A New Ability Has Appeared

In the original story, when Tang Hao told Tang San that no one could heal his injuries, Lin Huo had wondered—wasn't there something like the Nine-Heart Begonia on Douluo Continent?

Now it seemed that healing-type Martial Souls themselves had limitations. That was why Tang Hao had relied entirely on Soul Power to suppress his injuries and endure them.

Otherwise, given how desperately Tang Hao wanted revenge, he would certainly have gone to the Ye Clan to seek treatment from the Nine-Heart Begonia.

Perhaps Tang Hao had even visited the Ye Clan once in some part of the original story that had never been described, only to return empty-handed because his injuries were too severe.

Compared to that, his Ingrain skill was far more powerful.

Lin Huo had now personally experienced the life force emitted by Ye Huixin's Healing Book. It was the same kind of energy that his Ingrain skill drew from the earth.

The only difference was that the quality of life force his Ingrain skill could absorb was far higher than the life force emitted by the Healing Book.

All he could say was that Pokémon skills were damn powerful. He just did not know how they compared to top-tier healing Martial Souls or Soul Beasts such as the Nine-Heart Begonia, Wishing Angel, and Emerald Swan.

As Lin Huo pondered, the Healing Book's first Soul Skill finished scanning him, and a written description of his physical condition appeared on its pages.

Soul Skills truly came in all kinds of strange forms. Lin Huo clicked his tongue in amazement as he read the contents of the Healing Book.

Ye Huixin frowned as she carefully read the Healing Book, but the worry in her heart was quickly dispelled.

"Little Huo, your body is very healthy. There are no signs of any problems.

"So, you do not need to worry at all about your increased appetite. It is simply a normal phenomenon caused by your body growing.

"Also, I have some good news for you. Compared to yesterday's test, your physical fitness has improved very noticeably again today.

"To put it specifically, the results of your training yesterday alone were nearly equivalent to several days of training for the other students.

"Of course, it may also be because this was your first time training and you have tremendous room for growth, which is why the effects were especially pronounced. In any case, you can rest easy now."

Ye Huixin was a professional when it came to medicine. Since she had said there was no problem, Lin Huo was reassured.

As for the especially remarkable training results, Lin Huo had some guesses of his own.

Belly Drum had directly quadrupled his strength yesterday. There was no way that could have placed no burden on his body at all.

He had maintained that fourfold enhanced state for an entire day. That was probably equivalent to a whole day of high-intensity weight training.

If someone else trained like that, it would not be impossible for them to cripple themselves outright.

But who told him to have an absurdly overpowered Pokémon skill like Ingrain as insurance?

Ingrain drew life force and nutrients from the earth, replenishing the foundation depleted by excessive exertion.

The nutrient-rich meals at the academy also fulfilled his body's other nutritional requirements for growth.

With both combined, the heavy burden of maintaining a fourfold enhanced state for a long time instead became a perfectly suitable form of weight training for him.

The last of his concerns had been answered, and Lin Huo's heart immediately burned with excitement.

If he did not need to worry about overtraining and damaging his foundation, then what was there left to fear?

Since he could not train himself to death, then he would train like his life depended on it.

He had to go to the Solo Training Ground right now—immediately—and activate the three-piece set of Belly Drum, Ingrain, and Meditation!

Lin Huo jumped down from his stool, his expression slightly eager. "Thank you, Sister Ye. Since there's no problem, I'll go train now. I hope you stay this young and beautiful every day!"

Ye Huixin covered her mouth and let out an elegant laugh. "Oh my, this child really has a sweet mouth. If you need anything in the future, you can come find me anytime. Go on, go on."

After waving goodbye, Lin Huo dashed toward the Solo Training Ground and vanished in a flash.

Ye Huixin watched Lin Huo's retreating back until he disappeared. Then she looked back at the Healing Book, a shrewd gleam flashing through her beautiful eyes.

"What a child with limitless potential. If he performs even better later on, I'll mention him to the clan. The younger generation in the family happens to be rather short on battle Soul Masters to protect them."

Naturally, Lin Huo knew nothing of Ye Huixin's thoughts. At that moment, he was already frantically stacking buffs in the Solo Training Ground.

Ingrain, Belly Drum, Meditation—the small combo flowed out in one smooth motion. He had become increasingly proficient at using it.

By around nine o'clock, Lin Huo had completed six stacks of Meditation's enhancement and returned to the boost of fourfold mental power.

At the same time, he discovered something else during Meditation that was enough to make him ecstatic: his Soul Power had broken through to level seven!

In less than a month since he began cultivating, his Soul Power had risen by two levels in succession.

Two levels of Soul Power might sound so few as to be hardly worth mentioning, but cultivating Soul Power was not nearly as simple as talking about it.

Take Tang San from the original story as an example. Tang San entered the academy with Innate Full Soul Power, and after absorbing a four-hundred-year Mandala Snake as his first Soul Ring, his Soul Power reached level thirteen.

Over the following six years, even with the Mysterious Heaven Skill, a top-tier cultivation method that boosted his cultivation speed—

By the time Tang San and Xiao Wu graduated from Notting Junior Soul Master Academy and entered Shrek, their Soul Power Levels had only reached level twenty-nine.

In other words, even with the Mysterious Heaven Skill and the cultivation speed of a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast in human form, they had only advanced sixteen levels in six years.

On average, that was only about two and a half levels per year.

And that was a rough estimate that did not account for how much Tang San's Soul Power Level had increased after he absorbed his second Soul Ring, a six-hundred-year Ghost Vine.

In reality, Tang San probably had not even cultivated two and a half levels in a year.

Now, looking at Lin Huo's two consecutive Soul Power breakthroughs within a single month, one could see just how outrageous that was.

His breakthrough to level six might possibly have been because his Innate Soul Power had already been close to level six.

But then he had broken through to level seven again without pause. There was no other explanation for that!

The only explanation was that his Pokémon Martial Soul had also inherited Pokémon's powerful ability to grow stronger through battle!

That said, while this battle-based growth ability was powerful, was it not giving him far too little experience?

Two Soul Masters, six Soul Warriors, plus Huo Wushuang, who was level nineteen and close to becoming a Soul Grandmaster, had only given him enough experience for a single level...

Lin Huo's mind raced. The boost from his fourfold mental power allowed him to quickly reach a conclusion.

As he carefully recalled what had happened during Meditation just now, Lin Huo realized where the issue lay.

His Soul Power had not risen all at once. Rather, while meditating, his Soul Power had entered a boiling, highly active state.

In that state, the speed at which he absorbed and digested external Soul Power had undergone a tremendous leap.

Only then had his Soul Power risen by a level in a mere three hours.

In that case, this ability was actually more like the anime than the games.

Unlike in the games, where Pokémon could level up immediately after a battle, in the anime they often needed further training after battle before becoming stronger.

In other words, the ability he possessed was more grounded in reality. It was not as absurdly overpowered as the game's data-based system.

Lin Huo was someone who knew contentment, so he was not disappointed.

Besides, even this realistic version of battle leveling was already more than broken enough.

He had only fought three battles and had already raised his Soul Power by a level. That speed alone was so fast that he did not even know how he could possibly explain it.

If he got any stronger any faster, the Fire Clan wouldn't capture him and slice him up for research, would they?