Tang San heard him and turned to look.
He found that Tang Wu was right.
The purple Thousand-Year Soul Ring circuit had split down the middle, dividing into two halves, one on the left and one on the right.
Tang San had never heard of anything like this, and for a moment, he was at a loss:
"What's going on?"
"Why did the Soul Ring split? Could it be because the Vine Scale Turtle is a symbiotic Soul Beast?"
"That must be it. If I'm not mistaken, the Soul Skill you just investigated, bro, should only be one half of it."
Tang Wu seemed to have figured something out and offered his guess.
Since this Soul Ring had split, it was essentially half of an independent Soul Ring. There had to be something about its effects he didn't understand.
And, as it turned out, his guess was right.
Tang San once again focused his mind on it, examining the effects of the other half of the Soul Ring.
The Third Soul Skill, Blue Silver Vine Scale Armor, had two ways of being activated.
With the second method, damage reduction fell from 30% to 20%. As compensation, reflected damage rose to 70%.
That perfectly suited Scale Vine's offensive nature.
At first glance, the second effect seemed neither useful enough to keep nor bad enough to discard.
After all, damage reduction was down by 10%. Getting hit would still hurt, so it didn't seem like a worthwhile trade.
Tang San thought the same. He felt this Soul Skill was practically useless.
But after Tang Wu's reminder, his expression instantly brightened:
"Bro, have you forgotten what your Second Soul Skill does?"
"This Third Soul Skill doesn't seem very useful, but what if you combine it with Blue Silver Connection?"
"One end connects to a teammate, while the other two connect to Blue Silver Grass to absorb damage. That would mean three people sharing the damage."
"With the Soul Skills working together like that, you could minimize the damage taken by the teammate charging into battle."
Tang Wu's imagination ran wild.
This Soul Skill wasn't useless at all. It was a divine skill for team battles!
Just imagine.
An enemy activates a berserk state as soon as he sees you, reducing every attack that hits him. You can't deal any meaningful damage.
He charges straight into your group, crashing through everyone, and comes out with only minor injuries, completely unaffected.
How despairing would that be?
The key was that this "berserk" state wouldn't affect his judgment at all.
It had practically no drawbacks.
Tang Wu talked at length, opening up an entirely new world for Tang San.
"That's right, Xiao Wu. You're right!"
"I can activate my First and Second Soul Skills at the same time and reduce the damage as much as possible."
"A Soul Ring that's both combined into one and split into two, without affecting its functions... Why not just call it a Chimeric Soul Ring?"
"Bro, do you think that name works?"
For this unprecedented and highly unusual Soul Ring, Tang Wu had come up with a fitting name based on its properties.
As for that,
Tang San didn't really care. He simply said:
"Mm, it's just a name. I don't mind..."
Well, well. Was this what it meant to be the chosen child of destiny?
Even after losing the Eight Spider Lances, an External Soul Bone, something new had come along to replace them.
Sometimes, Tang Wu couldn't help envying his own brother's luck.
Of all the people in the world, Tang San had been chosen to become the first to try this unprecedented Chimeric Soul Ring.
While Tang Wu and Tang San tracked the Titan Giant Ape, Xiao Wu felt both happy and uneasy.
On one hand, she was overjoyed to be reunited with Er Ming after six years.
On the other, she missed Tang San and Tang Wu terribly.
Especially Tang San. Xiao Wu had seen with her own eyes how he'd nearly been crushed to death under Er Ming's foot while trying to save her.
If she hadn't stopped Er Ming in time, she would never have seen her Third Brother again.
At the thought, Xiao Wu stood up on the Titan Giant Ape's palm, planted her hands on her hips, and put on the air of a big sister scolding her little brother:
"Er Ming, it's all your fault! Why did you attack those humans so viciously earlier? They're my companions."
However,
Faced with Xiao Wu's scolding, the mighty ruler of the forest, the Titan Giant Ape, looked just like a child who'd done something wrong.
He didn't dare talk back. He could only stare at her, looking aggrieved.
"All right, Er Ming. I didn't mean to scold you."
"It's just that I've taken human form now, so I can't act as close to you and Da Ming in public as I used to."
Seeing the hurt look on the Titan Giant Ape's face, Xiao Wu softened and quickly explained.
"Roar—"
Since he wasn't very good at human speech, the Titan Giant Ape could only communicate with a roar.
But fortunately,
Even though Xiao Wu had taken human form, she hadn't completely forgotten the language of Soul Beasts.
"Huh? You're asking why I have to go to human society?"
"That's because even though transformed Soul Beasts look human on the outside, they're still very different on the inside. The only way to understand humans is to spend lots of time around them."
"I've been away for years, but the Star Dou Forest is still as beautiful as ever."
Xiao Wu sat at the edge of the Titan Giant Ape's palm, her long legs dangling and swinging as she gazed out toward the horizon from high above.
Actually...
There was another reason she was so determined to fit into human society.
As she spent more and more time with Tang Wu and Tang San, she had grown accustomed to being their little sister.
In fact, she had come to enjoy being doted on.
Along the way, her relationship with Tang San had developed into something more than friendship, but less than love.
Of course, Xiao Wu would never tell Er Ming about that.
After that,
Xiao Wu admired the scenery as she shared stories from the past six years with the Titan Giant Ape. He listened quietly, roaring now and then.
And so, the girl and the beast chatted on and off.
Suddenly,
The Titan Giant Ape sensed a trace of energy flicker and vanish a hundred meters away.
The aura was so faint it was almost impossible to detect, but with his hundred-thousand-year-old senses, he still picked it up.
Er Ming immediately turned toward it, alert. "Who's there? Show yourself! Roar—"
"Er Ming, what's wrong? Did something happen?"
Seeing the Titan Giant Ape's reaction, Xiao Wu hurriedly looked over.
Then she saw Tang Wu emerge from the bushes, and... Tang San.
Xiao Wu stared at him, uncertainty in her voice:
"Th-Third Brother, is that you?"
It wasn't that she couldn't recognize him.
It was just that—
After absorbing the Vine Scale Turtle's Soul Ring, Tang San had changed quite a bit.
His blue hair, once only dyed at the edges, now covered a tenth of his head, gradually approaching Tang Wu's style.
His once-ordinary features had grown softer, and there was a touch more heroic spirit about him.
Tang San looked at the Titan Giant Ape, then at Xiao Wu, safe and sound in its palm. His voice was complicated:
"It's me, Xiao Wu..."
"I was worried about you, but it looks like you didn't need me to rescue you at all."
Tang Wu, who had been serving as little more than a background extra, found the scene rather interesting.
Oh-ho—
This was going to be good...
If circumstances allowed, he would've set out a stool and grabbed some popcorn.
At Tang San's words, Xiao Wu's pupils shook. Only then did she suddenly remember the predicament she was in.
A Soul Grandmaster who wasn't even level 30 could sit casually on a hundred-thousand-year-old Soul Beast. Who would believe they weren't close?
Still, in this situation, she wanted to make one last attempt:
"Um, Third Brother, Brother Wu, let me make excuses—no, wait, let me explain..."