Facing the Blazing Savage Bull, Su Yun wanted to unleash all fifty stances of the Prairie Fire Spear Technique.
He wanted to test just how much fighting strength he had now.
The most basic spear techniques were thrusting, jabbing, lifting, sweeping, parrying...
The fifty stances of the Prairie Fire Spear Technique had all evolved from these thirteen moves.
That was why Su Yun had always strived to master these thirteen basic moves!
For a time, relying on the nimble footwork of Wind God Leg, Su Yun not only avoided being touched by the Blazing Savage Bull, but also threw off its stride and lured it into a trap, causing it to step on a Lazy Tree leaf.
Su Yun seized the moment when the Blazing Savage Bull slowed down and struck decisively, wounding it.
Even though the Blazing Savage Bull had a powerful defense compared to Soul Beasts of the same level, Su Yun kept attacking the same spot on its body.
Persistent effort wore down even stone, and before long, he had inflicted a wound.
As time went on, the wound grew larger and larger.
The pain of the tearing wound and its blood loss gradually drove the Blazing Savage Bull out of its mind!
When the enraged Blazing Savage Bull charged at Su Yun, he repeatedly used defensive spear techniques to deflect its attacks.
"What impressive spearwork! When did this little fellow Su Yun learn to wield a spear so well?" Teacher Xiong watched Su Yun toy with the Blazing Savage Bull like a butterfly among flowers, and couldn't help feeling amazed.
He had nearly begun to think that the spear in Su Yun's hands was his Martial Soul, rather than that Innate Full Soul Power Blue Silver Grass.
Ah Yin, who resided within Su Yun, saw his attacks and defenses growing more and more fluid and began praising him in her heart.
A month ago, when Su Yun had first started learning the Prairie Fire Spear Technique, he couldn't even hold the spear correctly.
But a month later, thanks to his diligent practice and the combat skills he had learned, he could face a genuine Hundred-Year Soul Beast one-on-one.
All she could say was that this child was a genius!
"Boom!"
A short while later, a tremendous crash rang out as something fell.
The Blazing Savage Bull's massive body finally collapsed among the Lazy Tree leaves, shaking them aside and opening a path through the thicket.
Su Yun glanced toward Teacher Xiong. After receiving an approving nod, he walked straight to the Lazy Tree.
"Sister Yin, it should be fine to choose this Lazy Tree for my First Soul Ring, right?" Standing before the Lazy Tree, he cut it down with a single thrust of his spear. As he watched the yellow Soul Ring coalesce and appear, he asked her in his heart.
"Don't worry, little Su Yun."
A note of confidence entered Ah Yin's voice. "With me here, your First Soul Skill definitely won't be bad."
Ah Yin was in a very unusual state.
As Su Yun's Martial Soul, she possessed extremely high intelligence and considerable control over the Martial Soul.
Therefore, as he absorbed the Soul Ring, Ah Yin could use her own spiritual power and the Blue Silver Emperor's supreme quality to absorb all the traits within the Lazy Tree's Soul Ring that were best suited to Su Yun.
Moreover, judging by her keen eye, this Lazy Tree's Soul Ring was around 420 years old—just right for Su Yun's current physique!
"Good. I'll get started, then."
Su Yun spoke softly, then sat cross-legged beside the yellow Lazy Tree Soul Ring.
"Bzz."
The Blue Silver Grass with golden patterns—his Blue Silver Emperor—appeared in Su Yun's left hand as the Soul Imprint lit up. At the same time, he used his Soul Power to draw over the Hundred-Year Soul Ring, which floated above the Blue Silver Emperor.
"Begin absorption."
Su Yun closed his eyes and began absorbing the power within the Lazy Tree's Soul Ring, just as he had planned.
Within Su Yun, Ah Yin sensed the Lazy Tree's unique Soul Power entering his body along his meridians. She began carefully filtering out the Soul Power best suited to the Blue Silver Emperor.
"Come on, let's go help Su Yun keep watch," Teacher Xiong said when he saw that Su Yun had begun absorbing the Soul Ring. He stood up and headed over to him.
He hadn't moved earlier because he had agreed to Su Yun's request to challenge a Soul Beast alone and earn a Soul Ring.
Now that Su Yun had begun absorbing the Soul Ring, accompanying him as his teacher was his duty.
A Soul Master absorbing a Soul Ring—and delivering the final blow to a Soul Beast about to be hunted—were both crucial steps.
