Once Gu Ping'an finished absorbing his Soul Ring, Dugu Bo cast an inquisitive glance at his fourth ring.
After several Soul Hunting trips with Gu Ping'an, he had gradually worked out a pattern.
To obtain a particular Soul Ring ability, they needed to find a Soul Beast with that ability. If the Martial Soul and Soul Beast were compatible enough, there was a strong chance of inheriting the Soul Beast's ability.
The Thousand-Leaf Clone Vine's clones, the liquid slime's transformations, and Yanyan's defensive and strength boosts from the earth tyrannosaur all followed that pattern.
With his experience as a Titled Douluo, he could guess most of the Soul Ring ability Gu Ping'an had obtained.
"Not bad. I'm very satisfied!"
Gu Ping'an's gaze sharpened.
"Fourth Soul Skill: Blue Silver Boundless!"
Blue Silver Grass spread out in a sweeping blanket, covering a hundred-meter radius.
"Isn't it a little weak?" Dugu Bo asked after studying the area covered by the Blue Silver Grass for a while.
The ten thousand binding heavenly net vine had occupied more than eight hundred square meters, but he had only inherited a little over a hundred?
Gu Ping'an gently shook his head.
"This isn't its limit. Or rather, this skill has no limit."
With a thought, the area covered by the Blue Silver Grass rapidly expanded, reaching four hundred square meters almost instantly.
"The more Soul Power I put into it, the wider the area it covers.
As long as I have enough Soul Power, I could even cover the entire Douluo Continent."
Dugu Bo nodded. "Not bad, then. But making it powerful enough will probably consume quite a lot of Soul Power."
Gu Ping'an smiled without answering. Dugu Bo was only considering the Soul Skill on its own.
Combined with his devouring ability, it could devour vitality and Soul Power on contact. His Blue Silver Grass could easily use his enemies' Soul Power to fuel its own growth.
With this skill, he had no reason to fear battles against large groups. He could even grow stronger the longer he fought.
Then there was his Blue Silver Domain. Paired together, they would be even more powerful.
"Ping'an, what Soul Beast do you think I should find for my fourth ring?"
Dugu Yan asked as she sensed her own rank-thirty-nine Soul Power.
Dugu Bo, who had been surveying their surroundings, also turned his gaze toward them.
Gu Ping'an knew quite a few Soul Beasts, and Dugu Bo wanted to hear what he would recommend for Yanyan.
Dugu Yan's fourth ring?
Gu Ping'an thought for a while, then looked at Dugu Yan with a slight frown.
"I don't know what you want, so I can only tell you what I'd recommend."
"The ten-thousand-patterned wyvern's strongest ability is greatly boosting all its attributes for a limited time to enhance its combat strength. Taking its Soul Ring would very likely give you a boosting Soul Skill.
The swift pterosaur is fast and has powerful impact force. It would very likely give you a speed-type Soul Skill.
The grayrock heavy-armored dragon excels in both defense and strength. It would very likely give you a Soul Skill that boosts both."
"Gu brat, you want Yanyan to obtain a ten-thousand-patterned wyvern's Soul Ring?" Dugu Bo interjected from beside them.
Gu Ping'an did not deny it. He nodded gently and said,
"With Yanyan's talent, she'll definitely become a Titled Douluo someday.
If her first few Soul Rings grant offensive abilities, they'll be practically useless later on.
Boosting and utility abilities are the best choices."
Utility abilities, such as his Healing, Clone, and transformation, would still be useful later on.
Boosting abilities needed no explanation. They were like the red and blue buffs in a game.
"But then I'll have four boosting Soul Skills," Dugu Yan said, staring at Gu Ping'an.
"What's wrong with that?" Gu Ping'an countered.
If he were in Dugu Yan's position, he might choose nine boosting Soul Skills, then smash down a giant Rasengan.
What couldn't one Rasengan solve?
If there was anything, he'd just use another.
"All right, then. I'll look for a ten-thousand-patterned wyvern when the time comes."
"All right! It's time we headed back," Dugu Bo said, reaching out to ruffle Dugu Yan's hair.
Before they left to hunt for Soul Rings, he had heard that Prince Xue Xing was looking for him. He might as well return and see what the prince wanted this time.
Dugu Bo went to see Prince Xue Xing.
Dugu Yan returned to the Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
Gu Ping'an naturally returned to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
"What are you doing?"
Xiao Wu lay near the red-and-blue pool, holding a stalk of Blue Silver Grass and stuffing it into her mouth.
"You're eating Blue Silver Grass?"
Gu Ping'an gave the half-eaten stalk in Xiao Wu's hand a strange look.
