Breaking Through to Two Rings, Bamboo Shadow Startling Swan

When Lin Qing returned to the dormitory, Tang San was already asleep on the upper bunk. Absorbing the Hundred-Year Soul Ring had drained too much of his strength. He had not even taken off his shoes, and one hand hung over the edge of the bed, his fingertips still stained with the Mandala Snake's blood. Lin Qing sat on the lower bunk, staring at his own hand.

The door swung open. A girl with a scorpion braid poked her head in, chewing on something, her eyes bright. "Are you new here? I'm Xiao Wu. I live next door."

Her gaze swept over Tang San and settled on Lin Qing, pausing for a moment. It was a very brief moment, but Lin Qing saw it-her pupils contracted, like a cat suddenly seeing light in the dark.

"Lin Qing," he said.

Xiao Wu stared at him for two seconds, then smiled. "You smell... nice. Like bamboo." She turned and left, her steps a little quicker than when she had arrived.

"I sensed it." Lone Bamboo's voice rang out in his mind. "She's a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast in human form."

Lin Qing lay down without a word.

Life at Nuoding Academy was uneventful. Theory class, combat class, theory class, combat class.

Lin Qing's pole vaulting made him unbeatable in combat class, but what truly secured his footing at the academy was his body.

Bamboo Breath had transformed him for three years. His bones were three times as hard as an ordinary person's, and his skin was as tough as old bamboo bark. Ordinary blades left only a white mark when they scraped him. His speed, strength, and reflexes were nothing like those of a level twenty-five Soul Master.

Zhao Lei refused to believe it.

He was the strongest of the second-year students, with the Iron Arm Ape Martial Soul and Soul Power at level twenty-seven. His fists could shatter bluestone slabs, and his iron arms could block a Hundred-Year Soul Beast's charge. He cornered Lin Qing on the training ground, arms crossed, looking down at him.

The surrounding students immediately gathered around, whispering among themselves.

"Zhao Lei's going to bully another new student..."

"I heard that Lin Qing is really arrogant. He's in trouble now."

"Zhao Lei's level twenty-seven, and that new student is only level twenty-five. They're not even in the same league."

Lin Qing stood where he was, expressionless. He raised his right hand, and green bamboo emerged from his palm. The three-foot stalk gleamed like divine jade, and the few bamboo leaves at its tip swayed gently in the breeze.

Zhao Lei sneered. "Using a stick of bamboo as a weapon? Do you think you're a blacksmith?"

He pushed off the ground and charged.

His fist cut through the air toward Lin Qing's chest. He put all his strength into the punch; it could have shattered a bluestone slab.

Lin Qing did not dodge.

He raised his left arm and took the punch head-on.

A muffled impact burst out, like an iron hammer striking an oxhide drum. Lin Qing took one step back and steadied himself. Green patterns surged beneath the skin of his left arm, like a tide, like blood vessels, as though something were taking the force of the blow for him. The skin where the fist had struck reddened for an instant, then the green patterns swept over it, and the redness faded. It did not hurt. Bamboo Breath had cut his sensation of pain to thirty percent, and the remaining seventy percent had been absorbed by his bamboo-like bones.

The murmurs around them grew louder:

"Heavens, he actually took Zhao Lei's punch head-on?"

"Zhao Lei is level twenty-seven! How could this new student possibly take that punch head-on?"

"Something's not right. This Lin Qing is pretty strong."

Zhao Lei's expression changed. His punches grew heavier and heavier, but Lin Qing remained standing firm. Green patterns flowed beneath his skin, and each time he took a heavy blow, it was as though some power had neutralized most of its force.

Zhao Lei froze.

"You're strong," Lin Qing said, "but not strong enough."

He moved. Not a pole vault, but a run-his right foot kicked off the ground, and he shot forward, fast as a streak of green light. Before Zhao Lei could react, Lin Qing was already right in front of him. He swung the Lone Bamboo in his hand into Zhao Lei's abdomen.

Zhao Lei's body doubled over like a shrimp, his feet left the ground, and he flew backward. He slammed into the training ground's fence, denting the iron railing. His back lodged in the dent, and he could not move.

Lin Qing stood where he was and withdrew the Lone Bamboo. The green patterns on his knuckles slowly faded, leaving his skin smooth as before.

The training ground fell silent.

Everyone held their breath, afraid to speak. Zhao Lei, who had lorded it over the second-year students without a match, had actually been sent flying by a new student in a single blow?

