An abstract trainer who taught Charmander the Incinerate move

Chapter 216 Tang Snake's Enlightenment, First Soul Ring (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

"The Ten Core Competencies of Pokémon"?!

This powerful and domineering title instantly stirred up a storm in Tang She's heart!

What kind of earth-shattering, supreme secret scripture must this be, pointing directly to the very origin?!
It eagerly opened the documents, its heart pounding, the immense anticipation even temporarily overshadowing its previous fear and confusion.

Then, the so-called "Ten Core Competencies" were reflected line by line in its serpentine eyes, which were filled with astonishing wisdom.

The magnitude of innate soul power is directly proportional to the strength of one's martial soul.

There are no useless martial spirits, only spirits that don't work hard enough to cultivate.

Martial Souls are divided into two main categories: Beast Martial Souls and Weapon Martial Souls.

Each Pokémon has its most suitable development path, which can be mainly divided into: Control, Support, Offense, and Agility.

[The Warcraft system is divided into five levels: ten years, one hundred years, one thousand years, ten thousand years, and one hundred thousand years. The higher the level, the stronger the Soul Ring effect it provides.]

Soul rings are obtained by hunting monsters; the older the monster, the better the soul ring effect.

Only the elf who personally kills the target monster can absorb its soul ring.

[The Theory of Martial Soul Mimicry: Plant-type weapon martial souls can also absorb the soul rings of beast martial souls in order to achieve the best ratio effect]

The bottleneck in spirit ring cultivation doesn't prevent the accumulation of a spirit's soul power; it simply means that without a spirit ring to guide one to the next level. While cultivating at the current level may prevent a breakthrough, the accumulated soul power remains. Once a spirit ring is obtained, it will naturally manifest itself.

Tang She: "..."

It looked at it very carefully, its snake eyes scanning line by line from left to right and from top to bottom.

The only sounds in the empty training field were the rustling of its turning pages and its increasingly heavy breathing.

Its body began to tremble slightly, first with doubt, then with contemplation, followed by an indescribable excitement, and finally...

"I see...I see!!!"

Tang She suddenly raised his head, and his snake eyes burst forth with an unprecedentedly brilliant light, as if he had truly been enlightened and had achieved a great awakening!

It excitedly slapped the ground with its vine whip, making a "crackling" sound, its voice trembling with extreme excitement:
"I understand! I completely understand! Is this the fundamental law governing soul power cultivation and the workings of the world?! So clear! So thorough! It reduces all complex phenomena to ten simple principles! Master... I've grasped it!!!"

Its gaze toward the master was filled with endless worship and fervor, as if it were looking up at a supreme deity who had ushered in a new era of cultivation!

Seeing Tang She's extremely excited expression, as if he had suddenly attained enlightenment, Master Xiao Gang remained outwardly calm, but inwardly he almost burst out laughing.

This so-called "Ten Core Competencies of Pokémon" is actually something he copied verbatim from a certain "Master Brock" who can't do anything except pick up girls.

This jumble of theories may seem plausible at first glance, but any elf who has spent a few years in this world knows that they are about as worthless as statements like "the second floor must be built on the first floor" or "fire hydrants must have water"—just correct but meaningless platitudes!

It's only good for fooling Tang She, a greenhorn who just transmigrated. If he had spent a couple more years in this world, he would have been so angry that he would have smeared this pile of garbage on the master's face.

Forcibly suppressing his inner laughter, Master Xiaogang tried his best to maintain the calm expression of a reclusive master. Looking at Tang Snake, who was holding "The Ten Core Competencies of Pokémon" in his arms as if he had found a treasure, he said in a deep voice.

"Yes, that's good. Now that the theoretical foundation is solid, the next step is to take the first step in practice!"

His gaze sharpened as he looked toward the back of the academy.

"Now, what you need to do most is to immediately go to the Soul Hunting Forest behind the academy, personally hunt a suitable magical beast, absorb its soul ring, break through your soul power limit, and become a true Soul Master!"

Obtain a Soul Ring?!
Upon hearing the words "acquire a soul ring," Tang She's emerald green snake body trembled violently as if electrified, each scale rustling with excitement as it rubbed against itself!
According to the supreme secret manual "The Ten Core Competencies of Elves", as long as it successfully obtains its first soul ring, its innate full soul power, which was previously restricted at level ten, can break through the bottleneck and truly enter the world of elf masters, possessing its own soul skills!

