I've also recently started a new translation, please check it out and show your support! Douluo: AFKing to Become a God
------------------------------------------------------
Xu Yuan looked at the dagger and let out a slight exclamation of admiration.
Although he hadn't yet witnessed the abilities of this dagger firsthand, just from its appearance, Xu Yuan could roughly gauge that its strength was comparable to some of the top-tier martial souls on the continent.
"No wonder it's the product of two fused martial souls."
The spirit fusion skill had directly compensated for Xie Xie's disadvantage in his martial soul.
Now, Xie Xie could be considered a genius whose martial soul was among the top-ranked on the continent.
Xie Xie scratched his head and said, "This is all thanks to you. Otherwise, I wouldn't have known that after my martial soul re-fused, it would reach such great strength. With the fusion of light and dark elements, my Light-Shadow Dagger gained the ability to somewhat control space."
Control space?
Xu Yuan's eyes flickered.
To prevent Xu Yuan from overthinking, Xie Xie quickly elaborated further.
"It's not controlling space power—there's still a big gap compared to Luo Guixing's abilities. It's just that my martial soul has the ability to immobilize space, which can restrict opponents during an ambush."
Although it wasn't controlling space itself, it was still a very powerful ability. Xu Yuan praised him again.
"For an Agility soul master, isn't this kind of enemy-controlling ability practically a divine skill?"
Agility soul masters were generally assassins. Without weakening the assassin's stats—in fact, even enhancing their stats and mechanics—adding a way to control enemies was like an epic-level upgrade.
"The Light-Shadow Dagger—is it because it inherits both light and dark attributes?"
"Yes. My previous Light Dragon Dagger and Shadow Dragon Dagger skills have been perfectly fused into the Light-Shadow Dagger. Combined with my development of combination skills for the two martial souls, the fused soul skill is now realized in the form of fusing both light and dark elemental powers. Of course, it can also be used with a single elemental attribute."
When opposing elements burst simultaneously, the resulting power was immense.
Although Xie Xie had previously been able to use his two martial souls together to unleash combination skills with two attributes, the energy consumption was enormous. Now, with the direct fusion of soul skills, he only needed to activate them.
The saved energy could be entirely used to condense and compress soul power, resulting in stronger bursts.
"Your martial soul fusion is excellent. The ability to derive space-immobilizing capabilities is proof. Let me take a look at your spirit soul."
As instructed by Xu Yuan, Xie Xie summoned his metal spirit soul.
Fused with his Light-Shadow Dagger and having undergone mutations, this metal spirit soul had taken the shape of a dagger. However, its form was still quite rough. Although it was surrounded by a faint dragon aura, it was indistinct. The entire spirit soul lacked any intricate dragon patterns and was merely a rough dagger-shaped prototype.
"If you're determined to shed your dragon lineage, the Blood Tempering Pool in the Hell Plane should suit you."
"The Hell Plane? Blood Tempering Pool?"
Although Shrek had established cooperation and exchanges with the Hell Plane, there was no obligation for the Hell side to disclose all their opportunities to Shrek. Na'er learned about the Blood Tempering Pool while traveling in the Hell Plane and heard rumors of the Lord of Hell abolishing demon bloodlines there. She then borrowed this theory to assist in using the pool to strip bloodlines.
Xie Xie's eyes lit up.
Since it was recommended by Xu Yuan, the effectiveness of using it to strip bloodlines should be exceptional.
"Of course, your biggest problem should be your sixth soul ring," Xu Yuan said.
Xie Xie snapped back to reality and forced a bitter smile.
Indeed, his greatest challenge now was how to obtain his sixth soul ring.
If he followed Xu Yuan's path, who knew how many lifetimes it would take for his metal spirit soul to generate a sixth soul ring?
Not everyone had the ability to add new capabilities to their spirit souls like Xu Yuan did.
Every transformation of Jue wasn't just a simple integration of a certain metallic attribute; it also required Xu Yuan's earlier groundwork and the initial mutation that laid the foundation.
Jue initially fused with the Dark Golden Terrorclaw Bear, gaining its abilities and deriving the third soul skill, the Piercing Spear. Later, under the personal guidance of the Ancient Gold Tree, it fused with Life Metal, acquiring the fourth soul skill, the Flame of Life.
Afterward, the fifth soul ring came from Xu Yuan's own mutation—or rather, the second awakening of his martial soul—which possessed the power of Blood Essence Metal.
From then on, Xu Yuan fully understood Jue's advancement system.
The sixth soul ring was his first attempt, fusing Thunder Metal.
