First Soul Skill: Body-Protecting Qi!

Just as Lin Mo and Tang San began absorbing their respective spirit rings, Yu Xiaogang stood guard nearby.

High above in the canopy of a towering ancient tree not far away, a rather disheveled figure suddenly vanished.

If Tang San were here at this moment, he would have recognized this man as the alcoholic father from his memories.

Half an hour later, Lin Mo slowly opened his eyes.

His face was brimming with irrepressible joy.

"So fast?" A look of clear surprise flashed across Yu Xiaogang's face.

He had been sitting cross-legged on a bluestone not far from Lin Mo, but upon seeing Lin Mo open his eyes, he stood up immediately, his brows furrowed.

Lin Mo and Tang San had begun absorbing their first spirit rings almost back-to-back, and the quality and age of their rings were nearly identical.

Both the Vajra Ape and the Azure Vine were century-level spirit beasts just over four hundred years old; for a level ten spirit master, absorbing the rings they produced was by no means an easy task.

Yu Xiaogang instinctively glanced back at Tang San.

Tang San was still sitting with his eyes closed, his complexion slightly pale.

He had only just passed the most dangerous initial stage of spirit ring absorption, yet Lin Mo had already finished?

Was the gap in their physical constitutions really that vast? And Tang San was a twin-spirit master at that!

"How do you feel?"

Yu Xiaogang walked over to Lin Mo's side and asked.

His eyes scanned Lin Mo up and down, seemingly trying to find what had changed since before the absorption.

What was certain was that Lin Mo, who was already taller and sturdier than his peers, had developed even further under the nourishment of the spirit ring's power.

He had grown taller.

"It feels great."

Lin Mo stood up and nodded, instinctively clenching his fist to feel the power within.

Soon, he closed his eyes, and a bright yellow spirit ring slowly rose from beneath his feet.

As the Inversion of Three talent lit up, Lin Mo entered the state of inversion once again.

"What is your first spirit skill?" Yu Xiaogang asked curiously.

He was obsessed with the theoretical study of spirits and had traveled far down that path, yet the situation unfolding with Lin Mo was something he had never heard of.

He had not only been in personal contact with Lin Mo but had also observed him at close range and felt his aura for several days.

Even so, he still hadn't been able to figure out exactly what Lin Mo's spirit was.

"I call it Body-Protecting Qi!"

As the first spirit ring lit up, a subtle, almost imperceptible shield suddenly appeared on the surface of Lin Mo's body.

The shield was very faint, nearly transparent; it would be hard to notice without careful observation.

It was as if a thin film of light had formed over Lin Mo's skin.

"The effect of my first spirit skill is to increase my defense and apply a shield that helps me better resist damage!"

"A decent spirit skill."

After carefully observing the changes on Lin Mo's body for a moment, Yu Xiaogang nodded. "This skill is quite practical and, to a certain extent, makes up for your shortcomings!"

"If you had mastered this skill earlier during the battle with the Datura Snake, you probably could have finished it off much more easily. Its Venom Fang would have had a hard time breaking through your defense!"

"Based on my observations, this skill likely originated from your spirit combining with the Vajra Body talent skill after absorbing the Vajra Ape's spirit ring."

Hearing Yu Xiaogang's words, Lin Mo nodded silently.

The effect of the Body-Protecting Qi he had just described was only a small part of it. Beyond providing a defensive bonus and a surface shield, the Body-Protecting Qi possessed other capabilities.

The shield it constructed carried a certain degree of damage reflection.

At the same time, while the shield was active, he was immune to physical impact-based crowd control.

The knockback or launch effects caused by the brute force of a creature like the Vajra Ape were now useless against Lin Mo.

Increased defense, damage reflection, and super armor!

This was Lin Mo's highly versatile first spirit skill.

Each of these three effects was not weak on its own, and with all three combined, the value of this spirit ring far exceeded its age.

Furthermore, like the Inversion of Three talent, the first spirit skill consumed very little spirit power, allowing for long-term use.

As long as he wished, he could maintain the Body-Protecting Qi throughout an entire battle.

Lin Mo was quite satisfied with the first spirit skill he had obtained.

Because his early spirit rings were of such low age, Lin Mo had never intended to seek out offensive skills from the start.

Attack-type soul skills provided by century or millennium-level soul rings are bound to be phased out in the later stages.

Among his first few soul rings, the functional soul skills were exactly what Lin Mo had wanted to acquire from the very beginning.

These would not be rendered obsolete as his level increased.

Defense buffs, damage reflection, and super armor—these three attributes would remain useful regardless of how high his cultivation level climbed.

As for offensive capabilities, Lin Mo lacked nothing in that department while in the Innate Life State; his fists and feet were his best weapons.

Now, the layer of Body-Protecting Qi on his skin significantly amplified his defensive and survival capabilities.

To injure him, one would first have to shatter his Body-Protecting Qi, and then penetrate his Qi-flesh Transformation before they could truly do him any harm.

With these two layers of protection stacked together, he had enough confidence to hold his own even when facing opponents whose cultivation far exceeded his own.

One could say he no longer had to fear being ambushed or struck by hidden arrows.

Thinking of this, the corners of Lin Mo's mouth curled up involuntarily; this was truly an unexpected delight.

While waiting for Tang San to absorb his soul ring, Yu Xiaogang used the excuse of research to help Lin Mo verify the specific effects of his first soul skill.

Lin Mo stood motionless, while Yu Xiaogang picked up the sword he had previously used to dissect the Datura Snake.

While the first soul skill was active, even with Yu Xiaogang's physical fitness, he could not break through Lin Mo's defense with that sword.

Yu Xiaogang tried several more times, hacking and slashing from different angles—horizontal, vertical, and diagonal—but the result was the same every time.

The blade simply could not penetrate that seemingly thin shield.

The only thing that left Yu Xiaogang feeling particularly frustrated was that after testing for so long, he still hadn't managed to figure out what Lin Mo's martial soul actually was.

Another hour and a half passed before Tang San finished absorbing the soul ring and slowly opened his eyes.

Lin Mo looked at Tang San with great interest.

He was also very curious to know what first soul skill Tang San had obtained after giving up the Datura Snake and choosing the Azure Vine instead.

According to his original memories, Tang San's first soul skill should have been Bind, obtained from the Datura Snake.

Its effect was to instantly control enemies using Blue Silver Grass, with an added paralyzing effect.

But now that the Datura Snake had been taken by Yu Xiaogang and replaced with the life-force-oriented Azure Vine, he was genuinely curious to see how the result would change.