An hour later, Jiang Chen had finally scrubbed himself clean, and he had washed the blanket too. But the broad river was already dotted with fish, floating belly-up.
What a waste.
He regretted it, but didn't care all that much. If there weren't any fish in the water, there were still plenty in the mountains.
Thinking of his Soul Skill made him excited. He hung the blanket on a nearby branch. Wearing nothing but his bare skin, he began testing out his Soul Skill.
He had learned what his first Soul Skill was as soon as he woke up.
He summoned his Zombie Martial Soul with practiced ease. A completely purple Soul Ring rose from beneath his feet and slowly revolved around him.
"Just as I thought, it's a purple Soul Ring—a Thousand-Year Soul Ring!" Jiang Chen was overjoyed.
According to Yu Xiaogang's theory, the limit for a Soul Master's first Soul Ring was 423 years. Before absorbing it, Jiang Chen had hoped he could break that limit. He hadn't expected not only to surpass it, but to exceed it by two or three times!
He had endured it entirely on his own, without relying on any outside help. By relying solely on his Zombie body and the boost from his Martial Soul, he had successfully absorbed a Thousand-Year Soul Ring.
If he hadn't been under the threat of the Heavenly Tribulation, he probably wouldn't have lasted until the Soul Ring reached a thousand years.
After all, the Heavenly Tribulation was deadly. How could he absorb a Soul Ring without risking his life?
With a satisfied smile, he unleashed his first Soul Skill.
A layer of pitch-black substance appeared across his skin, flowing over his entire body like liquid. Then it solidified, forming a mighty, imposing suit of armor.
The armor gleamed jet-black. Thick, black, diamond-shaped spikes jutted from both elbows, his knees, and his shoulders, making him look especially fearsome.
He rapped on it. The black armor felt like bone, but sounded like metal.
At his will, the armor on his face could cover everything except his eyes, nose, and mouth—or disappear altogether.
He walked to the riverbank and admired his reflection in the water for several minutes. Then he nodded with satisfaction, grinning from ear to ear.
If he had to describe the armor in just a few words, he'd say it looked incredibly cool!
The armor's effects delighted him even more than its appearance.
The skill was called Zombie God Armor, and its main effect was defensive. Once the divine armor covered him, his body's defense increased by 150 percent—that was, it became 2.5 times as strong.
That wasn't all. The divine armor also enhanced his other attributes, though not as much as it boosted his defense.
His strength and speed both doubled. That was a smaller boost than the increase to his defense, but still a very impressive improvement.
Even among the Thousand-Year Soul Rings absorbed by Soul Elders above level thirty, the better ones usually only doubled an attribute.
Jiang Chen's skill enhanced all three of these abilities, making it a top-tier skill compared to other Soul Masters' third skills.
And his strength, speed, and defense were already absurdly high to begin with. With the divine armor covering him, the results would be terrifying.
He figured that once he activated this skill, few Soul Masters at his level would be able to break through his defense, even if he just stood there.
As expected, it's a defensive skill, Jiang Chen thought. He had predicted as much before absorbing the Soul Ring. After all, a God-Bestowed Spirit Ring could form the skill its recipient needed most at that moment.
Still, the skill had a few shortcomings: it couldn't last long, and it consumed quite a lot of Soul Power.
The skill lasted only half an hour. When he had activated it just now, a third of the Soul Power in his body had vanished at once.
After half an hour, the skill would deactivate automatically. He could use it again, but that would consume more Soul Power.
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