The moment he stepped into Sunset Forest, Su Qing activated his Martial Soul again. But this time, what appeared in his hand was not the Silver Dragon Spear, but that Ring Jade. It was no longer as still and placid as it had been in his previous life.
Instead, its entire surface was now covered in a golden sheen. His Soul Power flowed through it unhindered. Su Qing could pretty much confirm that his First Martial Soul had become the Silver Dragon Spear because the Ring Jade had once refined part of the Silver Dragon King's divine origin power from her Godhood. It had completely transformed that power into his own. So his First Martial Soul was not just the spear; it also included the Silver Dragon King's ability to control the elements.
In other words, he was now a weakened version of the Silver Dragon King. He could wield wind, fire, water, earth, lightning, light, darkness, time, and space. On top of that, after projecting his mental power into the Ring Jade, he made an astonishing discovery: his Godhood had not been reclaimed by the Heavenly Dao. It was quietly resting in the Ring Jade's unique space.
Although only half of his Godhood remained, and repairing it would require a vast amount of Power of Faith, he had already become a god once, so he did not think it would be difficult. On the contrary, of all the things on his to-do list, repairing his Godhood was the simplest.
After a few more simple experiments with the various attributes, he found that the space element was completely bound to the Ring Jade. In other words, at this stage, his control over space could at most give him a Storage Soul Tool that nobody else knew about. As for the time element, he could not even grasp its threshold yet.
But as for the other elements, he could not say he wielded them as naturally as his own limbs, but with his current mental power, using them as he pleased was not difficult. The wind element in particular—his mental power, which was at the level of a First-Level God, could even let him use it to fly, and this barely consumed any Soul Power!
Of course, he could also use the wind element to achieve something like teleportation. But for now, its range was only ten meters, and he could only move in a straight line. Each use also consumed a tenth of his Soul Power, which was an astonishing amount.
Still, as he gradually mastered the various elements, this Soul Power consumption should drop considerably. Besides, with the Ring Jade's heaven-defying ability to refine things, once he became a god, all he would need to do was spend time hunting other deities and absorbing their Godhood to keep growing stronger. Given how well-known he had been in the Divine Realm back then, ascending to the upper realm would mean certain death. But what if he didn't ascend, and instead waited for other deities to descend and seize him...
At the thought, the corners of his mouth unconsciously curled up.
"I'd better head back to the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well first."
Seeing that the sky was growing darker, Su Qing immediately used the wind element to form a pair of wings from the air currents. Then he flew straight back toward the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well along the route he had taken.
As soon as he entered the poison miasma, he noticed two rows of footprints on the ground. One was charred black, the other frozen earth. Remembering the forest's Ice-and-Fire Man, who had once scraped bamboo skin off the Ink Jade Divine Bamboo, he quickly understood what was going on. No wonder he hadn't encountered any Soul Beasts along the way. Two of those guys had been trudging along under a heavy load!
The thought filled his heart with warmth. Most of these Immortal Herbs were a little scatterbrained, but they were truly good to him. As for the things they had shouted about killing him when he first arrived, he had never taken them to heart. They had raised him for so many years. If they had really wanted to kill him, they would have done it long ago.
"Do you think something might have happened to Xiao Qing? Why hasn't he come back yet?"
Youyou, a pale pink flower, swayed from side to side. Every so often, she used a leaf to cradle her flower head as she murmured to herself.
"How long has it even been? He's just a child. It takes quite a while to make the round trip. Besides, Jiaojiao and I saw a little girl lead him away with our own eyes. How could anything have happened? You're doubting our abilities!"
The Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass sounded utterly helpless. Youyou usually couldn't stop complaining about Su Qing, but the moment the little guy left, she started fretting nonstop. Who could put up with that?
"That's exactly what I'm worried about! Just look—Lovesick Heartbreak Red has been dreaming in broad daylight its whole life, and you still dared to hand him over to a girl. That's practically pushing him down a dead end!"
Youyou looked exasperated. She knew all too well what happened when boys and girls met.
"Hey, Sister Youyou, I was only gone for two days. How did I end up on a dead end?"
Su Qing looked at Youyou helplessly.
"Oh, the adults are talking. Children shouldn't butt in... Hm? Xiao Qing?! You're finally back! Let me see if my sweet little Xiao Qing has all his limbs!"
Hearing the familiar voice, Youyou was overjoyed. She immediately stretched her increasingly large leaves toward Su Qing, drawing him close to examine him from head to toe.
"Xiao Qing, you've only been gone for two days and you've already gone astray. Why are you dressed like a girl?"
Seeing that his black hair and black eyes had turned silver and purple, Youyou was furious. He'd only been gone for two days and already looked like this. What would happen if he stayed away any longer?
"I didn't dress up, Sister Youyou. I turned out like this after awakening my Martial Soul!"
Su Qing gave a wry smile. How was he supposed to know he would turn out like this? His appearance now was almost identical to Gu Yuena's, except that his features were a little more masculine. You could just about tell he was a boy.
"What? What Martial Soul did you awaken?"
At that, all the surrounding Immortal Herbs gathered around.
"A silver spear."
As he spoke, he summoned his Martial Soul to show it to the Immortal Herbs.
"A close-combat Martial Soul? No, no! What if you get hurt fighting someone? That stinking Chrysanthemum, it's time you put what's left of your life to good use!"
"Wait a moment. Why don't we use our essence to temper Xiao Qing's body with ice and fire first? That way, he can absorb more of the medicinal power."
The Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and Jiaojiao spoke almost simultaneously. It was clear they wanted to do something for their precious Xiao Qing, whom they had watched grow up.
"Huh?"
Su Qing finally understood. No wonder they had told him to come back early. So they had prepared a surprise for him.
Before he could say anything, Bajiao and Jiaojiao each drew out a portion of the essence they had accumulated over ten thousand years, using Soul Power to guide it toward Su Qing.
"Xiao Qing, open your mouth. This is what your two big sisters have prepared for you. Once it turns into energy and flows through your whole body, you can jump into the pool."
"Okay."
Su Qing nodded, opened his mouth, and swallowed the Red Glue and Heavy Ice Crystal in one gulp. A few breaths later, as he felt the two energies—one hot, one cold—meet inside him and begin to mingle with his Soul Power, he leaped into the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well. At the point where the two spring eyes met, he began circulating his Soul Power to absorb the medicinal energy.
"Ah, it's a shame Xiao Qing can't stay in the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well forever."
Watching Su Qing absorb the medicinal energy in the spring, Youyou sighed.
"Why not, Youyou?"
The other Immortal Herbs, who had spent little time in the human world, clearly didn't understand what Youyou meant. Why couldn't Su Qing stay in the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well forever?
"After awakening their Martial Souls, humans have to obtain Soul Rings. After that, they have to attend a Soul Master Academy. That's how they grow faster. If Xiao Qing stayed here forever, he wouldn't even be able to obtain Soul Rings..."
While Youyou explained the differences between humans and Immortal Herbs, Su Qing in the spring was gradually gaining control over the ice-and-fire energies coursing through his body. That meant the ice and fire elements among those he could control had both advanced to Ultimate Attributes.
After that, he began using the ice-and-fire power in the spring to cultivate his Soul Power. Although he had not yet obtained a Soul Ring, his Soul Power would continue to accumulate regardless. So before he fully adapted to the environment of the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well, he had to make full use of its effects in tempering his body.