Xu Ming checked the next skill book.

"Beastly Transformation, a skill that transforms you into a beast for a short period of time. It can increase the strength, speed, and healing of the cultivator," Xu Ming muttered as he read the next skill book description. ​​

"Good skill, but not suitable for me. I don't want to fight like that," Xu Ming thought as he put the book back.

He moved onto the next skill.

Xu Ming kept checking out skills one after another. He didn't want to miss out on the chance of selecting a skill as he was only allowed to choose one at the moment. He didn't want to make a wrong selection; thus, he thought a lot about his decision.

He saw many skills there. There were attack related skills, weapon-related skills, movement skills, and many unorthodox skills like the soul search as well.

After checking every book, Xu Ming came to a decision that Soul Search was what he wanted.

Soul Search was a unique skill that could be useful for him in the long run whenever he needed answers from others. He could always find more attack and movement skills, but he wasn't sure if he would come across a skill like that ever again.

Xu Ming picked up the booklet of soul search and walked towards the stairs, but before he could get there, he saw another Red Robe disciple coming up.

The Red Robed disciple looked at Xu Ming curiously as this was his first time seeing Xu Ming.

"I've never seen you before. Are you new in the Red Robed rankings?" the boy asked Xu Ming.

"Yeah, I got ranked today," Xu Ming replied.

"Oh, nice. Congrats. Which skill are you choosing?" the boy asked Xu Ming as he saw the book in his hands.

"Soul Search," Xu Ming replied.

"Oh, that's an unorthodox skill you got there. Are you sure that you don't want to choose better skills that can increase your strength?" the boy asked Xu Ming.

"I've made my choice. I'll get going now," Xu Ming said as he went down the stairs.

"Interesting guy," the boy chuckled as he stepped towards the stairs.

"Have you selected a book?" the Elder of the Skill Hall asked Xu Ming, who stood in front of him.

Xu Ming showed the soul search booklet to the Elder.

"Oh, Soul Search. It might be a fun skill, but it's dangerous as well. If you use it on someone against their will, and their soul power turned out to be higher than yours, you might die as well," the Elder warned Xu Ming.

"I know, Elder. I read that in the description," Xu Ming replied.

"Alright. If you say so, Soul Search will cost you 2000 contribution points, Give me your badge," the Elder told Xu Ming.

Xu Ming gave his badge to the Elder. The Elder returned the badge after deducting 2000 contribution points.

"Be careful with the skill," the Elder warned Xu Ming one last time.

Xu Ming nodded his head and left the Skill Hall.

He walked towards his Courtyard, but he again saw Sui Ru on the way.

Xu Ming once again hid behind a building and waited for her to pass.

"I need to get to the Core Sect as fast as I can. I can't stay in the Inner Sect for longer," Xu Ming muttered as he stood behind the building.

He used his Divine Sense to see if she had left, and after finding out that she did leave, he came out.

Xu Ming walked back to his courtyard and closed the door.

He put the booklet in his storage ring and went into the shower. After getting a nice shower, he walked out and got dressed before sitting on the bed.

He brought the book, Soul Search out of his storage ring, and started reading it.

The book was relatively easy to understand, and he comprehended it on the first try itself. He was sure that he would be able to perform it as described, but as he hadn't tested it on anyone, he wasn't sure how it would be.

He couldn't try it on any random person either as this was a skill that might make that person lose his sanity after Xu Ming performed the soul search on him.

The skill was like a double edged sword that could harm others as well as harm themselves.

Xu Ming put the book back in his storage ring and started resting on her.

He took a long peaceful sleep before waking up in the morning.

He stood up and left his courtyard.

"When I was in the mission hall, I felt I lacked a ranged area control skill. I do have Thunderstorm, but I haven't comprehended it because of location restrictions, but I can't delay it further. I need to leave the Sect," Xu Ming muttered.

He wanted to go outside the sect, find an empty-looking mountain, and practice thunderstorm, which would boost his skill even further.

Xu Ming walked up to the exit of the Inner Sect and left the Inner Sect.

When he was in the Outer Sect, he brought out his Wild Eagle Beast and got on top of it before he left the sect.

Xu Ming was now a Ranked Inner disciple, and he was allowed to leave the sect without having any mission.

Xu Ming left the sect. After flying for over 4 Hours, Xu Ming saw a mountain. His Wild Eagle Beast was flying there when other flying beasts attacked him.

It seemed as if that was the place of those beasts, and they didn't allow anyone to enter their airspace.

Xu Ming had already realized that it would be dangerous if his flying beast was harmed as he would fall to his death, that's why Xu Ming stood up and pulled out his sword.

He attacked the other beasts proactively without giving them a chance to get near his beasts.

Xu Ming's 1st Strike of Heaven was enough for Xu Ming to cut the other flying beasts in half.

As one of the beasts was killed, the other seemed to become even more violent. Instead of attacking Xu Ming's eagle, they started targeting him, but it only made it more dangerous for them. The beasts kept dying one after another without being able to even scratch Xu Ming.

Soon, all these beasts were killed, and the battle was over.

Xu Ming made his Wild Eagle fly above the mountain a few times to see if it was actually empty or not. After making sure that the mountain was really barren, Xu Ming got his beast down on the mountain and got off of it.

Xu Ming sent the Eagle inside the beast bag before he sat down on the mountain.

He brought the skill booklet of Thunderstorm out of his storage ring and started reading it once more just to make sure that he didn't forget everything.

"That should be it," He muttered as he stood up.

Xu Ming raised his right hand towards the sky. He changed the flow of Origin Energy inside his body as it was described in the skill book.

He could feel the change in his body as he did that. He was able to feel his surroundings better, but he also felt like he was weaker in this way. His Origin Energy was getting depleted fast.

"Thunderstorm!" He commanded in a firm voice.

Clouds started taking shape in the sky, and they surrounded the sky in no time.

Even the sun wasn't visible in the sky. The only thing that he could see was the dark clouds in the sky.

The clouds started roaring loudly. Xu Ming could also see blue light appear in the clouds occasionally.

It lasted for a few seconds before the first thunderbolt fell down to the ground in front of Xu Ming.

It didn't stop with one thunderbolt, though. Thunderbolts kept falling one after another all-around Xu Ming.

In a span of short 3 minutes, over 50 thunderbolts fell down to the ground, turning the ground black wherever they fell.

The skill only lasted for this long before the clouds disappeared, and the clear sky appeared again.

Xu Ming also fell down to his knees.

He was feeling exasperated as a single skill consumed all his Origin Energy. The Origin Energy consumption of Thunderstorm turned out to be twice that of the Sword Art of Destruction.

"It did attack around 50 or so times if I compare it with Sword Art of Destruction. It doesn't seem that bad. The skill is super strong in a sense. The only downsides of it is that fact that it doesn't differentiate between friend and enemies,"

"The bolts fall all around me without my control. It might even harm a friend along with the enemy," Xu Ming muttered as he looked towards the ground.

He started resting as he tried to restore his Origin Energy reserves.