"So, first you were chased by a thousand-year one-eyed giant-horned antelope, and then by a two-thousand-year giant multi-legged sky dragon?"
"And finally, I was rescued by a soul hunting team that included the second young lady from the Star Luo Empire's Spirit Cat Duke's household."
The headmaster extracted the key points.
"Yes, that's correct," Fang Ling confirmed.
Of course, he left out certain parts.
Such as intentionally killing soul beasts, and the extremely important right leg bone of the one-eyed giant-horned goat.
Even a ten-thousand-year soul bone is considered a treasure of the Blood River.
Not to mention an external soul bone, which can evolve with its host and is regarded as a rare treasure second only to a hundred-thousand-year soul ring.
Treasures stir desire, and human nature cannot always withstand temptation.
His teachers and mentors had always treated him very well, and he didn't want everyone turning against each other over a mere soul bone.
"You really…"
In the training ground, the headmaster marveled at Fang Ling's twisted tale.
He didn't quite know what to say.
"The Star Dou Great Forest is the largest soul beast habitat, so a thousand-year soul beast showing up in a hundred-year beast zone isn't unheard of."
"But for you to run into two of them in a row, and then be chased all the way to Star Luo… you really had rotten luck."
The mistress was helping trim Fang Ling's hair, which had grown long enough to potentially become a weakness.
"To be found and rescued, that's actually a stroke of luck, young man."
"I think so too," Fang Ling replied with a slight smile, sitting upright.
"They just saved you? No other intentions?" Lin Tianyang suddenly asked.
In the soul beast forest, one is always cautious of strangers.
And rescuing someone inherently carries risk, who does that without wanting something in return?
Did Fang Ling agree to something?
"You're a clean-background talent who can hold your own even against a two-thousand-year soul beast. Any Soul Sage would see your potential, were they trying to recruit you?"
"Did you accept?"
It's common for nobles to recruit gifted commoner soul masters.
And the Spirit Cat Duke's household was wealthy enough to afford that.
Fang Ling didn't hesitate. "I didn't accept."
"They didn't even mention anything about recruitment."
"My take is, they probably saved me with the intention to recruit. They asked a lot of detailed questions."
"But after seeing my martial soul awakening certificate, my Silver Soul Badge from the Great Soul Arena, and understanding my attitude toward cultivation, they gave up."
"In the end, they just exchanged a few parting words, probably just trying to build goodwill."
Innate rank 1 soul power was too low, and his personality was difficult. Even if they took him in, it might not amount to much.
They couldn't recruit him, and he was saved on the second young lady's orders, so they couldn't just discard him either.
Might as well form a positive connection.
How true that was, Fang Ling didn't know, but it made logical sense.
And in fact, his guess was correct.
As members of the Spirit Cat Duke's household, they had no shortage of money and wouldn't hassle a run-of-the-mill soul master over some soul tools.
Given that Zhu Zhuqing had casually instructed them to save him, releasing him wouldn't lead to any issues.
The teacher agreed, saying:
"No organization would want someone like you, someone who doesn't form attachments to any faction and only focuses on cultivation."
"To others, your innate soul power does seem a bit too low."
The headmaster scoffed at such thinking.
"Those people are short-sighted. They cling to outdated standards of soul master talent without understanding the importance of willpower."
"Your powerful will let you rise from soul master to grand soul master in just one year!"
"Look at your teacher, ever since getting married, he's been lost in his wife's embrace. His cultivation progress is crawling!"
Though Fang Ling had undergone months of intense training, the headmaster still showed a hint of disdain and waved for Lin Tianyang and his wife to step aside.
He said he needed to help Fang Ling adjust his combat strategy one last time before graduation.
And also help him master the use of his new soul ring.
The two-meter-long scythe was entirely different from the short farming sickle he'd used before.
The usage techniques were vastly different.
If he didn't control it properly and went to a new academy like this, he might end up beaten badly.
That would be both humiliating and a disgrace to Battle King Academy.
"What's your second soul skill?" the headmaster asked first.
Soul skills are key components of combat techniques. Many specific fighting styles rely on the timely activation of soul skills.
Fang Ling didn't try to hide anything. He answered straightforwardly:
"Curse Blade. It consumes 10% of my soul power, infuses the scythe with that power, and boosts the damage of my next attack by 250%."
"A very solid skill," the headmaster said, eyes lighting up.
Though it's not an instant skill, it can still be activated fairly quickly.
While it lacks the duration of typical enhancement-type skills, agility-type soul masters don't need prolonged boosts.
What they need is speed, precision, and lethality!
Strike hard, and if it fails, retreat immediately.
For them, one-time use skills are ideal, and their tradeoff for lack of duration brings massive power spikes.
Fang Ling didn't need to adjust his fighting style either.
Thanks to his exceptional reflexes, he could activate this kind of skill even faster than most.
Used at the right moment, it could deliver 300% or more in damage.
The headmaster said:
"Grab your martial soul. I'll first test the strength, flexibility, and other properties of your new scythe."
"That way, you'll know what to expect, and whether you should engage or withdraw against soul weapons of different levels."
"After that, I'll start teaching you combat techniques tailored for your upgraded long-handled scythe."
"Yes, sir!" Fang Ling responded loudly.
The training didn't last long, just about three days, but Fang Ling had already become proficient with the long-handled scythe.
He could swing the two-meter weapon with tremendous force and speed.
What surprised everyone was how he could absorb and master new techniques almost instantly after trying them once.
Fang Ling knew he was talented. His teacher and grandteacher also knew he was gifted. But no one had expected him to be _this_ talented.
Even he was stunned.
After thinking it over, he realized the likely reason:
His panel specialization!
His "Scythe Technique Lv3" played a vital role.
Even back in the Star Dou Forest, this was already evident, he adapted to the scythe with incredible speed and could use it like an extension of his limbs for leaping and attacking.
The panel was his cheat system, and the scythe specialization was clearly visible.
Its description hadn't changed, and it hadn't reset even after his martial soul evolved. It remained a bright gray icon.
That made him think of a term far beyond the world of Douluo, "Eternal Proof."
In the multiverse, "once proven, always proven" is the pinnacle of achievement. Douluo wasn't worthy of that title.
But for the system panel, it might be a basic feature.
Soul rings can't be changed, but soul bones are a different matter.
Soul bones provide physical specializations.
And if the scythe technique didn't regress after a martial soul evolution, then even if he lost a soul bone, he shouldn't lose the specialization either.
If that's the case, maybe he could exploit this loophole for some creative and underhanded tactics?
Fang Ling subconsciously tapped his right foot, narrowed his eyes, and gently stroked the now-smooth and mirror-like silver blade of his scythe, deep in thought.
"External soul bones…"
"Soul bones…"
The idea was crazy, but it had potential.
He just needed to coordinate it well, plan the number of uses, and avoid hurting his core too much.
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