A punch shot out.
No Martial Soul, no Soul Skill, just pure strength.
Xiao Chenyu crossed his arms to block, pushing the Iron-Armored Bear's defensive Soul Skill to its limit. The instant their arms collided, he heard the bones in his own arms groan under the strain—
Crack!
He was sent flying, tumbling off the platform and kicking up a cloud of dust.
The entire crowd fell silent.
The referee stood stunned for a full three seconds before calling out, "Lin Mo wins!"
The watching students erupted.
"One punch! Just one!"
"He didn't even use his Martial Soul!"
"Xiao Chenyu is Level 15! That's ridiculous..."
Wang Sheng stood below the platform with his mouth hanging open, unable to close it for a long while. Xiao Wu clapped and cheered. "Beautiful! That's how you do it!" Tang San silently memorized the angle of Lin Mo's punch and the way he'd put his strength behind it—no unnecessary movement, all his power focused on the hardest knuckle, the angle tricky, the strike aimed straight at the line of joints where the defense was weakest.
That kind of fighting technique wasn't something the academy could teach.
Lin Mo jumped off the platform and headed toward the rest area. As he passed Xiao Chenyu, the blond boy lying on the ground instinctively shrank back. Lin Mo didn't look at him and walked straight on.
A system notification appeared:
[First round of the practical assessment won, reward: Evolution Points ×20]
[Current Evolution Points: 120]
In the matches that followed, Lin Mo gave no one else a chance.
In the second round, he faced a Level 13 agility-type student. The moment the match began, his opponent tried to use his speed to keep his distance and wear Lin Mo down. Lin Mo simply activated his First Soul Skill, [Wrath of the Dragon Mastiff]—a wave of dark-golden energy burst out, boosting all his attributes by 50%. Its intimidating force made his opponent's Martial Soul wilt on the spot, and his legs went so weak he nearly fell to his knees.
One punch, and it was over again.
In the third round, he faced a Level 14 defense-type student whose Martial Soul was an Iron Wall Turtle. The chubby boy confidently activated his Third Soul Skill, covering himself in a shell and crouching on the ground like a bunker. "Go ahead and hit me! If you can budge me, I'll admit defeat!"
Lin Mo walked up to him, crouched down, and grabbed the edge of his shell.
Then—
Rip.
As if tearing paper, he ripped a crack straight down the middle of the shell by sheer force. Dark-golden flames seeped between his fingers. The Iron Wall Turtle screamed as his Soul Skill shattered, then clutched his head and rolled around on the ground.
The entire crowd fell silent again.
The referee's mouth twitched. "Lin Mo wins... You brat, take it easy! This is a spar, not a fight to the death!"
Lin Mo nodded to show he understood, but everyone could tell—he'd already been holding back.
His opponent in the final was a Level 14 power attack-type student with the Blazing Tiger Martial Soul. Before the match began, the student conceded. "I can't beat him. I'm not looking to get pummeled."
And so Lin Mo won every match and claimed first place in the new students' practical assessment.
[Quest complete: Won every match and claimed first place in the practical assessment]
[Reward issued: Evolution Points ×300, Dragon Blood Crystal ×1]
[Dragon Blood Crystal: An item that purifies dragon bloodlines. Use it to improve Martial Soul quality and unlock hidden talents.]
[Current Evolution Points: 440]
Lin Mo didn't rush to use the Dragon Blood Crystal. He put it in his system inventory first.
At the awards ceremony, the dean of studies personally hung a gold medal around his neck and patted his shoulder. "You're a fine prospect. With the right training, you'll become at least a Soul Ancestor one day!" Lin Mo thanked him politely, his eyes catching a glimpse of someone at the edge of the crowd—a middle-aged man in a black robe, leaning against a tree and watching him.
The man had a stern face and sharp eyes, and he held a notebook in his hand. His bearing was completely different from that of a low-ranking official like Su Yuntao.
The Grandmaster, Yu Xiaogang.
