Electrify Me!

Elsewhere, somewhere in the Star Dou Great Forest.

"Whoosh, whoosh..." Arrows condensed from Soul Power sliced through the air, skimming past the branches of towering trees and knocking down several withered leaves.

"Tap, tap, tap..." Below, a shadow flickered beneath the Black-Clad Girl's feet. Her figure was swift, weaving through clustered bushes in wildly exaggerated arcs to conceal herself.

"Riiip!" Her body inevitably brushed against the bushes, tearing her clothes and leaving faint bloody scratches on her skin.

"Mm!" Gritting her teeth against the pain, she let out a muffled groan, and her movements stalled for an instant.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..." Three arrows immediately seized that opening from behind. "Pfft... pfft... pfft..." One pierced straight through her rear shoulder, one grazed her thigh, and one struck her side.

Pain wracked her body, and the force behind the arrows threw her footing off balance. Her running form pitched forward uncontrollably from inertia. The next moment, driven by a powerful will to survive, she planted both palms on the ground, pushed off with all ten fingers, and shot forward like an agile black cat.

Her limbs moved in unison, and she soon vanished into the forest.

"Smack!" A piercing crack rang through the air as the Spirit Master who had fired the Soul Skill arrow that pierced the Black-Clad Girl's shoulder received a resounding slap across the face. He quickly lowered his head and admitted his fault.

"Keep chasing." A commanding female voice rang out.

After an unknown amount of time, elsewhere, Yang Yunhai opened his eyes while sitting cross-legged inside a pit weighed down by boulders.

"Whew..." He exhaled a breath of stale air and rolled his neck. "Level 32. Not bad!" he murmured, looking up at the crack above. After sensing carefully, he found nothing unusual.

He could not help but sigh inwardly in relief. My luck isn't bad! The weather is cool, so the air sinks and the scent hasn't spread much. And it was a plant-type soul beast. Unlike an animal-type soul beast, it didn't bleed after dying and leave behind that strong smell of blood.

With that thought, he shoved aside the massive rock, sprang out of the pit, and landed on the ground. He then surveyed his surroundings.

The sunlight was pleasantly warm. Judging from the angle of the rays, it should have been afternoon. Absorbing this Spirit Ring had not taken several hours.

I've just absorbed a Spirit Ring, so I'm in peak condition. To be safe, I should leave this area inhabited by thousand-year soul beasts as quickly as possible. As Yang Yunhai thought, he turned his head and lowered his gaze.

Looking at the motionless Pot Vine corpse lying on the ground, he could not help complaining, "Tang San got an External Soul Bone from absorbing a 2,000-year Spirit Ring. Mine was over 1,000 years older than his, yet I got jack shit. This world really isn't fair!"

"Ha, I really don't have the protagonist's fate."

With a sigh, he immediately activated the flight skill of his Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone and soared into the air. As he flew toward the outskirts of the forest, he summoned his martial soul and examined it.

"The changes are pretty huge!" he exclaimed.

Even in its initial form, it was over twenty-five centimeters long—clearly much longer than before—and now looked more like a vine.

Pale yellow roots extended from its base, gradually fading into blue-green higher up. From its appearance alone, the toughness of its outer layer had clearly improved greatly, and the golden threads within were no longer visible.

Perhaps because it had grown longer, the number of barbs along its body had increased as well. Their tips were pale gold and looked somewhat translucent beneath the sunlight. Moreover, on the inner side of each barb, he could actually see a tiny hole.

You really can't see them without looking closely. They're like needle tubes. Are these the mouthparts that developed for releasing Parasitic Spores after the Pot Vine's Spirit Ring fused with my martial soul?

Yang Yunhai could not help thinking that, without any surprise, his Third Soul Skill was indeed a parasitic Soul Skill.

Its devouring ability has probably improved too, right? Once I reach the outskirts, I'll have to find a hundred-year soul beast to test it on... With that thought, he reached out and gently touched it.

"The barbs have gotten harder too!"

Delighted, he moved his fingertips to the base.

"Could these roots have inherited the Pot Vine's talent for storing energy? That's a good thing! With this structure, I can temporarily store absorbed external energy inside instead of taking the risk of directly absorbing it into my body."

"And this is basically an indirect increase to my mana pool. I can absorb, store, and fight at the same time."

"I just don't know exactly how much they can store..."

