Douluo Continent: Starting with the Fire-Breathing Dragon Martial Soul!

Notting College, behind the hill.

After leaving the cafeteria, Lin Mo carried the little dragon's egg and quickly went to the back mountain of Notting Academy.

He has been to this place quite often in the past six months, and he has already gotten to know the surrounding environment very well.

There are hardly any people here during the day, and at night it's so quiet that only the sound of the wind and insects can be heard.

It's a decent place for cultivation, quiet enough that few people come to disturb you.

The woods on the back hill aren't very deep. If you walk up the dirt path that people have trodden along, you'll see that lonely little pavilion standing there.

The pavilion wasn't very big, and it looked quite old.

When Lin Mo was in the back mountain, he spent most of his time in this somewhat dilapidated pavilion, and this time was no exception.

He found a relatively clean stone bench, sat down, took a few deep breaths, and savored the rare tranquility around him.

With a slight thought, the warm little dragon egg with strange patterns on its surface reappeared in Lin Mo's arms.

He looked down at the eggshell and gently stroked it with his fingertips. Under Lin Mo's touch, the little dragon egg trembled slightly, as if responding to him.

"Just one more step..." Lin Mo murmured softly, his eyes hardening.

His purpose in coming to the back mountain of the academy was to break through the bottleneck of level 10 soul power. His current cultivation level has already reached the peak of level 9.

He was just one step away from making a breakthrough.

However, Lin Mo was not in a hurry to break through the bottleneck immediately. Instead, he closed his eyes and tried to adjust his breathing.

He calmed his racing heartbeat caused by the journey and his excitement, for the crucial moment of his breakthrough was approaching, and he had to ensure that his energy and spirit were at their peak.

While adjusting his mental state, he also spared some attention to check the panel that only he could see.

Name: Lin Mo

Age: Six years old

[Soul Power: Lv9 (Shared)]

[Martial Soul: Heart (Blood)]

[Self-created Soul Skill: Blood Explosion (Tier 1 Boiling Blood)]

As his gaze swept across the panel, Lin Mo felt more confident.

Compared to when I first awakened my martial soul more than half a year ago, the information on the panel hasn't changed much.

The most noticeable change is that the Soul Power level has increased from lv6 to lv9, and the "Shared" label is still clearly visible.

The increase in soul power meant that his hard work over the past six months had not been in vain. Moreover, the egg in his arms had been absorbing soul power along with him. The combined cultivation speed of the two was indeed much faster than training alone.

The extra line at the bottom of the panel, "Self-created Soul Skill: Blood Explosion (Tier 1 Boiling Blood)," made him feel very gratified.

This Blood Explosion technique was something he gradually refined and perfected by combining his understanding of the heart meridian and blood in his first life with his exploration of his original martial soul in this life.

The fact that this technique can be recorded on the panel indicates that it has gained some level of recognition and is no longer the rudimentary application of Qi and blood as before.

However, Lin Mo himself was also aware that the current Blood Explosion was still very immature, which was why he called it "First-Order Boiling Blood" and there was still a chance to further improve it in the future.

The effect of the first-tier Blood Burst is to precisely mobilize the blood and qi of the whole body through the heart martial soul, and strengthen a certain part of the body or the whole body in a short period of time, so that they can burst out with stronger power or speed.

The drawback is also obvious: after the burst ends, the strengthened parts will fall into a period of weakness, the extent and duration of which are directly related to the amount of Qi and Blood energy consumed.

It's a trump card to use in critical moments, either as a desperate gamble or a surprise attack, but it can't be used as a regular tactic at the moment.

……

Before long, Lin Mo's breathing became long and steady, and his heartbeat returned to its usual rhythm.

I've almost adjusted my mindset.

Lin Mo sat cross-legged on the stone bench, holding the egg, with his palms facing upwards, assuming a standard cultivation posture.

He had already mastered the basic meditation method taught by Notting Academy. Although it wasn't very efficient, it was reliable enough to guide his soul power to break through bottlenecks.

He had already reached that bottleneck a few days ago, but he hadn't been able to adjust his condition to its best, which was why he hadn't tried to break through.

But tonight was different. Lin Mo could clearly feel that although the barrier was still solid, it had begun to loosen.

He dared not be careless, repeatedly channeling his soul power to break through the barrier, until fine beads of sweat gradually appeared on his forehead.

He understood better than anyone what breaking through to level ten soul power meant.

That was not only the first important hurdle on his path to becoming a Soul Master and a prerequisite for obtaining his first Soul Ring, but also the key to finding his former companions!

Whether the baby dragon can hatch depends entirely on this moment.

That's why he chose to make his breakthrough in this secluded back mountain.

If it were in the Seventh Dormitory, the commotion of breaking through to the tenth level of soul power might not be too great, but if the hatching of the little fire dragon is added to the mix, it would be hard not to attract attention.

The others were fine; Lin Mo was confident he could fob them off.

But the key issue is that Tang San and Xiao Wu are not ordinary people; their senses are extremely sharp, and he doesn't want to take that risk.

Moreover, there's Tang Hao, who had been following Tang San throughout the early stages; this is the reason Lin Mo had been trying to avoid them.

It's always better to keep a low profile until you have enough power to protect yourself.

Time passed slowly amidst Lin Mo's increasingly heavy breathing.

Even the little fire dragon egg in his arms seemed to sense the fluctuation of Lin Mo's soul power; the surface of the eggshell became slightly warm, conveying a sense of encouragement and support.

……

The sky in the distance gradually turned a pale white, and it was around three or four in the morning.

Lin Mo's long-accumulated soul power finally found a perfect opportunity. In just an instant, the surging soul power broke through all obstacles.

Breakthrough!

Almost the instant Lin Mo's soul power level officially reached level ten, the little fire dragon egg in his arms underwent a drastic change at the same time.

The originally warm eggshell suddenly became scalding hot, and the surface of the eggshell even suddenly flashed with a dazzling white light.

Lin Mo instinctively hugged the egg in his arms tighter, his eyes fixed on the ball of white light.

"Click..."

A crisp cracking sound rang out clearly in the quiet morning.

A crack appeared on the eggshell, followed by a second and a third. More and more cracks appeared, spreading across the entire eggshell like a spider web.

Before long, eggshell fragments fell, and a warm, somewhat heavy little creature landed steadily on Lin Mo's legs, which were pressed together.

Then, with a nimble leap, he landed on the somewhat rough stone slab ground of the pavilion.

It was a small dragon-like soul beast with an orange-yellow body and a light-colored belly. It had large blue eyes, and the cluster of flames burning at the end of its tail was swaying gently with its breathing.

It was Lin Mo's initial partner in the Pokémon world in his previous life—Charmander!