Eight Extraordinary Skills

In terms of pure energy output, the Twelve Talismans crushed the Eight Extraordinary Skills. Each of the twelve talismans produced outrageously destructive visual effects when unleashed.

But this was another world. This was Douluo Continent. Once abilities were converted into soul skills, perhaps internal logic mattered more than spectacle.

"If I choose the Eight Extraordinary Skills or the Twelve Talismans as soul skills, will they undergo corresponding changes?"

[Ding! Yes, Host. The system will adaptively convert the chosen ability system, allowing it to fit perfectly within the soul skill framework.]

Yang Xing asked another crucial question.

"If I choose the Eight Extraordinary Skills now, will I have a chance to obtain the Twelve Talismans later?"

[Ding! There will be opportunities, Host. Every qualified disciple accepted in the future will grant new mission rewards, and there is a very high chance that items the Host desires will appear. At that time, they will no longer appear in the form of soul skills, but as physical objects. However, the higher the quality of the disciple accepted, the higher the tier of the reward. If the Host wants high-tier rewards, the Host must accept disciples of corresponding quality.]

Yang Xing was delighted.

He had thought this Disciple-Recruitment System was a one-shot deal. It would slap the cultivation of a level ninety-nine Limit Douluo onto him, then retire after accomplishing its task, leaving him to fend for himself afterward.

He had not expected there to be continuing rewards afterward.

And they were random rewards that fluctuated according to the quality of the disciples he accepted.

Didn't that mean...

The more impressive his disciples were, the stronger he would become as well?

Yang Xing made up his mind.

The Eight Extraordinary Skills.

He would choose them.

There were three reasons.

First, the Eight Extraordinary Skills had an extremely rich system of abilities.

Qi Body Origin Stream governed limitless Soul Power, converting and stripping away Soul Power.

Spirit Binding and Command governed the control of Soul Beast souls, devouring them to grow stronger.

Six Treasury Immortal Thief governed bodily enhancement, stealing from nature, and immortality.

Heaven-Piercing Talisman governed talismans and powerful attacks.

Divine Mechanism Hundred Refinements governed artifact refining and forging.

Twin Complete Hands governed reviving the dead, restoring flesh to bones, and controlling souls and life.

Wind Empress Qimen governed Qimen arts and controlled all things in the world.

Great Luo Insight governed dimensional observation and interference with fate.

The eight abilities covered every aspect of combat, support, daily life, and reconnaissance. They were far more comprehensive than the Twelve Talismans, which leaned closer toward pure energy output.

Second, many skills within the Eight Extraordinary Skills could be taught. Heaven-Piercing Talisman and Wind Empress Qimen had inheritance settings. When he accepted disciples in the future, he could directly teach them the Eight Extraordinary Skills. That would be far more useful than any Title Douluo's signature.

Third, he could save the Twelve Talismans for later and obtain them as physical items through accepting disciples. The core of the Twelve Talismans was their energy-level output, so turning them into physical objects—

For example, twelve tangible talismans—would instead allow their power to be displayed more fully than if they became soul skills.

Having thought it through, Yang Xing decisively made his choice.

"I choose the Eight Extraordinary Skills."

The system panel flashed.

[Ding! Please assign the Eight Extraordinary Skills to their corresponding Soul Ring slots in order. The seventh Soul Ring is fixed as the Martial Soul Avatar and cannot be assigned.]

Yang Xing barely hesitated.

First Soul Ring—Qi Body Origin Stream.

Second Soul Ring—Spirit Binding and Command.

Third Soul Ring—Six Treasury Immortal Thief.

Fourth Soul Ring—Heaven-Piercing Talisman.

Fifth Soul Ring—Divine Mechanism Hundred Refinements.

Sixth Soul Ring—Twin Complete Hands.

Seventh Soul Ring—Martial Soul Avatar.

Eighth Soul Ring—Wind Empress Qimen.

Ninth Soul Ring—Great Luo Insight.

The eight abilities fit perfectly into the eight Soul Ring slots.

[Ding! Soul skill assignment complete. Cultivation infusion will now begin. Confirm?]

Confirm.

The next instant—

A surge of power entered Yang Xing's body.

There was no lightning striking his body, no heavenly phenomenon, no dazzling golden light.

The power silently flowed into every part of his limbs and bones, like a warm river filling a dried-up riverbed. Yang Xing's body was clearly that of an ordinary person who had never cultivated before, yet it now seemed like a custom-made vessel that swallowed every bit of that vast power without the slightest discomfort.

All he felt was the satisfaction of gradually being filled.

Like a man who had starved for three days finally getting a meal.

Ten seconds.

The infusion was complete.

Outside, there was neither wind nor disturbance. The alley was still the same alley, the crumbling wall was still the same wall, and Ning Rongrong's footsteps still sounded rhythmically five meters behind him.

But the moment Yang Xing opened his eyes, he knew he had changed.

Deep within his eyes, something faint and invisible had appeared in those once utterly ordinary black pupils. It was difficult to describe in words.

If he had to compare it to something, it was like a few distant stars suddenly reflecting from the bottom of a pitch-black well.

Within him, nine Soul Rings rested quietly.

