Life from the Brush

"Xiao Fan, are you having trouble adjusting to killing a Soul Beast for the first time?"

"Sit in meditation first, adjust your state, and then absorb the Soul Ring."

Fang Qingshan's gentle voice sounded beside Duan Fan.

Duan Fan had arrived just moments before to kill the Dream-Weaving Spider, and Fang Qingshan had followed right behind, ensuring Duan Fan's safety the entire time.

Seeing that Duan Fan had successfully finished off the Dream-Weaving Spider, Fang Qingshan felt quite gratified.

However, he soon sensed that something was off.

Because after killing the Dream-Weaving Spider, Duan Fan had simply stood there, stunned.

Hearing Fang Qingshan's voice, Duan Fan snapped back to reality, nodded, and sat cross-legged on the spot.

He did not enter a meditative state immediately, but instead savored the strange sensation he had just experienced.

The reason he had been stunned was that after killing the Dream-Weaving Spider, he had suddenly received a peculiar intuition.

This intuition did not 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 transmitted a hint of excitement to him, even though he hadn't even manifested it.

Guided by that excitement, he opened his left hand.

Immediately afterward, he felt a faint, ethereal aura sink into the palm of his left hand, eventually merging into the Soul-Sucking Battle Axe.

That seemed to be the soul of the Dream-Weaving Spider.

Duan Fan realized belatedly in his heart, and his inner excitement surged uncontrollably.

The Soul-Sucking Battle Axe could truly 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 become a tiny bit stronger.

Although this improvement was almost negligible, Duan Fan still felt it.

It seems that only targets I kill with my own hands can have their souls absorbed.

Duan Fan thought to himself.

During the search for the Dream-Weaving Spider in the Soul Hunting Forest, Duan Fan had seen ten-year Soul Beasts preying on one another, but when the prey was killed, Duan Fan had not received any such intuition.

Don't overthink it; better to absorb the First Soul Ring for the Fantasy Pen first. I can study the Soul-Sucking Battle Axe slowly later.

Duan Fan put his thoughts aside and quickly entered a meditative state.

After adjusting his entire being to its peak state, Duan Fan began to absorb the Soul Ring.

Fang Qingshan had already taught Duan Fan the method for absorbing a Soul Ring on the way to the Soul Hunting Forest; he only needed to guide it with his intent.

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

He then used his intent to guide the Soul Ring over, and it soon settled onto the Fantasy Pen.

Duan Fan felt as if his consciousness had been pierced by countless threads; a cold, fine power surged through the brush handle into his arm, instantly spreading to his limbs and bones.

His body stiffened involuntarily, as if every inch of his muscle were being tightly bound by spider silk.

"Steady your mind."

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

Duan Fan struggled to keep himself conscious, enduring the pain radiating from every part of his body.

He did not know how much time had passed when his consciousness suddenly sank into a gray-white ocean.

In the center, a writing brush floated silently, with white threads coiled around its handle.

Those threads gradually gathered toward the tip of the brush, finally merging into it.

As the last white thread vanished into the brush tip, the pain throughout Duan Fan's body vanished abruptly, replaced by an indescribable sense of relief.

Duan Fan could clearly feel the soul power within his body growing rapidly, instantly breaking through his original ten-level bottleneck and climbing toward higher heights.

This feeling did not last long, only a few breaths.

Once everything returned to calm, Duan Fan slowly opened his eyes.

A firelight reflected before him, and Fang Qingshan was sitting nearby.

"Xiao Fan, you're awake! How do you feel?"

Fang Qingshan had neither slept nor cultivated, but had been watching Duan Fan the entire time.

Seeing Duan Fan wake up, he immediately spoke up with concern.

Duan Fan said, "I feel like I've become much stronger."

Fang Qingshan laughed, "Becoming stronger is exactly the point!"

"Congratulations on officially stepping into the ranks of a Soul Master!"

"Show me your Martial Soul writing brush; let your uncle see your First Soul Ring and the changes in your Martial Soul!"

Duan Fan nodded and opened his right hand.

White light surged as the Fantasy Pen appeared in the palm of Duan Fan's right hand.

At the same time, a yellow soul ring rose slowly from beneath Duan Fan's feet.

In terms of appearance, the Fantasy Pen had not changed much after absorbing its First Soul Ring.

Only by looking very closely could one find a white, thread-like pattern on the black shaft of the Fantasy Pen.

Since the writing brush had already gained many white patterns after evolving into the Fantasy Pen, it was difficult to tell the difference.

Fang Qingshan stared at Duan Fan's Fantasy Pen for a long time before finally rubbing his chin and saying, "It doesn't seem to have changed much, just a few more white patterns on the shaft."

"How is your first soul skill? Show it to me."

"Alright."

Duan Fan picked up the Fantasy Pen; his small, youthful hand formed a strange contrast with the oversized shaft.

The Fantasy Pen was longer than Duan Fan's forearm, making it look like he was holding a short club, yet he held it firmly, his knuckles turning slightly white from the effort.

Duan Fan took a deep breath and thrust the tip of the pen forward as the yellow soul ring on his body suddenly flared with light.

There was no ink, no pigment.

Silver-white lines flowed from the tip of the pen like a thin stream, spiraling and intertwining in the air.

Duan Fan's wrist moved quickly, the lines layering over one another with his brushwork to outline the silhouette of a spider.

Seeing this, Fang Qingshan leaned forward involuntarily.

The silver lines wound tighter and tighter, and the outline became increasingly clear.

Finally, a giant spider was fully sketched out.

As Duan Fan finished, he tapped the tip of the pen into the center of the silver mass.

The silver light surged violently.

The spider, woven entirely from lines, shook its legs in the air, flicked its body as if it had just crawled out of water, and then landed steadily on the ground.

Its eight legs spread out to the size of a table, the patterns on its carapace were clearly visible, and its eight eyes glowed with a ghostly green light.

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

Fang Qingshan was stunned, his mouth agape as he uttered in disbelief, "Is this a Dream-Weaving Spider?"

Duan Fan nodded gently. "Yes."

"What can it do?"

Fang Qingshan asked subconsciously.

Duan Fan tried to give the Dream-Weaving Spider a command with his mind.

The next second, the Dream-Weaving Spider charged forward, easily snapping several dead trees and lifting its legs to strike down, piercing through a tree trunk like a spear.

That wasn't all.

The Dream-Weaving Spider's abdomen contracted, and a mass of grayish-white silk sprayed from its tail, spreading in the air and rapidly intertwining and restructuring.

Finally, it formed an even larger spider that landed on the ground, scurrying quickly to circle Fang Qingshan's feet twice.

Fang Qingshan's face was already filled with shock.

He swallowed hard and asked, "The Dream-Weaving Spider you drew can also create spiders using silk?"

Duan Fan smiled slightly. "Yes, I can draw its abilities into it as well."

Fang Qingshan: "It actually has this kind of effect? Is this really just a first soul skill?"

Duan Fan said, "Of course it is a first soul skill. I call it Life from the Brush!"