The ceremony was over.
The discussion was not.
Qiangu Longyu sat in a chair far too large for him, his legs not quite reaching the floor, while some of the most powerful people on the Douluo Continent discussed his Martial Souls.
It was a strange situation.
And considering that less than an hour ago he had discovered that he possessed two Martial Souls, Longyu thought he had every right to feel a little overwhelmed.
Qian Daoliu remained at the front of the room.
Qianjun stood to his right.
Jiangmo, Golden Crocodile Douluo, Blue Luan Douluo, and the other Worships had remained as well.
His parents were present.
The other four children had not been sent away either.
After all, they already knew the secret.
Qian Daoliu extended a hand.
“Again.”
Longyu immediately understood.
He raised his right hand.
It required little effort.
Something within him responded with an almost unsettling naturalness.
Dark light appeared in his palm.
The Destruction Coiling Dragon Staff manifested.
The staff was too large for the body of a six-year-old child, yet Longyu could hold it.
That was strange as well.
It should have been heavy.
However, in his hands, its weight seemed to naturally adjust to him.
Qianjun approached.
This time, there was no surprise on his face.
Only concentration.
He extended a hand toward the staff.
“Allow me.”
Longyu nodded.
Qianjun placed two fingers against its dark surface.
He closed his eyes.
For several seconds, nothing happened.
Then the small dragon coiled around the staff opened its violet eyes.
A faint dark-violet energy emerged.
Qianjun immediately withdrew his fingers.
Longyu looked up.
“Grandfather?”
Qianjun examined his hand.
He wasn’t injured.
But a small amount of Soul Power he had concentrated in his fingers had disappeared.
“Interesting.”
Jiangmo stepped closer.
“What did it do?”
“It eroded my Soul Power.”
Longyu narrowed his eyes.
That immediately caught his attention.
Qianjun looked at the staff again.
“Very little.
Almost nothing.”
“He’s six years old,” Jiangmo said.
“What did you expect?”
“Exactly.”
Qianjun looked at Longyu.
“It isn’t darkness.”
“Destruction,” Longyu replied.
Several gazes immediately turned toward him.
Longyu realized a little too late that he had answered with too much certainty.
Qian Daoliu was the first to ask.
“How do you know?”
Longyu looked at the staff.
Fortunately, he didn’t need to invent an explanation.
“I felt it when it awakened.”
Qianjun slowly nodded.
He didn’t seem to find that strange.
“Martial Souls are part of the Soul Master.
Sometimes, their nature can be understood instinctively during awakening.”
Longyu stored that explanation in his memory.
Convenient.
Qianjun continued.
“Then Destruction truly is its attribute.”
Longyu watched the faint violet energy.
Destruction.
In his previous life, he knew the significance of that power.
He also knew of an existence associated with it.
The God of Destruction.
But it would be foolish to assume his Martial Soul was directly connected to a deity simply because they shared an attribute.
Similarity did not imply causation.
He needed evidence.
“And the other one?” Qian Daoliu asked.
Longyu made the staff disappear.
Then he raised his left hand.
He tried to manifest the Void Dragon.
Nothing happened.
Longyu frowned.
He tried again.
He felt something.
Distant.
Like a presence behind a door.
But it did not appear.
“I can’t.”
Jiangmo gave a small laugh.
“Now that is new.”
Longyu looked at him.
“I awakened it less than an hour ago.”
“And you’re already annoyed because you can’t control it.”
“I’m not annoyed.”
Jiangmo smiled.
“Of course not.”
Lanyue lightly covered her smile with one hand.
Longyu decided to ignore them.
Qian Daoliu, however, seemed satisfied.
“Don’t try to force it.”
Longyu nodded.
On that point, they were in complete agreement.
He didn’t understand the Void Dragon.
And that was precisely why he had no intention of recklessly experimenting with it.
Not yet.
The next question was much simpler.
“Now we must discuss your first Soul Rings,” Qian Daoliu said.
The four girls immediately paid attention.
Jin Yue was the first to speak.
“When are we going?”
Golden Crocodile Douluo looked at her.
“Going?”
“To hunt our Soul Beasts.”
“You don’t even know what you need.”
Jin Yue blinked.
“A strong one.”
Longyu turned his head toward her.
Jin Yue noticed.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You’re making that face.”
“What face?”
“The one you make when you think someone said something stupid.”
Lingyu looked at Longyu.
“You do make that face.”
Longyu remained silent.
That was new information.
“A strong Soul Beast does not necessarily produce the best Soul Ring for you,” he finally said.
Jin Yue crossed her arms.
“If it’s strong, its ability will be strong.”
“Not necessarily.”
“Why?”
Longyu was about to answer.
Then he stopped.
That was exactly the kind of statement he didn’t want to make a habit of.
He couldn’t simply declare something to be true because he possessed knowledge from the future.
He looked toward Qian Daoliu.
“May I ask something?”
“Go ahead.”
Longyu organized his thoughts.
“How is it normally decided which Soul Beast a Soul Master should hunt for a Soul Ring?”
Qian Daoliu didn’t answer immediately.
