Two Years of Lying Low and Growing Strong

Perhaps because the Lone Bamboo Soul Ring and Lin Yuan's martial soul shared the same origin, coupled with the fact that he had previously consumed over a dozen pieces of hundred-year Whale Rubber.

And because he possessed the Five Thunder Heavenly Heart Formula.

Lin Yuan did not feel much pain when absorbing this Lone Bamboo Soul Ring, which was close to six hundred years old.

An hour later, he successfully absorbed it.

By then, Father Lin had already wrapped that soul bone in thick cloth, layer upon layer.

Seeing Lin Yuan awaken, he hurried forward excitedly and asked, "A-Yuan, how do you feel?"

"Not bad. I think my Soul Power Level went up by about three," Lin Yuan replied after roughly assessing his condition.

"Level thirteen." Father Lin was overjoyed and continued, "What about your soul skill? A first Soul Ring with five or six hundred years of cultivation—I've never even heard of one, let alone seen one."

Lin Yuan smiled. "My first soul skill is called Lone Bamboo Throw. It can condense a bamboo staff for me to throw, instantly increasing its attack power and force by fifty percent. It can also be used as a weapon."

"As for its power, I'll have to test it to find out."

As he spoke, Lin Yuan fixed his gaze on a massive boulder over ten meters away, weighing more than a thousand jin.

A deep yellow Soul Ring rose beneath his feet, then burst into light.

"First Soul Skill—Lone Bamboo Throw!"

He gave a low shout as the Five Thunder Heavenly Heart Formula circulated within him. A dark green bamboo staff roughly as long as he was tall, flickering with blue arcs of electricity, quietly appeared in his hand. He casually threw it forward.

Not throwing it would have been fine. But once he did, it was enough to scare someone half to death. Dazzling lightning flashed as the blue arcs across the staff gathered at its tip, like a bolt of blue lightning released from his hand.

The flash made Father Lin shut his eyes to protect his titanium alloy dog eyes.

When he opened them again, most of the bamboo staff had sunk into the boulder, with only a short section left exposed.

The boulder had split into four pieces, cracks running directly into the portion buried underground. Blue electric arcs flickered erratically across its surface, continuously spreading in all directions.

"So... so powerful!"

For no apparent reason, Father Lin swallowed hard at the sight.

Could this really count as a first soul skill?

Even the second soul skills of attack-type Soul Grandmasters with the optimal Soul Ring configuration were probably no stronger than this!

It had done this much damage to a boulder. If it struck a person, wouldn't it blast a fist-sized hole straight through them?

Lin Yuan, however, was somewhat disappointed. He had thought the boulder would be blown away, or at the very least that the bamboo staff would completely penetrate it.

It seemed that the Lone Bamboo Martial Soul was still rather weak in the end.

Once it advanced to the ten-thousand-year quality, it should improve considerably.

Until then, he could only make up for it with cultivation techniques.

Thinking this, he said to his father, "Dad, that was such a huge commotion. It'll definitely draw the villagers' attention. Let's leave quickly."

"Mm, let's go." Father Lin nodded. It was not that he did not want to say goodbye to the villagers.

But they might now be watched by someone, just like Lin Tian had been. Unless they were sure they were truly safe, it was better not to show themselves.

Three days later.

The father and son returned to their new home. Upon learning that her son had not only successfully absorbed a six-hundred-year Soul Ring but also obtained a soul bone,

Mother Lin was naturally overjoyed, repeatedly praising her son for having the potential of a Soul Sage.

Right afterward, she gave Lin Yuan the soul bone Father Lin had put away so he could absorb it.

She told him not to reveal it before he had sufficient strength, lest it bring about a fatal disaster.

Lin Yuan had originally planned to take it to an auction house and sell it, but then he considered that his mother was an ordinary person, his father was far too straightforward, and he himself was still a child.

No matter which of the three of them took it to sell, something could easily go wrong.

So he agreed.

However, he did not absorb it. Instead, he carefully stored it in his storage Soul Tool ring.

He would consider selling it after gaining a certain amount of strength in the future.

