4: Chapter 4 The Essence of Soul Skills

Lin Mo was roughly shoved into an off-road vehicle.

"Sister, let's talk this over properly. Even if the business deal falls through, there's still friendship. Can't you just treat me like a fart and let me go?" Lin Mo pleaded with a miserable expression.

His hand, however, secretly reached into his pocket.

He was busy wondering whether he should use 'I Love A Stick' or 'Smile Half-Step Stumble' later on...

"Stop the act. I'm looking to talk business with you."

Hearing this, Lin Mo was stunned for a moment, but his expression changed in the next second:

"Hehe, you have a good eye, Sister. You finally saw my talent. I won't lie to you—as long as the price is right, I can get you any Soul Skill or mutated Martial Soul."

"Hmph, I hope you truly have the ability, otherwise..." A hint of killing intent laced Pei Luohan's tone.

"Sister, you're right to trust me. I never joke with my own life!" Lin Mo showed no fear, still wearing his cheeky, sleazy grin.

Ten-plus minutes later, the car drove into a villa district.

Finally, it arrived in front of a villa.

"Wow, I thought you were rich, Sister, but I didn't expect you to be this rich."

Lin Mo followed Pei Luohan into the villa and was instantly stunned by the luxury inside.

He touched this and looked at that; this was a level of opulence Lin Mo had never seen in either of his two lifetimes.

Pei Luohan sat on the sofa, watching Lin Mo act like a country bumpkin. Her heart felt somewhat conflicted.

She was worried that Lin Mo was a fraud, yet also worried that he truly had the ability.

After all, the ability to mutate a Martial Soul and awaken Earth-rank Soul Skills would surely stir up a storm of blood if word got out.

"Sit down. It's time to discuss our deal."

"Alrighty!" Lin Mo immediately sat on the other sofa, his expression serious.

"Tell me, how do you plan to make me awaken an Earth-rank Soul Skill? And what do you need?"

"Alright, I'll start by explaining the essence of Soul Skills to you."

Lin Mo's expression suddenly turned serious.

"In my view, the essence of a Soul Skill is a chemical reaction. The Martial Soul is a basic material in chemistry. By adding various ingredients to these basic materials, you can produce different changes... (The author is making this up, don't take it too seriously)."

Listening to Lin Mo's theory on Soul Skills, Pei Luohan became increasingly fascinated, soon finding herself completely absorbed.

Lin Mo spoke enthusiastically for half an hour.

He went from Master Yu's 'Ten Competitivenesses of Martial Souls' in the Dragon Kingdom to 'The Formation of Soul Skills'.

He even used many famous Soul Skill cases for analysis.

Pei Luohan's gaze shifted from initial scrutiny to surprise and doubt, and finally, it even carried a hint of urgency.

She had only recently promoted to Level 50. Her Martial Soul was an S-rank offensive Tool Martial Soul, the 'Ice Soul Sword'.

Although she possessed an S-rank Martial Soul, her luck had always been poor. Even at Level 50 Soul Power, she had never awakened a Soul Skill above Mysterious-rank High-grade, which caused her status in the family to plummet.

If she didn't awaken an Earth-rank Soul Skill soon, she might quickly become a tool for family marriage alliances.

This was something she absolutely refused to accept.

Therefore, after hearing Lin Mo's theory, she became impatient, treating a dead horse as if it were still alive.

But she hadn't expected that the more she listened, the more she felt this kid really had something.

"You mean to say that as long as I mix and match the right soul crystals, I can make my Ice Soul Sword Martial Soul awaken an Earth-rank Soul Skill? Or even a Heaven-rank Soul Skill?"

Pei Luohan's voice carried a hint of an imperceptible tremor.

"Sort of. Like I said earlier, as long as you prepare the correct ratio of soul crystals and absorb them in the right order, letting them react chemically with the Martial Soul step by step... you can predict the rank and attribute of the Soul Skill."

Lin Mo casually picked up a crystal ornament on the table. "For example, your Ice Soul Sword is essentially a 'low-temperature energy aggregate'. If you could integrate the 'Ice-attribute soul crystal of a Far North Ice Crystal Bear'..."

Lin Mo gave a vivid example. He even stated the origin of the materials and the required ratio of soul crystals clearly, as if he were concocting a complex chemical substance.