Blue Luan Douluo did.
“First, the type of Martial Soul is considered.
Then the path the Soul Master will follow—power, speed, defense, control, support.
Compatible Soul Beasts are identified, along with suitable abilities, within an age range the Soul Master can endure.”
It was a much better answer than Longyu had expected.
Spirit Hall possessed centuries of accumulated knowledge.
It would be absurd for them to simply hunt whatever Soul Beast happened to be available.
“And what happens with the second Soul Ring?”
Blue Luan watched him.
“The process is repeated.”
“Is it considered how the second Soul Ring will interact with the first?”
This time, there was a pause.
“Of course,” Qian Daoliu replied.
“The abilities should complement each other.”
Longyu lightly shook his head.
“I don’t mean only the abilities.”
The room grew quieter.
Qianjun knew that expression.
It was the same one Longyu wore whenever he discovered something interesting in a book.
“Continue,” he said.
Longyu looked at his right hand.
“A Soul Ring doesn’t only give us a Soul Skill.”
“It also increases Soul Power and strengthens the Soul Master,” Qianjun replied.
“Yes.
But we are absorbing something that came from a Soul Beast into our Martial Soul.”
Longyu raised his eyes.
“What if every Soul Ring changes the Martial Soul slightly?”
No one answered immediately.
Longyu continued.
“Maybe the change is too small to notice after the first ring.
Perhaps even after the second.
But after five, six, or nine…”
He paused.
“Would it still be exactly the same Martial Soul?”
Qing Luoyue was the first among the children to understand where he was going.
“You think it matters which species all the rings come from.”
Longyu looked at her.
“I think it might.”
Might.
Not did.
He had no proof yet.
Luoyue tilted her head slightly.
“Then two people with the same Martial Soul could eventually develop it differently.”
“That’s my question.”
Jin Yue looked between them.
“Weren’t we talking about my first Soul Ring?”
“We still are,” Longyu said.
“It sounds like we’re talking about nine.”
“Exactly.”
Jin Yue frowned.
Longyu continued before she could complain.
“Why choose the first ring while thinking only about the first ability?”
Now he looked directly at her.
“Why not choose it while also considering what you want your Martial Soul to become when it has nine?”
Jin Yue stopped responding.
Golden Crocodile Douluo looked at her as well.
Longyu knew exactly what he was seeing.
Golden Crocodile.
Not Golden Crocodile King.
Not yet.
Could that change?
Longyu believed it could.
But belief was not proof.
Qian Daoliu remained silent for several seconds.
“Where did this idea come from?”
Longyu had already prepared an answer for questions like that.
“Books.”
Jiangmo laughed.
“That explains absolutely everything and nothing at the same time.”
“The books describe which Soul Beasts different Soul Masters have used,” Longyu continued.
“They also describe Martial Soul mutations and some cases of changes after cultivation.
But the information is separated.”
He looked at Qian Daoliu.
“I want to compare it.”
That was completely true.
His memories had given him the question.
Spirit Hall’s archives could provide the evidence.
Qian Daoliu seemed to consider it.
“Before obtaining your first Soul Ring?”
“Yes.”
Qianjun frowned.
“Longyu.”
“Grandfather.”
“You have Full Innate Soul Power.
As long as you remain without a Soul Ring, you cannot continue advancing normally.”
“I know.”
“Then you have no reason to delay it for too long.”
Longyu nodded.
“I don’t want to delay it for long.”
He paused.
“I want to avoid regretting the next hundred years because I refused to wait a few days.”
Qianjun fell silent.
Jiangmo looked at his brother.
“He has a point.”
“I didn’t ask you.”
“But I have a point too.”
Qianjun ignored him.
Qian Daoliu intervened.
“How much time do you want?”
Longyu thought about it.
He didn’t need months.
Spirit Hall possessed an enormous library and records from generations of Soul Masters.
He needed to identify candidates.
“One week.”
Qian Daoliu raised an eyebrow.
“Only one?”
“To form an initial hypothesis.”
That word caught Lingyu’s attention.
“Hypothesis?”
Longyu nodded.
“An explanation that still needs to be tested.”
Lingyu seemed to think about it.
Longyu continued.
“After that, we’ll need to find a suitable Soul Beast.”
“We?” Jin Yue asked.
Longyu looked at her.
“I want to study your Martial Souls too.”
“Why?”
“Because you said you wanted a strong Soul Beast.”
Jin Yue opened her mouth.
Then closed it.
Finally, she pointed at Longyu.
“You’re making that face again.”
This time, Renxue laughed.
That same afternoon, five children entered one of the Worship Hall’s internal libraries.
Longyu hadn’t expected all of them to come.
Especially Jin Yue.
She didn’t seem particularly happy about being there either.
“How long do we have to stay?”
“We just got here,” Luoyue replied.
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
Renxue walked between the shelves.
“What are we looking for?”
Longyu placed several books on a table.
“First, we need to define what we want each of your Martial Souls to do.”
Jin Yue raised a hand.
“Hit things.”
Longyu looked at her.
“You already do that.”
