Rose Hotel.
Room 1704.
Wu Tong entered directly after the door opened. The entire soul hunting team was already present.
"Yo, little Wu Tong is here! Come on, come on, you haven't eaten yet, right? Let's eat first, then talk."
As soon as Wu Tu saw Wu Tong, he walked up enthusiastically and threw an arm around him in a friendly embrace.
Wu Tong tried to dodge, but as a mere rank-13, there was no escaping the grip of a rank-50 Soul King. To someone like Wu Tu, Wu Tong might as well have been a child.
Sure enough, he was pulled right in. A mix of sweat and strong alcohol rushed into his nose.
"Uncle Wu Tu, how much did you drink? You smell like you were fished out of a wine barrel."
"Not much, not much. Come, let's eat."
Wu Tu laughed awkwardly and steered the conversation away, hurrying Wu Tong to sit and eat.
After three rounds of drinks and a full meal, the group gathered around the table for discussion.
Wu Tong began flipping through the information they'd prepared about soul beasts for Mu Lan's next soul ring.
Starveil Bamboo. A healing-type plant soul beast. Its entire body was a translucent blue with speckled white marks, resembling a starry night sky. It had no offensive ability whatsoever, but its healing capacity was outstanding. The sap it produced could treat all kinds of internal and external injuries, with potency increasing by age.
"Starveil Bamboo... most likely grants healing abilities. But that would overlap with her second soul skill. Pass."
Mu Lan's second skill was Melody of Healing, which already focused on recovery. No need to double up.
He flipped to the next page.
Moonlight Cicada. A flying-type beast with a silver-white body, like it was sculpted from moonlight. Its wings were paper-thin yet held enough power to tear through the air. It shimmered with moonlight essence, and each flap carried streaks of silver as it raced through the sky at incredible speeds.
"Very fitting, might grant a speed-enhancing soul skill. But there's no way we can hunt it. A thousand-year Moonlight Cicada is fast enough to leave Soul Emperors in the dust. We couldn't catch it. Pass."
Without even reading the full entry, Wu Tong let out a wry laugh and moved on.
Shadow Fiend. Known as the emissary of the night. Humanoid, clad in dark blue-violet scale armor, light and nimble like a ghost. Its pointed ears could catch even the faintest sounds—breathing, movement, danger—nothing escaped its detection.
"This one's more suited to agility-type soul masters. No idea who added it. Might provide a speed boost, but they're too rare. Too hard to find. Pass."
Next.
Purity Soul Jade Lotus. A plant-type soul beast. Capable of purifying all negative effects.
"This one's good. Let's keep it as a backup option."
He scratched his chin and set it aside.
Next.
Yunlan Tree. A plant-type soul beast.
"Not a good match. But its companion species, the Mountain-Lifting Ant, could be useful. Might offer strength amplification. The attributes don't quite align, but we'll keep it in reserve too."
...
After going through the entire stack, Wu Tong let out a long sigh.
There was no doubt they'd put real effort into it. The list was full of amplification-focused soul beasts. It was clear the team cared and had prepared well.
But the logic behind their choices was still stuck in traditional Douluo Continent soul hunting habits.
All their thinking revolved around strength.
No one had considered depth.
Wu Tong let out a helpless sigh, rubbed his head, and began explaining his thoughts.
"Listen to me, everyone. Choosing soul rings must be done with extreme caution. After all, an ordinary person only gets nine chances in their lifetime. Every soul ring matters, and there's no room for recklessness."
"I've looked through the beasts you selected. A few are barely suitable, but most don't match Sister Mu Lan's Moonlight Melody Zither at all."
He spoke up and gathered everyone's attention before continuing bluntly.
"Little Brother Wu Tong, what do you mean by 'match'? Isn't the point just to pick a soul beast based on what soul skill it gives?"
Wu Tu asked, confused why soul beast selection needed to involve anything else.
"'Match' is a term I came up with. It refers to the unique characteristics of a soul beast. In other words, it's a definition based on the beast's properties, strengths, and habits. And this doesn't only apply to soul beasts. Every Martial Soul has its own traits too."
Wu Tong then introduced the theory he had developed while compiling information during his work on cultivation methods. He called it the Martial Soul Evolution Theory.
The core idea was that by selecting soul rings from soul beasts that compensated for the Martial Soul's weaknesses or enhanced its existing strengths, one could push the Martial Soul to evolve.
"We all know that our Martial Soul is part of our body, but soul rings aren't. They're foreign attachments. So I believe that while they help us break through, they also influence our Martial Soul."
"That's why choosing soul rings must account for how well they align with our Martial Soul's traits. Otherwise, blindly absorbing soul rings will dilute the Martial Soul's purity and limit our potential."
"From now on, when choosing soul rings, everyone should think about what the core trait of their Martial Soul is. Use that as the foundation, and then seek to enhance it. That's how you go farther on the path of cultivation."
"For example—my Martial Soul is the brain. What's the first thing that comes to mind when I say 'brain'?"
"Smart people?" "Intelligence?" "A genius?" the others replied, offering their guesses.
"Exactly. Most of what you said relates to wisdom and intelligence. That's what I thought too."
"So I decided to focus on developing that aspect. That became the defining trait of my Martial Soul. Things like mental power were secondary."
"That's why the soul rings I chose came from soul beasts that helped enhance my intelligence."
Wu Tong saw that everyone's answers lined up with his thinking, so he continued.
"Also, you can't just look at a beast's skills or the ring itself. Pay attention to its distinctive traits too. Since the ring comes from the beast, it carries a part of its nature. If used correctly, these traits could lead to breakthroughs in our Martial Soul."
"Over time, enough accumulation might trigger a transformation—a qualitative leap."
"Martial Soul evolution?!"
Everyone interrupted him at once, voices filled with disbelief.
"That's right. If you choose the right soul beast, your Martial Soul can become stronger. Mine already went through one successful enhancement."
The moment Wu Tong said that, excitement flared in their eyes.
If this were just a theory, maybe they'd be curious, nothing more.
But Wu Tong had already made it happen.
That meant the theory wasn't just theory—it was real.
Everyone's curiosity exploded. They couldn't wait to hear what had actually changed in Wu Tong's Martial Soul.
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