Nuoding City, Douluo Continent.
Notting Academy library.
Zhou Tong lay slumped over a desk, dozing.
Suddenly, he opened his bleary eyes. Looking at the unfamiliar place around him, he was full of confusion.
"Wasn't I about to graduate from college and looking for a job?"
"Where the hell did that truck take me?"
The next moment, a flood of memories surged into his mind.
After a long while, Zhou Tong finally understood his situation.
It turned out he had transmigrated to the Douluo Continent and had just become a Soul Master.
His Martial Soul was a rare, lightning-attribute vine that even the Soul Master in charge of his awakening had never seen before.
Fortunately, he had Innate Full Soul Power and had been sent to Notting Academy to study.
To figure out the truth about his Martial Soul, Zhou Tong had come to the library to study books about Soul Beasts.
After searching for nearly a month, he had finally found a Soul Beast whose appearance closely resembled his Martial Soul.
The Thunderous Hell Vine was a dark purple vine marked with lightning patterns.
It was the emperor among Plant-type Soul Beasts.
It was said that this Soul Beast possessed the bloodline of the Thunder God and could absorb the power of thunder to cultivate, wielding terrifying lightning power.
However, this Soul Beast had one fatal flaw.
Its cultivation speed was slow; it could only grow quickly by absorbing the power of thunder.
Clearly, it was a Soul Beast with extremely harsh survival requirements.
What's more, the destructive power of thunder was too strong for the Thunderous Hell Vine to withstand. Most Thunderous Hell Vines self-destructed before reaching fifty thousand years of age.
"To think this is the Martial Soul of such a top-tier Soul Beast."
"Though it's incredibly powerful, it has a serious hidden danger: the power of thunder could damage my body at any moment."
Zhou Tong knitted his brows and fell into thought, but soon he felt reassured.
The destructive power of thunder was rarely seen in the world.
But that also meant that as long as he found a way to solve the problem of its destructive force, he would have a powerful offensive-type Martial Soul.
Fortunately,
before transmigrating, Zhou Tong had been very familiar with the original story and had the advantage of knowing what was to come.
After thinking it over, he came up with several possible solutions.
First, strengthen his foundation. If his Martial Soul's vitality became strong enough, it could bear the terrifying destructive power of thunder.
Absorbing an Immortal Herb or even obtaining the Blue Silver Emperor Bloodline would both be good choices.
Second, increase its resistance to lightning. If his Martial Soul became more resistant to thunder, it could absorb Soul Rings from lightning-attribute Soul Beasts, or he could temper his body with the power of thunder.
At the thought of this, Zhou Tong felt at ease.
"My Soul Power is already at level ten."
"For my first Soul Beast, I need to find one with a strong foundation and a lightning attribute."
He opened the Soul Beast book in front of him and examined the information on each creature.
After examining it all morning, he had narrowed his choices down to three kinds of Soul Rings.
Lightning-Struck Wood was a Soul Beast that had survived being struck by lightning. It had strong vitality, powerful lightning resistance, and tremendous thunder power.
The Thunder Cloud Leopard possessed impressive speed and powerful thunder. It was a swift-type Soul Beast.
The Purple Thunder Bear was extremely ferocious. It had a powerful body, terrifying speed, and formidable thunder power. It was an ideal Soul Beast.
"I remember that when I enrolled, the dean offered to help me obtain my First Soul Ring because I had the rare Innate Full Soul Power."
"I'll go find him now."
Zhou Tong decided to choose one of those three Soul Beasts.
However, he had barely left the library when someone stopped him.
"Dean, is this the child with Innate Full Soul Power?"
"Yes, he is."
"This child certainly loves studying. If his Martial Soul proves decent, I could deign to take him as my disciple."
Their voices reached his ears.
Zhou Tong looked up and saw two figures not far away.
One was the dean, an ordinary-looking man in his forties or fifties, wearing the academy's gray uniform robe.
For years, he had worried about the academy's future. They had never had a sufficiently outstanding Soul Master to make the academy's name known.
So when he discovered the talented Zhou Tong, he had taken the initiative to offer to help him obtain his First Soul Ring, saving him from taking unnecessary detours.
Once Zhou Tong became famous, Notting Academy could bask in some of his glory.
The other was an ordinary-looking man of average height and slightly gaunt build, wearing a faded gray robe.
"Dean, you're here. And who is this?"
Zhou Tong asked.
"This is the academy's Grandmaster. His name is Yu Xiaogang, and he's looking to take a final disciple."
The dean spoke.
However, before the dean could finish, Yu Xiaogang rushed over to Zhou Tong, looked him up and down, and said in a low voice, "Let me see your Martial Soul."
The dean was a little displeased. Yu Xiaogang was from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, but that was no excuse to be so disrespectful.
Besides, a Martial Soul was every Soul Master's secret. How could he ask someone to reveal it casually in front of a crowd?
Zhou Tong remained silent and did not do as he was told.
Who went around asking people to show off their Martial Souls the moment they met?
Yu Xiaogang was being a little unreasonable.
Still, the dean had brought him here, so Zhou Tong didn't want to embarrass him on the spot.
Seeing the awkward situation, the dean hurriedly said, "Let's go to the grove. There are too many people here."
Soon, the three of them arrived in the woods.
A pale purple vine appeared in Zhou Tong's hand, with thin arcs of electricity flickering across it. It looked so wondrous that no one could take their eyes off it.
Vine-type Martial Souls weren't uncommon, but vines with the power of thunder certainly were.
"Grandmaster, what do you think of this vine?"
The dean asked curiously. Yu Xiaogang's brows were tightly furrowed as he sank into thought.
After a long while, Yu Xiaogang finally spoke. "This Martial Soul is very rare. I think it must be a new Mutated Martial Soul. Let's call it Thunder Vine."
Yu Xiaogang clearly didn't know about the Thunderous Hell Vine, but he still wanted to put on a show, so he simply gave Zhou Tong's Martial Soul a new name.
Lightning plus vine: Thunder Vine.
He knew a little, but not much.
And what Yu Xiaogang knew was what everyone already knew.
Zhou Tong grumbled inwardly, but kept his expression neutral and said nothing.
Yu Xiaogang was the dean's favored connection. As a student, Zhou Tong didn't dare offend him lightly.
He knew Yu Xiaogang was a clown whose theoretical knowledge was barely better than that of an ordinary Soul Master, but that didn't stop him from bragging about himself.
This was the sort of person Zhou Tong couldn't afford to provoke, but he could avoid him.
As long as he grew stronger without a hitch, his future achievements would surely be impressive.
His top priority was obtaining his First Soul Ring. Once he did, his strength would improve by leaps and bounds.
"Grandmaster, what kind of Soul Beast do you think Zhou Tong should use for his First Soul Ring?"
The dean had always believed Yu Xiaogang was a master of theory. On top of that, Yu Xiaogang was a member of the world's greatest sect, so he had a great deal of respect for him.
Yu Xiaogang clasped his hands behind his back and raised his head. "A vine-type Martial Soul should naturally follow the control-type path."
"When choosing a Soul Ring, he should look for a Soul Beast that excels at Entanglement."
"Or one that excels at defense. That way, he can strengthen his control."
Zhou Tong's mouth twitched slightly.
Gangzi certainly lived up to his reputation.
He was spouting utter nonsense with a straight face.
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