Asura Jade Rabbit's Evolution

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Dawn came earlier on the fourth day at Jialing Pass than on the previous three days.

Nan Feng stood atop the arrow tower on the east side of the city wall, the tower suspended in front of his chest. The seventh layer of Samsara patterns and the sixth layer of Return to the Void patterns alternated in the morning light. The Treasure-Appraising Spirit Light covered three thousand steps, and the Peng Eye scanned every corner of the plains beyond the pass. Last night, Dugu Yan's poison-type Soul Master laid down a twenty-mile-long band of poisonous fog on the east side of the pass. The cyan-gold fog, formed by the fusion of the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison and the Primordial World Power, slowly surged in the morning breeze, sealing off the Soul Master on the eastern wing of the Spirit Hall camp and preventing them from deploying their formations.

However, the west wing was not sealed off by the poisonous fog.

Tuoba Lie's Holy Dragon Legion's main force was gathering on the western flank. Fifty thousand elite Soul Master advanced in formation, with shield formations, crossbow formations, and assault formations stacked upon each other, pressing towards the western gate of Jialing Pass. Nan Feng sensed that the Soul Power fluctuations from the western gate were more than ten times stronger than those from the eastern flank. The Spirit Hall was testing the area—testing the coverage of the poisonous fog, testing the troop distribution at Jialing Pass, and testing how much area Nan Feng's Tower Realm could cover simultaneously.

"The west gate is under attack!" A messenger rushed up from below the city walls. "The vanguard of the Holy Dragon Legion has reached five li outside the west gate!"

Nan Feng swept towards the western city wall. The user silently activated the Nether Step: Shrinking the Earth" technique, covering a hundred zhang in three steps, leaving a trail of afterimages on the city wall. The Soul Tool Turret on the western wall opened fire at full speed, blue pillars of Soul Power erupting from the muzzles, creating ripples of Soul Power across the plains outside the pass. The Spirit Hall's shield formation slowly advanced amidst the barrage, the front-line shield bearers using shields formed from Soul Power to block the cannon fire, while the rear crossbowmen unleashed a barrage of Soul Power arrows towards the city wall.

Nan Feng stood atop the West Gate, the tower expanding to three zhang high, the Suppress Mountains and Rivers cascading down from its base, covering an area a hundred paces in front of the city gate. The Samsara Power suppressed the Soul Power flow of the Holy Dragon Legion's vanguard by thirty percent, abruptly slowing the assault formation's speed. However, the Holy Dragon Legion had too many Soul Master; with fifty thousand simultaneously releasing their Soul Power, the Tower Realm's suppressive effect became extremely limited after being distributed among each Soul Master.

"Old Huai," Nan Feng spoke in the Tower Spirit Space.

Old Huai rose from the immortal tree, his half-face, now solidified from a remnant soul, bearing a grave expression. "Ximen can't hold out much longer. Your Soul Power is only Level 87; the Tower Realm's coverage is limited. With the Holy Dragon Legion's fifty thousand men attacking in waves, your tower's maximum will be three days."

Nan Feng remained silent. His gaze pierced through the Soul Power ripples and smoke of battle, landing on the distant plains beyond the pass. His Treasure-Appraising Spirit Light caught a bright golden dot moving rapidly at the edge of the three thousand paces. The Soul Power fluctuations of the dot contained a frequency he was extremely familiar with— the Soul Power characteristics of the Soft Bone Rabbit Soft Bone Rabbit, but more than ten times stronger.

The golden light streaked across the battlefield at high speed, each flash accompanied by the shattering of the Soul Power shields of three or more Spirit Hall Soul Master. The light's trajectory was completely erratic, sometimes soaring into the sky, sometimes skimming along the ground, scattering the Spirit Hall's crossbow formations and assault formations into disarray.

"Xiao Wu." Nan Feng's lips twitched slightly.

Xiao Wu rushed from the Shrek Academy to support Jialing Pass. She arrived faster and stronger than Nan Feng had anticipated.

Golden light flashed seventeen times across the battlefield, leaving seventeen torn Soul Power shields in the western wing of the Soft Bone Rabbit Spirit Hall's formation. The last afterimage landed a hundred paces outside the west gate, and Xiao Wu's figure materialized from the golden light. She was covered in blood, her scorpion braid stained with dust and blood, her pink battle dress torn to shreds, and a deep, bone-revealing wound on her left shoulder from which blood was gushing. But her eyes were a hundred times brighter than when she was at the Nuoding Academy, burning with golden light, and the power of the Primordial World Seed surged within the core of her Soft Bone Rabbit Martial Soul.

"Tower Simpleton!" Xiao Wu looked up and saw Nan Feng on the city wall, and shouted at the top of her lungs, "Didn't I embarrass you?"

Nan Feng watched her movements, a hundred times more agile on the battlefield, and the seventeen Spirit Hall Soul Master lying at her feet. "No," he said.

