First Soul Skill: *Devouring*

Hou brought Bai Xiao to a small stream on the outskirts of Sunset Forest. This was Bai Xiao's so-called Base Two.

Bai Xiao had previously built a wooden hut in a tree beside the stream. He had concealed it with branches and leaves, including the roof. The middle was left wide open, giving the hut the appearance of a pavilion.

Upon reaching the stream, Bai Xiao hurriedly took off his clothes, stepped into the water, and began cleaning himself.

Bai Xiao was not worried about danger at all, because the surrounding plants had all been modified by him. He was aware of even the slightest disturbance.

Besides, although Hou only possessed the cultivation of a Hundred-Year Soul Beast, after Bai Xiao's modifications, it had strength close to that of a Thousand-Year Soul Beast. Taking over this place would be effortless.

After a while, Hou saw Bai Xiao emerge from the stream and walked over to nuzzle against him.

Bai Xiao stroked Hou's head, raised his right hand, and summoned his Martial Soul. A dark yellow ring of light rose from beneath his feet.

"Haha! I'm a Soul Master now!"

Bai Xiao laughed happily. "Now, let's see what my Soul Skill is."

Bai Xiao sensed the information transmitted by the Soul Ring.

"Not bad, not bad. This Soul Skill might not be very useful to other Soul Masters, but for me, it's practically divine!" Bai Xiao grinned.

Bai Xiao's first Soul Skill was called Devouring.

It was the skill granted to him by that parasitic plant Soul Beast. Just as its name implied, it allowed Bai Xiao to "devour" the Soul Power around him.

Through his Martial Soul or parts of his body, he could absorb Soul Power from the air or from living beings to replenish his own Soul Power.

For other Soul Masters, they might only be able to absorb an enemy's Soul Power during battle. If they encountered a Soul Master of a higher Soul Power Level, the effect of "draining" would be greatly weakened, and they would hardly be able to absorb any Soul Power at all.

But what Bai Xiao could devour was not merely Soul Power, but all matter.

Cells could actively take in substances from the inorganic natural world to build themselves. That was an innate ability of cells.

Even differentiated plant cells could absorb light energy and directly store and utilize it.

What else could an ultimate cellular organism devour?

Could it directly devour stars and absorb nuclear energy?

Could it accumulate enough mass to distort space, then devour space? Devour dimensions?

In the end, when it devoured the entire universe, that ultimate cellular organism would itself become a universe!

In the end, it would truly be one flower, one world; one leaf, one lifetime.

Bai Xiao saw endless possibilities in this Soul Skill.

The environment determined the types of living beings, while living beings could in turn reshape the environment.

How much of the environment could living beings reshape?

In Three-Body, civilizations directly transformed a ten-dimensional universe into a three-dimensional universe. Bai Xiao did not think he would be inferior to them.

Although Bai Xiao could currently only absorb Soul Power and some dust, and was heavily restricted in doing so, there was very little he could do against people with a higher Soul Power Level than his own.

But Bai Xiao's thoughts eventually turned to practical applications. If absorbing from others meets resistance, wouldn't absorbing from myself solve the problem?

He planned to use Soul Beast tissue to create several containers for storing Soul Power. They would be unconscious, allowing Bai Xiao to absorb the Soul Power within them without resistance.

Bai Xiao's endurance in battle could be greatly improved.

The plants Assimilated by Bai Xiao's Martial Soul were likewise affected by this Soul Skill. In other words, Bai Xiao could control plants to draw in the surrounding Soul Power and replenish him.

If Bai Xiao were within the "False Domain" he created, he would practically become a perpetual-motion machine that never ran out of Soul Power!!

One had to know that Bai Xiao's Bio-Armor could provide him with formidable combat strength, but it also consumed an enormous amount of Soul Power.

But when this Soul Skill was combined with Bai Xiao's "False Domain," it could completely make up for that weakness. Bai Xiao could even use the Bio-Armor at higher output.

Moreover, Bai Xiao could plant even more plants and use "draining" to absorb energy and assist his cultivation. His cultivation speed would increase dramatically...

All of this was only one aspect. The uses of this Soul Skill still required Bai Xiao's future development.

Bai Xiao discovered that his Soul Power had reached level twelve. He felt that his first Soul Ring must have surpassed five hundred years, which would allow his future achievements to far exceed those of his peers.

"If you want to get rich, plant trees first! Looks like it's time to begin the second stage of development!" Bai Xiao thought.

"Hou, follow me as I claim new lands!" Bai Xiao said to Hou with an embarrassingly dramatic expression. After killing Fatty, his personality had clearly become much brighter.

"Roar, roar. (Alright, but I want grilled rabbit tonight.)" Hou replied.

And so, the shadows of this man and beast gradually disappeared into the distance.