Golden Scale Awakening: A Breakthrough That Deceived the Heavens

The abandoned storeroom on the academy's Back Mountain was the Dark Room Lin Xuan had chosen long ago.

No one visited this place year-round. It was covered in cobwebs and thick with dust. Using a prepared cloth, he simply wiped out an empty patch. Once he shut the Room Door, he was completely cut off from the outside world—a perfect fit for his plan.

Next, he would break through to Tenth-Rank here and conveniently kill the Blue Silver Grass he had cultivated for a year.

The aura of a breakthrough and the fluctuations from a Soul Ring appearing would all occur as expected. With the Dark Room blocking sight, even if Tang Hao was nearby, he would never grow suspicious as long as he did not witness it firsthand.

Once he successfully broke through, the Blue Silver Grass's Soul Ring would have already dissipated on its own. At that point, he only needed to insist that his First Soul Ring had been granted by the Blue Silver Grass. Even if others had doubts, they would have no way to verify them.

As for disguising a healing Soul Skill, that was even easier. Ever since his Martial Soul Awakening, his recovery ability had been far beyond ordinary. No matter how severe his Injuries were, a single night's sleep would heal him completely—enough to pass as a healing-type Soul Skill.

And the Blue Silver Bind that Blue Silver Grass was supposed to possess could be brushed off as a Self-Created Soul Skill.

Carefully placing the Iron Box on the floor, Lin Xuan took a deep breath and sat down cross-legged.

The Soul Power within him surged like a rushing stream, repeatedly battering the invisible barrier of Tenth-Rank. Each impact made his meridians swell slightly, yet also brought a tingling sensation like the moment before breaking free from a cocoon.

He closed his eyes, sank his mind into his body, and guided the active Soul Power along a specific route.

The Blue Silver Grass inside the Iron Box seemed to sense its master's state. Its leaves swayed gently, its emerald color glowing with a soft sheen. Fine roots wriggled through the soil, giving off a pure Life Aura.

This Blue Silver Grass, which he had nourished with Soul Power for a year, had long since become connected to him in aura and bound to him in life. But to conceal the anomaly, he could only Bear the Pain and abandon it.

A ruthless gleam flashed through Lin Xuan's eyes. He yanked the Blue Silver Grass out by the roots and quickly killed it.

As the plant was completely destroyed, a Pale White Soul Ring slowly rose from its remains, emitting the faint fluctuations of a Ten-Year Soul Ring.

Lin Xuan tossed the remains onto the Iron Box and shoved it aside, then retreated farther away. He had no intention of truly absorbing this Ten-Year Soul Ring. The Soul Ring inherited from Tang Wulin was about to descend—how could he let an ordinary Soul Ring delay him?

Time Quietly Passed, and the Soul Power crashing through Lin Xuan's body grew increasingly violent.

Suddenly, a Yellowish Brown Little Snake appeared out of thin air atop the Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul in his palm, abrupt and strange.

With the little snake's appearance, the originally fragile Blue Silver Grass began to twist and change. Its blades curled inward, gradually thickening to the width of fingers like vines. Fine scale-like patterns emerged on the leaves, spirituality and ferocity intertwining until none of its former weakness remained.

(Tang Wulin's little snake was called Golden Light. The protagonist's was changed to Jin Lin here; they meant the same thing anyway.)

The Yellowish Brown Little Snake was swiftly stained with a layer of blue-green.

Lin Xuan quietly watched the changes in his body, understanding what was happening. This was only the first step; an even more intense transformation was still to come.

Sure enough, before long, a scorching current surged from his tailbone and spread along his spine throughout his body. Golden Patterns instantly appeared across his skin, seeming to come alive as they Entangled the Blue Silver Grass and the Jin Lin little snake.

Intense pain suddenly erupted, and Lin Xuan could not help letting out a muffled groan. He had known the transformation would hurt, but he had not expected it to hurt this much.

It felt as though his bones were being reforged and his meridians torn apart. No wonder Tang Wulin's Spiritual Power could far surpass that of his peers. Such agonizing tempering was itself the ultimate honing of will and spirit!

Lin Xuan gritted his teeth and held on. He did not know how much time passed before the pain slowly faded, but by then he could no longer endure it. His vision went black, and he fainted.

