Chapter 4: The First Soul Skill

Tang San glanced at Gu La, who nodded in response.

With no more reservations, Tang San took the dagger handed to him by Tang Hao and forcefully severed the roots of the Orchid Mantis Grass. But he didn't stop there—he swiftly chopped the main branches into pieces, ensuring it couldn't take root and revive. Only then did a yellow soul ring emerge from the fragments of the leaves and stems.

Tang San sat cross-legged on the ground, releasing his Blue Silver Grass martial soul and guiding the soul ring to envelop it. Closing his eyes, he began fusing with the soul ring.

As a Title Douluo, Tang Hao still possessed some composure. Despite being extremely anxious, he managed to suppress his impatience and wait patiently.

He reflected on the look Tang San had given Gu La earlier, realizing that Xiao San trusted Gu La. Perhaps he should treat Gu La with a bit more respect.

In a dry tone, he asked, "What kind of spirit beast do you want?"

Gu La was momentarily stunned but quickly replied without hesitation, "My martial soul, the Lava Behemoth, is fire and earth-attribute. But Uncle Tang, you might have heard—I've been born with extraordinary strength. By the age of four, I was already stronger than an adult. After my martial soul awakened, my strength reached absurd levels."

Gu La bent down and picked up a rock from the ground, tossing it with force. A loud bang echoed as the stone, the size of a ping pong ball, embedded itself deep into a tree trunk several dozen meters away.

Without changing his expression, Gu La calmly brushed the dust off his hands.

This display was already toned down. Thanks to the primal essence of Groudon and the Pallet Town Physique, Gu La felt confident that he could fight hand-to-hand with a thousand-year-old spirit beast and win.

Of course, there was no need to say that out loud. Gu La preferred to keep a low profile.

Calmly, he explained, "With such an advantage, it would be a shame not to make full use of it. Therefore, I plan to follow the path of overwhelming force—focusing on enhancing my physical power while using elemental attributes as supplementary support."

There was another reason for this decision. In Pokémon's six-stat system, offensive capabilities were divided into physical attack and special attack.

Gu La had a hunch that he possessed certain Pokémon-like abilities. Thus, the potency of his attribute-based soul skills would likely be tied to his physical strength, while his soul power would determine his special attack.

Soul power could increase along with cultivation, but physical strength couldn't keep up with the same efficiency. This was why he needed powerful, strength-oriented spirit beasts to compensate.

As for the elemental affinity provided by spirit beasts' soul rings, Gu La completely disregarded it.

Even with just a trace of divine essence in his Groudon martial soul, ordinary spirit beasts wouldn't provide any meaningful enhancement. Only treasures equivalent to a hundred-thousand-year soul ring or higher would stand a chance of boosting the Groudon martial soul.

A flicker of surprise passed through Tang Hao's eyes, followed by admiration. The Hao Tian Sect revered pure strength-based soul rings, so he greatly appreciated Gu La's choice.

He patted Gu La's shoulder. "Truly born with extraordinary strength. With this kind of power, even ordinary Soul Masters aren't your match."

"Coincidentally, I'm also a strength-focused soul master. I consider myself quite knowledgeable about strength-type spirit beasts. What kind of soul ring do you need? Once Xiao San wakes up, I'll go and catch it for you."

Gu La didn't hesitate. Tang Hao had eaten plenty of meals at his place over the years—it was about time he repaid the favor.

"I need a thousand-year-old Vigorous Vajra Bear."

The Vigorous Vajra Bear was called "Vajra," but judging from Zhao Wuji's soul skills, it was clearly an earth-attribute spirit beast.

Though Gu La claimed to disregard the elemental affinity provided by soul rings, he wasn't opposed to it being an added bonus.

"A thousand-year-old one?"

Tang Hao shook his head. "What nonsense are you speaking? The limit for a first soul ring is four…"

"I know." Gu La interrupted Tang Hao.

"If Uncle Tang knows anything, it's that the upper limit for absorbing soul rings depends on physical strength. So, what do you think my body's absorption limit is?"

Even if there were methods to increase the soul ring's duration later, the initial limit still mattered. At the very least, the additional boosts to physical strength and soul power were significant. As each soul ring accumulated, the final gains would be substantial.

Tang Hao hesitated. As a Title Douluo, he naturally understood the requirements for fusing soul rings. Physical strength was the most critical factor—if the body was strong enough, other considerations followed.

Gu La's physique was undoubtedly exceptional. Even when Tang Hao had been a Soul Master, his physical strength hadn't been this formidable.

However, after some thought, Tang Hao still shook his head. "There's no need to take risks. I can interrupt the fusion process if necessary, but you'll definitely get injured. It would take at least a year or two before you could attempt to fuse another soul ring. If it fails, the consequences would outweigh the benefits."

"Moreover, a thousand-year-old first soul ring would draw too much attention, which isn't a good thing. I have matters to attend to and won't always be able to protect you."

Tang Hao's reasons were sound, but Gu La knew his limits.

While a thousand-year-old soul ring would indeed attract attention, he didn't need it to defeat a Soul Master. If he kept the soul ring hidden, no one would know.

Once he had sufficient self-defense capabilities, he could reveal the soul ring. Who could criticize him then?

When Gu La explained his reasoning, Tang Hao had no further excuses to stop him. After staring at Gu La for a moment, Tang Hao finally relented.

"Fine, I'll help you this once. But if things don't work out, you must abandon the attempt to fuse the thousand-year soul ring."

"Don't worry, Uncle Tang. I know my limits," Gu La assured him, patting his chest confidently.

After their discussion ended, they waited quietly. An hour later, Tang San slowly opened his eyes, meeting Gu La's clear, black-and-white gaze.

Gu La's eyes sparkled with anticipation as he asked, "How's the soul ring effect?"

"The gains are immense. Let me show you directly."

Tang San smiled as he stood up, brushing off the dust, and summoned his Blue Silver Grass martial soul.

After absorbing the first soul ring, the slender leaves of the Blue Silver Grass had doubled in width and thickness. The silver glow on its branches now carried a hint of pink.

Tang San explained his experience: "Absorbing the Orchid Mantis Grass soul ring gave me a sense of vibrant vitality within my body. External injuries should heal faster—a sign of strengthening life essence, as Brother Gu La predicted."

"The toughness and strength of the Blue Silver Grass have significantly improved. Its growth rate when stimulated by soul power has also increased, and it now possesses some of the Orchid Mantis Grass's ability to conceal soul power."

Gu La nodded. His judgment based on the God-tier Appraisal Eye was never wrong.

"What about the soul skill?" Tang Hao asked. This was the best standard for evaluating the level of the soul ring.

Tang San waved his hand, and three crowns made of Blue Silver Grass appeared above their heads.

"The first soul skill: Blue Silver Mantis Crown."

"This crown, woven from Blue Silver Grass, has the ability to convert soul power into life force. It can either use my soul power or the soul power actively input by the person being assisted."

"The conversion ratio is five to one—meaning 20%. With each additional soul ring, this ratio increases by half a percentage point."

After doing some quick calculations, Tang Hao exclaimed in surprise, "That means by the time you reach Title Douluo, you'll be able to convert 60% of soul power into life force—stronger than most healing-type martial souls!"

He had seen the efficiency of healing-type soul masters. A conversion ratio of 50% was already considered a high-level healing martial soul.

Martial souls like the Nine-Heart Begonia, which almost fully converted soul power into life force, were so rare that only two could exist on the entire continent at the same time (two generations—one awakens after the previous generation dies).

From this, one could see how powerful Tang San's first soul skill was. Just this single soul ring made him a qualified healing-type soul master.

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