the carriage, and it would be hard to explain if his level rose immediately after obtaining a Spirit Ring.

Fang Ling was very cautious, so naturally he would not act so recklessly.

There was nothing to do in the carriage, and it was not particularly suitable for cultivation either. Fang Ling simply let his gaze go unfocused and carefully examined the panel.

"Hm?"

He suddenly noticed something slightly out of place.

In the talent section, a faint shadow had appeared on the otherwise standard gray panel.

It was utterly inconspicuous. If Fang Ling had not looked carefully, he would never have noticed the difference.

After examining it closely, he recognized the four words that were blurred to the extreme—

"Special Talent"!

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