Xiao Wu turned and charged into the Holy Dragon Legion's assault formation. Her figure transformed into golden lightning once more during the charge, her Soft Bone Rabbit Martial Soul erupting fully within her—but this time, she sensed the seed planted within her since Nuoding Academy awakening completely on the battlefield. That golden power surged from the Martial Soul Core, flowing into every bone, every meridian, and every muscle. The Soft Bone Rabbit Martial Soul trembled violently under the impact of the golden power, Martial Soul form slowly changing during the battle—the originally gentle pink Soul Power gradually transformed into gold as it merged with the golden light, and the core structure of the Martial Soul was rewritten by the Primordial World Seed.

Xiao Wu's right leg drew a golden arc in the air, kicking the shield of a Soul Saint from the Holy Dragon Legion. The Soul Saint's shield shattered like thin ice under the impact of the golden lightning, and he was sent flying backward, crashing into the shield formation of three Soul Master behind him. When Xiao Wu landed, her feet created two deep pits in the frozen ground of the plains outside the pass, and golden Soul Power spread from her feet, cracking the frozen ground within a ten-step radius.

She looked down at her hands. Golden Soul Power flowed through her palms, and the edges of her nails shimmered with a golden halo. The Soft Bone Rabbit Martial Soul pulsated quietly within her body, but the power of that pulsation was more than ten times stronger than before. She sensed that her Martial Soul was no longer simply the Soft Bone Rabbit —the golden Primordial World Power had completely merged with the core of the Soft Bone Rabbit, and the name of the Martial Soul emerged in her soul: Asura Jade Rabbit.

"Is... is this me?" Xiao Wu's voice trembled slightly.

Nan Feng leaped down from the city wall, taking three quick steps in mid-air with his Nether Step, landing in front of Xiao Wu. He placed his hand on Xiao Wu's shoulder, a Primordial World Power seeping into the Martial Soul Core. He sensed that the Soul Power fluctuations of the Asura Jade Rabbit were stable and pure, the golden Soul Power containing the agility and attack attributes of the Soft Bone Rabbit and the suppressive attributes of Primordial World Power.

"The Primordial World helped you break through," Nan Feng said. "You're no longer the Soft Bone Rabbit; you're the Asura Jade Rabbit."

Xiao Wu looked up at him. Golden Soul Power flowed in her eyes, reflecting Nan Feng's figure. Tears welled up in her eyes, but she smiled. "Tower Simpleton..." Her voice choked slightly, "When you touched my Martial Soul at the Nuoding Academy, you said you might be able to help me break through the bottleneck of transformation in the future. I thought you were just saying it casually."

I never say things offhand.

Xiao Wu reached out and grabbed Nan Feng's sleeve, her grip tight. Golden Soul Power seeped from her palm into Nan Feng Nan Feng's fabric, resonating faintly with the Primordial World Power within him. "Do you know—" Xiao Wu's voice was low, "After Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast transforms, its Martial Soul can no longer evolve. I thought I was destined to be Soft Bone Rabbit for life. But the seed you left behind took root in the Martial Soul Core Martial Soul, slowly rewriting its structure over the past two years. Today, on the battlefield, it was finally fully unleashed."

Nan Feng nodded. The Treasure-Appraising Spirit Light sensed in his mind that the Primordial World Seed in Xiao Wu's Martial Soul Core had completely fused with the Asura Jade Rabbit. There was no rejection reaction in the golden Soul Power, and the evolution was perfect.

"Asura Jade Rabbit." Xiao Wu read the name of her new Martial Soul aloud, then suddenly smiled, "It sounds better than Soft Bone Rabbit."

She released Nan Feng's sleeve and turned to face the Holy Dragon Legion. Golden Soul Power formed a whirlwind around her, and the Asura Jade Rabbit Martial Soul was fully unleashed—her figure was lighter than before, and her speed was three times faster. The Soft Bone Rabbit's soft techniques, enhanced by the golden Soul Power, became true killing moves. She charged into the battle formation again, and golden lightning exploded in the Spirit Hall's western wing formation. Each flash was accompanied by the shattering of several Soul Master ' shields and the collapse of their formation.

Nan Feng stood below the city, the tower suspended in front of his chest, the Suppress Mountains and Rivers covering a hundred paces of the west gate, providing flank cover for Xiao Wu. He sensed that the Asura Jade Rabbit within Xiao Wu's body was constantly consolidating and growing in the battle, each burst of Soul Power stronger than the last, and the fusion of the Martial Soul and the Primordial World Seed was accelerating in actual combat.

"Her Martial Soul Evolution." Old Huai's voice came from the Tower Spirit Space, tinged with a hint of relief. "The Hundred-Thousand-Year Soft Bone Rabbit's form was already solidified after its transformation, but the power of the Primordial World Seed broke through the fundamental limitations of her Martial Soul. The Asura Jade Rabbit —with its agility-based attack attribute combined with the Primordial World Suppression Power—is more than one level stronger than an ordinary Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast Martial Soul."