“Then hit things harder.”
“Surprisingly, that actually helps.”
Jin Yue smiled victoriously.
Longyu opened a notebook.
He had prepared five pages.
One for each of them.
On the first, he wrote:
Qian Lingyu — Healing Angel
Below it:
Healing.
Vitality.
Purification.
Support.
Lingyu leaned over his shoulder.
“Purification?”
“Your Martial Soul produced a sensation different from a simple healing ability.”
“How do you know it can purify?”
Longyu stopped writing.
“I don’t.”
He lightly crossed out the word.
Then wrote beside it:
Possible.
Requires verification.
Lingyu smiled.
“Better.”
Longyu moved to the next page.
Jin Yue — Golden Crocodile
Strength.
Defense.
Endurance.
Bloodline.
“What does bloodline mean?” Jin Yue asked.
“I want to investigate crocodilian Soul Beasts that possess traces of higher species.”
Golden Crocodile King.
Longyu did not write those words.
It was still too early.
Next page.
Qing Luoyue — Blue Luan
Flight.
Speed.
Wind.
Aerial perception.
Ranged attacks.
Luoyue took the notebook.
“Add maneuverability.”
Longyu did.
Then Renxue.
Qian Renxue — Six-Winged Seraph
Longyu stared at the page.
Renxue did too.
“What?”
“Your Martial Soul is problematic.”
Renxue frowned.
“Problematic?”
“It’s already too good.”
Jin Yue started laughing.
Renxue decided to accept that as a compliment.
Longyu wrote:
Light.
Sacred fire.
Purification.
Attack.
Flight.
He didn’t need to attempt to artificially evolve the Six-Winged Seraph.
That would be like trying to improve a divine sword with a hammer.
His priority with Renxue should be finding Soul Rings worthy of her and avoiding incompatible characteristics.
Finally, he reached his own page.
Qiangu Longyu — Destruction Coiling Dragon Staff
Longyu held the pencil still.
What did he want?
Power.
That was obvious.
But it wasn’t enough.
He thought of Qianjun.
Of Jiangmo.
Of the Coiling Dragon Staff.
Of the dragon he had felt awakening within his own.
And of the energy that had eroded Qianjun’s Soul Power.
He wrote:
Physical strength.
Impact power.
Breaking power.
Draconic bloodline.
Finally:
Destruction.
He wrote nothing about the Void Dragon.
It would receive no Soul Rings.
Not yet.
Renxue looked over the five pages.
“So we just have to find five Soul Beasts with all of those things.”
Longyu shook his head.
“No.”
“No?”
“First, we need to discover which characteristics can actually be transmitted through a Soul Ring.”
Longyu lifted one of the books.
Spirit Hall Soul Ring Acquisition Records — Volume XII.
He opened it.
There were names.
Martial Souls.
Hunted Soul Beasts.
Estimated ages.
Soul Skills obtained.
In some cases, there were even comments about later physical changes.
Longyu felt his heart begin to beat faster.
In his previous life, research like this would have required years of gathering information.
Spirit Hall already possessed the data.
Thousands of Soul Masters.
Decades.
Perhaps centuries.
It simply had never been organized around the question he wanted to answer.
Longyu smiled.
Renxue immediately recognized the expression.
“You found something.”
“No.”
Longyu picked up another volume.
Then another.
“I found where to look.”
Three days later, Longyu was exhausted.
And happy.
He had discovered something important.
He had also discovered that research was far more frustrating than it appeared.
The records were incomplete.
Some did not include the exact age of the Soul Beast.
Others used different names for the same species.
Some Soul Masters had exaggerated their experiences.
And worst of all, many observations had not been recorded with the questions Longyu wanted to study in mind.
But there were patterns.
Small ones.
Imperfect ones.
Interesting ones.
Soul Masters with similar Martial Souls who absorbed rings from very different Soul Beasts occasionally displayed differences later in their development.
It wasn’t enough to prove anything.
But it was enough to justify further investigation.
Luoyue proved surprisingly useful.
“These two are the same species.”
Longyu looked up.
“The names are different.”
“One is the name used in Heaven Dou.
The other appears in southern records.”
“Are you sure?”
Luoyue pointed at the descriptions.
“Same number of primary feathers.
Same chest coloration.
Same change in beak shape after five hundred years.”
Longyu looked at both pages.
Then at her.
“How do you know that?”
Luoyue looked at him as if the answer were obvious.
“I read.”
From the other side of the table, Jin Yue started laughing.
Longyu decided he probably deserved that.
Lingyu, meanwhile, was classifying cases involving support-type Soul Masters.
Renxue had lasted two days before declaring that reviewing hundreds of records was a particularly cruel form of torture.
She still came back on the third.
So did Jin Yue.
Longyu noticed.
He said nothing.
On the seventh day, Longyu returned before the Worships.
This time, he carried a notebook.
Not an answer.
Qian Daoliu received him in a smaller room.
Qianjun and Jiangmo were present.
Blue Luan and Golden Crocodile were there as well.
“Finished?” Qianjun asked.
“No.”
