Experiment

Several days later, in the afternoon, the setting sun hung low.

"Rumble!"

The first thunder of Early Spring February echoed across the sky, jolting Yang Yunhai awake from his cultivation in the Single Dormitory.

"I didn't expect I'd really get to wait for it." His face lit up with delight as he quickly jumped off the bed and ran outside.

"Xiao Hai, it's thundering outside! What are you doing out here?!" The Village Chief, who was leaning on his Walking Stick and calling the children inside, jumped in fright when he saw Yang Yunhai run out.

"Grandpa, I want to conduct an experiment!" Yang Yunhai shouted as he ran into the courtyard.

Worst case, I die. I've died once already, so what the hell am I afraid of?!

"Rumble!" Thunder boomed overhead. The pitch-black clouds suddenly flashed, but no lightning struck down.

"It's fine!?" The Village Chief froze, then saw Yang Yunhai's eyes light up as he immediately sat down cross-legged in the courtyard.

"Xiao Hai, what are you doing?!" The Village Chief's expression changed again. Yang Yunhai was obviously planning to cultivate in the courtyard, and that was far too dangerous.

"Boom!" Just as he thought that, an arm-thick Lightning Snake struck Yang Yunhai squarely in the back as he cultivated with his eyes closed and Soul Power circulating.

It felt as though countless needles had pierced his body. Intense pain, accompanied by searing heat, swept through him in an instant. Yang Yunhai's forehead bulged with veins, but he still gritted his teeth and endured.

He forced the Soul Power within him to circulate, carrying that scorching energy racing madly through every meridian in his body.

The next moment, "Boom!" Another Lightning Snake shot down, and his mind went blank.

With a smack, his body fell straight over, leaving the ground beneath his backside scorched black.

"Boss!" The children cried out in alarm.

"Xiao Hai!" The Village Chief's face changed drastically. He anxiously looked up at the sky, where Lightning Snakes danced through the clouds, but no more bolts fell.

He immediately broke into a run toward Yang Yunhai and dragged him away by the collar.

Once he had dragged him beneath the eaves, the children hurried over and joined the Village Chief in turning Yang Yunhai over to check on him.

"Boss!" Cries of alarm rang out again. Every blood vessel close to Yang Yunhai's skin stood out from head to toe, a horrifying dark purple.

Even more terrifying, the surface of his skin had curled up along the edges like dried tree bark.

"This..." The Village Chief's eyes instantly reddened. He quickly lifted Yang Yunhai up and pressed his ear against his chest.

Thump. Thump. Slow and weak, as though his heart could stop beating at any moment.

The Village Chief's expression shifted, and he hurriedly instructed the children around him, "Kids, quickly! Help Grandpa carry Xiao Hai inside."

So some lifted his arms while others lifted his legs. Working together, the children quickly carried Yang Yunhai into the room and placed him on the bed. The Village Chief sat down beside him and listened to his heartbeat again. Thump. Thump. It was clearly steadier and stronger than before.

His expression immediately relaxed. Sitting upright, he looked at the children. "Kids, go back now. Your Brother Xiao Hai is fine. He needs to rest."

The next morning, inside the Single Dormitory.

"Hiss!" A pained groan broke the silence as Yang Yunhai opened his eyes with a grimace.

"It hurts so much!" Merely shifting his backside made his entire body ache. His muscles were taut and stiff, while his meridians felt distinctly torn.

After awakening his Martial Soul and gaining the ability to cultivate, he had been able to sense the meridians in his body through Soul Power.

"Damn it, why was drawing lightning while actively circulating Soul Power so much worse than passively getting struck? I couldn't even take two hits. Did actively absorbing it leave more lightning energy behind in my body?"

Yang Yunhai could not help considering the possibility.

After a moment of silence, he gave up on moving and closed his eyes to calmly examine the state of his Soul Power.

A moment later, he opened his eyes, delight flashing within them.

"It actually worked!" Though the increase was slight, he could clearly feel that his Soul Power had grown by a trace.

"Let's see whether my Martial Soul has changed." With that thought, he endured the pain and carefully raised his right hand before his eyes. The faint morning light clearly illuminated the dried skin on his arm. "What?!" Yang Yunhai was immediately stunned. "What is going on?"

Frowning slightly, he immediately summoned his Martial Soul.

Blue Silver Grass appeared in his palm, and its appearance had not changed much. The only difference was in the leaves. Compared to before, they were slightly more curved downward and looked fuller and more tender. Yet the leaves now extended straight upward at an angle, making them resemble the stiff leaves of some hardwood tree.

"Why does it feel like it got electrically stiffened..." Yang Yunhai said in surprise, then endured the pain and raised his other hand to touch it.

