Life Drain

After they entered the Soul Hunting Forest, the light grew dim. Tie Yan walked at the front, with Liu Dao and Cheng Dun on either side, keeping Wang Xingyu and the other two between them.

Wang Xingyu was in no hurry to press on. Every so often, he crouched and pressed his Blue Silver Grass into the soil. Its roots burrowed down, and a hazy picture of what lay underground surfaced in his senses.

Where the soil was loose, where rotting roots had piled up, where Soul Power fluctuated. His sensing range was not particularly large, but it was enough to probe underground. He checked again and again at intervals, like sifting flour through a sieve.

On his fifth probe, he stopped.

Something was wriggling in the layer of humus below. Its Soul Power fluctuations were weak but steady, like a heart buried in the earth, beating slowly. Judging by its size, it was probably around four hundred years old.

"Down here." Wang Xingyu stood up.

Tie Yan tightened his grip on his short hammer, Liu Dao drew his short blade, and Cheng Dun raised his round shield. Tang San's Blue Silver Grass spread out along the ground, and Xiao Wu's Moon Shadow lit up.

Tie Yan smashed the ground open with his hammer. Soil churned, exposing a Rotten Soil Earthworm at the bottom of the pit. Its dark brown, elongated body was nearly two meters long, and its segmented markings gleamed faintly in the dim light. A ring of fine, densely packed feelers contracted around its mouth.

Tang San's Blue Silver Grass was the first to wrap around it, and Iron Thorn Strangulation locked down its middle. The Rotten Soil Earthworm struggled violently, secreting thick digestive fluid from its body. The Blue Silver Grass creaked as it slipped against the fluid, but Tang San's grass was tough enough to hold it fast without loosening.

Liu Dao cut in from the side, slashing at its head with his short blade. The Rotten Soil Earthworm spat out a blob of digestive fluid, but Cheng Dun blocked it with his round shield. The shield's surface sizzled and bubbled.

Xiao Wu's Moon Shadow split into two. She circled around to its tail and swept out with a kick, sending the entire Rotten Soil Earthworm springing upward. Tang San seized the chance to tighten his hold, locking it completely in midair.

Tie Yan's short hammer came down, striking it squarely on the head. Its mouth was crushed.

The Rotten Soil Earthworm convulsed violently, the segmented markings on its body flickering bright and dim. It was not quite dead yet. Tie Yan turned to Wang Xingyu. "Finish it off."

Wang Xingyu drew a dagger from his waist and walked up to the Rotten Soil Earthworm. It was still wriggling, its feelers contracting feebly. He plunged the dagger into the softest segment behind its head, burying it to the hilt.

The Rotten Soil Earthworm suddenly went rigid, and the markings on its body dimmed completely. A yellow Soul Ring rose from the corpse and hovered in midair. It was a Hundred-Year Soul Ring, rather deep in color, around four hundred years old.

Wang Xingyu sat down cross-legged and reached his Blue Silver Grass toward the Soul Ring. The instant they touched, a vast surge of Soul Power poured into his body, far more violent than his own.

His meridians swelled under the pressure. The Mysterious Heaven Skill began circulating automatically, guiding that Soul Power through his body. Sweat broke out on his forehead, and his breathing grew heavier and heavier. The yellow ring of light grew fainter, then abruptly contracted and vanished completely into his body.

He opened his eyes, panting. Level eleven. Blue Silver Grass emerged from his palm, a shade darker than before, with a very faint yellow pattern along the edges of its leaves.

"Try it," Tang San said.

Wang Xingyu extended his Blue Silver Grass toward a wild Blue Silver Grass plant nearby. With a thought, his Soul Ring lit up.

The two Blue Silver Grass plants joined together, and the Soul Power inside the wild plant was like a shallow puddle. He tried drawing that Soul Power over. The membrane that had always blocked him broke. The wild Blue Silver Grass's Soul Power flowed along the roots and into his body.