Qianjun looked at him.
Longyu placed the notebook on the table.
“I think it would take decades to finish.”
Jiangmo laughed.
“Finally, a reasonable answer.”
Longyu opened the notebook.
There were tables.
Soul Beast names.
Martial Souls.
Ages.
Soul Skills.
Observations.
Many of them had question marks beside them.
“I still can’t prove that Soul Rings cause a cumulative evolution of the Martial Soul.”
Qian Daoliu took the notebook.
“Then your theory failed.”
Longyu shook his head.
“Not yet.”
Qian Daoliu looked at him.
“What’s the difference?”
Longyu answered without hesitation.
“Not finding enough evidence to prove something does not prove that it is false.”
Qian Daoliu remained silent.
Then a faint smile appeared on his face.
“Continue.”
Longyu pointed toward his records.
“I found enough differences to believe it is worth investigating.
But I need years of observations and better-documented cases.”
“And your first Soul Ring?” Qianjun asked.
Longyu turned several pages.
“That, we can decide.”
He placed a sheet in front of them.
There was a list of Soul Beasts.
Not one.
Twelve.
Jiangmo raised an eyebrow.
“You want to hunt twelve?”
“I want to find one.”
Longyu pointed toward the different columns.
Compatibility.
Age.
Attribute.
Physical characteristics.
Bloodline.
Previously observed Soul Skills.
Risk.
Qianjun began reading.
Longyu explained.
“My first Soul Ring needs to strengthen the Coiling Dragon Staff, but I also want it to contribute to the direction my Martial Soul will follow in the future.”
He pointed toward three words.
Power.
Dragon.
Breaking.
“Destruction would be ideal, but I couldn’t find enough information about Soul Beasts possessing a comparable attribute.”
Qian Daoliu nodded.
“They are extremely rare.”
“Then I won’t force it.”
That was important too.
Seeking perfection could become another form of stupidity.
Longyu pointed toward the age column.
“There’s something else.”
Qianjun saw the number.
His expression changed.
“No.”
Longyu hadn’t even spoken yet.
“Grandfather.”
“No.”
Jiangmo leaned over to look.
Then he smiled.
“Six hundred years.”
“Between five hundred and fifty and six hundred and fifty,” Longyu corrected.
Qianjun stared at him.
“Four hundred years already represents considerable risk for a first Soul Ring.”
“I know.”
“Then you know why the answer is no.”
Longyu didn’t back down.
“I know why it would normally be no.”
Qianjun narrowed his eyes.
Longyu opened another section of the notebook.
This one did not contain information about Soul Beasts.
It contained information about him.
Weight.
Height.
Running time.
Number of exercises.
Recovery.
Strength tests adapted to his age.
Jiangmo stopped smiling.
“When did you do all this?”
“Over the last few months.”
Qianjun looked at his grandson.
Longyu pointed at the data.
“My body is more resilient than that of an average child my age.
My Martial Soul also seems to strengthen it when manifested.”
“That doesn’t prove you can withstand six hundred years.”
“No.”
Longyu closed the notebook.
“That’s why I want to test it before attempting the absorption.”
Qian Daoliu rested his fingers against the table.
“How?”
Longyu took a moment before answering.
“I don’t know yet.”
That answer seemed to surprise them more than any of the others.
Longyu continued.
“We need a way to evaluate how much stress my body can withstand before I absorb the ring.
If we cannot reasonably demonstrate that I can endure it, I’ll choose a younger one.”
Qianjun’s expression relaxed slightly.
That, at least, he was willing to hear.
“And if we determine that you can withstand it…”
Longyu looked once again at the number written on the page.
550–650 years.
“Then I want to try.”
Silence.
Finally, Qian Daoliu closed the notebook.
“Three days.”
Longyu blinked.
“What?”
“You will have three days to conduct whatever tests you consider necessary.
Qianjun and a Healing Soul Master will supervise every one of them.”
Longyu opened his mouth.
Qian Daoliu raised a hand.
“If either of them determines that the risk is excessive, you will absorb a Soul Ring within the conventional limit.”
Longyu thought for several seconds.
It was reasonable.
“I accept.”
Qianjun sighed.
He was probably already regretting teaching his grandson how to read.
Jiangmo, on the other hand, looked delighted.
“Then only one question remains.”
Longyu looked at him.
“Which one?”
Jiangmo picked up the list of Soul Beasts.
“Which of these poor creatures will have the misfortune of becoming your first ring?”
Longyu lowered his gaze toward the twelve candidates.
Until that moment, obtaining a Soul Ring had always seemed simple from a distance.
Find a beast.
Defeat it.
Absorb the ring.
Now he understood that the truly important part happened before the hunt.
Choosing.
Because if his hypothesis was correct, that decision would not determine only his first Soul Skill.
It would be the first stone of something much greater.
Longyu picked up his notebook again.
His first Soul Ring did not exist yet.
His theory had not been proven either.
And he didn’t even know whether he could truly withstand the age he was proposing.
But for the first time since his awakening, he had something more valuable than an answer.