It really had become harder, no longer as flexible as before.

Yang Yunhai fell silent. He did not think this was a good thing. Instead, he thought of the tragic fate of the Thunder Hell Vine Soul Beast.

Depending on their growth experiences, Thunder Hell Vines generally self-destructed somewhere between twenty thousand and fifty thousand years of cultivation. Few could cultivate beyond fifty thousand years. Throughout history, not a single one had reached the hundred-thousand-year level.

Why?

Aside from the plane refusing to allow it and constantly suppressing them, Yang Yunhai believed it also had to do with their own nature.

As long as it was a Plant Type Soul Beast—or even any living being at all—it carried some degree of Life Attribute, though the strength varied.

Among Soul Beasts known for their Life Attribute, Plant Type ones such as Blue Silver Grass could be divided into Common Blue Silver Grass, Blue Silver King, and Blue Silver Emperor according to bloodline level and the strength of their Life Attribute. The differences between the three were especially obvious in the original work. Animal Type Soul Beasts such as the Emerald Swan had not been described in much detail, but as long as they were a species, there would certainly be ordinary members and kings within it.

The same was true for Soul Beasts, and the same was true for Martial Souls. That was also why Martial Soul attributes could be ordinary or ultimate.

As a Plant Type Soul Beast, the Thunder Hell Vine was undoubtedly an anomaly that possessed Thunder Attribute on top of its Life Attribute.

Therefore, the Thunder Hell Vine's fate of self-destruction could be simply explained as its "physical body" being too weak to contain the ever-compressing, accumulating Thunder Attribute energy within it. More deeply, it could be said that its Life Attribute was too weak while its Thunder Attribute was too strong, breaking the balance of attributes inside its body. Lightning was an extremely unstable and destructive attribute to begin with. Once the balance was lost, an explosion could easily occur!

The same was more or less true for other Soul Beasts with extreme attributes.

For example, when Fire Attribute exceeded Life Attribute, the result was Spontaneous Combustion. When Earth Attribute exceeded Life Attribute, the result was petrification. And so on.

"So is my Martial Soul's current state because drawing lightning caused it to absorb too much Thunder Attribute energy at once, throwing the two attributes carried by my Martial Soul out of balance?" Yang Yunhai thought to himself. "The Life Attribute is gentle, so having more of it is fine. At worst, I'd just be full of energy and sporting a raging hard-on every night. But having too much Thunder Attribute could make me self-destruct like a Thunder Hell Vine if I'm not careful."

"Of course, it's also possible that the Life Attribute will be completely squeezed out and eliminated, turning my Martial Soul directly into a single Thunder Attribute."

"After all, a Martial Soul isn't really a Soul Beast."

He fell silent for a moment, then withdrew his Martial Soul and muttered, "Forget it. The Life Attribute is a good thing. I still can't lose it."

"My Martial Soul and body have only become stiff for now, so it isn't too serious. As long as I don't draw lightning to cultivate or get another infusion of Thunder Attribute energy for some time, and instead cultivate honestly through conventional methods, the Life Attribute carried by my Martial Soul will naturally grow as my cultivation rises. Hmm, I could cultivate somewhere with lots of Blue Silver Grass. The Life Attribute should grow faster that way."

"Then, after some time, once the attributes stabilize again, my Martial Soul should slowly recover. My body should be the same."

At that thought, he finally could not help voicing a complaint.

"So my Martial Soul is basically a bargain-bin Thunder Hell Vine?"

"But it isn't without advantages!" As though recalling something, he continued, "As a Soul Beast, unless something unexpected happens, a Thunder Hell Vine can only raise the Life Attribute in its body through natural growth. But as a human Spirit Master, I can also increase it by hunting Life Attribute Soul Beasts and absorbing their Spirit Rings and dropped Soul Bones, like the Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone."

"Or the Blue Silver Emperor itself. The Medicinal Herbs in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well are grass too. Should I... give it a try?"

After a moment of silence, he gathered his thoughts.

"When it comes to the Life Attribute, Plant Type Soul Beasts are undoubtedly more common. My Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul is Plant Type as well, so we share the same origin. Absorbing Plant Type Spirit Rings can increase the Life Attribute, as well as toughness and hardness. Hmm, taking the Control Path would be pretty good..."

"Then what Plant Type Soul Beasts should I hunt in the early stages, and how should I combine my soul skills?"

"Also, cultivating outdoors under cloudy skies draws lightning to me. If it happens to be rainy when I absorb a Spirit Ring, the consequences could be rather serious. Can I control it somehow, or is there a way to avoid it?"

He could not help sinking into thought.