"No rush. I'll find out when I test it sometime." With that thought, his gaze moved upward, and his hand followed.

The leaves remained blue-green, and the color of the leaf veins had not changed much, but their toughness had clearly increased as well.

They had gone from tender leaves to tough leaves—probably something like that.

"As expected of absorbing a Spirit Ring across such a huge gap in level. It actually brought such major changes to my martial soul. My basic abilities have improved so much that it's fine even without a soul bone."

"Contentment brings happiness!" He shook his head slightly and stopped dwelling on it.

He looked up at the sky and accelerated.

Time gradually passed until the sun began to set. Looking down, the soul beasts he could see were mostly only hundred-year cultivation, while the forest ahead still stretched beyond sight. His Soul Power was nearly depleted as well. Just then, he vaguely heard the sound of running water, so Yang Yunhai immediately changed direction and headed toward the source.

There was still some drinking water in his bamboo tube, but it was far from enough to wash off all the dirt covering his body. He had dug a pit and crawled into it earlier, getting mud all over himself. He needed to find a river and clean up properly.

Not only would it keep him comfortable, but he had no choice—this was also the only intact set of clothes he had left. His previous one had been ruined after being repeatedly struck by lightning and had long since been thrown away.

Besides, where there was flowing water, there were fish. And since he could discharge electricity, catching fish would be effortless.

"Tonight, I'm having a big fish feast!"

With a low shout, he swiftly arrived above the water source.

He chose a spot where the tree canopy did not completely block the view, allowing him to clearly observe the ground through an opening.

Blue Silver Grass grew on the ground, not in the sky or in the river. Therefore, his ability to link with Blue Silver Grass and share its vision was useless in those two places. To ensure his safety, he could only rely on his own eyes.

Looking down, he saw a small stream less than two meters wide.

Shifting his gaze to the left, he could not clearly see what lay around it because the canopy blocked the sunlight, leaving the area pitch-black. But judging by the sound, there should have been a tiny waterfall.

The reason he had been able to hear the sound of water from so far away was the difference in elevation, which made the rushing water quite loud.

I'll go down and check things out first. Then I can go over and see whether there's a pool beneath the waterfall where I can bathe.

With that thought, he slowly descended onto the grassy bank.

He immediately linked with the surrounding Blue Silver Grass to scout the area. His luck was good—there were no signs of soul beast activity nearby.

Of course, he couldn't check the water where there was no Blue Silver Grass.

He tossed his pack onto the ground and strode toward the stream.

The weather had been decent during the day, and there was a waning moon at night. For a campsite, somewhere with light was better. The ground was relatively dry after being exposed to the sun all day, making it suitable for sleeping. If soul beasts came, they would also be easier to spot and identify. With ample sunlight, the surrounding Blue Silver Grass grew lush and thick. It was a good Simulated Environment, perfect for cultivating after dinner.

So, he decided to sleep here tonight.

"Bass!" Before his feet even entered the water, Yang Yunhai spotted several bass swimming beneath the moonlight.

"Bass are drawn to light. Hehe... Uh, they're all too small. Sigh, then I'll just have to shock more of them." Catching them was nowhere near as convenient as electrocuting them. Yang Yunhai immediately summoned his martial soul and created a vine that extended into the water, then let out a low shout.

"Shock them!"

Dazzling lightning instantly shot forth.

"Bzzzt, bzzzt, bzzzt..." The entire surface of the water trembled as several fish rolled belly-up and floated to the surface, exposing their snow-white undersides.

"Splash!" A fairly loud sound of something falling into the water followed.

"???" Yang Yunhai froze for a moment, then his eyes lit up. Turning toward the waterfall, he exclaimed in surprise, "A big fish!? Or was there a soul beast down there drinking water that I failed to detect? Or is there a soul beast in the water?"

"Did it leap out of the water after getting shocked?"

"It's only a hundred-year soul beast. Even if it isn't dead from the shock, it's not like I can't beat it. An extra meal, an extra meal! Besides, these fish are going to drift beneath the waterfall anyway. I can collect them all together."

With that thought, he broke into a run toward the waterfall, reaching the top in just a few breaths.

He leaned over to look down, and the smile on his face instantly froze.

"It really is... such a big, white fish!" His earlobes grew hot as the thought instinctively surfaced in his mind.