Second Soul Skill

Under the combined healing of the two, Jiang Che's injuries soon healed.

"Wildfire cannot burn it all away; when the spring wind blows, it grows again" consumed an enormous amount of soul power, but Profusion could quickly restore 10% of Jiang Che's soul power.

"...He's not dead?" the old fisherman murmured. Seeing that Jiang Che was alive, he suppressed his urge to flee again.

Forcing himself to endure the lingering dull pain inside his body, Jiang Che staggered to the gunwale and leaned out to look toward the seabed.

The Razor Kelp's current condition confirmed his guess.

That slash just now had been its final struggle.

Now its entire body curled up in the seawater, hunched over with its bladed leaves drooping, like an old man whose candle guttered in the wind, his back bent and without even the strength to straighten up.

Facing the Blue Silver Vines reaching toward the seabed again, it merely swayed slightly, as though trying to raise an arm to block them. But its bladed leaves fell limply halfway up, all its remaining strength to struggle already spent.

This time, however, Jiang Che was even more cautious than before.

He directed the Blue Silver Vines to circle slowly around the Razor Kelp's body rather than hurry closer. After probing three times and confirming that it truly could no longer fight back, he sent five vines down to the seabed at once, closing in from different directions and wrapping around the Razor Kelp's weakest point-its roots.

"Star Wheel Rotation, activate."

The Razor Kelp's body convulsed violently. Its leaves curled and unfurled as though screaming soundlessly, but its body was already so weak that it lacked even the strength to break free.

The cutting continued for a full minute.

Finally!

Crack.

A crisp snap came from the seabed.

The Razor Kelp's body suddenly stiffened, then toppled backward.

A purple soul ring appeared, slowly revolving with a deep luster flowing across it.

[Ding-!]

[Killed a 1,127-year-old Razor Kelp. Gained 15 skill points.]

[Current skill points remaining: 115.]

Jiang Che let out a long breath of stale air.

"You three fine fellows, please come down and lend a hand." He turned and called toward the wheelhouse, taking three Silver Soul Coins from his waist.

At the sight of the three Silver Soul Coins, most of the fear on the three young men's faces instantly vanished, and their legs stopped trembling.

They pushed open the wheelhouse door and rushed out almost simultaneously, each striding faster than the others, afraid that the Silver Soul Coins would fly away if they were even half a step too slow.

Jiang Che took off his outer garment, tossed it onto the deck, and jumped into the sea with a splash.

The seawater was icy against his body. He drew a deep breath and dived underwater, wound a thick iron chain tightly around the Razor Kelp's body three times, then swam back to the boat.

"Come on, give me a hand!"

The three young men scrambled to grab the chain, bending their backs and hauling backward until their faces flushed crimson.

The Razor Kelp's body was dragged onto the deck inch by inch.

Jiang Che sat cross-legged on the deck. His soaked clothes clung to him, and the sea breeze felt a little cold, but he paid it no mind.

"Lord Soul Master, you're the strongest Soul Master I've ever seen. You even destroyed such a terrifying soul beast." Still shaken, the old fisherman wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead.

"It was just luck. Please don't flatter me, sir. Your salt crystals played a big part." Jiang Che thanked the fisherman.

Jiang Che's praise was sincere. Without those salt crystals, dealing with this Razor Kelp would have taken considerable effort, and might even have cost him his life.

He raised his head and looked at the hovering purple soul ring. At last, a genuine smile lifted the corners of his mouth.

"Let's begin."

He closed his eyes and released his soul power, slowly drawing the purple ring of light toward himself.

On the fishing boat, the four others held their breath as they watched Jiang Che enveloped in purple light. None dared make a sound.

The wind and waves gradually subsided, and the rising sun dyed the entire sea orange-red.

Jiang Che wrapped himself in Blue Silver Vines. He did not want any accidents occurring while he absorbed the soul ring.

Before long, the purple soul ring merged into the Blue Silver Emperor.

"Uncle, didn't I hear that Soul Masters could only absorb a hundred-year soul ring for their second soul ring? How is this Lord Soul Master absorbing a Thousand-Year Soul Ring straight away?"

The fisherman shook his head. "I don't know!"

Counting from the Soul Masters of ancient times, Jiang Che was not the first to absorb a thousand-year soul ring as his second soul ring.

But every human in history who had absorbed a Thousand-Year Soul Ring had died suddenly.

The age limit for a second soul ring was around seven hundred and fifty years, still within the range of a hundred-year soul ring.

Compared with a hundred-year soul ring, a Thousand-Year Soul Ring represented a qualitative transformation, placing outrageously high demands on physical constitution.

Having consumed thousand-year whale rubber and a Breakthrough-Enhancing Pill, absorbed the Hundred-Thousand-Year Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone, and possessing the top-tier martial soul Blue Silver Emperor, Jiang Che had a physical constitution and spiritual power that ordinary Soul Grandmasters simply could not match.

Jiang Che estimated that he could absorb a soul ring around thirteen hundred years old, and this was not wrong.

The soul ring he was absorbing this time was eleven hundred years old, so under normal circumstances, the absorption process would not have been dangerous.

As time passed, Jiang Che endured the most perilous stage of absorbing the soul ring.

The Blue Silver Emperor also changed at that moment. The entire plant grew thicker and stronger, and the golden patterns on its base and leaves became more distinct. Its leaves gleamed coldly, incomparably sharp.

Finally.

One yellow ring and one purple ring emerged beneath his feet, the purple soul ring glowing faintly.

Second soul skill: Water Tribulation Blue Silver Blade (compresses a vast quantity of Blue Silver Emperor and Water Blades into a long blade, which can unleash five Water Blades.)

At the same time, his Blue Silver Emperor also mutated. Using the Blue Silver Emperor's leaves would allow him to move underwater for 30 minutes.

Jiang Che was stunned. Being able to move underwater for thirty minutes was immensely useful to him.

The Blue Silver Vines gradually parted, and the Thousand-Year Soul Ring appeared beneath his feet.

A blue-gold light burst from Jiang Che's palm. He instinctively raised his hand, and the Blue Silver Emperor grew wildly along his arm, intertwining and compressing.

A blue-gold, Tang-style long saber gleaming with a cold light appeared in Jiang Che's hand.

He slashed.

He had not even fully prepared himself when he swung. The instant the Water Blade tore through the air, it ripped a horizontal fissure through it.

The slash cleaved through the sea breeze and struck heavily above the surface of the sea.

Boom!

The seawater split apart, opening into a deep trench. Then the trench collapsed, and seawater poured back in, throwing up towering sprays.

The deck shook violently, and the boat tilted almost twenty degrees to one side.

The slash reached a large patch of Razor Kelp on the seabed.

[Ding!-]

[Killed a 111-year-old Razor Kelp. Gained 5 skill points.]

[Killed a 95-year-old Razor Kelp. Gained 1 skill point.]

[Killed a 66-year-old Razor Kelp. Gained 1 skill point.]

These five slashes earned a full 67 skill points!

Jiang Che's heart trembled as he unleashed the second slash, then the third.

All five slashes swept out together.

He gained a total of 296 skill points.

[Current skill points remaining: 411.]

The fisherman and the three young men were stunned by the five Water Blades Jiang Che had unleashed.

Jiang Che exhaled a breath of stale air. Absorbing the Thousand-Year Soul Ring had brought his soul power to level 22.

Rumble-crack!

Torrential rain poured down in an instant. Fierce winds howled, the waves surged, and the fishing boat pitched violently.

"How strange. The Sea Wind Plain hasn't seen wind and waves this strong in over a decade."

The fisherman and the three young men scrambled frantically to steer.