A Powerful Soul Skill: Elementalization!

Soul Hunting Forest.

Tang San sat cross-legged before a Datura Snake, gritting his teeth as he endured the surge of Soul Power.

Yu Xiaogang crouched beside him, his face pale but his eyes brighter than ever.

He watched the yellow Soul Ring slowly take shape around Tang San. His grin spread so wide it nearly reached his ears.

"Xiao San, I knew you wouldn't disappoint me! A first Soul Ring over four hundred years old—it's already close to the theoretical limit!"

Tang San slowly opened his eyes. A flash of purple crossed them, and a faint smile touched his lips.

"Teacher, I'm glad I lived up to your expectations."

"Hahaha!"

Yu Xiaogang threw back his head and laughed. Only when he had laughed his fill did he compose himself and assume an air of inscrutable wisdom.

"That Jiang Hao brat is probably still worrying about where to find a suitable soul beast. And Xiao Wu? I doubt she's even close to getting a Soul Ring."

He paused, a smug glint in his eyes.

"When they see your Soul Ring, what do you think their faces will look like?"

Tang San pictured it, and disdain flashed in his eyes. "They'll probably be shocked."

"Shocked?"

Yu Xiaogang shook his head with a sneer. "Far more than shocked! They'll understand what they lost by passing up my guidance!"

He clasped his hands behind his back and looked up at the sky.

It was as though he could already see Jiang Hao and Xiao Wu kneeling before him, weeping as they begged him to take them as disciples.

Two days later.

A carriage came to a slow stop outside Notting Academy.

Jiang Hao jumped down, patted the horse, and headed into the academy.

He went straight to the Academic Affairs Office. After explaining the situation to Director Su, he hurried back to the dormitory.

Inside, Jiang Hao glanced around and saw that Xiao Wu wasn't there.

"Could she be in class?"

He dismissed the thought as soon as it occurred to him.

The odds of Xiao Wu going to class of her own accord were about the same as the sun rising in the west.

Then Jiang Hao caught sight of a note on the table.

He picked it up and read it. Sure enough, Xiao Wu had left it.

The note said that after eating the Whale Rubber, her physical condition had improved, so she had gone home to obtain a Soul Ring. Jiang Hao wasn't to worry.

Beside her signature, she had drawn a crooked carrot as proof it was really from her.

Jiang Hao knew the girl had probably reached the limit of her cultivation and found somewhere to form a Soul Ring.

He wondered whether his intervention would let Xiao Wu form a Soul Ring with a higher age.

That was up to her, though.

Jiang Hao sat in a chair and raised his right hand, palm up. With a thought, he activated his power.

In an instant, a layer of silvery-white flame surged from his body and spread across his skin, enveloping him completely.

The flames weren't hot. Instead, they carried a strange coolness, like liquid arcs of electricity flowing over his skin.

The first soul skill the Innate Fire Spirit had given Jiang Hao was called Fire Spirit Body.

Its effect was simple and powerful: once activated, it increased all Jiang Hao's attributes by one hundred percent and boosted the power of his flames by another fifty percent.

With that in mind, Jiang Hao willed his first Soul Ring to light up.

In an instant, Silver-White Flame erupted from within him, spread across his skin, and enveloped him completely.

Jiang Hao looked down at himself. A thin film of Silver-White Flame covered his skin, with visible arcs of electricity dancing at his fingertips.

"Hm? This feels..."

Jiang Hao raised his right hand and froze.

Beneath the flames, his fingers had turned faintly translucent, as if they were made of pure fire energy.

"Could it be..."

Jiang Hao reached toward the wooden table beside him.

The moment his fingers touched its surface, they passed straight through without the slightest resistance, as though his hand had no solid form.

"Holy crap! Fire elementalization?!"

Jiang Hao's eyes lit up.

He sprang to his feet and bounced twice in place, feeling out his body's new state.

He felt light enough to float away at any moment, yet strangely solid at the same time.

"Bai Qian! Bai Qian!"

Jiang Hao called toward the door.

A white figure appeared soundlessly in the doorway and knelt on one knee. "Young Master, what are your orders?"

"Get up, get up. No need to kneel."

Jiang Hao waved a hand, excitement all over his face. "Attack me."

Bai Qian stared. "Young Master, what did you say?"

"I said attack me. I want to test this soul skill."

Bai Qian frowned. "Young Master, I—"

"Don't dawdle. Hit me. I know what I'm doing."

Bai Qian fell silent for a moment. At last, he stood and clenched his right fist.

"Forgive me, Young Master."

With that, Bai Qian threw a punch. It wasn't fast, and he used only a fraction of his strength.

His fist struck Jiang Hao square in the chest.

Then Bai Qian's fist passed straight through.

It was like punching air. There was no resistance, no sensation of impact.

Jiang Hao looked down at the fist passing through his chest and grinned. "It works!"

Bai Qian pulled back his fist. His pupils contracted, and for the first time, surprise showed on his face.

"Young Master, what is this...?"

"It's my first soul skill. It also lets me turn my body into fire."

Jiang Hao explained, "In this fire-elemental state, physical attacks basically can't hurt me."

"Physical attacks can't hurt you?!" Bai Qian exclaimed in shock.

As an assault-type Douluo with a tool martial soul, he understood better than anyone what immunity to physical attacks meant.

Of his nine soul skills, six dealt physical damage, excluding his Martial Soul Avatar.

The remaining two consisted of one enhancement skill and one defensive skill.

In other words, a full six of his soul skills would be useless against Jiang Hao!

And a skill this powerful had appeared on a first Soul Ring.

Given how little Soul Power a first Soul Ring consumed, Jiang Hao could keep this state active indefinitely in the future, as long as he had enough Soul Power!

It was practically a divine skill!

Jiang Hao gauged how quickly his Soul Power was draining and raised an eyebrow.

"This fire-elemental state uses a lot of Soul Power. Right now, I can maintain it for two minutes at most."

He clicked his tongue, a little disappointed, but soon shrugged it off.

He was only level fourteen. Two minutes of invulnerability was already absurdly powerful.

Once his Soul Power Level rose, the duration would naturally increase.

Jiang Hao deactivated the skill. The Silver-White Flame around him slowly faded, and his body returned to normal.

He looked at Bai Qian, then suddenly thought of something. His eyes lit up. "Oh, right. Bai Qian, do you know any meditation methods?"

Bai Qian paused. "Meditation methods?"

"Yes."

Jiang Hao nodded. "I'm using the most basic cultivation method right now, and it's too slow. Do you know anything more advanced?"

Bai Qian was silent for a moment, as though searching his memories. Then he said, "Young Master, I do remember two meditation methods."

"One is the Silver Moon Meditation Method. It uses moonlight to refine Soul Power. It's gentle and steady, suited to nighttime cultivation, and excellent for improving the purity of one's Soul Power."

"The other is the Blazing Sun Soul Gathering Technique. It uses the sun's power to temper Soul Power. It's forceful and intense, and cultivation is extremely fast during the day, but it demands a strong body."