What Made Random Soul Skills Special-Let Su Yuntao Awaken My Martial Soul

On a small hilltop, two figures, one big and one small, sat back to back.

The setting sun cast a golden-red glow, painting the distant sky in enchanting colors.

"Shanzi, your martial soul will awaken in a few days. How are you feeling? Nervous?"

At Su Yuntao's question, Tang Shan took a deep breath and answered honestly.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous, but I've already done everything I possibly can: a perfectly healthy body and no shortage of nutrition. The rest is up to fate."

Hearing this, Su Yuntao dropped the subject of martial soul awakening and changed tack.

"Little brother, when are you publishing your sixth theory of martial souls? Quite a few of the Spirit Hall higher-ups have been asking Father about it. Bishop Salas even came in person this time."

"No rush, no rush. Probably after my martial soul awakens. It should cover martial soul quality."

"Martial soul quality?"

Su Yuntao sounded rather surprised and doubtful.

Tang Shan offered no further explanation. Instead, he teased him. "Big brother, it's been three years already. How come you still haven't reached level twenty?"

Su Yuntao replied irritably, "All this time, I've done nothing but exercise and cultivate. I've worked plenty hard, but my innate talent is what it is. Reaching the peak of level eighteen is already my limit, even with the improvement to my aptitude from absorbing a soul ring."

Apparently remembering something else, Su Yuntao looked even more annoyed.

"And then there's that Sisi from the Spirit Hall. She keeps hanging around me all day, getting in the way of my cultivation."

At this, Tang Shan turned his head and gave his big brother a strange look. After confirming that his expression was genuine and he wasn't just humblebragging, Tang Shan felt even more bemused.

"She ought to know that youth is the prime time to cultivate. She's young too, so why isn't she focusing on her cultivation instead of hanging around me all day?"

Oh no! I've turned my big brother into a cultivation fanatic.

Tang Shan observed a moment of silence for Sisi. Was this what they meant by the tables turning? In other parallel worlds, she might have had Brother Tao wrapped around her finger, but in this one, things had been completely reversed.

"All right, little brother. Let's head back. Father should be back from soul hunting in a few days."

Su Yuntao stood and brushed the dust off his clothes. Tang Shan rose too, following his big brother down the hill.

Wisps of cooking smoke rose from the nearby village, accompanied by the sounds of children playing, roosters crowing, and more.

After taking a long look at the village, Tang Shan and Su Yuntao set off back to Notting City.

That was Holy Soul Village, where the story began. If nothing had changed, the gears of fate would begin turning in that tiny village, eventually affecting the entire continent.

Unfortunately, everything had already changed. There was no telling whether that "God King" would still appear along the course of history.

The dense forest blotted out the sky and sun, allowing only scattered rays of light to slip through tiny gaps.

A giant wolf nearly three meters long, its entire body snow-white, lay lifeless.

A deep-purple soul ring encircled Su Haichao, and powerful fluctuations of soul power radiated from him. Clearly, he was close to completing his breakthrough.

With his hands clasped behind his back, Salas studied Su Haichao with interest.

"Decent talent. He has a chance of becoming a Soul Saint in his lifetime."

As Heaven Dou City's platinum bishop, Salas should never have personally led Su Haichao to hunt for a soul ring, even if the latter had the potential to become a Soul Saint. Potential was one thing; fully realizing it was another. Unless...

Su Haichao was a peak Soul Emperor, only one soul ring away from becoming a Soul Saint.

"How fortunate. All because His Highness took an interest in that master theorist hiding behind the scenes."

Salas stroked his chin. He had personally brought Su Haichao on this soul hunt under orders from the "Heaven Dou Crown Prince," to prevent any accident from befalling Su Haichao and cutting off their connection to that mysterious master.

The Spirit Hall had considered sending people to follow him in secret. In the end, however, even Salas had personally taken action without finding any trace of that expert. The higher-ups eventually agreed that the expert was at least a Titled Douluo, perhaps even a stronger Super Douluo. Otherwise, leaving absolutely no trace would have been impossible.

In the end, the Spirit Hall simply abandoned its pursuit of the master's true identity. Given the other party's actual strength, there was no way their earlier surveillance had gone unnoticed. If they kept sending stronger people to investigate, they might completely alienate this master. Even if they couldn't recruit the master, obtaining those theories alone was already an enormous gain.

Naturally, some suspected that the master might be Su Haichao himself, but the Spirit Hall's Titled Douluos immediately rejected that possibility.

Quite apart from what benefit Su Haichao, already a member of the Spirit Hall, could gain by publishing theories anonymously, their depth alone made it impossible for a mere Soul Elder to have developed them.

As one of the Spirit Hall's titled elders put it, "Don't be fooled by how simple these theories look. After reading them, we feel there's nothing much to them. But ask yourselves: before these theories were published, who among us understood any of this?

"To put it bluntly, we've been handed this senior's achievements for free. This senior must have an exceptionally profound cultivation base. Only after spending many years reflecting on cultivation could someone distill such concise, insightful principles from that wealth of understanding.