He did not stop. His Blue Silver Grass wrapped around a dead tree nearby. The tree had no Soul Power, but a trace of extremely faint vitality remained. That vitality was drawn over, turning into a warm current that was stored near his dantian.

It was not Soul Power, but something more fundamental. He could feel that he could transfer this vitality to others.

Once he had drawn it out, he returned the vitality to the dead tree.

Liu Dao slipped his short blade back into his belt and leaned over for a look. "Support type?"

"Mm." Wang Xingyu sorted through what he had just felt. "I can absorb a target's Soul Power and vitality. I can use the Soul Power myself or transfer it to someone connected to me. I can only store vitality temporarily and use it to help teammates recover. There's a limit to how much I can store, and it's gone after one use. The stronger the opponent, the less efficiently I absorb their Soul Power."

Tie Yan hoisted his short hammer back onto his shoulder. After hearing that, he gave Wang Xingyu another look. "It can absorb Soul Power, store vitality, and transfer them too. That first Soul Skill of yours does quite a lot."

Liu Dao came closer. "Blue Silver Grass taking the support route-that's rare." Cheng Dun crouched on the ground, wiping digestive fluid off his shield. He looked up at Wang Xingyu without saying anything, but there was a trace of surprise in his eyes.

Xiao Wu tossed her scorpion braid back. "Then when we fight from now on, you can absorb the other side's Soul Power first. Once you've absorbed it, give it to Little San. Little San uses Iron Thorn Strangulation, and I go in and kick. Whoever gets hurt gets the vitality."

"Something like that."

Xiao Wu nodded in satisfaction.

On the way back, Tang San walked beside Wang Xingyu and suddenly spoke. "Life Drain turned out much like you expected."

Wang Xingyu turned his head to look at him.

"What you said in the dormitory." Tang San looked at the road ahead. "Absorbing an opponent's Soul Power to replenish your own, storing vitality to support your teammates. It's all come true now."

Wang Xingyu thought about it. That was true. He had started considering reverse absorption two and a half years ago, looked up information on dozens of Soul Beasts, and finally narrowed the choice down to the Rotten Soil Earthworm.

It devoured and converted rotting matter into nutrients for itself, refusing nothing that came its way. It could even absorb feces. The Soul Skill had inherited that trait, turning it into the ability to absorb Soul Power and vitality. His expectations had been on the right track, and he had chosen the right Soul Beast.

"It really did," he said.

The corners of Tang San's mouth curved up.

After they left the Soul Hunting Forest, Tie Yan collected the remaining five Silver Soul Coins. "Come find me again next time you have work."

Wang Xingyu nodded, hoping there would be another chance.

Back in Nuoding City, Wang Xingyu first went to Spirit Hall to register as a Soul Master. Ma Xiunuo took his proof and looked it over, made a note in the register, and handed him an iron badge engraved with Spirit Hall's emblem. "Come collect your allowance on the first of each month. One Gold Soul Coin."

Wang Xingyu accepted the badge and thanked him. As he walked out of Spirit Hall, the setting sun fell squarely on the stone pillars by the entrance. He tucked the badge into his pocket and felt it with his fingers.

Starting today, one Gold Soul Coin a month. He would slowly fill the fifty-Gold-Soul-Coin hole in his pocket.

Beside him, Xiao Wu looked at his badge, then at her own empty pockets, and began counting on her fingers. Wang Xingyu glanced at her. "Stop counting. Definitely before graduation."

"All right!" Xiao Wu said with a smile.

The three of them headed toward the academy. The setting sun stretched their shadows long. Wang Xingyu walked in the middle, his Blue Silver Grass held in his palm, the pale yellow markings along its leaves gleaming faintly in the twilight. His First Soul Ring, Life Drain.

He had mastered reverse absorption and learned to store vitality. Next, he needed to practice combining transfer and absorption to perfection. And there were the two storage pouches to get before graduation; he only had Copper Soul Coins and one Gold Soul Coin left in his pocket. One thing at a time.