A moment later, Tang An opened his eyes. A flash of light gleamed in them, then vanished.
"My first Soul Ring gave me two Soul Skills."
Tang An spoke, unable to hide his satisfaction.
"First Soul Skill: Life Perception Resonance."
As soon as he spoke, a faint green glow shimmered in his left eye.
A moment later, an invisible pulse of life spread silently outward from Tang An, rippling gently yet inexorably across every inch of space within ten thousand meters.
Xiao Wu felt a strange aura of life envelop her. To her surprise, her range of perception had become linked to Tang An's.
She could clearly sense the location and condition of every living being within ten thousand meters.
Even more amazingly, Xiao Wu felt a connection between herself and Tang An. Through it, she could sense his heartbeat, his breathing, and even the shifts in his emotions.
"This Soul Skill has three effects," Tang An explained.
"First, Life Detection. Within the range of my spiritual power, I can clearly sense any living being's location, vital signs, and emotional fluctuations—and even tell whether they're lying."
Niu Tian closed his eyes and felt it out, then exclaimed in shock:
"This range... It covers at least ten thousand meters! It's even wider than our spiritual perception was when we were Titled Douluo!"
"Second, Life Sharing," Tang An continued.
"Along with sharing perception, we can share our life force itself. For now, we can only share five percent."
Tai Tan tried extending his life force outward and, sure enough, sensed the life auras of the others. It was as if countless invisible threads connected them all.
He exclaimed in amazement, "This is even more convenient than the understanding between us brothers. With this Soul Skill, it's like having several extra lives on the battlefield!"
"Third, Life Amplification."
Tang An raised a hand, and a green light fell upon Huo Yuhao, who lay on the ground.
The glow seeped into Huo Yuhao's body like flowing water. The scrapes and bruises left from the fight healed at a visible pace beneath its gentle touch.
Huo Yuhao's eyelids fluttered, his lashes trembling as if he might wake at any moment.
"Resonance of Life Attribute can amplify a teammate's life force, speed up the healing of injuries, and improve their overall physical condition."
Tang An lowered his hand and watched Huo Yuhao's change with a hint of satisfaction in his eyes. "She hasn't woken up yet, but most of her injuries have healed. She should come around soon."
"This Soul Skill is way too versatile!" Xiao Wu's eyes lit up. "Detection, sharing, amplification—all in one!"
"Xiao An, if the first Soul Skill is already this powerful, what's the second one? Hurry and show me. Your sister-in-law can't wait!"
Tang An looked at Xiao Wu, who seemed even more excited than he was, and smiled faintly. He raised his right hand and aimed his palm at her. "Then don't resist, sister-in-law. Relax your mind and experience it for yourself."
Xiao Wu nodded obediently, clasped her hands behind her back, and puffed out her chest. "Come on, come on! I'm ready. Try anything you like. Your sister-in-law won't resist at all."
Tang An focused his thoughts, and his second Soul Skill, Life Sensory Manipulation, quietly activated.
An invisible wave of spiritual power enveloped Xiao Wu without a sound.
The scenery around Xiao Wu seemed to waver. She was still standing in the same place, but Tang An suddenly looked different.
The boy in white, as pristine as snow, had transformed in her eyes into a fluffy rabbit, its long ears swaying right in front of her.
"Pfft." Xiao Wu couldn't help laughing. "Xiao An, why have you turned into my true form?"
As soon as she spoke, the scenery around her changed again.
The grass beneath her feet became a sea of flowers. Blossoms of every color swayed and bloomed beside her, and she could even smell their faint fragrance.
It was clearly an illusion, yet so real that she couldn't tell it from reality.
A cool breeze brushed her cheek, carrying the crisp scent of a forest stream, though the leaves around them hadn't moved at all.
Tang An lowered his hand, and the illusion vanished in an instant.
Xiao Wu blinked, looking at Tang An in amazement.
"Xiao An, your Soul Skill is terrifying! You can control sight, touch, smell, and hearing—all of them!"
"And unlike an illusion, this directly manipulates the very source of sensation. It touches the underlying rules of the senses."
"Besides that, this Soul Skill can also manipulate a target's emotions," Tang An continued.
"Fear, anger, grief, joy—all of them can be amplified or suppressed. If I use it on an opponent whose spiritual power is far below mine, I could even make them suffer a complete mental collapse."
This fell at the boundary between sensory manipulation and mental domination, so there was no harm in explaining it.
As for deeper mental domination—directly invading a target's Sea of Consciousness, controlling their mind, reading their memories, and forcibly imprinting their spirit—Tang An didn't mention any of it. Besides, his spiritual power wasn't strong enough to do that yet. He would need to reach the Spirit Domain Realm and form a Spiritual Soul Core first.
Niu Tian and Tai Tan exchanged a glance, both seeing the shock in each other's eyes.
"Um..." Niu Tian swallowed and asked hesitantly, "Young Master Tang An, does this Soul Skill consume a lot of energy?"
"It doesn't take much under normal circumstances. But if I'm manipulating multiple targets at once, or if they have strong spiritual power and resist, the consumption increases accordingly."
Tang An spoke as he silently calculated. "With my spiritual power as it is now, controlling ten opponents at the same level shouldn't be a problem."
Tai Tan drew a sharp breath. "Controlling ten opponents at the same level? And you call that not a problem?"
Just then, Tian Meng's sweet, slightly childish voice rang out in the Sea of Consciousness. "Master, Master! You haven't shown off my third Soul Skill yet!"
Tang An focused his thoughts, and information about the third Soul Skill surfaced in his mind.
Time Stop Control Domain.
This was Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's core ability, and her true trump card as a million-year soul beast.
It created a Time Stop Domain within a certain range. Within that domain, Tang An could manipulate the flow of time and the perception of space.
Simply put, it was the ability Tian Meng had used earlier to make the surrounding space and time seem almost completely still.
What made this Soul Skill so powerful was that it wasn't a simple spiritual attack. It acted directly on an opponent's soul, using spiritual power at the level of cause and effect. It was almost impossible to defend against with conventional means.
Although it could only last ten seconds for now, with a range of just one hundred meters, it was still an ultimate trump card.
"I'll keep the third Soul Skill as a trump card," Tang An told Tian Meng in his mind.
"Understood!" Tian Meng nodded obediently, then hurriedly added, "Oh, right, Master! Hurry and put away my cast-off skin. It's right there on the ground!"
Tang An looked down. Sure enough, a layer of pale golden skin lay on the ground. It was the cast-off skin Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had left behind after her sacrifice.
It looked like a layer of silk as thin as a cicada's wing. Its surface was pale gold, and it shimmered softly in the sunlight.
"Little Dream, what exactly does this do?" Tang An asked in his mind.
He vaguely remembered that Tian Meng's cast-off skin had been valuable in the original story, but he couldn't quite recall the details.
"Master, my cast-off skin is amazing!" Tian Meng said proudly, puffing out her little chest. "It has three main abilities!"
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