Jade Bamboo

"Brother Lin, what kind of Spirit Ring would suit me best?"

No longer paying any attention to the two teachers clearing the way, Tang Yin's gaze was practically fixed on Lin Yue, her eyes filled with deep affection and attachment.

"Of course, it would be a life-type Soul Beast related to bamboo. The only question is whether we can find a suitable one."

A Ten-Year Lone Bamboo was naturally unworthy of Ah Yin, but what if it was a Soul Beast of the same type that was over six hundred years old?

Bamboo could be said to possess one of the fastest growth rates among all plants, and its vitality was naturally among the most tenacious. It was absolutely worthy of the life-focused Blue Silver Emperor.

However, there was one thing Lin Yue found very strange.

He had once browsed through Soul Beast encyclopedias and asked the teachers and headmaster. He had even endured his disgust and challenged Yu Xiaogang directly, asking whether there were any bamboo-type Soul Beasts over a hundred years old.

Yet the answer had left him utterly dumbfounded. The reason Yu Xiaogang praised that Ten-Year Lone Bamboo was precisely because the maximum limit for Lone Bamboo Spirit Rings was only ten years.

"There simply are no bamboo-type Soul Beasts that are over a hundred years old in this world."

Even Yu Xiaogang, who had secretly read countless sects' secret Soul Beast manuals, had said so with a cold sneer. It dealt a considerable blow to Lin Yue's confidence, and he had never been able to understand why.

Even something as weak as Blue Silver Grass could have an extraordinary leader like the Blue Silver Emperor. There was no reason Lone Bamboo, which seemed weak but actually possessed immense vitality, could not cultivate a powerful king.

After all, even ordinary bamboo plants could be found everywhere in forests. There were countless bamboo groves across Douluo Continent. How could high-level bamboo-type Soul Beasts fail to emerge?

Still doubtful about bamboo, Lin Yue no longer set his sights on any Soul Beasts. Instead, his gaze swept over one bamboo stalk after another in the forest. Every so often, he reached out to touch one, using the system to determine what level of Soul Beast it was.

[Lonely Bamboo: Age 21 years]

[Lonely Bamboo: Age 13 years]

[Lonely Bamboo...]

[Jade Bamboo: Bamboo material that can be used as an alchemy resource]

"Hmm?!"

A completely different information prompt from the others entered his sight. Lin Yue immediately stopped moving.

His cry of surprise made both the dean of students and Yu Xiaogang, who were clearing the path ahead, turn around.

Seeing him stop before a bamboo stalk, Yu Xiaogang's arrogant voice immediately rang out.

"What? You can't walk after seeing this bamboo? It's just an ordinary Jade Bamboo. What's so strange about it?"

"Jade Bamboo?"

Lin Yue raised an eyebrow and looked at Yu Xiaogang.

"That's right. It's just ordinary bamboo, only a different variety. This kind is tougher than regular bamboo."

Yu Xiaogang nodded, assuming a lofty posture as he lectured.

"Some Jade Bamboo may be tougher than ten-year Lone Bamboo. But it's still just ordinary bamboo. Even if you chop it down, there won't be any Spirit Ring."

Ha, ordinary bamboo tougher than ten-year Lone Bamboo. How very "ordinary"...

With a deeply disdainful curl of his lips, Lin Yue took two steps back but did not move away. Instead, he stared intently at that Jade Bamboo, as though searching for something.

Seeing the contempt at the corner of Lin Yue's mouth and feeling his expertise being questioned again, intense unwillingness surged through Yu Xiaogang's heart.

It was this guy again. Every time, he came up with inexplicable theories to refute him, practically like his nemesis! He always angered him to the point of smoke coming out of his seven orifices!

Now that he had caught an opportunity, Yu Xiaogang was determined to win back all the face he had lost!

"What? You still don't believe me?"

Yu Xiaogang's face tightened as he strode quickly to the Jade Bamboo.

Today, in front of Xiao San, he would prove that the theories of a theoretical master like himself were invincible.

"Xiao San, watch carefully. I'll chop down this bamboo for you right now. This isn't a Soul Beast at all, and it definitely won't produce a Spirit Ring."

As he spoke, Yu Xiaogang rolled up his sleeves and swung his axe, chopping away with huffing breaths.

"My name isn't Tang San. I'm Tang Yin."

A cold gleam flashed through her eyes. Like she was avoiding a plague god, the girl shifted two steps away, a trace of disgust flashing across her gaze.

Whenever that name was mentioned, Tang Yin could not help remembering the suffering she had endured. She had already decided to completely abandon her past, yet Yu Xiaogang kept calling her Xiao San, Xiao San...

He was simply courting death!

"Alright, don't mind him."

Lin Yue gently took the girl's small hand and comforted her softly.

The smile of the man she loved instantly dispelled Tang Yin's irritation. She clasped Brother Lin's hand in return, and a faint smile appeared on her delicately beautiful face.

In the past, Brother Lin Yue had rarely taken the initiative to hold her hand...

"Ahem, Director Su, come give me a hand. This thing is a little hard."

