SP: Lu Yueqi and the Journey Home

Seeing Xiao Qi holding twin swords, Qian Mo suddenly understood as if his Ren and Du meridians had been opened—why his perfect Soul Skill theory had gone awry.

"Yes, Xiao Sanyue's Martial Soul looked like nothing more than an ice Martial Soul at first glance, but it was pink-blue ice. How could the ice of an Pure Child of Anāsrava possibly be ordinary?"

At the same time, Qian Mo understood why Xiao Qi was so satisfied with this Soul Skill.

Because on the way here, Qian Mo had taught Xiao Qi the basics of Soul Skills.

If Soul Skills were truly ranked into different grades, the most common ones would naturally be ordinary single-target offensive and defensive Soul Skills.

Once the Soul Rings of such skills reached ten thousand years, however, they had a chance of advancing into group attack or large-area Soul Skills.

Rarer still were self-enhancement Soul Skills, such as Dai Mubai's White Tiger Vajra Transformation or Ma Hongjun's Phoenix Reborn in Flame. Both belonged to this type.

Better than those were rule-based Soul Skills.

For example, Xiao Wu's Invincible Golden Body and Zhao Wuji's Tracking and Locating were both top-tier Soul Skills capable of compensating for one's shortcomings.

Xiao Qi's current first Soul Skill, Spirit Ice Twin Swords, was even better than a rule-based Soul Skill. It was an exceptionally rare weapon-type Soul Skill.

It might seem as though this Soul Skill merely gave a Soul Master a handy weapon, but in truth, it would have a tremendous impact on the Soul Master's future.

In this era without combat soul tools, ordinary weapons could at most reach the standard of the custom longsword in Qian Mo's hand. Anything better was impossible.

This meant that beast Martial Soul Soul Masters could only rely on their beast Martial Souls to engage in hand-to-hand combat in the later stages.

But anyone with even a little sense knew how great the difference was between the destructive power of swinging a fist and swinging an object.

Weapon-type Soul Skills happened to make up for the awkwardness of beast Martial Soul Soul Masters having to fight barehanded in the later stages.

Since they were formed from the Soul Master's own soul power, the strength of the Soul Master determined what grade of soul tool the weapon-type Soul Skill was equivalent to, allowing the Soul Master's combat ability to be maximized.

As for the most precious type of Soul Skill—

There was no need to say more. It was domain-type Soul Skills.

Yet as this thought flashed through his mind, Qian Mo's expression turned subtle.

Weapon-type Soul Skills were indeed top-tier.

But first of all, Xiao Qi did not have a beast Martial Soul, so the value of wielding weapons in close combat did not seem particularly high.

Second, it was merely condensing weapons out of ice. Although weapons formed through a Soul Skill would certainly be somewhat stronger than weapons a Soul Master condensed on their own—

That was all.

Qian Mo was confident that given enough time, he could absolutely let Xiao Qi comprehend a self-created Soul Skill in this area on her own.

After weighing it all in his heart, Qian Mo realized that Xiao Qi's first Soul Skill acquisition seemed to have been a slight loss.

"Urgh, my Aizen template development plan."

Qian Mo let out an unwilling cry in his heart, and a hint of conflicted emotion appeared on his face.

Xiao Qi took all of it in.

Seeing this, Xiao Qi thought she had disappointed Qian Mo and hurriedly added with an anxious little face.

"Teacher, my two swords are really powerful! Not only can they inflict freezing damage when they strike an enemy, they can also cause mental damage!"

Qian Mo's spirits immediately rose at those words.

Then again, if it had such additional attributes, Xiao Qi's first Soul Skill was still excellent.

As for Mimicry?

Xiao Qi still had eight Soul Ring slots left. They could hunt an Ice Silkworm again next time.

Thus, this small soul hunt came to an end.

However, during the return journey, Qian Mo discovered that Xiao Qi's explanation had not been precise enough.

Spirit Ice Twin Swords could indeed inflict both freezing and mental damage, but that was not the full extent of this Soul Skill.

The most insidious part of this Soul Skill was that the reason it existed in the form of twin swords was because the two types of damage were attached separately to each sword.

One sword inflicted freezing damage when swung, while the other inflicted mental damage.

Furthermore, after a certain amount of time, the damage properties of the two swords could switch. So while an opponent might be guarding against freezing damage one second, the next slash might inflict soul damage.

That was truly devious!

After figuring out the mechanics of Xiao Qi's first Soul Skill, Qian Mo's previous frustration completely vanished.

Such an insidious effect, paired with a Douluo version of Mirror Flower, Water Moon in the future, would be far too powerful!

This time, however, Qian Mo did not return along the original route.

He intended to make a slight detour and gather some homeless people from other places to fill out his ranks.

Of course, if Qian Mo wanted to, he could have slave traders abduct people for him, or he could simply spend money to hire them.

But unfortunately, the former created evil through human trafficking, while Qian Mo was not hiring people to make money. So he decided to work a little harder and pick up some people himself.

The others had no objections to this.

Ye Lulu needed to cultivate her mental power and was at precisely the point where she needed to settle herself. As for Liu Erlong, she had already been wandering everywhere anyway. Wherever she went, she was still wandering.

As for Xiao Qi, there was even less need to say anything.

And so, the group traveled in fits and starts.

On a bright, breezy day, they arrived at an ordinary small city. After asking around, they headed toward the most famous restaurant in the area.

After all, in this dull and tedious era, only delicious food could soothe hearts weary from constant toil and travel.

After pointing at the menu for a while, Qian Mo and the others quickly finished ordering, and the group began chatting and laughing around the table.

But just as dish after dish was brought out and everyone grew increasingly cheerful, a somewhat magnetic voice sounded from their side.

"Everyone, may I interrupt for a moment?"

Qian Mo's hand, which was picking up food, paused.

Why did that voice sound so familiar? It seemed like he had heard it somewhere before.

Qian Mo instinctively turned his head, and his pupils constricted.

A short-haired Yu Xiaogang in a gray robe stood there, one arm held forward and the other behind his back, exuding an air of refinement!

After his brief surprise, Qian Mo's expression quickly returned to normal.

He was merely Yu Xiaogang. What was there to make a fuss about? Other than being disgusting, what could this guy possibly do to him?

Still, Qian Mo glanced once more at the person beside Yu Xiaogang, because a young man with a hooked nose was clearly accompanying him.

With such obvious features, he was probably Yu Xiaogang's male bootlicker, Flender.

Qian Mo then said calmly.

"So it's you, Mr. Yu Xiaogang. I never expected us to meet here. What business do you have with us?"

Upon seeing Qian Mo, Yu Xiaogang's pupils also trembled.

Leaving aside Qian Mo's distinctive ear feathers, the aura around him alone was something Yu Xiaogang would never forget. He immediately recognized the young man who had nearly caused him to suffer a humiliating defeat.

Though he disliked Qian Mo somewhat, Yu Xiaogang quickly adjusted his emotions.

Because before the great matters of the future, what did a trivial past grievance amount to?