Attribute Fusion

Just like that, after a year of practicing the Basic Sword Techniques and another half year of swordsmanship, the first two stages of the training plan Hua Jieyu had arranged were complete. By then, Lin Feng was eight years old, and his Soul Power had officially broken through to rank 20.

After examining Lin Feng's current physical condition, Lin Lan took him deep into the Sunset Forest and found a 3,500-year-old Migu Tree. It was a type of spirit beast Lin Feng had never heard of in the stories of Douluo, though he had learned about it earlier when Hua Jieyu taught him spirit beast knowledge. Among Plant Spirit Beasts, it was a top-tier existence whose bloodline was comparable to the status of dragons among Animal Spirit Beasts. The Migu Tree's greatest strength was not the powerful vitality common to plants, but its rare and formidable Spiritual Power.

After absorbing the Migu Tree's spirit ring, Lin Feng obtained the Wood Attribute as he had wished. Thanks to Overlimit Absorption, his Soul Power also reached rank 23. At the same time, because of the Migu Tree's spiritual attribute, his Spiritual Power greatly increased as well. According to Lin Lan's tests, Lin Feng, who had only just entered the Soul Grandmaster realm, possessed Spiritual Power comparable to that of most Soul Ancestors. However, from the perspective of soul skills alone, it still seemed somewhat unworthy of the Migu Tree's powerful bloodline. Like his First Spirit Ring, this time the Wood Attribute fused into his sword qi, increasing its power by 200%, though it remained a growth-type soul skill. After all, the greatest uses of both the Wood Attribute and Water Attribute were not displayed through combat strength, and Lin Feng had never sought an overwhelmingly powerful soul skill anyway, so it was still a good result. Moreover, after the Wood Attribute entered his body, his meridians, which had already become more flexible due to the Water Attribute, gained an additional trace of vitality. That was the greatest gain from this absorption aside from the Wood Attribute itself.

After absorbing his Second Spirit Ring, Hua Jieyu planned to begin Lin Feng's third stage of training: practical combat training. Before it began, Hua Jieyu gave Lin Feng two choices. The first was to spend some time fighting in the Great Soul Arena before accepting the Empire's and Spirit Hall's warrants to hunt Evil Spirit Masters. The second was to spend some time fighting spirit beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest before accepting the Empire's and Spirit Hall's warrants to hunt Evil Spirit Masters.

Lin Feng did not want to go to the Great Soul Arena. First, compared to the combat experience Hua Jieyu had taught him, the fights there were more like children playing house. Although there were life-and-death matches, he could not bring himself to fight someone to the death without any grudge between them. Second, the Great Soul Arena would inevitably require him to release his martial soul. His Second Spirit Ring was Thousand-year, and for now, he did not want to reveal it to others. So he chose the second option.

However, before heading to the Star Dou Great Forest, he asked Hua Jieyu for one month. Lin Feng currently possessed three attributes: the Gold Attribute innate to the Heavenly Sword and Dragon Slaying Saber, the Water Attribute added by the Azure Water Flood Dragon, and the Wood Attribute added by the Migu Tree. He wanted to try fusing the three attributes together as preparation for Five Elements Mutual Generation. Yet he was not certain he could succeed. His plan was to spend a month experimenting. If he could grasp the method, it would not take a full month. But if he still could not find the key after a month, there would be no need to waste more time on it for now. Cultivation would remain his priority.

Sitting cross-legged on the floor of the cultivation room at home, Lin Feng slowly entered meditation. His consciousness sank into his Dantian, entering a state of Internal Vision. Within his Dantian, he saw golden Gold Attribute Soul Power, blue Water Attribute Soul Power, and green Wood Attribute Soul Power each occupying one-third of the space. The three flowed through the Dantian, seeming to intertwine at times, but upon closer inspection, they merely passed by one another without interfering. Their relationship was as if they were telling each other, You may pass beside me, but don't brush against me.

Lin Feng tried to mobilize the Soul Power within his body. He discovered that when he used only the Heavenly Sword without activating any spirit ring soul skills, the Gold Attribute naturally emerged on its own. The Water Attribute and Wood Attribute corresponded to the soul skills of his two spirit rings. They were rather "smart," knowing exactly when they should appear.