At the same time, considering that there might also be transmigrators in Spirit Hall, he chose to change his name when claiming the Soul Master subsidy. As for martial soul registration, he registered Thunder Bamboo instead.

And so, life gradually returned to peace.

Over the next eight months.

Lin Yuan resumed an ordinary yet far from dull life.

Every night, he used the Heavenly Vial to collect Green Liquid. In the mornings, he trained using the Saitama method; in the afternoons, he practiced the fist and foot techniques of the Five Thunder Heavenly Heart Formula. He spent the rest of his time cultivating, raising his Soul Power and cultivation technique realms.

After reaching the second layer of the Five Thunder Heavenly Heart Formula, he cultivated the Supreme Sacred Heaven and Earth Technique.

Only when the Supreme Sacred Heaven and Earth Technique also reached the second layer did Lin Yuan truly experience the benefits of these complementary cultivation techniques.

When operated simultaneously, they not only greatly increased Lin Yuan's combat strength, but also sent his cultivation speed soaring.

With the support of the Heavenly Vial's Green Liquid, he could still maintain the pace of increasing his Soul Power by one level roughly every two months.

By the time Suotuo City Intermediate Soul Master Academy was about to begin classes, his Soul Power had reached level seventeen.

Lin Yuan had originally intended to go directly to Suotuo City to enroll.

But his parents did not feel comfortable with him living outside alone at such a young age.

With no other choice, Lin Yuan could only agree to stay another year.

Cultivation knew neither day nor night.

Two months slipped away unnoticed amid Lin Yuan's diligent training.

By then, Lin Yuan was already nine years old. Compared to the tiny child he had been when he left Notting City, his height had changed enormously.

He had reached one meter sixty.

The contours of his face had become increasingly distinct.

Perhaps because his martial soul was constantly evolving, his appearance had only grown more handsome. At first, his features could merely be called well-proportioned.

Now, he was truly a handsome little boy.

His strength had undergone earth-shaking changes as well.

After another year of cultivation and using the Heavenly Vial to nurture his martial soul, Lin Yuan's Soul Power had long since broken through level twenty. Three months earlier, he had obtained a fifteen-hundred-year Thousand Illusion Bamboo Soul Ring after it was artificially cultivated.

He gained a soul skill called Bamboo Forest Mirage.

This soul skill could release a large number of Lone Bamboos at once, creating a mirage that was difficult to distinguish from reality.

Within the mirage, not only would one's spiritual power be suppressed.

It would also cause enemies to lose their sense of direction.

Lin Yuan, on the other hand, could enhance his own spiritual power while moving freely within it. He could also use the mirage as cover and combine it with Lone Bamboo Throw to launch surprise attacks on enemies.

Most importantly, he could project his first Soul Ring onto his second Soul Ring, thereby changing the color of his Soul Ring.

It was an extremely practical soul skill.

At the same time, after killing that Thousand Illusion Bamboo, Lin Yuan obtained a Wisdom Skull.

This strengthened Lin Yuan's suspicion that plant soul beasts cultivated through the Plastic Palm-Heaven Bottle could drop soul bones.

Afterward, he tried twice more, only to be greatly disappointed.

Because plant soul beasts cultivated by the Plastic Palm-Heaven Bottle had to be raised starting from ten-year soul beasts in order to drop soul bones.

Plant soul beasts over a hundred years old would not.

It was a rather useless ability.

With the mindset that something was better than nothing, Lin Yuan put away this Thousand Illusion Bamboo Wisdom Soul Bone, then began using all the Green Liquid to cultivate his Lone Bamboo Martial Soul.

Finally, on the day before he set off for Suotuo City Intermediate Soul Master Academy.

The quality of his Lone Bamboo Martial Soul broke through to the ten-thousand-year level.

The bamboo stalk turned a dark jade color, as if carved from emerald. A faint green glow flowed across its body, greatly increasing the attack power of Lone Bamboo Throw.

The coverage range of Bamboo Forest Mirage also increased from an initial diameter of twenty or thirty meters to over fifty meters.

Perhaps once it broke through to one hundred thousand years, it would be able to reach a range of over a thousand meters.