After a few more breaths, the cracks connected together, and wood chips began to fall.
Only then did Wang Xian release the Blue Silver Grass and withdraw his palm.
He leaned in for a closer look. A deep ring-shaped groove had been left in the pillar, sunken a full meter and a half deep. The edges were perfectly neat, as if they had been carved with a blade.
Wang Xian reached out and touched the groove. His fingertips could feel that the surface of the trunk had been compressed until it was dense and hard. Fine powder had even appeared in some places.
He tested the Blue Silver Grass's strength again, pulling a blade of grass from his palm and yanking hard in both directions.
The grass blade stretched taut and gave off a low hum, like a plucked string.
He could clearly feel it tugging against his hands. The grass blade resisted and recoiled, its force continuous and unrelenting, as if it were competing with him.
He pulled for more than ten seconds until his hands grew sore, yet the grass blade showed no sign of breaking. It had merely lengthened slightly.
Wang Xian released it, and the blade snapped back with a whoosh, returning to normal without even a crease.
Such Toughness made Wang Xian smile despite himself.
He tried lashing the Blue Silver Grass against the ground a few times. The grass blade struck the earth with crisp smacks, just like a whip.
Each strike kicked up a small cloud of dust, leaving shallow marks in the dirt.
Afterward, he picked up the grass blade and examined it. It was completely undamaged, without so much as a nick.
"Sure enough, none of these traits are simple. After adding Toughness, the improvement is actually this great."
Wang Xian satisfiedly recalled the Blue Silver Grass into his body and began calculating in his heart.
His Blue Silver Grass now possessed three traits: Sharpness, Toughness, and Deep Tilling.
Sharpness was responsible for cutting, Toughness for durability, and Deep Tilling for sustained output.
With the three traits working together, the longer it entangled an enemy, the tighter it constricted, the deeper it cut, and the greater the damage it dealt.
Furthermore, the Blue Silver Grass itself possessed recovery and growth abilities from its life attribute. Even if it broke, it could grow back, so he did not need to worry about endurance.
"With this, my combat strength can be considered quite decent."
"Perhaps I could even fight Tang San. When I was one year old, Tang Hao and Qian Xunji fought. Tang San had just been born then."
"Then I'm a year older than Tang San." Light flashed in Wang Xian's eyes.
This was undoubtedly the best possible situation for him, because he had enough time to develop and make up for the gap between his Innate Soul Power and Tang San's.
He could also increase his strength. When Tang San came to Notting Academy, he could capture his Martial Soul.
Three months passed quickly, and at last it was time to go to Notting Academy to study.
Before dawn had even broken, Old John got up and began bustling about.
He pulled the ox cart out of the shed, carefully checked the wheels, fed the ox a handful of fodder, and only then went inside to wake Wang Xian.
"Xiao Xian, time to get up. We have a journey ahead of us today."
Wang Xian had already awakened. Hearing the call, he immediately climbed out of bed, quickly got dressed, and picked up his small bundle.
There was not much in it: a few changes of clothes, a pair of newly made cloth shoes, several steamed buns Old John had stuffed inside, and a small bag of dried provisions.
There was also a small pouch of Soul Silver Coins, of course.
When Old John saw him come out, he looked him over from head to toe, reached out to straighten his collar, then took the bundle and weighed it in his hand before turning toward the courtyard.
"Did you bring everything? Don't leave anything behind."
"I brought it all, Grandpa."
Old John nodded, placed the bundle in the ox cart, then went back inside to fetch a water skin and put it in as well.
The ox cart was not large, but it had a layer of dry grass spread over it, so it was not too hard to sit on.
Seated on the ox cart, Old John swung his whip and lightly urged the water buffalo onward. The cart slowly set off toward Notting City.
Sitting on the dry grass, Wang Xian was filled with anticipation, because he could finally obtain a Meditation Method.
During his time in Emperor Soul Village, he had constantly tried to cultivate, but the results had been far from ideal.
He could sense Heaven and Earth Vitality through his Martial Soul, but the process of converting it into Soul Power was clumsy and wasteful.
In the end, he achieved only half the result for twice the effort.
Wang Xian was helpless about this, but there was nothing he could do.
He did not possess a Tang Sect Technique like Tang San, so he could only wait until he reached Notting Academy to learn a Meditation Method.
In addition, over this long period, he had found some villagers to challenge and captured some Martial Souls for training.
He discovered that the training speed had become much faster. Ordinary training was almost as effective as his previous limit training.
This made him very happy. After all, he could obtain Cultivation Points more quickly.
Unfortunately, the traits he obtained were not very satisfactory, but gaining Cultivation Points was still quite good.
His Weapon Form had also long since completed its cultivation.
The Weapon Form was not similar to the Blue Silver Overlord Spear soul skill that Wang Xian had previously guessed Tang San possessed.
However, it truly was a weapon, one transformed from his Martial Soul.
After unlocking this Weapon Form, it was equivalent to being able to transform his plant-type Martial Soul into a weapon Martial Soul.
However, it could not have Soul Rings attached to it, and its soul skills would not change in any way either.
The good news was that this Weapon Form came with its own skill and could continuously grow stronger through further cultivation.
Form Cultivation: Weapon Form, Life Scepter (E-rank). Skill: Life Severing. Next cultivation requires 1,000 Cultivation Points. Next Form: Armor Form (Locked). Unlock condition: Martial Soul quality reaches C-rank.
Sitting atop the dry grass, Wang Xian swayed back and forth without ever falling over. In the blink of an eye, two hours had passed.
A city appeared in the distance ahead. Old John immediately pointed at it and said, "Xiao Xian, that's Notting City ahead."
Wang Xian turned to look. Notting City's walls came into view.
The city walls looked somewhat ancient and worn, and they were not particularly tall, since it was only a small city.
The ox cart arrived at the city gate and stopped.
Old John found an acquaintance, settled the ox cart, and then returned to Wang Xian's side.
"Come on, Grandpa will take you to enroll."
As the village chief of Emperor Soul Village, Old John had brought other children to study at Notting Academy before, so he naturally knew where the academy was.
Half an hour later, they arrived at the entrance of Notting Academy.
"Xiao Xian, take out your Martial Soul Certificate," Old John said familiarly in advance.
Wang Xian nodded and took out the Martial Soul Certificate.
Old John handed the Martial Soul Certificate to the gatekeeper. The gatekeeper examined it back and forth, then nodded.
"Alright, this child may enter." As he spoke, the gatekeeper returned the Martial Soul Certificate to Wang Xian.
Old John hurriedly said, "Thank you, thank you."
Then he crouched before Wang Xian and instructed him, "Xiao Xian, once you enter the academy, study hard."
"Grandpa, I will. Once I become a Soul Master, I'll come back and repay you." Wang Xian's little face was solemn.
Old John revealed a gratified smile and stroked his hair. "Alright, go in."
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