Powerful Ember

With the middle-aged man's careful guidance during the Martial Soul awakening, Lin Huo only needed a little experimentation this time to find the method for Martial Soul Possession.

"Little Fire Dragon Martial Soul, Possession!"

As the Little Fire Dragon Martial Soul completed its possession, an immense force immediately surged through Lin Huo's body, making him feel extraordinarily light.

Beyond that, Lin Huo could clearly sense a strange energy continuously flowing within him.

"It feels exactly like when my Soul Power was tested. This energy must be the Soul Power unique to Douluo Continent."

After confirming that the thing within him was Soul Power, Lin Huo did not rashly tamper with it.

Lin Huo knew very well that, with his currently impoverished store of knowledge, he was utterly clueless about Soul Power.

After all, he was not Tang Buddha. He did not have decades of martial arts training in the Tang Sect, allowing him to practice the Mysterious Heaven Technique the moment he possessed an infant's body.

Without fully understanding Soul Power, he had better not recklessly mess with it. Otherwise, an accident might destroy his meridians with Soul Power.

Since he did not dare tamper with Soul Power, Lin Huo could only test his physical abilities after Martial Soul Possession for the time being.

He first carried heavy objects to compare his strength before and after Martial Soul Possession, then tossed several coins into the air to test changes in his reaction speed.

After all that fussing around, Lin Huo gained a preliminary understanding of his condition.

With Martial Soul Possession alone, his strength and reaction speed had probably increased by more than three or four times.

As for precise data on his physical condition, he would likely have to wait until he entered a Soul Master academy and undergo testing with professional equipment under a teacher's guidance.

Having roughly understood his physical condition after Martial Soul Possession, it was time to test just how powerful the skills inherent to a Pokémon Martial Soul were.

Taking a deep breath, Lin Huo forcibly calmed his excitement and refocused his mind.

"Then first, the first skill..."

"Scratch!"

With a thought, as if his body's instincts were driving everything, an unknown energy immediately surged from within Lin Huo.

Empowered by that force, a faint white glow emerged over the phantom Charmander claws on his hands.

Feeling the powerful force gathering and condensing in his hands, Lin Huo instinctively sensed that Scratch was ready to be unleashed.

Lin Huo assumed a stance and fiercely slashed at the ground.

A harsh clang like metal striking iron rang through the room. Amid the flying dust, four neat claw marks more than an inch deep appeared on the ground in an instant.

Lin Huo took a breath. His arm felt sore, as though he had thrown a punch with all his strength, and even his heartbeat had noticeably quickened.

Realizing something was wrong, Lin Huo hurriedly sensed the clump of Soul Power within him again.

Just as Lin Huo expected, after using Scratch, the Soul Power within him had indeed been consumed.

However, compared to his total amount of Soul Power, the amount used by a single Scratch was only a tiny, tiny fraction.

It was as though, when using Scratch just now, what it consumed more of was his own physical stamina.

"Scratch is considered a physical move in Pokémon World. Could it be that, after coming to Douluo Continent, physical moves consume more stamina?"

Lin Huo guessed as he shifted his attention to another skill. "Then, next, I'll try Ember, a special attack."

Using Pokémon skills was as instinctive as breathing. Even an extraordinary ability like Ember, which spat flames from the mouth, could be used with a mere thought from Lin Huo.

Perhaps because Charmander used Ember by spitting it from its mouth, Lin Huo inevitably began releasing the skill through his mouth as well.

Orange-yellow flames gathered inside his mouth. Lin Huo felt a wave of heat, yet he did not experience the imagined burning sensation.

It was as if the flames gathering in his mouth could not burn him.

Lin Huo could not help thinking of Pokémon World. Fire-type Pokémon lived near volcanoes at the drop of a hat, and some even lived directly in magma.

In that case, his Little Fire Dragon Martial Soul had likely granted him extremely strong fire resistance. Otherwise, would gathering flames in his mouth not char it first?

It was inevitable that he was somewhat clumsy when using the skill for the first time. Only after three or four breaths did Ember finally take shape.

Worried that Ember would set his doghouse ablaze in one go, Lin Huo cautiously tested the skill against the floor.

Ember shot forth. Though it was called Ember, it was actually a beam of flame as thick as his forearm.

The ferocious flames struck the earthen floor, blackening it in the blink of an eye and releasing waves of pungent burnt odor.

After around two seconds, the flame beam of Ember disappeared from Lin Huo's mouth, leaving only the blackened ground to prove that it had not been an illusion.

He stopped Ember not because the skill could not continue, but because he feared that if it went on any longer, it would set his little home on fire first.

He lightly tapped the scorched ground with his foot, and the remaining heat immediately ignited the sole of his straw sandal.

Lin Huo quickly stomped the fire out against the ground. Feeling the warmth beneath his foot, he confirmed that he truly possessed strong fire resistance.

After using Ember, Lin Huo sensed the Soul Power in his body again. This time, it had indeed been consumed.

However, judging by the overall amount, it was only around one-twentieth.

This confirmed Lin Huo's suspicion: using special attacks among Pokémon skills truly consumed Soul Power.

"What a powerful skill! Such little consumption! This effect is probably no worse than the soul skills possessed by some fire-type Soul Masters, is it?

"This consumption! This power! Rather than calling it Ember, I think it would be better called Flamethrower."

The powerful effect of Ember brought Lin Huo an unimaginable surprise.

However, just as Lin Huo eagerly prepared to continue testing the next skill, the loud barking of a large dog from the street made him stop and become alert.

Wangcai from the house at the intersection was a good dog that spent every day with everyone on this street. It would never bark randomly when familiar people passed by.

For it to suddenly start barking now could only mean that a stranger had arrived on this street.

As for who the visitor was, Lin Huo already had a definite answer in his heart.

He casually kicked some dirt over the mess on the ground before pushing open a crack in the window and seeing the person approaching from nearby.

It was the middle-aged man who had previously conducted the Martial Soul awakening ceremony for the children in town.

"So he still came. I just wonder which faction this middle-aged man belongs to."

The light in Lin Huo's eyes flickered uncertainly. Remembering the kind expression the middle-aged man had worn while awakening the children's Martial Souls, he figured the man should not be one of those vile nobles who oppressed the common people.

Temporarily dismissing the thought that nobles might capture him and raise him as a brainwashed death warrior slave, Lin Huo quickly tidied up the room and prepared to receive his guest.