Zhao Lei slid down from the fence and crouched on the ground, clutching his stomach, his face pale. He looked up at Lin Qing, his eyes full of resentment, but he did not get back up.

From that day on, no one challenged Lin Qing again.

Lin Qing liked the mountain behind the academy. The breath of life there was far richer than on the training ground. Every tree, every leaf was breathing.

As springs passed and autumns came, he practiced pole vaulting, Bamboo Breath, and physical training there. He ran from the foot of the mountain to the summit and back ten times without getting out of breath. He split bamboo with his fists, one stalk per punch, sending splinters flying.

One year passed. Two years passed. Three years passed.

Late one night, Lin Qing sat cross-legged in the bamboo grove on the mountain behind the academy. Moonlight filtered through the bamboo leaves, scattering shards of silver across the ground. His eyes were closed, his breathing slow and steady.

Then he felt it. The mass of warm water in his chest suddenly burst open. It did not flow slowly; it surged, like a tide, like a waterfall, as though something had breached a dam inside him. Green light poured out from the depths of his body, racing through his veins and meridians, through every inch of muscle and bone transformed by Bamboo Breath, and into the rest of his body.

His consciousness was pulled into a sea of light.

This was his spiritual sea of consciousness. A stalk of green bamboo stood at its center-Lone Bamboo's true form. Now, its second segment was glowing, the vivid green light bright as a lantern being lit.

"The second Soul Skill, Bamboo Shadow Startling Swan. It's complete." Lone Bamboo's voice rang out.

"Bamboo Shadow Startling Swan is a composite Soul Skill," Lone Bamboo's voice rang out in his sea of consciousness. "It contains three core abilities: Afterimage Clones, a burst of speed, and the Bamboo Shadow Sword."

At a thought from Lin Qing, the green ring of light at his feet suddenly brightened.

He moved.

He did not run; he flashed. His whole body became a streak of green light, darting through the bamboo grove. Three afterimages remained behind him, each one lifelike. One lunged to the left, one dodged to the right, and one stood motionless.

Three directions, three actions, all real and yet all false.

"Afterimage Clones can create three afterimages. These afterimages aren't illusions; they're real, tangible bodies that can act and attack independently. They possess seventy percent of your strength."

Lin Qing's figure flickered rapidly through the bamboo grove, fast as streaks of green lightning.

"The Bamboo Shadow Sword... is your main means of attack," Lone Bamboo said. "It isn't an ordinary Soul Skill sword, but a natal sword condensed from your Lone Bamboo Martial Soul."

Lin Qing condensed the Bamboo Shadow Sword.

Three feet of green-gold metal grew from his palm. Bamboo-node patterns marked the blade, and its edge gleamed with a cold, dark light. He gripped the sword and swung. A wave of bamboo force surged from the tip, and a three-inch streak of green bamboo light shot out, striking a tree trunk ten meters away.

With a soft puff, the bamboo light burst apart and turned into fine bamboo roots that instantly wrapped around the branches.

Injuring the enemy and controlling the field, all in one smooth motion.

He withdrew the sword and stood in the middle of the bamboo grove. The three afterimages dissipated at once, turning into specks of green light that drifted back into his body. The wind blew, rustling the bamboo leaves.

"Bamboo Shadow Startling Swan. Afterimage Clones, a burst of speed, and the Bamboo Shadow Sword. Practice them well."

Lin Qing smiled.

On graduation day, Yu Xiaogang summoned Lin Qing and Tang San to his office. Two letters of recommendation lay on the desk-one from Shrek Academy, and one from Heaven Dou Royal Academy.

"I choose Heaven Dou Royal Academy," Lin Qing said.

Tang San looked at him. "Why?"

"I need to see someone." Dugu Bo, the Poison Douluo. He had been poisoned, and Lone Bamboo had told him that he needed Ice and Fire Duality, which was suited to his cultivation.

Tang San was silent for a while. "Then I'll go to Shrek."

They walked across the schoolyard side by side. The setting sun stretched their shadows long. Xiao Wu stood outside the dormitory building, waving to them.

"Take care," Tang San said.

Lin Qing smiled. "You too."

He turned and walked out through Nuoding Academy's gates. The wind blew, snapping the hem of his clothes. Behind him, two green rings of light slept quietly.

In his palm, the Bamboo Shadow Sword could be condensed at any moment. At his side, three afterimages could be awakened at any moment.

Level twenty-five. Two Soul Rings. Bamboo Breath, pole vaulting, Bamboo Shadow Startling Swan.

Enough. With the recommendation letter in hand, he set out for Heaven Dou Royal Academy.