Five Elements Life Generation

Lin Qingchen opened his eyes. Three Soul Rings-one yellow and two purple-hovered steadily beside him. Halos of five different colors flickered in turn across their surfaces, then quickly converged into one and disappeared into his body.

He stretched his neck, and his bones gave several crisp pops. His whole body felt much lighter than before.

Most importantly, of course, he sensed a vibrant breath of life. He swore he had never felt so refreshed in his entire life.

Just then, Ye Lingling finished as well.

She stood up, her complexion much rosier than before. Her face, which had always been somewhat pale, looked much more normal now.

She raised her head and met Lin Qingchen's gaze.

Qin Ming walked over and first glanced at the colors of Lin Qingchen's Soul Rings in surprise. Then he nodded. "Looks like you both succeeded. How do you feel?"

"Mm," Lin Qingchen replied.

Ye Lingling nodded gently as well.

"Then try out your Soul Skills. Once you're done, we'll leave." Qin Ming added, "Be as quick as you can. This Spirit-Concentrating Tranquil Heart Orchid may have been exposed for a long time, but with the Azure Wood Spirit Bear guarding it, no Soul Beast dared to come and snatch it. Some Soul Beasts already came to investigate just now, though I scared them off with my pressure."

Lin Qingchen raised his right hand, and his dark purple Soul Ring lit up.

After a moment's thought, he used his third Soul Skill on a nearby old tree that Yu Tianheng's Thunderous Might had blasted black.

Five Elements Life Generation.

His Soul Power began circulating through his body in a special way. Lin Qingchen could feel his vitality being roused, and a warm current of power surged from his dantian into his limbs and bones.

He reached out toward the withered tree. A cluster of interwoven five-colored light poured from his palm and fell upon it.

The withered tree, however, did not respond, because this Soul Skill was never meant to be used on others.

(Ehe...)

Of course, it was possible to force the effect to work on someone else, but the gains would hardly make up for the cost.

Calling it twice the effort for half the result would have been putting it generously. It might even have been a hundred times the effort for one part of the result.

Lin Qingchen withdrew his hand and looked at his palm.

He could feel that, in the very instant he had unleashed his third Soul Skill, Five Elements Life Generation, the vitality within him had been strengthened. His meridians, muscles, and bones were all being nourished by that powerful vitality.

Not only did his defense increase dramatically under these conditions, but even if someone slashed him now, his wound would heal in an instant.

"What does it do?" Qin Ming asked. He hadn't been able to tell what was special about the Soul Skill either. Seeing Lin Qingchen holding out his hand toward the tree, he had assumed it was directed outward, but the tree hadn't changed at all...

"It's an enhancement Soul Skill. It can greatly increase my vitality, defense, and recovery for a short time." Lin Qingchen thought for a moment, then added, "By my estimate, I should be able to reattach a severed limb, but I'm not sure."

"That really is a powerful Soul Skill."

Qin Ming raised his eyebrows, greatly surprised.

After all, even for Soul Masters, regenerating a severed limb was no easy feat, and it was also very likely to cause their Soul Power to decline.

Hearing that Lin Qingchen's Soul Skill had such a heaven-defying effect, Qin Ming was genuinely happy for him.

It was just a pity that the Soul Skill didn't seem usable on others. Still, it was good enough, and they had Ye Lingling, didn't they?

Qin Ming turned to Ye Lingling.

Ye Lingling shook her head and said softly, "My Soul Skill is still Healing."

"Teacher, you know this already. Nine Heart Begonia only has this one Soul Skill. No matter how many Soul Rings I have, it's always Healing. The effect just gets stronger and stronger."

Qin Ming nodded. "Still, from the look of things, the range of your Healing should have increased quite a bit."

"Mm," Ye Lingling confirmed. Soon, though, she felt a little regretful as well. "Actually, besides its powerful vitality, the Spirit-Concentrating Tranquil Heart Orchid has another effect: it can make a person extremely focused and calm. If another Soul Master absorbed its Soul Ring, they should be able to obtain both effects at once. Unfortunately, my Martial Soul is the Nine Heart Begonia."

"It's all right. Maybe another Soul Master wouldn't get such a powerful healing effect."

Qin Ming didn't see it that way. "There are gains and losses in everything. You think someone else would have been better off absorbing this Soul Ring, but who's to say they wouldn't envy your Martial Soul's heaven-defying healing ability even more?"

"All right, let's get ready to leave. Don't let your guard down." He clapped his hands and called to them.

Lin Qingchen was just about to turn and leave when he caught sight of the withered Tranquil Spirit Heart-Concentrating Orchid on the ground out of the corner of his eye.

Having lost its core, its petals had curled up and turned yellow, and Ye Lingling had dug around its roots and stem. The whole flower lay limp on the ground, looking like a dead weed.

But at the edge of a petal, an extremely faint light was flickering.

Lin Qingchen stopped in his tracks.

The light was very weak, blending into the withered yellow edge of the petal. Without looking closely, he would never have noticed it.

But Lin Qingchen had always been sensitive to the presence of Wonder Seeds. He stared at the wilted flower for a long while, confirming that his eyes weren't playing tricks on him.

He crouched down and casually pulled the whole flower out of the soil.

The motion was natural, as though he were simply cleaning up the area.

As he clenched the flower in his hand, a tiny seed bearing a faint glow slipped through a gap between the petals and into his palm.

A Wonder Seed.

Lin Qingchen said nothing and put the flower, Wonder Seed and all, into his storage bracelet.

He didn't rush to pour the Power of Fortune into it, merely putting it away for now.

"Let's go," Qin Ming called from up ahead, urging them on.

The group returned the way they had come.

With Qin Ming, a Soul Emperor, leading them and the Imperial Fighting Team working seamlessly together, they didn't encounter any blind Soul Beasts along the way.

Occasionally, a few hundred- or thousand-year Soul Beasts caught the scent of the presence Qin Ming released from afar and immediately fled in a panic, taking any path to avoid him.

As they walked out of the outer reaches of the Star Dou Great Forest, Lin Qingchen's steps faltered. His Five Elements Perception had caught a faint, indistinct presence from very far away. It was heavy and violent, carrying a pressure that sent a chill down his back.

That presence came from deep within the forest, in a direction that took it away from them.

A Titled Douluo?

No, that's not right. It should be a Soul Beast.

The one he instinctively thought of was naturally Er Ming, that big simpleton, but why had he come over here and released his pressure?

Feeling lovesick?

It didn't matter, though. They had already left the Star Dou Great Forest, and that fellow couldn't possibly chase them out.

Without showing anything on his face, Lin Qingchen quickened his pace and caught up with the group ahead.

Qin Ming seemed to have noticed something as well. He turned his head and glanced toward the forest, then lowered his voice. "Move faster. Don't stop."

No one asked questions.

Though the members of the Imperial Fighting Team were young and full of vigor, they all understood the rules of the Star Dou Great Forest. When Qin Ming, their leader, told them to move faster with such a grave expression, they had to move faster. Even Yu Feng, who was always cracking jokes, didn't dare say a word.