Douluo Continent: My Martial Soul, the Dragon Abyss Sword, has become its scabbard.

Chapter 5, First Soul Skill: The Tenacity of Wood

They couldn't linger in the Soul Hunter Forest, so Ding Quan and the teacher quickly returned to the academy.

Upon seeing his information appear in this year's admissions information section, Ding Quan understood why the academy had invited a Soul Master teacher to help him hunt for souls.

The holiday is about to start, which means another batch of school-age children have awakened their martial souls. This junior soul master academy is treating its own ability to become a soul master in two years and have a hundred-year soul ring as a recruitment hurdle.

However, this is probably why the academy arranged for Soul Master teachers to help with soul hunting, and Ding Quan didn't say much about it.

Originally, he planned to hunt souls alone, but he gave up the idea after learning that the Soul Master was helping him.

Although weapons were made, there was no Soul Master to help ensure their safety.

Ding Quan went to the grove outside the dormitory to confirm the relationship between the scabbard and the Dragon Abyss Sword after he obtained the Soul Ring, although he had almost confirmed it.

With a clench of his right hand, the Dragon Abyss Sword, now transformed, appeared in his grasp, and a yellow soul ring appeared beneath Ding Quan's feet.

Ding Quan also carefully observed the changes in the Dragon Abyss Sword.

The originally dark gold hilt became even darker, and the previously snow-white blade was now as if covered with a light layer of ink.

The chilling aura of before is gone, but Ding Quan knows it is still sharp enough, only its edge is hidden.

The patterns on the blade had turned black, which, combined with the now dull hilt, made it even more striking.

Ding Quan nodded in satisfaction; the Dragon Abyss Sword was no longer as dazzling as before.

It seems that after absorbing this wood-attribute soul ring, I have suppressed its metal-attribute characteristics.

Ding Quan held the Longyuan Sword horizontally, grabbed the tip, and forcefully bent it. Only after Ding Quan exerted all his strength did the blade manage to bend slightly.

Ding Quan was very satisfied to see this. Although the Dragon Abyss Sword's toughness had increased, its rigidity had not been weakened.

After glancing at a rather large rock not far away, Ding Quan chopped at it directly.

Boom! Rocks flew up.

The sword blade cleaved into the stone several centimeters deep, but Ding Quan didn't feel anything unusual.

It seems that the problem of the toughness of his martial soul has been solved, and the Dragon Abyss Sword is no longer afraid of colliding with other hard objects.

Thinking about soul skills, Ding Quan's first soul skill is very special.

After a Soul Master absorbs a Soul Ring, they can sense the effects of Soul Skills simply by sensing them.

Ding Quan called this soul skill "Wood's Tenacity".

The Dragon Abyss Sword gained the bamboo's exceptional resilience, and Ding Quan touched his own muscular body, finding his physical strength had increased significantly.

It seems that the scabbard has acquired its hardness.

After all, it took Ding Quan more than ten minutes to cut this bamboo, which was only the size of an adult's thumb, down with his Longyuan Sword, so its texture must be extremely hard.

After absorbing the spirit ring, his height suddenly increased, reaching over 1.4 meters. His clothes also became much smaller. The spirit ring did indeed have a significant impact on physical development.

Moreover, I can feel my body growing, my height is increasing rapidly, and the intensity is still increasing.

Ding Quan wasn't sure what level his physical condition had reached, and he needed to find an opponent to confirm it.

Then look at the Soul Skill effect: it passively reduces the damage received by 30%, and actively removes the negative effects received.

There is a limit to the ability to remove negative effects, but it can be enhanced as one's level increases. After all, the sword sheath is integrated with oneself, and the enhancement of one's body also indirectly enhances the martial spirit.

Although this soul skill did not gain any attack power, Ding Quan was very satisfied with it.

Thinking that his body would be strengthened by releasing his martial spirit, Ding Quan picked up a wooden stick and hit his thigh hard.

Thanks to his powerful and precise mental control, Ding Quan has extremely precise control over the power he uses.

Ouch! Haha! Ding Quan felt the damage he had suffered, and although it hurt a lot, he quickly laughed.

Just as he had expected, the actual effect of his soul skill was much stronger than he had sensed.

I only took about 60% of the damage, so it seems that the damage reduction of my first soul skill has reached about 40%. After the Dragon Abyss Sword sheath was attached to me, the effect of my soul skill was enhanced.

Ding Quan glanced at the golden dragon tattoo on his body. He was in a state of half-martial spirit possession, which was considered a true innate half-weapon spirit body.

The biggest reason why Soul Saints are considered a dividing line among the strong is that they possess the true form of a Martial Soul.

After using this skill, the first few soul skills will be greatly enhanced, and the cooldown will be greatly reduced.

It seems that the enhanced effect of my soul skill is very likely due to this reason.

The damage reduction has increased dramatically from 30% for Soul Skills to 40% in practice.

