Blue Silver Sword Rain

Over the next half day, Mo Bai and Teacher Ma wandered through the sword bamboo grove.

They encountered Sword Bamboo Soul Beasts that were ten years old, twenty years old, a hundred years old, three hundred years old, and even one that was a thousand years old.

They also came across other Soul Beasts along the way, but chose to avoid them all.

Only after they had nearly searched the entire sword bamboo grove did they find a four-hundred-year-old Sword Bamboo Soul Beast.

Dealing with Sword Bamboo Soul Beasts was actually quite simple.

Based on the characteristics of Sword Bamboo Soul Beasts, Mo Bai and Teacher Ma took turns stepping forward to trespass into its territory, then immediately retreating.

They used this to wear down the Sword Bamboo Soul Beast's Soul Power!

They continued until the Sword Bamboo Soul Beast could no longer use its Soul Skills to attack.

Sword Bamboo Soul Beasts could be considered among the easiest Soul Beasts to hunt.

However, Sword Bamboo Soul Beasts over ten thousand years old would not be so foolish!

This Soul Beast Forest simply did not contain Soul Beasts of such high ages. Only Sword Bamboo Soul Beasts had produced one at the thousand-year level; there were no animal-type Soul Beasts over a thousand years old anywhere in this forest.

This was a Soul Beast Forest meant for low-level Soul Masters to hunt in!

Pfft~

After exhausting the four-hundred-year-old Sword Bamboo Soul Beast's Soul Power, Mo Bai delivered the final blow, severing the Sword Bamboo Soul Beast.

Buzz~

Then, a yellow ring of light floated out from the fallen sword bamboo corpse.

Already knowing how to absorb it, Mo Bai did not need Teacher Ma's instructions. He sat cross-legged before the sword bamboo corpse and used his thoughts to draw in the Soul Ring.

The moment the Soul Ring entered his body, Mo Bai felt as if a balloon had been stuffed inside him before exploding. It was as though his entire body had swelled up, making him feel extremely uncomfortable.

"Stay conscious. Endure it!"

Seeing this, Teacher Ma reminded Mo Bai from the side.

Even without the reminder, Mo Bai knew what to do. He kept his mind clear and calm, silently sensing the changes brought about by the Soul Ring entering his body.

Bang~

First, the bottleneck that had long held back the first layer of Mo Bai's Jing Yu Secret broke through smoothly.

Mo Bai also discovered that his Inner Force was transforming into another kind of energy—presumably Soul Power!

After breaking through the first layer of the Jing Yu Secret, Mo Bai began circulating the second layer. Before long, he had completely absorbed all the energy brought by the Soul Ring.

During this process, Mo Bai also discovered that an additional Soul Ring had appeared on his Martial Soul, and his Blue Silver Grass had undergone an overall transformation.

The Blue Silver Grass, which had originally possessed only two leaves, had grown into a stalk nearly half a meter tall. Its leaves no longer looked the same as before, instead beginning to resemble the leaves of sword bamboo.

Yet they did not completely resemble sword bamboo leaves either. They were a fusion of Blue Silver Grass and sword bamboo, like tiny swords that had grown fat.

After completing the absorption, Mo Bai summoned his Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul. He tried plucking off a leaf and weighed it in his hand. It felt decent—completely usable as a hidden weapon.

"How was it? Did you succeed?"

"What is your Soul Skill?"

Seeing that Mo Bai had succeeded, Teacher Ma was overjoyed. Then, with a hint of anticipation, he asked Mo Bai.

The Soul Skills obtained from hunting Soul Rings were not fixed. Depending on each person's Martial Soul, the resulting Soul Skills could vary.

Teacher Ma hoped that Mo Bai's first-ring skill had changed in a favorable direction.

"Mm, I succeeded!"

"My First Soul Skill is this!"

"First Soul Skill—Blue Silver Sword Rain!"

Mo Bai smiled and nodded, then directly unleashed his First Soul Skill toward an open patch of ground in the distance.

Whoosh~

The Blue Silver Grass in Mo Bai's hand grew with the wind, instantly doubling in size. Then the Blue Silver Grass trembled slightly, and dozens of leaves shot out from it, raining down onto the ground before Mo Bai.

This method of attack was exactly the same as the attack unleashed by the Sword Bamboo Guardian Domain earlier.

Mo Bai carefully sensed the consumption of Soul Power within his body and found that a single use had drained one-fifth of his Soul Power.

Moreover, its destructive power was truly unimpressive. The dozens of sword leaves that had been fired quickly dissipated on the ground and could not last for long.

However, Mo Bai was not disappointed. He had expected the Soul Skill to be weak. Besides, the weakness of the fired sword leaves did not mean that leaves plucked from the Blue Silver Grass itself were equally weak. Mo Bai discovered that the sword leaves fired from it were far less sturdy than leaves plucked directly from the Blue Silver Grass.

What Mo Bai had valued from the beginning were the leaves plucked from the Blue Silver Grass itself.

"Ah... so it really is like this!"

Seeing that, Teacher Ma immediately sighed inwardly.

Dozens of attacks looked extremely flashy, but their power was far too weak.

Against Soul Masters of the same level as Mo Bai, the damage caused by his First Soul Skill could be easily blocked as long as they protected their bodies with Soul Power.

And its shortcomings were not limited to its weak killing power; it also consumed a great deal of Soul Power.

That was also why Sword Bamboo was so easy to hunt—basically no soul masters bothered hunting it.

"Not bad. Your martial soul is Blue Silver Grass, and the fact that you managed to become a soul master is already quite impressive!"

However, after thinking it over, Teacher Ma could not bear to discourage Mo Bai. Instead, he praised him.

There was no need for him to say anything. He believed that before long, Mo Bai would realize the shortcomings of his First Soul Skill himself.

The little fellow had only just become a soul master. Better to let him be happy for a while!

"Oh, right. When you get back, go to the Spirit Hall Branch in Notting City to have your soul master rank certified. Once you become a registered soul master, you can receive one Gold Soul Coin in monthly subsidies. That way, you can quit the job the school arranged for you!"

"And remember, these subsidies are issued by the Empire. Spirit Hall merely distributes them on its behalf!"

At the same time, Teacher Ma did not forget to remind Mo Bai to go to the Spirit Hall Branch to register his soul master rank.

"Yes, I understand! Thank you, Teacher!"

Mo Bai nodded.

At the same time, he found it somewhat strange. The Empire was clearly the one paying the subsidies for soul masters, so why did it let Spirit Hall distribute them?

Wasn't that stupid?

How could something as important as winning people over be handed to another faction to distribute?

Still, Mo Bai only complained about it inwardly. It had nothing to do with him anyway.

Judging by how Teacher Ma had specifically emphasized it, he clearly did not have a favorable impression of Spirit Hall, the largest sect in this world.

"Mm, then let's go. Time to head back!"

Teacher Ma replied.

Now that they had accomplished their goal of absorbing the First Soul Ring, it was naturally best to leave as soon as possible. Although this enclosed Soul Beast Forest did not have many dangerous soul beasts, there was still some risk of encountering one.

After returning to Notting City, Teacher Ma went back to the school first. There was no longer much danger within the city, and Mo Bai did not need anyone to accompany him to Spirit Hall for certification.

Mo Bai headed alone toward the Spirit Hall Branch.

He was rather curious to see whether Spirit Hall would explain that the subsidies came from the Empire when it was time to collect them.