Lin Mo recognized him. In the original story, he was Tang San's cheap teacher, a "zero Soul Power" cripple whose theories were unmatched but whose practical abilities were dismal. Yet when it came to understanding Martial Souls, there wasn't a second person on the entire continent who could match him.
Sure enough, after the ceremony, the Grandmaster sought him out.
"Lin Mo." The Grandmaster closed his notebook and got straight to the point. "Your Martial Soul is unusual. The Chaos Dragon Mastiff doesn't appear in any known Martial Soul compendium. And your First Soul Ring is four hundred and fifty years old, far beyond the limit for an ordinary Soul Master. Give me three months, and I'll devise a training plan just for you."
Tang San stood nearby, seeming to want to say something but holding back.
The Grandmaster glanced at him. "You too. Blue Silver Grass isn't a Trash Martial Soul; people just don't know how to use it. The two of you can train with me."
Lin Mo agreed without hesitation. "All right."
The Grandmaster nodded, then pulled a sheet of paper from his robes and handed it over. "Here's tomorrow's training schedule. Meet at the academy's back hill at five in the morning. Be one minute late, and you'll run ten extra laps."
Lin Mo took the paper and skimmed it—twenty kilometers of cross-country running with a weighted pack, two hours of Soul Power control training, three hours of sparring, then physical conditioning until eight at night. Altogether, there were less than two hours of breaks.
Tang San's expression shifted too, but he said nothing.
Xiao Wu leaned over to take a look and stuck out her tongue. "Whoa, is this training or torture?"
The Grandmaster's expression remained blank. "You don't praise a genius into existence. You train one. If you can't take it, you don't have to come."
Lin Mo folded the paper and slipped it into his pocket. "See you tomorrow."
As he turned to leave, a new notification appeared:
[Key figure 'Yu Xiaogang' detected. Hidden quest triggered.]
[The Grandmaster's Trial: Complete the entire training plan without using your Martial Soul's evolved form.]
[Reward: Evolution Points ×200, unlock hint for the Second Soul Ring limit]
[Failure penalty: None (but your standing with the Grandmaster will be affected)]
At ten to five the next morning, Lin Mo arrived at the back hill. The Grandmaster was already there.
Tang San had arrived even earlier and was already warming up.
"Good." The Grandmaster checked the sky. "You're not late. Let's begin—cross-country running with weighted packs. Each of you carry a twenty-kilogram sandbag and run ten laps around the hill. I'll keep time."
Lin Mo shouldered his sandbag and set off. In his previous life as a mercenary, weighted cross-country runs had been routine. But his six-year-old body was too weak; by the third lap, his legs were beginning to ache, and by the fifth, he was breathing like a bellows.
Tang San was struggling too, but he used the Mysterious Heaven Skill to regulate his breathing and barely managed to keep up.
The Grandmaster rode behind them on a horse, stopwatch in hand, shouting expressionlessly, "Too slow! At this pace, your Soul Rings might as well be wasted! Pick it up!"
After ten laps, Lin Mo collapsed on the ground. Tang San wasn't much better; he leaned against a tree, gasping for breath.
"Five minutes' rest." The Grandmaster tossed them two flasks of water. "Next up, Soul Power control training."
He drew a circle on the ground, half a meter in diameter. "Stand inside. Release your Soul Power and maintain it as a barrier, keeping it within this circle. Let even a single wisp leak out, and you fail. Start over."
It sounded simple, but it was a nightmare in practice.
Releasing Soul Power was delicate work to begin with, and they had to keep it precisely within the circle. Lin Mo failed three times in a row—the Chaos Dragon Mastiff's Soul Power was too fierce. The moment he released it, it charged outward like a wild horse that had broken free, impossible to rein in.
The Grandmaster watched without offering any advice, simply taking notes.
After failing a fourth time, Lin Mo stopped, took a deep breath, and closed his eyes.
His experience as a sniper in his previous life told him that the fiercer the force, the calmer his control had to be. He stopped trying to suppress the ferocity of his Soul Power and instead guided it, taming it like a wild horse.
