Screee!
The enormous Firelie Bird swooped down.
As it approached a secluded courtyard, a figure descended, her vivid red robes fluttering.
Huo Wu's phoenix eyes curved slightly without her noticing.
"Brother Tang Yin, why aren't you practicing today?"
Suddenly, Huo Wu froze.
Though the young man's expression was normal, his face had an unhealthy pallor.
"What happened to you-"
Huo Wu strode forward and seized his hand.
The flame at her brow flared. Her presence instantly became sharp and oppressive, and the surrounding temperature rose several degrees.
Huo Wu's voice brimmed with anger.
"Who hurt you?"
Tang Yin smiled easily. "Something went a little wrong while I was practicing."
"It's only a flesh wound. Nothing serious."
Xiao Wu, who had been sparring with Tang San Niang nearby, stopped.
"Sister Huo Wu, my brother got hurt because he was helping me grow stronger."
Guilt written across her face, Xiao Wu hugged Tang Yin's arm.
"No interrupting your practice unless there's a special reason."
"You've only mastered the second form of the Twelve Forms Fist. Keep practicing."
Tang Yin pinched Xiao Wu's soft, smooth cheek as he scolded her.
"Mm~ I know, Brother."
Xiao Wu rubbed her cheek. "Brother, why isn't there a rabbit form among the twelve forms?"
"It just hasn't been created yet. I'm looking forward to seeing what you can do. Maybe one day you'll create the thirteenth form."
"Hehe, I definitely will, Brother." Xiao Wu eagerly ran back to continue practicing.
She really is easy to fool.
Huo Wu chuckled beside him.
Tang Yin turned to Huo Wu. "As it happens, I need to rest for the next couple of days. I've already come up with some ideas for developing your soul skills. Why don't we take this opportunity to discuss them?"
Huo Wu raised an eyebrow. "I only said that in passing. I never imagined you'd actually put so much thought into it, Brother Tang Yin."
After a pause, Huo Wu's eyes gleamed.
"We can discuss that later. First, take a look at what I brought you."
With that, she waved her hand, and a chest landed on the ground.
The chest was packed full of medicinal herbs, all neatly stacked together.
Good grief! She hadn't separated them at all. Wasn't she worried their medicinal properties would affect one another?
Tang Yin hurriedly called his younger sister over to inspect and sort them.
Delighted, Tang San Niang picked up the chest of herbs and ran off to her private apothecary.
Tang Yin and Huo Wu went to the other side of the courtyard.
Tang Yin looked around.
"What's wrong?" Huo Wu asked, puzzled.
"Let me find a suitable tool. It'll make correcting your movements easier."
Huo Wu froze at his words.
Brother Tang Yin really wouldn't take even the slightest advantage of her.
Huo Wu broke into a smile.
"Brother Tang Yin, there's no need to be so reserved between us. Just use your hands."
Well-
Tang Yin glanced hesitantly at Huo Wu. After absorbing her third soul ring, her figure had become even more voluptuous and alluring.
He quickly put himself at ease.
As long as his thoughts were innocent, there really was no need to be so cautious.
Huo Wu was straightforward, more manly than most men. If he acted all bashful, he would only seem affected and pretentious.
"Sister Huo Wu, I've already seen your first two soul skills. May I ask what your third soul skill is?"
"I should have shown you long ago."
Two yellow soul rings and one purple lit up beneath Huo Wu's feet, while a humanoid phantom of flame surrounded her.
The purple soul ring and crimson flames intertwined, forming a ring of fire that enveloped the surrounding area.
Third soul skill: Repelling Fire Ring!
It could ignore any skill or defense below god level, provided its user's soul power level was no more than ten levels apart from hers.
She really did choose the same soul ring after all.
Tang Yin thought to himself.
On reflection, it made sense. Blazing Fire Academy already had Huo Wushuang following the power attack system route. Having Huo Wu develop toward the control system was a sacrifice for her personally, but it was the best choice for the academy.
Though Huo Wu had a fierce temperament, she was not willful. She knew very well what she ought to do.
Having enjoyed the best resources since childhood, she ought to repay the academy.
So even if Tang Yin deliberately tried to open her eyes, she would not change her mind.
Often, so-called choices were mostly the results of compromise.
After all, not everyone was Bibi Dong.
Spirit Hall had poured every resource into raising her as its Holy Maiden, yet for her own selfish desires, she had not hesitated to sacrifice Spirit Hall's interests and betray her teacher. No one could rival such an ungrateful wolf.
It could be said that all the suffering Bibi Dong endured throughout her life was of her own making.
