Chapter 23: Fancy Ways to Use Soul Skills

This is still the Blue Silver Grass after being modified by the Internal Energy of the Divine Art; otherwise, relying solely on the Blue Silver Grass, this level of toughness would likely be even lower.

The name "useless martial soul" is not without foundation, Shi Quan sighed inwardly.

The toughness of his Blue Silver Grass martial soul right now should be about the same as a normal rope, but fortunately, although the toughness is not very ideal, he has a lot of it!

With a flick of one hand, four or five vines transformed from branches and leaves extended simultaneously, wrapping around the tree trunk.

Applying force again, the bark of the tree trunk instantly cracked inch by inch, and the sturdy trunk even dented slightly.

Although the innate conditions of the Blue Silver Grass are not strong, its consumption is extremely low, so releasing soul skills like this is not a major drain for him.

"This first soul skill shall be called Blue Silver Growth. Although the year limit is a bit low, fortunately, the soul skill is what I wanted. Let's try it out first."

As he spoke, a hint of playfulness appeared in the depths of Shi Quan's eyes, and after looking around to confirm there was no one nearby.

With a grip of one hand, he shouted, "Blue Silver Growth, first form: Blue Silver Barrier!"

The soul ring beneath Shi Quan suddenly bloomed with brilliant light, and a large amount of Blue Silver vines swirled, extended, and piled up in front of him. In just two breaths, the pale blue Blue Silver vines piled together to form a wall-like barrier.

"Not bad." A faint smile appeared on the corner of Shi Quan's mouth. He retracted the Blue Silver Grass and simultaneously threw a punch, "Blue Silver Growth, second form: Blue Silver Fist!"

As Shi Quan threw a punch, the soul ring shone brightly again. The Blue Silver Grass in front of Shi Quan's fist seemed to inflate, rapidly enlarging, and then as Shi Quan's punch landed, with a boom, a ball of Blue Silver vines with a diameter of at least one meter smashed onto the ground.

"Haha, that works, that works." Shi Quan's smile widened, and he immediately struck a chuunibyou transformation pose, "Blue Silver Growth, ultimate technique: Blue Silver Armor... Combine!"

The familiar light bloomed from the soul ring again. Starting from Shi Quan's right hand, the Blue Silver Grass rapidly wrapped up along his right arm. In a breath or two, the slender Blue Silver vines covered his entire body, leaving only his eyes and nostrils exposed, turning him directly into a Blue Silver human cocoon.

Ho-ho-ha-hey!

Shi Quan stiffly waved his fists, the chuunibyou vibe even stronger. After playing around for a while, he retracted the Blue Silver vines.

Although it was a prank, it does not mean the Blue Silver Armor has no feasibility. If one were to attach a portion of Blue Silver Grass to the arms and limbs during a battle, it could truly provide a certain degree of defensive effect.

Although this Blue Silver Growth looks like it has no offensive capability, if used properly, its effect is no weaker than many offensive and defensive soul skills.

As for Entanglement? It only requires a little control over the Blue Silver Grass martial soul, and since most vine-type plant Spirit Beasts come with the innate trait of entanglement, it is not a problem at all.

Compared to Tang San's single-target Entanglement control, Blue Silver Growth is even more flexible.

However, since it is called a soul skill, Tang San's Entanglement soul skill also has its special aspect, and that is power!

In the original work, whenever Tang San released Entanglement, there would be descriptions of it tightening. Aside from the toxins of the Entanglement, the effect of Tang San's first soul skill should also carry the power of the Datura Snake wrapping around its prey.

It is also fortunate that Tang San's Blue Silver Grass martial soul possesses the Blue Silver Emperor bloodline, making the toughness of his Blue Silver Grass innately stronger than ordinary Blue Silver Grass, and the attribute growth after absorbing a soul ring is high enough.

Otherwise, if a normal Blue Silver Grass martial soul had obtained such a soul skill, I fear that as soon as it was released, without the enemy even struggling, the Blue Silver Grass itself would not be able to withstand the power of the soul skill and would have snapped itself.

"Right, there is also the treasure chest reward."

Withdrawing his thoughts, Shi Quan turned his attention back to the system. It had been over a year since the last time he triggered a treasure chest; he had almost forgotten the existence of the system.

System Storage Space.

Shi Quan's gaze looked at the yellow diamond-shaped crystal in the light screen.

Primary Spirit Ring Strengthening Stone: A prop originating from a certain Douluo Continent fan-fiction mobile game. After use, it can strengthen a Century Spirit Ring, increase the Spirit Ring Year Limit, and amplify soul skill effects.

Note: Crush to use.

System, are you serious?

A mobile game? Game props? It can actually produce these things.