The thought that his divine king-like appearance was finally about to experience its first substantial surge of power, and that he would gain the power to truly annihilate his enemies, made Tang She feel a surge of heat rush to his head.

It could no longer restrain itself and pounded the ground with its vine whip, its snake eyes, burning with ambition, fixed on Master Xiaogang, emitting urgent hissing.

"Hiss—! Master, what are we waiting for?! Let's begin immediately! I can't wait to crush those dregs on the path to death!"

It couldn't wait to pounce into the Soul Hunter Forest and tear apart the first monster that stood in its way.

When Xiao Gang saw Tang She's impatient and eager-to-rush-into-the-forest-and-wield-wielding appearance, a mysterious smile appeared on his rugged face.

It slowly shook its head, its thick eyebrows revealing a wise glint in its narrowed eyes, and spoke slowly in a tone that carried a hint of examination.

"Tang She, calm down. Choosing a Soul Ring is not as simple as hunting a powerful magical beast. It's a crucial step in a Spirit Master's career, one that determines their future potential. Do you know how to choose?"

Tang She was slightly taken aback upon hearing this, and his proud head subconsciously lowered a few degrees.

Immediately, a flash of light appeared in the snake's eyes, which contained astonishing wisdom, and the golden pages of the book "The Ten Core Competencies of Elves" in his mind flipped wildly!

In a flash, a core standard leaped into his mind, and he immediately hissed with full confidence.

"Hiss! I get it, Master! It's clearly written in 'The Ten Core Competencies'! The higher the age of the Soul Ring, the stronger its power! And the better the effect! If we're going to choose, we'll choose the oldest magical beast! We'll extract its essence to strengthen our Martial Soul! Let's go find a thousand-year-old! No! A ten-thousand-year-old magical beast!"

Master Xiao Gang nodded to himself: This snake-skinned girl's mind works incredibly fast, far more clever than that fat lizard Tang Long. However, for elves, excessive intelligence is poison...

On the surface, he shook his head again, a helpless smile on his face saying, "You're still too young," and explained earnestly.

"Heh, that's just the most superficial and basic standard. You must understand that there's an upper limit to the number of years a soul ring can withstand at each realm! Just like water overflows when it's full, and the moon wanes after it's full! If you blindly crave the immense power of a high-level magical beast soul ring and forcibly absorb it without considering your own foundation... Hmph! There's only one outcome—"

He paused deliberately, looking at Tang She's suddenly contracting snake pupils, and uttered a cold warning, word by word.

"Boom! Your body will be completely blown apart by the power of that spirit ring, which far exceeds its limit, like an inflating balloon! You'll be blasted to pieces, not even a single intact snake scale can be found!"

"Break... burst?!"

Upon hearing this, Tang Snake was so frightened that half of his snake went limp, as if he could already see the miserable scene of himself being blown into a sky full of emerald green snake meat paste because of his greed for the ten-thousand-year soul ring.

The immense fear that followed left it drenched in cold sweat.

It secretly rejoiced: Hiss—thank goodness! Thank goodness there's a master like him, a learned and experienced mentor, guiding me!

Otherwise, given its competitive and never-say-die nature as a god-king, if it were to recklessly plunge into the Soul Hunting Forest, it would likely become the shortest-lived innate full-strength soul power in history, dying instantly upon landing, not just on its first attempt at acquiring a soul ring!

It quickly suppressed its fear and eagerly pressed for an answer.

"Hiss! Master! I was reckless. Then... how many years can my first spirit ring withstand? Please tell me quickly!"

Xiao Gang nodded slightly, quite satisfied with Tang She's attitude of "knowing his mistakes and being able to correct them".

He pretended to be deep in thought, as if he were mobilizing all his knowledge and massive amounts of data to perform precise calculations.

After a moment, he spoke with an unquestionable, as if declaring a universal truth.

"Hmm! Based on my years of tireless research and massive data analysis and comparison, combined with the characteristics of your Silver Grass Martial Soul and your innate full soul power physique... the maximum age limit for your first soul ring is—432 years! One year more, and you risk exploding; one year less, and your potential is not yet fully realized!"

