Blown Away by a Martial Soul!

"These are Netherworld Wolves." As they entered the forest, the two soon encountered their first group of animal-type Soul Beasts. The Dean remained unhurried as he introduced them and summoned his Martial Soul.

As four Soul Rings—white, yellow, purple, and purple—pulsed beneath his feet, a leather whip appeared in his palm.

"Second Soul Skill, Lash."

With a one-handed swing, the whip in his hand lengthened, lashing out countless afterimages and stirring bursts of wind pressure.

Crack! Crack! Crack! The wolves ahead were soon whipped into howling misery, scattering in all directions in blind panic.

"So impressive!" Zhu Wu offered his praise without hesitation, immediately laying on the flattery.

No wonder he had struggled so much against a six-hundred-year Ghost Vine in the original story. So his Martial Soul was a whip! It had ranged attack capability and could effectively avoid the Ghost Vine's Parasite ability, giving him a slight advantage over it. Its attack power was lacking, though, so it took some time.

A six-hundred-year Ghost Vine was not small, and its hide was thick and tough. It really could take a beating.

He just wondered whether the Dean had any unusual preferences at home late at night. He could not help glancing at the Dean.

He looked fairly proper, though.

"Let's go." Seeing that there was no more noise around them, the Dean retracted his whip and continued leading the way.

As they walked, he patiently introduced Zhu Wu to the Soul Beasts they encountered along the route.

Zhu Wu nodded repeatedly, quietly summoning Little White to record the appearances of the Soul Beasts they saw.

"I never expected even a Beginner Soul Hunting Forest to have so many Soul Beasts." After walking for most of the day, Zhu Wu could not help sighing inwardly. Only after experiencing it firsthand did he understand that surviving in a Soul Beast Forest was far more dangerous than he had imagined. He truly had been shallow before.

Those claims from online users in his previous life about casually killing one were things that existed only in the clatter of keyboards.

"If the Beginner Soul Hunting Forest is already like this, what about the Star Dou Great Forest? It seems I need to make more preparations."

Two days later, in a shadowy area.

"It's actually a Three-Eyed Demon Fox. Little Zhu, you're in luck." Upon seeing the purple fox lying beside a stream and drinking water in the distance, the Dean's face lit up with delight. "Judging by its size, its age should be right around four hundred years. Even if it exceeds that, it should not be by much. It's just right."

"Dean, then I'll have to trouble you." Zhu Wu was deeply grateful.

After practicing the Vajra Power Exercise for so long, he had a feeling that, with his current physical strength, he should be able to absorb a Soul Ring of a higher age. However, after traveling through the Soul Hunting Forest, he also understood that, with his current strength, killing one alone was nearly impossible. Being able to find one with suitable attributes and an age of four hundred years under the Dean's help was already very good.

No strength, no backing—what more could he ask for?

Besides, his luck was already extraordinarily good. The Three-Eyed Demon Fox was considered a top-tier variety among Fox-type Soul Beasts, and it happened to possess spiritual attributes. Xiao Wu's seventh Soul Ring in the original story had come from a Three-Eyed Demon Fox, and it had even dropped a Wisdom Soul Bone.

"It's no trouble." The Dean smiled, summoned his Martial Soul, and dashed forward in a single stride. The third and fourth Soul Rings beneath his feet lit up.

"Third Soul Skill, Shadow Splitting Whip!" With a flash of light, another leather whip appeared in his empty left palm.

"Fourth Soul Skill, Chaotic Shadow Strangulation!" Both hands moved at once, and the twin whips immediately transformed into countless whip shadows. Like long snakes slithering through the air, they blanketed a broad area ahead.

His third and fourth Soul Skills had both come from venomous snake-type Soul Beasts that Yu Xiaogang had recommended hunting back then. He had originally hoped to add some poison to his Martial Soul.

Unfortunately, things did not go as planned.

"Uh, could this Fourth Soul Skill have been a snake-type Soul Ring added on Yu Xiaogang's advice?"

Watching the form of the Dean's Fourth Soul Skill, Zhu Wu could not help guessing inwardly.

"No wonder its resilience and attack power are on the low side."

As the thought crossed his mind, the Three-Eyed Demon Fox had already been engulfed by the whip shadows because it could not dodge in time. The sounds of whipping continuously rang out from its body, while the nearby stream was caught up in the attack, splashing water everywhere. In the blink of an eye, the little fox was covered in bloody welts and lay half-dead on the ground.

