Two Great Soul Skills

When Zhen Hua turned away from the Spirit Pagoda counter, he didn't even have a receipt in his hand.

He exchanged a few pleasantries with He Zhiqiu, nothing more than the usual "let's have tea another day" or "come back soon," his tone as flat as if he were discussing the weather.

He Zhiqiu stroked his beard and smiled as he saw them off, though his gaze lingered on Lin Qingzhou for several seconds longer than necessary, likely still pondering how that unyielding Soul Spirit had bowed its head.

The three of them hadn't gone far after leaving the Spirit Pagoda. Zhen Hua led the way, his pace noticeably faster than when they had arrived.

Mu Ye walked at the very back, a blade of grass he'd pulled from somewhere hanging from his mouth, looking entirely carefree.

Lin Qingzhou walked in the middle, the newborn soul power within him still circulating slowly through his meridians. The aura of the Destruction Lion Mastiff had just stabilized, feeling like a lion curled up deep within his dantian, dozing.

Back at the Blacksmith Guild headquarters, Zhen Hua closed his office door and drew the curtains. He turned to look at Lin Qingzhou, his expression more serious than it had ever been before.

"Kid, the Martial Soul you released at the Spirit Pagoda earlier had an incredibly unique aura. He Zhiqiu is a shrewd man; he definitely noticed, but he didn't press the issue out of respect for Mu Ye and me."

"In the future, when you're out in public, don't reveal your Martial Soul unless absolutely necessary, and especially don't let anyone notice that you didn't awaken until you were nine. Even though the Spirit Pagoda and the Federation are at odds, there are all sorts of people inside. If word gets out, people will start targeting you."

Mu Ye spat out the blade of grass beside him, uncharacteristically refraining from interrupting, and simply nodded.

"Old Zhen Hua is right. Your Martial Soul is a treasure, but it's also a liability. Until you're strong enough to fight back, keep it hidden."

Lin Qingzhou nodded without saying a word. He understood these principles better than anyone; after all those years in Proud Arrival City, hiding his talents had long since become an instinct.

Early the next morning, as Lin Qingzhou sat cross-legged in the cultivation room Mu Ye had arranged for him, the soul power within his body suddenly began to surge violently.

The purple-gold power deep within his dantian felt as if it had been ignited by something, rushing madly toward his limbs and bones.

He closed his eyes, using his intent to guide this power in cycle after cycle through his meridians, each rotation pushing the intensity of his soul power up a notch.

The shadow of the Destruction Lion Mastiff let out a low growl deep within his consciousness—not in resistance, but in cooperation. This first resonance between Soul Spirit and host meant he now possessed the qualifications to condense a second soul ring.

When the purple ring rose from beneath his feet to interlock with the first, the two beams of purple light illuminated the cultivation room, casting a violet hue over the metal ornaments on the walls.

Lin Qingzhou opened his eyes and let out a long, turbid breath. He could feel his physical strength and mental power both jumping upward; although the margin was small, the direction was correct.

"Finally, another step forward..."

Lin Qingzhou suddenly felt a touch of melancholy. He even wondered, if he had possessed this power sooner, would the outcome have been any different?

The door was pushed open, interrupting Lin Qingzhou's thoughts.

Mu Ye leaned against the doorframe, holding a freshly brewed cup of tea that was still steaming. He glanced at the two purple soul rings at Lin Qingzhou's feet, the corner of his mouth curling up before he returned to his usual lazy expression.

"Condensed it? That was fast."

He walked in, set the teacup on the table, and sat down in a nearby chair, crossing his legs. "Tell me, what are your two soul skills?"

Lin Qingzhou looked down, sensing the flow of soul power within him. The light of the first soul ring circulated slowly over the purple-gold magic patterns; he was very familiar with that power—it was an amplification of raw strength.

The Destruction Lion Mastiff was a strength-type Soul Beast by nature, so it was no surprise that his first soul skill inherited this attribute.

"First soul skill,"

He spoke, his tone plain.

"Power of End. It's a strength amplification type. Once soul power is injected, my muscle density and bone strength increase simultaneously, boosting my strength by about thirty percent. The duration depends on soul power consumption; at full capacity, I can maintain it for about five minutes."

Mu Ye took a sip of tea and nodded.

"Full-attribute amplification is the standard for a Body Martial Soul. It's not flashy, but it's practical. Thirty percent is quite good for a thousand-year soul ring, and since your foundation is solid, the effect will be even more pronounced after the boost. What about the second soul skill?"

Lin Qingzhou didn't answer immediately. He raised his right hand, palm up, and a purple light leaped from his palm, condensing into a light sphere the size of a fist.

The sphere was wrapped in a layer of dark purple Power of End, but at its core, a faint sliver of silver swirled—a trace of overflowing mental power. The sphere spun twice on his palm before dissipating silently.

"Second soul skill,"

He said, watching the lingering purple sparks on his palm.

"Devour of End. Attack type. It compresses the Power of End and releases it; upon hitting a target, it detonates, causing both physical and energy-based damage. But that's not all."

He paused.

"When the Soul Spirit merged, a portion of the Destruction Lion Mastiff's mental attributes remained in my sea of consciousness."

"While this skill inflicts physical damage, it also carries a sliver of mental shock. It's not a hard control that directly attacks the sea of consciousness, but it causes the opponent to experience a momentary lapse in consciousness upon impact, slowing their reaction by a fraction of a second."

Mu Ye set his teacup down.

"Mental attributes?"

He leaned forward. "You said the Destruction Lion Mastiff was a destruction-attribute beast; I didn't expect it to have mental attributes as well. A normal Destruction Lion Mastiff certainly wouldn't."

"Yours likely mutated due to the two years it spent locked up in the Spirit Pagoda, with its mental power growing through long-term resistance. That's the difference between an unyielding Soul Spirit and a normal one—in the process of refusing to bow, their mental strength is forced to grow continuously. You managed to make it submit, and in the end, it gave you its strongest legacy."

"It was just luck."

Lin Qingzhou said truthfully, "I was just looking for a suitable Soul Spirit at the time; I didn't think that much about it."

"Luck is also a part of strength." Mu Ye stood up and beckoned to him. "Come on, follow me to the training room. Talk is cheap; I need to see the power for myself."

The training room Mu Ye led him to wasn't the testing room from before, but a larger, more spacious one.

The ceiling of this training room was three stories high, and the walls were covered in a grayish-white protective coating, pockmarked with impact marks of varying depths.

The floor was made of the same material; it felt slightly soft underfoot but was extremely resilient, and ordinary soul skills would leave at most a shallow dent. Several target drones stood in the corners, each reinforced with multiple layers of protection, yet their outer shells were still covered in old, battered scars.

"Use your full strength."

Mu Ye crossed his arms over his chest, compressing his soul power to form a pale white protective layer around his body. "Hit me directly. I want to see exactly what level you're at."