Fourth Soul Skill

After rising to his feet beside the Golden Thunder Python's corpse, Jiang Lin rolled his slightly numb legs.

Absorbing a Soul Ring nearly thirty thousand years old had taken longer than he'd expected. The immense thunder-attribute energy and Golden bloodline had surged through his meridians for nearly two hours. Fortunately, the Blood Fiend Divine Thunder Halberd was highly attuned to thunder. The process had been perilous, but he'd made it through.

He lowered his gaze to his hands, clenched his fists, and felt the Soul Power within him—more than twice as robust as before.

Level 43, at the peak. He was just one step away from Level 44.

The fourth Soul Ring pulsed slowly around the Blood Fiend Divine Thunder Halberd. The black Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring was as deep as solidified ink jade, and sunlight revealed a faint, dark-gold halo around it—the lingering trace of the Golden Thunder Python's bloodline.

The enormous snake carcass still lay on the ground.

Jiang Lin wasted no time. He had Elder Chen cut off the intact meat, then dealt with it alongside the Purple Lightning Mad Lion's corpse that Tang Yuan had kept for him earlier.

He kept what was worth keeping and tossed the rest to the system for recycling. A flash of white light took care of everything.

Dugu Bo had been waiting nearby. He had already withdrawn the Jade Phosphorus Poison Dragon's Martial Soul Avatar, and looked at least ten years younger than before.

Most of the purplish-blue poison patches on his face had faded. A few strands of his original black hair now showed through his gray-green locks. Dugu Yan stood beside him; the girl had only recently broken through, and the Soul Power fluctuations around her still felt fresh.

"Young master, Yan Yan just obtained her third Soul Ring. She's already at Level 34."

Dugu Bo's voice brimmed with undisguised pride.

"And after her Martial Soul Evolution, signs of draconic transformation have appeared deep within her snake spirit. A dark-gold line has formed along its spine—that's the mark of an initial awakening of dragon blood. Given time, she might become another Jade Phosphorus Poison Dragon."

Jiang Lin nodded, his gaze sweeping over Dugu Yan. "Not bad."

Pleased by the praise, Dugu Yan broke into a smug smile.

She wasn't usually like this, but she was the weakest person present by far.

By her estimate, even Jiang Lin, the young master who was about her age, could probably beat three of her with one hand.

Dugu Bo changed the subject, his gaze settling on the newly added black Soul Ring around Jiang Lin.

"Young master, what's your fourth Soul Skill? Let this old man have a look."

Jiang Lin said nothing. He simply raised the Blood Fiend Divine Thunder Halberd and swung it through the air at an empty patch of ground beside him.

The instant the halberd blade fell, a muffled sonic boom burst through the air. A crack nearly a zhang long split the ground without a sound.

The edges of the fissure were smooth and even. Dark-gold arcs of lightning crackled across the cut, while the nearby grass and trees remained untouched. Every bit of force had been precisely confined to the halberd's path, without a trace escaping.

Dugu Bo's pupils abruptly contracted.

He was a Titled Douluo who had spent his life dealing with all kinds of Soul Masters. With one glance, he saw the trick behind that strike.

It wasn't an ordinary swing. A Soul Skill was hidden within it.

But he hadn't seen a Soul Ring light up, nor sensed any sign of Soul Power fluctuations. There hadn't even been an abnormal flow of Soul Power in the air.

If not for the fissure in the ground, whose force far exceeded that of an ordinary swing, he would have thought Jiang Lin had simply swung his halberd casually.

"Instant activation."

Jiang Lin's voice was calm, as if he were stating the most ordinary fact.

"There's no charge-up. My Soul Ring doesn't light up when I use it, and no Soul Power fluctuations leak out. From my opponent's perspective, I'm just making a normal swing, but the attack power of that strike is increased by 250 percent."

He paused, then added, "And the cooldown is extremely short. In theory, I can use it repeatedly."

Dugu Bo sucked in a sharp breath.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but for a moment he couldn't think of what.

He had lived for over eighty years and dealt with all kinds of Soul Masters, from Soul Scholars to Titled Douluo. He'd seen every kind of bizarre Soul Skill imaginable.

But he could count on one hand the number of times he'd encountered the words "instant activation without warning."

Ordinary enhancement-type Soul Skills always gave some sign when activated: a glowing Soul Ring, a fluctuation in Soul Power. An opponent at least had a chance to react—to block, dodge, or activate a Soul Skill of their own to counter it.

But Jiang Lin's Soul Skill left no trace at all. No light, no fluctuations, no windup—nothing.

In a battle, that meant an opponent would never know whether Jiang Lin's next strike was a normal attack or a killing blow with two and a half times the force.

An opponent at the same level couldn't defend against it.

Even someone a major realm above him could suffer a crushing loss if they let their guard down.

Imagine a Soul King fighting this Level 43 Soul Ancestor. The opponent casually swings his halberd, and the Soul King thinks that, with Soul Power a major realm higher, he can easily withstand it. Then the strike's power suddenly surges to two and a half times its original strength, tearing through his defenses and stabbing straight through his chest.

There wouldn't even be time to react. The instant the halberd blade came at him, he couldn't possibly judge how powerful the strike would be.

"A Golden Thunder Python nearly thirty thousand years old—what a prize."

Dugu Bo sighed from the heart, and a complicated look entered his eyes as he gazed at Jiang Lin.

The boy was terrifying. He had not only shown far more resolve and foresight in cultivation than anyone his age, but the Soul Skills he gained were also so viciously tricky.

Suddenly, Dugu Bo felt that the decision he had made at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well might have been the best choice of his life.

Tang Yuan had remained silent the entire time, but a note of approval flickered in his unruffled eyes.

As a hammer wielder and a strength-type Peak Douluo, he understood the meaning of "attack power" more deeply than anyone.

He understood better than Dugu Bo what an undetectable burst at two and a half times the strength meant.

In his experience, the most important thing about killing someone of a higher level wasn't how powerful your strongest attack was. It was whether you could land it at the perfect moment.

And "without warning" meant that the opponent would never be able to defend against that moment.

Elder Chen stroked his beard, unable to hide his grin.

All three of them were Titled Douluo. Naturally, they knew just how... underhanded this kind of Soul Skill was.