Lan Yin's Gan Jiang sword had naturally caught the eyes of all three of them long ago.
Although Sword Martial Souls were special, they weren't particularly rare. Earlier, they had focused entirely on Ning Rongrong. Now that Bone Douluo had pointed it out, Ning Fengzhi and Chen Xin turned their attention back to Lan Yin.
"There's something off about this kid's attacks!" Sword Douluo Chen Xin furrowed his brows as he recalled Lan Yin's probing attack just moments ago.
Ning Fengzhi understood why Chen Xin was frowning and added, "Normally, even if a crystal-type Soul Beast has decent defenses, it's only seven hundred years old. For a level-twenty-three Soul Grandmaster, that attack shouldn't have had no effect at all, even without using a Soul Skill."
"Fengzhi is right." Chen Xin's gaze shifted. As someone who also wielded a Sword Martial Soul, he understood the offensive capabilities of sword-type Martial Souls well. In his view, there was something very wrong with Lan Yin.
"Huh? Could this kid have taken the wrong path?" Bone Douluo's eyes widened as he considered one possibility.
Chen Xin said nothing. He shared Bone Douluo's suspicion.
I hope it isn't what we think, Ning Fengzhi sighed to himself.
He still wanted to recruit the boy named Lan Yin. That was the real reason he had let Ning Rongrong team up with him. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was short on young talent. Even with a genius like Ning Rongrong, who had a natural spirit power level of nine, support-type Soul Masters still had to rely on Battle Soul Masters.
"We'll know what's going on if we keep watching..."
Meanwhile, in the valley, the Fluorite Iridescent Deer facing Lan Yin finally buckled under the pressure and prepared to move.
As a crystal-type Soul Beast, its defenses were stronger than those of ordinary Soul Beasts, but it was also quite fast. Since the human before it hadn't attacked for so long, it decided to flee.
Whoosh~
The Fluorite Iridescent Deer leaped up and shot toward the depths of the valley like a drawn sword. That was where the crystal-type Soul Beasts gathered. If it could get in among them, the human wouldn't dare do anything to it.
"Heh, finally decided to move?" Tang Yin's lips curled up. The Soul Beast was fast, but speed was his strength too—and he was faster.
"First Spirit Skill, Move Like Thunder!"
As a Yellow Soul Ring rose around him, Tang Yin caught up in an instant. The moment the Fluorite Iridescent Deer sprang away and exposed the weakness on its belly, he closed in and thrust his sword into it.
Splurt~
Tang Yin's strike was incredibly precise. Only a palm-sized patch on the Fluorite Iridescent Deer's belly was soft like the flesh of an ordinary Soul Beast. His sword pierced it, and blood sprayed everywhere.
Yelp! Yelp!
The Fluorite Iridescent Deer cried out in pain. Its antlers flashed, releasing a dazzling glimmer. Then it lowered its head, intending to attack Tang Yin with its antlers.
Tang Yin knew the Soul Beast well and recognized that the light could blind him. He had already prepared for it, so he quickly shut his eyes and pushed off the ground with his toes, retreating.
With no target in sight, the Fluorite Iridescent Deer charged more than a dozen meters before it could stop. It slammed headfirst into a nearby rocky mound and let out a pained cry. Then it shook its head, clearly dazed.
Strike while he's down. Tang Yin instantly used his speed advantage to close in again and kick the wound on its belly.
His goal was only to incapacitate it. Ning Rongrong would have to deliver the killing blow.
Yelp! Yelp!
The Fluorite Iridescent Deer had already been gravely wounded when the sword pierced its weak spot. Now Tang Yin had kicked the wound, compounding its injuries. It let out a shrill cry and rolled across the ground.
A dozen breaths later, after Tang Yin had landed several more kicks, the Fluorite Iridescent Deer finally lost the ability to move and lay dying.
"It's finally over." Tang Yin let out a long breath.
The fight had looked so easy because information had played a decisive role, combined with his extreme speed. The two had simply been a perfect counter to the Soul Beast.
"Miss Rongrong, you can come over now!"
Only after confirming that the Fluorite Iridescent Deer could no longer move did Tang Yin turn toward where Ning Rongrong was and call out. But he heard no reply for a long while.
"Ning Rongrong!" Tang Yin called again.
