But the instant Tang Liu saw the Mandala Snake move, he decisively activated Teleportation, vanishing once more amid blue-black light and reappearing in another flash of blue-black radiance.
"The consumption for Innate Realm Level One Soul Power... is practically nothing!"
Feeling that the Soul Power within him had only diminished by the slightest trace, Tang Liu's shock deepened, followed immediately by wild delight.
"Am I about to become invincible? With this Teleportation speed and Soul Power consumption, it'll be hard for anyone's soul skills to hit me in the future!" Tang Liu thought excitedly, and the look in his eyes as he watched the Mandala Snake changed.
"Brother Snake, how about helping me test this out!"
As he watched the Mandala Snake charge at him, Tang Liu vanished into another burst of blue-black light.
Since he had left marks on all the surrounding trees, and the trees here were densely packed, he could theoretically appear anywhere within this area at any time.
Thus, blue-black flashes began flickering continuously around the Mandala Snake through the forest, until Tang Liu's figure was nearly impossible to see.
The Mandala Snake was also extremely fast, so almost every time Tang Liu finished teleporting, he had to immediately begin the next one. That was what created the spectacle of continuous flashes.
About five minutes later, Tang Liu teleported once more and opened up some distance from the Mandala Snake.
Over the past few minutes, he had become familiar with operating Teleportation. He no longer activated Ethereal Defense; Teleportation alone was enough to evade the Mandala Snake's attacks.
"This won't do. I can't touch it at all."
Tang Liu muttered after teleporting again to pull away from the charging Mandala Snake.
It was not as though he had not considered moving farther away first, luring the Mandala Snake over, then teleporting back. But the system rejected the idea with the explanation: "The Mandala Snake has a keen sense of smell. Unless the host moves more than one thousand meters away, the Mandala Snake can still find its way back. Furthermore, if the host currently teleports beyond one thousand meters, it will consume 90% of maximum Soul Power, after which the host will enter a weakened state."
"Suggestion: After activating Ethereal Defense, allow the Mandala Snake to pass through the host's body and attempt to use the Hao-Lan Mark."
The system's words stunned Tang Liu, and he nearly failed to dodge the Mandala Snake's attack.
"You mean you want me to mark it while the Mandala Snake passes through me?"
"Yes."
Tang Liu's eyes lit up.
Right. The prerequisite for marking was skin contact, but if the Mandala Snake passed through him, could that not count as "skin contact"?
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?!" Tang Liu began complaining to the system.
"The host did not ask. Furthermore, it is best for the host to explore and familiarize himself with such techniques on his own," the system replied.
Tang Liu: "..."
Still, the system had a point, so he stopped arguing with it.
Taking advantage of the gap before the Mandala Snake charged over, he immediately renewed Ethereal Defense on himself, then stood where he was and waited for the Mandala Snake to approach.
"Come on, Brother Snake. Let me give you a mark!"
He waved at the Mandala Snake across from him and shouted loudly.
The Mandala Snake charged at him the very next second after hearing his shout. Tang Liu, who had already switched to his Third Martial Soul and prepared himself, continuously attempted to activate his first soul skill.
Then, at the instant the Mandala Snake passed through his body, the first blue-black Soul Ring flashed faintly.
Marking successful!
However, due to the Hao-Lan Mark's imperceptible nature, the Mandala Snake showed no reaction whatsoever. After passing through Tang Liu's body, it coiled up again and stared at him without moving.
"Host, please choose whether to send the Mandala Snake away now," the system's voice sounded once more.
"Wait a moment. I think I'd like to familiarize myself with the Mark's power first," Tang Liu said inwardly as he walked beneath a tree and sat down cross-legged.
During that time, the Mandala Snake naturally launched another attack because of his movement. But thanks to Ethereal Defense, Tang Liu took no damage.
The system's earlier words had awakened him to something: for the effects of soul skills and the techniques for using them, it was better to explore and become familiar with them himself.
Moreover, the system's description of his Hao-Lan Mark stated that he could "do many unexpected things through the Mark." He was also curious about what exactly these so-called "unexpected things" were.
And now, he had a marked Mandala Snake and hundreds of marked trees for experimentation. On top of that, he was in a relatively safe state as long as he periodically renewed Ethereal Defense on himself. So why not test the Mark's effects now?
Tang Liu closed his eyes, switched his Martial Soul to Haolan Spell, and silently sensed the power of the Hao-Lan Mark. Of course, he did not forget to have the system remind him when Ethereal Defense was about to expire.
Once he calmed his mind, a single thought made Tang Liu feel a faint wave of dizziness in his head, followed by a sensation of being pulled away and drifting upward.
It felt somewhat like watching the scenery below gradually shrink from an airplane. Tang Liu discovered dozens of football-sized blue-black orbs of light appearing around his dark field of vision. As his viewpoint rose, these blue-black light clusters gradually shrank, eventually becoming like stars scattered across the night sky.
Tang Liu realized that he seemed to have "vision" again. This vision was the dark expanse of sky before him and the blue-black specks of starlight scattered across it. Yet his eyes were clearly closed.
When he shifted his gaze slightly, Tang Liu saw two stars close together in the distance amid a dense cluster of starlight, moving slowly at a nearly imperceptible speed.
That should be Third Brother and Grandmaster.
That was what he thought.
Then he sensed his gaze—or rather, his consciousness—rapidly drawing closer to those two solitary stars. The two stars gradually grew larger before his eyes, their light becoming brighter as well.
Next, when his consciousness settled above those two stars, the surroundings suddenly brightened, and light returned.
The space around him looked like the interior of a carriage.
On one of the seats sat a middle-aged man beside a six-year-old boy.
Their expressions appeared somewhat solemn, with faint traces of worry.
They were naturally Grandmaster and Tang San.
"Is this the vision gained through the Mark?"
At that moment, Tang Liu was observing Tang San and Grandmaster from a god's-eye view.
Because the carriage compartment blocked his sight, he could only see what was inside the carriage at the moment.
However, if he wished, he could raise his viewpoint slightly higher and see everything within fifty meters of the surroundings.
Thus, he also noticed the carriage behind Tang San and Grandmaster.
Before you continue