First Soul Skill: Sand Raising! A Harbinger of Disaster!

At his words, Lou Gao's suspended heart finally crashed back into place. His face instantly filled with immense surprise and relief, and his thick brows nearly flew off his forehead.

"Good! Good! Good! Hahaha! As expected of my disciple, Lou Gao's disciple! A Thousand-Year Soul Ring as his first ring! If word gets out, it'll scare those old fossils in the Soul Master world to death!"

Lou Gao vigorously patted Lin Xia's shoulder, feeling its solid firmness. His excitement was beyond words.

Then, Lou Gao's gaze became incomparably fervent.

"Quick, let Teacher take a look! What Soul Skill did this Thousand-Year Soul Ring grant you?"

A sharp glint flashed through Lin Xia's eyes, and the corners of his mouth curled into a confident smile.

"Teacher, watch closely!"

Before his words had even faded, Lin Xia stirred his thoughts, raised his right hand with his palm facing upward, and shouted lowly.

"First Soul Skill, Sand Raising!"

(Regarding the stacking explanation: Larvitar is, after all, Rock and Ground Type, and when it evolves into Tyranitar, it becomes Rock and Dark Type. So most of the abilities chosen are built around a Sandstorm Team configuration!

I know there are absurdly powerful abilities like Wonder Guard, but they just don't fit!

Of course, if everyone has any suitable abilities for Larvitar's attributes, feel free to discuss them. I'll consider adopting them as appropriate, provided they don't affect the outline.

As for why the ability can be actively turned off, that also needs explaining. This is a novel, not a game. If Sand Raising were permanently active and it brought a Sandstorm whenever it appeared, there'd be no point in continuing. Before long, Spirit Hall would wipe it out as a Walking Disaster. Didn't Tyranitar in the anime also bring a Sandstorm whenever it appeared?)

There was no earth-shattering eruption of Soul Power, nor were there any dazzling displays of light and shadow.

The instant Lin Xia's words fell—

Buzz!

An invisible, irresistible strange fluctuation erupted from Lin Xia and swept out in all directions!

The next moment, the entire world suddenly changed color!

Within a radius of a hundred meters, the previously tranquil sandy ground, where only fine grains had been stirred by the breeze, seemed to be violently churned by an invisible giant hand!

Countless dry, coarse grains of sand and shards of stone seemed to have been given savage life. They instantly broke free of gravity, spinning, rising, and colliding madly!

A fierce wind sprang from nowhere, releasing a shrill wail! In an instant, vision was obscured. As far as the eye could see, there was only an all-encompassing mass of high-speed, swirling, murky yellow sand and dust!

The light was swallowed, the temperature plummeted, and a dry, suffocating sensation carrying Deathly Aura rushed toward him!

This was not the limited sand-and-dust vortex the Yellow Storm Rat used to conceal itself!

This was a true Sandstorm filled with destructive power!

The smile on Lou Gao's face instantly froze, turning into utter shock!

Puff puff puff puff!

Countless rapidly spinning grains of sand struck his tough craftsman's robes like a dense barrage of bullets, producing dull, continuous impacts!

What shook him even more was that those grains, with their immense Penetration Power, actually passed through his clothes and struck his resilient skin, bringing waves of clear, needle-pricking pain!

"Hiss!"

Lou Gao instinctively circulated his Soul Power to protect himself. A faint earthen-yellow glow surfaced over his body, completely blocking the dense "sand bullets."

Lou Gao's pupils abruptly contracted as he stared in disbelief at Lin Xia, who stood unharmed at the center of the Sandstorm, with even the hem of his clothes barely stirred.

"This... this range?!"

Lou Gao cried out involuntarily. Looking as far as he could, the violent curtain of sand blotted out the sky. With the perception and visual estimation of a Soul Saint, he discovered in horror that the Sandstorm's radius of coverage absolutely exceeded one hundred meters!

How could this be a range that a Soul Master who had only just obtained his First Soul Ring could release?

This was simply... the harbinger of a disaster!

"Is this really a Thousand-Year Soul Skill?"

There was a tremor in Lou Gao's voice that even he did not notice. This had completely overturned everything he knew!

Yet what made his Scalp Numbness was still to come!

Just as the Sand Raising Sandstorm unleashed by Lin Xia reached its most violent peak—

"Yoji—!"

Larvitar seemed to receive some powerful resonance and summons. Its Scarlet Eyes burst forth with dazzling brilliance as it slammed its short foreclaws into the ground!

Buzz!

Another force of Sandstorm, born from the same source yet more primordial and savage, erupted with a boom!

Whoosh—!

Centered on Larvitar's tiny body, a second Sandstorm of equally enormous scale and astonishing power formed instantly!

This Sandstorm did not exist independently. Instead, like All Rivers Flow to the Sea, it instantly merged and stacked perfectly with the Sandstorm Lin Xia had unleashed!

Rumble!

It was as if heaven and earth had erupted in rage!

The power of the stacked Sandstorm increased geometrically!

The originally murky yellow curtain of sand instantly became a deeper, despair-inducing dark brown!

The howl of the wind rose suddenly from a shriek into a deafening roar! The sand spun even faster, and even seemed larger. The force of its impacts against Lou Gao's protective Soul Power abruptly intensified, producing explosive bangs. The earthen-yellow glow protecting his body rippled violently under the impacts, as though it could shatter at any moment!

And with the support of Larvitar's power, the Sandstorm's range expanded madly outward like a crazed dragon breaking free of its restraints!

One hundred meters, two hundred meters, three hundred meters... At last, beneath Lou Gao's nearly vacant stare, the edge of the all-devouring Sandstorm came to a steady stop at the foot of a massive sand dune five hundred meters away!

A five-hundred-meter Sandstorm!

Within sight, there was nothing but a doomsday-like Purgatory of sand and dust!

The sunlight was completely cut off, and the world plunged into endless murky yellow darkness and roaring noise.

The sandy ground beneath their feet trembled violently, as though it might be overturned and swallowed by this terrifying power at any moment!

Lou Gao was completely dumbfounded.

His mouth hung open, his thick beard whipping wildly in the violent airflow. His eyes were wider than bells, filled with overwhelming absurdity, shock, and a trace of... bewilderment before an unknown power.

Lou Gao even forgot to circulate his Soul Power to resist the increasingly intense barrage of sand. He let the fierce wind and grit lash his cheeks, bringing a burning pain.

A single thought repeatedly exploded through his blank mind like thunder.

Damn it... is this really a First Soul Ring?! This Kid... and this Little Monster... the two of them together... are they trying to blow this entire desert away?!

After seeing Lou Gao's expression, Lin Xia signaled Larvitar to disperse the Sandstorm as well. As Lin Xia and Larvitar stopped supplying Soul Power, the sky-filling sand and dust seemed to have their throats seized by an invisible giant hand, and the violent wailing Wind Sound came to an abrupt halt.

The rapidly spinning grains of sand, carrying destructive power, seemed to lose their backbone. They drifted down one after another, returning to the silent sandy ground.

The murky yellow, blurred vision quickly cleared. The scorching sunlight spilled down again, leaving only the outlines of ravaged sand dunes and the dry, dusty scent lingering in the air.