After Tang San absorbed his second spirit ring, the abundant vitality far exceeded Xiao Lin's expectations.
Even with all the books Xiao Lin had read, he still couldn't find a spirit ring more suitable for Tang San.
That's not to say Xiao Lin didn't know of any options.
Take Bi Ji, one of the Ten Great Savage Beasts—could her species possibly be a bad match for Tang San's spirit ring?
The main reason was that Xiao Lin was worried about potential accidents.
Fortunately, Tang San wasn't in a hurry. Just like Xiao Wu, after absorbing a 1,500-year-old spirit ring, he only leveled up two and a half levels.
This was still under the condition that both of them tried to compress their spirit power as much as possible to condense their spirit cores, as Xiao Lin had advised.
Otherwise, reaching level 23 wouldn't have been a problem.
But even if they were at level 23, reaching level 30 would still take quite some time.
It had taken them nearly ten months to go from awakening their martial souls to absorbing their second spirit rings, so the next step—absorbing the third at level 30—would take at least a year and a half.
Additionally, Tang San was preparing to spend more time forging, crafting even stronger hidden weapons, so he was in no rush.
He believed Xiao Lin would find a suitable spirit beast for him eventually.
To avoid running into Xie Yue and his group again, Xiao Wu quickened the pace on their journey back.
If all went well, the trio would save half the usual time on their way back to Notting Academy.
Half a month later.
The three of them looked like wild people as they emerged from the Star Dou Forest and returned to Notting Academy.
Life in the Star Dou Forest had been far from comfortable.
No convenient tap water, no cafeteria meals—just daily survival routines that took up quite a bit of time.
The food and water stored in their storage soul tools had long run out.
Fortunately, during those days, they hadn't just trained. They also sparred occasionally.
And now, the three of them were far more familiar with each other's abilities, with improved coordination in both one-on-one and group fights.
Xiao Lin in particular had undergone a notable transformation. His soul skills were too powerful, and after compensating for his lack of speed, he didn't even need to activate his Martial Soul True Form to fight effectively.
His normal state, with minimal energy cost, was actually his strongest combat mode. If he did use his true form, it'd be like a "three-minute Ultraman."
To avoid looking too monstrous, Xiao Lin decided not to use his Martial Soul True Form in front of others—he'd treat it as a trump card.
[Martial Soul: Coiling Dragon Rod]
Destructive Power: S
Speed: A+ (Far exceeds average agility-type battle soul masters; unsure how it compares with extreme-speed specialists)
Range: C+
Stamina: S
Precision: B+ (Improved multitasking; stronger connection with the rod after absorbing the new spirit ring)
Growth Potential: S (Based on current skills, extremely high potential; may reach god-level martial soul)
Special Energy: S (Indestructible soul power grants strongest offense and defense; slight thunder attribute enhances destruction)
[Martial Soul: Blue Silver Grass]
Destructive Power: C (Massively improved; even non-skill strikes can immobilize an ordinary adult)
Speed: B- (Larger Blue Silver Grass doesn't slow down; growth speed increased—possibly due to absorbing the puffy cotton soul ring)
Range: B+ (Over 1,000 meters)
Stamina: A
Precision: B+ (Better multitasking and stronger spiritual power)
Growth Potential: A+ (Based on two vitality-enhancing rings, likely to become a super martial soul)
Special Energy: A
[Martial Soul: Soft-Boned Rabbit]
Destructive Power: A- (Speed, thunder damage, and paralysis in one; not weaker than some power-type soul masters)
Speed: A (Top agility-type beast martial soul level; full-spectrum enhancement with strong growth potential)
Range: C+ (Thunder attribute can be enchanted, slightly increasing attack range)
Stamina: B- (Higher energy cost for two skills, so stamina dropped)
Precision: B (Post-second-ring body development enhanced control)
Growth Potential: A- (New skill shows slightly higher growth potential)
Special Energy: B (Thunder Rabbit's paralysis still lacks power; choosing another Thunder Rabbit ring for the third skill could help)
"What the heck? That's all I improved?"
