"Curse Blade" may sound familiar, it's essentially the power of the Three Aspects.
The only difference lies in its usage. This is a soul skill that must be actively activated.
Unlike the first soul skill Star Mole Transformation, which consumes very little, Curse Blade has a high energy cost.
Each enchantment consumes about ten percent of one's soul power.
Though it's only a single strike, it packs a massive boost precisely because it's a single strike.
A 250% increase!
That's 2.5 times the boost of Dai Mubai's third thousand-year soul ring skill, White Tiger Vajra Transformation, which gives a 100% increase.
As for how to use it, there's no need to overthink, just focus on one principle: catch the enemy off guard.
For now, it can't be activated stealthily.
But once Fang Ling trains his warrior's will to a high enough level, the soul skill can be instantly activated.
With his incredibly fast nerve reflexes, he can activate Curse Blade just as his weapon strikes.
A proper battle then becomes more like a guessing game.
"Guess if I'll use Curse Blade on my next swing?"
If the enemy dares not to defend properly, he'll be met with an explosive blow.
Few can withstand it.
From the first soul ring, it has been confirmed that every time Fang Ling obtains a soul ring, he also gains additional specialties.
He looked at the specialty panel, this time, two new specialties were added.
And once again, they were surprising.
The first specialty:
Weak Point Detection Lv2 (Body Specialty – Derived from the compound eyes of the Spiked Blood Mosquito, which could focus soul power into its mouthpart to pierce thick cowhide and accurately strike blood vessels. You can now observe the weak spots in an enemy's soul power flow. Hitting these spots grants increased damage.)
According to the description, this is a body-type specialty under the category of innate specialties.
As of now, this specialty is very useful.
Humans can't withstand a scythe anyway, but this skill specifically targets defense-type tanks.
Such as Diamond Mammoth, Plated Giant Rhinoceros, Black Tortoise Shield, Dragon Scales, and the like.
Unfortunately, the vague word "certain" in "a certain damage boost" is a bit disappointing, it doesn't state an exact multiplier.
Fang Ling will need to experiment to find out the specifics later.
The second specialty was expected:
Absorption Lv2 (Martial Soul Specialty – When the scythe damages an enemy, you can absorb pure life energy and soul power from the enemy's body to heal yourself and replenish soul power.)
This allows prolonged combat and makes surviving encirclement possible.
It's a divine skill for clearing the Slaughter City!
Although expected, this specialty introduced a new, unexpected category, Martial Soul Specialties.
Martial Soul Specialties appear to be similar to innate Martial Soul talents.
Innate Martial Soul specialties evolve with Martial Soul upgrades.
Those gained through soul rings likely only upgrade alongside the soul ring level.
This hasn't been verified yet, but Fang Ling guesses that's the case.
The soul ring absorption process was smooth. Taking advantage of the moment, he invested his hard-earned points into the Martial Soul he had long dreamed of improving.
There was no mystical glow or special sensation.
But after sinking 30 points, his scythe Martial Soul quietly changed its appearance right in front of everyone.
When he finished absorbing the soul ring, Fang Ling opened his eyes.
With a motion of his hand, a flash of silvery-white light appeared, everyone was stunned to see that his Martial Soul had become completely different.
"Your Martial Soul!"
The academy head's pupils contracted instantly, disbelief flickering in his eyes.
Instinctively, he nudged the corpse of the Spiked Blood Mosquito on the ground with his foot.
His gaze shifted back and forth between Fang Ling's transformed Martial Soul and the soul beast's corpse.
"No way… your Martial Soul?"
"Just a hundred-year Spiked Blood Mosquito soul ring caused this evolution?" Lin Tianyang felt his worldview crumble.
Fang Ling's face still held the joy of surprise. He lovingly stroked the newly transformed Martial Soul.
What was once a small farming scythe had now become a long-handled double-bladed war scythe.