Dark-golden Soul Power surged out of his body, forming a thin film of light over his skin. Its edge rested precisely on the boundary of the circle, not a wisp spilling beyond it.
The Grandmaster's eyes lit up. "That's it. Your Martial Soul is fierce by nature, but you can't let it lead you around. You have to be its master, not its slave."
Lin Mo maintained the barrier for a full ten minutes, stopping only when his Soul Power was exhausted.
Next came sparring.
The Grandmaster had Tang San and Lin Mo practice against each other. Tang San's Mysterious Jade Hand and Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon made for exquisite moves; Lin Mo relied purely on his fighting instincts and physical strength to overpower him. The two fought for half an hour, and neither gained the upper hand.
"Enough." The Grandmaster called a halt and scribbled in his notebook. "Tang San's techniques are varied, but he lacks killing intent. Lin Mo has plenty of combat experience, but relies too much on instinct and lacks a systematic fighting style. You both have flaws. You both need to change."
And so the days of grueling, relentless training began.
During the first week, Lin Mo was so sore all over that he couldn't even get out of bed. Every morning, Xiao Wu had to kick his door open and kick him up.
By the second week, he was starting to adapt to the intensity. His stamina soared, and his Soul Power control improved considerably.
In the third week, the Grandmaster added a specialized exercise—fighting with his five senses blocked. Lin Mo had to wear a blindfold and earplugs, relying entirely on his Soul Power perception and battle instincts to respond to attacks.
"A Soul Master can't rely only on their eyes and ears in a fight," the Grandmaster said. "Powerful Soul Beasts and enemies will use all kinds of methods to disrupt your senses. A true expert uses Soul Power to 'see' the world."
Blindfolded, Lin Mo stood in the center of the training ground as Tang San attacked from every direction.
At first, he couldn't last three seconds before Tang San sent him flying with a palm strike.
But his experience as a mercenary in his previous life came in handy—the less he could see, the more focused he became. He stopped relying on sight and began to sense the flow of air, the tremors in the ground, and the fluctuations of Soul Power.
By the end of the third week, he could last ten minutes.
The Grandmaster actually smiled for once. "You're improving faster than I expected."
Late one night, a month later, Lin Mo used the Dragon Blood Crystal alone in his dormitory.
The dark-red crystal melted in his palm and seeped into his skin. In an instant, the Chaos Dragon Mastiff Martial Soul inside him roared like it had been doused in boiling oil. Dark-golden flames burst from his pores and burned the entire bed to ash.
Fortunately, his roommates were fast asleep and no one noticed.
The agony lasted a full hour. When the flames finally died down, Lin Mo saw that his right hand had changed—from his fingertips to his elbow, it was covered in fine blue-black scales. The claws on his five fingers were an inch longer than before and gleamed with a cold light. Dark-golden markings had appeared on the back of his hand, like some ancient totem.
[Dragon Blood Crystal used successfully]
[Martial Soul quality improved: Top-tier → Transcendent]
[New talent: Dragon Might (suppression against dragon and draconic Soul Beasts increased by 100%)]
[Hidden skill unlocked: Dragon Claw: Sky Splitter (single-target power attack skill that can tear through most defenses)]
[Evolution progress: 15% → 30%]
He tried swinging his right claw. The air split with a sharp whistle. Five faint black lines lingered where the tips of his claws had passed—a sign that space had been torn open for a brief moment.
Satisfied, Lin Mo withdrew his Martial Soul.
During training the next day, the Grandmaster noticed the change in his hand but didn't ask about it. He simply increased the intensity of the training.
"Your physical strength is already far beyond that of anyone your age," the Grandmaster said. "You can start preparing for your Second Soul Ring."
Lin Mo's eyes lit up. "What are we aiming for?"
"A thousand-year Soul Beast." The Grandmaster's words were astonishing. "Your Martial Soul can withstand far more than an ordinary Soul Master's. Your First Soul Ring is already four hundred and fifty years old. Your Second Soul Ring should be at least a thousand years. And it must be a dragon-type Soul Beast. Your Martial Soul is clearly evolving toward a dragon lineage, so absorbing a dragon-type Soul Ring will double the effect."
