By the stream, the flickering campfire elongated everyone's shadows. Under telekinetic control, the roasted fish turned evenly, golden oil dripping into the flames with a soft sizzle.
Gu La's slender fingers brushed over the spice jars, sprinkling fine seasonings onto the golden fish. The rich aroma made Dai Mubai's throat bob as he swallowed. Beside each person sat a bottle of MooMoo Milk.
"Teacher," Tang San called softly, his voice tinged with disappointment. "My martial soul hasn't fully evolved."
Yu Xiaogang was hungry, but instead of focusing on the roasted fish, he looked at Tang San anxiously and asked, "Let me see your martial soul quickly!"
Tang San summoned his martial soul. After fusing with the Sunflower soul ring, the edges of the Blue Silver Grass gained a faint golden glow. Now, after fusing with the Moon Laurel soul ring, it had reverted to a silvery shimmer.
The difference was that the Blue Silver Grass had grown much thicker—it was less like grass and more like a vine, exuding a dense life force and warm light energy.
Perhaps it should now be called the Light-attribute Blue Silver King.
Dai Mubai, who had sparred with Tang San before, knew what the Blue Silver Grass used to look like and exclaimed, "What a huge change!"
"Sevenfold increase." Gu La suddenly spoke, his telekinetic threads still twining around the roasting rack. "Its life force is seven times stronger than before."
He glanced at the swaying reflection of the Blue Silver Grass in the stream. "The light attribute is suppressing its innate bloodline instincts, preventing the martial soul from fully evolving. However…"
A glint of amusement flashed in his amber eyes. "It has completely gained light as its second attribute."
Yu Xiaogang's pen scratched against the paper, then abruptly stopped. "Light attribute? Actually, Blue Silver Grass pairs well with light. Plants need sunlight, and your self-created soul skills also rely on it."
"What about your soul skills? Any changes?"
"No, my first and second soul skills are the same as before."
Tang San shook his head. "But I can feel that the Blue Silver Grass is much tougher and more resilient than before. The effects of my soul skills will also be amplified when I use them."
Yu Xiaogang smiled. "That's good. With this foundation, once you break through to Soul Ancestor, your martial soul will surely evolve fully. By the way, how effective is your new soul skill?"
"Not bad."
Tang San remained calm. Though the lack of evolution had affected his mood, he adjusted well and explained:
"My third soul skill is a group healing ability. I've named it Blue Silver Falling Moonlight. It gathers moonlight or soul power through the Blue Silver Grass and showers it down, providing widespread healing and dispelling negative effects."
"Since it's a one-time activation, the instant healing is much greater than my first soul skill. And if I use pure moonlight to activate the skill, the healing effect increases by fifty percent."
"So it synergizes with your second soul skill!" Yu Xiaogang was delighted for Tang San.
Tang San nodded calmly. Coincidentally, Dai Mubai still had bruises from the fight with the Vajra Tiger. Tang San tested his third soul skill, and under the falling moonlight, the swelling quickly receded, demonstrating significant healing effects.
As they discussed Tang San's new soul skill, fish bones began piling up at their feet.
Unbeknownst to them, Xiao Wu had crept behind Gu La, her hair tips resting on his shoulder. "So fragrant! You guys ate delicious food while I wasn't here."
Flender was startled. "When did you wake up? I didn't even notice."
"Just now."
Xiao Wu answered nonchalantly, grabbing the roasted fish Gu La had taken a bite of and taking a large mouthful. Grease smeared her lips as she mumbled, "Mmm… so tasty!"
Gu La chuckled, knowing that the illusion crystal had kept Flender from noticing Xiao Wu. He changed the subject: "Don't just focus on eating. How's your soul skill working out?"
Xiao Wu swallowed her bite and giggled. "You can guess! Here's a hint—I'm not afraid of your gravity control anymore!"
Gu La rolled his eyes. "What's there to guess? Just tell us."
"Boring." Xiao Wu pouted, placing her hands on her hips. "Fine, listen up! My new soul skill is called Moon Shadow Flash. It's a rare space-time soul skill that allows me to teleport up to ten meters. Each additional soul ring increases the distance by one meter. It also synergizes with my second soul skill, allowing me to switch places with clones."
"When the teleportation ends, my next attack will carry moonlight energy, slowing the opponent's soul power flow. If stacked three times, it forcibly halts their soul power flow for one second."
"In other words, it seals the enemy's soul power for one second, during which they can't use soul skills."
"How's that? Not bad, right?"
Xiao Wu winked at Gu La. This was the skill she had fused according to his suggestion, combining teleportation and the Silver Ringed Bee Queen's abilities.
Since she already had teleportation capabilities, with ample soul power to fuel the fusion, the process went smoothly.
"Watch this!"
Suddenly, a burst of silver light exploded, and ripples of moonlight spread beneath Xiao Wu's feet. In the blink of an eye, she appeared ten zhang away on the branch of an old willow tree.
Her bell-like laughter echoed through the forest.
In an instant, Xiao Wu vanished again.
A gust of wind rushed toward Gu La, who didn't turn around but merely flicked his finger. The gravity field twisted violently, applying pressure and squeezing.
However, Xiao Wu dispersed into flowing silver—it was merely a clone she'd left behind!
The real rabbit-eared girl was sitting by the grill, devouring the food, her cheeks puffed as she mumbled, "Tch, you noticed so quickly. No fun at all."
She had thought that with her new teleportation skill, she could finally beat Gu La. But it turned out she couldn't even last one move—worse than before.
Pretending to look aggrieved, she teased Gu La: "You don't know how to cherish beauty. What if you really hit me?"
Gu La wasn't worried at all. "I know you too well. Once in battle, you're as quick as a monkey. If you were like that in daily life, you'd be much smarter."
Xiao Wu tilted her head. "Are you saying I'm dumb?"
Gu La said nothing, only smiling.
Yu Xiaogang's quill snapped suddenly, splattering ink across the parchment. "How could the Silver Ringed Bee Queen provide a space-time attribute soul skill? This goes against the Ten Core Competencies of Martial Souls…"
Well, he had revised his own theory. Still observing, he hadn't published anything yet.
Xiao Wu rolled her eyes, disliking Yu Xiaogang's pretentiousness. She casually fibbed, "Didn't I say it was a variant spirit beast? Naturally, the soul skills it provides are extraordinary."
"But… even so, it should follow objective laws…"
Yu Xiaogang couldn't make sense of it and sighed. "Martial souls truly are mysterious. A single mutation can lead to unknown changes."
He switched to a new quill, jotting down Xiao Wu's soul skill first. He planned to research it further once they returned.
Tang San felt pity for him and subtly signaled Xiao Wu to stop teasing his teacher.
Xiao Wu sighed inwardly, finding Tang San utterly boring. She held up three fingers, and Tang San chuckled bitterly, nodding in agreement to treat her to three lavish meals.
Satisfied, Xiao Wu withdrew her gaze and began explaining some insights into soul ring fusion to Yu Xiaogang. Whether useful or not, her explanation would undoubtedly be the most authoritative theory coming from her.
Yu Xiaogang was struck by inspiration upon hearing a different perspective on the theory. His mind buzzed with ideas as he stared at Xiao Wu.
A thought flashed through his mind: Could she really be a genius?
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