Here was how the panel described it:
Martial Soul: Long-Handled War Scythe (Lv3, 6.66%)
(A pseudo-evolved scythe Martial Soul, a combat-grade double-bladed war scythe. Total length: 2.1 meters. Outer blade length: 43 cm. Inner blade length: 40 cm. Maximum blade width: 6 cm. Iron shaft, 2 meters long, 3 cm in diameter, weighing 80 jin.)
The new Martial Soul was a smooth, silvery-white metallic color.
The thick scythe blades were longer than the entire original Martial Soul.
The shaft was coarse for better grip.
Still, it didn't yet match the base weight of the Clear Sky Hammer. Tang San's Clear Sky Hammer had a base weight of 500 jin, while his only weighed 80 jin.
Of course, judging a Martial Soul's quality by weight alone is not accurate.
Fang Ling's Martial Soul had just crossed the threshold into a mid-tier Martial Soul.
It had only undergone a form change and a slight quality boost, it hadn't fully become a true mid-tier Martial Soul.
Naturally, it couldn't compare with top-tier ones like the Clear Sky Hammer.
Forcing the evolution of the appearance had left Fang Ling feeling weak.
He needed to recover quickly.
"A two-meter-long war scythe..."
After marveling at it, the headmaster calmed down.
Getting such a result from a hundred-year soul ring was very unusual.
But given how many mysteries still exist regarding Martial Souls and soul rings, it wasn't entirely impossible.
A regular farming scythe was ultimately too weak. Its wooden handle could also become a vulnerability in combat.
Now that it had become fully metallic, great! It couldn't be better!
This meant Fang Ling had much greater potential.
With this, the headmaster could even use the family's name to recommend Fang Ling to a better academy.
Even Heaven Dou Royal Academy wasn't out of the question.
A genius who fought life-and-death battles with just one soul ring, and even won silver-level combat badges, who had ever seen that?
"Teacher, Grandteacher!"
Fang Ling bounced to his feet, the war scythe standing upright beside him, taller than he was by a large margin.
He was only 1.5 meters tall at the moment.
Lin Tianyang chuckled as he looked at the scythe, which towered over Fang Ling:
"Your scythe looks great, but it's a bit too long. Before heading to an advanced soul master academy, you'll need to adapt your combat style."
"The long-handled war scythe is stronger, but your current height isn't quite up to par. My father and I will help redesign your battle tactics."
Fang Ling was grateful. Looking at the envious gazes of those around him, he considerately said:
"Teacher, Grandteacher, we don't need to rush the battle tactics. Let's wait until we return."
"We still have to help the others hunt for soul rings."
The two elders were still shocked, but what Fang Ling said made sense.
In the Star Dou Forest, hunting soul beasts was still the top priority.
Leading the equally shocked students and other teachers through the marshland, the group continued searching for the next suitable soul beast.
Just then,
"ROAR !"
A furious roar suddenly echoed from the center of the forest.
It sounded like the howl of an ape, but also like the rage of a powerful human soul master.
Even from such a distance, the sheer might of the roar revealed the overwhelming power of a massive beast.
It wasn't a dragon's roar, so it couldn't be the Sky Azure Bull Python. That only left the Titan Giant Ape.
Since Xiao Wu wasn't around, was it just throwing a tantrum out of boredom?
Or maybe it was under threat from the three ants, or the Dark Devilgod Tiger?
Fang Ling speculated wildly.
The roar may have been cathartic for the beast, but for soul hunters in the forest, it was a disaster.
Everyone from the Battle King Academy's soul hunting party looked grim, the students visibly shaken.
The thunderous roar, like the rumble of heaven itself, had shaken the entire Star Dou Great Forest.
In an instant, panicked beasts fled in all directions.
Birds flapped their wings and filled the sky, darkening it with their numbers. Chaos reigned.
The ground trembled.
That single roar had triggered a small-scale beast tide.
The academy head's expression turned extremely grave.
"Damn it, something's happened in the Star Dou Forest that we didn't know about. Everyone stay close! I'll clear the way. We're getting out of here!"
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