He pulled a map from his robes and pointed to a red circle on it. "Eighty li northeast of Nuoding City, there's a place called Dragon Weeping Valley. It was once the lair of an Earth Fire Dragon King. The king died several hundred years ago, but quite a few draconic Soul Beasts still live in the area. The best fit is—"
The Grandmaster's finger jabbed down at a point on the map.
"A thousand-year Earth Fire Dragon King. A direct descendant of the Earth Fire Dragon King, with the highest bloodline concentration in Dragon Weeping Valley. Its Soul Ring should be around twelve hundred to fifteen hundred years old. With your current physical strength, you might just be able to withstand it."
"Just?" Tang San frowned. "That's too risky."
"How else do you expect to grow stronger?" The Grandmaster's expression was blank. "Lin Mo's Martial Soul needs a high-pressure environment to evolve. If he absorbs ordinary Soul Rings one step at a time, he'll only waste his talent. But—"
He looked at Lin Mo. "I need to make one thing clear beforehand. A thousand-year Earth Fire Dragon King is nothing like a Single-Horned Fire Lizard. That thing is intelligent, knows how to use tactics, and can spew Earth Fire hot enough to melt metal and stone. At your current strength, facing it alone would be suicide. So—"
The Grandmaster pulled a scroll from his robes. "I've prepared a battle plan for you. The three of you will work together. You'll have a chance."
"The three of us?" Lin Mo asked.
"You, Tang San, and Xiao Wu." The Grandmaster unrolled the scroll, revealing a detailed battle plan. "Tang San will control and restrain it, Xiao Wu will harass it from the flanks, and Lin Mo will attack head-on. Your teamwork training these past few weeks wasn't wasted. This plan was designed around your strengths."
That evening, Lin Mo called Tang San and Xiao Wu over.
"A thousand-year Earth Fire Dragon King. Are you in?"
Xiao Wu's eyes lit up. "A thousand-year Soul Beast? Sounds exciting! I haven't found my Second Soul Ring yet either. I can't absorb a thousand-year one, of course, but I don't mind helping!"
Tang San pondered for a moment. "I've looked over the Grandmaster's plan. It should work in theory. But there's a problem—the Earth Fire Dragon King can fly. It can't fly very high, but if it takes to the air, none of us can reach it."
"So we can't let it fly," Lin Mo said. "We have to cripple its wings right at the start."
Xiao Wu rubbed her fists together. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go tomorrow!"
"The day after tomorrow," Lin Mo said. "We'll train for one more day tomorrow and get our teamwork down to muscle memory."
Tang San nodded. "Agreed."
The next day, the three of them drilled the Grandmaster's battle plan relentlessly. The Grandmaster directed them from the sidelines, scrutinizing every detail—when Lin Mo should move in, what angle Tang San should use to restrain the target, which side Xiao Wu should attack from. They even went over every possible reaction the Earth Fire Dragon King might have.
"Remember," the Grandmaster said at last. "Your advantage is teamwork. That Earth Fire Dragon King has ruled Dragon Weeping Valley for years without a single natural enemy, so it's bound to underestimate you. Take advantage of that. Your first surprise attack has to deal as much damage as possible."
At dawn on the third day, the three of them set out.
The Grandmaster stopped at the mouth of the valley. "I'd be no help inside. I'll wait outside. Remember—retreat immediately if anything goes wrong. Your lives matter more than Soul Rings."
Lin Mo nodded and led Tang San and Xiao Wu into Dragon Weeping Valley.
The valley reeked of sulfur, and the air was scorching hot. Dark-red cracks covered the ground, with flames occasionally flickering out from between them. Vegetation was sparse; only a few drought-resistant thorns and withered grasses grew there.
