Xiao Shan's Leather Whip

Chen Huang nodded to show that he understood, but he would not really stop leaving money for the family. You have enough money to spend, as if I have nowhere to spend money myself.

"Oh, right, Dad, has the plot of land I planted been harvested?" Chen Huang asked.

Dad immediately became excited at those words, his face flushing red as he said animatedly, "It has, kid. You have no idea—the land you planted had a bumper harvest! I've farmed for decades, and I've only seen something like that a few times."

Chen Huang explained why the land he had planted had produced such a bumper harvest. The key was the Plant Ash he had buried there; its effect was truly powerful. He repeatedly reminded his father that he could add some Plant Ash when farming in the future, but not too much.

Chen Huang knew that the villagers of Sacred Soul Village had all been kind to his family. Kindness had to be repaid. He could wait until he became successful and send money back to Sacred Soul Village, but that would merely be giving them fish. Better to teach them how to fish than to simply give them fish. Rather than repay them with money, he might as well lead them to prosperity in the future and let them earn all the money they could want.

As a complete world, it naturally had seasonal changes. The Douluo World had four seasons too, though it rarely snowed in winter. Soul Masters did not feel cold even in winter, but people might not fear the cold—vegetables did.

That was why Off-Season Vegetables were also quite rare in the Douluo World. He could study them later and try growing some. If he succeeded, he would have an exclusive product and would not need to worry about sales.

It was not that Off-Season Vegetables did not exist, but obtaining them required enormous transportation costs and time. They had to be bought from far away, kept fresh all the way, and then sold elsewhere at high prices. They were practically as expensive as gold. His own costs would be lower, so he could sell them more cheaply. Those primitive methods could not compare at all.

"Xiao Huang, Xiao Huang." After dinner, Xiao Shan came looking for Chen Huang again.

"What is it?"

"Hehe, Dad is taking me to get my Spirit Ring tomorrow." Xiao Shan smiled.

"That's a good thing. Have you decided on the direction for your Martial Soul?"

"Dad thinks becoming a Control System Soul Master would be better too."

"Control System, huh? Come with me." Chen Huang said.

He first went back inside, then brought Xiao Shan to the Back Mountain.

"This is for you." Chen Huang said. In his hand was a whip. He had bought it earlier in Nuoding City.

"Why are you giving me this?"

"If you want to take the Control System path, your first Soul Skill will probably be something like Entanglement, Binding, pulling, or restraining. All of them require you to extend your Blue Silver Grass and make it like vines."

"And vines have something to do with this. Using them is very similar to using a whip. The difference is that, since it's a Martial Soul, it'll be easier to control. Vines can also attack like a whip and be used to lash people. If you master it, it could count as a very simple Self-Created Soul Skill, though its power should still be quite good. And as long as its toughness is high enough, you could even control Blue Silver Grass like a spear and use it to thrust."

Chen Huang added, "Your Blue Silver Grass isn't tough enough yet and breaks easily, so you can practice with this whip first."

"Oh..." Xiao Shan's eyes filled with longing. "So if I master this Self-Created Soul Skill, I can become an Assault System Battle Soul Master too, right?"

"That's right."

"But don't the books say Self-Created Soul Skills are very difficult? Even many Titled Douluo can't create them," Xiao Shan asked doubtfully.

"Do you think Titled Douluo would tell the whole world about every trump card they have? Maybe they do know them, but simply don't talk about them. Besides, this can only barely count as a Soul Skill in terms of power. It should really be considered a whip technique, so it's much less difficult." Chen Huang explained.

"I'll give it a try." Xiao Shan took the whip and began practicing.

She swung it at the air and the trees nearby, but after several attempts, she frowned.

"This won't do. The whip goes limp when I swing it. It doesn't have any power at all."

Chen Huang smiled. "That's because you didn't put any strength into it. Try lashing it with force."

"Oh."

The next time Xiao Shan swung the whip, it even cracked through the air. That strike definitely had power behind it. But it was still ordinary, nothing particularly outstanding. There was far too great a gap before it could become a Soul Skill-level move. Then Chen Huang remembered—Xiao Shan had never learned blacksmithing from Tang Hao, so she did not understand any techniques for exerting force.

In that case, he might need to have Xiao Shan learn that in the future.

He was truly attentive toward Xiao Shan. But it could not be helped; he felt that it was what he should do. Some people surpassed you in thought, vision, and even wisdom. When you spent time with such people, you would always care about what they thought. Such people could easily become the leader of the flock.

Chen Huang knew that he was still barely that leader. Xiao Shan had always followed him, and whatever he did, she did as well. Whatever the lead sheep did, the sheep below would imitate.

If he had not intervened, or if there had never been someone like Chen Huang in this world at all, he believed that with Xiao Shan's talent, she would still become a powerful Soul Master someday—perhaps even a Titled Douluo. As for whether she could become a god, that depended on fate.

So he did not want his own influence to have a negative effect on Xiao Shan, and he also hoped she could go farther. In a crisis, Tang San had his Hidden Weapons and Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer to protect himself. But Xiao Shan neither knew Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer nor possessed any Hidden Weapons. Therefore, learning this whip technique and gaining a certain degree of combat power was naturally the best choice.

Chen Huang had soothed children and looked after younger brothers before. Although Xiao Shan was much smarter and more mature, those tricks for encouraging children still worked.

Chen Huang smiled. "See? Wasn't that last lash great? Looks like you've already found the knack. This Soul Skill doesn't seem like it'll be able to stump you, Xiao Shan."

"Was that lash really that good?" Xiao Shan asked.

"Of course. Keep it up, I believe in you!"

"A whip technique? Not bad. There shouldn't be any problem incorporating Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer into a whip. Strengthen Blue Silver Grass's toughness, then use Blue Silver Grass to perform the whip technique. As expected, Xiao Huang is full of ideas. Then I'll teach Xiao Shan a whip technique next time. Disorder Splitting Wind Whip Technique. Isn't it just turning eighty-one hammer strikes into eighty-one whip lashes? Easy enough." Tang Hao muttered from afar as he watched Xiao Shan swing the whip.

However, a whip was different from a hammer. Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer relied on controlling the rebounding hammer, borrowing force to add force so that each subsequent strike doubled in power. With eighty-one hammer strikes, every strike was stronger than the last. A whip's rebound had to be controlled by the user herself.

"Then for Xiao Shan's first ring, I'll find a Plant Soul Beast around four hundred years old that can increase toughness and control ability." Tang Hao added. He had long decided where to take Xiao Shan to hunt for her first ring: the Star Dou Great Forest. It had the greatest variety of Soul Beasts, making it naturally the easiest place to find one suitable for Xiao Shan.

Although this place was far from the Star Dou Great Forest, a Titled Douluo could fly quickly. A round trip would not take much time.