A hundred-year Yellow Soul Ring appeared beneath Tang San's feet.
"First Soul Skill, Blue Silver Flying Iron Needle."
The moment the words left his mouth,
countless needles made of Blue Silver Grass floated in midair, packed close together.
At his command, the needles shot straight into a tree ten meters away.
With a series of muffled pfft, pfft, pfft,
the needles made of Blue Silver Grass sank deep into the tree trunk, penetrating three inches into the wood.
Then Tang San explained:
"My First Soul Ring, Blue Silver Flying Iron Needle, inherited Iron Peak Forest's traits while also granting me even greater hardness."
"Once an enemy is bound, it'll be very difficult for them to break free."
"How is that possible? How could mere Blue Silver Grass do something like that?"
But before Tang San could enjoy his success for long, an unwelcome voice rang out.
After hearing his explanation, Yu Xiaogang said, his face full of disbelief,
"Enough. Stop showing off that knowledge you stole from who knows where."
Tang Wu didn't hold back, striking right at Yu Xiaogang's sore spot:
"I didn't bring you here so you could squawk over there. Do your job and identify the Soul Beasts. Why are you making such a fuss? Do you want to feel the whip again?"
The moment Yu Xiaogang saw the whip in Tang Wu's hand,
his legs stiffened, and his sphincter clenched hard, betraying his fear.
Yet deep in his eyes, there was also a trace of... excitement.
Good grief.
Gangzi was practically being trained into a masochist.
"Besides, have you ever heard of anyone with Innate Full Soul Power whose Martial Soul was weak Blue Silver Grass?"
At Tang Wu's words, Yu Xiaogang froze on the spot.
That was right!
According to his Ten Great Martial Soul Theories, it was impossible for someone with a Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul to awaken with Innate Full Soul Power.
But since the brothers had firmly denied having Twin Martial Souls, only one possibility remained.
It had to be Mutated Blue Silver Grass.
Only mutated Blue Silver Grass fit the pattern.
At the thought, Yu Xiaogang visibly grew excited. But when he saw the warning in Tang Wu's eyes,
he wisely kept his questions to himself.
Now that Tang San had finished absorbing his Soul Ring, the next step
was to find a suitable Soul Beast for Tang Wu.
This time, though, Tang Wu wasn't as lucky as Tang San. They searched for ages without finding a suitable Soul Beast.
That was, until they passed a patch of low grass...
Its branches were laden with fruit: glossy red chilies.
Even stranger,
the patch was so neatly arranged, with such uniform rows and sizes, that it looked as though someone had planted it by hand.
Tang Wu had just started to approach when a chili shot into the air and hurtled straight toward them.
Boom—
The moment the chili hit the ground, the flames it had been storing inside burst out in an instant.
"What kind of crazy plant is this? A Fire Peashooter?"
Seeing this, Tang Wu inexplicably thought of the plants from Plants vs. Zombies and clicked his tongue.
"What Fire Peashooter?" Yu Xiaogang corrected him.
"This is an Explosive Burning Chili. It looks like there are lots of bushes here, but there's actually only one true plant."
"The others are just copies made from the main plant's roots and stems to confuse its natural enemies."
"And judging by the outlines of those chilies, each has a little more than four rings. They're between four hundred and five hundred years old."
After hearing about the Explosive Burning Chili,
Tang Wu thought it over and decided that this was the one. He chose it as his First Soul Ring.
First of all,
among all those Explosive Burning Chilies, only one was the true plant. That alone showed how well it could survive.
And after absorbing this Soul Ring, Tang Wu had a good chance of gaining the Explosive Burning Chili's ability to wield fire.
That would greatly expand his fighting style.
Tang Wu didn't have Twin Martial Souls. He couldn't switch to cultivating the Clear Sky Hammer later like Tang San. If he wanted to become strong enough,
he had to obtain the powerful talents of the Soul Beasts he chose, whenever he absorbed a Soul Ring.
The moment Tang San heard Tang Wu's plan, his first reaction was to refuse.
After all, it was far too risky.
A Soul Beast nearing five hundred years old could overwhelm even a powerful Beast Martial Soul Soul Master.
But Tang Wu was set on it, so Tang San had no choice but to nod, his heart heavy with worry.
How to hunt the Explosive Burning Chili was another major problem.
To attack the true plant, they first had to destroy the copies around it.
But Tang San was only a One-Ring Soul Master, while Tang Wu was even worse off—he didn't have a single Soul Ring.
As for Gangzi...
He was a useless weakling with a combat strength below five. What could he do besides fart?
"Now that it's come to this, we'll have to use the old-fashioned method," Tang Wu said.
"What method?" Tang San asked, baffled.
The scene shifted.
Tang Wu and Tang San each used Blue Silver Grass, extending their vines into the Explosive Burning Chili's attack range.
It was worth mentioning that
after absorbing his Soul Ring, Tang San's control range had extended to twenty meters, while Tang Wu was still at his initial range of around five meters.
When it sensed something foreign trespassing in its territory, the Explosive Burning Chili shook.
A moment later, it began hurling chili after chili, attacking the Blue Silver Grass in a barrage.
Boom, boom, boom—
After bombarding them for more than ten minutes, the plant finally ran out of steam.
"Now! Charge!"
Tang Wu seized his chance and dashed into the center of the patch, cutting down the main plant with one slash.
But that wasn't the end...
Thanks to its powerful vitality, the Explosive Burning Chili could keep living even after suffering severe wounds.
They had to pull it out by the roots to kill it for good.
And that was exactly what Tang Wu did.
As the main Explosive Burning Chili died, a deep-yellow Soul Ring rose from its corpse.
After resting and recovering, Tang Wu sat cross-legged and began absorbing his first Soul Ring.
Tang Wu drew the Soul Ring toward him with his Soul Power.
The earthen-yellow Soul Ring slowly floated over, then settled around Tang Wu.
An abundant surge of Soul Power rushed into him, swelling through his blocked meridians.
"Urgh—"
The ache that stretched through his entire body made Tang Wu let out a short, muffled groan.
But the pain didn't last long. It was soon replaced by a strange, soothing sensation, and his mind sank completely into the process of absorbing the Soul Ring.
When he opened his eyes again, the first thing he saw was Tang San's worried face.
"Thank goodness, Xiao Wu. You're finally awake!"
"How are you feeling? Does anything hurt? If something's wrong, don't keep it to yourself. Tell your big brother."
"I'm fine. You don't need to worry so much, big brother."
Seeing how worried Tang San was, Tang Wu couldn't help but smile softly as he reassured him.
"Besides, after absorbing the Explosive Burning Chili Soul Ring, I jumped straight to level fourteen."
"The Soul Power I'd stored up before, together with the Soul Power in the Soul Ring, pushed my level all the way here."
"As for what my Soul Skill does..."
At this, Tang Wu paused slightly, a meaningful expression crossing his face:
"I can only say it's good. Very good. Even stronger than I expected."
"Rather than talk about it, it'd be better to demonstrate it in a real fight. Besides the two of us, isn't there a perfect punching bag right here?"
As he spoke, his gaze shifted away from Tang San and landed squarely on Yu Xiaogang.
Feeling that gaze, Yu Xiaogang felt as if he were being watched by some powerful Soul Beast. His whole body stiffened, and he couldn't move.
He tugged at his stiff lips, forcing an ugly smile.
"Um, can I say no?"
"Sorry, but you can't..."