Chapter 6 — Dragon Soul Awakening!

Lin Rong summoned his martial spirit, the Nine-Curve Vine Dragon, and a deep yellow soul ring materialized beneath his feet, pulsing rhythmically.

The soul ring flared with light.

First Soul Skill: Dragon Soul Awakening.

As the name implied, this was a buff-type soul skill. Its effects were as follows:

Increases martial spirit toughness by 100%

Increases strength by 50%

Increases speed by 50%

Increases the sharpness of martial spirit by 50%

For every additional level of soul power, all buff effects increase by 1%

All attacks gain the passive effect: Dragon Might

Dragon Might: A true dragon's aura that instills fear and suppresses fighting spirit in enemies. The lower the opponent's strength, the stronger the effect. Against enemies with dragon-type martial spirits or soul beasts, the effect is doubled.

Currently, Lin Rong's soul power was at level 15, meaning his Dragon Soul Awakening gave the following boosts:

Martial spirit toughness: +115%

Strength: +65%

Speed: +65%

Sharpness: +65%

Since the Nine-Curve Vine Dragon was a plant-type martial spirit, not a beast-type, Lin Rong didn't experience a dramatic power surge like most beast spirit users might.

Instead, he turned his attention to the many dispersed Thousand-Leaf Banyan offshoots scattered on the ground nearby.

An idea sparked.

Suddenly, over a dozen vine-like dragon roots emerged from the sparse grass around him.

Under Lin Rong's control, the vine roots lashed out in all directions, targeting the surrounding banyan offshoots.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Explosions erupted from all sides as the ground trembled, and clouds of dust billowed upward.

When the dust settled, the banyan offshoots had been completely smashed to wood chips by the vine dragon roots.

Lin Rong nodded with satisfaction.

"Excellent. This is the power a top-tier martial spirit should have."

"This strength isn't inferior to the second soul skill of an average Grandmaster," said Steward Yu in admiration.

"Young Master, the skill's boost is impressive — but what about its energy cost?"

"Energy cost?" Lin Rong raised a brow, checking his internal condition. His expression turned... odd.

"Almost none."

"It's as if this skill is inherent to the Nine-Curve Vine Dragon — like its own natural ability — so it barely consumes soul power."

"And because of the martial spirit's unique traits, I can recover soul power passively, without needing to meditate. The recovery rate exceeds the consumption rate."

"If I hadn't deliberately monitored my energy just now, I wouldn't have even noticed it had been consumed."

These words left Steward Yu stunned.

In all his years, he had never seen such a soul skill.

But he quickly reasoned it out: the martial spirit itself was incredibly powerful, and its compatibility with the Thousand-Leaf Banyan was extremely high, making all of this possible.

"Dragon Soul Awakening... what a name! Truly worthy of it."

He stroked his beard and praised further:

"Buff-type soul skills rarely become obsolete as a soul master grows stronger. But this one — with its incredible enhancement and near-zero energy cost — it's simply unparalleled."

"Hold on, Grandpa Yu," Lin Rong smiled faintly,

"That was just the soul ring skill. I haven't even shown you the external soul bone ability yet."

Upon hearing that, the old steward dropped all pretense of his usual dignity, nodding eagerly like a child:

"Yes, yes! The external soul bone! In all my years, I've only heard legends of such things. To see one... this is the first time!"

Seeing his excited expression, Lin Rong didn't keep him waiting.

"The external soul bone came from the Thousand-Leaf Banyan, and it currently grants two soul skills, both of which are passive."

"The first is called Rhythm of Life — it increases my total soul power capacity by 50%, and doubles my soul power recovery rate."

"Unfortunately, it doesn't scale with the soul bone's age."

"The second skill is called Floral Displacement — if I'm about to suffer a fatal blow, a decoy body formed from the soul bone takes the hit, while my real body is instantly teleported to a pre-designated safe location."

"Once triggered, it can't activate again for ten years — but the cooldown shortens as the soul bone ages."

This time, Steward Yu wasn't shocked. Instead, he nodded solemnly:

"As expected of a legendary external soul bone — no wonder it's considered second only to a 100,000-year soul ring!"

"Uh…"

Lin Rong was a bit speechless.

He wanted to explain that not all external soul bones had such powerful effects.

The Heart of the Banyan Wood was exceptional because of the Nine-Curve Vine Dragon itself — a top-tier martial spirit. It was the spirit's innate quality that gave rise to such rare abilities.

Whether it was Tang San's Eight Spider Lances, Hu Liena's Fox Tail, or even Bibi Dong's Six-Winged Purple Radiance, none of them, at the same soul bone age, could compare to the Heart of the Banyan Wood.

But explaining all that would be a hassle... So he let it go.

Suddenly, his expression changed.

"Hmm? Eight human life forces are approaching... Were they drawn here by the commotion I just made?"

Lin Rong frowned slightly and turned toward the entrance of the valley.

Through his Life Sense, he saw that the eight people were now less than 300 meters away.

Noticing Lin Rong's reaction, Steward Yu immediately stepped forward, shielding the boy behind him and activating his Heavenly Star Disc — all eight soul rings flaring in unison.

Before long, a group of people appeared at the valley entrance.

At the very front stood... a young girl.

She looked at Lin Rong and Yu Yuan, frowning.

"Hey! Was all that noise just now your doing?"

Among the seven people behind her, one man stepped forward upon seeing Yu Yuan's martial spirit and soul rings. Recognizing their identity, he bowed respectfully:

"Gu Feng, Captain of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School's Elite Guard, greets Duke Lin Rong!"

Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School?

Lin Rong raised an eyebrow. Judging by her age and attitude, this bossy little girl had to be... Ning Rongrong.

She was a few months younger than Tang San in the original story and possessed innate level 9 soul power. Given her laziness in cultivation, it was completely plausible that it had taken her months just to reach level 10.

"Duke?" Ning Rongrong's eyes widened. She pointed at Lin Rong.

"So you're that kid who inherited the Duke title before you were even born?"

Before Lin Rong could reply, she went on:

"So jealous... Being the head of the family from birth... Doing whatever you want with no one to boss you around. Must be nice!"

"..." Lin Rong didn't know how to respond to that.

But Ning Rongrong wasn't done.

"Wait — you just turned six, right? What are you doing in a soul beast forest at your age?"

Another thought struck her, and she followed up:

"Don't tell me... you're innate full soul power?"

Lin Rong chuckled and replied indirectly:

"Heh. As expected from the only daughter of Sect Master Ning — sharp as ice and snow."