NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 62: Supporting Battle
A young man with two grey triangular beast ears on his head shouted lightly. Beneath his feet, a white halo gleamed as he darted forward with an agility that seemed to fly. The long, slender saber in his hand, resembling a seedling, sliced through the air with ease.
Faced with this strike, swift as a galloping horse and fierce as a storm, a tall and burly man dared not be careless. He let out a low growl, his bristles standing on end, making him resemble a bear. With broad and sturdy bear paws glowing in yellow, he met the incoming blow head-on.
Similarly, beneath the tall man was a circle of white halo that shone brightly.
"Clang—!"
The sound of metal striking hard rock rang out. The young man with beast ears spun quickly, a sudden invisible whirl appearing at his legs. With a deft pivot, he maneuvered to the burly man's side, slashing diagonally with his saber.
This time, the burly man couldn't react in time. He barely managed to shift slightly, begrudgingly taking the slash with his arm.
"Swoosh—!"
The sound of a blade slicing through leather could be heard as a piercing splash of blood surfaced beneath the saber's edge.
"Clang—!"
Just then, a silver-grey shadow appeared at the tip of the saber, countering its downward force, preventing it from deeply cutting into the burly man's flesh.
The young man with beast ears saw it clearly—it was a spearhead, smoothly bracing against his saber's blade.
As the young man followed the silver spear's trajectory, he caught sight of a refined and gentle teenager, only to suddenly hear a furious outburst in his ear: “Li Ergou! Are you seriously going this hard?!”
The young man turned his head and saw a burly fellow glaring with his large, bright eyes, breathing heavily through his nose, and staring at him fiercely.
“Tsk~~” The young man drew his knife, took two steps back, and sneered, “Xiong Er, if you can't beat me, just admit defeat. Are you saying you can't handle losing? If A-Yi hadn't helped block for you just now, I would've taken your arm off.”
“Bah—!!!”
The burly fellow, known as Xiong Er, became so enraged that his nostrils flared. He ignored the blood gushing from his arm, balled his fist, and gestured aggressively at Li Ergou, cursing, “What did you say?! You're saying that old Xiong can't beat you?! Can't take a loss?! You think you're tough enough to face me one-on-one, without Little Brother Ling's assistance? See if I don't crush your eggs—!!”
Xiong Er was too furious. Normally, when he faced Li Ergou, he could easily overpower him like a father disciplining his son, thanks to his thick skin, immense strength, and superior soul power level.
He, Xiong Er, was a Battle Soul Master with a spirit called 'Iron-Clawed Bear', at level nineteen.
And Li Ergou? He was an agile Battle Soul Master with a spirit called 'Wolf Fang Hound', at level fifteen.
Whenever they faced off, although Li Ergou's agility made him slippery at first, as long as they clashed, Xiong Er's first soul skill, 'Bear Strike', would guarantee a complete victory over Li Ergou.
But this time, Li Ergou had conveniently brought along Brother Ling, claiming he was merely a level fourteen healing-type Soul Master, to challenge Xiong Er together. Of course, Xiong Er wasn't going to refuse such an offer~
Although Bear Two (Xiong Er) appeared simple and straightforward, he was capable of making his own judgments.
Brother Ling Yi, also known as Brother Ling, was quite renowned in the Cold Wind Camp. It wasn’t just the five hundred weapons he forged that were highly praised; the number of soldiers he treated was also considerable.
Thus, as soon as Bear Two saw Brother Ling, his mind immediately recalled information about him.
The discarded martial spirit, 'Blue Silver Grass,' a fourteen-level healing spirit master; a senior blacksmith with substantial strength, adept with spears, staffs, axes, and other long and short weapons — surely an existence admirable to common folks like them when compared to weapon master spirit masters.
Yet, admiration was one thing; when it came to combat, it wasn’t that Bear Two despised others. As a powerful beast spirit owner, he could surpass those newly at the twentieth level or even those who had absorbed spirit rings, through sheer strength alone.
