"Teacher, does that mean ordinary Plant Martial Souls cultivate in the same way?"
Sitting beside Ling Xiao, Hu Liena spoke up.
Hearing her question, Xu Lin looked at the beautiful young girl and smiled. She had paid special attention to this girl, knowing she had been taken as a disciple by Her Majesty the Pope.
"Yes," Xu Lin replied.
"Ordinary Plant Martial Souls cultivate in the same manner. However, just like ordinary Beast Martial Souls, this applies to the period before the Fusion Stream develops into its third stage."
"In other words, before reaching that third stage, both ordinary plant and animal Martial Souls must first evolve into a Soul Beast-type Martial Soul. They then use that evolved form as a foundation for further cultivation."
"Because of this, they all follow the Extreme Path. After all, dual-attribute Soul Beasts are rare; even ordinary Beast Martial Souls, let alone Plant Martial Souls, find it difficult to evolve into a dual-attribute form."
"Once the Fusion Stream reaches the third stage, new cultivation methods become available, and they are no longer restricted to that single way."
Hearing Xu Lin mention Plant Martial Souls, Ling Xiao suddenly recalled an old doubt and couldn't help asking: "Teacher, can Plant Martial Souls only absorb Soul Rings from plant-type Soul Beasts? Is it possible for them to absorb Soul Rings from animal-type Soul Beasts?"
This question had troubled him for some time.
Based on his knowledge of the Douluo Dalu from his previous life, Yu Xiaogang claimed to be the only one to propose that Plant Martial Souls could absorb animal Soul Rings, implying no one else knew.
Of course, that fellow didn't seem entirely certain either; he essentially needed Tang San to be his guinea pig. He certainly had guts—if he had accidentally ruined Tang San's Martial Soul, wasn't he afraid Tang Hao would crush him with a single strike of his hammer?
Facing the youth who had already asked several questions, Xu Lin answered patiently: "Of course it is possible, and vice versa."
"However, except for Soul Masters with High-Level Plant or Beast Martial Souls, those with Mid-to-Low level or ordinary Martial Souls rarely do so. This is because it involves the issue of 'compatibility' during the Soul Ring absorption process."
"Throughout the development of the Soul Master world, we discovered that generally, Beast Martial Soul practitioners get the best results from animal Soul Beasts, while Plant Martial Soul practitioners get the best results from plant Soul Beasts."
"There are exceptions, of course. Soul Masters with High-Level or Top-Tier Beast and Plant Martial Souls are often unaffected by this compatibility issue."
"For owners of Top-Tier Martial Souls, the restriction between Martial Soul type and Soul Beast species is almost non-existent. High-Level Martial Souls are also largely unrestricted when absorbing rings from most Soul Beasts."
"They only face compatibility issues when the Soul Beast's species differs from their own and its bloodline source is significantly stronger than their own Martial Soul's source."
"Since Top-Tier Soul Beasts are rare and powerful, the consensus in the Soul Master world is that those with High-Level Martial Souls or above are unaffected by compatibility."
"Theoretically, as long as the age of the ring does not exceed their limit and aligns with their chosen cultivation path, they can absorb a Soul Ring from any species of Soul Beast."
"The true reason behind all of this wasn't revealed until the third stage of the Fusion Stream's development. However, before that, some Grandmasters in the field of Martial Soul research had proposed explanations."
"The explanation back then was that all Beast Martial Souls and animal Soul Beasts possess a most fundamental attribute: the Beast Attribute. This manifests as physical fitness, strength, and physical traits."
"For example, the Diamond Mammoth and the Vigorous Vajra Bear are two types of High-Level Soul Beasts. Although their bloodline source gives them overbearing Soul Power, they do not master any elemental forces."
"They only display immense strength and defense—two strong physical traits. Thus, people usually call them 'Attribute-less' Soul Beasts. However, professionally speaking, they possess the Beast Attribute."
"A Stormwind Demon Wolf, usually considered a Wind-attribute beast, would professionally be classified as having both Beast and Wind attributes."
"By the same token, all Plant Martial Souls and plant Soul Beasts possess a fundamental Life Attribute, manifesting as powerful vitality and rapid growth."
"A plant Soul Beast like the Ghost King Vine would professionally be described as possessing both Life and Poison attributes."