With three layers of damage reduction, the opponent needs to increase their damage by more than 40% to deal the original damage to Ding Quan.

But now the opponent needs to increase their power by more than 60%, and such a soul skill with a hundred-year soul ring is difficult to achieve.

Having sensed the strength of his current body, he realized that the soul skill attacks of ordinary soul masters would hardly pose a threat to him.

Choosing a bamboo-type spirit beast as the first spirit ring was indeed a good choice, and it also acquired almost all the characteristics of the wood attribute.

Because of its ability to grow in both straight and curved forms, the wood element possesses the ability to flexibly adapt to its environment. Moreover, bamboo is not suitable for growing by the sea, so its ability to survive on the coast demonstrates its strong adaptability, making it reasonable to obtain such a soul skill.

The ability to remove negative effects significantly reduces the opponent's control over the game.

Seeing the effect of this soul skill, Ding Quan became even more convinced that a soul master's mental will could influence the creation of a soul skill.

Ding Quan was somewhat surprised that this soul skill had a passive effect. He also had some guesses about it, thinking that as long as he used his martial soul, it was equivalent to the sword sheath possessing him.

It seems that most of the soul skills I acquire afterward will have this effect.

In that case, I can't be careless when choosing a soul beast; I must choose one with exceptionally outstanding attribute power.

This allows you to effectively leverage the advantages of its attributes to enhance yourself.

When Ding Quan arrived at the Spirit Hall in Binhai City, he encountered an acquaintance, the Deacon Yun who had awakened Ding Quan's spirit.

He was helping others awaken their martial souls. Ding Quan didn't go up to disturb him, but instead took the gold soul coins and left.

Ding Quan held a gold soul coin in his hand. The Spirit Hall was indeed quite generous to low-level soul masters.

The fact that there weren't many Soul Masters who dared to commit serious evil in this era was also due to the oversight of the Spirit Hall.

Looking at the gold soul coin, Ding Quan put aside his thoughts. Although the continent was in turmoil now, the common people were still relatively safe, given the evil soul masters who would run rampant ten thousand years later.

However, he was indeed short of money right now. He put away the gold soul coins, knowing he needed to make some money. There was a place where he could get money, and Ding Quan also needed to confirm how far his strength could go.

A month later.

"Lone Wolf's six-game winning streak has come to an end! Let's congratulate Mo Jian on achieving a five-game winning streak."

"Damn it! This lone wolf can't even beat a kid!"

"Haha! I won my bet, Mo Jian did a great job."

"That ink sword is incredibly powerful, and he won so easily."

"Yes, it seems that Mo Jian didn't use his sword."

"Damn it! Money!"

On the Soul Battle Stage, Ding Quan, wearing a mask, put away his Dragon Abyss Sword and retracted the foot that had kicked the opposing Soul Master away.

Many people in the stands shouted excitedly, their anger and joy intertwined.

After glancing at the Soul Master who had been kicked away, Ding Quan slowly walked out of the Soul Arena.

After these few days of battles, Ding Quan had a general idea of ​​his own strength; level 19 Soul Masters were powerless against him.

Although their martial souls are not strong, the people who fight in this Great Soul Arena are not weak, and their opponents' soul power levels are much higher.

However, as the winning streak increases, the strength of the opponents also increases. Today, a Soul Master with a six-game winning streak has been directly assigned as my opponent.

This is Water City, not far from the coastal city, and its prosperity far surpasses that of the coastal city.

Because this place has a large arena that only top-tier cities possess.

Ding Quan didn't know the power behind the Great Soul Arena, but the fact that it could be established all over the Douluo Continent meant that its strength, even if not as great as the three upper sects, was definitely not weak. Not many people dared to cause trouble here.

Here, if you have the ability, you can make money very quickly.

Ding Quan went to the settlement table and collected his winnings from the battle and the gold coins he had won from his bets.

In just a few days, I earned hundreds of gold soul coins; the money came in very quickly.

The opponents arranged for the upcoming Soul Battles will become increasingly stronger, since the Great Soul Battle Arena will arrange opponents with similar scores.

Ding Quan didn't care about this; these Soul Masters posed no threat to him.

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I won't stay here for too long. Once I have enough gold soul coins to buy a storage soul tool, I'll stop.

Having a storage soul tool is very convenient, as it allows you to carry things with you.

And it won't take long. Now that there are more Gold Soul Coins, the speed at which you can win Gold Soul Coins by betting will be faster, even if the interest rate is lower.

At the current pace, I won't need to play more than a few matches.

Having enough confidence in their own abilities, they go all in every time they bet.

"Ding Quan, it seems you've won again."

In a restaurant, Yu Gang watched as Ding Quan ordered a table full of dishes and returned the gold soul coins to him, also showing his shock at Ding Quan's strength.

Who are the people fighting in the Great Soul Arena?

