Although Ji Feng's family was fairly well-off in Nuoding City,
that counted for little in front of the teachers at Notting Academy.
There wasn't much room for sentiment.
It was all because Yu Xiaogang was an honorary teacher at Notting Academy.
He was close friends with the academy's dean.
"Looks like I'll have to find another way forward."
Ji Feng returned home.
He hoisted his pack onto his back.
Then he left Nuoding City.
[ Ding ] [ Sign-in successful. You have obtained Hou Yi's first active skill: Multiple Arrows ] [ Multiple Arrows ]: Each basic attack deals 120/160/200/240/280/320 (+80% physical bonus) physical damage. While Punishing Shot (3 arrows) is active, each arrow splits into 3 more. Every split arrow still triggers all on-hit effects at 100%.
"I got it!"
Seeing that he had obtained Hou Yi's first skill,
Ji Feng had been mentally prepared,
but he still couldn't help getting excited.
This was the skill behind Hou Yi's famous stand-and-fire pentakills, his blood-sucking pump, and tanks evaporating in a second.
At long last, it was his.
"Three arrows from the passive plus the split from the first skill means nine arrows in one basic attack."
"All nine arrows trigger on-hit effects at 100%."
"Against one person, that's nine times the effects. Against three, it's twenty-seven times."
"Nobody could take that!"
"With the right equipment, I could be a whole team by myself in the Continental Advanced Soul Master Elite Tournament!"
That sounded exaggerated.
In reality, it was even more outrageous!
At that very moment,
just thinking about it
made Ji Feng laugh out loud.
"Good, good, good! Now I can be pretty sure the Hou Yi skills the system gave me are from the most broken version of Hou Yi in my previous life."
Ji Feng looked forward to
getting Hou Yi's second skill at tomorrow's sign-in.
Early the next morning,
by the same river Huo Gua would visit ten thousand years later,
Ji Feng caught a fish and roasted it for breakfast.
"Sign in!"
He silently entered the sign-in command.
The next moment,
[ Ding! ] [ Sign-in successful. You have obtained your second active skill: Sunset Glow ] [ Sunset Glow ]: Hou Yi orders the Sun-Scorching Tower to attack a designated area. After a brief delay, it summons a laser strike at the target location, dealing 400/440/480/520/560/600 (+50% physical bonus) magic damage to enemies hit. Enemies hit are slowed by 50% for 2 seconds. Reveals the area and exposes invisible units for 2 seconds.
Perfect!
A max-strength slow.
An area-wide slow.
And at higher levels, the cooldown was so short he could practically slow enemies forever.
It could also reveal invisible units,
which made it an excellent effect for Hou Yi.
If the first skill
was a damage-dealing machine,
then this second skill was all about control.
It could leave an opponent unable to move.
After checking it over,
Ji Feng took another look at his attribute panel.
Hero Template: Hou Yi
Role: Marksman
Status: Awakening Available (3/4)
The status bar
had reached 3/4.
That meant one more day,
and Ji Feng would fully awaken Hou Yi as his Martial Soul!
Soul Hunting Forest.
Ji Feng was near the outer edge of the forest.
On the afternoon of the third day,
he went down to the river to fish.
He caught several big fish, then built a fire and roasted them.
The rich smell of the fire and the fragrant aroma of grilled fish
attracted quite a few Soul Beasts.
Fortunately, Ji Feng was nimble.
He scrambled straight up a tree.
Before his Martial Soul had fully awakened,
he chose to avoid fighting.
The next day.
Early in the morning,
Ji Feng woke after spending the night in a tree.
His back ached, and his waist was sore.
"Damn Tang San. Damn Gangzi."
"This is all your fault."
"But all the hard days end today."
Ji Feng clutched his arm.
He stretched his muscles,
then leaped down from the tree.
"Sign in!"
He gave the command silently.
Then,
[ Ding! ] [ Fourth day of sign-in ] [ Sign-in successful! Your third active skill is unlocked: Arrow of the Scorching Sun ] [ Arrow of the Scorching Sun ]: [Arrow of the Scorching Sun]: Fires a flaming arrow across the entire map. When it hits an enemy hero, it deals 700/1000/1300 (+90% physical bonus) physical damage and stuns them for 0.5–3.5 seconds; the farther the arrow travels, the longer the stun. It deals the same damage to nearby enemies and slows them by 50%. For 5 seconds after hitting, your movement speed increases by 30%.
"A maximum 3.5-second stun, a 50% area slow, and 30% more movement speed for me. Hou Yi's strongest-version blood-sucking pump—the final piece is finally in place!"
Ji Feng clenched his fist,
brimming with confidence.
Just as he was getting excited,
the system notification sounded again,
dispelling his lingering doubts.
[ Ding! ] [ After four days of sign-ins, all skills are now active ] [ Hou Yi template officially awakened! ] [ Ordinary Martial Soul detected in host: Snake Martial Soul ] [ Hou Yi Martial Soul officially awakened ] [ Iteration in progress ] [ Iteration underway ] [ Iteration complete! ] [ Congratulations! You have officially awakened: Hou Yi! ] [ Hou Yi Martial Soul quality assessment: Super Martial Soul! ]
"Super Martial Soul!"
Looking at the system panel,
Ji Feng's gaze fixed on the final four words.
Super Martial Soul.
On Douluo Continent,
Martial Soul grades were divided into Trash, ordinary, rare, top-tier, super, and even divine!
A Super Martial Soul came with Innate Full Soul Power at level 10.
"In other words, my Soul Power is already level 10! I can absorb my first Soul Ring!"
"Hou Yi is a mythological figure, a god in his own right! How can he only have a Super Martial Soul?"
Ji Feng wasn't satisfied.
Still, he would uncover Hou Yi's full potential himself as he went along.
[ The template's special nature has been detected. The host's Martial Soul can have only four Soul Rings in total! ]
"What!?"
At that,
Ji Feng's expression changed.
Four Soul Rings.
That meant his Soul Power could only reach Soul Ancestor in the end!
"In other words, I can only reach level 50 at most!?"
Ji Feng's eyes flickered as he speculated.
If that was true,
wouldn't he only be twenty levels higher than Gangzi?
"I don't know if that's what it means. I'll level up first!"
Now that Hou Yi's Martial Soul had awakened,
Ji Feng decided to take things one step at a time.
Soul Hunting Forest.
Outer edge.
A middle-aged man in black, with a crew cut,
walked side by side
with a boy of about ten.
The two came to a bamboo grove
and stopped.
The man with the crew cut walked up to a bamboo stalk as thick as a water pipe.
He patted it twice and said seriously, "This is a Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo. Its defining trait is its toughness."
"Its attack power is weak, but its defenses are decent."
"It should suit your Blue Silver Grass."
The two men were none other than
Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang and Tang San.
Tang San looked completely baffled.
He knew nothing at all about Douluo Continent's lore.
He simply listened to the teacher's explanation.
He nodded, deeply agreeing.
"Teacher..."
Just as Tang San was about to speak,
deep in the bamboo grove,
there came a whoosh.
An arrow shot toward them at incredible speed.
Whoosh!
-170
Crack.
Only a moment ago, Gangzi had patted Lone Bamboo and said its defense was pretty good.
A loud creak rang out.
It crashed to the ground.
And a white Soul Ring appeared.
"Who!?"
"Who's there!?"
Gangzi was startled at first.
Then he froze in shock.