Half an hour into their trek, the system map suddenly displayed a warning:
[Warning: High-energy reaction detected ahead] [Target: Thousand-Year Earth Fire Dragon King · Draconic species · 1,400 years old] [Dragon blood concentration: 52%] [Status: Asleep (digesting)] [Suggestion: Launch a surprise attack while it digests its prey. Success rate increased by 30%]
Lin Mo raised a hand to signal them to stop and lowered his voice. "Found it. It's in the cave ahead, asleep."
Tang San activated his Purple Demon Eye and looked through the rock wall at the scene inside. A five-meter-long dark-red dragon beast was curled up in the depths of the cave, its belly rising and falling slightly. Half of an uneaten Iron-Armored Rhino still dangled from its mouth. Its scales were crisscrossed with magma-like patterns that brightened and dimmed in the rhythm of its breathing.
"It's digesting its meal, so its reactions are sluggish," Tang San said. "This is our chance."
Xiao Wu had already circled around to the upper side of the cave. She gave them a hand signal—ready.
Lin Mo took a deep breath and slowly drew the Refined Steel Dagger the Grandmaster had given him. The blade was coated with a fire-resistant layer. It wouldn't do much against an Earth Fire Dragon King of this caliber, but it was better than nothing.
Another system notification appeared:
[Combat about to begin. Recommended tactic: Strike directly at the base of its wing with the first attack, crippling its ability to fly] [Current Evolution Points: 440. Temporarily exchange for 'Strength Boost (three minutes)' ×1, cost: 50 points] [Exchange?]
"Exchange."
A warm current surged through his body. His muscles swelled, and his strength skyrocketed.
Lin Mo tightened his grip on the dagger as dark-golden Soul Power gathered along its blade. The Chaos Dragon Mastiff roared inside him, ready to burst forth at any moment.
"Three."
He counted silently.
"Two."
Inside the cave, the Earth Fire Dragon King's belly rose and fell more slowly as it slipped into a deep sleep.
"One."
Lin Mo pushed off the ground and shot forward like a cannonball!
A wave of dark-golden energy exploded as [Wrath of the Dragon Mastiff] activated in an instant! All his attributes surged by 50%, and he unleashed the full force of his intimidating aura! He used his momentum to drive the dagger toward the base of the Earth Fire Dragon King's left wing—the fatal weak point of a flying Soul Beast, where the wing membrane joined the body and its defenses were thinnest!
The Earth Fire Dragon King woke at the last second!
The senses of a thousand-year Soul Beast saved its life. It instinctively twisted its body, and the fatal strike missed the joint at the base of its wing, instead slicing open the membrane on its left side—
Rip!
The dark-red wing membrane tore open, leaving a half-meter-long gash!
"Roar—!"
The Earth Fire Dragon King howled in agony, the sound waves shaking loose bits of stone from the cave walls. It opened its jaws and spat out a blast of Earth Fire—dark red flames mixed with magma, so hot that even the air seemed to catch fire!
Lin Mo had been ready. He slid to the side and took cover behind a stone pillar. The Earth Fire slammed into it, melting the half-man-thick pillar into magma in an instant. It streamed across the ground with a hiss.
"Tang San!"
Tang San was already in position. Blue Silver Grass surged wildly from the ground, wrapping around the Earth Fire Dragon King's right leg and hind claw. Though the Hundred-Year Soul Ring's Blue Silver Grass was as fragile as paper before a thousand-year-old dragon beast and snapped with a single wrench, Tang San hadn't meant to restrain it—only to distract it.
The moment the Earth Fire Dragon King lowered its head to bite through the Blue Silver Grass, Xiao Wu dropped from the cave ceiling!
"Waist Bow!"
She clamped her legs around the dragon's neck and threw her weight into her hips and abdomen. Her whole body spun like a top, forcing the five-meter-long dragon beast to topple sideways! The essence of the Soft Technique was to overcome a thousand catties with finesse, turning an opponent's strength against them—and Xiao Wu turned the Earth Fire Dragon King's own weight into a weapon, making it crash into the rock wall!
Boom!