"I even suspect this senior has suffered some misfortune and may not have long to live. Otherwise, if the goal was to publish these theories, joining any sect or academy would have been enough to showcase that talent, even without joining our Spirit Hall. Why announce these findings to the continent through us?"

The moment this speculation emerged, many Titled Douluos quickly endorsed it. The image of an elderly senior nearing the end of life yet deeply concerned about the development of Soul Masters naturally formed in their minds.

At that moment, this "master" with "profound cultivation" who was "nearing the end of his life" was happily welcoming his father home.

"Dad, how did the soul ring hunt go?"

Su Haichao had barely settled into his seat at home before Tang Shan eagerly approached him.

For this soul hunt, Tang Shan had once again asked Su Haichao to conduct a soul ring experiment. This time, his idea had been even bolder: he had asked Su Haichao to aim for a domain soul skill.

At Tang Shan's question, Su Haichao looked at him with a reassuring expression. "Shanzi, it's all right if you got it wrong this time. Failure is perfectly normal when researching theories."

Hearing Su Haichao's roundabout reassurance, Tang Shan naturally understood the experiment's outcome, but he wasn't discouraged.

"Dad, don't worry. I'm not disappointed. It makes sense when you think about it. Domain soul skills are so special and so rare that they couldn't possibly be that easy to obtain. I just wonder whether the soul ring wasn't old enough, or whether there are other requirements for obtaining a domain soul skill."

"But Dad, you got a random soul skill this time. What does it do?"

At Tang Shan's question, a hint of pride appeared on Su Haichao's face.

"Although I got a random soul skill this time, its effect is pretty good. Bishop Salas helped me kill a White Sky Wolf nearly five thousand years old. After absorbing its soul ring, I gained the soul skill Teleportation."

Tang Shan's eyes lit up. "Are there any restrictions? How much does it consume?"

"The amount of soul power I use determines the distance I move. There's no limit on the number of uses. Also, when I teleport, my body has to bear some of the pressure from moving through space."

"Great, great, great! That really is an excellent skill."

Tang Shan's eyes shone. Its seemingly simple effect held considerable potential.

Even setting everything else aside, the fact that using more soul power increased the teleportation distance already made it worth more than an ordinary Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring—far more, in fact.

A Soul Master's soul power level could increase. In other words, the higher his cultivation, the farther he could teleport. If he reached the Titled Douluo level, perhaps calling it spatial translocation rather than teleportation would be more appropriate.

The soul skill's actual effect felt little different from an external soul bone that grew alongside its Soul Master.

The only restriction was probably physical fitness. But that so-called spatial pressure gave Tang Shan another idea.

Spatial pressure acted on every part of the body and increased with the teleportation distance. Wasn't that a perfect, ready-made method for tempering the body?

Thanks to Tang Shan's imaginative leap, Su Haichao realized, dumbfounded, that he had still vastly underestimated what he had gained from this breakthrough. He had hit the jackpot beyond all belief.

"Dad, over the next few days, use your teleportation soul skill as much as you can between resting and dealing with work. Try to get a feel for the maximum spatial pressure your body can withstand, so you won't be caught unprepared in an emergency."

As he spoke, Tang Shan shook his head regretfully.

"What a shame, Dad. When you absorb a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring later,

"it'll place pretty high demands on your spiritual power. Otherwise, with your powerful body alone, you might be able to get a thirty-thousand-year fifth ring."

"Then, Shanzi, do you think we could get your big brother a similar soul skill when he makes his breakthrough?"

Tang Shan rubbed his chin, but ultimately shook his head.

"Dad, I suspect your soul skill is so special purely because a lucky coincidence brought out this soul ring's full potential. Combined with how closely that wolf's essence matched your martial soul, it produced this effect.

"If you actively interfere with the soul ring's soul skill through your consciousness, obtaining such an incredible skill probably won't be possible.

"You essentially rolled the most suitable skill at random. Interfering through your consciousness to obtain a soul skill, on the other hand, is like sacrificing some of the skill's potential in exchange for the effect you want."

"Is that so?"

Su Haichao felt a little disappointed. After all, if both his sons could obtain this special soul skill, he would hardly need to worry about their safety in the future.

"All right, Father. Whether to take a random soul skill or choose one will ultimately be up to Big Brother when the time comes. One is a gamble on luck, while the other guarantees a result.

"I never expected a random soul skill to have an effect like this. It seems I've been a little dismissive of the original way Soul Masters cultivate. That won't do."

Seeing his son sink into thought again, Su Haichao rapped Tang Shan on the head in exasperation.

"Why think so much? Get to bed early tonight. Tomorrow, we're awakening your martial soul."

Only then did Tang Shan remember that tomorrow was the day his fate would be decided. He really should get some rest early tonight.

Suddenly remembering something, he looked at Su Haichao, who had risen to leave for work at the Spirit Hall.

"Dad, how about letting Big Brother awaken my martial soul tomorrow...?"

"Sure, either way."

Su Haichao looked back, slightly surprised. But awakening a martial soul didn't require any particular technical skill, so he simply agreed.

PS: Thanks to Dong Sanfan, Wu 0, Li Yufa, Book Friend 20190219152221283, DR True Red K, and 52HERTZ929 for your recommendation votes.