He had a method to find it.Chapter 5 — The First Path
The ceremony was over.
The discussion was not.
Qiangu Longyu sat in a chair far too large for him, his legs not quite reaching the floor, while some of the most powerful people on the Douluo Continent discussed his Martial Souls.
It was a strange situation.
And considering that less than an hour ago he had discovered that he possessed two Martial Souls, Longyu thought he had every right to feel a little overwhelmed.
Qian Daoliu remained at the front of the room.
Qianjun stood to his right.
Jiangmo, Golden Crocodile Douluo, Blue Luan Douluo, and the other Worships had remained as well.
His parents were present.
The other four children had not been sent away either.
After all, they already knew the secret.
Qian Daoliu extended a hand.
“Again.”
Longyu immediately understood.
He raised his right hand.
It required little effort.
Something within him responded with an almost unsettling naturalness.
Dark light appeared in his palm.
The Destruction Coiling Dragon Staff manifested.
The staff was too large for the body of a six-year-old child, yet Longyu could hold it.
That was strange as well.
It should have been heavy.
However, in his hands, its weight seemed to naturally adjust to him.
Qianjun approached.
This time, there was no surprise on his face.
Only concentration.
He extended a hand toward the staff.
“Allow me.”
Longyu nodded.
Qianjun placed two fingers against its dark surface.
He closed his eyes.
For several seconds, nothing happened.
Then the small dragon coiled around the staff opened its violet eyes.
A faint dark-violet energy emerged.
Qianjun immediately withdrew his fingers.
Longyu looked up.
“Grandfather?”
Qianjun examined his hand.
He wasn’t injured.
But a small amount of Soul Power he had concentrated in his fingers had disappeared.
“Interesting.”
Jiangmo stepped closer.
“What did it do?”
“It eroded my Soul Power.”
Longyu narrowed his eyes.
That immediately caught his attention.
Qianjun looked at the staff again.
“Very little.
Almost nothing.”
“He’s six years old,” Jiangmo said.
“What did you expect?”
“Exactly.”
Qianjun looked at Longyu.
“It isn’t darkness.”
“Destruction,” Longyu replied.
Several gazes immediately turned toward him.
Longyu realized a little too late that he had answered with too much certainty.
Qian Daoliu was the first to ask.
“How do you know?”
Longyu looked at the staff.
Fortunately, he didn’t need to invent an explanation.
“I felt it when it awakened.”
Qianjun slowly nodded.
He didn’t seem to find that strange.
“Martial Souls are part of the Soul Master.
Sometimes, their nature can be understood instinctively during awakening.”
Longyu stored that explanation in his memory.
Convenient.
Qianjun continued.
“Then Destruction truly is its attribute.”
Longyu watched the faint violet energy.
Destruction.
In his previous life, he knew the significance of that power.
He also knew of an existence associated with it.
The God of Destruction.
But it would be foolish to assume his Martial Soul was directly connected to a deity simply because they shared an attribute.
Similarity did not imply causation.
He needed evidence.
“And the other one?” Qian Daoliu asked.
Longyu made the staff disappear.
Then he raised his left hand.
He tried to manifest the Void Dragon.
Nothing happened.
Longyu frowned.
He tried again.
He felt something.
Distant.
Like a presence behind a door.
But it did not appear.
“I can’t.”
Jiangmo gave a small laugh.
“Now that is new.”
Longyu looked at him.
“I awakened it less than an hour ago.”
“And you’re already annoyed because you can’t control it.”
“I’m not annoyed.”
Jiangmo smiled.
“Of course not.”
Lanyue lightly covered her smile with one hand.
Longyu decided to ignore them.
Qian Daoliu, however, seemed satisfied.
“Don’t try to force it.”
Longyu nodded.
On that point, they were in complete agreement.
He didn’t understand the Void Dragon.
And that was precisely why he had no intention of recklessly experimenting with it.
Not yet.
The next question was much simpler.
“Now we must discuss your first Soul Rings,” Qian Daoliu said.
The four girls immediately paid attention.
Jin Yue was the first to speak.
“When are we going?”
Golden Crocodile Douluo looked at her.
“Going?”
“To hunt our Soul Beasts.”
“You don’t even know what you need.”
Jin Yue blinked.
“A strong one.”
Longyu turned his head toward her.
Jin Yue noticed.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You’re making that face.”
“What face?”
“The one you make when you think someone said something stupid.”
Lingyu looked at Longyu.
“You do make that face.”
Longyu remained silent.
That was new information.
“A strong Soul Beast does not necessarily produce the best Soul Ring for you,” he finally said.
Jin Yue crossed her arms.
“If it’s strong, its ability will be strong.”
“Not necessarily.”
“Why?”
Longyu was about to answer.
Then he stopped.
That was exactly the kind of statement he didn’t want to make a habit of.
He couldn’t simply declare something to be true because he possessed knowledge from the future.
He looked toward Qian Daoliu.
“May I ask something?”
“Go ahead.”
Longyu organized his thoughts.
“How is it normally decided which Soul Beast a Soul Master should hunt for a Soul Ring?”
