Early the next morning, Lin Chen woke beside the campfire.
He had slept fairly soundly the night before, but the forest morning carried a chill, and dew had dampened the hem of his clothes.
He sat up and stretched his stiff limbs. Looking up, he saw Mo Yuan crouching beside the campfire, adding firewood at an unhurried pace.
Sparks crackled, and warmth rose little by little, driving away the morning chill.
Zhu Zhuqing sat beneath a tree not far away, her eyes gently closed as her aura slowly circulated around her.
She was adjusting to the surge of soul power she had absorbed the night before. With the rise and fall of her breathing, her newly acquired fourth soul ring flickered around her, exuding a steady, restrained sense of strength.
Overnight, her presence had grown far steadier than it had been yesterday, with a faint edge of cold, shadowy sharpness.
Lin Chen watched quietly without disturbing her. Only when Zhu Zhuqing opened her eyes did he ask, "How do you feel?"
Zhu Zhuqing softly exhaled a stale breath and stood, a rare trace of joy in her expression. "Very good. After absorbing the Netherworld Sword Lion's soul ring, my soul power reached rank forty-three."
She paused, then added, "My fourth soul skill is a passive ability. It permanently increases my speed and strength by fifty percent, and that effect will keep growing as my Soul Master rank rises."
Lin Chen's eyes lit up. A fifty-percent increase in speed and strength, permanently active as a passive effect, was already exceptionally rare. Better still, it would rise with her rank like a boat lifted by the tide.
For the Hell Spirit Cat, which excelled in agility, this was nothing short of giving a tiger wings. Her movements would only grow faster and