Chapter 517 320: Four-Star! Four-Star

Next, Soul Skill: Ice Pillar.

Truth be told, Rong Taotao had relied quite heavily on Ice Pillar back at the bottom of the canyon in Qianshan Pass. But in the future, he could learn a much more powerful version: Ice Power Like a Mountain!

'Hold on, I need to slow down.'

Rong Taotao rubbed his face, worried he was getting carried away and about to go on a spending spree. Potential Value was hard to come by, after all. He did have some saved up, but it was all painstakingly earned.

The crucial thing was, Rong Taotao hadn't found a stable source of income for Potential Value. Right now, the only way he could get more was through the one remaining World Cup. After that competition, his income would be completely cut off.

Even absorbing the Snow Realm Treasure, the Nine-Petaled Lotus, had only given him 1 point of Potential Value. Thinking about it that way, he absolutely couldn't just spend them recklessly.

Rong Taotao pursed his lips, temporarily setting aside Ice Pillar and looking at the final Soul Skill: Snow Trap.

Snow Trap, a support-type Soul Skill, was also the only trap-type skill among his self-cultivated Soul Skills.

It didn't seem very useful against human Soul Martial Artists, but the vast majority of Snow Realm Soul Beasts didn't have Snow Step.

Snow Realm Soul Beasts relied on a wide variety of abilities, or perhaps their superior physical conditioning and unique body structures, to move nimbly through the Snow Realm.

Against these Snow Realm Soul Beasts, Snow Trap was definitely useful.

Back at the bottom of the canyon, Rong Taotao's Snow Trap had immobilized the feet of countless Snow Corpses and Snow Ghosts.

'It would be great if a higher-level Snow Trap could ignore Snow Step. Then the trap could immobilize a target whether they were stepping on snow or not.'

Hmm...

Rong Taotao stroked his chin, mulling it over for a long while.

Considering the unique and rare effects of the Snow Trap Soul Skill, and the fact that there was no advanced version to replace it, Rong Taotao ultimately tossed a point of Potential Value into it.

'Excellent! That should do it!'

Rong Taotao looked at his Soul Skill panel. The next phase would be to focus on improving three skills: Snow Step, Snow Burst, and Snow Trap.

'One offense, two support. Nothing wrong with that.'

'It's unrealistic to max out every skill with Potential Value. The key is making choices.'

After all, he was a Cloud Peak Soul Martial Artist with nine Soul Techniques, which meant nine major categories of Soul Skills to practice. He couldn't just stare at what was right in front of him and cut off his path for the future.

'A man's heart is steady when his pockets are full.'

Satisfied, Rong Taotao closed his Inner Soul Map, picked up the freshly boiled water, and poured it into the teapot.

'Since my Soul Technique is at the four-star level... I can inlay Soul Pearls now.'

'Pine Snow's Silence, Wind, Flower, Snow, and Moon, I'll set them all up!'

Thinking about this, Rong Taotao set down the teapot and walked toward the bed.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK~ A knock sounded at the door, followed by Gao Lingwei's voice from outside. "Taotao?"

"Yeah!"

Gao Lingwei asked, "How did it go?"

Rong Taotao took out his brocade pouch and said, "I advanced successfully. I'm skipping training this morning to adjust. By the way, I'm going to absorb a Soul Pearl!"

"Okay, sounds good." Outside the door, Gao Lingwei agreed and turned to leave.

Rong Taotao hurried back to the coffee table, plopped down on the sofa, and tossed a cream-filled cookie into his mouth, bustling about happily.

Si Huan Nian emerged from the bathroom, having finished washing up. She had obviously heard Rong Taotao's reply, so she paid him no mind and left the dorm room on her own for her morning training.

"CRUNCH, CRUNCH..." With a cookie in his left hand and a cup of herbal tea in his right, Rong Taotao ate and drank at the same time, barely managing to curb his hunger before he finally took the Soul Pearl out of the brocade pouch.

'Snow Moon Snake Demon Soul Pearl, Wind, Flower, Snow, and Moon... here we go!'

Rong Taotao held the Soul Pearl in one hand and pressed it to his left eye.

With a sharp CRACK!

The Soul Pearl in Rong Taotao's hand shattered, and a small vortex of Soul Power abruptly materialized over his left eye.

The shattered Soul Pearl dissolved into wisps of Soul Power, which flowed into the vortex and spun continuously.

For a moment, the sight was utterly magical, even a bit dazzling.

A full fifteen seconds later, the vortex of Soul Power over Rong Taotao's left eye finally slowed its rotation, gradually sinking into his eye until it vanished without a trace.

Master-Level Wind, Flower, Snow, and Moon!

Rong Taotao was ecstatic. He needed to find some poor sap to test it on right away.

"Coach Si? Coach Si?" Rong Taotao looked up, scanning left and right, but he couldn't find any sign of Si Huan Nian.

'Huh? When did she leave? How did I not notice?'

"You're never around when I need you, but when I don't, you're always getting in my way." Rong Taotao grumbled and, with a casual wave of his hand, a small, chubby figure wearing snow-colored armor, a cape, and a snow-made helmet appeared on the coffee table.

'Poor sap number two?'

In the dim, yellow light of the bedside lamp, Rong Taotao looked at the imposing figure of Rong Ling, who stood on the table with its head held high and chest puffed out. "I'm going to test a Soul Skill," he said. "Don't move, okay?"

The frost covering Rong Ling's body trembled as it gave an obedient, one-word reply, "Okay~"

"Come on, look at me." Rong Taotao propped his elbows on his knees, leaning forward slightly to look into the Snow General Candle's pair of Ice Candle Eyes.

Rong Ling's candle-flame eyes flickered. It saw a flash of dark amber suddenly appear in its master's left eye!?

That strange light looked exceptionally eerie in the dim room. The next moment, Rong Ling's vision blurred, and it felt as if it were being sucked into another world by that uncanny eye.

This was a...

A blood-red world.

The sky was a deep crimson, with a blood moon hanging high above.