"Oh, coming, coming." Ning Rongrong emerged slowly from behind the rock wall, as though someone had just woken her from a dream. Her expression was conflicted.
"Why do I feel like I didn't do anything this time?" Once she reached Tang Yin, Ning Rongrong nudged a pebble with her foot, looking bored.
Tang Yin knew what was going on. Ning Rongrong's First Spirit Skill really wasn't suited to him, but he couldn't say that outright. All he could do was comfort her. "It's not like you did nothing. At least those few kicks I landed afterward took less effort than usual."
"You!" Ning Rongrong was displeased. That was worse than not comforting her at all.
"If you want to absorb the Soul Ring, hurry up. If the Soul Beast dies, it'll be too late."
"Hmph! Once I get my second Soul Skill, I'll show you what I can do!" Ning Rongrong puffed out her cheeks, sensing how halfhearted Tang Yin's reassurance was. Still, the Soul Ring mattered most.
She had to set the matter aside for now. From who knew where, she produced a dagger with a hilt studded with jewels and walked toward the Fluorite Iridescent Deer.
Before long, a deep-yellow Soul Ring rose from the Soul Beast's corpse.
On the other side, once the battle was over, the three finally began discussing it.
"His First Spirit Skill is purely a speed-boosting skill? Uncle Sword, what do you think?" Ning Fengzhi looked at Chen Xin as he spoke. When it came to understanding Sword Martial Souls, Chen Xin had the final say.
"What do you think I can say?" Chen Xin snorted, clearly not in the mood to talk.
Ever since he began observing Tang Yin, he hadn't stopped frowning. His face had darkened especially when Tang Yin used his First Spirit Skill.
Bone Douluo shook his head, looking puzzled. "I've fought Old Sword Man for so many years, so I know a thing or two about Sword Martial Souls. But I've never seen anything like this."
In Bone Douluo's view, Sword Martial Soul users all followed the Power Attack System. The Soul Beasts they absorbed generally granted attack, burst damage, or sharpness effects, and their Soul Skills tended to be similar.
The next best option was the agility-based Battle Soul Master path, which combined speed and offense—and focused on attack speed.
But from the way he fought and from his First Spirit Skill, Lan Yin was clearly following a purely agility-based path. His First Spirit Skill didn't even increase his attack speed. It simply boosted his movement speed.
Was that even reasonable? Bone Douluo began to question his whole understanding of the world.
"His first Soul Ring must have come from a pure speed-type Soul Beast. Maybe he was unlucky and got a Soul Skill that only increases movement speed." Ning Fengzhi offered his analysis as though it were fact.
In his view, there wasn't a Sword Martial Soul user who would deliberately absorb a Soul Ring from a Soul Beast that only boosted movement speed.
"This is utter nonsense. Judging by the attack power of that sword, the Soul Beast this kid absorbed for his second Soul Ring definitely wasn't an attack-, burst-, or sharpness-type one either." Chen Xin finally couldn't help cursing.
"Which bastard guided this kid's cultivation? They've completely led him astray!"
"Exactly." Ning Fengzhi agreed wholeheartedly, though he was thinking a little further than the other two.
Before, when he had seen a boy so young already at level twenty-three, he had wondered whether he was a genius raised by some family. Now he could put that idea aside.
After all, what Soul Master family didn't have some foundation? How could one be so brainless as to ruin a natural Power Attack System genius like this?
At that thought, Ning Fengzhi's eyes flickered. He asked casually, "Uncle Sword, if this kid starts following the Power Attack System now, is it still in time?"
"You mean..." Chen Xin immediately understood what Ning Fengzhi was getting at: he wanted to know whether the kid was still worth cultivating. After a brief pause, Chen Xin said, "This kid's wasted more than just two Soul Skills."
Chen Xin shook his head. "When a Soul Master absorbs a Soul Ring and gains a Soul Skill, their Martial Soul also acquires some of the Soul Beast's traits."
His meaning was clear: the boy was behind in every way. Even if he switched to the Power Attack System later, he would be naturally inferior to Battle Soul Masters of the same level.
"This kid has decent talent. To reach this level at such a young age means Soul Douluo is well within reach, and becoming a Titled Douluo is possible. He's worth cultivating. But even if he becomes a Titled Douluo, he'll be among the weakest. He might not even measure up to Dugu Bo."
Before you continue