Half a Year Later, Soul Power Level Twenty

Time flies like a white horse passing a crack; in the blink of an eye, half a year had already passed.

On the training grounds, Ban Shu stood silently in place, clad in a tight black outfit with his Painted Halberd strapped to his back.

Surrounding him were countless wooden stakes, enclosing him at the center point.

Ban Shu was currently closing his eyes, silently adjusting his state of mind. The Painted Halberd in his hand rotated slightly, poised and ready to strike.

Suddenly, he moved.

Ban Shu exerted force through his feet, and the Painted Halberd in his hand spun, unleashing an incomparably powerful horizontal sweep. Accompanied by a series of dull thuds, countless wooden stakes were severed at the waist and fell to the ground.

He did not stop his movements there; after the sweep, he took advantage of the momentum to retreat and rotate, shedding the force before launching a Horse-Turning Thrust.

Bang!

The wooden stake was pierced instantly. Ban Shu exerted force from his waist and abdomen, following up with an upward strike that split the stake in two.

As the halberd in Ban Shu's hands continued to dance, the surrounding wooden stakes met their doom one by one, either being cut in half or pulverized into dust under his immense strength.

Before long, all the wooden stakes had been destroyed. Ban Shu let out a long breath and slowly retracted his stance.

"Xiao Ban, you are truly amazing!"

After Ban Shu finished his practice, Bibi Dong jumped out holding two bottles of water and handed one to him with a smile. "Here, drink some water and take a break. I added some salt to it; it can quickly replenish what your body needs."

"Mm, thank you, Sister."

Feeling a bit thirsty, Ban Shu took the water and downed it in two large gulps.

"Slow down, no one is fighting you for it."

Bibi Dong grumbled, then began to drink her own in small sips. She had just been practicing fist techniques with their teacher.

Don't let her status as a total academic underachiever fool you; when it came to physical combat, she was formidable.

Over these past six months, Bibi Dong had become capable of punching through wooden stakes with her bare hands and snapping ten-centimeter-wide logs in half with a single kick—it was quite terrifying.

It was only in her studies that she remained the same; although she stayed off the bottom of the rankings thanks to Ban Shu's supervision, she was still only at an average level.

It was too much to ask for her to catch up to an academic genius like Ban Shu, whose talent points were maxed out. Bibi Dong, however, didn't mind at all; in fact, she didn't care in the slightest.

"Hahaha, Xiao Ban, not bad. You have completely mastered this set of basic spear techniques."

Li Yan, who had been observing from the side, walked over with a laugh and patted Ban Shu on the shoulder with satisfaction.

"That is only because you taught me well, Uncle Li."

Ban Shu smiled and replied modestly.

"The younger generation is to be feared, truly to be feared."

Li Yan chuckled. In these six months, Ban Shu had fully digested everything he had taught him, and had even incorporated some of his own insights.

It seemed that before long, he would have nothing left to teach him.

Watching the two chatting before him, Li Yan smiled happily, then seemed to recall something.

"Oh, right, Xiao Ban, I remember you saying your soul power has reached level twenty, right? Is it time to go obtain your soul ring?"

"Mm."

Ban Shu nodded. "I have already told my teacher. We will set off for the Star Dou Great Forest in two days to obtain my second soul ring."

Yes, in these six months, through the combined effects of meditation, strange primordial energy, and Whale Glue medicinal baths, his cultivation speed had far surpassed his peers.

In just half a year, he had cultivated from level fourteen to level twenty. Once he obtained a soul ring, he would officially become a Soul Master.

Ban Shu dared to say that his current cultivation speed had surpassed most people on the Douluo Continent; even Bibi Dong could only look on from afar.

"Good, good, good."

Li Yan sighed, unable to stop praising him. "As expected of such exceptional talent. To increase your soul power so much in just half a year—it's truly terrifying, you little monster."

"That's right."

Bibi Dong reached out and patted Ban Shu's head, saying with a smile, "Even I, a super genius with innate full soul power and twin martial souls, have to admit that your talent, Xiao Ban, is above mine."

"I would name you the person with the highest talent on the Douluo Continent today."

"Uh... then many thanks for the praise, Sister Dong'er."

Hearing her say this, a strange feeling suddenly welled up in Ban Shu's heart. It felt odd.

"Alright, that's enough for today. Hurry back and get some rest." Li Yan patted both of their heads, urging them on.

"Okay."

Ban Shu and Bibi Dong turned and left the training grounds, returning to their rooms.

After his medicinal bath, Ban Shu sat cross-legged and began his usual meditation.

"..."

But for some reason, today, even after a long time, he could not enter the state.

"Sigh~"

Ban Shu sighed, climbed off the bed, and went to sit at his desk.

"I'll be obtaining my spirit beast the day after tomorrow. It seems I need to give some serious thought to my future spirit ring progression."

Ban Shu summoned his Painted Halberd and scrutinized his weapon with care.

Ever since he awakened this thing, Ban Shu had known it wasn't in its complete form; in fact, what he had now was merely the tip of the iceberg of his martial soul.

Divine Steed Guardian Ban was the true power of his martial soul.

Yet, it was strange. Logically speaking, Divine Steed Ban utilized Fire Style, so where did this lightning attribute come from?

Ban Shu furrowed his brows. Could it be that after he transmigrated, Naruto released some new cash-grab skin?

Given Morefun's nature, that actually seemed quite likely!

Forget it. In any case, most Uchiha possess both lightning and fire attributes, so there was no need to dwell on it too much.

Is that damn fire really the most important thing about you, Lord Divine Steed Ban? No! It's those four words: Peerless Under Heaven!

As long as I have that, all other spirit skills are just fleeting clouds!

Do you like my basic attacks having super armor? Little brother?

If you use a substitution, I'll pop my ultimate. Once the ultimate ends, I'll start biting wildly. If you try to grab me, I'll use the second stage, and once I land, I'll have four orbs in two seconds.

And then, guess what? My ultimate is ready again!

And you, my friend, can only tremble under Uncle Ban's tyranny, at most sending a "head-pat" emote to show respect.

Realizing his thoughts were drifting further and further off track, Ban Shu hurriedly shook his head, trying to drive these memories from his past life out of his brain.

"What am I thinking about? Damn it!"

Ban Shu exhaled, slowly lowered his head, and was immediately startled.

Unbeknownst to him, he had actually drawn a "head-pat" emote on the paper—it was pure muscle memory.

Patting his own face, Ban Shu reached out to grab the "head-pat" to throw it away, but after holding his hand there for a long moment, he solemnly tucked it away instead.

"Maybe it'll be useful later?" Ban Shu consoled himself.

Returning to the matter at hand, he began to rethink his future spirit ring configuration and direction.

Early-stage spirit rings don't really have much use in the later stages, so since that's the case, I might as well make them all augmentation-type spirit skills.

My first spirit skill is an enchantment skill that allows my Painted Halberd to deal higher damage and even adds a lightning-sting effect.

For the second spirit ring, I'll go with an augmentation skill...

He pondered for a long time, pen in hand, sketching and writing in his book as he began to filter through spirit beasts that would suit him.