Frost Sword Finger

"What a pity. This Ice Bamboo is already over five hundred years old. Otherwise, it would have been perfect for your First Soul Ring."

The two stopped several dozen meters away from the Ice Bamboo. Niu Jin looked at the bamboo ahead and shook his head.

By the Cold Pool stood an icy bamboo, translucent all over like Blue Crystal, with scattered Ice Leaves hanging from it.

It was precisely the Ice Bamboo Lin Hanye had been searching for.

Under normal circumstances, each meter of growth in an Ice Bamboo represented one hundred years of cultivation.

This bamboo had reached five meters, meaning it was at least five hundred years old.

But few people knew that after an Ice Bamboo reached five hundred years, it stopped growing until it became a thousand-year soul beast. Its exact age could only be determined by its leaves—one leaf represented one year.

Lin Hanye made a rough estimate. There were no fewer than seven or eight hundred leaves on it.

In other words, this Ice Bamboo's cultivation was close to eight hundred years.

However, Lin Hanye had no intention of explaining this to Niu Jin.

He bluffed, "No need, Director Niu. This one will do. Do you remember what I told you? The age limit for absorbing soul rings is related to a soul master's physical strength. I've never stopped training my body over the years. I should be strong enough to withstand this five-hundred-year Ice Bamboo."

Niu Jin nodded. "That's true. Your physique is ridiculously strong. Before obtaining my Third Soul Ring, if I didn't use soul skills, I definitely wouldn't be your match. But this Ice Bamboo isn't easy to deal with. Have you figured out how to hunt it?"

As he spoke, his expression grew solemn as he examined the leaves on the Ice Bamboo and frowned. "There are too many of them. I'm not confident I could block them all. One mistake, and you could lose your life."

"Don't worry. I came prepared." Lin Hanye took down the sack hanging from his back.

It was filled with domesticated little rabbits.

He had specifically bought these living creatures to hunt the Ice Bamboo.

"Here you go."

As Lin Hanye tossed one rabbit to a spot seven or eight meters from the Ice Bamboo—

The previously still Ice Bamboo suddenly shook.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

In the next instant, dozens, even hundreds, of Ice Leaves shot out.

Splurt!

In the blink of an eye, the little rabbit was riddled with holes and turned into a pile of mangled flesh.

Lin Hanye repeated the same trick.

He threw out a second rabbit. As one rabbit after another was tossed out, the Ice Leaves above were steadily depleted.

Before long, barely any Ice Leaves remained.

Lin Hanye drew the machete he had prepared in advance from his waist, channeled Soul Power into his feet, and dashed forward. Dodging the last few Ice Leaves, he brought his blade down in a swift stroke. With a crack, the Ice Bamboo was severed at the waist.

"That works too?"

Watching Lin Hanye so easily deal with the Ice Bamboo that even he had found difficult to handle, Niu Jin's eyes widened as though a whole new world had opened before him.

"Although the leaves of an Ice Bamboo are extremely sharp, its stalk is actually very fragile. And every time it uses its leaves, it takes half a shichen for them to gather again. As long as you exhaust its leaves, the rest is smooth sailing."

Faint yellow motes gathered above the remaining half of the Ice Bamboo and transformed into a yellow soul ring. Lin Hanye sat cross-legged beside it on the spot.

"I suppose only a Theoretical Master like you could come up with such a method. Other people wouldn't know the Ice Bamboo's weakness."

Niu Jin let out a long sigh, then gave Lin Hanye a somewhat worried look and reminded him, "But then again, are you really going to absorb this five-hundred-year Ice Bamboo? You should know that throughout history, no one has ever exceeded five hundred years for their First Soul Ring. The most anyone has managed is just over four hundred years."

"I trust my judgment. Then, Director Niu, I'll leave the guarding to you."

Naturally, Lin Hanye would not reveal the secret of the whale glue. Even if he did, the other man could not afford it. As he spoke, he closed his eyes. Drawn by his Soul Power, the soul ring gradually entered his body.

Because his Ice Water martial soul possessed a trace of the Ice Attribute, and because he had refined a piece of inferior-quality Thousand-Year Whale Glue, absorbing this nearly eight-hundred-year Ice Bamboo went rather smoothly.

There was no discomfort. At most, the moment he finished absorbing the soul ring, he felt the Soul Power within his body nearing saturation.

In other words, this hundred-year Ice Bamboo was already close to the limit his body could withstand.

Of course, that was only for ice-attributed soul beasts.

If, as Yu Xiaogang had instructed, a plant-type martial soul absorbed an animal-type soul ring, or if his ice-attributed martial soul absorbed a soul ring unrelated to the Ice Attribute—or even one with a conflicting attribute—then without a cultivation technique like the Mysterious Heaven Skill, the rejection between the soul ring and martial soul would basically cripple him.

Ding! Congratulations, Host, you have obtained one Simulation Opportunity!

Current simulation attempts: one. Begin simulation?

At the instant he finished absorbing the soul ring, the long-awaited system prompt sounded in Lin Hanye's mind.

Five years!

Do you know how I spent these five years?

Lin Hanye couldn't help shouting inwardly!

"Don't start!"

After being excited for quite a while, Lin Hanye calmed himself and silently said it in his mind.

He was currently in the Soul Beast Forest, so it was not suitable to study his Golden Finger.

Slowly opening his eyes, he saw Niu Jin approaching with an excited, expectant expression. Smiling, he praised, "Little Lin, you've set a precedent in the Soul Master World. Hurry and show me whether your martial soul has undergone any changes."

"Mm."

Lin Hanye smiled and raised his right hand. A faint, gleaming white light appeared over the surface of his skin as transparent ice water surged from his palm. A distinct yellow ring rose beneath his feet, circling up and down around his body. This was the most obvious trait of a one-ring Soul Master.

The ice water from before had contained only thin ice and had been no bigger than a baby's fist. Now, it had grown to the size of an adult's fist, while the thin ice had become several times thicker. It showed signs of transforming into true ice, refracting rainbow-colored light beneath the sun.

Niu Jin had seen Lin Hanye's Ice Water martial soul before. Seeing how it had changed, he impatiently asked, "What Soul Skill did you obtain?"

"First Soul Skill: Frost Sword Finger!"

Lin Hanye did not keep him in suspense, answering with his actions.

He turned around, spread both palms, and curled his ten fingers slightly into claw-like shapes. As he pushed his palms forward, the First Soul Ring on his body lit up, and hundreds of sharp Frost Sword Qi shot forth.

Like bullets from a Gatling gun, they sent spray after spray bursting across the Cold Pool.

Strangely, the splashes did not settle after erupting. Instead, at the very moment they rose, they froze into ice flowers that connected with one another, like a perfect work of ice sculpture.

"This..." Niu Jin stared dumbfounded.

This counted as a First Soul Skill?

Why did it look even stronger than his Second Soul Skill?

And it was instantaneous.

Logically speaking, even if Lin Hanye's First Soul Ring was five hundred years old, it should not have been this powerful.

Retracting his martial soul, Lin Hanye smiled and explained, "This is my First Soul Skill, Frost Sword Finger. It allows me to fire sharp Frost Sword Qi from my fingers to pierce the enemy's vital points. It requires no Charge Power, and both its power and firing speed will continuously increase as my Soul Power rises."

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