Hearing this, the tension weighing on Lou Gao's heart finally dropped heavily. His face was instantly filled with overwhelming joy and relief, his thick eyebrows nearly flying upward.
"Good! Good! Good! Hahaha! Worthy of being my, Lou Gao's, disciple! A thousand-year first Soul Ring! If word of this gets out, it'll scare those old fossils in the Soul Master world to death!"
Lou Gao forcefully patted Lin Xia on the shoulder, feeling the solid strength beneath his hand, his excitement impossible to contain.
Immediately after, his gaze turned incomparably eager.
"Quick, quick—let your teacher take a look! What exactly is the Soul Skill granted by this thousand-year Soul Ring?"
A sharp glint flashed through Lin Xia's eyes as the corners of his mouth curved into a confident smile.
"Teacher, watch closely!"
Before the words even finished leaving his mouth, Lin Xia's thoughts shifted. He raised his right hand, palm facing upward, and let out a low shout.
"First Soul Skill — Sandstorm!"
[A/N::Quick explanation first: Larvitar is a Rock- and Ground-type Pokémon. After evolving into Tyranitar, it becomes Rock/Dark, so the chosen abilities are mostly configured around a sandstorm-based setup.
I'm well aware of overpowered abilities like Magic Guard, but they simply don't fit. Of course, if everyone has suggestions for abilities more suitable to Larvitar's typing, we can discuss them, and I'll selectively adopt them as long as they don't affect the main outline.
As for why the ability can be actively turned off—this is a novel, not a game. If Sandstorm were permanently active, with an automatic sandstorm upon appearance, there'd be no story left to tell. He'd be hunted down as a walking natural disaster by the Spirit Hall before long. Even in the anime, Tyranitar generates a sandstorm upon appearing!]
There was no earth-shattering Soul Power explosion, no dazzling visual spectacle.
The instant Lin Xia's voice fell—
Buzz!
An invisible yet overwhelming wave of strange energy surged outward from Lin Xia as its center, sweeping across the surroundings in all directions!
In the next moment, the entire world abruptly changed color!
Within a radius of over a hundred meters, the previously calm sandy ground—where only fine grains had been stirred by a light breeze was violently churned as if by an invisible giant hand!
Countless dry, coarse grains of sand and rock were suddenly freed from gravity, spinning, rising, and colliding wildly, as if imbued with savage life! A violent wind was born out of nothing, letting out piercing, mournful howls! Vision was instantly obscured, and everywhere one looked, there was only a sky-filling torrent of rapidly rotating, murky yellow sand and dust!
Light was swallowed, the temperature plummeted, and a suffocating dryness carrying the scent of death surged forward!
This was not the limited sand swirl used by Yellow Sandstorm Rats to conceal themselves. This was a true sandstorm—one brimming with destructive power!
The smile on Lou Gao's face froze instantly, replaced by utter shock!
Puff! Puff! Puff! Puff!
Countless high-speed spinning grains of sand struck his sturdy craftsman's robe like a dense hail of bullets, producing dull, continuous impacts! What made his heart quake even more was that those highly penetrating grains pierced through the clothing and struck his tough skin directly, bringing waves of sharp pain like needle pricks!
"Hiss!"
Lou Gao instinctively circulated his Soul Power to protect his body. A faint earthen-yellow glow surfaced over his skin, completely blocking the dense "sand bullets."
His pupils contracted sharply as he stared in disbelief at Lin Xia, who stood calmly at the center of the sandstorm, completely unharmed—his clothes barely even fluttering.
"This… this range?!"
Lou Gao cried out in shock. Straining his eyes, he gazed into the sky-obscuring sand curtain. Relying on a Soul Saint's perception and visual estimation, he realized in horror that the sandstorm's coverage radius had definitely exceeded a hundred meters!
How could this possibly be the range of a Soul Master who had just obtained their first Soul Ring? This was simply… the omen of a natural disaster!
"Is this really a thousand-year Soul Skill?"
Lou Gao's voice trembled slightly, something even he himself hadn't noticed. His understanding of Soul Skills had been completely overturned!
However, what truly made his scalp go numb was still yet to come!
Just as the "Sandstorm" released by Lin Xia reached its most violent peak—
"Larvitar—!"
Larvitar seemed to respond to a powerful resonance and summons. A dazzling light burst forth from its crimson eyes as its short forepaws slammed forcefully into the ground!
Buzz!
Another surge of sandstorm power erupted explosively—originating from the same source, yet more primitive and far more ferocious!
Whooo—!
Centered on Larvitar's small body, a second sandstorm of equally massive scale and terrifying power formed instantly!
This sandstorm did not exist independently. Instead, like hundreds of rivers flowing into the sea, it merged seamlessly with the storm released by Lin Xia, stacking perfectly atop it!
Rumble—!
It was as if heaven and earth were enraged!
The combined sandstorm's power skyrocketed exponentially! The originally murky yellow curtain of sand instantly deepened into an even darker, despair-inducing brown! The shrill howling of the wind escalated into a deafening roar! The sand grains spun faster, seemingly growing larger, and the force with which they struck Lou Gao's protective Soul Power surged dramatically. Explosive bangs echoed repeatedly as the earthen-yellow Soul barrier shook violently, as if it might shatter at any moment!
Meanwhile, empowered by Larvitar's strength, the sandstorm's range expanded wildly, like a crazed dragon breaking free of its restraints!
One hundred meters… two hundred meters… three hundred meters…
Finally, under Lou Gao's nearly vacant gaze, the edge of the all-devouring sandstorm came to a halt at the base of a massive sand dune five hundred meters away!
A five-hundred-meter sandstorm!
As far as the eye could see, there was only a doomsday-like inferno of sand and dust! Sunlight was completely cut off, plunging the world into endless gloom and thunderous noise.
The sand beneath their feet trembled violently, as though it could be overturned and swallowed whole by this horrifying force at any moment!
Lou Gao was utterly stunned.
His mouth hung open, his thick beard whipping wildly in the violent airflow. His eyes were wide as bells, filled with overwhelming absurdity, shock and a trace of bewilderment at an unknown power.
He even forgot to circulate his Soul Power to resist the intensifying barrage of sand, allowing the fierce wind and grit to lash against his face, bringing searing pain.
A single thought exploded repeatedly in his completely blank mind like a thunderclap.
"Damn it… this is insane… This is really a first Soul Ring?! This kid… and this little monster… the two of them together… are they trying to blow this entire desert into the sky?!"
Seeing Lou Gao's expression, Lin Xia signaled for Larvitar to disperse the sandstorm. As both Lin Xia and Larvitar ceased their Soul Power output, the sky-filling sand and dust seemed to have their throats seized by an invisible giant hand, and the violent howling winds stopped abruptly.
The high-speed, destructive sand grains lost their driving force and drifted down one after another, returning to the silent desert floor.
The murky, yellowed vision quickly cleared. Scorching sunlight poured down once more, leaving behind only the ravaged outlines of sand dunes and the dry, dusty scent lingering in the air.
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