Chapter 83: Unlocking a New Mode, A Mutated Soul Skill
"Martial Soul Possession."
As the miniature energy serpent in Dugu Yan's hand dissipated, she softly called out. The glow of her soul rings flickered, and her body elongated slightly, becoming more flexible. Her legs transformed into a serpent's tail, and a trace of coldness appeared in her narrow eyes. However, instead of standing on the ground, she hovered half a meter above it, with a pair of dark red energy wings manifesting behind her.
"Good, very good!"
Dugu Bo was overjoyed. Even though he had only seen the initial changes in his granddaughter's appearance, he could already tell that her martial soul was far superior to her previous Jade Phosphor Serpent.
"This is quite interesting."
Guang Ling also examined Dugu Yan from head to toe before nodding in approval and turning to Dugu Bo. "It looks like your granddaughter's evolution is more advanced than yours."
"What do you mean?"
Dugu Bo wasn't the least bit offended by Guang Ling's indirect jab. Instead, he eagerly pressed for more details.
"Well, it makes sense that you don't know. After all, even though you have a family, you were basically self taught."
Guang Ling, out of habit, threw in a little dig at Dugu Bo before explaining, "According to long standing records from the Martial Soul Hall, when it comes to martial soul possession especially for flying type martial souls excluding soul skills, those who manifest wings purely as energy tend to have much higher quality martial souls. At the very least, they're at the edge of top tier."
"On the other hand, those whose arms transform into wings or grow feathers usually have significant limitations. Either they have major flaws, or their wings are just for flying and lack combat capabilities. But for someone like her, who can naturally float without additional soul skills, her martial soul is definitely high quality even among top tier martial souls, it ranks at the forefront."
"So basically, she hit the jackpot," Guang Ling concluded.
"She directly advanced into the top tier martial soul category? And near the top?"
Dugu Bo beamed at his granddaughter, his grin stretching wide. His Jade Phosphor Serpent had also evolved into the Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor, making it a top tier martial soul, but its flaws were significant. Now, as a titled Douluo, martial soul quality didn't affect him as much. He was content with reaching the Super Douluo level.
But Dugu Yan had always been his biggest concern he had feared she would face the same struggles he did. Now, at the very least, she would definitely reach the Titled Douluo level. He finally felt relieved.
As the two conversed, Han Li took the opportunity to closely observe Dugu Yan's evolved martial soul.
This was actually his first time seeing her in martial soul possession mode. When he visited the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy, they had only been doing routine training without revealing their martial souls.
Curious, he examined her lower half, which had transformed into a snake's tail, wondering about its mechanics.
From the color alone, it was clear that her martial soul had undergone a complete transformation. The signature green scales of the Jade Phosphor Serpent had turned dark red, matching her hair.
Moreover, due to his elemental perception, Han Li could distinctly sense the intense fire element within her completely different from Dugu Bo, whose energy had only undergone minor purification.
Noticing his bold stare at her tail, Dugu Yan blushed slightly but didn't cancel her martial soul possession. Instead, she floated closer and flicked her tail toward his hand.
Huh?
Seeing the tail land beside him, Han Li was momentarily confused but instinctively reached out and stroked it.
At that moment, Dugu Yan trembled slightly midair, shooting him a glare filled with embarrassment and frustration before immediately deactivating her martial soul possession and landing back on the ground.
Han Li then watched in real time as her snake tail transformed back into legs, with her shoes perfectly intact as if nothing had happened.
…This was ridiculous.
Right. Best not to overthink fantasy logic.
That thought immediately surfaced in Han Li's mind, and he gave up on further investigation.
Besides, now wasn't the time. The two Titled Douluo had finished their discussion and turned their attention back to them.
"Yan , try using martial soul possession in energy form."
Han Li kept his expression neutral as he spoke.
"Yes, Yan Yan, try it! Grandpa has never seen a beast martial soul take on this form before!"
Dugu Bo and Guang Ling, equally curious, urged her on.
"Alright."
Dugu Yan was also eager to test it. She once again called out, "Martial Soul Possession!"
This time, however, her physical appearance barely changed only her aura became noticeably colder. Above her, a dark red serpent shaped energy projection appeared.
Looking closely, the projection no longer resembled the Jade Phosphor Serpent at all.
The martial soul projection above her head was entirely dark red, with wings extending from its back, continuously flickering with embers. Its body remained serpent like, but its head was… different.
Instead of the triangular head typical of snakes, it now looked more like a dragon's though it lacked horns and still had serpent like eyes, occasionally flicking its tongue with a strange intelligence.
Oddly enough, while the projection retained some of the cold aura of a snake, it also exuded a faint dragon's majesty, making it difficult to categorize as either a serpent or a dragon.
No wonder Dugu Yan had said she couldn't tell whether her martial soul was a snake or a dragon anymore.
"This form is somewhat similar to the incomplete martial soul possession state that Soul Sages achieve before unlocking their Martial Soul True Body."
Guang Ling observed for a moment before commenting thoughtfully.
As he spoke, he manipulated his energy, manifesting a bow shaped projection behind him as a demonstration.
"Indeed, it does seem that way. But Yan Yan, can you use soul skills in this state?" Dugu Bo asked.
"Yes."
With that, Dugu Yan's yellow soul ring flashed, and a beam of energy infused with explosive fire and venom shot out from the serpent projection above her.
The attack struck a large boulder nearby, shattering it instantly. Plants in the vicinity ignited from the impact, while the splintered stones that flew out caused the surrounding vegetation to blacken and wither rapidly.
"Not bad." Guang Ling casually commented, noting that for a hundred year soul skill, this level of damage was quite impressive.
"Yan Yan, did your soul skills change as well? And what about the poison?" Dugu Bo asked urgently after seeing the effect.
"Yes. After my martial soul evolved, my soul skills changed too. My first soul skill is the one I just used I call it Lava Beam."
"Lava Beam releases a concentrated fire element energy beam for ranged attacks, with both burn and poison effects. It has low soul power consumption, decent penetration, and can be used repeatedly with no cooldown."
"My second soul skill is more of a buff it increases my fire attack power by 30% but only lasts for half an hour and has a one hour cooldown."
Although Dugu Yan sounded a little regretful, the excitement on her face was obvious she was clearly satisfied with her mutated soul skills.
"As for the poison, don't worry, Grandpa. My body is completely free of toxins now. The poison in my attacks is purely fire venom. My evolved martial soul is primarily fire based. While it still has venom glands like a snake, unlike the Jade Phosphor Serpent, its main attack method is fire elemental energy."
"Also, I can tell that my martial soul naturally has high poison resistance now. Even if toxins invade my body, the fire element can purify and absorb them. Most importantly, I am completely immune to any poison originating from myself whether from my martial soul or my own body, it won't harm me."
"So don't worry, Grandpa. I'll never be affected by poison again," Dugu Yan said happily.
"Yan Yan, this is great news! But one thing you see, your martial soul has no horns, no legs it's clearly a snake, right? Not a dragon, right?"
Dugu Bo, reassured about her safety, suddenly latched onto a new concern.
"Yes, Grandpa, you're absolutely right. It's a snake," Dugu Yan nodded in agreement, preferring to stick with what she had always known.
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