Yang Tao took out the Soul Spirit Ball and handed it to him.
Xu Qing took the Soul Spirit Ball, a gleam of excitement immediately flashing through his eyes.
Then Yang Tao brought over an oval device, handed it to Xu Qing, and said,
"To protect the Soul Spirits, every Soul Spirit Ball has a protective mechanism. You need to press this button and shine the device's light onto the Soul Spirit Ball. Then you'll be able to see your Soul Spirit."
Xu Qing nodded and pressed the button. The oval device immediately emitted a soft yellow light that shone onto the Soul Spirit Ball.
The Soul Spirit Ball itself also gave off a pale yellow glow, and its originally sealed surface gradually became transparent.
Under their gazes, a miniature yellow insect appeared inside the Soul Spirit Ball.
It looked extremely tiny, only about five centimeters long, with a small feeler on its head.
Xu Qing could sense the fluctuations of life within the little insect.
Because it was a plant-type Soul Spirit, the little insect made no movements at all, as though it were a dead thing.
Yang Tao said, "Since this Soul Spirit was artificially cultivated, its age has reached four hundred and twenty years. Also, once a Soul Spirit is activated, you need to finish fusing with it within twenty-four hours. Otherwise, it will dissipate and die."
Xu Qing nodded.
Afterward, Zhou Yu led Xu Qing and Gu Yuena out of the Spirit Pagoda.
Since Xu Qing needed to absorb his Soul Spirit, Zhou Yu granted the two of them a special day off and personally drove Xu Qing and Gu Yuena home.
When they arrived home, Xu Qing and Gu Yuena saw Tang Xue.
"Oh? Xiao Qing, Nana, why are you back already?" Tang Xue asked in confusion.
"Mom, the principal already took us to choose our Soul Spirits, so he gave Nana and me a special day off to absorb them," Xu Qing explained.
After greeting Tang Xue, Xu Qing took the Cordyceps Soul Spirit straight to the backyard.
Patches of Blue Silver Grass swayed gently in the wind, and the air swirled with the faint fragrance of grass and trees.
Xu Qing walked over to the stone slab where he usually cultivated, sat cross-legged, and cradled the Soul Spirit Ball in his palm.
Inside the Soul Spirit Ball, the Cordyceps Soul Spirit gave off a faint yellow glow.
Xu Qing took a deep breath and, with a thought, mobilized the Soul Power within his body. Blue Silver Grass shimmering with a pale blue halo slowly grew from his palm.
Let's begin!
Then Xu Qing began the fusion according to the method Lin Ximeng had taught them in class.
Xu Qing's Blue Silver Grass slowly grew, slipping into the Soul Spirit Ball and gently winding around the Cordyceps Soul Spirit.
Then the Blue Silver Grass suddenly burst with a pale blue halo. The pale blue radiance flowing over it slowly intertwined with the yellow light emitted by the Cordyceps Soul Spirit.
At that moment, an extremely faint thought slowly entered Xu Qing's mind, carrying affection, fear, and a trace of dependence that was difficult to erase.
Xu Qing opened his heart and began to accept this thought. At the same time, the Blue Silver Grass in his palm rapidly changed, and the Soul Power within his body surged along with it.
Xu Qing closed his eyes and slowly entered a meditative state.
What Xu Qing did not know was that after he entered his meditative state, the Five-Clawed Golden Dragon tattoo on his back suddenly emitted a golden light, and a strange power immediately flowed toward the Cordyceps Soul Spirit.
Wrapped in layers of blue light, the Soul Spirit trembled all over, and its form began to transform.
The slender grass needle that had originally extended from the insect's head slowly withered, retracting entirely into its body.
Immediately afterward, its five-centimeter body rapidly expanded, stretching to ten centimeters in length.
The structure of its body also began to change drastically. Its original outline slowly split apart, and eight slender, soft limbs grew from beneath its body.
Its originally hard carapace transformed layer by layer into thin, lightweight insect-shaped armor that covered its entire body. Beneath the armor, soft flesh formed folds like a skirt.
Beneath its insect helmet, a pair of large, watery eyes curiously surveyed its surroundings.
Meanwhile, the blades of Blue Silver Grass in Xu Qing's palm were also undergoing subtle changes.
The Blue Silver Grass gave off an incredibly rich vitality. Countless holes invisible to the naked eye formed on its leaves, and each leaf also emitted a faint fragrance.
The fragrance slowly spread, instantly drawing the attention of Gu Yuena and Tang Xue in the living room.
"Nana, do you smell a strange fragrance?" Tang Xue sniffed the air as she asked.
Gu Yuena nodded gently. "I do."
The two followed the fragrance toward the backyard. From a distance, they saw Xu Qing in the midst of fusing with his Soul Spirit, and the fragrance was drifting from him.
Although both were curious, neither approached to disturb him.
A faint layer of golden light flowed around Xu Qing, slowly spreading outward.
In the patches of Blue Silver Grass beside him, countless plants swayed their stems and leaves, continuously growing outward.
As the Soul Spirit fused with him, a vast power slowly poured into Xu Qing's meridians.
However, with his experience absorbing crystal cores, along with his extraordinary physique and powerful Spiritual Power, he did not feel the slightest sharp pain. On the contrary, it felt extremely comfortable.
Time slowly passed, second by second, until Xu Qing finished refining the last trace of Soul Power.
Xu Qing slowly opened his eyes.
Xu Qing slowly stood up and looked at the increasingly lush Blue Silver Grass in his palm, brimming with vitality.
Overall, it did not look very different, though its stems and leaves had become much thicker.
Soon, however, he noticed his Cordyceps Soul Spirit.
Wait, what?!
How did you turn into this?
Was this still the same cordyceps from before?
It no longer had the characteristics a plant should have. Instead, it resembled a little insect-and an extremely cute one at that.
Xu Qing examined it carefully. Had it transformed into some kind of spirit? Although it had been in an energy-body state before, this clearly had a physical body.
Xu Qing reached out, and the Insect Spirit curiously extended its two soft little front legs, gently hugging his finger.
It was soft and felt very comfortable.
Then Xu Qing flipped the little Insect Spirit over,
And poked its soft belly.
So springy!
Immediately, thoughts of dislike and refusal reached Xu Qing's mind.
"This really is interesting. Its intelligence actually increased so much."
A thought struck Xu Qing. "Right, there's also the Soul Ring."
A bright yellow Hundred-Year Soul Ring slowly rose from beneath his feet, then hovered behind him, slowly rotating.
"So this is a Soul Ring?"
"Right, the Soul Skill! It has to be parasitism. It has to be parasitism."
Xu Qing nervously began sensing it, and a look of pleasant surprise immediately appeared on his face.
"Great! It really is a parasitic Soul Skill! And it really is pretty much what I imagined."
Great Mother Earth, thank you for lending your strength!
(Earth: "Achoo~ I wonder who's thinking about me this time?")
From what Xu Qing sensed, his first Soul Skill was called Blue Silver Spores.
As the name suggested, it allowed his Blue Silver Grass to produce a type of parasitic spore. Upon encountering a host, the spores could establish themselves as parasites and grow by absorbing the host's Soul Power, Qi, and blood. Xu Qing could even recover power through the spores.