Wang Ping'an took a deep breath, calmed himself, and gave a solemn reminder:
"Xiao Xuan, this Soul Beast's attributes are a perfect match for your current Mutated Martial Soul! Absorbing it will definitely give you a solid Soul Skill with tremendous power to break through defenses!"
"Absorb it quickly. The smell of blood is too strong deep in the forest. If there's the slightest disturbance nearby, your teacher will handle it!"
"Thank you for protecting me, Teacher Wang!"
Xiao Xuan hesitated no longer and immediately sat cross-legged in front of the wild boar's corpse.
He adjusted his breathing, gradually calming his fiercely pounding heart.
He held his hands in a loose circle before his chest, and with a stir of his mind, Lone Bamboo instantly grew from his palm and hovered before him.
"Come!"
Xiao Xuan's gaze sharpened. The Soul Power in his palm turned into an invisible current and reached out to draw the Yellow Soul Ring floating in midair toward him.
Hum-!
The instant the Soul Ring settled around Xiao Xuan, a surge of violent, scorching, savage Soul Power poured madly through the crown of his head and into every limb and bone, like a wild horse broken free of its reins!
Time passed, second by second.
Half an hour later.
With an exceptionally crisp and pleasant little crack, the Soul Power barrier within Xiao Xuan shattered!
The great bottleneck that had held him at rank ten was breached in an instant. The newly born Soul Power surged and roared onward like a hot knife through bamboo, pushing his strength straight to an entirely new height!
Hum-!
Xiao Xuan's eyes snapped open, and two sharp gleams flashed through his clear black-and-white eyes!
He slowly rose from the ground and raised his right hand slightly.
A length of crimson-gold Lone Bamboo appeared, and at the base of its stalk, a Hundred-Year Soul Ring radiating a bright, gentle yellow light pulsed up and down!
Xiao Xuan's Soul Power had reached rank twelve!
"You did it?!"
Wang Ping'an strode over, his face alight with excitement and curiosity he could barely contain.
"Xiao Xuan, how do you feel? What's your First Soul Skill like? Quick, show your teacher!"
A radiant grin spread across Xiao Xuan's face.
"My First Soul Skill..."
A keen-edged smile flashed in Xiao Xuan's eyes. He turned toward a sturdy ancient tree more than ten meters away, so thick it would take two people to wrap their arms around it. "Teacher Wang, watch closely!"
Before his words had even faded, Xiao Xuan's presence abruptly changed!
He sank into a low stance, gripping the black-jade bamboo spear with both hands. The bright yellow Hundred-Year Soul Ring at his feet suddenly blazed with light!
"First Soul Skill-"
"Lone Bamboo Flying Thrust!!"
With a thunderous shout from Xiao Xuan!
The next instant, three short spearheads formed from pure, razor-sharp metal-attribute force burst from the tip of the Lone Bamboo like bolts of lightning!
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh-!!"
The air tore apart with a piercing sonic boom!
The three piercing cones of light, their golden gleams flickering with the cold, sinister force of metal, traced three straight, deadly paths through the air and punched through the incomparably hard, towering tree!
"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Boom-!!"
The tough bark was pierced in an instant like tofu. Three charred black holes as wide as bowl rims appeared in the middle of the trunk, light shining straight through them!
The might of a single strike was terrifying to such an extent!
"Ah... holy crap?!"
The flesh on Wang Ping'an's face twitched violently, and his mouth fell open wide enough to fit a raw egg. He almost lost his composure and blurted out a curse!
He rushed to the tree in three strides, covering the distance in two, and stuck his fingers into the three piercing holes, which were smooth as mirrors and went straight through the trunk. A chill ran down his back in waves!
"An instant ranged piercing attack?!"
"Not only is it ridiculously fast, but it also has high attack power?!"
Wang Ping'an turned his head, looking at him as though he were a Little Monster.
"The way your skill manifests is clearly the Bristle Pig's 'Bristle Flying Thrust' from just now!"
"But released through your mutated Lone Bamboo, its killing power and penetrating force have increased several times over! If that hit someone unprepared, three holes right through them could kill them on the spot!"
For a Power Attack System Battle Soul Master, being fierce in close combat was one thing, but his First Soul Skill had directly made up for the short reach of melee combat, giving him such a ruthless ranged method of killing someone in an instant!
This was what it fucking meant to have both offense and defense, with killing prowess beyond compare!
"Lone Bamboo Flying Thrust... what an overbearing Soul Skill!" Wang Ping'an clapped his hands and laughed.
Seeing Wang Ping'an look even more excited than if he had ranked up himself, Xiao Xuan smiled and withdrew his Martial Soul and Soul Ring.
He understood that the great power of Lone Bamboo Flying Thrust was closely tied to his Martial Soul.
If he had not fused and absorbed the properties of those two pieces of alloy ore, Lone Bamboo Flying Thrust definitely would not have had such great attack and penetrating power.
But this was only the beginning. Xiao Xuan knew that Soul Rings could also be fused and upgraded.
So although Xiao Xuan's first Soul Ring was only a hundred-year ring, once he found suitable auxiliary materials, he could advance it to a thousand-year ring, or even higher.
When that happened, the power of Lone Bamboo Flying Thrust would surely rise with the tide.
It was not until the following morning that the two returned to Nuoding City, travel-worn and dusty.
After entering the city, Xiao Xuan said he was going to the Spirit Hall for Soul Master certification, so the two parted ways at the city gate.
Xiao Xuan's reason for wanting certification so urgently was extremely simple and plain: to get money!
On the Douluo Continent, anyone who passed the Spirit Hall's Soul Master certification could get one Gold Soul Coin every month for free as a stipend!
What did one Gold Soul Coin amount to?
For an ordinary family of three, with careful spending, it was enough to cover several months of respectable living expenses!
And for Xiao Xuan, who possessed the "Three-in-One Fusion of All Things" system, it was also startup capital for his future purchases of high-grade ores and stockpiling of Whale Rubber!
The greatest freebie under heaven was there for the taking. If he didn't fleece it now, when would he?!
Xiao Xuan walked into the Spirit Hall Branch's main hall with familiar ease.
The spacious hall was solemn and dignified, with Angel God Statues and reliefs of all kinds of Soul Beasts carved around it. There were few people in the hall at the moment, making it seem especially deserted.
Xiao Xuan walked straight to the service counter by the window.
"Hello, I'm here for Soul Master certification."
Behind the counter, the female deacon heard the childish voice and couldn't help letting out a giggle. She looked up and studied the little tot before her, who was barely over six years old and short in stature.
"Little brother, what did you just say? Soul Master certification?"
The female deacon thought he was some mischievous child who had run in to play, and couldn't help teasing him with a smile:
"Where are your parents? At your age, have you just attended your Martial Soul Awakening, or did you sneak out to play?"
Xiao Xuan's expression did not change.
"I'm not joking. My name is Xiao Xuan. My Martial Soul is Lone Bamboo. I've already absorbed my First Soul Ring and officially broken through to the Soul Master realm. I came specifically to register for advancement certification and collect this month's stipend while I'm here."
"Lone Bamboo Martial Soul?!"
Before the female deacon could respond, a familiar voice, thick with suspicion, suddenly rang out from the rest area not far behind her!
Xiao Xuan turned to look.
At the corner of the hall's corridor, a middle-aged man was striding toward the counter, holding a teacup in one hand and rubbing the sore spot between his brows with the other.
Dressed in the standard attire of a Spirit Hall deacon, he was none other than Su Yuntao.