"Buzz—"
By the river, when the Hundred-Year Soul Ring encircled Ouyang Ling, a surge of soul power immediately erupted from his body.
The instant he opened his eyes, he said, "It worked."
Feeling the power within him, Ouyang Ling rose confidently.
"How does it feel?"
Qian Renxue's tone was calm, but concern showed in her eyes.
Ouyang Ling flexed his hands and clenched his fingers tightly. "It's the amplification-type soul skill I expected, and I got a surprise as well."
He looked up at Qian Renxue, putting on a slightly boastful air.
"Sister Xue'er, do you want to see it?"
Before she could answer, his first Soul Ring lit up.
Under her smiling gaze, Ouyang Ling introduced it.
"It gives a basic thirty-percent attack boost. Every opponent I defeat adds another ten percent, until my body can no longer bear it."
"That's a very good soul skill."
She Long commented, "It'll let you grow stronger the longer you fight."
Ci Xue nodded. "Looks like you'll need to temper your body more from now on. That's the only way to make better use of this soul skill's power."
"Little Ling."
At that moment, Qian Renxue, who had fallen into thought after hearing about the soul skill, suddenly spoke, drawing all three of their attention.
"Does your definition of an opponent have any restrictions?"
Hearing that, Ouyang Ling immediately knew Qian Renxue had understood the most crucial aspect of his first soul skill.
"Of course."
The corners of his mouth lifted slightly. "But as long as a creature shows any intention of attacking me, regardless of how strong or weak it is, this soul skill can judge it as an opponent. Once I defeat it, I receive the boost."
In other words, as long as Ouyang Ling was shameless enough, he could find a group of weak "opponents" to fight before a real battle, stack his attack boost to the maximum, and turn into a monster firing on all cylinders by the time he faced his true enemy!
Once it was laid out like that, She Long and Ci Xue immediately understood.
A soul skill could be used like this?!
What a devious, underhanded trick!
Young people really did have more ideas.
"Your soul skill is very good."
Qian Renxue was clearly quite satisfied.
She crouched down and tapped Ouyang Ling's forehead.
"I'm very pleased with this surprise."
"But that isn't the surprise I meant."
Ouyang Ling had no intention of hiding it.
Or rather, this was not something he could hide in the first place.
He spread out his palm, and azure water element filled it.
"Sister Xue'er, I gained another soul skill."
"What!?"
Qian Renxue, who had been about to head back, seemed to have heard something unbelievable. Her satisfied smile froze, replaced by utter shock.
This time, even She Long and Ci Xue, who had lived for most of their lives and weathered countless storms, could not remain composed.
Two soul skills—what did that even mean?
Logically, only a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring could possess that.
Yet his Soul Ring was clearly only a Hundred-Year Soul Ring!
Had the Soul Ring mutated?
Or was it caused by his martial soul?
"Little Ling, does your first Soul Ring have two soul skills?"
Qian Renxue crouched down and stared seriously into Ouyang Ling's eyes.
"No. My martial soul gave me a soul skill."
So it was an innate soul skill.
Once they learned it was merely a misunderstanding, Qian Renxue and the other two did not investigate further. Innate soul skills were rare, but... her Six-Winged Angel martial soul even possessed an innate domain.
A domain was far more powerful than a soul skill.
What made Qian Renxue curious was what kind of innate soul skill her little brother Ouyang Ling had gained.
Bang—
"Hiss!"
Ci Xue grabbed a three-meter-long pink snake by the vital point and slammed it viciously onto the ground. No matter how fiercely it struggled, it could not escape the control of a Titled Douluo.
Seeing that the Datura Snake was still hissing nonstop, its viciousness unabated as it tried to turn back and bite in retaliation—
"Heh heh—"
With Ci Xue's cold chuckle, purple spread rapidly from the spot where his hand touched the Datura Snake.
In an instant, the Datura Snake, which had just been preparing to retaliate, went limp all over and withered completely. After only a single breath, it was taking more breaths out than in.
Gulp—
Ouyang Ling swallowed instinctively.
What terrifying poison.
He would bet that this level of poison was only a casual demonstration.
"Go ahead and try it."
After confirming that the Datura Snake could no longer resist, Qian Renxue motioned for Ouyang Ling to step forward. "Let me see your Deep Blue Purification."
That was right.
The first gift the Pillar of Goodness had given Ouyang Ling was one of the Ultimate Sea God Dragon's ultimate techniques—Deep Blue Purification.
It could summon Jade Waves filled with the aura of ocean life and purify any contamination in the world. Every external negative effect could be classified as contamination by this technique. And as long as he had enough soul power, there was no upper limit to its purification.
It had to be said that this soul skill could bring Ouyang Ling considerable benefits in the future. Poisoning also counted as contamination.
"Alright, leave it to me."
As he walked before the Datura Snake, an aura from the ocean immediately rippled around Ouyang Ling.
He pressed both palms forward.
"Deep Blue Purification."
Jade Waves surged into existence from thin air and swept the Datura Snake into them.
Nourished by the aura of life, the Datura Snake, which had been poisoned so severely, seemed to return to its egg and be nurtured anew.
Before long, the purple coloring that had covered its body faded away, and the dying Datura Snake regained its vitality.
Yet the instant it recovered, its vicious nature and sense of danger drove it to attack again. The protrusions on its head burst open, and a pink arrow of blood shot forth with a whoosh, aimed straight at Ouyang Ling's brow.
Before it could get close, however, She Long intercepted it from the side.
At the same time, after Ci Xue used his soul power to inspect the Datura Snake's entire body and confirmed that the poison he had inflicted had indeed been completely neutralized by Ouyang Ling's Deep Blue Purification, he did not spare the snake another glance. With a wave of his hand, he sent it far away from the area. He had no intention of killing it.
After all, the Datura Snake had been living peacefully before they casually caught it for a soul skill experiment.
It was only natural for it to resist out of stress during the process.
Killing it after the experiment would have been going too far.
"Young Mistress, all the poison has been removed."
After reporting to Qian Renxue, Ci Xue asked again.
"Should we catch another Soul Beast for another test?"
"No."
Qian Renxue stopped him, her expression gradually calming.
"This is enough."
Her eyes flickered. After some consideration, she looked at Ouyang Ling with a serious expression. "Little Ling, you cannot tell anyone that this soul skill can cure any poison."
"Alright."
Hearing Qian Renxue say that, Ouyang Ling could roughly guess her concerns.
It was nothing more than the fact that he would inevitably have contact with the Heaven Dou Imperial Family in the future. If the Heaven Dou Imperial Family learned of Deep Blue Purification's effects, could Qian Renxue's plan to poison and harm them still proceed? How would it proceed?
So no matter what, he would simply agree.
Qian Renxue rubbed Ouyang Ling's head, looking pleased. "Such an obedient boy."
"Come on, it's time for us to head back."
Before you continue