NOVEL WEB Chapter 88: The Blue Silver Title
Indeed, it's merely 'adequate.' In the original story, when Tang San first encountered Dai Mubai, the fifteen-year-old was already at the thirty-seventh level of spirit power, with spirit rings comprising two yellow and one purple.
This 'Boss Dai,' who made a grand entrance, had his third spirit ability, the 'White Tiger Vajra Transformation,' sourced from the thousand-year-old 'Vajra Tiger,' allowing him to maintain his transformed state for half an hour. During this time, his resistance to abnormal conditions would significantly increase, while his attack, defense, and strength would simultaneously double.
Baptized by the purple third spirit ring of the millennia-old 'Vajra Tiger,' Dai Mubai experienced substantial increases in strength, attack, and defense compared to his earlier Great Spirit Master level.
Coupled with the highly refined 'White Tiger' martial spirit, which considerably augments a spirit master's physical prowess, Dai Mubai's strength in his ordinary state was undoubtedly formidable. Upon martial spirit possession, he receives yet another boost, doubling his enhancements under the effect of the third spirit ability…
With all factors considered, purely from a stats perspective, fifteen-year-old Ling Yi facing off against the same age Dai Mubai might not necessarily emerge victorious.
Even though Ling Yi mastered multiple advanced cold weapon techniques and possessed immense physical strength.
Dai Mubai, a scion of the Star Luo Empire’s royal family and the direct bloodline of the 'White Tiger Dai Clan,' was innately endowed with at least seven or eight levels of spirit power at birth. With the supreme growth potential of the top-tier beast martial spirit 'White Tiger,' he’d be a boss-level character in a game, likely symbolized with purple-boss tier markings on the stat board.
With thirty-seven levels of spirit power, alongside the century-level 'First Spirit Ability: White Tiger Barrier' and 'Second Spirit Ability: White Tiger Light Wave'—the former defensive and the latter long-range—the millennia-level 'Third Spirit Ability: White Tiger Vajra Transformation' offered comprehensive buffs, placing him among the top tier of combat strength even among spirit elders.
Ling Yi pondered these insights without stirring his emotions; his mind remained as calm as still water.
What of his lineage or his talents?
What is my own lineage and talent?
Compared to Meng Yiran, raised by the couple Meng Shu, the Contra, and Chao Tianxiang, the Spirit Emperor—known as the 'Peerless Dragons and Serpents'—at sixteen years old was already at level thirty. Even at fifteen, with her 'First Soul Skill: Serpent Blade' and 'Second Soul Skill: Serpent Body,' bolstered by two-century-old soul rings, she didn’t have much of a chance against Ling Yi, armed with a weapon forged with 500 refine steel or rod.
Not to mention, Ling Yi donned the "Liu Hua Black Gold Inner Armor," and with a weapon crafted to a thousand-refine level, could easily make the little girl cry when going all out.
Shaking his head, Ling Yi brushed away these wayward thoughts of 'bullying the weak and fearing the strong,' subdued by the joy of his breakthrough which disrupted his inner calm.
A restless mind is not so easily tamed.
Only by entering deep meditation and achieving a constant state of mental equilibrium could one's thoughts cease to wildly fluctuate.
Ling Yi extended his right hand, and with a slight flicker of will, a ripple of blue soul force shimmered, manifesting a shadow in his palm that in the blink of an eye transformed into what appeared to be… a vine?
Ling Yi's mouth twitched, staring wistfully at the transformed martial spirit in his right hand.
'Is this evolution? This should be evolution, right?
' But…how did you go from grass to looking like a vine?'
Ling Yi was speechless, yet he couldn’t deny the truth before him. His martial soul, the "Blue Silver Grass," had evolved from the ordinary grass it was when first awakened. After absorbing his first spirit ring, it had grown into an oversized version. Now, with the addition of a second spirit ring, it had transformed from a large grass into a slender blue vine about one and a half meters long, adorned with three small branches and pale blue leaves that were artfully distributed along its length.
It was... rather peculiar.
From the essence of its aura, Ling Yi, as the master of his martial soul, could clearly sense that this vine-shaped "Blue Silver Grass" was far superior to the "Blue Silver Grass Vine" that had previously extended its life to eight hundred years, as well as the "Blue Silver Grass Iron Birch" which continued to grow quietly by his bedside.
