Chapter 38: External Soul Bone Eagle Eye & Second Soul Skill
Guang Ling, seeing how decisively Han Li agreed to keep his abilities hidden, relaxed significantly and focused on examining his eye.
Han Li's right eye had completely transformed. Unlike his normal deep brown left eye, his right iris had turned a bright amber color. The brightness of the hue made it seem slightly protruding from the eye socket, giving his gaze an extremely sharp and piercing look. However, upon closer inspection, it seemed nearly identical to his other eye only the color was different.
Noticing his teacher staring at his eyes, Han Li took the initiative to explain:
"External Soul Bone Eagle Eye. It grants me vision on par with eagle type soul beasts, significantly enhancing my dynamic eyesight while also providing certain insight and tracking abilities. Essentially, anything an eagle type soul beast can do I should now be able to as well."
"As for its soul skill, I've named it 'Weak Spot.' Once activated, my gaze can apply an unremovable mark on a target. The next attack I land on the marked enemy will trigger an explosion, causing an additional 30% damage."
Guang Ling's expression changed slightly.
As a top tier archer, he immediately realized just how terrifying this skill could be. He quickly pressed for details:
"What's the range and duration of this mark?"
"As long as there's no obstruction, my line of sight determines the range. The mark lasts for half an hour before disappearing. However, I can currently only use it three times per day." Han Li chuckled.
"Hiss…"
Guang Ling inhaled sharply.
This was an ability he had dreamed of having.
Forget about its potential growth even if it remained limited to just three uses per day, a 130% damage attack was already ridiculously overpowered.
After all, this extra damage wasn't tied to a specific type of attack meaning it could even enhance soul skills. That meant the actual damage potential was even greater than it seemed on paper.
Guang Ling glanced at Han Li's smug expression and felt an overwhelming sense of bitterness.
Fortunately, Han Li was his own disciple, so he could still barely suppress his jealousy.
"What about your second soul skill? Did you inherit the Golden Scale Eagle's armor piercing ability or its sharpness enhancement?" Guang Ling asked, keeping his tone calm.
"Both. My Ice Fire Bow's arrows now have 50% increased armor penetration, while my Ice Fire Blades have inherited the sharpness boost also by 50%. However, unlike my first soul skill, this one is fixed and doesn't have growth potential." Han Li replied, a hint of greed in his tone.
Guang Ling smacked his forehead and flicked Han Li's forehead hard.
"Don't push your luck! A passive buff that increases your weapon strength by 50% is already insanely strong. If it weren't for the fact that you absorbed a 3,500 year old Golden Scale Eagle, you'd be lucky to get 30%!"
Han Li rubbed his forehead and nodded.
He understood passive augmentation type skills were far rarer than those that simply provided temporary boosts. Even though the percentage increase wasn't as high as someone like Dai Mubai's third soul skill, the permanent enhancement made it far more valuable in actual combat.
But Han Li wasn't done yet.
"Teacher, the best part is actually this watch closely."
As he spoke, he stretched out his hands.
Even without summoning his martial soul, a small ice spear formed in his left palm, while a flame ball flickered in his right.
Han Li casually tossed them forward, and the two projectiles exploded upon hitting the ground, leaving small scorch and frost marks.
Guang Ling froze for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter.
SLAP!
He clapped Han Li on the shoulder so hard that Han Li winced in pain.
"Good! GOOD! This proves your theory was right all along! My disciple has the potential to become an Ultimate Douluo!"
The sheer excitement in Guang Ling's tone was undeniable.
Although he had always supported Han Li's development path, he had still been somewhat skeptical.
Han Li had huge ambitions his first soul ring had already mutated in a completely unexpected way, but whether his grand plan would actually work remained uncertain.
Now, the results were right in front of them.
After acquiring his second soul ring, Han Li could already manipulate his elements independently of his martial soul.
With this ability, his road ahead was limitless.
And as Han Li's teacher, Guang Ling vowed to ensure nothing would stop his disciple from reaching his full potential.
The Breakthrough
"What level are you now?" Guang Ling asked curiously.
"Level 23 still a bit away from 24. Some of the absorbed energy went into evolving my external soul bone. My antennae are now nearly 1,500 years old, increasing my elemental affinity and boosting my first soul skill's effectiveness by 50%. My spiritual power and perception have also improved significantly, and my external spirit bone now enhances my spiritual power output by 1.8 times."
Han Li grinned uncontrollably his power had literally doubled in just one breakthrough. Even though he had anticipated some growth, the sheer extent of his advancements still thrilled him.
"I can also tell that I only need a bit of practice to fully control my energy output when shooting arrows. That said… I'm still not suited for sparring matches. My spiritual antennae's boost has made my first soul skill even stronger. My soul power's elemental density has also increased, making it even harder to generate pure energy based arrows. Even if I try to hold back, I can't guarantee my attacks won't explode on impact."
Han Li materialized his Ice Fire Bow, but after sensing the power within his condensed arrow, he immediately dispersed it.
Guang Ling chuckled.
"Don't worry about that. You don't need to spar you just need to cultivate properly. Sparring is just a tool to refine combat abilities, not a necessity."
Then, his expression grew serious.
"I know you're going to experiment with your new elemental control abilities. That's fine. But you must maintain your daily cultivation schedule. No skipping training just to play around understood?"
Han Li immediately straightened up.
"Of course, Teacher. I understand. I won't waste my optimal cultivation time."
Then, he grinned mischievously.
"Besides, you underestimate me. I don't need to spend excessive time developing new skills. Basic shaping and compression? I can already do it. If I wanted, I could turn this into combat ready techniques right now. As for mastering advanced elemental properties… there's no rush. After all, I'm still just a Grand Soul Master."
Guang Ling nodded in satisfaction.
He had always appreciated how rational and self disciplined Han Li was. Unlike many geniuses who let their talent inflate their egos, Han Li understood exactly what he should be focusing on at each stage of his growth.
Wrapping Up
With everything settled, Guang Ling glanced at the sky, then at Han Li who had grown noticeably taller after absorbing his second soul ring.
At over 1.6 meters, his clothes were clearly too tight, making him look rather uncomfortable.
Guang Ling smirked.
"Alright, let's head to town for the night. By the way… did you bring spare clothes?"
Han Li glanced down at himself, then smiled.
"Of course! Xiu'er packed everything for me in advance."
As he deactivated his Eagle Eye, he followed Guang Ling out of the forest.
"Good. Now, do you want to head straight back, or visit somewhere first?"
Guang Ling asked in a relaxed tone.
Han Li thought for a moment, then smiled.
"Let's stop by Nuoding City first I want to visit Uncle Xiao. It's been over a year since I last saw him."
"Not a bad idea. Did you prepare gifts?"
"Of course. I planned ahead."
Han Li raised his left hand, patting his storage wristband.
Guang Ling chuckled.
"Heh. You little schemer."
Laughing and chatting, the master and disciple duo set off toward the town.
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