He could clearly sense their existence. He could feel that every soul skill was an instinct he had been born with.

As long as he wished it, he could summon and unleash them at any time.

Qi Body Origin Stream, Spirit Binding and Command, Six Treasury Immortal Thief, Heaven-Piercing Talisman, Divine Mechanism Hundred Refinements, Twin Complete Hands, Martial Soul Avatar, Wind Empress Qimen, Great Luo Insight.

Eight extraordinary arts from another world.

They were now all within his grasp.

Yang Xing was somewhat impatient to test them out.

He remembered that, in Douluo Continent, soul masters needed to release their Soul Rings before using soul skills.

But he did not feel that restriction. It seemed that as long as he wished it now, he could act with a casual gesture.

And he seemed to have discovered a blind spot.

The one-minute usage limit for Limit Douluo cultivation.

It seemed he could use Great Luo Insight and Wind Empress Qimen to activate it moment by moment.

Normally, he was simply a regular Title Douluo.

But at the instant he attacked, he only needed to use the Limit Douluo cultivation.

That meant that as long as his timing was precise enough—

This one minute would be enough for him to strike thousands upon thousands of times.

At that moment, Yang Xing felt like a child who had just received a new toy. His hands itched unbearably.

But Ning Rongrong was still following behind him, so if he displayed it now, the effect would be halved.

He had to find the most suitable opportunity to give this young miss a wake-up call.

At that thought, the corners of Yang Xing's mouth curled upward on their own. His eyes crinkled slightly, and his body even swayed twice.

It was an uncontrollable smugness.

"Hey!"

Ning Rongrong's voice came from behind him, thick with disgust.

"What are you swaying for? Can't you even walk properly?"

Yang Xing did not turn around.

Ning Rongrong's gaze swept over his swaying back, and she curled her lips.

"I knew you were a big liar."

Her tone was certain, as though she were delivering the final verdict.

"If you were really as amazing as you bragged, how could you possibly live in a dump like this? Even if a Title Douluo doesn't need some luxurious residence, at least they should have a decent courtyard, right?"

Pinching her nose, she looked around from side to side.

"A place even rats would despise... It's obviously where some broke loser who can't scam anyone out of money lives."

Yang Xing walked ahead, turning a deaf ear.

He was now a level ninety Title Douluo. His perspective was broader. He would not stoop to the level of a child.

Seeing that he would not respond, Ning Rongrong was quiet for a few seconds before speaking again. Her tone held less hostility and more curiosity.

"Liar, how old are you?"

"Eighteen."

Ning Rongrong's steps paused.

"Eighteen?"

She tilted her head and calculated. He was six years older than her.

"Only eighteen?" Her voice carried surprise. "Then how do you already have a wife and children? Isn't that way too young?"

The more she thought about it, the more something felt wrong. She muttered, "You got married and had children at eighteen? Were you in such a hurry in that village of yours? Sure enough, you're some improper, lecherous country bumpkin..."

Yang Xing stopped walking.

He turned around.

Ning Rongrong instinctively took half a step back and stared at him warily.

Then she saw Yang Xing raise his right hand.

That hand was clenched into a fist.

Not a threatening fist.

It was... shaped like a cat's paw.

His five fingers were slightly curled, the back of his hand facing forward, like a cat raising its paw.

Holding that cat-paw fist toward Ning Rongrong, Yang Xing spoke with an extremely serious expression.

"About what I said before, about having a wife and children—"

He waggled the cat paw.

"I was joking. Don't take it seriously."

Ning Rongrong stared at that cat paw.

Then she stared at Yang Xing's utterly solemn face.

Her expression went blank for two seconds.

She was not touched.

She was stunned senseless.

This guy...

A dignified eighteen-year-old man was using such a cutesy gesture to tell her, "I was just messing with you"?

A layer of frost appeared on Ning Rongrong's face.

She was not angry because she had been deceived.

In fact, she had calmed down by now. She was no longer in the emotional state of losing control after being repeatedly provoked at the stall.

The usual Ning Rongrong had always been calm and shrewd.

She merely furrowed her brows and stared at Yang Xing with an appraising gaze.

"You say it was fake, but how do I know whether it was really fake?"

She curled her lips in disdain.

"I think you probably realized that this young miss was strongly opposed to you having a wife and children, and that I didn't want to become your disciple, so you suddenly changed your story and claimed it was fake, didn't you?"

"Wasn't your goal still to make this young miss give up? So I'd keep being your stupid disciple?"

Yang Xing looked at her, smiled, and did not offer much explanation.

Ning Rongrong waited two seconds without hearing a rebuttal. She merely snorted disdainfully and stopped pursuing the matter.

Whether she believed him or not did not matter anyway.

She had no intention of truly becoming this liar's disciple.

Yang Xing turned back around and continued walking.

This time, they did not go far.

One minute later, the two stopped in front of a single-story house built from wood.

Calling it a house was already giving it too much credit.

It was an old wooden shack only one story tall. The cracks in the door could fit three fingers through, and the holes in the windows looked as though stones had smashed them and no one had repaired them. The whole house gave off the precarious feeling that it might fall apart at any moment.