The Soul-Pulling Ghost Vine's main body swung its crown wildly, its branches—which had just been blasted apart by Wang Hong's Spirit Skill—regenerating at the fastest possible speed.
But as mentioned earlier, the Soul-Pulling Ghost Vine's greatest asset was the illusion it created with its immense Spiritual Power. Once it lost the branches that served as conduits for those illusions, its main body was nothing more than wood that was only slightly harder than ordinary wood.
Wang Hong didn't even need to stack another Spirit Skill. He only had to wrap a Bubble around the enemy's vital parts and then set off an explosion.
Wang Hong slowly approached the Soul-Pulling Ghost Vine's main body. The silver-white object that resembled an eyeball began spinning wildly, but clearly, the "eye" on its main body didn't have the same function as the gems on its branches. Or perhaps it simply couldn't use this eye to release its Spiritual Power yet.
The purple Soul Ring lit up, and the Piercing Bubble sank into the Soul-Pulling Ghost Vine's roots. Wang Hong snapped his fingers, and a violent explosion boomed inside the Bubble. Its roots instantly shattered into countless fragments, and the Soul-Pulling Ghost Vine's Life Force began draining away through the enormous gash.
At the same time, with its roots completely destroyed, it could no longer support its massive body. The entire giant tree toppled over, slamming heavily into the ground and kicking up a vast cloud of dust.
Several minutes later, a purple Soul Ring tinged with grayish white slowly floated up from the spot where the white gem had been.
"A thousand-year Soul-Pulling Ghost Vine Soul Ring. It's a pity, my lord Huo Yuhao, that you haven't reached Level 20 yet. Otherwise, this would definitely be an excellent choice for you," Wang Hong said regretfully. After experiencing the illusion firsthand, he was certain that since Huo Yuhao had resisted it, his Spiritual Power was undoubtedly greater than that of this Soul-Pulling Ghost Vine.
If Huo Yuhao could absorb its Soul Ring, he would most likely gain an ability that could create illusions. With Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Power, suppressing Soul Masters below the Soul Ancestor level would be easy. Even restraining Soul Kings or Soul Emperors wouldn't be difficult.
Huo Yuhao nodded too. In his previous life, his Spirit Eye's second Spirit Skill had been Simulation. It had given Shrek Academy a tremendous advantage when he first competed in the Advanced Spirit Master Tournament.
But this Soul-Pulling Ghost Vine's illusion Spirit Skill was clearly superior to Simulation in every way. If possible, Huo Yuhao really wanted to claim it for himself.
The problem was that his Soul Power was only Level 16. He was nowhere near ready to absorb a second Soul Ring. And honestly, it would be hard to encounter such a precious Soul Beast again. Was he really supposed to let this valuable Soul Ring dissipate?
"Brother Sky Dream, do you have any ideas?" Huo Yuhao thought of Tian Meng. If he couldn't absorb the Soul Ring, could Tian Meng grant him an ability similar to this illusion Spirit Skill? If he remembered correctly, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm clan was skilled at imitation. Copying the Spirit Skill of another spiritual-type Soul Beast shouldn't be too difficult for Brother Sky Dream.
"Mm... I'm afraid that, as you suggested, directly simulating this Soul Beast's Spirit Skill... wouldn't be all that easy, even for me," Tian Meng said apologetically. But after a brief moment of dejection, inspiration struck him, and he seemed to think of another way.
"However, while I can't create a similar Spirit Skill from scratch without anything to refer to, I can find a template."
Then Tian Meng made a suggestion that left Huo Yuhao wondering if he'd heard him correctly.
"Yuhao, absorb this Soul Ring into your body right now!"
?
A huge question mark popped up in Huo Yuhao's mind:
"Brother Sky Dream, I'm only Level 16. If I absorb a new Soul Ring directly, my body will explode! Don't go messing around, Brother Sky Dream!"
"Who said I wanted you to absorb it directly? Pay attention to what I said. I told you to absorb the Soul Ring into your body, not to absorb the Soul Ring!" Tian Meng emphasized again. But another question mark appeared in Huo Yuhao's mind. What was the difference between those two things?
"Heh heh, I knew you wouldn't understand. This concerns one of my past adventures!"
"Long, long ago, one day, I met a very strange human. I'll skip the details of how we met. All you need to know is that I didn't lose too badly."
"That human told me a lot of strange things, including the difference between absorbing a Soul Ring into your body and absorbing a Soul Ring, which I just mentioned."
Recalling what that human had told him, Tian Meng continued:
"A Soul Ring is matter formed from the mixture of a Soul Beast's soul and Soul Power. Generally speaking, when a Soul Master talks about absorbing a Soul Ring, they mean absorbing both the soul and the Soul Power. The soul becomes a brand-new Spirit Skill, while the Soul Power condenses into the energy that lets the Soul Master break through to a higher Soul Power Level."
"If you simply absorb the Soul Ring into your body and use its Soul Power without using its soul, you can make the Soul Power in the Soul Ring your own without bursting your body from absorbing an extra Soul Ring."
"And with the Soul Beast's soul as a template, plus the special privileges I have as a million-year Soul Beast, I can attach a brand-new Spirit Skill to your First Soul Ring. I can even raise your Soul Power Level by quite a bit."
"But... it's up to you whether you trust me. That human said this method had a low success rate and required extremely precise control of Spiritual Power. He also said that, in this world, the only ones who could probably pull it off were spiritual-type Titled Douluo or Soul Beasts like me, who had put every skill point into Spiritual Power. Though, even now, I still don't really understand what a skill point is."
Tian Meng rattled off a long explanation. Huo Yuhao felt a little dizzy, but he more or less understood the theory.
In short, he would absorb the Soul Power in the Soul Ring, use the soul within it as a template to create a Spirit Skill, and attach that skill to a Soul Ring he already possessed—without gaining another Soul Ring himself.
Huo Yuhao had never heard of such a theory. After all, in his memories, though the Soul Spirit he had created might have been somewhat similar to this theory, that was because one Soul Spirit could grant multiple Soul Rings. Soul Rings and Spirit Skills still corresponded one-to-one.
Even though his First Soul Ring had multiple Spirit Skills in both his previous life and this one, that was a privilege of Tian Meng having reached the million-year level.
A method for granting a new Spirit Skill to a Soul Ring one already possessed was completely unheard of.
"So, Yuhao, what do you say? Want a Spirit Skill? If you do, absorb the Soul Ring, and I'll make one for you right away!"
Tian Meng said one last thing in Yuhao's mind. Though he sounded so confident, he had his own motives too.
After all, Huo Yuhao was now a crucial part of his God-Making Project. If this method worked, Huo Yuhao's strength would grow enormously, giving him a much better chance of becoming a god.
And... it would also give him more leverage to persuade his Bing'er.
A moment later, Huo Yuhao spoke slowly:
"I want this Spirit Skill!"
Before you continue