It had been a year, and he had never seen her eat Blue Silver Grass!
He had thought Blue Silver Grass was only food for ordinary rabbits.
Xiao Wu stiffly turned her head in a daze to look at Gu Ping'an, who had suddenly appeared, with half a stalk of Blue Silver Grass still in her mouth.
"I... could what you're seeing possibly be an illusion?" Xiao Wu asked awkwardly.
"You're an illusion?" Gu Ping'an used Teleportation to appear beside Xiao Wu and rapped her forehead with his knuckles.
"Ow!"
Xiao Wu clutched her aching forehead and glared furiously at Gu Ping'an.
"It's just a few stalks of your Blue Silver Grass! Don't forget, I planted all the Blue Silver Grass here."
"Uh..."
Gu Ping'an faltered slightly. Had he ever said she could not eat the Blue Silver Grass?
"I'm asking why you're eating Blue Silver Grass," Gu Ping'an said, staring at Xiao Wu in exasperation.
"Huh? You weren't scolding me for eating Blue Silver Grass?"
Xiao Wu's angry bluster deflated at once, and she poked her fingers together in embarrassment.
"The Blue Silver Grass here tastes good!"
As though she had brought up something delightful, a smile immediately blossomed across Xiao Wu's face.
"The Blue Silver Grass outside tastes a little bitter. You have to chew it for a while before it becomes slightly sweet.
But the Blue Silver Grass here tastes nice and cool on one side. It doesn't have that bitterness the grass outside has. It's sweet from the first bite."
Xiao Wu pointed toward the side with the red pool water. "The Blue Silver Grass over here tastes warm, and it doesn't have that bitterness either."
Had it mutated?
After hearing Xiao Wu out, Gu Ping'an carefully examined the Blue Silver Grass on the ground.
He casually pulled up a stalk and put it into his mouth. It was cool and sweet, no worse than the snacks ordinary families ate-perhaps even better.
He had previously noticed that the Blue Silver Grass planted at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well was gradually taking on some ice and fire power, but he had paid it no mind.
What was strange about plants growing at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well becoming imbued with ice and fire power?
Now that Xiao Wu said the faint bitterness characteristic of Blue Silver Grass had disappeared, and he had tasted it himself, he could not help examining it seriously.
"It doesn't seem to have merely seeped into them?"
Gu Ping'an moved far from the red-and-blue pool, approaching the edge of the poison miasma.
"The Blue Silver Grass here contains ice and fire power too!" Gu Ping'an gently brushed his fingers over the grass.
"What's strange about it containing ice and fire power?" Xiao Wu asked, looking puzzled.
"All the Blue Silver Grass here has changed. Half tastes nice and cool, and half tastes warm."
"You don't understand what I mean." Gu Ping'an glanced at Xiao Wu and said,
"The ice and fire power spreads outward from the pool, its energy gradually weakening.
Even if the Blue Silver Grass at the edges became imbued with ice and fire power, it should be extremely faint.
But..."
Gu Ping'an lowered his head, his gaze settling on the Blue Silver Grass on the ground.
"The ice and fire power they contain exceeds the ice and fire energy radiating to the edges.
That means they can already generate ice and fire power on their own. They've gone beyond ordinary Blue Silver Grass."
"You're saying they won't turn back even if we put them outside?" Xiao Wu looked in surprise at the Blue Silver Grass carpeting the ground.
"That's wonderful! Delicious Blue Silver Grass can grow everywhere from now on."
"..."
Gu Ping'an was speechless. Only someone like Xiao Wu, who considered herself a Soft Bone Rabbit, would want to plant delicious Blue Silver Grass all over the continent.
"All right! You can eat it, but don't even think about planting the Blue Silver Grass from here outside," Gu Ping'an instructed.
It was precisely because Blue Silver Grass had a slight bitterness that it had not become food for every living creature.
If it became exceptionally delicious, that would spell disaster for Blue Silver Grass.
Setting aside the issue of the Blue Silver Grass, Gu Ping'an returned to the edge of the ice-and-fire pool.
"Clone, come forth!"
Several clones appeared around him.
Dugu Yan's remark that her fourth ring could be six or seven thousand years old at most had made him think of a problem.
Tang San's divine trials would very likely increase the ages of his Soul Rings. If Gu Ping'an continued cultivating as he was now, his later Soul Rings would probably fall far behind by comparison.
He needed a way to keep strengthening his physique so he could obtain older Soul Rings later.
There was also Sea God Island. He had to find someone to probe the situation and see whether the Sea God had long since planned with the Asura God to have Tang San bear both gods in one body.
He would have to find someone talented enough to test the waters.
Before you continue