Douluo: I Can Choose My Own Soul Skills

Join my Patreon to be 30 chapters ahead of the webnovel releases:

patreon.com/ZeroMoney

I would appreciate your help if you could join my Patreon and support me because it would keep me motivated. 

******

 After developing Shunpo, Ye Lan's confidence grew significantly.

  He was very satisfied with the effect of Shunpo, but he didn't want to be limited by its five-times-per-day usage restriction.

  So he broadened his thinking and, after several months, developed another movement-type soul skill!

  Ye Lan named it Sonic Shift, though it could also be called Soul Step.

  The principles behind Sonic Shift were different from those of Shunpo.

  Shunpo enhanced muscles using soul power and generated explosive bursts by stomping the ground multiple times, storing force through the resulting counterforce before unleashing it.

  In contrast, Sonic Shift relied on the principle of external soul power release—a natural ability that all soul masters possessed to some extent.

  High-level soul masters could release soul power externally in the form of soul pressure to suppress those of lower levels.

  Even low-level soul masters could perform an "aura burst," releasing a surprising amount of force capable of catching same-level opponents off guard.

  So, Ye Lan thought, if one could unleash soul power in a burst, why not channel that explosive force through the soles of the feet?

  Already well-versed in the meridian routes of the body, Ye Lan developed Sonic Shift with ease and succeeded in just a few days.

  Sonic Shift was slightly faster than Shunpo, but it was harder to control the distance of movement.

  When using Sonic Shift, a tremendous surge of soul power erupted from the soles of the feet. When it struck the ground, it generated a loud boom.

  The name "Sonic Shift" came from this explosive sound. Based on its mechanics, it could also be referred to as Soul Step.

  Although Sonic Shift addressed Shunpo's limitations, it consumed significantly more soul power.

  Each use drained 10% of Ye Lan's total soul power. So, at most, he could use it ten times, but since battle also consumed soul power in other ways, Ye Lan wouldn't waste too much of it on movement alone—he would limit himself to using Sonic Shift only two or three times. It served as a backup for when Shunpo was exhausted, rather than a primary skill.

  Looking at the now pitted and messy courtyard, Ye Lan sighed helplessly while scratching his head.

  "I'll have to ask Lili to find a gardener to fix the yard... I just hope she doesn't blame me for wrecking her place."

  Aside from creating his own soul skills, Ye Lan also began improving his meditation technique.

  In the past, his innate soul power was only level three, and the basic meditation method from the Spirit Hall was sufficient.

  However, as his Blue Silver Grass evolved and his innate soul power continued to rise, the standard method from Spirit Hall began to lag behind his natural talent, eventually slowing down his cultivation.

  Fortunately, Ye Lan could now sense all the meridian routes in his body. By identifying several major circulation paths and nearby minor ones, he was able to design his own internal cultivation circuit.

  No meditation technique could be more suited to him than one tailored to his own meridian flow.

  Ye Lan named his newly developed method the Radiant Meditation Technique.

  Its effect was simple: to increase cultivation speed.

  Ye Lan estimated that he could level up once every three and a half months.

  Of course, this estimate was based on the assumption that his Blue Silver Grass had fully evolved. For now, the Radiant Meditation Technique was still constrained by his current level of innate soul power, meaning progress still depended largely on that.

  But once the Blue Silver Grass evolved into Radiant Life Grass, then the pace of leveling up every three and a half months would become a reality!

  Three and a half years later, on the sunny beaches of Hanhai City...

  "It's been three years! My Blue Silver Grass has finally evolved into Radiant Life Grass. I've been stuck at level 20 for four months—now I can finally obtain my second soul ring."

  Ye Lan opened his eyes and looked at the setting sun, speaking with emotion.

  In truth, he had reached level 20 four months ago, but he hadn't rushed to get a new soul ring.

  That was because his Blue Silver Grass was only one step away from evolving from innate soul power level 18 to level 20.

  That final evolution stage alone took Ye Lan a full year.

  Only after the martial soul had fully evolved would the soul ring he obtained be perfectly suited to the Blue Silver Grass.