Of course, this fusion of Thunder Metal couldn't have happened without Xu Yuan's deep prior insights into thunder, especially his Thunder Body Refinement Method, which made his body highly compatible and resistant to thunder power. This premise was the root cause of Jue's ability to condense Thunder Metal.
Xie Xie was different.
His metal spirit soul wasn't even a Blood Essence spirit soul.
His martial soul wasn't a Blood Essence martial soul either.
In this situation, Xu Yuan's path wasn't something he could replicate.
"My path isn't suitable for you, but you can forge your own."
Xu Yuan didn't dismiss Xie Xie's path due to his circumstances.
He was flexible in thinking, combining Xie Xie's cultivation experiences, and offered him a solution.
"You shouldn't let my path constrain you. I know you want to replicate my path of taking one spirit soul and one martial soul to their limits. In fact, for us weapon martial soul masters, this is an alternative form of extremity—a theoretically optimal solution, but also potentially the worst."
What could a single spirit soul add to a martial soul?
If you couldn't continually integrate powerful methods into the spirit soul to enhance the martial soul's skills or lay a foundation in a particular direction, persisting with one spirit soul would be garbage.
Rather than that, it was better to have multiple spirit souls.
"Unless there are special circumstances, perhaps three to four spirit souls of the same type would be a good choice. For example, a blade-type martial soul could fuse with three dagger-shaped spirit souls, allowing each spirit soul to grant the soul master different soul skills. That's a decent option."
"Is that so?"
Seeing Xie Xie lost in thought, Xu Yuan interrupted his train of thought.
Don't go off on wild tangents.
I haven't even gotten to your situation yet.
"And you, Xie Xie—you have special circumstances. Your spirit soul has already undergone fusion, so you might try fusing with different metal spirit souls."
"Fusing with different metal spirit souls?"
"Yes. Fuse with another metal spirit soul. After obtaining the new spirit soul's soul ring, try to have your current spirit soul fuse with the new metal spirit soul."
Xie Xie's eyes brightened.
This way, he could continue following Xu Yuan's path while solving his own problems.
Though whether the fusion would succeed was uncertain, at least it gave him a direction.
"Of course, this approach comes with a significant issue: the strength of the spirit soul." Xu Yuan said, "Metal spirit souls are already a relatively weak area. Among the Spirit Pagoda's metal spirit souls, I don't know if there are any dagger-type metal spirit souls. Even whether there are any ready-made metal spirit souls now is questionable. If you wait for the Spirit Pagoda to create a new spirit soul for you, the new spirit soul's age will be very low, and you won't be able to choose one with too high an age."
A low-age spirit soul lacks wisdom, and even instinct may be absent—it's just a faint gathering of spirituality.
This was a unique characteristic of metal spirit souls.
Hundred-year spirit souls.
If you fuse with a new spirit soul for the sixth soul ring, but the spirit soul is only a hundred years old, it would be a unique case on the continent.
Xu Yuan himself couldn't imagine that scene.
Black, black, black, black, black, yellow!
Laughable.
Xie Xie's expression of delight froze.
Beside him, Feng Wuyu also wore an incredulous expression.
He was mentally picturing the scene Xu Yuan described.
It was too beautiful—a sight too absurd to imagine.
"And the fusion of spirit souls would need to balance the ages as well. How would you adjust the ages of your soul rings afterward? These are things to consider," Xu Yuan continued.
"Of course, there are still advantages to this approach. You can solve the issue of spiritual power in an unconventional way. As long as your spiritual power reaches the Spirit Abyss Realm, you can fuse with another spirit soul in each of the sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth soul ring positions."
Five spirit souls fusing into one.
No, strictly speaking, six spirit souls fusing into one.
Xie Xie took a deep breath.
"Xu Yuan, I trust you."
His current path was forged under Xu Yuan's inspiration, and now he could only believe in Xu Yuan.
And even if the newly fused spirit soul was only a hundred years old, what of it?
He could still cultivate it further.
It would just require more resources.
But if he was willing to invest the resources, it definitely wouldn't be a problem.
"That works. If you take this path, I suggest that the spirit souls in the sixth, eighth, and ninth soul ring positions possess different abilities. They don't necessarily have to be metal spirit souls. You can also choose other spirit souls without intelligence, such as unintelligent plant-type soul beasts with soul beast characteristics."
Some plant-type soul beasts could already produce soul rings, but their spirituality hadn't yet condensed, and they lacked wisdom.
Representative examples were the low-age plant-type soul beasts within the Ice-Fire Yin Yang Well. Most had only grown for several decades but had cultivation equivalent to hundreds of years, yet they had no wisdom at all.
Xu Yuan's words undoubtedly eased Xie Xie's concerns.