The rock wall caved in, sending shards of stone flying. The Earth Fire Dragon King was left seeing stars, but a thousand-year Soul Beast was far too tough. It shook its head and scrambled back up, then swept its tail across the cave—
Xiao Wu had already jumped clear, but the tip of the tail still clipped her. She grunted and slammed into the cave wall.
"Xiao Wu!" Tang San's expression changed.
"I'm fine!" Xiao Wu wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and gritted her teeth as she stood. "Just a flesh wound! Lin Mo, now!"
The Earth Fire Dragon King was enraged. It stopped holding back. Its scales stood on end, and the magma patterns across its body blazed so brightly they hurt to look at—the telltale sign of a devastating attack!
The system's warnings flashed frantically:
[Warning: Target is charging 'Earth Fire Burning City' (area attack). Release in three seconds.] [Suggestion: Interrupt! Interrupt immediately!]
Lin Mo didn't have three seconds.
He had one.
Dark golden Soul Power erupted at full force! The Chaos Dragon Mastiff's phantom solidified behind him and threw back its head with a roar! Dragon Might surged to its limit—the talent that increased his suppression over dragon-type Soul Beasts by 100% reached its full potential!
The Earth Fire Dragon King's movements froze for a fraction of a second.
For a thousand-year Soul Beast, that was barely enough time to blink. But for Lin Mo, it was enough.
He kicked off the ground, charged, and tore through the air with his right claw—
[Dragon Claw: Sky Splitter!]
Five dark golden claw marks slashed through the air, carrying the force to rend space itself as they carved into the Earth Fire Dragon King's neck!
Scales shattered! Flesh flew! Even the vertebrae were exposed!
The Earth Fire Dragon King let out one final, dying wail. The Earth Fire it had been charging exploded in its throat—
Boom! Its entire head was blown to a bloody pulp by its own flames. The five-meter-long body crashed to the ground, raising a cloud of dust.
A dense, almost black-purple Soul Ring rose from the corpse—fourteen hundred years old.
Lin Mo dropped to one knee and gasped for breath. That strike had drained most of his Soul Power. Wrath of the Dragon Mastiff had also run its course, and its side effects hit him. His whole body felt utterly drained.
"We did it..." Xiao Wu slid down against the wall and rubbed her bruised shoulder. "That thing was a real pain."
Tang San walked over to inspect the Earth Fire Dragon King's corpse. Once he had confirmed it was dead, he let out a relieved breath. "Absorb the Soul Ring quickly. There's too much blood in the air. It'll attract other Soul Beasts."
Lin Mo nodded, sat cross-legged, and guided the purple Soul Ring into his body.
The instant the thousand-year Soul Ring entered him, he felt as if his whole body were about to explode!
The frenzied fire-attribute energy rampaged through his meridians, as if it would burn right through his blood vessels. Dark red patterns appeared across his skin, the Earth Fire Dragon King's power reshaping his body.
The system's notifications raced by:
[Absorbing the Millennium Earth-Fire Dragon King Soul Ring...] [Dragon Blood concentration increased: 52% → 67%] [Opportunity for Martial Soul Evolution detected! Spend 200 Evolution Points to accelerate absorption?]
"Spend them!"
Two hundred Evolution Points vanished at once. A cool energy flooded into his body, tempering the Earth Fire's wild power. The two forces clashed, merged, and finally settled into balance.
An hour later, the Soul Ring was fully absorbed.
Lin Mo opened his eyes. Two Soul Rings rose beneath him—purple, purple.
Two thousand-year Soul Rings!
[Second Soul Ring acquired successfully] [Soul Power Level: 19 (one step away from Level 20)] [Martial Soul Evolution progress: 30% → 45%] [New Soul Skill: Earth Fire Dragon Breath—spit out blazing flames, with a range of five meters and burn and armor-piercing effects (power increased by 50% due to bloodline compatibility)] [Evolution Form · Scale Armor Form enhanced: passive damage reduction 20% → 30%]
Xiao Wu's eyes widened. "Two purple rings?! What kind of monster are you?"