They are all people who are confident in their own strength. Although losing the Soul Battle won't cost them anything, not everyone dares to participate.

It was a direct battle between soul masters of the same level. Ding Quan had just obtained his first soul ring and his soul power was only level eleven. The soul power levels of his opponents were all higher than his, some even seven or eight levels higher.

The gap was significant, and Yu Gang was well aware of this. When facing a Soul Master with the same yellow first Soul Ring as himself, but whose Soul Power level was one or two levels higher, he would find it difficult to deal with them.

"Fortunately, the opponents we encountered weren't strong." Ding Quan smiled.

"Ding Quan, you really are a genius."

"Brother Gang, how are things on your end?"

Ding Quan didn't dwell on that topic, but instead asked about Yu Gang's situation.

After obtaining his first spirit ring, Yu Gang missed the registration deadline for the intermediate spirit master academy, so he did not attend school for a year.

It was the time for academy admissions, so Yu Gang and Ding Quan came to Water City together to find an intermediate soul master academy to enroll in.

Ding Quan noticed that Yu Gang seemed to be having a rough time.

"Sigh, Water City is much more prosperous than Coastal City. The academy has no shortage of students. You know my talent. Plus, I was delayed for a year. If I want to enroll, I will need to pay a lot more gold soul coins."

Yu Gang's innate soul power is only level one. Although he is burly, he does not have much talent.

"Is that so?" Ding Quan seemed to understand. "How about you do me a favor, and I'll pay you with gold soul coins?"

"Just tell me what kind of help you need!"

"You'll be my teammate. When we win the battle, you can keep your share of the rewards, and I'll also give you some compensation."

"You want me to team up with you for the Duo Battle?"

"That's right, leave it to me, we'll win for sure!"

Each player can only participate in one solo battle per day in the Grand Arena, but they can team up with others to participate in multiplayer battles.

Ding Quan looked at Yu Gang, knowing that with his help, he would acquire gold soul coins faster.

Night fell, and all around was quiet, but the Great Soul Arena was still bustling with noise.

"Next up, the Soul Arena No. 6 will host a two-person Soul Battle! The newly registered Swordsman Duo will face off against Iron Bull and Hummer, regulars in the Soul Arena! Both of you, please prepare yourselves."

Hearing the announcement outside, Ding Quan used several hundred gold soul coins to press the sword combination and win.

Yu Gang, standing to the side, had his eyes practically bulging out of their sockets.

This means they've bet all their gold coins; they're playing this high game.

Moreover, after glancing at the odds, I realized that the opponent was a regular in the Soul Arena and possessed considerable strength, hence the high odds.

Yu Gang calculated that if he won this match, he could earn nearly two thousand gold soul coins.

But is Ding Quan really that confident? He can't possibly handle any of them.

"let's go."

With masks on, Ding Quan led Yu Gang to the No. 6 Soul Arena with practiced ease.

One of the opponents was much taller than Yu Gang, and the other was strong and agile.

This is a classic combination of power and speed.

"Both sides release their martial spirits, the battle begins!" At the referee's and host's command, Ding Quan immediately clenched his right hand, and the Dragon Abyss Sword appeared in his hand, with a yellow spirit ring emerging.

Iron Bull and Hummer both had yellow spirit rings under their feet, only the color was lighter.

"Old Ma, it's the Ink Sword!" With the Iron Bull Martial Soul possessing him, his body grew larger again, exceeding two meters in height. He looked at the Dragon Abyss Sword in Ding Quan's hand and said to Hummer.

They really are regulars.

"He's strong. You hold him off while I take care of his teammates." With his Hummer Martial Spirit activated, his body seemed to be lifted by the wind as he sped towards Yu Gang.

"Understood." Tie Niu stared at Ding Quan, then charged over.

Seeing Tie Niu charging towards him, Ding Quan went straight to meet him.

"Brother Gang, stall for time, I'll take care of him soon, trust me."

Yu Gang heard a voice in his ear: the Hummer was already rushing towards him.

"First Soul Skill: Sharpening!"

Yu Gang immediately used his only soul skill, and a surge of soul power surged from his two greatswords, making the blades sharper.

He swung the weapon forcefully at the Hummer, but the Hummer reacted quickly and dodged the attack.

The spirit rings beneath his feet flashed, and a stream of air was generated beneath his feet as he ran, greatly increasing his speed.

Although Yu Gang's two broadswords looked imposing, they were too slow. He was hit by the Hummer in just a few blows, but luckily he was strong enough to withstand the attack.

Tie Niu is now having some existential doubts, feeling his strength being suppressed by a child who can't even reach his chest.

Seeing that he was about to retreat, Tie Niu roared and took a few steps back, his spirit rings flashing beneath his feet.

Its body gleamed with a metallic sheen, and it charged at Ding Quan once more.

(End of this chapter)