  As for his cultivation speed, Ye Lan had gone from level 10 to level 20 in just over three years. Including the four months spent training while stuck at level 20, he had gained ten levels in three and a half years.

  This meant an average of one level every 4.2 months—faster even than those with full innate soul power, who typically level up once every 4.5 months.

  Of course, now that Ye Lan's Blue Silver Grass had evolved into Radiant Life Grass, his leveling speed would no longer average just over four months per level—it would now take only three and a half months per level.

  Aside from the boost to his innate soul power, the first soul skill "I Want to Grow Up" had another powerful effect: it provided a 600% life force enhancement to the Blue Silver Grass.

  As for the next stage, where the life force bonus would increase to 700%, Ye Lan estimated that it would take about fifteen months to reach that point.

  Ye Lan summoned his Blue Silver Grass in its Radiant Life form. After its evolution, it had become more than twice as thick as it had been at level 11, reaching over twenty centimeters in diameter.

  Though it had only doubled in thickness, the current Blue Silver Grass possessed an ultimate life attribute, along with a sixfold life force boost, making it far stronger than the version from three years ago.

  The ultimate life attribute not only granted the Blue Silver Grass a massive reservoir of life force, but also imbued it with the property of endless regeneration.

  With only a small amount of soul power, damaged parts of the Blue Silver Grass could regenerate rapidly.

  In addition to the ultimate life attribute, the current Blue Silver Grass also possessed the ultimate light attribute.

  Because the ultimate light attribute originated from the sun, the evolved Blue Silver Grass was now highly effective against evil-aligned attributes, immune to light-based attacks, and even possessed fire resistance.

  Only soul masters wielding ultimate fire could restrain the current Blue Silver Grass—regular fire-type soul masters were virtually powerless against it.

  After inspecting the changes to the Blue Silver Grass, Ye Lan once again marveled at the overwhelming power of a custom soul skill.

  The first soul skill, "I Want to Grow Up," had provided Ye Lan with an incredible boost—not only enhancing his innate talent but also granting his martial soul dual ultimate attributes, instantly propelling it to the level of a top-tier super martial soul.

  With his martial soul now fully evolved, Ye Lan could finally begin working toward acquiring his second soul skill.

  Ye Lan already had a clear plan for the second skill: to further magnify the life force advantage granted by "I Want to Grow Up" and continue developing the life-element path.

  Even though he now possessed dual ultimate attributes, Ye Lan had no intention of acquiring a light-element soul ring to enhance his light attribute.

  He had no desire to be greedy—he wouldn't try to have everything. Since he already had a solid foundation in enhanced life force, he would remain committed to that path.

  Trying to have it all only results in mediocrity, turning a soul master into a jack-of-all-trades and a master of none.

  The first soul skill granted the Blue Silver Grass six times the life force, which effectively turned it into a high-HP, low-defense tank.

  In terms of damage absorption, it wasn't much different from the Diamond Mammoth, and could probably withstand attacks from a Soul Elder.

  If Ye Lan's martial soul had been the Diamond Mammoth, with its high defense, combined with a 600% life force bonus, it might have even withstood multiple attacks from a Soul Ancestor.

  Of course, while the current Blue Silver Grass might not surpass the Diamond Mammoth in terms of raw damage resistance, its power and control capabilities, backed by dual ultimate attributes, far exceeded what the Diamond Mammoth could offer.

  Considering that the life force bonus of "I Want to Grow Up" could still increase over time, Ye Lan planned to obtain a soul ring that would further enhance the life force of the Blue Silver Grass.

  By continuing to expand this life-based advantage, he intended to evolve the Blue Silver Grass into the strongest life-type martial soul in the entire continent.

  Ye Lan had come to Hanhai City not only to take advantage of the clear, sunny weather to further strengthen his Blue Silver Grass, but also to learn more about the marine soul beasts that lived in the ocean.

  Marine soul beasts naturally possessed water attributes, which complemented the Blue Silver Grass's needs for sunlight and water.

  The first soul skill was related to sunlight, so for the second, Ye Lan naturally chose to pursue a marine soul beast.

(End of Chapter)