"From this perspective, I'm certain that no Soul Master across the entire continent has fully 'grafted' the soul skill from their soul rings onto their own Martial Soul."
Zhou Qing laid out a simple comparison and summary between "grafting a new peach tree variety onto an existing peach tree" and "a Martial Soul acquiring soul rings," concluding, "If you want to completely graft the skill from a soul ring onto your Martial Soul, the prerequisite is that the hunted soul beast must have a very strong affinity with your own Martial Soul."
"For example, a peach tree can only be grafted with other peach tree varieties. Other species like plum trees or apple trees? Needless to say, it would definitely fail one hundred percent."
Tang San agreed with this idea but soon raised a question: "My Blue Silver Grass is a plant-type Martial Soul, but the Martial Soul itself isn't truly a plant. Maybe the range of compatible plant soul beasts is broader, but what about my Heaven Hammer? What kind of soul ring should I choose for that?"
Soul beasts come in animal types, plant types, and some even have shells embedded with special gems or ores—but surely none look exactly like a hammer, right?
"Do you remember when I analyzed the difference between soul skills and skills like Ghost Shadow Maze and Mysterious Jade Hand back in Saint Soul Village?" Zhou Qing asked.
"I remember—that is—"
Tang San paused, then realized the key point: "Soul skills exist inside the soul ring. Every time you use a soul skill, the soul ring lights up, containing the route of soul energy flow, much like my Mysterious Jade Hand—but that flow exists outside the body, inside the soul ring... the meridians!"
"Exactly!"
Zhou Qing said excitedly, "Your Mysterious Jade Hand is a self-created soul skill. The corresponding soul energy flow routes are inside your hands."
"Whereas the soul skill's energy flow routes inside the soul ring exist within the ring itself. So to use the skill, you have to inject soul energy into the soul ring, and the skill can only be activated through the Martial Soul. However, through years of using the Martial Soul, the soul master's soul energy should carry the Martial Soul's attributes. You having two different Martial Souls and two different attribute groups of soul energy is proof."
"A self-created soul skill's energy flow is connected to your overall soul energy cultivation system, or in other words, inside the body's large circulation system. That's why its power can increase as you train."
"However, the soul energy flow routes in the soul ring are not the same system as the body's meridians, so using a soul ring's skill requires your soul energy to connect with the Martial Soul first, then be injected into the soul ring... Although most soul masters activate their soul ring skills within a second, analyzing the process shows the soul energy truly has to pass through three checkpoints: soul master → Martial Soul → soul ring."
Three checkpoints?
That was a bit complicated. Tang San asked eagerly, "So if we connect our own meridians with the soul energy flow routes inside the soul ring, can we bypass the Martial Soul and use the skill directly? And can the soul ring's duration also continuously increase?"
"It should be about grafting the soul ring onto the Martial Soul, not directly connecting the soul ring to the body's meridians," Zhou Qing shook his head. "The only way we can use soul beast skills is by relying on the Martial Soul. Humans themselves do not possess those soul beast traits; we borrow the Martial Soul to obtain soul rings to make up for what we lack."
"Since ancient times, humanity has always been like this. Only by doing so can humans develop."
From this perspective, the Martial Soul is indeed a tool, and a very convenient and efficient one. But during cultivation, a soul master cannot treat the Martial Soul as just a tool to be used at will, because the Martial Soul has its own instincts, even a kind of soul.
Tang San was more concerned with how to achieve a perfect graft between soul ring and Martial Soul.
"I have an idea: the Martial Soul itself must have a unique soul energy flow system for its growth. This is different from what I mentioned about the Martial Soul transmitting soul energy cultivation methods during meditation. This should be more like the Martial Soul independently evolving, based on the human meridians, in order to grow..."
From this angle, Zhou Qing treated the Martial Soul as a true independent life form. Whether it possesses intelligence or not is another matter, but it certainly has the ability to modify the body to better suit itself. Zhou Qing, however, put this thought aside, as continuing in this direction made the Martial Soul sound like a parasite living inside the human body.
For example, the Bright Goddess Butterfly Martial Soul isn't passed down by bloodline but chooses beautiful women on the continent. That alone makes it hard not to suspect...
"But Martial Souls must have their own unique soul energy flow system, probably complementary to the cultivation methods they provide us, allowing better use of them, or rather, mutual cooperation."
"After all, when we activate soul ring skills, we have to go through the Martial Soul as a medium. What we need to do is sense the energy flow routes inside the Martial Soul and find a way to perfectly 'graft' those routes with the routes inside the soul ring. Perhaps then, the soul rings produced by soul beasts can become a complete part of the Martial Soul, evolving together with its growth."
At this point, Zhou Qing didn't let Tang San try it first. Instead, he sat cross-legged and began experimenting himself.
"Qing Ge, should I try it?"
Tang San felt tempted.
"No, I need to do it because I'm the one who proposed the theory. I must experiment myself first before others can proceed. It's a responsibility to myself and others." Zhou Qing shook his head, asking Tang San to help guard while he sank his consciousness into the Spiritual Sea...
"Qing Ge, you will surely become the greatest Martial Soul theorist!"
Having spent so much time with Zhou Qing, Tang San deeply admired his intelligence, diligence, and courage. If a person like him can't succeed, then no one can.
Zhou Qing could sink into the Spiritual Sea thanks to the powerful Innate Meridian Diagram, which gave him early access to spiritual power. The so-called Spiritual Sea is actually the Upper Dantian.
The Innate Meridian Diagram is based on three passes and nine orifices, connecting the entire body's meridians and acupoints. The Upper Dantian is located between the eyes, controlling "Yi" (intention), and is the "gateway" for the spirit, also called the "door of life and death." Once this orifice is open, one can enter their own inner world—an even broader spiritual realm including the Spiritual Sea.
Zhou Qing's spirit carefully sensed the rhythm of his Martial Soul and discovered that its blood circulation system operated differently from the Innate Meridian Diagram.
It functioned exactly like the real blood circulation system: starting from the heart's pumping action, pushing blood through contraction and relaxation, circulating throughout the body.
"Next, the soul ring!"
Zhou Qing's spirit concentrated again and found the soul ring. He realized it did not merge completely with the Martial Soul but hovered on its edge, connected by some invisible force that could transfer soul energy.
"No wonder in the original story, when Tang San revived Xiao Wu, the soul ring could be expelled—that's because the connection between the soul ring and Martial Soul was severed."
"Ordinary soul masters would certainly damage their Martial Soul if they dared to do this, but Tang San is different. The Blue Silver Emperor has strong vitality, and most of his cultivation is in Xuantian Gong. Plus, he has another Martial Soul, and in the original story, he also endured the Nine Trials of the Sea God. The power of the deity, the light of the Sea God, can absolutely repair the damage..."
"Next, let me take a closer look at the patterns inside the soul ring!"