First Soul Skill

When Xiao Wu heard Qin Muchu say he had a present for her, her eyes lit up at once. "A present? What is it?"

"Close your eyes. You'll find out in a moment," Qin Muchu said mysteriously.

"Hmph. Trying to be mysterious." Xiao Wu pouted but obediently closed her eyes, holding out her two little hands cupped together.

Qin Muchu changed the Disguise Soul Tool into a ring, then took Xiao Wu's left hand and slipped it onto her middle finger.

Xiao Wu opened her eyes and stared blankly at the ring on her finger. Her face, which had only just returned to normal, flushed bright red again. She lowered her head. "Wh-why would you give me a ring out of nowhere?"

Seeing Xiao Wu so shy, Qin Muchu couldn't resist teasing her. "It's an heirloom of our Qin Family. It's meant for the family's future daughter-in-law."

This time, even Xiao Wu's rabbit ears turned pink. "I-I can't accept this. We're only seven. We're still children..." Despite what she said, she couldn't bring herself to take off the ring and give it back.

"..." Qin Muchu suddenly felt like a beast. However he looked at it, Xiao Wu in her transformed form really was a little girl right now.

He dropped his teasing expression and said seriously, "All right, all right, I won't tease you anymore. It's actually a Soul Tool. It can change shape into a ring, necklace, or bracelet. As for what it does, it can conceal your aura and disguise Soul Rings by changing their colors."

Hearing that it could conceal her aura, Xiao Wu panicked. Does he know something?

Qin Muchu caught the panic in her eyes and explained, "You're so talented. What if someone gets jealous? Wearing this will save you a lot of trouble."

"So that's it." Xiao Wu breathed a sigh of relief. She tried sensing her aura and found that she could no longer detect her Soul Beast aura at all. Excitement rose in her chest. Before, she had always lived in fear of someone discovering her identity. With this Soul Tool, wouldn't she never have to be afraid in the human world again?

"Thank you, Xiao Chu," Xiao Wu said earnestly.

"Hey, you don't need to thank me."

"Oh, right, Xiao Chu." Xiao Wu suddenly remembered something. "You spent so long cultivating without eating or drinking. Did you make a breakthrough?"

Only when Xiao Wu mentioned it did Qin Muchu remember that he had broken through to Soul Master. He checked his Soul Power and said smugly, "Nothing much. I just went up nine levels and happened to catch up with you."

"Mmm, only nine levels, then you'll have to... What? Nine levels?" Xiao Wu's eyes flew wide with disbelief.

"Yep, haha. I'm level sixteen now too. Impressed?" Qin Muchu released his Martial Soul to show off, and a white Soul Ring slowly emerged.

"You really did break through to Soul Master. But how is that possible? You were only level seven before you shut yourself away." Xiao Wu was still reeling. She felt as though her past hundred thousand years had been for nothing. Nine levels in just three days—who would believe it? "How did you do it?"

"I have my godfather to thank for that. He gave me an immortal pill. After I ate it and absorbed a Soul Ring, I reached level sixteen." Qin Muchu tossed out a flimsy excuse. This little rabbit would come up with all sorts of excuses when she formed her own Soul Rings later anyway, so they were even.

"Your godfather? The God of Wealth?"

"That's right."

"Hmph. Fine, don't tell me. Do you think I'm stupid? Besides, didn't you go straight into seclusion when you got home? When did you have time to get a Soul Ring? And why is it a Ten-Year Soul Ring?" Xiao Wu pouted. Clearly, she didn't believe a word of his explanation.

"Well... I broke through in the middle of the night and went straight out to find a Soul Beast. You were asleep, so of course you didn't know. As for the Soul Ring, with these scrawny arms and legs, I could only handle a ten-year Soul Beast." His excuse was still flimsy. In truth, Qin Muchu had no idea why the Soul Ring was white either. He had thought a Million-Year Soul Ring should be gold, but only discovered it was white after extracting it. On closer inspection, though, this ring differed from an ordinary Ten-Year Soul Ring. Its color was much richer, and a layer of flowing light shimmered across its surface.

Xiao Wu said nothing. She just stared at Qin Muchu, her expression asking whether he really thought she believed him.

Qin Muchu rubbed his nose and promptly changed the subject. "Enough about that. Don't you want to know what my Soul Skills are? This Soul Ring gave me two."

"What? Two Soul Skills? How is that possible? Usually only Soul Rings over a hundred thousand years old grant two Soul Skills. How could your ten-year ring have two?" Xiao Wu had thought Qin Muchu had shocked her enough for one day, only for him to produce yet another trump card. When she saw his eyes darting around, plainly searching for another excuse, she snapped, "If you don't want to tell me, then don't. Just tell me what your two Soul Skills are."

"Heh. Xiao Wu knows how to be reasonable." Qin Muchu gave her a cheeky grin. He had no idea how to explain the system to her. Besides, she was so excitable that he was afraid this rabbit might let it slip by accident. Better to wait until she had spent more time in human society and learned how to deal with people before telling her bit by bit.

"My first Soul Skill is called Ten Thousand Transformations, One Edge. It's a Power Attack System skill. When activated, it sends out a crescent-shaped blade of sword energy. Its power and range grow with my level. It also has another ability: I can merge the effects of other Soul Skills into it, temporarily infusing them into that strike. For every additional Soul Ring I gain, I can add one more effect."

"Oh. Doesn't sound all that impressive." Xiao Wu touched a finger to her lips.

Qin Muchu was speechless. "My second Soul Skill is called Boundless Reversal Barrier. It's a defensive skill that forms a ring-shaped barrier of sword energy three feet around me. It provides absolute defense, working equally well against elemental, physical, and mental attacks. Its defensive strength also grows with my Soul Power Level. The barrier has one more effect: against any type of attack below the divine level, it devours thirty percent of the attack's energy and converts it into more defense for itself. Thanks to that, at my current Soul Power Level, no Battle Soul Master below level thirty can break through it."

"You're bragging again. Below level thirty includes level twenty-nine Soul Grandmasters." Xiao Wu didn't believe him at all.

Qin Muchu smiled and explained, "Level twenty-nine is no problem. Look, the energy my skill devours goes straight into defending me, leaving the attacker with only seventy percent of their attack's energy. Then the energy I absorbed cancels out another thirty percent of the original attack. That leaves their effective attack power at just forty percent. How could forty percent of a level twenty-nine Soul Grandmaster's attack break through my sword-energy barrier?"