Her understanding of the world deserved exactly what had happened to her.
"Well? How do you plan to develop me?"
Huo Wu lifted her swanlike neck, her face full of anticipation.
With fire elements swirling around her, her temperament became even more fiery and bold.
Those hungry, wolfish words rolled right off her tongue.
Tang Yin found it rather difficult to adjust to how early people matured in Douluo.
He could only pretend not to understand.
"Sister Huo Wu's first soul skill is flame control, and her second soul skill provides amplification and explosive power. As for this third soul skill-"
"My third soul skill is only a control skill. It has no attack power. Don't try to persuade me again, Brother Tang Yin."
Huo Wu shot Tang Yin a reproachful glare.
He'd made her cry last time, and now he was poking at her sore spot again.
A woman as proud as her would never allow herself to shed tears in front of others.
"No, Sister Huo Wu. Don't let those ideas shackle you."
Tang Yin's expression was solemn.
"You mean?"
Huo Wu looked skeptical.
Tang Yin spoke slowly. "Who says a control system can't also fulfill the role of a power attack system?!"
In the original storyline, Huo Wu's skills had already been pushed to their offensive limits. How had she behaved anything like a control system soul master?
In this life, although he could not interfere with her choice,
as long as he gave her a little guidance in exploring her own martial soul more deeply, Huo Wu's combat strength would surely soar.
At that point, would the labels of control system or power attack system even matter?
Huo Wu was no little girl who could be easily fooled. Her slender brows knitted, and her flames surged.
"A control system is a control system. How could it reach the level of a power attack system?"
"Brother Tang Yin, are you making fun of me?"
"It certainly wouldn't be easy for an ordinary person to cross that divide. But you're Huo Wu."
Tang Yin chuckled and stopped keeping her in suspense.
"Who says your third soul skill has no attack power? A repulsive force that ignores defenses is a terrifying means of attack in itself."
As soon as he finished speaking, Tang Yin felt what seemed like a pair of invisible walls gently shove him.
Huo Wu said irritably, "You call that a means of attack?"
A soul master's physique far surpassed that of an ordinary person. Even if she used her full strength, she could not inflict much damage on a high-ranking soul master.
Tang Yin shook his head.
"You're mistaken, Sister Huo Wu."
"Hm? What do you mean?"
"Have you ever considered that if you concentrated that repulsive force into a single point, it would become the deadliest of weapons?"
Huo Wu froze for a moment.
Then she frowned in confusion. "But that's just how my soul skill works. With a thought, I release the repulsive force. How could I possibly concentrate it into a single point?"
Tang Yin chuckled. "That brings us to something soul masters have never paid attention to: precise control of soul power and in-depth development of soul skills."
"People have researched those things before, but the results were minimal."
Huo Wu shook her head, feeling that Tang Yin was indulging in flights of fancy.
"Generally speaking, only soul masters whose soul power can no longer advance will delve deeper into developing their soul skills, because the improvement is simply too slow."
"With that time, they'd be better off working hard to increase their soul power and mastering the use of their soul skills."
"In our Blazing Fire City, some plant soul masters can even manipulate their martial souls with soul power to weave a flower basket. But they still have trash martial souls. Who would care about that?"
"After awakening a soul skill, a soul master's use of their martial soul becomes instinctive. With a thought, they can release or withdraw it."
"For example, if you awaken a weaving soul skill, a flower basket will automatically be woven with a single thought. How convenient is that?"
"With things like that, who would bother researching all those little details?"
Tang Yin looked stunned.
Good grief. So there was another underlying reason like this.
No wonder the soul masters of the Douluo Continent generally lacked creativity in using their martial souls.
However-
The corners of Tang Yin's mouth lifted slightly.
Others could not do it because they had not mastered the method.
But he was different. He and Little San Niang possessed two great methods for developing the human body, one internal and one external.
The internal art, Mysterious Heaven Skill, could not be casually taught to anyone he would not trust with his life.
But from his repertoire of martial arts, he could easily select one to teach Huo Wu.
Improved control over her physical body would naturally bring improved control over her soul power.
As the saying went, train the sinews, bones, and skin externally, and cultivate a breath of energy internally.
If Huo Wu could eventually integrate her martial arts into a coherent whole, she would be able to circulate and control her soul power freely even without Mysterious Heaven Skill.
Among those of the same level, she would have no equal.
Fighting above her level would likewise be an ordinary matter.
Tang Chen was the best proof of how powerful someone could become by developing their martial soul to its utmost limits.
Without him, how could the Clear Sky Hammer have ranked as the world's number one tool martial soul?!
Before you continue