But...
Thinking back to one moment in the battle, Su Yan felt a faint shiver.
What had that pretty little girl tossed out so casually? It had killed a Soul Beast with such terrifying vitality in a matter of breaths.
She looked so bright and adorable, but in truth... Hiss.
The dean watched Yu Xiaogang crowd anxiously around Little Tang, seemingly still trying to take her as his disciple. Yu Xiaogang had no idea what he had just witnessed. The dean shook his head.
Ignorance really was fearless. This so-called Grandmaster had no idea how terrifying the bamboo-grove Soul Beast they had just killed was.
A seven-hundred-year-old Jade Bamboo Grove had already been this powerful. What about one a thousand years old? Ten thousand?
No, at ten thousand years, it probably could not be called a grove anymore. It would be a sea of Jade Bamboo.
It would stretch for thousands of meters, every stalk an arm. Provoke it, and its Soul Power Absorption would engulf an entire domain.
At the thought, every hair on the dean's body stood on end.
"Brother Lin, I did it!"
Before long, the yellow Spirit Ring had fully merged into Tang Yin's body. The stunned girl immediately felt the bottleneck in her Mysterious Heaven Skill quietly shatter the instant the ring entered her.
"Ah, you did it! Xiao San, how do you feel? Does anything hurt?"
"Yes, Little Tang, are you all right?"
While the two teachers were distracted by Tang Yin absorbing the Spirit Ring, Lin Yue silently pulled something from the pit at the center and slipped it into his sleeve. Then he turned with a smile toward the delighted girl.
"How do you feel? Has your Martial Soul changed? What about your Spirit Skill?"
As he spoke, Lin Yue walked over and looked at the emerald-green Blue Silver Grass in the girl's palm.
The little plant looked much as it always had, but its shoots had gained a richer green, as though they held the luster of jade. It was lovelier than ever.
"Xiao San, it really worked. Nothing went wrong from absorbing a Spirit Ring beyond your level, did it?"
Yu Xiaogang pushed past Lin Yue and crowded in front of Tang Yin. He stared at her richly glowing yellow Spirit Ring with a face full of concern, but the sight made her feel as sick as if she had swallowed a fly.
Brother Lin had been shoved aside. The warmth vanished from her face, replaced by a coldness that came from the heart.
"Yu Xiaogang, I told you. You and I have nothing to do with each other."
Several silver needles glinting with icy, poisonous light appeared between Tang Yin's fingers, radiating a chilling threat.
The terrifying pressure struck Yu Xiaogang. His expression froze, and his body went cold as though he had fallen into an ice cave.
He had seen it himself: that tiny bottle of poison had killed a seven-hundred-year-old Soul Beast whose vitality was still growing. If he were poisoned, he doubted he would last any longer than the bamboo-grove beast.
His curiosity about the technique for absorbing a Spirit Ring beyond one's level vanished. Yu Xiaogang drew his neck in and, for now, had no choice but to take two steps back.
"That's enough, Ah Yin. Don't let someone unpleasant ruin your mood. What's your Soul Power Level now? And what's your First Spirit Skill?"
Looking at a Spirit Ring that was almost at the theoretical age limit for an ordinary Soul Master's Second Spirit Ring, Lin Yue felt his heart surge.
In the original world, Xiao San's First Spirit Ring had come from a mere four-hundred-year-old Mandala Snake, and she had reached only level thirteen after obtaining it. Even her Second Spirit Ring had come from a six-hundred-year-old Ghost Vine, which might not match Tang Yin's First Spirit Ring.
Compared with Xiao San in the original story, Tang Yin had undoubtedly become far more formidable. Whether her First Spirit Ring suited combat remained to be seen.
At Brother Lin's question, a sweet smile appeared on Tang Yin's face, and she answered brightly.
"Brother Lin, my First Spirit Skill is Growth."
Her Mysterious Heaven Skill had undoubtedly reached a new level. As for her Soul Power... with all she had accumulated before, plus the Spirit Ring's help, it seemed...
"My Soul Power seems to be around level fifteen..."
Tang Yin held out her hand, sending out waves of Soul Power. Wild joy shone in her eyes.
Brother Lin had been right. There had been no need to hurry to absorb a Spirit Ring. The power she had accumulated had not vanished because of the ring's restriction; once she obtained a ring, all that cultivation had broken through on its own.
"Level fifteen... Not bad."
Lin Yue nodded. That level was within his expectations.
With him looking after her, Tang Yin had lived a much easier life than Tang San had in the original world. She had had more time to cultivate, and her physical condition far surpassed his.
Add a First Spirit Ring nearly seven hundred years old, and with Ah Yin's talent, reaching level fifteen was only natural.
"Level fifteen Soul Power?! Fifteen at six years old?!"
Hearing the girl state her Soul Power Level, Su Yan felt as though lightning had struck him. His whole body trembled.
This girl's talent for cultivation was simply too frightening!
Hm? Is level fifteen that impressive?
Noticing the strange look in Dean Su's eyes, Tang Yin parted her pink lips. In the end, she kept quiet about how she felt her bottleneck was close to breaking and that she might reach level sixteen once her power settled.
Yu Xiaogang, however, had seized on something else. His face contorted with frustration as he said:
"Your First Spirit Skill is Growth? What use is that? I said from the start we should find a Mandala Snake. You'd have been sure to get Entanglement as your First Spirit Skill! Wouldn't that be far more useful? If Xiao San can absorb a seven-hundred-year-old Spirit Ring, then we should find a seven-hundred-year-old Mandala Snake!"