Qian Daoliu didn’t answer immediately.
Blue Luan Douluo did.
“First, the type of Martial Soul is considered.
Then the path the Soul Master will follow—power, speed, defense, control, support.
Compatible Soul Beasts are identified, along with suitable abilities, within an age range the Soul Master can endure.”
It was a much better answer than Longyu had expected.
Spirit Hall possessed centuries of accumulated knowledge.
It would be absurd for them to simply hunt whatever Soul Beast happened to be available.
“And what happens with the second Soul Ring?”
Blue Luan watched him.
“The process is repeated.”
“Is it considered how the second Soul Ring will interact with the first?”
This time, there was a pause.
“Of course,” Qian Daoliu replied.
“The abilities should complement each other.”
Longyu lightly shook his head.
“I don’t mean only the abilities.”
The room grew quieter.
Qianjun knew that expression.
It was the same one Longyu wore whenever he discovered something interesting in a book.
“Continue,” he said.
Longyu looked at his right hand.
“A Soul Ring doesn’t only give us a Soul Skill.”
“It also increases Soul Power and strengthens the Soul Master,” Qianjun replied.
“Yes.
But we are absorbing something that came from a Soul Beast into our Martial Soul.”
Longyu raised his eyes.
“What if every Soul Ring changes the Martial Soul slightly?”
No one answered immediately.
Longyu continued.
“Maybe the change is too small to notice after the first ring.
Perhaps even after the second.
But after five, six, or nine…”
He paused.
“Would it still be exactly the same Martial Soul?”
Qing Luoyue was the first among the children to understand where he was going.
“You think it matters which species all the rings come from.”
Longyu looked at her.
“I think it might.”
Might.
Not did.
He had no proof yet.
Luoyue tilted her head slightly.
“Then two people with the same Martial Soul could eventually develop it differently.”
“That’s my question.”
Jin Yue looked between them.
“Weren’t we talking about my first Soul Ring?”
“We still are,” Longyu said.
“It sounds like we’re talking about nine.”
“Exactly.”
Jin Yue frowned.
Longyu continued before she could complain.
“Why choose the first ring while thinking only about the first ability?”
Now he looked directly at her.
“Why not choose it while also considering what you want your Martial Soul to become when it has nine?”
Jin Yue stopped responding.
Golden Crocodile Douluo looked at her as well.
Longyu knew exactly what he was seeing.
Golden Crocodile.
Not Golden Crocodile King.
Not yet.
Could that change?
Longyu believed it could.
But belief was not proof.
Qian Daoliu remained silent for several seconds.
“Where did this idea come from?”
Longyu had already prepared an answer for questions like that.
“Books.”
Jiangmo laughed.
“That explains absolutely everything and nothing at the same time.”
“The books describe which Soul Beasts different Soul Masters have used,” Longyu continued.
“They also describe Martial Soul mutations and some cases of changes after cultivation.
But the information is separated.”
He looked at Qian Daoliu.
“I want to compare it.”
That was completely true.
His memories had given him the question.
Spirit Hall’s archives could provide the evidence.
Qian Daoliu seemed to consider it.
“Before obtaining your first Soul Ring?”
“Yes.”
Qianjun frowned.
“Longyu.”
“Grandfather.”
“You have Full Innate Soul Power.
As long as you remain without a Soul Ring, you cannot continue advancing normally.”
“I know.”
“Then you have no reason to delay it for too long.”
Longyu nodded.
“I don’t want to delay it for long.”
He paused.
“I want to avoid regretting the next hundred years because I refused to wait a few days.”
Qianjun fell silent.
Jiangmo looked at his brother.
“He has a point.”
“I didn’t ask you.”
“But I have a point too.”
Qianjun ignored him.
Qian Daoliu intervened.
“How much time do you want?”
Longyu thought about it.
He didn’t need months.
Spirit Hall possessed an enormous library and records from generations of Soul Masters.
He needed to identify candidates.
“One week.”
Qian Daoliu raised an eyebrow.
“Only one?”
“To form an initial hypothesis.”
That word caught Lingyu’s attention.
“Hypothesis?”
Longyu nodded.
“An explanation that still needs to be tested.”
Lingyu seemed to think about it.
Longyu continued.
“After that, we’ll need to find a suitable Soul Beast.”
“We?” Jin Yue asked.
Longyu looked at her.
“I want to study your Martial Souls too.”
“Why?”
“Because you said you wanted a strong Soul Beast.”
Jin Yue opened her mouth.
Then closed it.
Finally, she pointed at Longyu.
“You’re making that face again.”
This time, Renxue laughed.
That same afternoon, five children entered one of the Worship Hall’s internal libraries.
Longyu hadn’t expected all of them to come.
Especially Jin Yue.
She didn’t seem particularly happy about being there either.
“How long do we have to stay?”
“We just got here,” Luoyue replied.
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
Renxue walked between the shelves.
“What are we looking for?”
Longyu placed several books on a table.
“First, we need to define what we want each of your Martial Souls to do.”
Jin Yue raised a hand.
“Hit things.”
Longyu looked at her.
