The Third Martial Soul

"Gold, gold? I knew the system wouldn't abandon me!"

Jiang Lin stared at the golden light, excitement immediately appearing on his face.

The system notification sounded right after.

[Ding!]

[Congratulations, Host, for obtaining the three-star Bronze inheritance Northern Mysterious Technique—Incomplete]

[Friendly reminder: after improvements by the system, the complete version of this technique has reached three-star Gold]

[This technique is divided into an upper, middle, and lower volume, corresponding to the Bronze, Silver, and Gold card pools. If the Host wishes to collect the latter two volumes, the Host may spend twice the card-drawing cost of the corresponding pool to purchase a designated draw ticket for a designated draw]

[Please note: designated draw tickets only apply to inheritance-type cards]

"This system really has something going for it. But buying designated draw tickets at twice the drawing cost... Damn, doesn't that mean I'll need another 220,000 Collapse Points to collect the latter two volumes?"

At that thought, Jiang Lin sharply sucked in a breath. Even those seven thousand-plus Collapse Points had only been gained because Tian Yan had been forced to kill so many people.

As for 220,000 Collapse Points, Jiang Lin truly had no idea where he could possibly gather them.

"Forget it. No point thinking about that now. I'd better take a look at this Northern Mysterious Technique first. I want to see whether it's really worth that many Collapse Points."

Jiang Lin then directly took the Northern Mysterious Technique inheritance card from his inventory and selected use.

The next moment, Jiang Lin appeared above a boundless expanse of deep sea.

"Why does the Inheritance Space for the Northern Mysterious Technique have an ocean? It seems to be nothing more than a cultivation technique. Could it possibly turn into my Martial Soul too?"

A trace of confusion appeared on Jiang Lin's face, but it was soon replaced by terror.

That was because he suddenly discovered that he had become a gigantic fish. Endless freezing seawater battered against his body. Jiang Lin did not know where he was going and could only follow his instincts, swimming onward day after day. When hungry, he swallowed fish and shrimp from the sea. When tired, he drifted along with the currents...

After an unknown amount of time, Jiang Lin's body had become unimaginably enormous. A single sweep of his fin spanned hundreds of thousands of meters, and a casual roll could stir up endless towering waves...

At some unknown point, Jiang Lin finally regained consciousness. When he opened his eyes again, he had become a man standing silently atop the sea once more, as though that day-after-day life as a great fish had been nothing but a dream.

Yet Jiang Lin discovered that his body had changed. It felt as though he had been reborn, every meridian in his body reforged.

Not only that, but he could sense countless streams of white energy, like tiny fish, swimming through his body as if they were constantly improving and strengthening his physique.

Just as Jiang Lin wanted to further explore the changes within his body, cracks suddenly appeared throughout the surrounding space. The entire world dissipated before his eyes like clouds and smoke.

Back in the outside world, Jiang Lin opened his eyes.

He then immediately glanced at his status panel.

[Host: Jiang Lin]

[Age: 6]

[Martial Souls: Pure Yang Flame (God-grade), King's Power Sword (God-grade), Northern Dark Spiritual Meridian—Incomplete (Top-grade Martial Soul) (Cannot attach Soul Rings)]

[Technique: Northern Mysterious Technique, Upper Volume (Included Soul Skills: Essence Devouring, Purification)]

[Cultivation: Level 28 Soul Grandmaster]

[Summoning Slots: Little Dragon Girl, Tian Yan, Shadowkhan Ten]

[Collapse Points: 4630]

"Northern Dark Spiritual Meridian? And those two Soul Skills... They should be meant to be used together, right?"

With a thought, Jiang Lin directly summoned the Northern Dark Spiritual Meridian.

The next instant, a large mass of pure white mist surged from Jiang Lin's body. The mist gradually solidified along the contours of his body, and before long, it transformed into a suit of pure white armor that encased him.

Moreover, at the armor's abdomen was a vague gaping mouth resembling that of a kun fish. The instant the armor solidified, Jiang Lin felt a huge amount of heaven and earth energy rush toward him, only to be completely swallowed by that great mouth.

At the sight, Jiang Lin's brows immediately furrowed. Yet before he could do anything, he felt a stream of incomparably pure energy merge into his body, where it transformed into Soul Power and accumulated within his dantian.

"This... It activated on its own before I even consciously absorbed anything? In that case, let's see what amazing effects it has when used together with the Soul Skills."

Jiang Lin's eyes were full of surprise as he directly poured Soul Power into the pure white armor.

"Soul Skill, Essence Devouring!"

The next moment, a white vortex appeared before the kun fish's gaping mouth. The heaven and earth energy within a hundred-meter radius was immediately dragged over, and in the blink of an eye, it was swallowed entirely by the vortex!

At the same time, Jiang Lin felt an intense sensation of fullness. It was the feeling of his dantian being completely filled with Soul Power.

"This is bad. I swallowed far too much at once. With my current cultivation, I simply can't absorb it all."

"Right, there's still the second Soul Skill!"

Jiang Lin hurriedly activated Purification, the other Soul Skill that came with the upper volume of the Northern Mysterious Technique.

The next moment, Jiang Lin's previously swollen body visibly shrank at a rapid rate. Before long, it had returned to its original state.

The Soul Power within Jiang Lin's body was also continuously compressed and refined until it occupied less than half of his dantian.

"Phew, that was close. Good thing I had the Purification Soul Skill. Otherwise, after absorbing so much Soul Power all at once, I definitely would have burst apart."

Still shaken, Jiang Lin withdrew the Northern Dark Spiritual Meridian and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

But the moment he lowered his hand, Jiang Lin met a pair of eyes filled with concern. They belonged to Little Dragon Girl.

"Jiang Lin, what happened to you just now? Your aura was so dangerous. It felt as though you were about to explode at any moment."

"I'm really sorry, Sister Long. I made you worry."

"Something unexpected happened just now, but I'm fine now. If you don't believe me, look."

As he spoke, Jiang Lin took Little Dragon Girl's hand and let her sense the now-calm aura within his body.

"Phew—"

Only then did Little Dragon Girl truly breathe a sigh of relief. However, her face remained stern as she spoke seriously to Jiang Lin.

"Jiang Lin, you can't do something so dangerous again. If you absolutely have to, then you must tell me first. When that happened to you just now, I almost didn't react in time!"

"Mm, don't worry, Sister Long. I'll definitely tell you next time."

Jiang Lin did not reject Little Dragon Girl's concern. Or rather, he was happy to receive it.

Because that meant Jiang Lin held a certain place in Little Dragon Girl's heart. He was no longer merely a stranger to her, as he had been in the beginning.

"Alright, Sister Long. We've been cultivating ever since we came back. So much time has passed already; we should take a break."

"Sister Long, is there anything you want to eat? I'll go make it for you right now."

As he spoke, Jiang Lin prepared to get off the bed, but Little Dragon Girl's hand pressed down on him first.

"Sister Long, you?"

"Jiang Lin, I can cook too. You've always been the one cooking before, so let me make the meal today."

"Uh, Sister Long, are you sure you can cook?"

A trace of doubt could not help appearing in Jiang Lin's eyes. He deeply doubted that Little Dragon Girl, who had lived in the Ancient Tomb with Granny Sun since childhood, knew how to cook.