After leaving meditation, Lin Feng summoned the Heavenly Sword. He wanted to conduct an experiment. Dividing his attention in two, he monitored the state of his Dantian while beginning to wield his sword. Sure enough, Gold Attribute Soul Power naturally circulated through his body. He then tried using his Spiritual Power to mobilize Water Attribute Soul Power for his sword strikes. At that moment, Gold Attribute Soul Power stopped flowing out of his Dantian, and Water Attribute Soul Power entered his meridians. It did not hinder him from wielding his sword normally, but the power of his strikes was weaker than when he used Gold Attribute Soul Power. He then tried Wood Attribute Soul Power, with the same result. No wonder that when he had practiced swordsmanship before, he had noticed the power of his sword techniques declining later on. At first, he had thought it was caused by physical exhaustion. Only now did he understand that his Gold Attribute Soul Power must have been depleted, causing him to begin consuming Soul Power of other attributes. Since he had not deliberately added the characteristics of any attribute while practicing swordsmanship, he had never noticed this issue.

Lin Feng then began studying his soul skills. Activating his First Soul Skill, he launched Water Attribute sword qi. Under normal conditions, it possessed 200% attack power, making it quite formidable. Lin Feng could release sword qi even without using a soul skill, but to achieve this level of power, he would need to consume far more Soul Power than when using a soul skill. To study the difference, Lin Feng activated his First Soul Skill repeatedly. Only then did he discover that when the soul skill was released, in addition to mobilizing the Water Attribute Soul Power within his body, the spirit ring also supplied Water Attribute Soul Power into the Heavenly Sword while drawing in Water Attribute Spiritual Qi floating in the air. The power of the soul skill came only from the combination of all three. If any one of them changed, its power would change as well. The only thing he could directly control was the amount of Soul Power he input. Using the same method, Lin Feng studied his Second Soul Skill and found the same result.

After understanding the relationship between Soul Power of each attribute and his soul skills, Lin Feng entered meditation once more and began examining the situation within his Dantian. According to the logic of Five Elements Mutual Generation, gold generated water, and water generated wood. Lin Feng used his Spiritual Power to draw out a thread of Gold Attribute Soul Power and a thread of Water Attribute Soul Power, suspending them above his Dantian. He controlled the Gold Attribute Soul Power and slowly infused it into the Water Attribute Soul Power. The process went smoothly, without encountering any resistance. The Water Attribute Soul Power absorbed the Gold Attribute Soul Power, then produced a thread of deep-blue Water Attribute Soul Power. Judging from its color alone, it was darker than the ordinary Water Attribute Soul Power in his Dantian, and it also appeared far stronger.

Lin Feng tried using the fused thread of Water Attribute Soul Power to release a strand of sword qi through the Heavenly Sword, then used a thread of ordinary Water Attribute Soul Power to release another. The fused one was twice as powerful as the ordinary Soul Power. Lin Feng was somewhat puzzled. Only twice as powerful? Isn't that a little low?

Lin Feng fused gold and water again to create a thread of Water Attribute Soul Power, then continued by merging that thread into a thread of Wood Attribute Soul Power. When he released sword qi through this thread after the fusion, its power became four times greater. Lin Feng roughly understood. With Five Elements Mutual Generation, barring any surprises, the power should double exponentially. Once he obtained his next Fire attribute spirit ring, it would likely become eight times stronger. However, he currently possessed only three attributes and could not form a cycle yet. He could only increase the power through individual fusions.

Lin Feng continuously practiced fusing and converting Soul Power in the cultivation room, only leaving after he had fully mastered it. The process took less time than he had expected, only half a month. Yet his gains were immense. Over those half a month, considering his overall condition, his combat strength had increased by more than threefold. However, there was no need to use fused Soul Power in every ordinary battle. He could keep it hidden as a trump card, allowing it to play a decisive role at a critical moment.

After demonstrating the results of his secluded cultivation to his parents, Lin Feng set off for the Star Dou Great Forest with a guard, beginning his third stage of training. Lin Feng's guard was named Han Ping, a rank 56 Soul King whose martial soul was the Sky-Rending Eagle. Han Ping had been a destitute commoner Spirit Master whom Lin Lan and Hua Jieyu rescued from an evil noble while traveling outside years ago. The couple had even helped Han Ping take revenge. To repay them, Han Ping, who had no family, chose to follow them. Back then, Lin Lan and Hua Jieyu had only been Soul Ancestors, while Han Ping had been a Soul Elder. His talent was indeed far inferior to theirs. Now Lin Lan and Hua Jieyu had both reached the Spirit Saint realm, while Han Ping had only become a Soul King. Still, without the cultivation resources provided by Lin Lan and Hua Jieyu, Han Ping, as a commoner Spirit Master, might not have reached the Soul King realm even today, whether cultivating alone or joining a spirit beast hunting team.