“You already do that.”
“Then hit things harder.”
“Surprisingly, that actually helps.”
Jin Yue smiled victoriously.
Longyu opened a notebook.
He had prepared five pages.
One for each of them.
On the first, he wrote:
Qian Lingyu — Healing Angel
Below it:
Healing.
Vitality.
Purification.
Support.
Lingyu leaned over his shoulder.
“Purification?”
“Your Martial Soul produced a sensation different from a simple healing ability.”
“How do you know it can purify?”
Longyu stopped writing.
“I don’t.”
He lightly crossed out the word.
Then wrote beside it:
Possible.
Requires verification.
Lingyu smiled.
“Better.”
Longyu moved to the next page.
Jin Yue — Golden Crocodile
Strength.
Defense.
Endurance.
Bloodline.
“What does bloodline mean?” Jin Yue asked.
“I want to investigate crocodilian Soul Beasts that possess traces of higher species.”
Golden Crocodile King.
Longyu did not write those words.
It was still too early.
Next page.
Qing Luoyue — Blue Luan
Flight.
Speed.
Wind.
Aerial perception.
Ranged attacks.
Luoyue took the notebook.
“Add maneuverability.”
Longyu did.
Then Renxue.
Qian Renxue — Six-Winged Seraph
Longyu stared at the page.
Renxue did too.
“What?”
“Your Martial Soul is problematic.”
Renxue frowned.
“Problematic?”
“It’s already too good.”
Jin Yue started laughing.
Renxue decided to accept that as a compliment.
Longyu wrote:
Light.
Sacred fire.
Purification.
Attack.
Flight.
He didn’t need to attempt to artificially evolve the Six-Winged Seraph.
That would be like trying to improve a divine sword with a hammer.
His priority with Renxue should be finding Soul Rings worthy of her and avoiding incompatible characteristics.
Finally, he reached his own page.
Qiangu Longyu — Destruction Coiling Dragon Staff
Longyu held the pencil still.
What did he want?
Power.
That was obvious.
But it wasn’t enough.
He thought of Qianjun.
Of Jiangmo.
Of the Coiling Dragon Staff.
Of the dragon he had felt awakening within his own.
And of the energy that had eroded Qianjun’s Soul Power.
He wrote:
Physical strength.
Impact power.
Breaking power.
Draconic bloodline.
Finally:
Destruction.
He wrote nothing about the Void Dragon.
It would receive no Soul Rings.
Not yet.
Renxue looked over the five pages.
“So we just have to find five Soul Beasts with all of those things.”
Longyu shook his head.
“No.”
“No?”
“First, we need to discover which characteristics can actually be transmitted through a Soul Ring.”
Longyu lifted one of the books.
Spirit Hall Soul Ring Acquisition Records — Volume XII.
He opened it.
There were names.
Martial Souls.
Hunted Soul Beasts.
Estimated ages.
Soul Skills obtained.
In some cases, there were even comments about later physical changes.
Longyu felt his heart begin to beat faster.
In his previous life, research like this would have required years of gathering information.
Spirit Hall already possessed the data.
Thousands of Soul Masters.
Decades.
Perhaps centuries.
It simply had never been organized around the question he wanted to answer.
Longyu smiled.
Renxue immediately recognized the expression.
“You found something.”
“No.”
Longyu picked up another volume.
Then another.
“I found where to look.”
Three days later, Longyu was exhausted.
And happy.
He had discovered something important.
He had also discovered that research was far more frustrating than it appeared.
The records were incomplete.
Some did not include the exact age of the Soul Beast.
Others used different names for the same species.
Some Soul Masters had exaggerated their experiences.
And worst of all, many observations had not been recorded with the questions Longyu wanted to study in mind.
But there were patterns.
Small ones.
Imperfect ones.
Interesting ones.
Soul Masters with similar Martial Souls who absorbed rings from very different Soul Beasts occasionally displayed differences later in their development.
It wasn’t enough to prove anything.
But it was enough to justify further investigation.
Luoyue proved surprisingly useful.
“These two are the same species.”
Longyu looked up.
“The names are different.”
“One is the name used in Heaven Dou.
The other appears in southern records.”
“Are you sure?”
Luoyue pointed at the descriptions.
“Same number of primary feathers.
Same chest coloration.
Same change in beak shape after five hundred years.”
Longyu looked at both pages.
Then at her.
“How do you know that?”
Luoyue looked at him as if the answer were obvious.
“I read.”
From the other side of the table, Jin Yue started laughing.
Longyu decided he probably deserved that.
Lingyu, meanwhile, was classifying cases involving support-type Soul Masters.
Renxue had lasted two days before declaring that reviewing hundreds of records was a particularly cruel form of torture.
She still came back on the third.
So did Jin Yue.
Longyu noticed.
He said nothing.
On the seventh day, Longyu returned before the Worships.
This time, he carried a notebook.
Not an answer.
Qian Daoliu received him in a smaller room.
Qianjun and Jiangmo were present.
Blue Luan and Golden Crocodile were there as well.
“Finished?” Qianjun asked.