Outside the door, Tang San pressed a hand against the tightly shut door and gently pushed, only to find it firmly blocked by heavy objects inside. He had been there for quite some time. He had just been about to return to the dormitory to cultivate when he saw Lin Xuan rushing over with the Blue Silver Grass in his arms, immediately guessing that Lin Xuan intended to break through here.

His heart sank. He had wanted to take this opportunity to cause some trouble, but he had not expected Lin Xuan to find such a secluded place.

Unable to push open the door, Tang San pressed against it and listened to the sounds within. When he heard Lin Xuan's faint groan of pain, he could not help sneering.

"Heh, so what if you're strong? Without an inner cultivation method to assist you, even absorbing a Ten-Year Soul Ring is this difficult."

Back when he had absorbed the four-hundred-year Mandala Snake Soul Ring, he had not made a single sound throughout the process. Lin Xuan was in so much pain from merely absorbing a Ten-Year Soul Ring that Tang San had finally found something Lin Xuan was inferior to him in.

After being repressed for so long, his emotions finally found release. Tang San turned and left in high spirits, completely unaware that he had missed an astonishing transformation.

Just as Tang San left, Tang Hao's tall figure slowly emerged from the shadows of the Back Mountain.

A trace of barely perceptible Essence Light flashed through his murky eyes as he looked toward the Dark Room's door. He had not been unaware of Tang San's little actions earlier; he simply could not be bothered to care.

From beginning to end, his gaze had been fixed on the Wine Jar in his arms, as though everything in the outside world had nothing to do with him.

As for why he was here?

He had not followed Lin Xuan. Rather, Lin Xuan had chosen the wrong place and come straight to where he was hiding.

The commotion Lin Xuan created was not small.

The Life Aura that escaped when the Blue Silver Grass died, the fluctuations from the Soul Ring appearing, and the Soul Power tremors from breaking through the bottleneck all entered his senses clearly.

But in his view, this was merely the normal phenomenon of an ordinary Soul Master breaking through to become a Soul Master.

As for the later mutation of the gold patterns on Lin Xuan's body, they were tightly bound by the golden markings on his skin, letting not even the slightest aura leak out. Naturally, they failed to attract Tang Hao's notice.

After giving it a casual glance, Tang Hao once again disappeared into the shadows.

He had stayed beside Lin Xuan and the others for three years solely to prevent Lin Xuan from graduating and transferring to an intermediate academy after breaking through to become a Soul Master.

If that happened, Xiao Wu would inevitably follow him, and Tang Hao would never allow such a thing.

Now that Lin Xuan had broken through Tenth-Rank and absorbed a Soul Ring, in Tang Hao's eyes, Lin Xuan's life or death was already tied to whether he would remain.

Tang Hao had never cared about Lin Xuan as a person. He only regarded him as a bargaining chip to coerce Xiao Wu. Moreover, Lin Xuan's Innate Soul Power was low, and he had absorbed a Ten-Year Blue Silver Grass Soul Ring. His importance in Tang Hao's eyes was now negligible.

After an unknown amount of time, Lin Xuan slowly opened his eyes amid a faint itching sensation.

The Soul Power in his body was several times fuller than before, flowing with incomparable smoothness. He had clearly succeeded in breaking through into the realm of a Soul Master.

He lowered his head to look at his hands. The Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul had already faded away, but the strange connection linking him to the Jin Lin little snake had become even clearer.

The Golden Patterns on his body had long since faded, leaving only a faint residual warmth that proved the painful transformation just now had been real.

Lin Xuan moved his limbs, his bones giving off faint crackling sounds. Explosive power filled his entire body—not only had his Soul Power broken through, but his physical strength had surged as well, far exceeding that of ordinary Soul Masters.

He summoned his Martial Soul again. The Blue Silver Grass had returned to its original appearance, yet it had become crystal-clear, as though it had evolved from One-Star Blue Silver Grass into Two-Star. It looked ordinary, but it actually contained the terrifying potential of the Fusion Law between Jin Lin and Blue Silver Grass.

With a Raise Hand, the Blue Silver Grass swayed gently. A Pale White Soul Ring quietly appeared beneath his feet, its aura no different from the Soul Ring that had dissipated from the Blue Silver Grass earlier. This was the key to his Deceive the Heavens to Cross the Sea plan: the Blue Silver Grass Soul Ring simulated the appearance of a Ten-Year Blue Silver Grass Soul Ring, perfectly concealing the truth behind Jin Lin's awakening.