Martial Soul

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Martial Soul (武魂)
Alias(es)	Sickle; Enhanced Agricultural Scythe; Long-Handled Battle Scythe; Death Battle Scythe; Scythe of Death
Species/Race	Tool Martial Soul
Affiliation	Fang Ling
Occupation/Role	Fang Ling's close-combat weapon Martial Soul
Status	Evolved into the divine artifact Scythe of Death; its innate attributes later became Divine Soul Innate Specialties 351
First Appearance	2

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Sickle Lv1	2	Awakened at Notting City Spirit Hall as an ordinary 55-centimeter farming sickle with a wooden handle. Its initial traits were Sharpness Lv1 and Endurance Lv1.
Sickle Lv2	38	First enhancement raised Sharpness and Toughness to Lv2, producing an Enhanced Agricultural Scythe capable of penetrating ordinary Spirit Masters' defenses.
Sickle Lv3	47	After consuming 20 Points, it reached the pinnacle of low-grade Martial Souls. Its sharpness and toughness became sufficient to contend with mid- to high-grade Martial Souls without immediate damage.
Long-Handled Battle Scythe Lv3 (pseudo-evolution)	52	Following absorption of the Spiked Blood Dragonfly's spirit ring and expenditure of 30 Points, its form changed into a 2.1-meter, all-metal double-edged battle scythe.
Long-Handled Battle Scythe Lv4	56	Its first true evolution made it a lower-tier intermediate Martial Soul. Sharpness Lv4 could cleave finely crafted iron armor, while Toughness Lv4 improved resistance to damage.
Long-Handled Battle Scythe Lv4, 30%	120	The Ten Thousand Year Annihilation Knife Mantis spirit ring raised its evolution progress from 4% to 30%, increased its weight by 40 jin, and advanced Sharpness and Toughness to Lv5.
Long-Handled Battle Scythe Lv6	178	A 640-Point upgrade made it the highest-grade intermediate Martial Soul. It weighed 800 jin and developed gray patterns; Sharpness reached Lv7 and Toughness Lv8.
Death Battle Scythe Lv7	228	A second evolution, fueled by 3,600 Points at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, transformed it into a high-grade scythe immersed in Death Power.
Scythe of Death Lv7	269	After exposure to Death God Power, it became ash-gold and was renamed the Scythe of Death. Its essence was still insufficient to safely bear excessive godly power.
Scythe of Death Lv8	316	A 12,000-Point investment raised its weight to 6,896 jin and intensified its ash-gold patterns, death aura, and sharpness.
Scythe of Death Lv9, 15%	336	Its essence continued to grow alongside Fang Ling's Soul Power and Soul Core development, reaching a recorded weight of 21,300 jin.
Divine Soul / divine artifact	351	Its innate specialties evolved into Divine Soul Innate Specialties, including Tenacity Lv10 and Death Lv10.

Background / History

Fang Ling awakened the Martial Soul at Notting City Spirit Hall. It was initially assessed as a short-ranged Tool Martial Soul with some offensive potential, but its innate Soul Power was zero until Fang Ling allocated a Point through his Stats Panel, raising it to Level 1 2.

Its original form was an unremarkable agricultural sickle, suitable for cutting grass rather than competing against powerful weapon Martial Souls. Fang Ling therefore used Points, combat, and carefully selected spirit rings to strengthen its material quality, sharpness, toughness, and eventually its shape 2 47 52.

The Martial Soul's first ring, taken from a Hundred Year Star-nosed Mole, primarily improved Fang Ling's body rather than the weapon itself. Its second ring, from a Spiked Blood Dragonfly, enabled the scythe's first major form change into a long-handled battle weapon suited to Fang Ling's close-combat style 23 52.

Later investments and compatible Death-attribute power elevated the Long-Handled Battle Scythe into the Death Battle Scythe and then the Scythe of Death. Its final documented state is a divine artifact whose properties are integrated with Fang Ling's Divine Soul 228 269 351.