"Finally, by absorbing 'Thunder-pattern Grass' as a catalyst, there's a seventy percent chance of awakening the Earth-rank Mid-grade Soul Skill 'Ice Shadow Thunder Stab'. It can freeze enemies in a large area while simultaneously detonating lightning—it's super cool!"

"Gulp!" After hearing Lin Mo's introduction, Pei Luohan couldn't help but swallow hard.

She asked in extreme excitement: "Earth-rank Mid-grade? You, you aren't joking, are you! According to what you're saying, if this method were released, wouldn't everyone with an Ice Soul Sword Martial Soul be able to awaken it?"

Lin Mo rolled his eyes at her in annoyance.

"You're overthinking it. If those Soul Masters used this formula, eighty percent of them would explode and die, not to mention the full hundred percent."

"Then, is there a twenty percent success rate?"

"No, for the remaining twenty percent, there won't even be a corpse left."

Pei Luohan felt like she had been played, and immediately glared at Lin Mo: "Then why did you say this plan could awaken an Earth-rank Mid-grade Soul Skill!"

Lin Mo said speechlessly: "Sigh, didn't I just say that you have to base it on each Soul Master's age, Soul Power, and physical stats, conduct thousands or tens of thousands of tests, and finally confirm the optimal ratio before proceeding with absorption and awakening."

"Otherwise, from the time humans first awakened Martial Souls until now, everyone would have already had an Earth-rank or Heaven-rank Soul Skill."

"Thousands, tens of thousands of times? What kind of joke are you making? You'd lose your life after one try, so how can you test it thousands or tens of thousands of times?" Pei Luohan felt that Lin Mo might truly be spouting nonsense.

"Anyway, I have my own methods. If you trust me, we'll continue talking about Soul Skills now. If you don't, we won't waste any more time." Lin Mo's mouth was dry from talking; if the other party couldn't trust him, there was nothing he could do.

Pei Luohan looked at Lin Mo's face, unable to make a decision for a moment.

She had seen quite a few Soul Martial Masters. Among them, the most famous was Master Yu, who wrote the theory of the 'Ten Competitivenesses of Martial Souls'.

She heard that he never looked at Martial Soul aptitude when taking on students.

Back then, her father had even spent a large sum of money to beg him to take her on, but the result was that he looked down on her for only having an S-rank Martial Soul. She didn't have a twin Martial Soul either, and he was afraid of ruining his reputation, so he refused.

Although she always felt that something was wrong, she never thought too much about it.

But thinking about being treated as a tool for a marriage alliance, she would rather die!

"Fine, I believe you!"

"Ha, alrighty! Tell me all your details, and I'll come up with a plan for you right now."

Pei Luohan was silent for a moment, then proceeded to tell Lin Mo all her details.

"S-rank Martial Soul, Level 50 Soul Power, and you don't even have a single Mysterious-rank High-grade Soul Skill. I don't know whether to say your Martial Soul instructor is useless, or if your luck is just terrible." After listening, Lin Mo couldn't help but make a snide comment.

Across from him, Pei Luohan instantly turned her face away in shame. However, her reddened ears exposed her embarrassment at that moment.

"But that doesn't matter. At least after Level 50, you have three Soul Skill slots. Bearing one Earth-rank High-grade and two Mysterious-rank High-grade skills shouldn't be a problem." Lin Mo made another shocking statement.

"What do you mean? Is there a limit to how many Soul Skills one can bear?" Pei Luohan asked curiously.

It was her first time hearing this theory.

"Of course. Just like a 500ml water cup, it can only hold 500ml of water. This is fixed; even ten milliliters more won't work."

Pei Luohan fell into silence instantly. It seemed she had learned quite a lot from Lin Mo.

"Alright, the plan is complete. Based on your data, it's currently certain that the Soul Skills you can awaken are: two Earth-rank High-grade, five Earth-rank Mid-grade, and fifteen Mysterious-rank High-grade. As for lower-rank Soul Skills, I won't bother introducing those."

Lin Mo listed the Soul Skills generated by the System AI one by one on a piece of paper and pushed it in front of Pei Luohan for her to choose.

Pei Luohan picked it up with great curiosity. When she saw the introduction for each Soul Skill on it, her eyes instantly widened.