Less than a quarter of an hour later, Xiao Lin realized the impact from the soul power had also disappeared.
In Xiao Lin's sea of consciousness, the Thunder Shadow Leopard's soul power had been transformed by the Coiling Dragon Staff and drifted into his body.
"Boom! Crack!"
Suddenly, thunderous rumbles and the crisp sound of bones being tempered echoed from Xiao Lin's body. His body even stretched slightly, giving the impression of growing too fast and becoming lanky.
"Success! My soul power increased by three and a half ranks—I'm at rank 23 now."
Xiao Lin slowly opened his eyes with a satisfied smile.
This Thunder Shadow Leopard's soul skill was truly amazing!
The Coiling Dragon Staff was already adorned with a deep purple soul ring, having overwritten the previous yellow one.
However, the staff still gleamed silver overall, with only a trace of that charming purple visible—barely.
"Brother Lin, how is it?""Brother Lin, what's the soul skill?"
Seeing Xiao Lin successfully absorb a soul ring over 2,000 years old, Tang San and Xiao Wu immediately stopped their guard duties and rushed over to ask excitedly.
Tang San was even more certain now—knowing Xiao Lin's personality, for him to smile with satisfaction, the soul skill couldn't be anything less than outstanding.
Aside from the powerful offensive boosts of rod-type martial souls, most soul rings only provided average effects.
But with an expression like this, could this soul ring's power actually surpass the exaggerated speed enhancement of the first?
"Heh, guess what?"
Xiao Lin raised his brows smugly, encouraging them to guess big.
"Brother Lin, could it be a 50% speed boost that scales with soul power level? The higher your rank, the greater the enhancement?"
Xiao Wu wasn't particularly knowledgeable about martial souls, but she'd chatted countless times with Xiao Lin and Tang San about their soul rings.
That 50% speed boost—plus additional gains with increasing soul power—was something Xiao Lin once believed would be the best possible skill.
After all, even a max-level Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda (at rank 79) only gave an 80% boost to others.
"Too small. You're thinking too small!"
Xiao Lin burst into laughter, then looked at Tang San, hoping he could get closer to the answer—just so he could brag again.
"Brother Lin, then… does the soul ring have other attributes?"
Tang San's guess wasn't too far from Xiao Wu's, though he thought Xiao Lin might have gained some additional properties—like enhanced toughness or lightning charging abilities.
"Little San got part of it… but still thinking too small."
Seeing them stunned into silence, unable to imagine how powerful his soul skill must be, Xiao Lin decided to just say it.
"Second Soul Skill. The soul ring is 2,200 years old, from the Thunder Shadow Leopard."
"After using the skill, my body enters a charging state. Both my speed and attack increase by 50%, and each level I gain boosts it by another 1%."
"But the truly powerful part isn't just that—I can activate it twice, entering a state of Overcharged Charging."
"That's Charging State 2—the strongest enhancement I can get without using my Martial Soul Avatar."
"Given my unique martial soul and physical resilience, I can treat Charging State 2 as my default combat mode. The soul power cost is low anyway."
"What's even stronger—once I enter the charging state, a burst of blue lightning will flash from my body, acting like a flashbang."
"After the burst, a shadowy clone remains at my original location. Though it lacks intelligence, it can mimic my soul skills and perform the same action once."
Xiao Lin was happily bragging next to Tang San and Xiao Wu, listing the might of his soul skill in full.
Tang San and Xiao Wu were utterly stunned by his description.
They had assumed that while Xiao Lin's first soul skill was freakishly powerful, the second would be more restrained.
But it turned out to be no less impressive!
Strong stat enhancements—50% each to speed and attack—100% when combined. With the Martial Soul Avatar active, that's 200% each.
Not to mention, this skill had growth potential.
By rank 70, his base buff would be 100%. Charging State 2 would be 200%, and with the Martial Soul Avatar—400%.
A second-stage Avatar? 800% each!
At Titled Douluo level, the potential was even more terrifying. Only his first soul skill might remain more exaggerated.
And Xiao Lin's soul power consumption was minimal. The flash burst effect could catch opponents completely off guard.
Leaving behind a clone was also excellent for protection and surprise attacks—even if it couldn't defend, pure offense could be the best defense.
Tang San shivered at the thought of someone trying to dive their backline, only to be smashed into the ground by a shadow's sneak attack.
He also wondered: would the clone duplicate itself if Xiao Lin used his Martial Soul Avatar?
Tang San fell silent—Xiao Lin truly lived up to the title of an "unstoppable destructive dragon."
But Tang San did have one question: according to Xiao Lin's logic, shouldn't he be trying to gain more soul skills with abilities like lightning paralysis?
Why was that missing?
"As for that," Xiao Lin said, "I guess it's because the Thunder Shadow Leopard itself didn't rely on lightning to paralyze enemies. Plus, my attacks are so strong I don't even need that kind of control."
Indeed, with great power comes sacrifice. He didn't need paralyzing effects when his brute strength was already overwhelming.
Also, the data Xiao Lin had seen on the Thunder Leopard never mentioned any paralysis ability.
It was a speed-type soul beast, and had been bullying weaker soul beasts like the Soft-Boned Rabbit—why would it need such control skills?
The Thunder Rabbit, though, did possess paralyzing effects.
"Brother Lin, you didn't say how long the soul skill lasts?"
At that moment, Xiao Wu—who never paid attention in class—suddenly asked.
"Uh… Xiao Wu, Brother Lin's skills barely consume any power. So duration doesn't really matter," Tang San quickly explained, worried Xiao Lin would bop her on the head again.
But right now, Xiao Lin was high on excitement from gaining such a powerful skill, and didn't care about Xiao Wu's silly question.
"Haha, now that you mention it, Xiao Wu gave me an idea! I should aim for skills with high energy consumption but massive short-term buffs!"
Xiao Lin clapped his fists in glee, having found his path forward.
He would aim for soul skills with massive energy demands and go for an extreme burst damage route.
What was high consumption for normal soul beasts meant nothing to him.
As long as he didn't use his Martial Soul Avatar or release external soul power, his consumption was almost zero.
So why not go all in on extreme enhancements and damage?
This Thunder Shadow Leopard had Thunder Leopard bloodline—a perfect embodiment of speed and burst power.
If its endurance had been a bit higher, Xiao Lin believed the skill's base boost would've been even more explosive.
Now… what to name this soul skill?
Just as Xiao Lin was pondering that, the Coiling Dragon Staff transmitted the name of the second soul skill to him:
Phantom Lightning Flash!
(End of Chapter)