"This is indeed somewhat redundant, but better than nothing, right?!"
Xu Yang felt no dissatisfaction; just the fact that his third soul ring had evolved into a ten-thousand-year soul ring was already a significant gain. Moreover, it was an external attached spirit bone—something others sought after but couldn't obtain. Additionally, external attached spirit bones could evolve alongside his cultivation, and who knew how powerful they could become in the future? It might even become an indispensable part of him.
"That's true!" Madam Ning nodded in agreement and then looked at the Sun Sacred Blade in Xu Yang's left hand, continuing to ask, "By the way, Yang'er, your third soul skill should have more than just this one application, right?! After all, it is a ten-thousand-year soul skill!"
"Entering the ten-thousand-year range is still considered ten-thousand years."
"I just sensed that my third soul skill has a total of four different applications. What I showed earlier was just the first one—essentially two standard methods! The other standard method allows me to condense soul power in my hand to use my hand as a blade, achieving the same effect."
"The remaining two methods are even more impressive. First..."
As he spoke, Xu Yang dissipated the Sun Sacred Blade in his left hand. Then both his second and third soul rings lit up simultaneously. The Solar Martial Spirit behind him instantly split off a small sun into his left hand, transforming into a Sun Sacred Sword engulfed in golden flames.
He swung it again at the already battered tree beside him, instantly splitting it into four sections.
Madam Ning's pupils constricted as she witnessed Xu Yang's Sun Sacred Sword combining fire and light into one for a slash. This slash surpassed both speed and power compared to the one released from the external attached spirit bone by several times. Even if a Soul Sect-level master didn't predict it, they wouldn't be able to evade it.
"This is the third application of my third soul skill—transforming my martial spirit into the Sun Sacred Sword. Its power is incomparable to that of soul power condensed into a blade!"
Xu Yang smiled lightly. This had been his idea long ago; having verified it while shaping the spirit bone earlier, he realized that since he could shape the spirit bone using soul skills, he could also shape his martial spirit to become the Sun Sacred Blade.
"As for the fourth method, I can directly unleash a massive Sun Sacred Blade from my martial spirit toward my enemies. However, its energy consumption is terrifying; even with my current level of power, one strike would likely drain about one-third of my soul power."
Xu Yang didn't demonstrate this fourth skill; there was no need to do so. Just stating its capabilities was sufficient. With Madam Ning's cultivation level, she could easily infer its nature; after all, having lived for so long, she had seen all kinds of soul skills.
"Not bad! It seems you didn't waste your time thinking about that Sun Sacred Beetle!" Hearing about the effects of this third soul skill made Madam Ning's eyes flash with astonishment. Just this single skill was already stronger than many sixth soul skills possessed by other soul masters—and it had so many applications—it was undoubtedly an exceptional soul skill.
"Of course! The soul beast I chose must be the most suitable for me!"
Xu Yang replied proudly before retracting his martial spirit and focusing on the external attached spirit bone in his right hand. He began to use his mind to manipulate it, attempting to retract it. This process turned out to be far more challenging than he had anticipated; since he had just absorbed the external attached spirit bone and it hadn't fully integrated yet, he couldn't control it freely.
Golden light flickered in his palm as the spirit bone continuously shrank; yet every time it got close to completion, it refused to merge into his palm bones.
"Calm down and go with the flow! Just like retracting your martial spirit smoothly along with your soul power—don't force it!"
At that moment, Xu Yang heard Madam Ning's voice beside him. As soon as he did so, the previously forcefully contracting spirit bone seemed to pulse rhythmically; with each breath in and out, it gradually shrank until finally merging into his palm bones.
However, Xu Yang still felt an alien presence within his palm that resisted his control—it felt like it could burst out at any moment.
"This external attached spirit bone is so difficult to control!" Xu Yang frowned slightly; if he couldn't manage this spirit bone properly, what if it suddenly emerged while he was sleeping? That would be quite troublesome!
Seeing Xu Yang's expression, Madam Ning couldn't help but chuckle internally at how he had gained something yet still complained about its difficulties. She comforted him: "Don't worry; it's just that this spirit bone hasn't fully integrated yet. Once it's completely merged with you, it'll become part of you and you can manipulate it freely!"
"I know! It's just that this strange sensation in my palm makes me feel somewhat uncomfortable!"
"Alright! Let's go!"
With the soul ring secured, there was no need for them to linger any longer in Sunset Forest; they should return to Seven Treasures Glazed Tile School quickly to solidify their cultivation and study Xu Yang's third soul skill further.
The Sun Sacred Blade wasn't what he originally sought; what he truly wanted was the shaping technique acquired during its casting process. This way he could shape not just blades but also spears, swords, staffs—anything else he could think of.
This technique would serve as another core aspect among his nine major soul skills aside from his second skill—Split. To some extent, this new skill might even surpass Split.
...
At Seven Treasures Glazed Tile School within the simulated training environment designed for him.
Xu Yang repeatedly practiced using his third soul skill while trying to change the shape of the Sun Sacred Blade from its original Tang knife form into that of a sword. If successful, it would mean that his speculation was correct.
After several days of training within this simulated environment—practicing his third soul skill while recovering his own soul power—he continued this cycle of training until finally achieving his goal of changing the Sun Sacred Blade into a Sun Sacred Sword and even eventually condensing it into a wolf-toothed club.
After swinging the wolf-toothed club several times with satisfaction evident on his face, Xu Yang slowly dissipated it and completed this first step. The remaining work would depend on how much he could enhance his control over soul power in order to shape not just weapons but any object.
He even considered using this ability to directly create a soul-guiding device.
However, achieving such mastery would require at least reaching Subtlety level control according to Xu Yang's estimates.
His training temporarily concluded; Xu Yang prepared to return to Tiandou Royal Academy. He had taken enough leave already—it wouldn't do well to linger any longer.
During this time, Xu Yang also discovered that without using martial spirits or simulated environments for assistance during cultivation speed had decreased by about thirty percent. This was still considering that residual medicinal effects from absorbing Cockscomb Phoenix Sunflower were still present; if not for that factor among elite Soul Masters—the decrease might have been even more significant.
However with support from both martial spirits and simulated environments during training sessions meant Xu Yang's speed remained quite fast—if anything even quicker than before—so there were no issues with returning to previous training methods without any reduction in speed whatsoever.
Ning Fengzhi and others hadn't returned yet; finding suitable soul rings for Soul Douluos was incredibly challenging—it could take half a year or even one or two years sometimes.
During this period of time, all affairs within Seven Treasures Glazed Tile School were handled by Madam Ning.
Thus before returning to Tiandou Royal Academy, he needed to speak with his teacher about everything that had transpired.
(End of Chapter)