Shi Quan complained inwardly, but his body was very honest as he took out the Primary Spirit Ring Strengthening Stone and, after carefully examining it up and down.

Following a crisp shattering sound, the yellow diamond-shaped crystal in Shi Quan's hand exploded violently, then transformed into a mass of yellow light mist, instantly merging into Shi Quan's body.

A wave of warm energy flowed through his body before finally sinking into his physique.

That's it?

Before Shi Quan could even feel it properly, he realized that the warm current had already merged into his body.

Summoning his soul ring again, after examining it carefully.

There was no change at all. Shi Quan could be certain that from the appearance, there was no change to the soul ring.

"Could it be a fake?"

Shi Quan pursed his lips and released his soul skill again. The pale blue Blue Silver Grass extended once more. After a careful comparison, Shi Quan was pleasantly surprised to find that although the soul power consumption had not changed, the speed at which the Blue Silver Grass extended had become a bit faster, and the extended Blue Silver Grass had gained an additional healing and regeneration attribute—meaning that as long as the Blue Silver Grass was not completely severed, it would slowly heal.

Given the current toughness of the Blue Silver Grass, the healing attribute would not play much of a role, but as the toughness of the Blue Silver Grass increases, it will definitely play a major role in the later stages.

A product of the system is truly a premium!

Although it is only a century-level soul skill, after using one Primary Spirit Ring Strengthening Stone, the effect of this soul skill feels like it is approaching that of a millennium-level soul skill.

In one word: awesome!

Although the trigger difficulty for system treasure chests is high, every item opened from a treasure chest is useful to Shi Quan.

"Now that the first hurdle has passed, before reaching Thirty Levels, the Spirit Hall should be safe for me for the time being."

After feeling the changes in his soul skill, Shi Quan sat down while thinking.

His Soul Ring Limit Theory would probably be finished in about two days. Daosen would definitely submit his initial theory to Wuhun City. To the Spirit Hall, Shi Quan is currently a free and diligent experimental subject. Before his theory is perfected, the Spirit Hall should not move against him; not only will they not move against him, they might even deliberately cover up his existence.

"The Spirit Hall knowing my theory can indeed protect me for now, but this also harms Teacher."

Shi Quan's expression was somewhat complex. He had always been thinking about how to protect himself, but he had overlooked one person, and that was Maerde.

As his academy teacher, the person who knows his theory best right now is Maerde. The more one knows, the more dangerous it naturally becomes.

If the Spirit Hall wants to monopolize his theory, once they decide to control him, Maerde will inevitably be unable to escape death.

Right now his strength is still low. Although he successfully absorbed a soul ring beyond his limit, the theory is not yet mature and his talent has not yet been revealed, so the Spirit Hall should not have the intention to act, but it is hard to say for the future.

Balance.

Shi Quan wrote these two large characters on the ground.

If he wants to preserve himself and also protect Maerde, he must maintain a balance. He must choose another faction to check and balance the Spirit Hall.

"Who could make the Spirit Hall and the Three Upper Sects not come to cause me trouble..."

A moment later, another character appeared on the ground.

Xue!

Only she could accomplish this.

After all, only she is a person of the Heaven Dou Empire, can be considered a person of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect of the Three Upper Sects, and is simultaneously a person of the Spirit Hall!

If she could protect me, who would still dare to touch me?

Furthermore, when the time comes, I might even be able to trigger a treasure chest.

However, this is not something he is anxious about right now; this matter must wait at least until he obtains his second Soul Ring before it can be executed, so for now, he still has to plan carefully.

Continue cultivating.

Two days later, Shi Quan submitted the first draft of the Soul Ring Limit Theory he had written into the hands of Daosen.

Unsurprisingly, he received overtures from Daosen.

Shi Quan neither agreed nor refused, but instead found a casual excuse and chose to stall.

Time flew by, and Shi Quan's days remained busy and fulfilling.

Because there was no longer any intersection between them, Tang San and Xiao Wu did not come to look for trouble with Shi Quan again.

As the theoretical study material increased, the relationship between Shi Quan and Maerde also became one of both teacher and friend.

For the sake of convenient discussion and exchange.

Later on, Maerde directly used his authority as Dean to arrange an independent dormitory for Shi Quan, and Shi Quan also became the most special exception in the academy; although he was a student, he never had to attend classes, and the dormitory he lived in was an independent dormitory where teachers lived.

A year passed, and Shi Quan's soul power level reached sixteen, improving by one level roughly every two months or so; his martial arts realm also saw significant improvement.

If it weren't for the fact that his daytime hours were all spent studying and practicing martial arts, Shi Quan's soul power level might have been even higher.

