Before beginning the absorption process, Chen Ming deliberately dug a small pit nearby with his claws and concealed himself inside it. Through a narrow gap, guided by the faint pull of the Spirit Ring, he carefully drew it toward himself from a distance.
The process of absorbing the Spirit Ring went far more smoothly than he had expected.
His physical condition was already stronger than that of an ordinary Spirit Master who had just obtained their first ring. On top of that, he possessed a structured internal cultivation method and could activate his AI-like thinking, allowing for rapid, multi-threaded analysis.
Under such conditions, the burden of absorbing the Spirit Ring—whether physical or mental—was reduced to an extremely low level.
However, during the process, as the Spirit Ring fused with his origin and the power of its bloodline gradually integrated with his Martial Soul to form a soul skill, Chen Ming faintly sensed something deeper through his heightened awareness.
Soul skills obtained from Spirit Rings were not entirely fixed.
In most cases, due to subtle individual differences, even Spirit Masters with the same Martial Soul who absorbed rings from the same type of Spirit Beast would only gain abilities within the same general category—such as attack, defense, amplification, or control. The exact strength and expression of the skill, however, would vary slightly.
Only in extremely rare cases would two individuals obtain identical skills.
This was why some rogue Spirit Masters might, by sheer luck, acquire an excellent soul skill—yet their descendants would fail to inherit the same ability. There was an uncontrollable variable hidden within the process.
Only large, long-established families—those with vast numbers of lower-level Spirit Masters and enough accumulated experimentation—could reliably stabilize the acquisition of soul skills.
Even then, such stability generally only applied to the first three rings. As the age of Spirit Rings increased and a Spirit Master's personal tendencies became more pronounced, the unpredictability of the resulting skills also grew.
Different combinations of Spirit Masters and Spirit Beasts affected the outcome, and sometimes even extreme emotional states could alter the nature of the resulting ability.
But Chen Ming was different.
With the aid of his AI-driven cognition—capable of parallel thinking and high-speed calculation—he could subtly adjust his own state and "wavelength," influencing the formation of the soul skill. While he couldn't fully control the outcome, he could at least guide its category and push the randomness toward a more favorable range.
Attack? Defense? Control? Amplification?
His choice was obvious.
Amplification.
Compared to the others, enhancement-type abilities had far greater long-term value.
Under Chen Ming's indirect influence, the soul skill being imprinted within the ring was constrained—its category locked firmly into amplification—while the range of its potential outcomes was pushed toward the upper end.
Although he still didn't know the exact species of the Spirit Beast he had absorbed, it was clearly of higher quality than he had initially expected. Its draconic bloodline was relatively pure, and its compatibility with his Martial Soul was quite high.
With all these factors combined, the soul skill gradually took shape, and the absorption process finally came to an end.
Feeling the newly formed ability within himself, Chen Ming slowly opened his eyes and gave a small nod.
"Not bad."
"First Soul Skill: Earth's Blessing. It increases my defense by fifty percent and boosts my earth attribute by another fifty percent, while also generating a protective barrier. It doesn't directly enhance my offensive power, but it indirectly raises my destructive capability—and the defensive boost is excellent."
The Heavy Armored Earth Dragon was already a Martial Soul that specialized in defense and endurance. When its natural defensive traits combined with the amplified earth attribute, the result wasn't merely additive—it was multiplicative.
In practical terms, the increase was far greater than a simple fifty percent. With the addition of the protective barrier, the overall enhancement easily exceeded a doubling of his survivability.
Moreover, although Chen Ming currently lacked any direct earth-element attack techniques, this kind of elemental enhancement would prove invaluable in the future.
Even without acquiring a specific soul skill, once his Spirit Power increased further, developing abilities like earth spears, stone projectiles, or defensive walls would be almost effortless for him.
While the raw amplification might not seem overwhelmingly high, for a hundred-year soul skill, it was already considered top-tier.
Furthermore, the increase in his Spirit Power level, combined with the successful absorption of the ring, brought a noticeable improvement to his overall condition. Even his computational capacity had risen—from roughly 2.5 before to about 3 now.
...
Chen Ming rose to his feet and pushed aside the dirt and stones that had concealed him, stepping back out into the open. As he carefully sensed the changes in his Martial Soul, a slight frown appeared on his face. Closing his eyes, he began to adjust his state.
With his Spirit Power circulating steadily through his body, the heavy armor covering him began to shrink and condense. What had once been thick, cumbersome plating gradually streamlined into a lighter, more agile form of armor.
At the same time, a faint yellow glow—tinged with the power of his bloodline—gathered around his hands, as if it were trying to take shape into something tangible. Yet after lingering for a long moment, the energy ultimately dissipated.
"Tool-Soul Bestialization..… no, not quite. It's not complete yet. I still need more time… or perhaps the right kind of stimulus."
He released his Martial Soul possession and rubbed his temples, deep in thought.
In this era, Martial Souls on the Douluo Continent were broadly divided into only two categories: Tool Martial Souls and Beast Martial Souls. It wouldn't be until ten thousand years later, with the rise of the Body Sect, that "body Martial Souls" would be separated into a distinct classification.
But even now, there existed rare cases that blurred the boundary between tool and beast.
For instance, the Coiling Dragon Staff was classified as a tool Martial Soul, yet it houses the soul of the Break Evil Dragon. Some of its users could even summon that dragon soul to fight independently. Similarly, the Snake Lance Douluo wielded a Tool Martial Soul, yet under his true form, he could transform into a massive serpent.
Chen Ming referred to this phenomenon as Tool-Soul Bestialization—a state where a tool-type Martial Soul exhibited traits or transformations akin to a Beast Martial Soul.
Conversely, there is a corresponding phenomenon among Beast Martial Souls called Beast-Soul Toolization.
Take the Black Tortoise of this era, or the Mystic Deep Tortoise of ten thousand years later. Both were classified as beast souls, yet upon possession, they not only enhanced the user's body but also allowed them to condense a shield formed from their shell and bloodline power.
Although Chen Ming suspected that these two Martial Souls might share a common lineage—or even be the same at their core—the phenomenon they displayed was clearly an example of Beast-Soul Toolization.
If he had to stretch the definition further, he even suspected that Yu Xiaogang's Luo Sanpao might fall into this category as well—though in a far more unstable and flawed form compared to the typical, controllable versions.
Both of these hybrid transformations were exceedingly rare and highly valuable in combat. Even across the various stories of the Douluo world, Martial Souls and Spirit Masters capable of such dual-nature evolution were few and far between.
Just moments ago, Chen Ming had felt that he might be able to condense part of his power into a shield—an instance of Beast-Soul Toolization. However, due to his unfamiliarity with the process and his insufficient Spirit Power, the transformation had collapsed halfway through.
Still, he wasn't discouraged.
Given enough time, he was confident he could master this ability. And more than that—he didn't want to stop at simply forming a defensive shield. He intended to push this transformation further, to reshape his Martial Soul into offensive tools such as heavy hammers or massive axes.
If he could truly achieve that, then combined with his already formidable physique and defensive power, his combat strength would undoubtedly rise to an entirely new level.
...
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