Life from the Brush

"Xiaofan, is it hard to get used to killing a Soul Beast for the first time?"

"Sit down and meditate first. Adjust your condition, then absorb the Soul Ring."

Fang Qingshan's gentle voice sounded beside Duan Fan.

Duan Fan had hurried over to kill the Dream-Weaving Spider, and Fang Qingshan had followed close behind, making sure Duan Fan stayed safe.

Seeing Duan Fan successfully take down the Dream-Weaving Spider, Fang Qingshan felt gratified.

However, he soon noticed something was off.

After killing the Dream-Weaving Spider, Duan Fan had simply stood there, frozen.

Hearing Fang Qingshan's voice, Duan Fan came back to himself, nodded, and sat cross-legged where he was.

He didn't enter a meditative state right away, instead dwelling on the strange sensation he had just experienced.

The reason he had frozen was that, after killing the Dream-Weaving Spider, he had suddenly felt a peculiar connection.

The sensation hadn't come from his First Martial Soul, the Fantasy Pen, but from his Second Martial Soul, the Soul-Sucking Battle Axe.

The Soul-Sucking Battle Axe had stirred a flicker of excitement in him, even though he hadn't summoned it.

Guided by that excitement, he opened his left hand.

Then he felt a faint aura slip into the center of his palm and finally merge with the Soul-Sucking Battle Axe.

"That seemed to be the Dream-Weaving Spider's soul."

Only then did Duan Fan realize what it was. His heart leapt with excitement.

The Soul-Sucking Battle Axe really could absorb souls!

And it seemed to grow stronger after absorbing them!

After absorbing the Dream-Weaving Spider's soul, the Soul-Sucking Battle Axe had grown a little stronger.

The improvement was almost too small to notice, but Duan Fan still felt it.

"It seems I can only absorb the souls of targets I kill myself."

Duan Fan thought to himself.

While searching for the Dream-Weaving Spider in the Soul Hunting Forest, Duan Fan had seen ten-year Soul Beasts prey on one another. When a Soul Beast was killed, he hadn't felt anything at all.

Don't overthink it. I should have the Fantasy Pen absorb its First Soul Ring first. I can study the Soul-Sucking Battle Axe later.

Duan Fan put those thoughts aside and soon entered a meditative state.

After adjusting himself to his best condition, Duan Fan began absorbing the Soul Ring.

Fang Qingshan had already taught Duan Fan how to absorb a Soul Ring on the way to the Soul Hunting Forest. He only needed to guide it with his mind.

Duan Fan opened his right hand, and the Fantasy Pen appeared.

He then guided the Soul Ring toward it with his mind. It soon settled over the Fantasy Pen.

Duan Fan felt as if countless threads were piercing into the depths of his consciousness. A cool, fine-spun power surged along the pen shaft and into his arm, spreading through his entire body in an instant.

His body stiffened against his will, as if spider silk had bound every inch of his muscles.

"Stay focused."

Fang Qingshan's voice seemed to come from very far away.

Duan Fan struggled to keep his mind clear, enduring the pain coursing through his body.

After who knew how long, his consciousness suddenly sank into a gray-white ocean.

At its center, a Writing Brush floated quietly, its shaft wrapped in strands of white silk.

The strands gradually gathered toward the brush tip, then melted into it.

As the last strand of white silk merged into the brush tip, the pain throughout Duan Fan's body vanished. In its place came an indescribable sense of comfort.

Duan Fan could clearly feel the Soul Power within him surging rapidly, breaking through the level-ten bottleneck in an instant and climbing higher.

The sensation didn't last long, only a few breaths.

When everything had settled, Duan Fan slowly opened his eyes.

Firelight flickered before him. Fang Qingshan was sitting nearby.

"Xiaofan, you're awake! How do you feel?"

Fang Qingshan hadn't slept or cultivated. He had kept watch over Duan Fan the whole time.

The moment Duan Fan woke, he immediately asked after him.

Duan Fan said, "I feel like I've gotten a lot stronger."

Fang Qingshan smiled. "That's exactly what should happen!"

"Congratulations on officially reaching the Soul Master level!"

"Show me your Writing Brush Martial Soul. Let your uncle see your First Soul Ring and how your Martial Soul has changed!"

Duan Fan nodded and opened his right hand.

White light welled up, and the Fantasy Pen appeared in the palm of Duan Fan's right hand.

At the same time, a yellow Soul Ring slowly rose from beneath Duan Fan.

After absorbing its First Soul Ring, the Fantasy Pen hadn't changed much in appearance.

Only on close inspection could one spot a white, threadlike pattern on the Fantasy Pen's black shaft.

But when the Writing Brush had evolved into the Fantasy Pen, it had already gained many white patterns, so it was hard to tell the difference.

Fang Qingshan stared at Duan Fan's Fantasy Pen for a long while, then rubbed his chin and said, "It doesn't seem to have changed much. There are just some more white patterns on the shaft."

"What about your First Soul Skill? Show me."

"All right."

Duan Fan picked up the Fantasy Pen. His small, childish hand looked strangely out of proportion against its oversized shaft.

The Fantasy Pen was longer than Duan Fan's forearm. It was like holding a short staff, but he gripped it firmly, his knuckles turning slightly white with the effort.

Duan Fan took a deep breath and thrust the pen tip forward. The yellow Soul Ring around him suddenly lit up.

There was no ink, no paint.

Silvery-white lines streamed from the brush tip like a slender brook, circling and weaving through the air.

Duan Fan's wrist moved swiftly. The lines layered over one another with every stroke, outlining the shape of a spider.

At the sight, Fang Qingshan instinctively leaned forward.

The silver threads wound closer and closer together, and the outline grew clearer by the moment.

At last, they had outlined a gigantic spider.

When Duan Fan finished, he tapped the center of the mass of silver threads with the pen tip.

Silver light flared.

The spider woven from lines twitched its legs in midair, shook itself as if it had just crawled out of the water, then landed firmly on the ground.

Its eight legs spread out. It was as large as a table, the patterns on its back shell clearly visible, and a ghostly green light gleamed in its eight eyes.

It looked exactly like the Dream-Weaving Spider, only larger.

Fang Qingshan stared, his mouth opening and closing before he finally managed to speak in disbelief. "Is that a Dream-Weaving Spider?"

Duan Fan nodded gently. "Yes."

"What can it do?"

Fang Qingshan asked without thinking.

Duan Fan tried giving the Dream-Weaving Spider an order with his mind.

The next moment, it charged forward, easily smashing through several dead tree trunks. It raised one of its legs and brought it down hard, piercing a trunk like a spear.

And that wasn't all.

The Dream-Weaving Spider's abdomen contracted. A mass of gray-white silk shot from its rear, spread through the air, then quickly wove itself back together.

In the end, it formed an even larger spider that landed on the ground and scuttled around Fang Qingshan's feet twice.

Fang Qingshan's face was already full of shock.

He swallowed and asked, "The Dream-Weaving Spider you drew can use its silk to make more spiders?"

Duan Fan smiled faintly. "Yes. I can draw its abilities into it, too."

Fang Qingshan said, "There's really an effect like that? Is this still just a First Soul Skill?"

Duan Fan said, "Of course it's a First Soul Skill. I call it Life from the Brush!"