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**
The following day at noon.
The Soul Hunting team, weary and exhausted, finally emerged from the Soul Hunting Forest alongside Xiao Lin and the others. The recent turn of events had been taxing for everyone involved.
They found a place to stay nearby, deciding to rest for a night before doing anything else.
As for Xu Yi, he was feeling much better thanks to the treatment from Tang San's Blue Silver Regeneration Bracelet and Xiao Gui's Osmanthus. The remaining toxins had been forced out by Tang San using a specialized method, leaving Xu Yi merely a bit weak.
At that moment, everyone gathered in Su Yuntao's room to divide the contents of the storage Soul Tool dropped by the black-robed old man.
First was the storage Soul Tool itself.
The space inside wasn't large—about half a cubic meter—similar to the one Xiao Lin owned. No one in the group particularly wanted it; for Spirit Hall experts and talented youngsters like them, a low-level storage Soul Tool was worth more as gold than as gear.
In the end, they calculated the distribution based on their contribution to killing the black-robed man. Xiao Lin took a 30% share alone, while Tang San and Xiao Wu combined for 20%. The remaining 50% was split equally among the rest, giving them 10% each.
Next came the contents of the device.
The black-robed old man wasn't wealthy.
All his liquid assets totaled only 2,013 Gold Soul Coins. Naturally, these were distributed according to the previously agreed-upon contributions. Xiao Lin took 600 Gold Soul Coins, while Tang San and Xiao Wu received 400 together.
The others received 200 Gold Soul Coins each.
With this windfall, Xiao Gui was finally able to pay off the commission fee for her soul ring hunt in one go. This left Xiao Gui penniless once more. Seeing this, the others generously gifted her the remaining 13 Gold Soul Coins.
Aside from some useless clothes and food, there was only one notable item left in the storage Soul Tool: a blood-red fruit. No one recognized it, not even Tang San. However, they found notes regarding the fruit in some of the old man's diary entries.
It turned out this fruit was a product of the old man's depravity. He had slaughtered a massive number of soul beasts and Soul Masters to water a natural treasure called a Honey Loquat with their flesh and blood.
The effect of this Blood-Red Honey Loquat was to increase a person's innate soul power by one rank. However, the side effects were horrific: it was highly addictive and caused intense hallucinations.
Furthermore, even if a Soul Master continued to consume them, their innate soul power would not rise a second time. Aside from that single benefit, the fruit was purely evil—a catalyst for malice and corruption.
Almost no one present was tempted after reading the notes. Xiao Lin and his friends certainly weren't interested; they were born with Innate Full Soul Power, so what use did they have for such a thing?
Seeing that no one was interested, Su Yuntao intended to destroy it immediately. However, concerned that the fruit might leak some sort of toxic scent if smashed, Xiao Lin was eventually given the right to dispose of it.
The group trusted Xiao Lin.
After all, he was a genius with Innate Full Soul Power; there was no way he would throw away a brilliant future just to descend into depravity. In reality, Xiao Lin had no intention of eating it, but a certain possibility had crossed his mind.
What would happen if a soul beast ate it?
Xiao Lin felt this had research value.
If a soul beast became "polluted," or if its soul ring became corrupted after death, he would never touch it again. But if not, he wondered if it could be used to strengthen a soul beast or trap it in a hallucination, making it easier to kill for a stronger soul ring.
Perhaps the mental torment of the hallucinations might even increase the chance of a soul beast dropping a Soul Bone.
Once the division of spoils concluded, Xiao Lin pestered Xiao Gui. He wasn't sleepy yet and was fascinated by the results of Xiao Gui's experiment.
"Sister Gui, what were you thinking when you absorbed the soul ring? How did you come up with that soul incantation? Does your Martial Soul feel any different now?"
Xiao Lin followed closely behind her, recording everything in a small notebook.
Xiao Wu, who shared a room with Xiao Gui, was starting to lose her patience.
"Brother Lin, can't you ask this tomorrow? We beauties need our beauty sleep."
"A silly rabbit like you needs beauty sleep? You were the most useless one in the last fight. You should spend your time thinking about how to get stronger," Xiao Lin retorted bluntly, effectively silencing Xiao Wu.
Seeing Xiao Wu's depressed expression, Xiao Gui gently patted her head and said with a smile, "Actually, I was thinking exactly what you told me to, Xiao Lin."
"I followed your instructions to the letter. As for the incantation, as I was chanting in my heart, a new idea just surfaced. The name of the incantation appeared in my mind quite naturally. My Martial Soul doesn't feel uncomfortable at all; in fact, I feel great—full of vitality."
Xiao Gui gave a radiant smile, her eyes filled with gratitude.
"I see. It seems that transitioning a Food System Soul Master halfway isn't that difficult," Xiao Lin muttered, nodding to himself before taking his leave.
On the way back to his room, Xiao Lin continued recording his analysis of Xiao Gui's Martial Soul.
Martial Soul: Osmanthus.
Can be consumed or applied externally.
Healing ability is primarily single-target, but the flower can be divided to spread the effect at a lower potency.
Preliminary Evaluation: Soul Skill is S-Rank, effect is no worse than Little San's.
Growth Potential: Lacking. This is due to the inherent flaws of the Martial Soul and Sister Xiao Gui's limited innate soul power.
Evolution Potential: The Osmanthus shows early signs of evolution, but considering her talent, "benign mutation" is a more fitting term. B-Rank.
If her second and third soul rings are high-quality, evolving to A-Rank (Top-Tier Martial Soul) isn't impossible.
However, Xiao Lin didn't think Xiao Gui had that level of talent.
Martial Soul evolution was heavily dependent on the Soul Master's own potential. Yu Xiaogang's Martial Soul was a good example; it had the foundation of the Golden Holy Dragon, but because his own talent was too poor, it manifested as Luo Sanpao.
Furthermore, Xiao Gui's current Martial Soul was like a "tree without roots"—its foundation was too weak. Soul beasts that could provide both vitality and improve a Martial Soul's foundation were incredibly rare.
Xiao Lin shook his head, tucked away his notes, and entered his room. Inside, Tang San was sitting cross-legged on the only bed, practicing the Mysterious Heaven Skill. Sensing Xiao Lin's arrival, Tang San opened his eyes and smiled.
"Brother Lin, how was it?"
"It's alright. Sister Gui's potential can't match yours. It'll be hard for her to find the high-quality soul rings needed for improvement. As for the Blue Silver Grass following the Food System path, that part isn't difficult."
Xiao Lin shared his analysis, and Tang San fell silent for a moment.
"In short, taking the healing/food system path isn't hard right now because I'm focusing on vitality. But as for soul skills like the Mirror Image Beast that can clone Martial Souls... we're still a long way off."
Tang San wasn't disappointed; he felt that as long as he could eventually save his mother, it was enough.
"Right, Brother Lin, about that..."
"Shh, walls have ears. We'll talk when we get home."
Xiao Lin suppressed the urge to look at his other battle trophies and nudged Tang San to the edge of the bed.
"Move over, sleep on the inside. I need to get some rest."
"Yawn!"
Xiao Lin let out a long yawn, pulled the only blanket over his midsection, and drifted into a deep sleep.
**
Hello everyone,
Thank you for your support! If you enjoy my work, you can check out my Patreon—there are 60+ early access and exclusive content. I update 5 advanced chapter from Monday-Saturday
www.patreon.com/c/FanficTranslator
I truly appreciate it!