"Tell me, what's your first soul skill?"
Zhou Qing took another deep breath and asked Romantina about the first soul skill of her martial soul.
In the original work, the Skydream Iceworm sacrificed itself for Huo Yuhao. His martial soul was the Spiritual Eye, and the Skydream Iceworm granted him four soul skills:
"Spiritual Detection"
"Spiritual Sharing"
"Spiritual Interference"
"Spiritual Shock (also referred to as Mental Shock)"
Zhou Qing wondered if Romantina's soul skills were the same four.
If they were, it would imply that the soul skills were semi-determined the moment the soul ring was formed. The process of a soul master absorbing a soul ring would then be less about "gaining" a skill, and more about refining it allowing the soul ring to interface and integrate with the martial soul properly.
"As for my soul skills? I tested them at home. There are four in total. The first one allows me to sense everything around me even with my eyes closed. The range is about fifty meters, and if I focus on a specific area, I can extend it up to a hundred meters."
Romantina's tone turned serious as she explained the first soul skill granted by her first soul ring. "But everything I see is in black-and-white outlines, and I'm not used to it yet. I've named this skill: Brain Scan."
"As for the second soul skill, I think I can share the information I perceive with others—though I haven't tested it yet. I've named it: Shared Brain."
Zhou Qing nearly choked on his words.
"'Shared Brain'?! Seriously?"
He had a ton of sarcastic thoughts he wanted to unload, but he kept them bottled in.
"For the third soul skill, I secretly tested it on one of the house servants. It made them dizzy and disoriented. That worm thing told me it can interfere with others' mental strength, disrupting their soul power circulation and interrupting their ability to release soul skills. I named it: Invisible Interference Telepathic Shockwave."
Zhou Qing: "…"
Confirmed. She's terrible at naming things.
"And the last soul skill—it really lets my mental power turn into something like an actual shockwave and shoot outward. It's invisible and intangible, so I named it: Brain Tremor Wave!"
Romantina continued, "Honestly, except for that last one, the other three seem kind of useless. Don't you think?"
Zhou Qing was certain that Romantina wasn't unaware of how effective the first three soul skills could be in combat as support abilities. But her fighting style was straightforward melee using her Phoenix Wu Staff, and she had a slight… masochistic streak.
Support-type?
Not her style at all.
Long-range spiritual attacks?
While undeniably practical and capable of knocking people out, she far preferred the visceral thrill of close combat.
Having learned this, Zhou Qing didn't bother trying to convince her. After all, with the Skydream Iceworm backing her, even if she was mediocre, she was destined to become a Title Douluo.
"I think they're all useful. If you can make use of those first three in battle, you could predict opponents' moves in advance, share that info with teammates, interrupt enemy soul power circulation, and throw off their focus."
Zhou Qing gave her a big thumbs-up and praised, "Brother Skydream really delivers—detection, support, offense, all in one. Amazing."
Combined with Romantina's masochistic leanings, you could almost call her a defense-oriented type. All in all, a very well-rounded setup.
"Haha! I like the sound of that!"
The Skydream Iceworm, dwelling within Romantina's spiritual sea, was spinning excitedly from the praise.
"Still, I think your four soul skills could use better names—like: Spiritual Detection, Spiritual Sharing, Spiritual Interference, and Spiritual Shock."
Zhou Qing directly borrowed Huo Yuhao's naming convention to replace Romantina's.
"They don't sound as nice as mine, but since you're the one naming them… I guess I'll allow it," Romantina replied with a pout and a blush, heart fluttering.
What do I do?
He gave names to my soul skills!
Does that mean… he wants to claim me as his?
Zhou Qing didn't read that much into it and just asked, "Since you can only publicly display one soul skill, which one did you choose?"
"Of course, Brain Tremor Wave!"
As expected.
Even though none of the four soul skills fully aligned with Romantina's preferences, the fourth—Spiritual Shock—was at least offensive in nature. So, when she demonstrated her first soul ring's power to her father, Romanyak, she naturally chose this one to reveal.
That's actually for the best. The other three Spiritual Detection, Sharing, and Interference—can be secretly used during combat. Since they're all mental-type skills, she can just claim they're self-developed techniques with her martial soul. It's plausible enough.
Thinking of this, Zhou Qing asked, "Do you need to remain still to use your first three soul skills?"
Back when Huo Yuhao first gained the Skydream Iceworm's soul ring, he had to avoid moving while using Spiritual Detection and Sharing in the early stages. He needed others to guard him while he focused.
Perhaps it was due to his lower soul power level or weaker spiritual strength?
"No, I don't." Romantina replied. "I just have to concentrate more, because the brain has to process more information. But for Spiritual Shock, I don't need to stay still. Just convert soul power into spiritual power and fire it off."
Zhou Qing nodded slightly. "I have an idea—I'd like to test your four soul skills."
"Which one do we start with?"
Romantina looked eager.
"The fourth one. Spiritual Shock."
"Are you serious? You might pass out, you know? Don't blame me if something happens!"
A strange blush colored her cheeks.
Zhou Qing instinctively stepped back three paces and tugged his clothes tighter—but still said, "Let's do it."
"Okay!"
Romantina activated her martial soul. Her soul ring appeared, and in the instant it lit up, Zhou Qing felt a formless, intangible power shoot out from the center of her brow.
A spiritual attack cannot be dodged—only endured.
In the blink of an eye, Zhou Qing felt his brain tremble, vision blur—and everything went black.
When he opened his eyes again, he jumped up immediately, patting himself all over. Only after confirming that his clothes were intact did he let out a sigh of relief.
Then he looked up—and saw Romantina sprawled on the ground directly opposite him, limbs splayed out. There was no way she just lay down voluntarily like that.
"Spiritual backlash?"
Zhou Qing considered the possibility.
Spiritual attacks can be nullified or even reflected if the opponent's mental strength surpasses your own.
In this case, his own spiritual power was probably strong enough that, although he fainted, his subconscious reflexively bounced the Spiritual Shock back causing Romantina to get knocked out too.