Solitary Bamboo Pole Vault

Xiao Wu's face went pale in an instant.

She instinctively took a step back, fists clenched, lips trembling. She tried to speak, but something seemed to have lodged in her throat.

Fear, panic, helplessness—all of it surged up at once and swallowed her whole.

She had imagined countless times what she would do if someone discovered her identity. But she had never imagined that person would be Lin Yuan.

"How... how did you know?" Her voice trembled.

"I had my suspicions back at Nuoding Academy." Lin Yuan looked at her. "You reacted strangely to a lot of everyday things. Then the Titan Giant Ape didn't hurt you, and there was that aura about you—that was when I became sure."

Xiao Wu's nose stung.

"Then... why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"Because there was no need," Lin Yuan said. "Whether you're a Soul Beast or a human makes no difference to me."

As for her aura, there was no way he could really have smelled it. He was just bluffing Xiao Wu.

Xiao Wu lowered her head and wiped at her face with the back of her hand, but the tears kept falling.

After a while, Xiao Wu sniffed, wiped away her tears, and sat down cross-legged, stilling her mind.

"What are you doing?" Lin Yuan asked.

"Forming my third Soul Ring," Xiao Wu said. "When Er Ming carried me off, my Soul Power stirred. It was just enough for me to break through."

As she spoke, Soul Power began to surge around her, and a purple Soul Ring slowly took shape within her. Moonlight fell across her, casting a faint glow.

About fifteen minutes later, Xiao Wu stood up. Three Soul Rings rose beneath her feet, two yellow and one purple. She brushed the dirt from her clothes, a smile back on her face.

"Come on. Let's go find the others."

She had just started to walk when Lin Yuan reached out and caught her wrist.

Xiao Wu froze and turned to look at him.

"Wait. There's something you need to know."

The serious look on his face made her heart sink. "What is it?"

"Tang Hao. A Titled Douluo. The Clear Sky Douluo. Tang San's father." Lin Yuan looked at her. "He was watching you from the shadows back at Nuoding Academy."

Xiao Wu's face turned deathly white, paler even than when she had learned her identity was exposed.

"Then... why didn't he make a move against me?"

"I don't know, but he's been keeping an eye on you," Lin Yuan said. "You're too close to Tang San. Sooner or later, something will happen."

Xiao Wu trembled slightly.

"Then... what should I do?"

Lin Yuan watched her for a moment, then let go.

"Stay in the Star Dou Great Forest for now. Don't go back."

Xiao Wu stared at him. "Not go back? But—"

"Once I find something that can hide your aura, I'll come get you," Lin Yuan said. "It won't be long."

He looked at her, his voice softening. "Do you trust me?"

Xiao Wu looked at him, taken aback.

Then she nodded.

"I trust you."

"Then wait here for me. I'll come get you soon."

Lin Yuan raised a hand and ruffled her hair, then turned and walked deeper into the forest. Moonlight stretched his shadow long across the ground. Xiao Wu stood where she was, watching his figure disappear bit by bit among the trees.

Dugu Bo would receive that message soon. Once he arrived, Lin Yuan could get the Immortal Herb and give it to Xiao Wu. Then she would be able to hide her aura completely.

Not long after Lin Yuan left, at the other end of the clearing.

Tang San awoke from his absorption. Three Soul Rings rose beneath his feet, two yellow and one purple. He looked down at his wounds. Most had healed while he absorbed the Soul Ring. The wound on his shoulder still ached faintly, but it no longer hindered his movement.

The Titan Giant Ape was nowhere to be seen. Back to camp first.

He got to his feet, checked his bearings, and headed toward the camp.

He had not gone far when something cracked beneath his foot.

Tang San looked down. It was a broken bamboo stalk, no thicker than an arm. Its joints stood out clearly, and the jagged break looked as though some enormous creature had snapped it with a single step.

The Titan Giant Ape's footprint was still beside it.

He was about to step over it when a faint green light flashed inside the broken stalk.

Tang San stopped.

He crouched and pulled apart the split bamboo joints. Inside the hollow stalk, a cluster of emerald light hovered quietly. He could just make out the shape of a bamboo bone within it. The glow was gentle, carrying the crisp, clean scent of growing things.

A Soul Bone. An External Soul Bone from a Hundred-Year Solitary Bamboo.

Tang San gripped the bamboo bone, and a memory suddenly flashed through his mind.

It was back at Nuoding Academy, when Yu Xiaogang had taken him to the Soul Hunting Forest to learn about Soul Beasts. At the edge of a grove, Yu Xiaogang had pointed to a solitary bamboo stalk, his tone utterly serious.

"Xiao San, look at this Lone Bamboo. It's a Soul Beast too, a plant-type one. A Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo grows no taller than ten meters. Its strength is its toughness. It isn't very aggressive, but its defenses are good."

"This Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo would suit you well. If we don't find a better choice, it'll have to be this one."

Tang San came back to himself and looked at the cluster of emerald light in his hand.

A Lone Bamboo. A Hundred-Year Solitary Bamboo snapped beneath the Titan Giant Ape's foot.

But Yu Xiaogang had said this Lone Bamboo suited him well.

Tang San gritted his teeth, sat down cross-legged, pressed the bamboo bone to his right palm, and channeled his Soul Power.

Emerald light poured from the bamboo bone and flowed through his meridians into his right hand. A cool, resilient force spread through his bones, as though something were taking root inside them.

The process was much slower than absorbing a Soul Ring. The Soul Bone's energy seeped into his bones strand by strand, and each strand sent a dull, stabbing ache through his right hand. Tang San guided it with his Soul Power, fine beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

Moonlight slipped through gaps in the canopy overhead and fell across him. He sat with his eyes closed, breathing steadily, without moving a muscle.

After an unknown length of time, the pain in his right hand gradually faded, replaced by a warm feeling of fullness.

Tang San opened his eyes.

A faint emerald halo rose from his right palm. Within it, the slender image of a bamboo joint flickered in and out of view, then slowly sank beneath his skin and vanished.

He had finished absorbing the Hundred-Year Solitary Bamboo External Soul Bone.

He instinctively channeled his Soul Power, and the emerald halo around his right palm blazed. The next instant, the image of an arm-thick Green Bamboo stalk sprang from the ground and launched him into the air.

Before Tang San could even react, he was already more than ten meters up.

The night wind rushed down his collar. He looked at the treetops sweeping past below, his mind utterly blank.

Then—

He began to fall.

Tang San flung out his Blue Silver Grass in a panic. It barely caught a branch, leaving him dangling in midair. He swung twice before awkwardly steadying himself.

He looked down at his right hand, then at the Green Bamboo image that had yet to disappear. The expression on his face was hard to describe.

Soul Bone Skill: Solitary Bamboo Pole Vault.

It formed a Green Bamboo stalk from his right palm, which sprang off the ground and launched the user high into the air.

That was all.

No offensive power. No defensive power. Just a pole vault.

Tang San hung from the branch in silence for a long time.

"...At least it's a Soul Bone."

He took a deep breath, jumped down from the tree, brushed the leaves off his clothes, and walked toward the camp. After a few steps, he glanced down at his right hand again and muttered, "Forget it. It's better than nothing."

Tang San pushed the thought aside, turned, and hurried toward the camp.