Discussion

Xiao Chen woke up and recovered extremely quickly. In just one hour, his soul power and mental energy were mostly restored, and he could move about without issue.

Inside the hotel suite, when Xiao Chen walked out of his room, Chrysanthemum Douluo was nowhere to be seen—only Hu Liena and Xie Yue were there.

The two immediately stood up and approached him as he emerged. Hu Liena spoke first: "You've recovered?"

"Mm." Xiao Chen nodded.

Seeing him nod, a faint pink glow quietly flickered in Hu Liena's gaze as she looked at him.

Seizing the moment of eye contact, a wisp of her mental energy, as light as smoke, stealthily probed toward Xiao Chen's Spiritual Sea. She wanted to confirm whether his mental barrier was still as impenetrable as before.

This probe was so subtle that even Xie Yue, standing beside her, didn't notice—he simply thought she was giving Xiao Chen an ordinary look.

This time, her mental energy was still blocked.

However, the feeling was completely different from when she had tried earlier, while Xiao Chen was unconscious.

Back then, when he was unconscious, she had attempted to use her mental energy to wake him. At that time, she had pushed her mental power to its limit, only to find his Spiritual Sea unbreakable and airtight.

But now, she felt that if she strengthened her mental energy just a little more, Xiao Chen wouldn't be able to hold out.

Xiao Chen could sense Hu Liena testing him, but he pretended not to notice anything.

"Xiao Chen, do you have any mental-type spirit skills among your spirit rings?" Hu Liena asked curiously.

"Mm. My Wooden Bow martial soul's second spirit ring is a mental-type spirit skill," Xiao Chen replied without hiding it.

Hearing this, Hu Liena immediately said, "Use it on me once. Let me see."

She wanted to gauge just how strong the mental attack of this long-range Attack System soul master really was.

As a Spirit Control Martial Soul user herself, she had suffered a loss at the system's hands earlier. It was only natural that she wanted to verify things personally now.

Xie Yue, standing nearby, didn't stop her. In his view, no matter how strong Xiao Chen's mental power was, it couldn't possibly threaten a forty-first-level mental-type Soul Ancestor.

Besides, he also wanted to ask Xiao Chen how he had managed to burst out with such incredible speed earlier.

"Then be careful," Xiao Chen warned.

"Go ahead." Hu Liena nodded, signaling that Xiao Chen could act whenever he was ready.

Xiao Chen didn't hold back. He knew that while his mental power was indeed a bit stronger than that of an ordinary soul master at his level, at best it could match a thirtieth-level Soul Elder. Someone like Hu Liena, a forty-first-level mental-type Soul Ancestor, was definitely out of his league.

"Spiritual Shock!"

Xiao Chen let out a soft shout. His gaze suddenly sharpened, and a faint golden gleam flashed through his eyes. A surge of spiritual shock power burst forth directly from his pupils.

An invisible mental wave, as fierce as a hawk, shot straight toward Hu Liena's Spiritual Sea.

Hu Liena easily blocked the Spiritual Shock, but a storm of surprise had already risen in her heart.

She could clearly sense that this Spiritual Shock, originating from Xiao Chen's eyes, possessed power comparable to that of a thirty-something-level Soul Elder.

Keep in mind, Xiao Chen was only at level twenty-three, three years younger than her, and his martial soul was a Tool Martial Soul focused on offense. Yet he could unleash a mental attack of this caliber—it was truly astonishing.

"If a Ten-Year Spirit Ring's attached skill has this much power, then if he added a spirit ring over five hundred years, his mental attack might even be able to threaten me!"

Hu Liena marveled inwardly, then continued questioning: "Xiao Chen, why did you attach a White Spirit Ring to your martial soul? Don't you know that the higher the spirit ring's age, the stronger the spirit skill?"

"Of course I know." Xiao Chen nodded slightly. "But I've always believed that a soul beast's age isn't the only standard for choosing a spirit ring. Only the spirit ring that best matches oneself is the best one."

Xie Yue clearly disagreed with Xiao Chen's view.

He said bluntly, "But spirit ring age affects cultivation speed. The higher your soul power level, the greater the impact. If your early spirit rings are too low in age, it might even cause you to stall completely at a certain realm, unable to advance any further."

"That's right. These are basic cultivation knowledge. Don't you know that?" Hu Liena chimed in.

Xiao Chen immediately replied, "But I haven't felt any slowdown in my cultivation speed, and the power of my spirit skills is decent. They're no worse than the skills granted by those hundred-year spirit rings at Fabia Academy."

Hu Liena and Xie Yue were momentarily speechless.

They had both personally witnessed Xiao Chen using his spirit skills, so they knew exactly how powerful they were.

Not to mention comparing him to Fabia Academy students—even the two of them, in terms of pure spirit skill power, might not be able to surpass Xiao Chen.

In that moment, the cultivation principles they had always adhered to wavered slightly.

That was exactly the effect Xiao Chen wanted.

Since he had already joined Martial Soul Hall, Hu Liena and Xie Yue would inevitably become his teammates in the future.

Therefore, he needed to help them break away from the traditional cultivation concepts ingrained in Douluo Continent, paving the way for the ultimate mission ahead.

Xiao Chen didn't expect a few words to convince them. He only wanted to plant a seed first, to prepare their minds.

That way, when they eventually learned of his ultimate mission, they would accept it more easily.

"Xiao Chen, I admit your spirit skills are extremely powerful, but that's definitely thanks to your Twin Martial Souls. When you activate your skills, it's like you're performing a Martial Soul Fusion Skill all by yourself. It has little to do with the Ten-Year Spirit Ring," Xie Yue said.

"Martial Soul Fusion Skill?" Xiao Chen feigned surprise. He knew very well that he had never even attended school, so he should have no knowledge of Martial Soul Fusion Skills.

Seeing this, Hu Liena and Xie Yue immediately began explaining it to him.

Just as they finished, Chrysanthemum Douluo returned.

Xiao Chen immediately bowed in greeting. Chrysanthemum Douluo waved his hand, signaling that Xiao Chen need not be so formal.

"Xiao Chen, under normal circumstances, even if you have Twin Martial Souls, you can't use them both at the same time in battle," Chrysanthemum Douluo began.

"In my view, the reason you can wield two Martial Souls simultaneously is that your 'Bow' and 'Arrow' Martial Souls are too perfectly matched. It's precisely because of this that you can complete a Martial Soul Fusion Skill alone!"

"Even your earlier feat of attaching four Spirit Skills to a single arrow—that kind of Spirit Skill Fusion shares the same essence as a Martial Soul Fusion Skill. This is the true source of your strength, and it has little to do with your Ten-Year Spirit Ring!"

Chrysanthemum Douluo spoke as he looked at Xiao Chen. Clearly, he had overheard Xiao Chen's earlier words meant to 'fool' Xie Yue and Hu Liena.

Xiao Chen was well aware that he might be able to shake Hu Liena and Xie Yue, but for a seasoned powerhouse like Chrysanthemum Douluo, no matter how much he said, the old expert would never believe him.

"System, I've suddenly realized a serious problem!" Xiao Chen communicated with the system through his consciousness.

Upon hearing this, the System Spirit let out a sly chuckle and said, "Host, are you worried that the experts of Martial Soul Hall will force you to absorb a high-age Spirit Ring?"

"System, I have a feeling you're about to screw me over again!" Seeing the System Spirit's sly grin, Xiao Chen knew the little thing was definitely up to no good.