Chapter 23 Xiao Wu's First Soul Skill: Rabbit Shadow Tracking
"Xiao Wu, your spirit ring?" Tang Chuan feigned surprise, his gaze falling on the yellow spirit ring beneath Xiao Wu. "Found a suitable spirit beast?"
"Hey-hey! Yes! I'm so lucky!" Xiao Wu chuckled and handed the fruit in her hand to Tang Chuan, saying the excuse she had made up earlier, "When I ran over there just now, I actually ran into a Shadow Rabbit that was seriously injured. It looked like it was injured by other spirit beasts. I tried hitting it once, and to my surprise, a yellow spirit ring floated out, which was exactly the age of my first spirit ring. So I just absorbed it! The age is over four hundred and thirty years..." She spoke vividly, pointing to the bushes on her right, trying to make her story sound plausible.
"Flash Rabbit? More than four hundred and thirty years?" Tang Chuan feigned surprise and admiration. "Xiao Wu, your luck is... amazing! Congratulations! You have officially become a one-ring Spirit Master!"
"Hey-hey!" Xiao Wu proudly raised her chin and said eagerly, "And there's more! My first soul skill is incredibly powerful!"
"Oh?" Tang Chuan picked up a candyberry and put it in his mouth, continuing to pretend he knew nothing. "Tell me quickly."
Xiao Wu took two steps back, assumed a fighting stance, and the yellow spirit ring under her feet lit up. "My first soul skill is called Rabbit Shadow Tracking! Tang Chuan, watch closely!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Xiao Wu's figure suddenly blurred, turning into a pink afterimage as she rushed towards a small tree ten meters away. It circled around several bushes along the way, but didn't touch a single leaf, stopping precisely in front of the tree. The moment Xiao Wu rushed out, Tang Chuan could clearly feel that her soul power had locked onto the target, and even the bushes that were blocking the view did not affect her direction.
"How about it? Impressive, right?" Xiao Wu's spirit rings shone brightly, and she rushed back the way she came. Her aura was steady, indicating that she had not consumed much energy. She proudly raised her chin. "My first soul skill, Rabbit Shadow Tracking, can lock onto the target's aura. No matter how many things block our way, we can just charge through! From now on, no one can stop me from using those fancy grasses and vines!"
She waved her little fists, clearly still resentful about being trapped by Tang San's Blue Silver Grass yesterday; this choice of soul skill was extremely targeted.
Tang Chuan's surprise was relieved when he saw her smug look. No wonder it's not the bowed back from the original story. It turns out to be the butterfly effect! Yesterday, when fighting with Tang San, Xiao Wu was frustrated by the Blue Silver Grass's area-of-effect maze. So when she condensed her soul ring, she subconsciously chose a dash skill that could lock down enemies, specifically targeting large-area soul skills. Compared to the waist bow in the original work, this Rabbit Shadow Tracking is obviously more suitable for agility-based burst damage and close combat. Combined with Xiao Wu's own graceful techniques, the increase in combat power is greater than that from the waist bow.
"That's really impressive. A very good soul skill!" Tang Chuan smiled and nodded, praising, "Fast speed, target locking, and surprise attacks—it suits you perfectly."
"Right, right!" Xiao Wu was even happier to receive affirmation. "From now on, I'll protect you. Anyone who dares to come near me, I'll dash over and kick them away!"
"Okay, then it's up to you." Tang Chuan smiled and nodded, not exposing Xiao Wu's lie, but instead changing the subject. "By the way, where you found the Sugar Heart Berry, were there any other special plants or spirit beasts? Let's go take a look before it gets completely dark. There might even be some that can be used as food."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Wu immediately nodded and pulled Tang Chuan into the bushes, exclaiming, "Yes, yes, yes! There's another one over there! And I think I just saw a fluorite fruit, the kind that glows at night! Let's go pick them!"
Tang Chuan was pulled along by her, secretly pondering to himself. The butterfly effect has begun to manifest. Xiao Wu's first soul skill has changed, and the subsequent plot may also be different, but for her, it may not necessarily be a bad thing. At least for now. Xiao Wu's first soul skill, Rabbit Shadow Tracking, is clearly much stronger than the Waist Bow in the original story, and the same is true for her younger brother Tang San's first soul skill.
As they walked, Tang Chuan collected several plants and spirit beasts he had never seen before and released Blue Silver Grass to devour them. Among them was the Fluorite Fruit that Xiao Wu pointed out.
Ingredient: Fluorite Fruit
[Origin: Outskirts of the Soul Hunter Forest]
[Duration: 500 years]
[Characteristics: The fruit glows at night, and the flesh is sweet and juicy]
[Effects: When eaten raw, it can quench thirst, replenish soul power, and gently nourish the body. The peel can be ground into powder to make a natural pigment, and at night, it can be used as a light source to repel low-level spirit beasts.]
"Drive away low-level spirit beasts?" Tang Chuan understood immediately upon seeing the description of the Fluorite Fruit in the illustrated guide. No wonder it can grow to be 500 years old. It's a pity I don't need a spirit ring, otherwise this Fluorite Fruit Tree could produce a 500-year-old spirit ring for plant-type spirit masters to absorb.
The reason I'm certain it's a spirit beast was because Tang Chuan was attacked by the Fluorite Fruit Tree while picking Fluorite Fruit, but the attack was not very strong.
"With this fluorite fruit, it's much easier to rest at night." Tang Chuan unleashed his first soul skill, Blue Silver Weaving of a Hundred Flavors, creating two strings of Fluorite Fruit Lanterns, which he and Xiao Wu carried as they continued deeper into the Soul Hunter Forest.
They stopped walking when it was completely dark. Tang Chuan found a few ancient trees, wove a simple hammock with Blue Silver Grass, and hung the fluorite fruit on the hammock to ward off spirit beasts. Then, he unleashed his first soul skill, creating the peel of the honey-scented shrub fruit to repel insects. The Honey Fragrance Bush Fruit was found in the principal's garden of Notting Academy. It originates from the territory of the Thousand-Year-Old Ironclaw Bear deep in the Soul Hunter Forest. The encyclopedia describes its fruit peel as having a significant insect-repelling effect.
"Alright. Let's rest here tonight and continue our search for ingredients tomorrow." Tang Chuan smiled and spoke to Xiao Wu, his soul power surging, his first soul ring continuously flashing with purple light, and Blue Silver Grass weaving several pieces of roasted Vajra Bull tenderloin in front of him.
"Uh-huh!" Xiao Wu rolled over and sat on the blue-silver hammock, holding a fluorite fruit in her hand and munching on it. She hadn't eaten Fluorite Fruit in a long time since leaving the Star Dou Forest, and now it tasted like home.
Just then, a rustling sound came from the dark bushes on the left.
Something's approaching!
Tang Chuan tossed the roasted meat generated by the Blue Silver Grass to Xiao Wu, then stood up warily, reaching for the bushes with the Blue Silver Grass in his hand. Xiao Wu also became alert and listened intently. A chilling rustling sound was rapidly approaching from afar, heading straight towards the two of them. The next moment, a dark blue shadow darted out from the swaying bushes. Its entire body was covered with rhomboid scales, with purple markings on the scales. Its head was triangular, and its mouth was open, revealing two slender triangular fangs, which lunged straight at Tang Chuan.
"Tang Chuan, watch out! This is a Mandrake Snake!" Xiao Wu exclaimed in surprise, her spirit rings glowing yellow. She used Rabbit Shadow Tracking to get right up to the Mandrake Snake's face, kicking it away from Tang Chuan's mouth as it was about to bite him.
[end of the chapter]