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Chapter 53: A New Ability
If one were to use a game analogy, then soul skills are like game abilities that require proficiency levels.
Normally, the soul skills that come with a soul ring already have over 90% proficiency by default. Because of that, no matter how inexperienced the user is, they can still release the skill properly.
This is also one of the greatest differences between the soul skill system and other power systems such as magic.
Soul skills are simply too convenient.
For the vast majority of soul masters, the innate power of the soul skill itself is already sufficient, and there is no need to further develop or modify it.
But Bai Chen's situation was different.
Although he could gain abilities through devouring, the proficiency of those abilities started from zero.
That was why the wind blade he released earlier had been so weak.
The reason was simple—the skill's experience bar was empty, and its proficiency hadn't been trained yet.
As proficiency increased, the release speed and damage multiplier of the skill would improve, while the soul power consumption would decrease significantly.
If Bai Chen eventually raised the proficiency of this skill to 90%, it would essentially become indistinguishable from a genuine soul skill he had obtained from a spirit ring.
Thus, the question regarding the skill's weak power had been initially answered.
However, many mysteries about this ability still remained unsolved.
First of all:
What were the conditions required to obtain a soul skill through devouring?
This ability clearly couldn't activate without restrictions.
Otherwise, considering the number of soul beasts Bai Chen had already killed, he should have dozens of soul skills by now.
There had to be limitations or conditions behind this power.
Bai Chen guessed the first condition was related to attributes.
The Dark Devilgod Tiger possessed six attributes:
Evil
Time
Darkness
Space
Hurricane (Wind)
Lightning
At most, strength might also be included.
Therefore, the martial soul should only be able to obtain abilities related to these attributes.
The fact that the first skill he obtained through devouring was wind-based already supported this hypothesis.
If in the future he continued to obtain abilities only related to these attributes, then the theory would be fully confirmed.
As for the second condition, Bai Chen suspected it was similar to soul bone drops.
In other words—probability.
Bai Chen had killed dozens of Wind Demon Wolves, yet he only gained the Wind Blade ability from one of them.
That meant the skill could not be obtained every time.
As for the exact probability, Bai Chen couldn't determine it yet.
However, since the ability had triggered so quickly, the probability probably wasn't extremely low.
As for additional conditions and restrictions…
He would have to continue experimenting to uncover them.
Regardless, this discovery was excellent news for Bai Chen.
When he fought Huo Yuhao earlier, he had already realized one of his biggest weaknesses.
His attack methods were too limited.
Why hadn't he relied on flight to fight a guerrilla battle against Huo Yuhao?
Because Huo Yuhao had ranged attacks, while he didn't.
In that situation, fighting at range would actually put Bai Chen at a disadvantage.
So he had been forced into close combat.
More skills meant more choices.
Just like no one complains about having too much money, no soul master complains about having too many soul skills.
Of course, Bai Chen could also try to develop self-created soul skills to solve the problem.
But creating such techniques usually required a huge amount of time.
Compared to that, simply stealing abilities through devouring was far more efficient.
At this point, Bai Chen's trip to the Spirit Ascension Platform could be considered extremely successful.
The two biggest problems troubling him—soul power growth and lack of skills—had both been resolved here.
BOOM—
A streak of green light flashed.
The giant tree in front of Bai Chen slowly toppled over and crashed to the ground.
Bai Chen shook his hand and nodded in satisfaction.
"Alright… that should be enough for now."
He had already trained the wind blade to the point where it could cut down a large tree.
At the very least, it could now serve as a long-range harassment tool.
At the same time, a thought began forming in his mind.
Maybe he should ask Zang Xin for a teammate.
Although Bai Chen's strength wasn't weak, he certainly wasn't invincible within the Beginner Spirit Ascension Platform.
Take the wolf pack from earlier as an example.
Without the three people he encountered helping to hold the wolves back, he might not have been able to handle that situation alone.
If he had a powerful teammate, many things would become much easier.
"Maybe I'll ask when I get back."
Bai Chen shrugged and continued hunting within the Spirit Ascension Platform.
His strength truly was impressive.
After that, he encountered several more soul beasts, but he managed to overcome every danger.
Eventually, however, he ran into three thousand-year soul beasts at the same time.
Under their combined assault, he was finally defeated and forced to exit the Spirit Ascension Platform.
During that process, he gained another new ability.
This skill possessed the darkness attribute.
Its effect was to darken the surrounding space, with Bai Chen himself being the only one unaffected by the darkness.
Essentially, it was a large-area blinding technique.
But it wasn't particularly impressive.
When the soul beast originally used this ability, even Bai Chen's Purple Demon Eye could see through it easily.
Its real significance wasn't the effect itself, but the fact that it existed.
Once might be coincidence.
Twice was something else entirely.
This confirmed that Bai Chen truly could expand his skill set through devouring, and the success rate seemed reasonably high.
With enough time, he would eventually obtain powerful abilities.
If he could obtain two skills in a single Spirit Ascension Platform run, then with repeated entries over time…
It was only a matter of time before he gathered strong soul skills.
"Mmm. Your performance was excellent. I'm very satisfied."
When Bai Chen climbed out of the cabinet, Zang Xin smiled and asked,
"So? Can you cultivate normally through this method?"
"Don't ask questions you already know the answer to, Senior."
Bai Chen stretched his body and smiled.
"If the Spirit Ascension Platform wasn't beneficial to my cultivation, I would have left long ago, wouldn't I?"
"True. It seems you're very satisfied with today's harvest."
Zang Xin waved his hand lightly.
"Then let's go. I'll take you somewhere else."
Bai Chen blinked curiously.
"Somewhere else? Is it even better than the Spirit Ascension Platform?"
Zang Xin smiled mysteriously and placed a finger in front of his lips.
"Secret."
"Oh."
Bai Chen raised an eyebrow but didn't press further. He simply followed Zang Xin out of the Spirit Pagoda.
Based on his experience interacting with Zang Xin over the past two days, the man wasn't someone who enjoyed keeping secrets unnecessarily.
If he refused to answer, it probably meant this wasn't a place where he could talk about it freely.
And indeed—
After they got into the car, Zang Xin immediately handed Bai Chen a card.
"I had the relevant departments process the paperwork these past two days. Starting today, you are officially a member of the Battle Soul Hall."
Bai Chen examined the card.
"Battle Soul Hall… If I remember correctly, that's one of the Tang Sect's Inner Three Halls, right?"
"Correct."
Zang Xin nodded as he started the car.
"And the place I'm about to take you…"
"…is one of the benefit facilities prepared specifically for Battle Soul Hall disciples."