"In the library at Nuoding City, there's a book titled The Legend of Li Xing," Zhou Qing said.
The content of that book details the cultivation and adventures of a soul master named Li Xing.
Before dying of old age, this soul master only reached Rank 33 in spirit power just a Soul Elder but his first three spirit rings all came from the same kind of soul beast, one that shared the same type as his martial soul.
His martial soul was a Lone Wolf, closely related to Su Yuntao's Solitary Wolf.
Lone Wolves, as soul beasts, possess only three skills before reaching the thousand-year level: Pounce, Claw Strike, and Bite.
Only after reaching a thousand years do they gain wind-elemental powers, such as Wind Blade.
Li Xing's first three rings all came from Lone Wolves, though the exact years are unknown. The color distribution was white-yellow-yellow, indicating all were under a thousand years.
"So his three soul skills were just Pounce, Claw Strike, and Bite?" Tang San asked in surprise. "Wouldn't that cause skill overlap?"
"Cases like Li Xing's are rare, but not unheard of," Zhou Qing explained. "That's why I believe most martial souls can instinctively detect whether a soul ring's skill would duplicate an existing one."
"As soul masters grow, their martial souls evolve too—and since martial souls possess a kind of soul or consciousness, it's likely they can reject redundant skills."
"The key may be at the moment the soul beast is killed—its energy becomes infused with the soul master's aura? I'm not sure…"
"But this process doesn't seem to be something the soul master can consciously control."
Tang San marveled, "Martial souls are truly mysterious. But if the soul master has no say, then Xiao Wu's second soul skill—is it really guaranteed to be Chest Bow?"
After all, skills like Teleportation, Intangibility, and Invincible Golden Body are only unlocked by ten-thousand-year Soft Bone Rabbits. Xiao Wu couldn't access them yet.
Other possible skills, like Sprint or Charm, might still appear as her second ring's skill.
So how could they be sure Chest Bow would appear?
[How should I know? Maybe it's because Xiao Wu was originally a 100,000-year soul beast who transformed into a human. She might be able to draw directly from her "skill list" and, under the influence of the world's laws, anchor the skill into her soul ring.]
But Zhou Qing didn't say this aloud. Instead, he used Xiao Wu's mysterious background as a cover: "Xiao Wu clearly isn't an ordinary commoner. Maybe her family has some secret technique to select soul skills."
After a moment of silence, Tang San had no choice but to accept this theory.
Even without mentioning how unlikely it was for a peasant to have such delicate looks, the fact that Xiao Wu insisted her first six rings must come from Soft Bone Rabbits already proved her identity was unusual.
Soul power cultivation in this world all originates from martial souls, which makes the foundation rather weak. Still, Tang San wasn't arrogant—he knew that noble families or sects might have developed secret methods related to martial souls and soul rings.
But such things must never be asked about—otherwise, it would raise suspicion…
---
The next day, Romantina returned to Nuoding Academy.
With the help of the Skydream Iceworm, Tang San was the first to complete a second refinement of his soul ring. On his yellow soul ring, patterns of silver-tinged blue Wolf Howl Grass leaves emerged.
When activating his soul skill, stalks and tufts of fur-textured patterns grew from the ring's center to form a soul disc.
The skill's power significantly increased, and the vitality it stored had also grown, enhancing his Mysterious Jade Hand to about 53–54% effectiveness.
This proved the soul ring was now evolving along with the Blue Silver Grass!
---
Next was Xiao Wu.
After understanding the Skydream Iceworm's capabilities, Xiao Wu entered a meditative state. Using the Iceworm's shared vision of the connection between her martial soul and soul ring, she began carefully linking the delicate threads of energy between them.
To her surprise, she discovered that about half of the connection threads were already intact—only the remaining half were unstable or loosely attached.
[Looks like I have a big advantage when it comes to soul ring refinement.] Xiao Wu thought proudly.
But once she connected the rest, something unexpected happened—
A strange force surged from the soul ring, entered her martial soul—the Soft Bone Rabbit—and then flowed into her meridians, finally arriving in her spine.
Boom!
Xiao Wu's soul power surged, rising directly to Rank 14!
To Zhou Qing and Tang San's eyes, Xiao Wu's entire body turned crimson, as if being roasted by fire. Her spine glowed bright red, and the energy spread outward as if it would incinerate every bone in her body.
"What's going on?" Tang San asked. "Did something like this happen to me during my refinement?"
"No," Zhou Qing replied, shaking his head.
So why did it happen to Xiao Wu?
Could it be linked to her identity as a 100,000-year soul beast?
They didn't know.
But the Skydream Iceworm—controlling Romantina's body—noticed the truth: During the refinement, a portion of the Soft Bone Rabbit's original bloodline returned to Xiao Wu.
When a 100,000-year soul beast takes human form, it sheds all its beastly traits. Its body becomes human, its power sealed inside, to be used for future ring formation.
Though the new body is human, leftover energy might leak out, attracting the attention of high-level soul masters.
The process of condensing soul rings slowly peels away the soul beast's bloodline from the sealed power.
But now, thanks to the complete re-connection between her soul ring and martial soul, the bloodline that was stripped away during her first soul ring formation re-entered Xiao Wu's body. It spread through her meridians and spine, embedding itself into every cell.
Meaning—
Xiao Wu could no longer be considered a transformed human.
She had now become a Soft Bone Rabbit in human form.
[Is this like how fierce beasts take on human shape?]
The Skydream Iceworm shook its head. That wasn't quite it.
Beasts who take human form are still beasts at heart—just wearing a human exterior.
Xiao Wu, however, had a human body into which she reintegrated her soul beast bloodline.
In that sense, she was no longer just human—nor just a soul beast.
She was now something new.
Something unique.
Not quite like Tang San, who was fully human but inherited the Blue Silver Emperor bloodline from his mother, Ah Yin.
Xiao Wu's situation resembled mythical hybrids: like half-wolf rogues, or dragon-maidens a true fusion of beast and human.