Even if this bamboo shoot really was the Hundred Year Thunderous Nether Vine, just as he had expected.
His Martial Soul was a fusion of Sikong Zhen and the Storm Dragon King.
It was the king among Lightning Attribute Martial Souls.
It naturally suppressed Soul Rings with the Lightning Attribute.
Combined with his strengthened physique, Su Ze was confident he could handle it.
With that thought, Su Ze sat cross-legged and began preparing to absorb the 300-Year Soul Ring.
Seeing Su Ze's actions, Director Liu thought it over but didn't try to dissuade him again.
After all, Su Ze had already made his decision.
As an outsider, all he could do now was trust him.
Seeing that even Director Liu stayed silent, the other teachers who had come along naturally didn't say anything either.
They gathered around Su Ze to protect him.
As Su Zhe absorbed the Soul Ring, Sikong Zhen's Martial Soul within him began to stir.
Su Ze's cross-legged body began to float into the air involuntarily.
His black hair turned white.
White Lightning began to swirl around Su Zhe, guarding him.
The teachers watched Su Ze, surrounded by lightning, with envy in their eyes.
They didn't know exactly what his Martial Soul was, but judging by the powerful lightning around him—
It was clearly extraordinary.
Seeing Su Ze like this, Director Liu finally breathed a sigh of relief.
The stronger Su Ze's Martial Soul, the better his chances of successfully absorbing the 300-Year Soul Ring.
Time passed little by little.
At last, under everyone's watchful eyes,
a Deep Yellow Soul Ring fully formed around Su Ze, still surrounded by lightning.
The instant the Soul Ring took shape, Su Ze's Soul Power surged straight from level 10 to level 13.
More importantly, his Sikong Zhen Martial Soul was now fully activated.
In other words,
the Martial Soul Su Ze had awakened until now had only resembled Sikong Zhen.
Only after absorbing the Hundred Year Thunderous Nether Vine
had he begun to unlock Sikong Zhen's Martial Soul.
He had gained Sikong Zhen's skills.
But because he was still weak,
he could only choose one of Sikong Zhen's three skills for now.
Su Ze naturally chose the most powerful one: his ultimate skill.
Thunderous Force!
From then on, every time his body grew stronger or he gained a Soul Ring, he could upgrade one of Sikong Zhen's skills.
As Su Ze understood it, each upgrade was equivalent to gaining a Skill Point.
This only strengthened his resolve to seek out Immortal Herbs.
After all, Immortal Herbs could greatly improve his physique.
Each one might even grant him a Skill Point.
Besides awakening Sikong Zhen's ultimate skill,
Su Ze had also learned how to activate it.
The first method was to expend his Soul Power.
For now, activating Thunderous Force would cost at least a third of his Soul Power.
It would last about a minute.
The second method was highly unusual: during a storm,
Su Ze could use the special weather conditions to activate his ultimate skill without spending any Soul Power.
The third method was a variation of the second.
Under normal conditions, Su Ze could build up Lightning Power inside his body.
Then he could use the stored Lightning Power to unleash his ultimate skill once.
For now, he could only do it once.
As his Soul Power increased, he would be able to store enough for multiple uses.
Su Ze was quite satisfied with his Sikong Zhen Martial Soul.
After all, unlocking Sikong Zhen's skills didn't count toward the limits imposed by Soul Rings.
That meant he had gained an extra skill this time.
The 300-year Thunderous Nether Vine
had granted him the skill Lightning Summon.
As the name suggested, Su Ze could summon lightning to strike down.
Of course, this meant summoning bolts of lightning one by one—
not the extreme weather conditions Su Ze needed for his other method.
Still, that was good enough. The lightning strikes could increase the power of his ultimate skill, Thunderous Force.
After sorting through the details of his Martial Soul's activation in his mind,
Su Zhe slowly opened his eyes.
Director Liu rushed over at once, his face beaming with delight.
His investment had paid off.
This Genius Youth, Su Ze, had a top-tier Lightning Attribute Martial Soul
and had gained a 300-year Soul Beast as his First Soul Ring.
This not only proved that Su Zhe had an extraordinary physique,
but also meant Su Ze's path ahead would be much smoother.
Thinking of the rewards he would receive in the future,
Director Liu felt like an investor who had bet on a rising stock.
He was thrilled.
"How did it go, Su Ze? What Soul Skill did you get?"
Looking at Director Liu's excited expression,
Su Ze's thoughts stirred. As an adult, he knew why Director Liu had gone to so much trouble to help him.
It was for the sake of his future prospects.
And if he wanted Director Liu to keep helping him wholeheartedly,
now was the time to show what he was worth.
With that thought, Su Ze glanced at the harsh weather in Thunder Gorge.
The conditions there had been created by a special environment and suited the extreme weather required to activate his ultimate skill.
This was the perfect opportunity to show Director Liu, his investor, what he was capable of.
He could also test the power of his ultimate skill.
"Director Liu, let me show you my new Soul Skill."
With that, Su Ze walked past Director Liu and an old building, heading for an open area.
Watching Su Ze in the distance, Director Liu and the teachers assigned to protect him all looked on curiously.
They wanted to see the new Soul Skill this Genius Youth had gained.
Standing in the middle of the forest, Su Ze watched lightning continually strike down from the sky.
He took a deep breath.
According to the information about Sikong Zhen's Martial Soul in his mind,
he had to shout one of Sikong Zhen's lines when activating his ultimate skill.
Recalling Sikong Zhen's lines, Su slowly raised his right hand, palm facing the sky. His voice rang through the thunderstorm and echoed across the gorge:
"With Thunder—"
The instant Su Ze's voice rang out, the entire Thunder Gorge began to surge wildly, as if answering his call.
"Shatter the Darkness with Thunder!"
As he spoke the full line, lightning in the sky plunged down and poured into Su Ze.
His black hair turned silver-white in the lightning.
His shirt was torn apart by the raging energy, revealing a powerful upper body strengthened through training.
Lightning patterns appeared on their own, spreading from his back to his arms like an ancient Deity Totem.
"What is this..." Director Liu's pupils contracted, shock filling his eyes.
He had never seen anyone whose First Soul Skill looked like this.
The other teachers wore shocked expressions too.
At that moment, within ten feet of Su Ze, fine arcs of electricity slithered around him.
His feet slowly rose off the ground until he hovered three feet in the air, dazzling lightning flashing in his eyes.
"Heavenly Wrath is the sharp sword hanging over all people."
Su Ze's voice rang with the echo of thunder.
His tone had shifted from the embarrassment he'd felt at first to excitement.
He could feel the Lightning Power inside him growing with every line he shouted.
If he shouted a few more, he would be able to build up enough Lightning Power for his next Thunderous Force.
As soon as the words left his mouth, a bolt of pale lightning as thick as a barrel crashed down, shattering a boulder nearby.
Before the fragments could hit the ground,
the surrounding Electric Net reduced them to dust.
Curious, Director Liu tried to take a closer look. But the instant he stepped into range, a bolt of lightning struck down right in front of him.
The violent shockwave sent him flying, every strand of his short hair standing on end.
But he paid no attention to his disheveled state. He stared fixedly at the boy at the heart of the storm, his eyes shining with delight.
At that moment, Su Ze looked like a god of lightning descended into the world.