After only a few swings of the axe, Yu Xiaogang was already panting. The frail Yu Xiaogang could only cough awkwardly and ask Su Yan for help.

After two axe strikes, the Jade Bamboo had only gained a tiny notch. At Yu Xiaogang's speed, it would probably take him ten minutes just to chop down one stalk.

As a three-ring Soul Elder, Su Yan was also quite helpless before Yu Xiaogang's flashy but useless performance.

To end this farce as quickly as possible, he could only use Martial Soul Possession, seize the axe, and bring it down twice. The Jade Bamboo was immediately severed at its roots.

The instant the Jade Bamboo fell, Yu Xiaogang immediately perked up again, his bent waist straightening at once.

"See? What did I say? Nothing happened, right?"

Dragging the severed bamboo stalk, Yu Xiaogang stood tall with his chest out like a victorious general, looking disdainfully at Lin Yue.

"A Soul Beast? How could something without even the ability to resist possibly be a Soul Beast? Even a Ten-Year Lone Bamboo would shake its leaves and struggle a little after being chopped twice. This Jade Bamboo is nothing more than ordinary bamboo."

"There are no bamboo-type Martial Souls over a hundred years old in this world, so stop imagining things."

Facing Yu Xiaogang's pretentious rebuke, Lin Yue's expression did not change. He merely frowned slightly, his eyes uneasily sweeping through the forest.

Five meters, ten meters, fifteen meters, twenty meters, twenty-five meters...

Not bad. It looked like the problem was manageable. He should still be able to handle it.

"Brother Lin, what are you looking at?"

Noticing that something seemed off with Lin Yue, as though he were facing something terrifying, Tang Yin tensed as well. Purple light flashed through her beautiful eyes as she continuously scanned their surroundings, but found nothing.

"Ah Yin, your eyesight is better than mine. Help me count how many Jade Bamboo stalks there are nearby. What area do they cover?"

"Huh?"

Though she did not know what Brother Lin meant, Tang Yin's eyes flashed, and she carried out his order decisively and swiftly.

"Not counting the one that was chopped down, there are twenty-three Jade Bamboo stalks nearby. They are spread across a circular area roughly thirty meters in diameter."

Among those twenty-odd Jade Bamboo stalks, seven were exceptionally thick, while the other dozen or so were comparatively young and tender, looking rather unremarkable.

The one Yu Xiaogang had chopped down was naturally one of the younger, tender stalks.

Seeing the confusion in Ah Yin's eyes, Lin Yue grinned and spoke softly, though his voice sounded exceptionally quiet amid the rustling bamboo grove.

"Ah Yin, do you know? In a sense, bamboo cannot be considered a single organism."

"What nonsense? Bullshit! How can bamboo not be an organism? If bamboo isn't an organism, then what is Ten-Year Lone Bamboo?"

Seeing that the brat had begun spouting nonsense, Yu Xiaogang immediately jumped out and interrupted sharply.

Yet beneath Yu Xiaogang's seemingly arrogant demeanor, his expression clearly revealed a hint of panic. He looked fierce on the outside but weak within.

Staring at the contempt in Lin Yue's eyes, Yu Xiaogang vaguely felt something was wrong. It seemed that what this brat was about to say would completely overturn his theories, perhaps even everyone's understanding.

Completely ignoring Yu Xiaogang, who was like a clown leaping about on a stage, Lin Yue picked up the hoe, took two steps forward, and continued in a calm tone.

"Why is ten-year Lone Bamboo called Lone Bamboo? Because it only has one bamboo stalk. As long as the stalk itself is severed, it dies."

"But the bamboo above the soil is far from its true body. That part of the 'bamboo' above ground is not the Soul Beast itself. It is the Soul Beast's arm, or rather, an organ it uses to absorb light and air."

"A bamboo grove is essentially one individual. The bamboo stalks bloom together, wither together, and share the same cycle of life and death. Their true body..."

"Is the intertwined root system buried beneath the soil!"

The instant the words left his mouth, Lin Yue raised the hoe high and smashed it down. At the exact center of the twenty-three Jade Bamboo stalks, he dug out a clump of deep earth.

And the moment he broke open the soil, the entire bamboo grove's aura changed instantly!

A heavy, vortex-like pressure surged in from all directions! Everyone's expressions changed drastically!

Lin Yue's action seemed to have completely awakened some ferocious beast buried deep underground. The twenty-three Jade Bamboo stalks swayed in the wind, their leaves trembling incessantly. The ground beneath everyone's feet became uneven, as though something terrifying was about to burst from within.

"Little Lin, what is going on?"

Director Su Yan's eyes widened as he stared at the ground in disbelief.

Within his sight, one swollen mound of earth after another broke through the ground, releasing boundless killing intent!

The next instant, as though sensing something, the dean of students grabbed Yu Xiaogang and Tang Yin, stamped his feet, and launched himself several meters into the air!

The instant he leaped up, green bamboo shards burst from the countless mounds that had just risen, piercing upward like sharp swords and turning the spot where they had been standing into an impenetrable thicket!!