Twenty Percent Boost! Tang San Was Stunned!

Tang San took his place ten paces away. He turned his right hand, and Blue Silver Grass spread from his palm, its blue vines growing rapidly.

His first Soul Ring lit up, and a yellow halo rose from beneath his feet.

"First soul skill: Entanglement."

Several strands of Blue Silver Grass shot out at once toward Xiao Wu. They weren't especially fast, but they covered a wide area.

Xiao Wu didn't dodge.

She waited until the Blue Silver Grass was two paces away, then put the force of Waist Bow behind a sweeping kick with her flame-wreathed right leg.

The top of her foot struck the vine's main stem.

Pfft...

Flames burst across it on contact, scorching the Blue Silver Grass black, but it didn't break.

Tang San felt a little relieved.

As expected, after absorbing a four-hundred-year Man-Faced Demon Spider, his Blue Silver Grass had become too tough for ordinary flames to destroy easily.

But the next instant, Xiao Wu kicked again.

The same strand of Blue Silver Grass. The same spot.

This time, the flames burned against the already charred section for nearly a full second.

Snap.

The Blue Silver Grass from his first soul skill, Entanglement, broke.

It snapped cleanly at the scorched spot. Black smoke rose from the break, its edges burned brittle.

Tang San's expression changed.

His Blue Silver Grass had been burned through?

After absorbing its first Soul Ring, his Blue Silver Grass had grown far tougher than an ordinary Martial Soul.

Forget an eleventh-level Soul Master—even a twentieth-level Soul Master would have trouble tearing it apart by hand without using a soul skill.

Yet Xiao Wu had burned through it with two kicks.

No, more precisely, the flames from the Fire-Controlling Talisman had burned through it. Xiao Wu's leg was merely the carrier; the layer of fire clinging to her body was what mattered.

Tang San released another strand of Blue Silver Grass. This time, he put more strength into it and poured in more Soul Power.

Xiao Wu kicked it three times.

On the third kick, the Blue Silver Grass snapped again.

"Little San, your grass is way too flimsy!" Xiao Wu drew back her leg, looking thoroughly unimpressed.

Tang San said nothing.

He knew his Blue Silver Grass wasn't flimsy.

The problem was the fire attribute.

Fire naturally countered plants. The flames attached by the Fire-Controlling Talisman dealt amplified damage to Blue Silver Grass.

"An elemental counter."

Lin Xuan spoke from the side.

"Blue Silver Grass is a plant-type Martial Soul, so it's naturally vulnerable to fire. This result tells us something, but it doesn't fully represent the Fire-Controlling Talisman's actual boost."

Tang San nodded. He understood that too.

"Then let's test it another way." Tang San withdrew his Blue Silver Grass and held out a hand to Lin Xuan. "Put one on me too."

That was exactly what Lin Xuan had been waiting to hear.

He summoned Talisman Paper and gathered Soul Power at his fingertips. A ring-shaped crimson pattern swiftly took form on the paper.

In less than ten seconds, a new Fire-Controlling Talisman was complete.

Lin Xuan pressed two fingers together and flicked the talisman out. It instantly attached itself to Tang San.

Fire flashed, and the Talisman Paper vanished.

A thin layer of flame appeared around Tang San, just like Xiao Wu's.

Heat seeped inward from his skin and merged with the circulation of his Soul Power.

Tang San could clearly feel a searing undercurrent running through the Soul Power in his body.

"Try your Blue Silver Grass," Lin Xuan said, stepping back a few paces.

Tang San turned his right hand, and Blue Silver Grass once again spread from his palm.

This time, its color had changed.

A faint fiery-red sheen covered the green vines.

Tang San whipped a strand of Blue Silver Grass against a nearby tree as thick as an arm.

Crack!

A charred whip mark appeared on the trunk. The bark split, and smoke still curled from its edges.

Tang San froze.

Since when had Blue Silver Grass possessed this kind of attack power?

He lashed out again.

The second strike hit the same tree. The scorch mark deepened, and the trunk tilted to one side.

Without the Fire-Controlling Talisman, Tang San would have needed at least five or six strikes to leave a mark on that tree.

Now, two lashes had knocked it askew.

Tang San withdrew his Blue Silver Grass and stood there calculating for a moment.

"About... a twenty percent increase."

He gave them a number.

Xiao Wu leaned in. "Twenty percent? What does that mean?"

"It means if one strike normally had ten parts of force, with the Fire-Controlling Talisman it now has twelve and a half."

Tang San looked at Lin Xuan, his expression complicated.

Lin Xuan asked, puzzled:

"Little San, are you sure?"

"I'm sure. I tested it twice. The impact and feedback were obvious. At least twenty percent, maybe a little more."

Xiao Wu didn't quite grasp what the number meant. She only knew fighting felt better, and she threw a couple of kicks at the air for fun.

But Tang San was different.

He remembered something Yu Xiaogang had said.

It was a theory his teacher had mentioned in passing the night before last, when Tang San had visited the small courtyard to learn the Meditation Method.

"A Support Soul Master's boosting ability is directly tied to their number of Soul Rings and their Soul Power Level.

Generally, a one-ring Support Soul Master who can raise a teammate's attack power by ten to fifteen percent is already considered excellent."

Ten percent.

That was the conclusion Yu Xiaogang had reached after decades of research. Spirit Hall's standards for training Support Soul Masters used that figure as a baseline too.

Even the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Martial Soul could only provide a twenty percent boost with one ring!

And Lin Xuan had one ring and was level eleven.

His boost was twenty percent too.

Twice the standard baseline.

Tang San stood there, turning that number over and over in his mind.

He suddenly felt fortunate that Lin Xuan came from the same village, that they shared a dorm room, and that no other faction had recruited him yet.

"Tang San?" Lin Xuan called. "What are you thinking about?"

Tang San came back to himself.

"I'm thinking your boost is... a little ridiculous."

"Ridiculous?"

"The normal boost from a one-ring Support Soul Master is ten percent. Yours is twenty." Tang San relayed Yu Xiaogang's theory to him.

Lin Xuan raised an eyebrow.

Twenty percent.

It made sense. At level eleven, even the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda could only provide a twenty percent boost.

His one-ring boost exceeded the standard for an ordinary one-ring Support Soul Master. It matched the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda!

And that wasn't even the greatest advantage of Talismans.

An ordinary Support Soul Master's boosting soul skill was a fixed ability granted directly by a Soul Ring. Its upper limit was set.

But as his Soul Power Level rose, the power of his Talismans would rise too!

At last, Xiao Wu understood.

"Wait! You're saying an ordinary one-ring Support Soul Master can only add ten percent, but Lin Xuan can add twenty?"

Tang San nodded, his expression serious. "Yes. Lin Xuan's support ability is extremely powerful, and those flames aren't ordinary fire either!"

Xiao Wu burst out laughing, her braid swinging behind her.

"Lin Xuan! From now on, you can support me! I'll take them down one kick at a time and be the strongest one there!"

Lin Xuan shook his head helplessly. "All right, all right. I'll count on you to protect me from now on, Xiao Wu."

"Of course!" Xiao Wu planted her hands on her hips and lifted her chin high. "Who'd dare bully you with me around?"