In Dorm Seven, Xiao Wu sat on her bed, dissatisfied with her data panel.
"Xiao Wu, this is a very objective assessment. You've gotten stronger, no doubt, but after level 20, everyone's getting stronger, not just you."
"And for your third soul ring, I'm still leaning toward the Thunder Rabbit. I heard it might even have a teleportation ability."
"If your next skill gives you teleportation and thunder enhancement, you'll have a top-tier martial soul."
Xiao Lin spoke calmly.
When ranking martial souls from strongest to weakest, Xiao Lin categorized them as:
God-Level Martial Souls
Super Martial Souls
Top-Tier Martial Souls
High-Grade Martial Souls
…others, which no longer mattered at their level.
God-level martial souls were like Qian Renxue's—those with innate level 20 spirit power. Xiao Lin believed his martial soul had god-level potential, too.
The awakened beast consciousness, spirit ring year growth, new soul core, and second-stage Martial Soul True Form all supported this.
As for Tang San, walking the path of extreme vitality gave him the potential for a super martial soul.
These included the Blue Silver Emperor, Clear Sky Hammer with extreme power, and other top beast martial souls with extreme elements.
Examples: Shui Bing'er's Ice Phoenix, capable of freezing even fire-immune beings like original Tang San; Light Saint Dragon, etc.
Top-tier martial souls included ones like Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon.
So overall, Xiao Wu's Soft-Boned Rabbit had very good potential.
Far stronger than the typical agility-type martial souls—certainly better than Zhu Zhuqing's Hell Civet from the original timeline.
If Xiao Lin and his group had a chance to become gods, Xiao Wu might not need to become the scabbard for the Asura God's Sword.
She might instead inherit the God of Speed's position and ascend to the divine realm.
Of course, while Xiao Wu's martial soul was strong enough, whether the divine realm would allow a spirit beast-turned-human to ascend was unknown—even Xiao Lin wasn't sure.
As for Tang San, Xiao Lin had nothing much to say.
The only concern was that dual martial souls, when combined with multiple spirit rings, created a massive spirit power burden that could cause the body to explode.
So far, only Pope Bibi Dong had solved this issue.
How Tang San resolved it in the original wasn't clear to Xiao Lin.
Maybe during the Sea God's Nine Trials, Tang San's physical attributes got buffed.
That trial was the most likely way to solve the spirit power pressure problem.
This time, Xiao Lin believed Tang San could receive the Sea God's Nine Trials again—but he didn't dare guarantee that nothing would go wrong.
Luckily, Tang San's enhanced vitality had also led to significant physical development, which reassured Xiao Lin for now.
At least Tang San wouldn't be so overpowered by life force that he "heals himself to death."
"Oh right, Brother Lin! My second soul skill actually uses less energy than my first. Doesn't that mean my data panel should go up a bit?"
Xiao Wu suddenly raised her hand, hoping to improve her stat sheet.
"What?! What's going on here?"
Xiao Lin was stunned too. He hadn't seen this in the original story.
Shouldn't higher-year spirit rings consume more energy?
Xiao Lin himself couldn't tell, because his soul skills barely drained him at all.
Same with Tang San—his Blue Silver Grass skills consumed very little power, and both of his rings were passive vitality boosters.
Even the healing ability was practically an added bonus.
"I don't know either!"
Xiao Wu shrank her neck, speaking weakly. Could it be that she was different from Xiao Lin and Tang San?
Now Xiao Lin looked at her differently. Was this an advantage of self-condensed spirit rings?
Wait, no…
Both of Xiao Wu's soul rings were self-condensed.
Could it be that the higher the ring's age, the lower the energy cost?
Maybe it was just that most people had poor martial soul compatibility, and attack-type skills consumed a lot of spirit power?
Xiao Lin quietly noted this down for further study.
(End of Chapter)