Grinding Blue Silver Grass Proficiency

Ever since leaving the Outer City, Su Mu had returned to his newly opened shop.

Watching Remiel and Elysia bustle about, sending out one Wallace combo after another, Su Mu felt rather gratified. His shop had finally stabilized.

If the system's ingredients did not appear out of thin air instead of popping out of a Soul Tool, he could have even hired locals from Douluo to do the work.

With that in mind, Su Mu soon arrived at his small courtyard and sat down cross-legged.

This time, he activated the Book Martial Soul again. The original image had contained only Blue Silver Grass, but now there was an additional figure—the old woman wearing a veil from earlier, the holder of the Brain Martial Soul.

After Blue Silver Grass had appeared last time, he had not paid much attention to it and had simply continued cultivating his Soul Power.

After going out today, peacefully cultivating Soul Power was probably no longer possible. He might as well see just how far these two things, which resembled memory instances, could go.

Su Mu tore off the first sheet bearing the image of Blue Silver Grass and circulated his Soul Power. In the next moment, he returned to that forest.

A black panther pounced toward him. At that moment, he had taken on Tang Ya's form, with her Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul released in his hand.

The sensation of controlling Blue Silver Grass and the tactile feedback it brought were transmitted back to him.

As a plant-type Martial Soul, Blue Silver Grass possessed stronger sensory abilities than other plant-type Martial Souls. So long as something came into contact with the Blue Silver Grass he released, he would receive feedback.

As Su Mu sensed this, he unleashed Tang Ya's first soul skill, Blue Silver Entanglement.

Countless strands of Blue Silver Grass spread out from beneath his feet. Their tender leaves swayed in the wind as they hardened and became tough, continuously growing poisonous spikes before launching a surprise attack at the Black Panther in the clearing.

The entire skill activation was incredibly smooth, without the slightest obstruction, but that was only because he was using Tang Ya's Soul Ring.

If he gave up this Soul Ring, then even while borrowing Tang Ya's perspective, Su Mu would find it difficult to release it so precisely in a single attempt.

Looking at the two pulsating yellow Soul Rings beneath his feet, Su Mu had a different thought.

He had entered this space twice in total, but each time, he had stopped after using a soul skill.

Today, he wanted to see what would happen if he took the initiative to understand the soul skill contained within Tang Ya's Soul Ring.

If he broke the entire Soul Ring apart and fused it into his own meridians, would the sensations and information from the Soul Ring remain within his body?

Would that allow him to manipulate Blue Silver Grass with the same effects?

With that thought, Su Mu looked at the pale yellow Soul Ring and reached out to touch it.

Information from the entire Soul Ring flowed endlessly through his mind, but that was far from enough.

If there was anything capable of completely fusing a Soul Ring with one's body,

then one had to mention Tang Hao from the plotline involving the traitorous remnants who had fled during the first Douluo era—one of the Clear Sky Sect's secret techniques: Ring Explosion.

Su Mu smacked his lips. He did not know how to perform Ring Explosion, so he would just blow up the Soul Ring directly.

As he spoke, he drove the power within the Soul Ring into a frenzy, gradually pushing it to the brink of swelling apart.

Finally, as the Soul Ring shattered, the boundless energy contained within it surged toward Su Mu.

The strange energy filled and expanded every one of Su Mu's meridians. Dense beads of sweat seeped from the body he currently controlled.

In the next moment, his entire body exploded like an overinflated balloon. The backlash from the shattered Soul Ring directly killed Su Mu.

His consciousness returned to the room, and Su Mu gasped for breath. That hit had nearly sent him to meet his great-grandmother.

The pain carried by the Soul Ring's explosion, along with the stabbing agony in his mind, was utterly incomparable to an ordinary injury.

It was like having a thousand needles stabbed into your body, then gripping a beer bottle by its neck

and repeatedly pounding your body with its thick bottom, driving the needles deeper and deeper into your flesh before using a potato grater to scrape away your flesh bit by bit.

Su Mu took a deep breath, looking at the sheet of paper that was slowly recovering as he sensed the abnormal flow of Soul Power within his body.

After dying and withdrawing from that state, the Soul Power in his body would temporarily become unstable and violent, but its force was nowhere near as great as when the Soul Ring shattered.

Su Mu thought again. His first attempt at blowing up the Soul Ring had not harmed the outside world in the slightest. Instead, it had dealt a devastating blow to himself, causing his entire body to burst like a balloon.

The direction was correct. After all, he had not died the instant it exploded; his meridians simply could not withstand that energy and ruptured.

That meant this path was viable. As long as he kept trying to shatter the Soul Ring this way,

and let the energy within it pour into his body, perhaps he could eventually truly master Ring Explosion.

Su Mu considered this. Even after a Soul Ring shattered, it would slowly recover over time. After all, once a Soul Master absorbed a Soul Ring,

the entire Soul Ring was essentially fused into the Soul Master's body and became a part of the Soul Master's life.

Shattering it would naturally cause injury, but it would not be lost permanently. Like the strength of one's muscles, it would slowly recover as time passed.

Since that was the case, then it was time for another round.

Su Mu tore off the restored Blue Silver Grass sheet, infused it with Soul Power, and reappeared in the forest the very next second.

This time, Su Mu struck first and once again tried releasing Blue Silver Grass to attack. However, its speed, effects, efficiency, and control were nowhere near comparable to Tang Ya's use of the Soul Ring.

In that case, he would do it again.

Su Mu reached for the brilliant yellow Soul Ring beneath him and squeezed hard. The entire Soul Ring shattered.

Just like last time, fragments of the Soul Ring instantly flooded into Su Mu's meridians.

The immense power raced through Su Mu's meridians like a roller coaster,

and soon afterward, his entire network of meridians could no longer endure the rapidly circulating Soul Power. He died violently in the end.

Blood splattered across every part of the surrounding scenery, yet no one noticed.

The next second, Su Mu reappeared in his room.

He had lasted three seconds the first time and four seconds the second time. Even in this state, the Learning Behavior and Practice Makes Perfect within him were still functioning.

Tang Hao's secret technique, Ring Explosion—he did not dare blow up his own Soul Rings in reality, but in this virtual world where he could grind proficiency, even if two Soul Rings exploded one after another, it did not matter. He would not really die anyway.

With that thought, Su Mu activated Blue Silver Grass again. This time, the Blue Silver Grass emerged slightly faster than before, and the control and poison he could exert were also a little stronger.

That subtle change made Su Mu unable to stop himself from smiling.

Wasting time and energy on cultivation was not scary. What was scary was not even being able to find the right place to spend that time and effort cultivating.

Su Mu sensed the joyful emotion conveyed by the Blue Silver Grass within him. It seemed to have gained intelligence.

Or perhaps his compatibility with Blue Silver Grass had grown higher.