The Clear Sky Bamboo Shoot possessed a terrifying trait: armor-piercing power.
Lan Si had discovered it by accident. As long as he had enough strength and Soul Power, the tip of the Clear Sky Bamboo Shoot could pierce almost anything.
At least, he hadn't yet encountered anything it couldn't bore through.
Walls, wooden doors, stone tables and chairs, iron implements—nearly everything gave way after a single thrust.
Because of this, Lan Si had been scolded by Otto more than once for being a wasteful brat.
The Datura Snake was already exhausted from running for its life. It had never expected that the cave it usually used to hide from predators would conceal a deadly trap.
The Clear Sky Bamboo Shoot, crackling with lightning, struck its flattened head dead-on. Its skull caved in at once, and its eyeballs nearly bulged out.
Outside the cave, the Red Feather Eagle heard the Datura Snake's anguished cry and assumed it had run into another predator. It paid little attention, though. With its advantage in the air, it had never feared anyone in this Soul Hunting Forest.
It spread its talons, grabbed the Datura Snake's body in its beak, and prepared to fly away.
The Datura Snake struggled frantically. Though Lan Si had dealt it a grievous blow, no pain could overcome its instinct to survive.
The Red Feather Eagle had no choice but to carry the Datura Snake down to a flat patch of ground nearby. It pinned the snake firmly beneath its talons, glanced at the cave, and, seeing that the creature that had ambushed the Datura Snake hadn't come out, began to peck at its prey. In moments, the Datura Snake was on the verge of death.
Inside the cave, Lan Si had already taken out the semi-automatic pistol he'd made earlier. He watched the Red Feather Eagle in silence. He had only one chance. With his current Soul Power, even with the semi-automatic pistol's help, he might not be able to pierce feathers as hard as Iron Essence. His only option was to catch it off guard and strike at its weak point.
According to the books, the Red Feather Eagle had three weak points: its eyes, its mouth, and the spot where its wings joined its body—the area people commonly called its armpit. That was where its feathers were softest.
The eyes and mouth were out of the question. Even if he hit one, it would be difficult to kill the bird unless the shot penetrated deep into its brain. If it realized what was happening and took flight, this Soul Beast would be beyond Lan Si's reach. He couldn't catch a Soul Beast that could fly.
His only choice was the wings.
The Red Feather Eagle's strength came not only from its sharp talons and hooked beak, but even more from its wings. They gave it the ability to fly and the power to slice through things, serving as weapons in their own right.
"Keer!"
On the flat ground outside the cave, after the Datura Snake had been battered until it could barely move, the Red Feather Eagle let out a cry, picked up the dying snake in its beak, and soared into the sky.
Lan Si seized his chance and fired twice at the Red Feather Eagle's armpit.
To make sure the bullets pierced its defenses, Lan Si had coated them with the Five Thunders Heart Art's Soul Power, which increased their penetrating power.
Pfft!
Bang!
Two gunshots rang out.
Two bullets wrapped in blue arcs of electricity shot forth. The first went pfft as it entered the Red Feather Eagle's armpit.
The second hit after the Red Feather Eagle flinched in pain and shifted its body slightly. It missed the soft armpit, but still wounded the wing, knocking off seven or eight reddish-green feathers as hard as iron.
With both wings injured, the Red Feather Eagle could no longer keep its balance. Together with the Datura Snake, it spiraled down from the sky.
Lan Si had always lived by one principle: when your enemy was down, finish him off.
While the Red Feather Eagle was wounded, Lan Si rushed out of the cave, holding the Clear Sky Bamboo Shoot in his left hand and the semi-automatic pistol in his right. He pushed the Five Thunders Heart Art and Supreme Universe Art to their limits, firing several shots at the eagle's wounds. Then he attacked it with a flurry of thrusts from the Clear Sky Bamboo Shoot. Each strike left another bloody pit in its body.
Blood stained the earth. Before long, the Red Feather Eagle fell silent.
Even after all that, Lan Si wasn't satisfied. He took out a short blade and stabbed the Red Feather Eagle in the eye, then did the same to the Datura Snake, which still hadn't quite died. The blades pierced straight into their brains, killing both beasts.
Faint yellow specks gathered above the corpses of the Red Feather Eagle and the Datura Snake, eventually forming two yellow rings.
Only when the yellow rings appeared did Lan Si finally collapse to the ground, panting. That burst of attacks had nearly drained all his Soul Power.
He looked at the Red Feather Eagle's corpse, then at the Datura Snake, now barely recognizable as a snake. A faint smile crossed his young face. "Now I've got my own Soul Ring, and I've killed Tang San's Datura Snake too. I wonder what Tang San will choose for his first Soul Ring. If it's that Lone Bamboo from the original story, which was less than a hundred years old, things will get interesting."
He raised his head and gazed at the distant horizon, where a sliver of pale dawn had appeared.
Daybreak was near. Without hesitation, Lan Si stored the corpses of the Red Feather Eagle and the Datura Snake in his Soul Tool, then darted back into the cave he'd used earlier. The Red Feather Eagle could provide him with a Soul Ring, while the Datura Snake could supply the ingredients for making poison.
Back when he had served as the Fourteenth Taibao at Tongwen Pavilion in the world of the Degenerates,
Lan Si had used the Jin Heart Needle.
The Datura Snake's venom was potent enough to knock out a Soul Grandmaster or even a Soul Elder.
Once he had made the Jin Heart Needle,
he could coat either its tip or the bullets with the venom. Both would be excellent options.
Three hours later, blue arcs of electricity and pale, bone-white flames surged out of the narrow cave entrance.
A dark figure leaped out and landed on the ground. Warm sunlight bathed the earth, illuminating Lan Si's tall, straight figure.
Compared with the day before, he was visibly taller now, and his shoulders had broadened. The academy uniform, which had been somewhat loose and heavy on him before, now gave him a tall, slender look.
At his feet, a yellow ring had silently appeared, circling up and down around his body. It was the unmistakable sign of a One-Ring Soul Master.
"The feeling after absorbing a Soul Ring really is wonderful. Not only did my Soul Power break through the bottleneck, but I've grown quite a bit taller too. No wonder so many people on Douluo Continent go to such lengths to improve their cultivation."
Lan Si stretched comfortably. He raised his right hand, and a cyan lotus wreathed in pale, bone-white flames appeared in his palm.
After absorbing the Soul Ring and breaking through the bottleneck,
the Cyan Lotus in Lan Si's hand had grown noticeably larger, and the pale flames had thickened. A metallic sheen gleamed across its eight petals—something that hadn't been there before.
"Let's see how powerful my first Soul Skill is."
Lan Si murmured. The yellow Soul Ring around him lit up, and the Cyan Lotus Martial Soul rose into the air and split into eight. Each petal became a blade, wreathed in pale, bone-white flames, and shot toward a large tree as thick as a barrel.
Pfft, pfft.
The sound of piercing objects rang out. The blades passed through the tree's trunk without the slightest resistance, punching eight clean holes through it. The sunlight shining through the holes on the other side was blinding.
"Not bad. It'll do."
Lan Si raised his hand and called the blades back. They transformed into the shape of a Cyan Lotus again, floating in front of him.
His first Soul Skill was called Cyan Lotus Assault. It was a group-attack Soul Skill.
In terms of sheer power, it wasn't among the strongest first Soul Skills, but it had granted the Cyan Lotus Martial Soul a powerful passive ability: flight.
Lan Si could control the Cyan Lotus and make it fly freely without using a Soul Ring.
In other words, if he used it properly, he could stand on his Cyan Lotus Martial Soul and gain the ability to fly for short periods.
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