Bang! Bang! Bang...
The explosions had not stopped for the entire day.
The Sun-Facing Flower had truly suffered terribly. Lu Chen had used its innate skill, Explosive Seed, to train his footwork.
Over the course of the day, the Sun-Facing Flower had fired more than a hundred Explosive Seeds, exhausting itself in the process.
Yet in the end, not only had it failed to kill Lu Chen, but the intense pressure had instead made his footwork increasingly nimble.
It was only because the Sun-Facing Flower was a plant spirit beast and had no mouth that it had not started cursing up a storm.
As the sun gradually sank westward, the Sun-Facing Flower grew less and less active. When the last ray of sunlight faded, it seemed to fall asleep.
But falling asleep did not mean the Sun-Facing Flower had completely lost its ability to resist. A thread of golden light bloomed within its flower head, then formed a layer of golden energy that completely enveloped it.
Seeing this, Lu Chen stopped, panting, his face covered in dust and grime and his appearance utterly bedraggled.
His clothes were scorched, and burns covered his body, leaving not a patch of uninjured skin. His face twisted in pain, and any sweat that seeped out was immediately baked dry.
It was clear how much this footwork training had made Lu Chen feel worse than dead.
The next instant, Lu Chen summoned his first martial soul, Blue Silver Grass. A blade of Blue Silver Grass bearing blood-red markings grew out of thin air, giving off a faint, unusual fragrance and a rich aura of life.
Two magnificent purple spirit rings slowly rose from beneath Lu Chen's feet, marking him as a Soul Grandmaster.
Others had one white and one yellow spirit ring, or two yellow spirit rings, yet he had two purple spirit rings. If word of this spread, who knew how great a storm it would stir up in the Soul Master World?
"First Spirit Skill, Blue Silver Revival!"
"Second Spirit Skill, Blue Silver Grace!"
As Lu Chen's words fell, the two purple spirit rings shone. His soul power flowed into his Blue Silver Grass martial soul, which began to sway gently, releasing waves of blue, luminous mist.
Bathed in that blue mist, Lu Chen's injuries healed at a speed visible to the naked eye. His mental fatigue eased considerably as well, and his stamina rapidly recovered.
As for his soul power, although using his soul skills consumed some of it, his gold finger allowed him to grow stronger by breathing, absorbing the energy of heaven and earth with every breath.
His recovery outpaced his consumption, leaving his soul power with no sign of running dry.
After about three minutes, Lu Chen had returned to his peak condition, brimming with vigor. His body was completely unscathed, with no trace of burns remaining.
"I'll get something to eat first. Once I'm back, I'll use the Sun-Facing Flower's Blazing Sun Shield to train the 'Cannon Fist' I've envisioned!"
Explosive Step and Cannon Fist were the self-created soul skills Lu Chen had worked out over the previous month.
Both self-created soul skills were based on compressing and releasing soul power.
Explosive Step compressed and released soul power in his feet to increase his speed.
Cannon Fist compressed and released soul power in his hands, creating energy shock waves as a means of attack.
The theory was sound already. All he lacked was extensive practice to bring these two self-created soul skills fully into shape.
This eight-thousand-year-old Sun-Facing Flower before him was simply the best sparring partner Lu Chen could have.
Lu Chen's first spirit skill could heal injuries, while his second spirit skill could dispel fatigue and restore his energy.
This allowed Lu Chen to recover quickly after being injured or overexerting himself, then continue training.
It likely would not take long before Lu Chen's two self-created soul skills could prove effective in actual combat.
Returning to the present, as the sky darkened, the entire forest grew deathly quiet. The calls of unidentified birds drifted over, giving it an eerie feel.
Fortunately, Lu Chen was used to it. He returned to where he had left his pack, gathered some wood, piled it together, and lit a campfire.
Then he took some dried meat he had made himself from his pack, cut it into small pieces with a knife, and put it in a small pot to stew with wild vegetables he had casually dug up nearby.
Before long, a pot of meat soup with a mouthwatering aroma was ready.
After eating and drinking his fill, Lu Chen lay down with his hands folded behind his head and watched the stars for a while.
He thought about how he had already obtained his first and second spirit rings in just the few months since he had set out.
He was also creating his own soul skills. Once those skills were complete and he had killed this Sun-Facing Flower, his Blue Silver Grass martial soul would be able to obtain its third spirit ring.
Soon!
I'm another step closer to avenging myself and washing away my humiliation!
Intense hatred flashed in Lu Chen's eyes. Thinking of the humiliation Tang Hao and his son Tang San had inflicted on him and his parents made him grit his teeth. Even after so many years, he still could not let it go.
"Tang Hao, Tang San, just you wait. I'll make sure you and your son can neither live nor die, and regret ever coming into this world."
After delivering those vicious words, Lu Chen sprang straight up from the ground and tore apart his already tattered shirt, revealing his muscular chest and sharply defined abs.
Lu Chen loosened his limbs, then strode toward the Sun-Facing Flower. It was already asleep, but a layer of Blazing Sun Shield had spread around it.
"Cannon Fist!"
Lu Chen clenched his right fist and gave a low shout, circulating soul power into his fist and compressing it. With the experience he had gained during the day, the compression went very smoothly.
After all, Explosive Step and Cannon Fist operated on the same principle: both relied on compressing and releasing soul power.
As the soul power became highly compressed, Lu Chen's clenched right hand trembled slightly. Waves of soul power rippled uncontrollably from the surface of his fist.
Lu Chen's eyes widened. As he suddenly punched, he released all the compressed soul power in his fist.
Boom!
Lu Chen's fist slammed into the Blazing Sun Shield, sending faint ripples across the golden energy barrier.
Although his punch had failed to shatter the Blazing Sun Shield completely, it had still made a considerable impact.
At the sight, delight appeared on Lu Chen's face:
"That looks pretty good. It's considerably more powerful than an ordinary punch, but it still needs improvement."
"I need to compress the soul power further. Just like a spring, the harder it's compressed, the greater the force when it rebounds."
"I also need to control the angle at which the soul power is released. The force needs to be concentrated. The more concentrated it is, the more powerful it'll be; the more scattered it is, the weaker it'll be."
"Keep going, keep going. Once I can shatter the Sun-Facing Flower's Blazing Sun Shield with one punch, my self-created soul skill, 'Cannon Fist,' will truly have taken shape."
With that, Lu Chen swiftly drew back his fist and repeated the same movements, gathering power and punching, hammering the Sun-Facing Flower's Blazing Sun Shield with one blow after another.
Boom! Boom! Boom...
Like a tireless robot, Lu Chen kept practicing his punches until well past midnight before returning to rest.
And Lu Chen kept up this training for more than twenty days...