Tang San was stunned too. Two thousand-year Soul Rings—something unheard of in the entire Soul Master World. For an ordinary Soul Master, absorbing a thousand-year Soul Ring as their second Soul Ring would make them a genius among geniuses. Lin Mo had leaped straight past that limit.
But an even greater change was still to come.
Lin Mo stood, sensing something about to burst out of him. The Chaos Dragon Mastiff Martial Soul appeared against his will, dark golden flames raging around it—then the flames changed.
Dark gold gave way to a mixture of dark gold and crimson.
The Martial Soul itself began to change. Its phantom, once three meters tall, swelled to five. Its frame grew more imposing, and its scales shifted from blue-black to a mix of blue-black and dark red, like magma flowing beneath steel. The horns atop its head grew an inch longer, and blood-red light appeared in the crimson-gold glow of its eyes. Crimson flames like Earth Fire mingled with the dark golden fire of its mane.
[Deep Martial Soul Evolution detected—] [Chaos Dragon Mastiff · Scale Armor Form → Chaos Dragon Mastiff: Earth-Fire Scale Form] [New passive: Earth Fire Protection—automatically counterattacks with flames when struck, dealing damage equal to 30% of the attack] [New active: Dragon Might Intimidation—release Dragon Might, reducing the attributes of all enemies in range by 20% for ten breaths]
"It evolved..." Grandmaster had appeared at the mouth of the valley at some point. He looked at Lin Mo with a complicated expression. "Your Martial Soul can evolve. This isn't an ordinary mutated Martial Soul. It's... a growth-type Martial Soul."
He took a deep breath. "Lin Mo, do you know what this means? In the entire history of the Soul Master World, fewer than ten growth-type Martial Souls have ever been recorded. Every one of them eventually became a Titled Douluo."
Lin Mo withdrew his Martial Soul, feeling power surge through him.
[New mission triggered: Break through to Level 20 within one month] [Reward: 300 Evolution Points, unlock Third Soul Ring limit hint] [Special notice: Tang Hao's observation progress is over halfway complete. Increase your strength as soon as possible]
He looked northeast, deeper into Dragon Weeping Valley. The golden mark on the system map was still flashing:
[Dragon Blood concentration: 68% · Unknown dragon bloodline · Status: Dormant]
Once I break through to Level 20, I'll go see what that is.
"Let's head back." Lin Mo turned around. "The end-of-term assessment is only a month away."
Grandmaster followed him. "The end-of-term assessment won't be a problem for you. But I suggest you take part in the exchange competition at the Soto Great Soul Arena in a month. That's where you'll find real training."
Soto Great Soul Arena.
Lin Mo stopped in his tracks. It was where the Shrek Seven Devils first made their names, and a pivotal point in the relationship between Tang San and Xiao Wu.
But his path was already completely different.
"Fine," he said. "I'll go."
Night fell, and the three returned to Nuoding Academy.
In his dormitory, Lin Mo checked the system panel:
[Host: Lin Mo] [Martial Soul: Chaos Dragon Mastiff: Earth-Fire Scale Form (Transcendent quality · Evolvable)] [Soul Power Level: 19] [Soul Rings: Purple (450 years), Purple (1400 years)] [Soul Skills: Wrath of the Dragon Mastiff, Earth Fire Dragon Breath] [Talents: Scale Armor Protection (30% damage reduction), Earth Fire Protection (counterattack), Dragon Might (suppression), Dragon Claw: Sky Splitter] [Evolution progress: 45%] [Evolution Points: 190]
Under the moonlight outside the window, Tang Hao's figure flashed past.
Lin Mo knew that man had been watching him all along.
He had two months left to complete the mission to reach Level 20 within three months. At his current pace, he had plenty of time.
But the system's warning about that "unknown dragon bloodline" still left him uneasy.
What was sleeping deep in Dragon Weeping Valley?
He closed his eyes and sank into sleep.
Tomorrow, even harsher training awaited him.
Before you continue