"Of course, because the so-called Beast and Life attributes are common to all animals and plants respectively, they don't serve well for differentiation."
"In research, these attributes were primarily introduced to explain the low compatibility when a Beast Martial Soul absorbs a plant ring, or a Plant Martial Soul absorbs an animal ring."
"In common parlance, the Stormwind Demon Wolf is still listed as a Wind-attribute beast—a single-attribute type, not dual-attribute."
"From the perspective of strengthening the Martial Soul's source through Soul Rings, a Beast Martial Soul practitioner doesn't need to intentionally seek to increase their Beast Attribute."
"For most Mid-to-Low level practitioners, absorbing a plant ring is inefficient because the Beast Attribute of the Martial Soul and the Life Attribute of the plant beast repel each other."
"Thus, they stick to animal Soul Beasts. Since all animals possess the Beast Attribute, that fundamental requirement is automatically met."
"The same applies to Plant Martial Souls. Back then, while this theory couldn't explain why High-Level or Top-Tier souls were exempt from compatibility issues, it did explain the phenomenon for Mid-to-Low level souls."
"Therefore, it was recognized by most major powers, including our Spirit Hall. A more specific and complete theory was only proposed after the Fusion Stream reached its third stage. I will cover that later."
After listening, Ling Xiao nodded silently, feeling a sense of awe toward the Martial Soul system.
It seemed Martial Souls were not as simple as he had imagined. At the same time, he completely blacklisted Yu Xiaogang in his heart.
'What kind of "Grandmaster" is he? Calling him a fraud is a compliment. No matter how trash his cultivation talent is, he's still a scion of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. How could his understanding of Martial Souls be this pathetic?'
He now suspected that an average teacher at a Junior Soul Master Academy knew more than Yu Xiaogang.
In the past, he always felt that under Yu Xiaogang's guidance, Tang San's Blue Silver Grass Soul Ring selection was bizarre.
Among his first four rings, only the second—from a Ghost Vine—was a plant Soul Beast. The other three were all poison-attribute animal Soul Beasts.
In the early stages, Tang San's Blue Silver Grass barely had plant characteristics; it was more like a spider. Including the Eight Spider Lances, Tang San looked more like a spider than actual spider-type Soul Masters.
Based on his current understanding, before Tang San's Blue Silver Empress bloodline awakened, his Blue Silver Grass was clearly just an ordinary Plant Martial Soul, not even Mid-level.
By absorbing rings that way, not only did the Life Attribute power fail to grow, but because the plant's Life Attribute repelled the animal's Beast Attribute, he was in a state of low compatibility for every ring except the second.
Even though the Datura Snake and Man-Faced Demon Spider had powerful bloodlines that allowed the Blue Silver Grass to fuse with some poison power, the low compatibility meant the amount fused was likely minimal.
If Tang San had chosen to evolve his Blue Silver Grass toward a poison-type plant like the Ghost Vine or Ghost King Vine first, his poison power would surely have been stronger, and his Life Attribute would not have been weakened.
That path would have been perfectly suited for a Control System Soul Master.
Furthermore, once the Martial Soul evolved into a High-Level plant like the Ghost King Vine, the compatibility issue would have largely vanished, making it even easier to find Soul Rings from a variety of species.
However, according to the plan Yu Xiaogang laid out, the fundamental Life Attribute of Tang San's Blue Silver Grass never developed; it was even suppressed by poison power.
Yet, due to low compatibility, that poison power wasn't even that strong—it was likely weaker than a Ghost Vine Martial Soul of the same level, let alone a Ghost King Vine.
No wonder when Tang San's Blue Silver Empress bloodline finally awakened, the surging Life Attribute power instantly expelled all the poison. Those Soul Ring slots were truly wasted.
Then again, even though Tang San possessed the Blue Silver Empress later on—which no longer had poison power—he still loved using the poison and devouring ability of the Eight Spider Lances.
It was strange; he inherited the bloodline of the one hundred thousand year Blue Silver Empress, a literal Sovereign of plants. If he had developed that life force to the extreme, he could have been called a "Son of Nature."
Instead, he became a hypocrite who enjoyed devouring the strength and life of others.
What a waste of the Blue Silver Empress bloodline. Looking at his style of doing things, the most fitting Martial Soul for Tang San should have been the Man-Faced Demon Spider.
Thinking of this, Ling Xiao shook his head with disdain.