Good thing I have the Vajra Power Exercise to temper my body. A glass-cannon mage really has no future. If I'm going to be one, I should at least be a tank mage... Zhu Wu could not help thinking as he looked at the Three-Eyed Demon Fox's miserable state.

"Xiao Wu, go over." The Dean stopped moving and turned to speak.

"Alright." Zhu Wu nodded, gripping his dagger as he quickly approached and drove the blade into its eye, ending its life.

Soon, a yellow Soul Ring floated out.

Setting the dagger aside, Zhu Wu sat cross-legged and began meditating with his eyes closed, drawing in the Soul Ring.

Unlike an Item Martial Soul, which could be summoned and used as a weapon, a Beast Martial Soul manifested through possession. Therefore, one did not need to summon the Martial Soul when absorbing a Soul Ring. One only needed to meditate and draw it in, and the Soul Ring would naturally settle over the body to be absorbed. This was basic knowledge taught by the academy teachers. He did not know whether his External Martial Soul would be any different, but he had no intention of experimenting now.

After all, someone was standing beside him.

If he could not draw it in without summoning his Martial Soul, then there would be nothing he could do.

But reality proved that he had overthought it.

The moment he began meditating, the Soul Ring beside him reacted. It lightly floated above his head and slowly descended around him.

When it reached his waist, it suddenly began shrinking.

Zhu Wu immediately felt a berserk energy surge into his body like scorching magma, rapidly flooding through his meridians and internal organs. It gave him no time to prepare and was wild and brutal. Intense pain struck him, making his body tremble uncontrollably.

"Endure it. No matter how the Soul Ring's energy impacts your body, remember to remain conscious." The Dean's voice suddenly reached him.

Zhu Wu could not respond. He gritted his teeth and persevered as his awareness gradually sank into the struggle against the scorching sea within him.

After an unknown amount of time, his consciousness inexplicably cleared. Vaguely, he seemed to see a sea of fire. At its center, Little White twisted its body as it floated in midair. Flames continually rose around it and burrowed fiercely into its body, dyeing it red.

The next instant, an emotion of painful struggle was transmitted to him.

"Little White, hold on!" Zhu Wu understood that this was the Internal Vision realm Tang San had reached while absorbing his First Soul Ring. Now, under the infusion of Soul Ring energy, he had reached it as well. He could not speak in this state, so he could only shout in his heart. Miraculously, Little White seemed to sense his intent. Its tiny body stopped struggling and twisting, gradually calming as it curled itself into a ball.

Seeing this, Zhu Wu secretly breathed a sigh of relief and began observing Little White's changes.

After quite a while, aside from growing slightly larger, it underwent no other changes.

"Could it be that it still lacks enough energy to evolve?" Zhu Wu could not help guessing.

After a moment of silence, he instead sensed the Soul Power flowing through his meridians and experienced the sensation of observing his own body through Internal Vision, clicking his tongue in wonder.

Time slowly passed. After an unknown period, energy no longer flowed in from around him. Within his sight, the blazing sea of fire had become a vast white expanse. At its center, Little White stretched out its body. It was now as thick as a thumb, its skin snowy white like cream, translucent and lustrous.

At that moment, a strange stream of information entered his mind.

"This!" Zhu Wu was stunned.

It could work like this?

According to the information Little White had transmitted, he had not obtained a Soul Skill like normal Martial Souls did. Or rather, he had obtained an exceptionally unusual Soul Skill.

His Martial Soul could transform into the Three-Eyed Demon Fox they had just hunted and inherit all of its abilities.

Note, it was the Martial Soul inheriting them, not him!

Furthermore, the Martial Soul could only use those abilities after transforming into the Three-Eyed Demon Fox form.

The key was that after Little White transformed into a Three-Eyed Demon Fox, he could undergo Martial Soul Possession in that form, as though his Silkworm Martial Soul had become a Three-Eyed Demon Fox Martial Soul. After that, he could use every ability of that Three-Eyed Demon Fox. But if he let Little White fight outside his body, he would lose those abilities again. The reason was understandable: it was Little White, the Martial Soul, that had inherited the Three-Eyed Demon Fox's abilities, not him.

"Is this the special aspect of an External Martial Soul?"

The key was, that was not even the wildest part. The wildest part was that while in Martial Soul Possession form, he could also switch into beast form—in other words, transform into a Three-Eyed Demon Fox to fight.

Zhu Wu felt utterly blown away.