Who would have thought that Brother Ling had no intention of engaging in battle from the onset! Standing beside him was a silver spear, and in his hands, the 'Blue Silver Grass' spirit manifested, unleashing the soul skill 'Vitality Surge' onto Li Ergou.
Li Ergou, enveloped in green light, seemed invigorated as if he had taken some kind of elixir, abandoning the usual opening probes, boldly charging forward with his sword swinging.
As Bear Two prepared, as usual, to deal with this reckless guy with a 'Great Bear Strike,' ensure some face for Brother Ling with a few rounds, and then send him out of the battle ring...
Who would have imagined that Li Ergou’s first soul skill today would come with a double release!?
Something was wrong! Terribly wrong!!
Though Bear Two (Xiong Er) came from a humble civilian family, he did receive a six-year education at a Soul Master Academy, didn’t he?
Combined with his years of mingling in the market towns outside the Spirit Beast Forest, he later leveraged his Soul Master status to join the duchy’s military. During his decade-long military career, Bear Two had seen much and gained significant insight into what Soul Masters' use of soul skills should generally look like.
Moreover, he is a seasoned Soul Master himself, having acquired his first soul ring over ten years ago and now on the brink of reaching the twentieth level. How could he not know what his first soul skill should look like when performed?
Precisely because he knew, after mocking Li Ergou for a bit, Bear Two shifted his attention to the one who had just thrust his spear, preventing the blade from slicing deeper into his flesh—Ling Yi.
“Brother Ling~”
Just as Bear Two uttered these three words, a soft green light shot from the palm of Ling Yi's right hand towards Bear Two's injured arm, replacing the earlier heat and pain with a refreshing numbness.
…
A quarter of an hour later, Ling Yi, feeling light on his feet, returned to the military medic camp area. He greeted each soldier he passed, his face adorned with a sunlit smile that left a favorable impression.
If a Spirit Master with strong mental abilities were present, they would notice that with each step Ling Yi took, a faint whirlwind swirled around his legs, making his stride light and agile.
This was all thanks to Ling Yi’s deliberate control; otherwise, each step would cover a significantly greater distance than usual.
Returning to his own tent, Ling Yi, in high spirits, settled down at his familiar desk, squinting his eyes as he reminisced about the earlier scenes.
At this moment, it has been two years since Ling Yi entered the Hanfeng Camp in late October of Douluo Year 2460.
Looking back, it's now October 2463. At twelve years and seven months old, Ling Yi's spirit power has increased by nearly three levels compared to two years ago, reaching 57% of level fourteen.
This is still far behind Tang San, who at the same age had already reached level thirty spirit power, vanquished the "Man-Faced Demon Spider," and became a Spirit Elder.
Yet, Ling Yi is quite content. After all, Tang San was born with innate full spirit power, reached level ten at six years old, and after obtaining his first spirit ring, jumped directly to level thirteen.
And what about Ling Yi?
He only reached level ten at the age of ten, relying on various cheats he developed over four years, increasing his spirit power from 0.5 to ten. With a three-hundred-year-old spirit ring he cultivated himself, his spirit power barely increased to nearly half of level eleven.
It was only after completely integrating the essence of the three-hundred-year "Blue Silver Grass" that his martial soul's quality improved, roughly equivalent to a bit more than innate level one spirit power.
Otherwise, given his background, the speed of his cultivation post-level ten would never match the progress of the son of the "Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan"'s clan leader.
If current trends hold, Ling Yi might need to train another five or six years, until he's seventeen or eighteen, to reach level twenty spirit power without any unexpected developments, and then obtain another spirit ring to become a Two-Ring Spirit Master.
If it turns out this way, looking across the entire "Shuimu Duchy", Ling Yi would already surpass seventy to eighty percent of the civilian spirit masters, potentially reigniting the nation's interest in "Blue Silver Grass" spirit masters.
But would Ling Yi be satisfied with this?
(End of Chapter)