Although cultivation is dull, the feeling of having that power in one's own hands is addictive, so Shi Quan's enthusiasm for cultivation did not diminish, but instead continued to rise.

During this year, Shi Quan also keenly noticed that his movements within the academy were being observed intentionally or unintentionally; it was clearly people sent by the Spirit Hall.

Besides the people from the Spirit Hall, another person who was particularly attentive to him was Yu Xiaogang; throughout this year, Yu Xiaogang had more than once intentionally or unintentionally probed and tried to understand his situation.

Human curiosity is just like this: the more you don't want them to know, the more they want to know; even someone like Yu Xiaogang, who has strong self-esteem and is conceited, finds it hard to escape the influence of curiosity, especially when the thing he is curious about is a field he considers himself invincible in.

……

"To this day, you still can't tell me!" Yu Xiaogang's questioning voice came, his hoarse voice carrying a hint of irrepressible anger.

"Xiaogang, why must you be so persistent?" Maerde looked at the Yu Xiaogang before him with a headache and advised: "I have already told you many times; when it is time to tell you, I will tell you."

"Then tell me Shi Quan's soul power level." Yu Xiaogang's stiff cheeks showed no expression, his eyes staring straight at Maerde.

"I said... Xiaogang, why must you make things difficult for me?" Maerde revealed a helpless expression.

"I understand." Yu Xiaogang's face showed disappointment, and he turned and left.

……

"Xiao Quan, Xiaogang came to ask me about you again; why don't we tell him something? After all, his theoretical foundation is much better than mine." Maerde looked at Shi Quan with a fidgety expression.

Shi Quan's writing paused; he put down the pen in his hand, looked up at Maerde, and asked: "Teacher, do you know about Tang San's Twin Spirits?"

"Twin Spirits? Tang San has Twin Spirits?" Maerde was stunned for a moment, then widened his eyes and looked at Shi Quan, "How do you know Tang San has Twin Spirits?"

"Yu Xiaogang's theory told me."

"What?" Maerde looked at Shi Quan in surprise.

Shi Quan stood up and took the book written by Yu Xiaogang, *The Ten Core Competencies of Spirit Masters*, from the bookshelf on the side.

He opened the book, pointed to a passage of text, and said: "Yu Xiaogang's book wrote that the magnitude of innate soul power is directly proportional to the quality of the martial soul; it was this sentence that told me."

Maerde looked at this sentence and was still somewhat confused.

Shi Quan then explained: "The Blue Silver Grass martial soul is innately weak; even my mutated Blue Silver Grass only has level one innate soul power, yet Tang San has level ten full soul power. According to Yu Xiaogang's theory, the magnitude of innate soul power is directly proportional to the quality of the martial soul. The Blue Silver Grass martial soul certainly cannot satisfy this condition. To satisfy his theory, then Tang San must also possess another martial soul, and it must be a very powerful martial soul—a martial soul sufficient to allow him to have Innate Full Spirit Power!"

"So that's how it is!" Maerde immediately revealed a look of sudden realization. He also knew the Master's *Ten Core Competencies of Spirit Masters*, but he had never thought of such a situation. He couldn't help but shake his head and say: "I'm old, I'm old; why didn't I think of that?"

If everyone could think of it, how would that highlight the Master's wisdom? Shi Quan secretly complained in his heart.

Shi Quan continued: "If Yu Xiaogang comes to ask you again in the future, you can use this to ask him back. If he can tell you Tang San's second martial soul, then you can also tell him my secret."

"Hahaha. Good." Maerde laughed and agreed, "This is what you said, Xiao Quan."

It's just a pity that that guy Yu Xiaogang could never tell you about Tang San's Clear Sky Hammer, Shi Quan laughed secretly in his heart.

……

Another half year passed.

Shi Quan had already finished reading almost all the books stored in Notting Academy; in terms of independent spirit theory, Shi Quan had already surpassed Maerde.

With his current knowledge of spirit theory, he was already qualified to teach at most academies.

Because there were no more books to read, Shi Quan began to engage in research and study regarding spirit theory during the morning hours; the knowledge in books is all idle, and more theories must rely on one's own research and practice.

Just like that, another half year passed.

Late at night.

"Hmm?"

Shi Quan, who was cultivating his Divine Art, discovered that his level had finally achieved a Breakthrough.

"Level twenty."

Shi Quan opened his eyes, his expression showing neither joy nor anger. He was not surprised by the breakthrough in his level; if he hadn't deliberately controlled it, using much of his Internal Energy to nourish his martial soul, the time for his breakthrough might have been even faster.

Looking at the bright moon outside the window, Shi Quan murmured to himself: "It is time to leave Notting Academy..."

(End of chapter)