The First Soul Skill

Hum!

Guided by his soul power, the yellow soul ring surged into his body with vast, brutal force.

"Hiss~"

Zhou Tong let out a muffled groan, veins bulging on his forehead as wisps of blood seeped from his body.

A five-hundred-year soul beast was indeed no small challenge.

However, his martial soul was the Thunderous Hell Vine. As a king among lightning-attribute soul beasts, it possessed an innate suppression over other lightning-based soul beasts.

The Dean wore an expectant look.

A five-hundred-year Lightning-Struck Wood would make for a high-quality soul ring if successfully absorbed.

Yet, he felt some concern for Zhou Tong; after all, Zhou Tong was a commoner with no prior experience in soul master cultivation.

If he failed, his martial soul would suffer a backlash, and his talent would diminish.

It was rare to find a genius soul master with innate full soul power, and he did not want any misfortune to befall Zhou Tong.

However, the scene that followed caused the Dean's tightly furrowed brows to relax.

Two hours later, Zhou Tong slowly opened his eyes.

"Success!"

Zhou Tong's face was slightly pale, and his clothes were stained with droplets of blood, but he could not stop the smile from spreading across his lips.

The process of absorbing the soul ring just now had been perilous.

Fortunately, his martial soul was powerful and possessed strong resistance to lightning-attribute soul power, so he had passed through the danger unscathed.

Had it been anyone else, attempting to absorb a five-hundred-year soul ring as their first would likely have resulted in a backlash from the violent soul power.

After absorbing the soul ring, his soul power had reached level thirteen.

The Dean at his side said with great delight, "Zhou Tong, let's see what power your first soul skill holds."

Zhou Tong extended his right hand, and streaks of golden lightning crackled and exploded in his palm.

"Zzzzt!"

"First soul skill: Thunderbolt!"

With a thought, Zhou Tong's deep yellow five-hundred-year soul ring manifested, and as the yellow light flickered, he activated his first soul skill.

Several lightning pillars, each as thick as a thumb, erupted from his hands.

The lightning pillars shot out, instantly blasting a one-meter-wide crater into the nearby rock wall.

Seeing this, the Dean could not help but gasp.

For a first soul skill to have such immense attack power, this martial soul was truly formidable.

Generally speaking, it was considered decent if a first soul skill could snap a tree in half.

Zhou Tong's soul skill was truly astonishing.

"How many times can you use your soul skill in one go?"

The Dean continued to ask.

Powerful soul skills usually consumed a great deal of soul power, sometimes limiting a soul master to only a single use.

If that were the case, this first soul skill would be somewhat lackluster.

"I estimate that using the soul skill once consumes less than ten percent of the soul power in my body."

"I can use the soul skill more than ten times in one go."

Zhou Tong replied, though he held back the truth; the soul skill appeared powerful, but its consumption was actually low, allowing him to use it twenty or thirty times.

"Furthermore, my martial soul carries its own lightning, which I can use for attacks."

The next moment, the Thunderous Hell Vine in his hand rapidly extended, transforming into a thick, five-meter-long vine that instantly bound a large tree.

"Crackle, pop!"

Streaks of golden lightning flashed rapidly across the tree, leaving behind charred black patterns as the leaves fell one by one.

It was as if the tree had been struck by heavenly lightning; the trunk was scorched black, and the leaves continued to drop.

It was as if a new Lightning-Struck Wood had been born.

Whether this tree could survive the trial of the lightning, however, was hard to say.

"Zhou Tong, your martial soul is excellent; you have a bright future ahead of you."

"It is fortunate you didn't listen to Yu Xiaogang; otherwise, had you absorbed the Ten-Year Lone Bamboo, your martial soul would have been ruined."

The Dean looked relieved. For a soul master, their martial soul was their lifeline.

Choosing the wrong soul ring would not only cause the martial soul's attributes to become chaotic but would also result in the loss of an attack method.

It seemed Yu Xiaogang could not be considered a master at all; he was merely a man who misled his students.

The Dean secretly rejoiced that Zhou Tong had his own judgment and had not followed Yu Xiaogang's advice, or he truly would have been held back.

At the same time, he felt a twinge of regret, wondering why he had ever allowed a fraud like Yu Xiaogang into the academy in the first place.

Yu Xiaogang was truly a black sheep.

"Zhou Tong, congratulations on obtaining such a powerful spirit ring."

"Let's head back."

The Dean spoke up.

Zhou Tong understood and followed the Dean back.

Upon returning to his home in Nuoding City, Zhou Tong washed away the sticky, foul-smelling blood that stained his body, and the reflection in the water revealed the changes he had undergone.

In the reflection appeared a face that was more mature and handsome than before.

However, his gaze did not linger on the changes to his face; instead, he reached up to touch his forehead.

"What is this?"

At that moment, a lightning-shaped Thunder Mark quietly emerged between Zhou Tong's brows.

Looking at it, it was clearly the mark that had manifested after the Lightning-Struck Wood underwent its transformation from the baptism of lightning.

"This mark is rather strange."

As he reached out to touch the mark, the golden lightning sigil suddenly erupted with brilliant light.

Immediately after, a stream of information appeared in Zhou Tong's mind.

"Upgrade your lightning attribute three times to unlock the Thunder God Inheritance and restore the glory of the Thunder God."

"The Thunderous Hell Vine has been upgraded once, reaching the Mortal Lightning level."

At this moment, the lightning power on the Thunderous Hell Vine was only pale gold, but with future evolution, it would transform into even more powerful lightning.

This was the evolution of lightning.

A smile appeared on Zhou Tong's face.

"I never expected that hunting for a spirit ring would trigger the Thunder God Inheritance."

"According to this golden mark, as long as I continue to upgrade my lightning attribute, I can walk the path to becoming the Thunder God."

Zhou Tong knew that the Thunder God had once been a First-Class God in the God Realm, a being at the level of a half-step God King.

However, he had fallen during the great war of the God Realm.

He never imagined that the Thunder God Inheritance would reappear in the mortal world.

"Perhaps my spirit contains the bloodline of the Thunder God, and it awakened after I absorbed the spirit ring."

Zhou Tong knew that after the Thunder God fell, his bloodline had been obtained by the Thunderous Hell Vine, which was precisely why the Thunderous Hell Vine had become the greatest destroyer among plant-type spirit beasts.

He could feel the terrifying power of lightning contained within his spirit; this was the power of the Thunder God.

His body had also undergone a metamorphosis because of it, becoming more agile and stronger.

"It seems that the next step is to upgrade my lightning attribute and unlock the Thunder God Inheritance."

Zhou Tong splashed some water on his face, finally relaxing completely.

Not long after, he arrived at the Spirit Hall Branch in Nuoding City.

The elderly Mathew looked at the Zhou Tong before him, a hint of surprise appearing on his aged face.

"You also have innate full spirit power?"

"Your spirit is quite unique; it's actually a vine with the power of lightning."

"You are also a student at Notting Academy."

Mathew said with some surprise, as he had registered two other spirit masters with innate full spirit power that morning, both of whom were very young.

Zhou Tong was startled upon hearing this, "Are there other spirit masters with innate full spirit power?"

Mathew replied, "Yes, one is named Tang San, and the other is Xiao Wu. Both of them have exceptional talent."

"Notting Academy is truly full of talent this year."