The First Soul Skill and the Third Martial Soul

The Spirit Cat walked leisurely forward, heading straight toward a large tree.

Just as it was about to collide with the trunk, it suddenly turned, flicking its tail toward the wood.

The moment its tail was about to make contact, its body suddenly turned transparent, and its tail passed through the trunk without the slightest resistance.

When its tail reached the center of the trunk, its body returned to its original state, and because its body had solidified, its tail became stuck inside the tree.

It then took a light step forward, pulling its tail out, but leaving behind a hole that pierced straight through the trunk. Through this hole, one could see the scenery on the other side.

"Think about it, if it had charged at you with several times that speed, and you were that tree, what would your fate be?" Grandmaster spoke up at this moment.

Tang San's face was filled with shock. "According to what you said, Teacher, if the Spirit Cat's speed were truly that fast, wouldn't any Spirit Master who encountered it face certain death?"

Indeed, one shouldn't just look at the hole the Spirit Cat left in the tree; what if it were a human?

If a human were to have such a hole pierced through their body, they would likely suffer a grave injury on the spot, or even die instantly!

"It's a good thing it doesn't attack proactively..." Tang Liu also felt a lingering fear.

"You don't need to be so worried. Although the Spirit Cat's ability is troublesome, it is not without weaknesses." Grandmaster looked at the two of them and smiled. "While this Spirit Cat can turn ethereal, its intangibility cannot penetrate spirit power. Therefore, if you encounter one, you only need to release your spirit power to cover your entire body, and you can prevent it from passing through you."

Tang San and Tang Liu suddenly realized.

No wonder this Spirit Cat has such a strong ability, yet there are no hundred-thousand-year-old specimens, Tang Liu thought to himself.

"Then Teacher, it won't be easy for us to hurt the Spirit Cat either. How should we kill it to obtain its spirit ring?" Tang San asked again.

Grandmaster looked at him approvingly. "Correct. The Spirit Cat cannot hurt us, but it is also difficult for us to inflict damage upon it. However, this Spirit Cat happens to have another weakness; if utilized well, it can temporarily cause it to lose its ethereal ability."

As he spoke, Grandmaster took a green plant from his storage soul tool.

"This is..." Tang San looked at the plant in Grandmaster's hand, feeling a sense of familiarity, but he couldn't quite place it.

Tang Liu's mouth twitched, his expression one of disbelief. "Catnip?"

Grandmaster nodded. "That's right, catnip."

Tang Liu rolled his eyes.

Sure enough, no matter how powerful this Spirit Cat is... it's still a cat!

Does that mean if I take out a cat teaser, I can win its friendship?

"So it's catnip." Tang San also remembered what the plant in Grandmaster's hand was.

"Catnip has a strong attraction to most cat-type spirit beasts, and the Spirit Cat is no exception; its resistance to catnip is almost zero. Furthermore, after consuming a certain amount of catnip, their ethereal ability will temporarily fail, and that moment will be our opportunity."

After Grandmaster finished speaking, he pulled a large pile of catnip from his storage device and placed it on the ground. Seeing this, the corners of Tang San and Tang Liu's eyes twitched, and they couldn't help but think of the white radishes still inside the Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges used to induce flatulence in Luo Sanpao...

The rest was simple.

Tang San first threw a piece of catnip to attract the Spirit Cat's attention, then led it along the way until it reached the pile of catnip.

From beginning to end, the Spirit Cat did not show the slightest sign of vigilance; it was very obediently lured over by the catnip. Tang Liu even observed that when the Spirit Cat saw the large pile of catnip, its eyes lit up...

After more than half of the pile was consumed, Grandmaster signaled that Tang San could begin. Tang San activated his first spirit skill, Bind, using Blue Silver Grass to wrap the Spirit Cat up like a rice dumpling. The Spirit Cat's ethereal ability was suppressed thoroughly, and it could not escape.

Finally, Tang Liu took a small knife and finished off the Spirit Cat.

Yet, even bound like a dumpling by the Blue Silver Grass, even unable to move due to the paralytic toxin, and even about to be killed by Tang Liu, the Spirit Cat still persisted in trying to eat one more bite of catnip.

In a way, this Spirit Cat was actually quite cute.

As the yellow spirit ring condensed over the Spirit Cat, Tang Liu sat cross-legged and began to guide the ring to merge with himself.

This fusion took a full hour.

And when Tang Liu successfully fused with his first spirit ring...

"Ding! Host has absorbed the first spirit ring, the third martial soul is activated and beginning to awaken!"

"Ding! Host's third martial soul has successfully awakened!"

"Host: Tang Liu (Male) Age: 6 Spirit Power: 23 Martial Soul 1: Ethereal Blue Silver Emperor (...) Spirit Ring 1: Spirit Skill, Ethereal Defense [Designate any unit within 100 meters (upgradable) of yourself to apply Ethereal Defense for an effective duration of 1 minute (upgradable). During this time, the unit cannot be harmed by any tangible attacks (cannot immunize against mental attacks or effects like cold or heat attached to attacks). The effect of Ethereal Defense can be canceled by you at any time and immediately applied to any unit within 100 meters (upgradable) of you. Once applied, Ethereal Defense is not restricted by distance. Only one Ethereal Defense effect can exist at a time. If Ethereal Defense is applied to another person while one is already active, the previous one immediately expires. If Ethereal Defense is cast multiple times on the same unit, the duration is unified based on the first application.]

Martial Soul 2: Clear Sky Hammer (...)

Martial Soul 3: Haolan Spell (A strange combination and evolution of the Blue Silver Emperor and Clear Sky Hammer, seemingly possessing some characteristics of spirit beasts, the unparalleled attack power of the Clear Sky Hammer, and a powerful, mysterious force from another world.)

Spirit Ring 1: Spirit Skill, Hao-Lan Mark [Leave an imperceptible and indelible mark on the target's body through direct skin contact or other indirect means (must touch skin), which can only be removed by you. You can sense the location of the marked target at any time through this mark and gain vision within 50 meters (upgradable) of them. You can also use the mark to perform many unexpected actions (most are unaffected by space or distance). Marking the target consumes no spirit power, and there is no limit to the number of marks.]

Spirit Ring 2: Spirit Skill, Hao-Lan Teleport [Consume a certain amount of spirit power to immediately teleport within five meters of a designated marked target (consumption increases with distance, up to 99% of max spirit power), or teleport 2 (upgradable) marked targets to a designated location (consumption increases with distance, up to 99% of max spirit power). Teleportation within a 50-meter (upgradable) radius centered on yourself consumes only one level of innate spirit power. If spirit power is insufficient, the teleportation fails. If a single teleportation consumes more than 90% of max spirit power, you will lose combat capability for one day.]

Current physical strength can withstand spirit ring age: 1360 years. General Assessment: With the awakening of the third martial soul, your physical fitness has finally caught up to your talent."

Cough cough, I feel like writing it this way is too much filler. So, after graduation, when updates are more consistent, every chapter containing this kind of skill introduction will be updated as an extra chapter on top of the normal daily update. Let me calculate, there's still... well, a few months left (I hope the college entrance exam isn't postponed; also, to my fellow seniors, keep working hard! Pay attention in your online classes!)