First Soul Ring

The next day, at the first light of dawn.

Lin Yuan had just withdrawn from his cultivation when he heard his father's astonished voice outside the cave:

"Strange. Is it just my imagination? Why does this Lone Bamboo seem taller and thicker than it was yesterday? Could it really be my imagination?"

Lin Yuan walked out of the cave and saw his father pinching his chin as he gazed thoughtfully at the dark green, straight bamboo standing in the center of the grove. It was over fourteen meters tall, nearly fifteen. Lin Yuan found it somewhat amusing and said from behind him:

"It should be your imagination. How could bamboo possibly grow so much overnight?"

Father Lin nodded and did not think much of it. He turned to his son with a serious expression.

"A-Yuan, I just estimated this bamboo's age. Even if it isn't six hundred years old, it has to be over five hundred. Are you sure you want to absorb it?"

The age of a Lone Bamboo was very easy to identify.

A Ten-Year Lone Bamboo looked no different from ordinary bamboo.

It stood less than ten meters tall.

A Hundred-Year Lone Bamboo was dark green, with faint dark patterns growing across the surface of its stalk. It stood ten meters tall, and every additional meter represented another hundred years.

This bamboo was already over fourteen meters tall.

It was clearly a soul beast over five hundred years old.

Lin Yuan smiled. "Dad, have you forgotten what Mom has been feeding me for the past year or so? I have confidence now."

"That's true." Only then did Father Lin remember that his wife had secretly been feeding their son melted Whale Rubber for over a year.

That was also why they had been forced to leave their hometown and move away from Notting City.

Fortunately, sacrifice came with gains.

In Father Lin's eyes, his son had only taken one year and three months to go from awakening his martial soul to breaking through Rank 10, averaging nearly one rank every two months.

Such terrifying Soul Power growth was enough to make up for everything they had lost.

Only that child, Lin Tian, was rather pitiful. No one knew whether it had been an accident or whether someone had truly harmed him.

He had simply died just like that.

Even now, Father Lin still felt he owed Lin Tian something.

With that thought, Father Lin sighed, took a short knife from his clothes, handed it to Lin Yuan, and looked toward the Lone Bamboo.

"A Hundred-Year Lone Bamboo cannot think. It only possesses a little simple instinct and can sense danger nearby."

"Normally, as long as you do not unleash Soul Power on a large scale, it will not resist."

"However, it can harden its body and launch Bamboo Sword Thrusts. Among soul beasts of the same rank, it is very easy to hunt, yet its abilities are exceptionally outstanding."

"Most Rank 10 Soul Masters who lack the ability to hunt other hundred-year soul beasts will choose this highly cost-effective soul beast if they encounter a Hundred-Year Lone Bamboo."

"You only need to cut through its stalk, then dig up and sever its roots."

"Because of this, Hundred-Year Lone Bamboos are extremely rare."

"Stand farther away first. In a moment, I'll use my soul skills, and you can look for a chance to finish it off."

As he spoke, a white and a yellow soul ring rose from beneath Father Lin's feet.

"First Soul Skill: Hardening!"

"Second Soul Skill: Bamboo Sword Thrust!"

Father Lin shouted twice, and the two soul rings on his body lit up in succession. Several sharp bamboo spikes condensed in front of him, floating in the air like the blades unleashed by Grandma Chiyo's Manipulating Blade Attack, their tips gleaming with a peculiar hard luster.

At the same time, he suddenly spread his hands, and those sharp bamboo spikes shot forward at high speed, blanketing the Lone Bamboo that was nearly six hundred years old.

Had it been any other Lone Bamboo of the same cultivation, it naturally would not have been able to withstand those bamboo spikes without activating its hardening ability.

But this Lone Bamboo seemed far fiercer than the others, nearly comparable to an animal soul beast of the same rank.

The instant Father Lin activated his soul skill, it actually took the initiative to harden its body.

Clang! Clang!

Amid a series of piercing sounds like metal striking metal, Father Lin's bamboo spikes were all sent flying away.

The enraged Lone Bamboo went completely berserk. It swung its branches and leaves, sweeping toward them frantically like writhing snakes.

"Not good! This Lone Bamboo has mutated! A-Yuan, run!"

Father Lin was shocked. With no way to evade, he could only instinctively raise his hands to shield himself.

At that moment, Lin Yuan moved. At some point, he had already drawn the short knife, faint blue arcs of lightning flickering over its blade.

The moment he drew it, he had already rushed in front of Father Lin, slashing left and right.

Every slash struck the incoming branches with perfect accuracy, leaving Father Lin dazzled.

Before long, the branches had been chopped into scattered pieces, covering the ground.

Lightning flashed in Lin Yuan's eyes as he charged toward the nearly six-hundred-year-old Lone Bamboo with a speed that surpassed Bolt's hundred-meter sprint.

The Lone Bamboo whipped its remaining branches, sending dozens, even hundreds, of thick bamboo shafts at him in an attempt to stop him, but Lin Yuan dodged them all with nimble footwork.

The few he could not avoid were severed by his blade, which crackled with blue lightning.

As the danger drew closer, the Lone Bamboo instinctively fused its remaining branches into a thick bamboo staff and hurled it at Lin Yuan like a cannonball.

"Too slow."

Lin Yuan slid beneath the thrown bamboo staff, then flipped upright and arrived before the Lone Bamboo. Gripping the knife with both hands, he poured all the power of the Five Thunder Heavenly Heart Formula within him into the short blade.

He slashed down.

Crack!

The blade snapped, but the Lone Bamboo also lost all ability to resist. It was cut in half one meter above the ground, its long, thick body flung away.

By then, Father Lin was already dumbfounded.

He opened his mouth, yet had no idea what to say.

After holding it in for a long while, he finally managed to ask, "A-Yuan, you... how did you become so powerful?"

"Oh, this? A hundred push-ups every day, a hundred sit-ups, a hundred squats, and a ten-kilometer run. I kept training, and I just became like this."

Lin Yuan turned around as he spoke.

Father Lin continued, "Then what were those blue lightning arcs just now?"

"That was a martial soul mutation. The martial soul I awakened was not actually Lone Bamboo, but Thunder Bamboo." As Lin Yuan spoke, he walked to the bamboo stump and began digging out the roots.

This Lone Bamboo, nurtured by the Plastic Palm-Heaven Bottle, was so ferocious. Perhaps it would contain some pleasant surprise?

The moment Father Lin heard the words "martial soul mutation," he became even more confused.

But before he could ask anything else, Lin Yuan had already pulled out a palm-sized, translucent left leg bone from the roots of the bamboo stump. It emitted a faint cyan glow.

At the same time, a relatively deep yellow soul ring slowly emerged and hovered above the bamboo stump.

It really has a Soul Bone. Lin Yuan felt a slight thrill of joy.

He did not know whether it was the special ability of the Plastic Palm-Heaven Bottle.

Or merely a coincidence.

But in this era, where even a Titled Douluo would struggle to possess a single Soul Bone, this nearly six-hundred-year-old Soul Bone could sell for one or two hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins. It would solve his current predicament of lacking enough Gold Soul Coins to buy high-year Whale Rubber.

"Quick, put it away! Hurry and put it away! Don't let anyone see it!" Father Lin no longer cared about investigating his son's bizarre abilities.

He hurried forward, removed his outer robe, and wrapped the Soul Bone inside as though he were a thief.

Lin Yuan smiled and ignored him. He sat down beside the soul ring, released his Lone Bamboo Martial Soul, and began absorbing the soul ring.