To surpass the eight hundred year threshold of the "Blue Silver Grass Vine" and "Blue Silver Grass Iron Birch," what does that imply?
Feeling the enhanced essence within his martial soul, Ling Yi was given an answer: Millennium!
His martial soul had now achieved the quality equivalent to a thousand-year-old "Blue Silver Grass"!
Even though Ling Yi had never seen a millennium-old "Blue Silver Grass," and perhaps no one on the vast Douluo Continent had, this didn’t hinder Ling Yi from making such an assessment of his dramatically transformed "Blue Silver Grass" martial soul.
“Although it looks a bit strange, I have to admit, the evolved 'Blue Silver Grass' finally feels somewhat... powerful~”
With his right hand gripping the whip-like vine-shaped "Blue Silver Grass," Ling Yi murmured to himself in a low voice.
"This..." Ling Yi looked helplessly at the scene before him, unable to suppress a wry comment, "Is this really Blue Silver Bind—?"
Shaking his head, he dispelled the vivid image that popped into his mind and resumed examining the changes in his martial soul.
Regarding the soul skill, there was no rush. Although unsure whether this second soul skill was the one he had long hoped for, based on the eight hundred years cultivation time of the "Cuscuta·Blue Silver Grass," and the continuous absorption of the properties of "Cuscuta" plant as its nutrient, this newly mutated "Blue Silver Grass" was very likely to manifest a relevant soul skill.
Ling Yi then carried out tests on various aspects like durability, recovery ability, resistance to extreme temperatures, soul power capacity, and training enhancement, ultimately reaching a conclusion.
His martial soul, now appearing as vine-like "Blue Silver Grass," was essentially not weaker than those plant-type martial souls with innate three-fluctuation soul power, such as "Blood Thorn Bramble," "Iron Rattan," "Spirit Gathering Flower," and "Flame Grass."
Staring intently at the azure vine in his hands, gently caressing its tenacious yet smooth stem and leaves, Ling Yi murmured softly:
"The newly sprouted "Blue Silver Grass," from ten years to even twenty or thirty years, apart from its more vigorous vitality, shows no fluctuation of soul power, classifying it among ordinary plants.
Only after fifty years does it produce a trace of soul power, gaining the preliminary capacity to become a soul beast.
According to my previous observations, only when approaching the century mark at eighty or ninety years, the accumulated soul power can barely condense into an actual ten-year white soul ring.
And not at fifty years when it has just a hint of soul power, that pseudo soul ring that offers no real strength—"
"Having broken through the second threshold, the Blue Silver Grass that has lived for over a century contains energy akin to typical hundred-year soul beasts. The quality of the soul ring it provides is no different from the hundred-year soul rings I've witnessed."
"Such Blue Silver Grass can be considered a leader among its kind!"
"Based on the information from the original story, the protagonist Tang San's mother, Ah Yin, was a hundred-thousand-year Blue Silver Emperor in her human form. The ancient forest where Tang Hao took Tang San allowed his martial soul to awaken a second time due to the presence of a ten-thousand-year Blue Silver King..."
"Ordinary Blue Silver Grass, ten-thousand-year Blue Silver King, hundred-thousand-year Blue Silver Emperor."
"So, what about the missing hundred-year and thousand-year classes? Hundred-year could be termed leader class, but what about the thousand-year?"
"Can only those of royal blood become kings and nobles?"
"Does ten-thousand become king, and a thousand become marquis?"
"But would a piece of thousand-year Blue Silver Grass be the same as a nine-thousand-year one?"
As he reached this point, Ling Yi suddenly realized that he himself had become a nobleman.
His fief included the town of Northern Mouth River and its twenty-five surrounding villages, spanning across a baron's domain of several dozen miles!
Ling Yi stroked his chin thoughtfully. His palm gently turned as he wrapped the cool and fragrant blue silver vine around his wrist and hand. The sensation of the grass brushing against his skin brought an unexpected tactile delight. Ling Yi began meticulously positioning his new soul spirit, contemplating the path it would chart for his renewed existence.
(End of Chapter)