Not the slightest thing could go wrong.
Otherwise, the Soul Ring might not be absorbed, or it might be wasted entirely.
"We're coming too." The twin brothers immediately followed Teacher Xiong.
After all, Su Yun had played a part in helping them obtain their Soul Rings—indeed, he had played a rather large part.
They didn't know how to thank him. Su Yun was younger than they were, and now it seemed he was also much stronger.
Even if they really wanted to give him something in thanks, they had no idea what it should be.
So staying by Su Yun's side and preventing other Soul Beasts from disturbing his absorption was the least they could do.
Su Yun took quite a while to absorb his First Soul Ring. About half an hour later, he finally woke from his meditative state.
"How did it go, Su Yun? How do you feel?" Teacher Xiong immediately hurried over when he saw Su Yun open his eyes.
The other two also leaned in, eager to find out how much stronger Su Yun had become.
"Su Yun, after my brother and I absorbed our First Soul Rings, our Soul Power Levels both reached level eleven. What about you? How much did yours increase?" Twin Brother Younger asked.
Su Yun didn't hide it. "Level fourteen."
"Level fourteen?!"
Three shouts erupted at once.
Of the three, Teacher Xiong's voice was by far the loudest.
"Su Yun, you're not pulling my leg, are you?"
"Why would I lie to you?" Su Yun shook his head with a wry smile. Why didn't anyone believe him when he told the truth?
He held out his hand. "If you don't believe me, you can check."
Teacher Xiong didn't hesitate. He grabbed Su Yun's hand, and a powerful yet gentle probing Soul Power entered Su Yun's body.
Su Yun didn't react at all. He simply stood there with a smile.
After a long while, Teacher Xiong finally released Su Yun's hand, his face full of shock. It was true! He had jumped three minor levels as soon as he absorbed the Soul Ring!
Teacher Xiong remembered that Tang San, another first-year work-study student, had also reached level thirteen after absorbing his First Soul Ring from a Datura Snake.
And he and Su Yun were from the same village.
Teacher Xiong couldn't help reflecting: Blue Silver Grass really was great—it could absorb more Soul Power.
"Level fourteen Soul Power? That's even one level higher than Tang San!"
Twin Brother Younger exclaimed, then asked, "Su Yun, what's your First Soul Skill?"
That question went straight to the heart of the matter.
After all, according to Teacher Xiong, most Soul Masters who absorbed a Lazy Tree Soul Ring ended up in a truly miserable state.
Yet Su Yun seemed to have anticipated their question. The Blue Silver Emperor in his left hand—no, it should now be called the Blue Silver Tree Emperor—slowly floated out of his hand.
Su Yun's Blue Silver Grass had originally been only about a dozen centimeters long and looked extremely small. Even after evolving into the Blue Silver Emperor, the only visible change had been a layer of golden patterns on its surface.
But the Blue Silver Tree Emperor now stood a full 1.4 meters tall.
Its pale blue and emerald green colors intertwined, accented by flecks of gold. The sight immediately piqued Teacher Xiong's interest!
"Is that... Blue Silver Grass?" Teacher Xiong asked, his eyes widening slightly.
"Of course."
Su Yun smiled as he explained, "It's just evolved from grass into a tree."
"It can evolve, too?"
The twin brothers asked in unison, then looked at each other. They could both see the bewilderment in the other's eyes. "That's unbelievable."
Indeed, for work-study students from a small place, something like this was already beyond their understanding.
But after hearing Su Yun's explanation, Teacher Xiong immediately understood what had happened.
Simply put, everyone in the past who absorbed a Lazy Tree Martial Soul had ended up useless—and the people themselves had become useless too.
But Su Yun hadn't become useless. On the contrary, his Martial Soul seemed to have evolved from grass into a tree!
Anyone could see that Su Yun had gained an enormous benefit!
"My First Soul Skill lets me create leaves just like those of the Lazy Tree. Anyone who steps on one of the leaves I create will be slowed for three seconds, and the fragrance will last for three minutes as well."
Su Yun explained his First Soul Skill. "I can create Lazy Tree leaves in large quantities to control my enemy's movements, and the Soul Power they consume is minimal."
"As for eating one of the Lazy Tree leaves I create, I can't make it explode inside someone's body, but I can use my Martial Soul to lock onto its position directly."
"Hiss—"
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