Thinking that such a prodigy had wasted such a fine ring age on a worthless Spirit Ring, Yu Xiaogang beat his chest and cried out in distress. His heart ached, and his gaze toward Lin Yue grew ever more displeased.
Xiao San might reject him and dislike him, but deep down, he remained certain that she would become his disciple. Only he could teach a peerless prodigy with Twin Martial Souls like her. He had no doubt of it!
And now Lin Yue had led his future disciple into absorbing this trash Spirit Ring. What if it hindered her path to becoming a Title Douluo?
Seeing him spout nonsense again, even the good-tempered dean could not help cursing inwardly.
A seven-hundred-year-old Mandala Snake? Damn, he really dares to dream.
Even if the Soul Hunting Forest had one, what would you do? Blast it to death with Luo Sanpao's farts?
The Jade Bamboo Grove had weak attacks and strong vitality, but a Mandala Snake's venomous fangs and explosive speed are no joke. If we ran into one, getting even a single person out alive would count as a success!
"Yu Xiaogang, are you sure there's a seven-hundred-year-old Mandala Snake here? Or are you dreaming with your eyes open? Are you even awake?"
Lin Yue's peculiar look made Yu Xiaogang's aged face redden. He argued back:
"Even if there isn't a seven-hundred-year-old Mandala Snake in the Soul Hunting Forest, we could go to the Star Dou Forest..."
"Enough, Xiaogang. Say no more."
Yu Xiaogang had not even recognized the Jade Bamboo Grove earlier. That alone showed how much substance there was to this so-called Grandmaster. Su Yan patted his shoulder and motioned for him to watch what Little Tang's Spirit Skill could actually do.
"Hmph."
With a cold snort, Tang Yin raised her slender hand. A stalk of Blue Silver Grass appeared beneath Yu Xiaogang and shot upward with explosive speed.
The tough Blue Silver Grass spread like giant leaves for wrapping rice dumplings, bundling Yu Xiaogang into one in half a second.
"Why would I need a Spirit Skill for Entanglement? I can do that without one."
Tang Yin proudly lifted her fair little chin. Triumph flashed across her face before she turned straight back to Lin Yue.
"Brother Lin, my First Spirit Skill is Growth. Once I use it, my Blue Silver Grass gains a hundred percent growth speed, a hundred percent toughness, and a hundred percent strength for the next five minutes. What do you think?"
"Hiss..."
Dean Su had seen the Blue Silver Grass surge upward, and it had already left him shaken.
Now that he heard Little Tang had gained a sustained enhancement skill rather than a single burst skill, his eyes widened further. He had seen countless First Spirit Skills as dean, yet he still drew a sharp breath.
"Really? Little Tang, does that mean you can make it grow that explosively several more times in a short span, with only one use of your Spirit Skill?"
"Yes!"
Tang Yin held some respect for Su Yan, the dean who had helped them so much. She nodded and raised her hand again. Three masses of Blue Silver Grass surged upward at once, growing over three meters tall in an instant and winding around three nearby trees.
Stunned, Su Yan stepped forward and grabbed the vigorous grass. He yanked hard, only to find its strength had soared after the enhancement. It had gained a toughness nearly equal to Jade Bamboo.
More frightening still, the instant he touched its leaves, he faintly felt that familiar pull.
"It can absorb the Soul Power of anyone who touches it?!"
The Blue Silver Grass had gained a trace of the Jade Bamboo Grove's Absorption ability. It could devour the Soul Power of those who touched it to strengthen itself. The prospect was terrifying.
For a control-type Soul Master, that ability meant growing stronger the longer a fight went on.
As one side weakened and the other grew stronger, Blue Silver Grass, already blessed with extraordinary vitality, might develop the same chilling ability to wear down its opponents as that bamboo grove.
Lin Yue paused at Su Yan's assessment, then looked at Tang Yin and asked:
"Ah Yin, is that true?"
"Mm, a little, but it isn't very strong. It can absorb Soul Power from the air and from things it touches. Keeping the Blue Silver Grass in existence takes Soul Power too, though, so the effect is only so-so."
Tang Yin stuck out her tongue at Lin Yue, then reached out with both hands and hugged her beloved's arm to her chest again.
"And you think that isn't enough Absorption? It's already terrifying!"
Su Yan gave a rueful smile. He truly did not know what to say to a genuine genius like her.
By the girl's own account, every mass of Blue Silver Grass she released could act as an external source of absorption, continually helping restore her Soul Power.
For now, that recovery could not offset the cost of sustaining the grass. But if her Blue Silver Grass kept growing, perhaps one day releasing it would no longer drain her Soul Power. Instead, it would nourish her, leaving her with more than she started with.
Ordinary Battle Soul Masters and tool-type Soul Masters could never possess an ability so frightening.
Was this the vitality of Blue Silver Grass? No wonder it was a Martial Soul with Innate Full Soul Power. It had its merits after all.
Recalling his own Spirit Skills, Su Yan shook his head, his heart growing more bitter.
This little genius's First Spirit Skill was already close to his third. The gap between two people really could be greater than the gap between a person and a dog.
With that thought, the dean glanced at Yu Xiaogang. His face had turned purple after being slapped down again and again, and he had fallen silent. The last traces of Su Yan's resentment and sadness gave way to a surge of superiority.
It's fine. I'm still better off than Yu Xiaogang. I have a happy family, a son and a daughter, and I reached level thirty-seven as a Soul Elder before forty. My Martial Soul isn't a pig, either. Three wins for me. I'm winning so hard!
That thought restored Su Yan's spirits. Smiling once more, he turned to Lin Yue.
"All right, Little Lin. Little Tang has her Spirit Ring. You're next. What kind of First Spirit Ring do you want?"