Nan Feng extended the light membrane of the Tower Realm towards Xiao Wu, covering a radius of fifty paces around her. The Power of Mountain Suppression within the Tower Realm membrane suppressed the speed of the Spirit Hall's Soul Master by thirty percent. Xiao Wu moved freely within the light membrane, and the golden lightning became even more deadly under the enhancement of the Tower Realm.

The battle lasted for half an hour. The western flank assault formation of the Holy Dragon Legion was completely routed with the combined efforts of Xiao Wu and Nan Feng. Fifty thousand elite Soul Master abandoned thousands of corpses and wounded, retreating towards the pass. Tuoba Lie watched the battle from the western gate under the central army banner in the distance, his face ashen. He sensed that the Soul Power fluctuation of that golden lightning was growing at an alarming rate; from the beginning to the end of the battle, the intensity of that fluctuation had increased by nearly thirty percent.

"Asura Jade Rabbit." Tuoba Lie murmured the unfamiliar name of the Martial Soul. There was no record of this kind of Martial Soul in the intelligence of the Spirit Hall. Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast can evolve after taking human form, which has never happened before in the history of the Douluo Continent.

After the battle, Xiao Wu collapsed to the ground below the city. Golden Soul Power slowly receded from her body, and the Asura Jade Rabbit Martial Soul returned to her body to lie dormant. She was covered in wounds; the wound on her left shoulder had been torn open three times during the battle, and there were three cracks in the bones of her right arm, but her eyes shone with an astonishing brightness. The golden halo in her pupils slowly faded, but the new power within the Martial Soul Core had stabilized.

Nan Feng squatted down in front of her, took out a healing pill that Ye Lingling had left for him from the Tower Spirit Space, and put it into her mouth. Xiao Wu chewed it twice and swallowed it. The medicinal power of the Nine Heart Begonia spread from her body, and the wound healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"When did you arrive at Jialing Pass?" Nan Feng asked.

Xiao Wu leaned against the city wall, catching her breath. "I arrived three days ago. Tang San sent me first; he was in the rear helping Xue Beng gather reinforcements." She turned to look at Nan Feng, "I searched for you on the battlefield for three days. You were on the east wing, while I was fighting on the west wing. We only met today."

Nan Feng looked at the new red hair ribbon on her left wrist. It was the same braid as the one on his wrist, but the color was newer. "A new braid?"

Xiao Wu raised her hand and touched the hairband. "I made it at Shrek Academy. Tang San said you were fighting at Jialing Pass, so I made a new one for you." She took out another red hairband from her bosom, exactly the same as the one on her left wrist. "What about the old one?"

Nan Feng raised his left wrist. The red hair ribbon that Xiao Wu had braided back at the Nuoding Academy had faded considerably and was badly worn at the edges, but the braiding was still neat. He had never changed it.

Xiao Wu looked at the old hairband and remained silent for a moment. "Change it," she said, handing over the new one. "This one's sturdier."

Nan Feng took the new red hair ribbon and put the old one into the Tower Spirit Space. As the new one was tied to her left wrist, the red ribbon fluttered gently in the wind, intertwining with the silver-blue light emitted when the tower was suspended. Xiao Wu looked at the new hair ribbon tied on Nan Feng's wrist and suddenly smiled.

"Tower Simpleton." Her voice was very soft.

"Um."

"I was only twelve when you touched my Martial Soul at the Nuoding Academy." Xiao Wu looked up at the direction of the city wall, the golden afterglow slowly fading in her pupils. "Back then, you said, 'The power in my soul might help you break through the bottleneck of transformation in the future.' I thought you were just casually comforting me. But you really did it."

Nan Feng stood up and withdrew the tower into his palm. The nine-story bronze tower slowly rotated in the twilight, the seventh layer of Samsara patterns quietly shimmering with silver-blue light. He reached out his hand to Xiao Wu.

Xiao Wu grabbed his hand and stood up. The Soul Power of the Asura Jade Rabbit flashed through her palm, resonating momentarily with the Primordial World Power in Nan Feng's palm. She released his hand, moved the bones in her right arm, and found that the crack had healed seventy percent under the medicinal power of the Nine Heart Begonia.

"The battle at Jialing Pass is far from over," Xiao Wu said. "My Asura Jade Rabbit has just evolved and still needs more practical experience. I'll stay with you on the east wing for the next few battles."

Nan Feng nodded. The two walked towards the city wall, their movements— the Nether Step - Shrinking Earth and the Asura Jade Rabbit —following each other in the twilight, two afterimages swiftly sweeping across the stone steps of the city gate. In the Tower Spirit Space, Hu Liena's secret letter floated quietly beside the Ice Crystal Amulet, its dark fox tail pattern shimmering slightly in the cyan-gold immortal light. The old red hairband was stored in the deepest part of the Tower Spirit Space, placed alongside the snake bead of the Nine Netherworlds Dark Python, the Right Arm Soul Bone of the Frost Giant Dragon, and the Head Soul Bone of the Golden-Eyed Peng King.

Those were all testaments to his journey. But the new red ribbon tied around his wrist still fluttered in the wind.