The conclusion, accurate to the single digit, exudes an air of academic authority.

"Four hundred and thirty-two years?! Hiss—!!!"

Tang She gasped, her snake eyes flashing with a dazzling light!

Precise! So precise!
With the master's theoretical support, which is comparable to that of an actuary, the quality of my first spirit ring is guaranteed!

A meteoric rise to success is just around the corner!

It seemed to already see itself adorned with magnificent spirit rings, trampling Ah Shui and Xiao Wu under its feet, and excitedly slapped the ground with the tip of its tail.

As they spoke, the two of them, one in front of the other, entered the deep, quiet, and primal Soul Hunting Forest behind Dingding Academy. Ancient trees reached for the sky, vines twisted and turned, and the air was filled with the humus of vegetation and a faint, almost imperceptible, pungent smell of magical beasts.

The Tang snake warily turned its head, its vertical pupils scanning the leaping Bobo, crawling caterpillars, and burrowing Rattatas in the forest...

The more it looked, the more it felt something was wrong, and it couldn't help but hiss in confusion.

"Huh? Master, didn't you say you were bringing me here to hunt magical beasts and obtain spirit rings? But...where are these magical beasts? I haven't seen a single decent one. They're all...elves?"

It looked at the elves, some cute and some wary, with a head full of questions.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Gang gave a knowing smile that said, "You knew you would ask that."

He pointed to a startled deer in the distance that was using its ramming skill to smash tree fruits, and slowly explained to Tang Snake.

"Disciple, open your eyes wide, circulate your soul power, and take a good look again. Aren't these right in front of you ready-made magical beasts?"

"Wha...what?!"

Tang She was stunned at first, then his mind was shaken, and his extraordinary wisdom was as if it had been split open by a lightning bolt, and he suddenly understood!
That's right. On the Doujing Continent, where the strong prey on the weak and martial spirits reign supreme, the so-called "monsters" refer to ordinary elves who have failed to awaken their martial spirits and survive solely on instinct!
Like ignorant wild beasts, they can only rely on the most primitive and clumsy methods to hone and utilize their innate skills, struggling to survive in the law of the jungle.

However, for a "master" like it that has awakened a martial spirit, the way to acquire skills is completely different.

Their method of acquiring powerful skills has long transcended inefficient self-training. Instead, they acquire them by hunting these "monsters," plundering their soul rings, and directly inheriting the essence of their skills honed through countless trials!
The thought of gaining power through hunting caused Tang Snake's slender body to tremble slightly again, its emerald scales reflecting a faint light in the dappled shadows of the trees.

Since its debut, although it has been talking about "the way to death" and constantly saying "kill, kill, kill," it's mostly just a form of self-deception.

Since its debut, it has never personally killed any Pokémon.

Now that the hunt was about to truly begin, its emotions couldn't help but stir.
I'm going crazy with excitement!!!

"Hahahaha! Is it finally about to begin?! My Asura God Path! Kill! Kill! Kill! Slaughter all those who seek death!"

The wild roar within it almost burst from its throat!

That's right, how could our God King Tang possibly have the slightest psychological burden?

In its self-contained and astonishing logic, Pokémon is simply a collective term for all intelligent beings other than humans in the Pokémon world, and the different species are essentially no different from chickens, ducks, fish and dogs!
For Tang Snakes, hunting other spirits is as natural as humans slaughtering livestock for dinner, or even more so!

Moral burden? Psychological pressure?
Faced with absolute power and the allure of self-evolution, all of that is pretentious, all of that is a stumbling block preventing it from ascending to the throne of the god-king!

Just as Tang Snake was eyeing a few passing green caterpillars with bloodlust, it was eager to pounce.

Master Xiaogang spoke again, interrupting its reverie with a serious tone.

"Wait!"

Master Xiaogang's deep and serious voice rang out just in time, like a bucket of cold water being poured over Tang She's head, slightly cooling down his boiling killing intent.

It looked at the master in bewilderment.

Master Xiaogang, with a serious expression, added solemnly.

"Besides the age limit, the type and attributes of the magical beast are also key factors in choosing a soul ring!"

Tang She was stunned upon hearing this, and immediately began to listen attentively to the master's teachings.

