bookpub Chapter 4 Azure Dragon Probes with its Claws!
Chapter 4 Azure Dragon Probes with its Claws!
The deep yellow spirit ring slowly disappeared into Qing Mufeng's body.
Qing Zhengyue tightened his grip on the knife slightly, his gaze fixed on his grandson's face.
Eight hundred years of soul rings.
He had read in ancient books that some people could absorb the soul ring of that year in the first stage.
But that was only a written record; he had never seen it with his own eyes.
Today, he saw it.
Liu Yunlan squatted beside her grandson, placing one hand on Qing Mufeng's pulse. The old lady's fingers trembled slightly, but her expression remained calm.
"The pulse is steady," she said softly. "The soul power is rising steadily, without any signs of disorder."
Qing Zhengyue nodded, but did not let his guard down.
Absorbing a spirit ring is not something that can be done overnight.
The process of acquiring a spirit ring is only the first step; the real test is the fusion of the spirit ring and the martial soul.
During this process, the slightest carelessness could lead to a surge in soul power, ruptured meridians, or backlash from the martial soul; any of these situations could be fatal.
Time passed by, second by second.
The forest was silent except for the rustling of the wind through the treetops.
Qing Zhengyue and Liu Yunlan stood guard on either side of their grandson, like two statues.
After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Qing Mufeng's body trembled slightly.
He opened his eyes.
Those originally jet-black pupils now gleamed with a faint golden light.
The light lasted only a moment before disappearing, but Qing Zhengyue saw it clearly.
"How are you feeling?" the old man asked in a deep voice.
Qing Mufeng looked down at his hands and clenched his fists.
"Very good," he said, his voice more composed than usual. "My soul power is stable, and my martial soul... seems to have changed a little."
With a thought, the phantom of the Azure Serpent Martial Soul appeared behind him.
The green snake was a size larger than when it had awakened, and its scales were even finer, with faint patterns visible on its body.
It wasn't the pattern of snake scales, but rather a more complex design, like cloud patterns on ancient artifacts.
Qing Zhengyue stared at the patterns, his pupils contracting slightly.
Those aren't the markings a snake should have.
"The evolution of a martial soul takes time." The old man suppressed his inner turmoil and said calmly, "The first ring is just the beginning. What is your current soul power level?"
Qing Mufeng closed his eyes and focused his inner vision for a moment.
"Level 20," he said. "The same as before absorption."
Qing Zhengyue was not surprised.
Being at level 20 innate means that Mu Feng's body already possesses level 20 soul power.
The first spirit ring only opened the first valve; it did not increase the bottle's capacity.
Once the second soul ring is fully absorbed, both valves will open simultaneously, and only then will soul power truly begin to increase.
"Try your first soul skill," Qing Zhengyue said. "Let's see what the eight-hundred-year soul ring has given you."
Qing Mufeng nodded and stood up.
He took a deep breath, and the soul power within his body began to circulate.
First Soul Ring.
The deep yellow spirit ring lit up, and a strange power surged from it, flowing into his right arm.
Qing Mufeng extended his right hand.
His entire arm changed in an instant.
Blue scales appeared on the surface of his skin, his fingers grew longer and thicker, his nails transformed into sharp claws, and his entire arm became thicker, with clearly defined muscle lines, exuding explosive power.
That's not a human arm.
That was the prototype of the dragon's claw.
Qing Zhengyue's pupils suddenly contracted.
Liu Yunlan covered her mouth.
"This..." the old woman's voice trembled, "This isn't a snake-like arm..."
Qing Mufeng gripped the dragon-transformed right claw, feeling the power surging from the depths of his marrow.
He raised his hand, aimed at a small tree about three zhang away, and grabbed it suddenly.
Five cyan claw-like rays flew from the fingertips, slicing through the air and striking the tree trunk with a sharp whooshing sound.
Snap!
The sapling snapped in two, the cut as clean as if it had been sliced by a sharp blade.
At the break, a bluish light seeped into the wood, and the bark withered rapidly, as if it were being eroded by some kind of force.
Qing Zhengyue walked quickly to the broken tree, squatted down and carefully examined the cross-section.
The blue light continued to spread, penetrating deeper along the wood grain.
He used the tip of his knife to pry open the bark and found that the wood inside had become soft, as if it had been corroded for many years.
"Wood-attribute erosion," the old man murmured, a glint of light flashing in his eyes. "It's not just a simple physical attack; the soul skill also carries the corrosive power of wood. The wounds of those struck will be continuously eroded by the wood-attribute power, making them difficult to heal."
He stood up, looked at his grandson, and a hint of shock appeared in his eyes.
"What's the name of this soul skill?"
Qing Mufeng looked down at his right arm, which was slowly returning to normal, and information from the inherited memories surfaced in his mind.
"The Azure Dragon extends its claws," he said.
Qing Zhengyue and Liu Yunlan were both stunned.
"What did you say?" Qing Zhengyue's voice tightened slightly.
"Azure Dragon Probes with Claws," Qing Mufeng repeated calmly. "That's the name of the soul skill."
It's not a green snake reaching out its claws.
It is a green dragon reaching out its claws.
Qing Zhengyue and Liu Yunlan exchanged a glance, both seeing the same emotion in each other's eyes.
This child knows it himself.
He knew he was not the Green Snake.
Qing Zhengyue took a deep breath to suppress the turmoil in his heart. Just as he was about to say something, he suddenly felt a strange fluctuation of soul power emanating from his grandson.
Qing Mufeng's expression changed.
The golden light in those eyes reappeared, even more intense than before.
His pupils had somehow turned into vertical pupils.
It wasn't the vertical pupil of a snake, but the eye of some higher being.
Qing Zhengyue subconsciously took a half step back.
It's not because I'm afraid.
Rather, it was a powerful pressure emanating from the depths of his blood that caused his body to react instinctively.
A level 66 Soul Emperor was forced back half a step by the martial soul pressure of a six-year-old child.
If I told you this, no one would believe me.
Qing Mufeng did not notice his grandfather's reaction.
His attention was completely focused on his body.
At the moment the first spirit ring merged with the martial soul, in addition to the spirit skill, another power awakened deep within the martial soul.
That power surged from the deepest part of the Azure Dragon bloodline, like a door that had been sealed for millions of years being pushed open with a crack.
A ray of light shone through the crack.
A faint glow began to appear on Qing Mufeng's body.
The light condensed at a speed visible to the naked eye, solidifying into a suit of armor on his body.
The armor is predominantly blue, with a wood-like texture and a surface covered with fine scale patterns.
At the very center of the breastplate is a coiled green snake.
But upon closer inspection, the snake's head already vaguely resembles that of a dragon.
The shoulder armor is shaped like a snake's head, and the armor on the arms and legs is covered with snake scales, with soft woody fibers connecting the joints.
The helmet is a semi-covering type, protecting the forehead and cheeks, with two small horn-shaped protrusions on the top of the head.
It resembles both the horns of a snake and the rudiments of dragon horns.
The entire suit of armor clung tightly to the body without a single gap, as if it grew out of the skin.
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