Although Lin Zhu was a year older than him and half a head taller, he was still an ordinary person. Without Soul Power enhancing him, his reaction speed and strength were more than a level below Wang Xian's.
Wang Xian sidestepped, dodging the bamboo rod Lin Zhu swung at him. He then closed in with a quick step and punched him in the shoulder.
Lin Zhu cried out in pain and stumbled back two steps. Before he could steady himself, Wang Xian was on him again, grabbing his wrist and driving a knee into his thigh, knocking him straight to the ground.
The whole exchange lasted only a few breaths.
Lin Zhu lay on the ground, his Lone Bamboo martial soul already dispersed, staring blankly at Wang Xian.
"That was way too fast, wasn't it?" he muttered. "I didn't even have time to react."
Wang Xian reached out and pulled him up with a smile. "Thanks, Brother Lin Zhu."
"What are you thanking me for? That was completely one-sided." Lin Zhu dusted off his clothes, not angry in the least. "Your Soul Power really is different. I couldn't withstand it at all."
Wang Xian silently said in his heart, System, capture martial soul.
Capture successful. Martial soul: Lone Bamboo (F-rank) has been added to the Training Camp. Begin training?
Wang Xian glanced at it, delight rising in his heart.
"Brother Lin Zhu, I'm heading back first. I'll treat you to something another day."
"All right, go on." Lin Zhu waved him off and went back to drinking water.
Wang Xian left Lin Zhu's home, checking the panel before his eyes as he walked.
Begin normal training, Wang Xian silently ordered.
Lin Zhu was his friend, so naturally he could not treat him the same way he had treated Zhao Dazhuang.
Lone Bamboo (F-rank) training in progress. Progress: 1%.
Having kept an eye on the panel, Wang Xian discovered that the speed really was much slower than before.
Still, Wang Xian was in no hurry. He returned to his usual routine and waited for the training to finish.
Time passed quickly. The next morning, Wang Xian helped Old John hoe the fields in the courtyard.
A notification sounded in his mind.
Lone Bamboo (F-rank) training complete. Obtained 10 Cultivation Points. Obtained trait: Toughness. Fuse the trait into the martial soul?
However, an additional line of red text appeared below this time.
Notice: F-rank martial souls can only fuse with two traits. Please fuse carefully.
Wang Xian's gaze sharpened as he looked at the notice.
"So there are limits on fusing traits too." He could not help feeling somewhat disappointed.
But after thinking about it for a moment, he could understand. It was indeed reasonable.
The lower the quality of a martial soul, the more fragile it was. Fusing traits that did not belong to it at all would inevitably put it under pressure.
It was only normal for there to be limits.
"An F-rank martial soul can only fuse two traits. Then there's no need to fuse Toughness so quickly. Maybe there will be better traits later."
Wang Xian temporarily gave up on the idea of fusing traits.
"Xiao Xian, go fetch some water and give these fields a drink," Old John said at that moment.
"Okay." Wang Xian quickly agreed.
Over the following days, Wang Xian devoted all his time to capturing other people's martial souls.
Since Old John was the village chief, he had a roster recording every villager's awakened martial soul and Innate Soul Power.
With this, Wang Xian could easily find martial souls capable of producing suitable traits, as well as people he could challenge more easily.
However, nearly all the villagers in Emperor Soul Village possessed farm-tool martial souls such as Sickles and Hoes.
A small number had ordinary plant martial souls like Lin Zhu's. Of course, there were also Blue Silver Grass martial souls like Wang Xian's.
Wang Xian chose a few suitable people, challenged them, and successfully captured their martial souls.
In the end, he obtained three traits with fairly good effects.
One came from a Hoe martial soul. After training, it produced the trait Deep Tilling. According to the system's description, the longer an attack continued, the higher its damage became.
The Blue Silver Grass martial soul, meanwhile, produced the trait Growth. Its effect was to accelerate the recovery and growth of Blue Silver Grass.
In addition, the Wood Hammer martial soul produced a trait called Heavy Strike. It added extra impact force to attacks and caused enemies to enter a brief state of stiffness.
As for the other traits, they were basically useless, all being effects specifically related to hoeing fields.
He also discovered that he could no longer obtain traits from Sickle martial souls, only Cultivation Points.
For martial souls of the same type, traits could only be acquired once.
With the Toughness trait he had previously obtained from the Lone Bamboo martial soul, he now had four traits suitable for fusion.
Of them, the traits he most wanted to fuse were Deep Tilling and Toughness.
After fusing the Sharpness trait, his Blue Silver Grass martial soul's attack power was no longer weak.
If he combined it with Deep Tilling and Toughness, he could increase the strength of the Blue Silver Grass and keep it wrapped around an enemy for a long time. The longer it lasted, the greater the damage would become.
As for why he did not fuse Growth, it was because he had already chosen Life as the direction for his martial soul cultivation.
Once the martial soul cultivation was complete, the System's power would most likely greatly increase Blue Silver Grass's growth and recovery speed.
After all, growth and recovery were both manifestations of powerful vitality.
So there was no need to occupy one of the currently limited trait fusion slots.
Of course, there was no need to fuse anything so urgently. In just a few more hours, the Blue Silver Grass cultivation would be complete.
After the cultivation was complete, he could see what happened and decide which traits to fuse. That would be the best choice.
Wang Xian lay on his bed, staring at the progress bar on the System Panel, which had nearly reached the end.
Martial Soul Cultivation Chamber: Blue Silver Grass (cultivating). Martial soul quality: F~E (99%). Martial soul cultivation complete. Blue Silver Grass (F-rank) → Life Blue Silver Grass (E-rank). Martial Soul Cultivation System. Host: Wang Xian. Age: six. Innate Soul Power: Rank 5. Martial soul quality: E-rank (Low-Tier Martial Soul). Martial soul Cultivation Points: 250. Martial Soul Cultivation Chamber: Place a martial soul within. Cultivation Points may be spent to cultivate the martial soul. (Cultivation attempts: 0. Spend 1,000 Cultivation Points to perform the next cultivation.) Martial Soul Training Camp: Train martial souls (none). Traits obtained: Toughness, Deep Tilling, Growth, ... Soul skill cultivation (locked). Unlock condition: Obtain the First Soul Ring. Form Cultivation: Weapon Form (spend 100 Cultivation Points to cultivate).
As the panel appeared, he could not help but release his martial soul.
A dense aura of life washed over him, carrying the fresh scent unique to grass and trees.
He spread open his right hand, and Blue Silver Grass slowly emerged from his palm.
It was completely different from before.
The grass blades had changed from bluish-green to a deep inky green, as though they had been soaked in the purest, richest water of life.
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