Master Xiaogang then earnestly instructed.

"You must choose a spirit ring that is compatible with your martial spirit and even your own inherent attributes! The attributes of this spirit ring will directly determine the form and power of your first spirit skill, and will play a foundational role in your future development! You must not be rash! You must be extremely careful!"

Upon hearing this, Tang She's vine whip, which was eagerly poised to strike the green caterpillar, froze in mid-air.

Yeah! Silver Grass is a Grass-type, and I'm a Grass-type myself. Caterpie... what powerful skills can its spirit ring grant it after it dies?
Spinning silk? Hardening?
This is completely out of character for a god-king; he almost went astray!
Seeing that Tang She had stopped in time, a hint of satisfaction flashed in the master's eyes, and he continued.

"Rest assured, I have already considered this matter thoroughly for you. After precise calculations and attribute matching, I have carefully selected the most suitable 'Soul Ring Provider' for you. Follow me!"

As the two ventured deeper into the forest, the aura of the surrounding magical beasts became noticeably wilder and more powerful.

It would be strange if a century-old tree moved its roots in the shade, making a rustling sound.

A swarm of bees buzzed past, their stingers gleaming coldly.

You can even faintly feel the lingering heat of the century-old fire dinosaur.

However, all these powerful beings were intimidated by the calm and profound aura emanating from Master Xiaogang, who was a level 29 Grand Master. They merely observed from afar and did not rashly step forward to attack.

Finally, deep in the forest, under a massive ancient banyan tree with intertwined roots that required several people to encircle, Master Xiaogang suddenly stopped.

He quickly crouched down, gestured for Tang She to be quiet, then lowered his voice and pointed to a verdant figure gracefully combing leaves in the shadow of the tree roots, his eyes gleaming with an air of shrewdness.

"Look! This is it! This is the best vessel I have chosen for your first spirit ring!"

Tang She immediately followed the direction the master was pointing and stared intently.

next moment!
Its snake eyes suddenly contracted, as if it had been struck by an invisible thunderbolt!

Emerald green, slender, elegant, proud...

That cold, disdainful gaze, that haughty, condescending attitude...

This...this is another version of myself?! A living, breathing Snivy!!!

Tang She was stunned, his mind went blank, as if he saw another version of himself in the world!
Seeing Tang She's shocked expression, as if he had seen a ghost, Master Xiao Gang seemed to have expected it.

He couldn't help but hum to himself, seemingly very satisfied with the plot he had arranged.

Xiao Gang calmly pulled out a uniquely shaped soul tool from his pocket—a monster encyclopedia—and scanned the vine snake. Data immediately appeared on the encyclopedia screen.

[Warcraft Race: Snivy]

[Estimated lifespan: 422 years]

[Attribute: grass]

Status: Healthy

Master Xiaogang analyzed in a calm tone, as if stating a very ordinary scientific fact.

"Don't worry, I've already confirmed it with the latest monster encyclopedia. This is a 422-year-old Snivy, its age perfectly close to the theoretical limit for its first spirit ring!"

He looked at the dumbfounded Tang She and continued to explain in that academic tone.

"As your 'natal magical beast,' its attributes perfectly match your essence, with a compatibility rate of 99.9%! The greatest characteristic of your Silver Grass Martial Soul is its extremely strong inclusiveness and adaptability, allowing it to perfectly adapt to the soul rings of the vast majority of grass-type spirits, with virtually no risk of rejection."

Master Xiao Gang paused for a moment, then continued to explain.

"Therefore, choosing it as your first spirit ring allows for the most efficient and safest conversion and absorption of spirit ring energy, propelling your talent and strength to an extremely high peak right from the start! Its benefits are undoubtedly the optimal solution at present!"

Listening to the master's meticulous and well-reasoned analysis, Tang She's rational mind clearly understood that killing the other party and seizing this spirit ring would be the most beneficial and perfect choice for him!

But...
As if sensing something, the vine snake warily raised its head, its amber snake eyes, identical to its own, looking in its direction.
An extremely strange and indescribable sense of resistance surged into Tang She's heart like never before.

This feeling is like having to kill another version of yourself with your own hands!
Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

No prize for guessing: What dream trait will Tang She acquire in the next chapter?
(End of this chapter)