Chapter 15: CH 15: Hunting the Datura Snake and evolution
Ding ding ding-
The sound of Ah Li's short sword hitting the tough scales of the Datura Snake echoed as the black haired boy dodged and jumped left and right. He couldn't take the risk of getting hit even once, so he was trying his best to hit from time to time while jumping around, relying completely on his Prey Instinct. "Shit, this is doing nothing..." He murmured to himself as the angry snake kept trying his best to bite or at least hit Ah Li.
"You can't get through its defense! The weakness of Datura Snakes is their eyes and mouth, you need to aim for them!" Bibi Dong informed and the red eyed boy smirked :"Say no more."
As he dodged once again, he quickly picked up a few stones with his free hand before dodging once again. "Shaaa!!" The Datura Snake hissed loudly in rage, angered by the fact that it couldn't kill the puny human already.
When it jumped and completely launched itself at the young boy, Ah Li's smirk widened as he quickly threw the stones right at its eyes. Datura Snakes, being quite smart, know their own weaknesses, and will always be careful to protect them. So when the stones were launched directly at its eyes and quickly arrived, it immediately closed its eyes.
"Yes!" Ah Li quietly cheered for himself as he quickly attacked and stabbed his short sword towards the giant snake's mouth. Knowing that he would be harmed and definitely have at least a few broken bones if the Datura Snake hit him with that speed, he spun in place immediately after stabbing the sword into its upper mouth.
"SHAAA!!!" The Datura Snake hissed loudly in pain and shock as the sword was stabbed into its mouth and directly into its brain! But still, its resilience was surprising. Even after getting its brain stabbed, it still didn't die immediately, but rolled and thrashed around on the ground while Ah Li jumped away.
"Huh... Good job..." Bibi Dong nodded slowly in an impressed manner :"Honestly, I did not expect you to actually succeed at all. I was prepared to immediately pick you up and take you away from it. Yet you actually managed to kill it. Good job."
"Is it that impressive?" Ah Li raised a curious eyebrow and Bibi Dong nodded with a hum :"Yes, it is. The Datura Snake's defense is simply something else. Even Lv 20 Soul Grandmasters and weak Lv 30 Soul Elders will hardly be able to harm it unless they hit its mouth and eyes. Which is pretty hard, since Datura Snakes always guard those two very well. Yet you managed to kill it, so it is pretty impressive. Again, good job."
"Um, thanks." The red eyed boy nodded with a smile as the giant snake finally died and hit the ground, completely unmoving. With its death, its 100-year yellow Soul Ring also rose from its corpse. And with its death, Ah Li's points finally reached 100!
His Abyssal Centipede Martial Soul automatically disappeared by itself, leaving Ah out of his Martial Soul Possession state. Quickly sitting in place, he entered his Spiritual Sea along with Bibi Dong to see the changes. Once inside, they saw the tiny Abyssal Centipede start shaking and trembling as an energy began to come out from the inside of it and envelope it in a black cocoon.
"Oh? So this is how it evolves?" Bibi Dong hummed thoughtfully as the cocoon began to grow bigger and bigger suddenly. In the end, it grew to be the same size as Ah Li before it stopped completely. Once it stopped growing, the black cocoon began to unfold and reveal the evolved Abyssal Centipede inside.
"Huh? Sister Goddess, did it really evolve?" Ah Li questioned as he looked at the centipede that was the same color as before, just bigger :"It just grew bigger. There is no difference from before it evolved."
"The appearance didn't change much, but I can definitely feel that it grew stronger than before." Bibi Dong shook her head and explained :"The appearance of a Martial Soul doesn't matter. What matters is its power and usefulness. Although your Abyssal Centipede Martial Soul didn't change much in appearance, it definitely grew a lot stronger."
"I see-" He answered, but he immediately grew vigilant when he felt some sort of energy entering his body. Immediately getting out of his Spiritual Sea, he quickly got ready to fight. But when he saw what was getting inside of him, he was immediately confused and shocked. From the corpse of the Datura Snake, he saw four types of energies suddenly beginning to exit and pour into his body at a shocking speed.
"Uhh... Sister Goddess, what is going on?" He asked the gorgeous woman in his Spiritual Sea as the four energies finished entering him after a second or two. But what confused him was that after they did, Ah Li immediately felt like his mind had gotten more clear. It was a weird sensation. As if somebody or something had cleaned his mind, letting him think more clearly and be more aware of the world around him. With how sensitive his senses were, he clearly felt how his senses had grown more refined.
"... Why don't you come and see for yourself?" Bibi Dong's slightly serious voice sounded in his mind. Jumping on a tree branch to get into a safer place, he immediately sat down cross legged and entered his Spiritual Sea once again.
Once inside, aside from Bibi Dong, Abyssal Centipede and the red mist where the Rakshasa Domain was, he also saw four new things. Four orbs. One black, one light blue, one yellow, and one dark green. Just like how he felt the close connection between himself and his Abyssal Centipede Martial Soul, he could also sense the strong connection with these four orbs.