“No.”
Qianjun looked at him.
Longyu placed the notebook on the table.
“I think it would take decades to finish.”
Jiangmo laughed.
“Finally, a reasonable answer.”
Longyu opened the notebook.
There were tables.
Soul Beast names.
Martial Souls.
Ages.
Soul Skills.
Observations.
Many of them had question marks beside them.
“I still can’t prove that Soul Rings cause a cumulative evolution of the Martial Soul.”
Qian Daoliu took the notebook.
“Then your theory failed.”
Longyu shook his head.
“Not yet.”
Qian Daoliu looked at him.
“What’s the difference?”
Longyu answered without hesitation.
“Not finding enough evidence to prove something does not prove that it is false.”
Qian Daoliu remained silent.
Then a faint smile appeared on his face.
“Continue.”
Longyu pointed toward his records.
“I found enough differences to believe it is worth investigating.
But I need years of observations and better-documented cases.”
“And your first Soul Ring?” Qianjun asked.
Longyu turned several pages.
“That, we can decide.”
He placed a sheet in front of them.
There was a list of Soul Beasts.
Not one.
Twelve.
Jiangmo raised an eyebrow.
“You want to hunt twelve?”
“I want to find one.”
Longyu pointed toward the different columns.
Compatibility.
Age.
Attribute.
Physical characteristics.
Bloodline.
Previously observed Soul Skills.
Risk.
Qianjun began reading.
Longyu explained.
“My first Soul Ring needs to strengthen the Coiling Dragon Staff, but I also want it to contribute to the direction my Martial Soul will follow in the future.”
He pointed toward three words.
Power.
Dragon.
Breaking.
“Destruction would be ideal, but I couldn’t find enough information about Soul Beasts possessing a comparable attribute.”
Qian Daoliu nodded.
“They are extremely rare.”
“Then I won’t force it.”
That was important too.
Seeking perfection could become another form of stupidity.
Longyu pointed toward the age column.
“There’s something else.”
Qianjun saw the number.
His expression changed.
“No.”
Longyu hadn’t even spoken yet.
“Grandfather.”
“No.”
Jiangmo leaned over to look.
Then he smiled.
“Six hundred years.”
“Between five hundred and fifty and six hundred and fifty,” Longyu corrected.
Qianjun stared at him.
“Four hundred years already represents considerable risk for a first Soul Ring.”
“I know.”
“Then you know why the answer is no.”
Longyu didn’t back down.
“I know why it would normally be no.”
Qianjun narrowed his eyes.
Longyu opened another section of the notebook.
This one did not contain information about Soul Beasts.
It contained information about him.
Weight.
Height.
Running time.
Number of exercises.
Recovery.
Strength tests adapted to his age.
Jiangmo stopped smiling.
“When did you do all this?”
“Over the last few months.”
Qianjun looked at his grandson.
Longyu pointed at the data.
“My body is more resilient than that of an average child my age.
My Martial Soul also seems to strengthen it when manifested.”
“That doesn’t prove you can withstand six hundred years.”
“No.”
Longyu closed the notebook.
“That’s why I want to test it before attempting the absorption.”
Qian Daoliu rested his fingers against the table.
“How?”
Longyu took a moment before answering.
“I don’t know yet.”
That answer seemed to surprise them more than any of the others.
Longyu continued.
“We need a way to evaluate how much stress my body can withstand before I absorb the ring.
If we cannot reasonably demonstrate that I can endure it, I’ll choose a younger one.”
Qianjun’s expression relaxed slightly.
That, at least, he was willing to hear.
“And if we determine that you can withstand it…”
Longyu looked once again at the number written on the page.
550–650 years.
“Then I want to try.”
Silence.
Finally, Qian Daoliu closed the notebook.
“Three days.”
Longyu blinked.
“What?”
“You will have three days to conduct whatever tests you consider necessary.
Qianjun and a Healing Soul Master will supervise every one of them.”
Longyu opened his mouth.
Qian Daoliu raised a hand.
“If either of them determines that the risk is excessive, you will absorb a Soul Ring within the conventional limit.”
Longyu thought for several seconds.
It was reasonable.
“I accept.”
Qianjun sighed.
He was probably already regretting teaching his grandson how to read.
Jiangmo, on the other hand, looked delighted.
“Then only one question remains.”
Longyu looked at him.
“Which one?”
Jiangmo picked up the list of Soul Beasts.
“Which of these poor creatures will have the misfortune of becoming your first ring?”
Longyu lowered his gaze toward the twelve candidates.
Until that moment, obtaining a Soul Ring had always seemed simple from a distance.
Find a beast.
Defeat it.
Absorb the ring.
Now he understood that the truly important part happened before the hunt.
Choosing.
Because if his hypothesis was correct, that decision would not determine only his first Soul Skill.
It would be the first stone of something much greater.
Longyu picked up his notebook again.
His first Soul Ring did not exist yet.
His theory had not been proven either.
And he didn’t even know whether he could truly withstand the age he was proposing.
But for the first time since his awakening, he had something more valuable than an answer.
He had a method to find it.