There was still a wide range of spirit souls to choose from.
"Aren't you a member of the Tang Sect? You can try applying for a hundred-year immortal herb within the Ice-Fire Yin Yang Well."
Hundred-year?
Immortal herb?
The combination of these two words caused even Feng Wuyu's mind to freeze.
Ordinary medicinal herb-type soul beasts could be considered immortal herbs once they reached the hundred-thousand-year level.
However, for something to be called an immortal herb at just a hundred years, only a few particularly powerful varieties qualified.
For instance, the Infernal Delicate Apricot, Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass, and a few other immortal herbs that once shone brightly in the history of Douluo Continent.
But even immortal herbs freshly rooted in the Ice-Fire Yin Yang Well probably wouldn't be just a hundred years old, right?
"The specific age still depends on your judgment. Try to ensure the new spirit soul has no intelligence. Otherwise, fusing two intelligent beings would unnecessarily increase the difficulty."
Just like Na'er and Gu Yue, even though Gu Yue constantly shared memories with Na'er, unimaginable resistance still arose.
Even in the original story, their fusion faced resistance—they were ultimately two separate individuals.
"I understand."
"For the seventh soul ring spirit soul, try to fuse with a true dagger-type spirit soul." Xu Yuan finally suggested.
Xie Xie thought for a moment and nodded seriously.
It made sense.
The seventh soul ring was a crucial position. Fusing a true dagger-type spirit soul here would be decisive.
This suggestion fully convinced Xie Xie of Xu Yuan's unique insights into martial soul development.
This kind of thinking was truly imaginative.
Perhaps it was precisely because of this that Xu Yuan once had the idea of splitting the martial soul into two forms, creating the unique Three-Life Martial Soul?
---
Xu Yuan left.
Feng Wuyu looked at Xie Xie and couldn't help asking, "Are you really going to follow the direction Xiao Yuan suggested?"
Fusing a hundred-year spirit soul for the sixth soul ring—if this suggestion came from anyone else, it would practically be akin to ruining Xie Xie.
But this was Xu Yuan's suggestion.
"Elder Feng, I've already given up my twin martial soul. Giving up a high-age spirit soul isn't much either. Moreover, my first five soul rings have already provided me with sufficient strength."
Five black ten-thousand-year soul rings had already given him the soul ring strength equivalent to a normal nine-ringed Title Douluo.
"And the most crucial point..."
Xie Xie hesitated before saying, "The most crucial point is that my body can't handle more high-age soul rings."
A look of helplessness appeared on his face.
Why hadn't he just broken everything and started over?
He wasn't just trapped by Xu Yuan's path—he was also limited by his physical condition.
Five ten-thousand-year soul rings were already extremely exaggerated for an Agility soul master.
He only had five soul rings, and all five were ten-thousand-year rings. Such a case had never existed in the history of Douluo Continent.
The reason Xie Xie could achieve this was due to spirit soul fusion.
His ten-thousand-year soul rings were like exploiting a bug. By advancing through spirit soul fusion, his soul rings underwent a strange reaction during the process, causing his five soul rings to advance to ten-thousand-year levels without the pressure typically associated with five ten-thousand-year soul rings.
What attracted Xie Xie most about Xu Yuan's suggestion was the fusion of spirit souls.
Fusing spirit souls might be his only way to continue obtaining high-age soul rings. He just needed to first equip low-age soul rings and then use fusion to achieve an upgrade.
Feng Wuyu was momentarily speechless.
"I told you not to be stubborn. I tried to persuade you before to fuse with a new spirit soul and even promised to find you a few powerful high-age spirit souls, but you weren't interested."
Xie Xie gave an awkward laugh.
What could he do?
"Sigh, a hundred-year immortal herb… Given my status in the Tang Sect, I should still be able to help you apply for it. But you'll need to decide what type of immortal herb you want. And whether the Tang Sect has the corresponding immortal herb is another matter."
"Elder Feng, I'll work hard to complete missions and exchange for an immortal herb spirit soul myself," Xie Xie waved his hand, looking overwhelmed by the favor.
"The immortal herbs inside the Ice-Fire Yin Yang Well are the roots of the Tang Sect. At your level, it'll take forever for you to get access to them," Feng Wuyu said irritably.
"In that case, I'll trouble you, Elder Feng."
"If it weren't for seeing how hard you've worked these years, I wouldn't bother with you," Feng Wuyu said and immediately left to figure out information about immortal herb spirit souls for Xie Xie.
------------------------------------------------------
40+ Chapters Ahead Guaranteed: patreon.com/EphemeralShadow
There's something for free patrons too! Free Patrons receive 1 chapter in advance :)