"Sister Goddess, what are these? Why did they suddenly show up?" He questioned as he looked at the four orbs :"Does it have something to do with those three energies?" And Bibi Dong nodded solemnly :"Yes, it does. Instead of explaining it, I think it would be better if you tried something. Get out of your Spiritual Sea for a second."
Not having any reason to refuse, he shrugged and got out. Once outside, Bibi Dong showed up beside him as well :"Alright, now jump down, and hit a tree with all you've got after releasing your Martial Soul." Hearing her instructions, Ah Li was confused, but still listened.
After jumping down, he immediately got to it. When he released and possessed his Martial Soul, he clearly felt the change from before. The power he felt once he released his newly evolved Martial Soul was completely different from when it hadn't evolved.
After a moment of amazement, he clenched his fist, and after getting into a punching stance, immediately punched a nearby tree. Nothing happened though. Only that a fist mark appeared on the trunk of the tree as it shook slightly.
"Well, my strength has clearly increased a lot. But it's not that exaggerated. So what now?" He questioned curiously as Bibi Dong nodded :"Alright, now try and connect yourself with that black energy ball in your Spiritual Sea. Just feel it closely, and try to use it. You'll know once you concentrate enough."
Not questioning her, he nodded and closed his eyes. It took a little bit, but he clearly felt the presence of four types of energies inside of him. Once he concentrated on them, he saw and felt the difference between each of them. Following Bibi Dong's instructions, he tried and connected himself with the black one.
But once he did, his body shook in shock as his eyes opened wide in surprise. Once he had connected himself with that sphere of energy, he immediately felt how his physical strength suddenly skyrocketed out of nowhere! Raising his hands to look at them, he marveled at the power he felt as he clenched and unclenched his small fingers :"This is..."
But he didn't have time to be fascinated at the power he felt, because Bibi Dong interrupted his amazement :"Alright, now punch the tree with all of your strength again." Nodding, he immediately clenched his hand into a fist, concentrating all of his strength into his fist before he punched the tree.
However, unlike before, where the tree just shook and a small fist mark showed up, the tree was immediately broken in half! The trunk of the tree simply exploded when he punched it. After the tree was surprisingly broken, he quickly stepped aside to not get crushed by the falling tree.
"Whoa... What the heck...?" He looked at his fist with amazement before turning to the floating goddess beside him :"Sister Goddess, what just happened?" Bibi Dong nodded calmly as she explained :"I think you got the strength of the Datura Snake you just killed.
Those four orbs are the attributes you took from it once you killed it. I don't know how that is possible, but it actually happened. That black one is physical power, the light blue one is Spiritual Power, the yellow one is Soul Power, and the dark green one is the poison of the Datura Snake!
Since this didn't happen before, I think it might either be a new ability you acquired once your Abyssal Centipede Martial Soul evolved, or that a Soul Beast must have a certain amount of strength for this ability to act."
"Whoa... So that means I can take the physical power and such of anybody I kill from now on?" Ah Li looked at her with pure shock :"Isn't that too much cheating?" And Bibi Dong nodded solemnly :"It's definitely an amazing ability.
Even I have never heard of such an ability. But Ah Li, you must remember something, never tell anybody about this ability. If this ability is known, you'll immediately be labeled as an Evil Soul Master. An ability that can make you stronger by killing will definitely be seen as evil. And those sects that wouldn't want you to grow and make yourself stronger with this ability will definitely try their best to get rid of you.
After all, you saw the power you got from killing a single Soul Beast. You'll definitely have a monstrous strength if you aren't put down. And those big sects will definitely know this too. So you must be sure to hide this ability as hard as you can."
"Um um! Understood, Sister Goddess!" He immediately nodded seriously, causing her to smile in approval and gently rub his head :"Good, it's good to see you're smart. I was worried that you'd try and show off with this ability. After all, which kid doesn't want to be famous and popular? So it's good that you're smart enough to play the fool."
"Um, I'll definitely listen to Sister Goddess!" He nodded with a happy smile :"So should I continue and hunt down more Soul Beasts?" And Bibi Dong nodded with a smirk :"Yes, you should. Now that you have such an ability, not only does killing give you those "points" to evolve your Martial Soul, but it also makes you so much stronger!
After all, Soul Beasts inherently have a better physical body and strength than humans. And since you can take that power for yourself along with their Soul Power, Spiritual Power and even poison, it would simply be a waste to not make use of this ability! Let's start right away. I'll search for Soul Beast from the sky and you'll kill them. Try to use the strength from that orb as much as possible to get used to your new strength. You'll lose that strength if you let go of that connection though, so be careful."
"Um! Alright then, let's start the hunt!" The jet black haired boy immediately nodded excitedly as they both started. With Bibi Dong's perception ability, looking for Soul Beasts was a lot easier. And with Ah Li's newly acquired strength, hunting and killing Soul Beasts had gotten significantly easier!
Weekly Power Status
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