Appearance

Sickle

At awakening, the Martial Soul was a common farm sickle: 55 centimeters long, with a crescent-shaped blade, an ordinary wooden handle, and no fine serrations 2.

• Silver-white blade.
• Blade back: 18 centimeters.
• Cutting edge: 16 centimeters.
• Wooden handle: 30 centimeters.
• Initially considered an ordinary low-grade Tool Martial Soul 2.

Long-Handled Battle Scythe

Its pseudo-evolved form was a silver-white, double-edged combat scythe with a smooth, mirror-like blade and a rough metal handle for grip 52.

• Total length: 2.1 meters.
• Outer blade: 43 centimeters.
• Inner blade: 40 centimeters.
• Iron handle: 2 meters long.
• Initial recorded weight: 40 kilograms / 80 jin 52.
• Later intermediate-stage version: 800 jin, with darker coloring and gray patterns along the weapon 178.

Death Battle Scythe / Scythe of Death

The second evolution turned it silver-black, covered it in mysterious gray patterns, and gave it a dark-gray main blade plus a crescent-like counterweight Sub-Blade 228.

• Main blade outer edge: 55 centimeters.
• Main blade inner edge: 53 centimeters.
• Counterweight Sub-Blade: 15 centimeters.
• Recorded weight after second evolution: 2,350 jin, though Fang Ling perceived only slightly more than 1,000 jin while wielding it 228.
• Later became ash-gold after receiving Death God Power 269.
• At Lv8, it weighed 6,896 jin but felt like only a little over 1,300 jin to Fang Ling 316.

Abilities & Skills

Sharpness and Toughness

The Martial Soul's innate weapon traits improve alongside its evolution.

• Sharpness began as ordinary iron-tool sharpness, suitable for cutting grass 2.
• At Lv4, its edge could cleave finely crafted iron armor 56.
• At Lv6, Sharpness Lv7 surpassed the sharpness expected of its stage and could be considered advanced in cutting ability 178.
• Toughness Lv8 allowed it to clash head-on with Martial Souls such as the Seven Kill Sword and Clear Sky Hammer 178.
• As a divine artifact, Tenacity Lv10 became a Divine Soul Innate Specialty described as impossible to harm 351.

Death Power

Death Power gradually merged into the weapon during its second evolution.

• The Death Battle Scythe initially carried ordinary Death Power as a transitional influence rather than fully integrated Death Specialty 229.
• Death God Power later changed it into the ash-gold Scythe of Death, although its essence could not yet withstand unrestricted godly power 269.
• Death Lv10 is a Divine Soul Innate Specialty with overwhelming corrosive and erosive effects; Ultimate Death Power attached to a target cannot be removed by beings below godhood 351.

Soul-Ring-Derived Combat Effects

Fang Ling's spirit rings supply abilities used through the Martial Soul.

• Star Mole Transformation — First spirit-ring skill; increases Fang Ling's nerve-reflex speed by 30%, supporting close-range attacks and evasions. It improves Fang Ling's body rather than the Martial Soul itself 23.
• Cursed Blade — Second spirit-ring skill; expends roughly 10% of Soul Power for a single strike enhanced by approximately 250% 52.
• Weakness Detection Lv2 — Enables Fang Ling to perceive weaker points in an enemy's Soul Power circulation, increasing the damage of strikes that land on them 52.
• Drain Lv2 — Lets Fang Ling draw life energy and Soul Power from enemies damaged by the scythe, restoring his condition and prolonging combat endurance 52.
• Spell Breaker / Law Breaking Blade — Obtained from the Ten Thousand Year Annihilation Knife Mantis. It erodes defenses, including those of Dugu Bo's Martial Soul Possession, but initially consumes about 30% of Fang Ling's Soul Power before further expenditure during attacks 119 120.

Martial Soul Fusion

The Martial Soul resonates with Zhu Zhuqing's Hell Spirit Cat Martial Soul.

• Fang Ling first noticed an unexplained stirring from his Martial Soul after contact with Zhu Zhuqing 60.
• He identified their compatibility as a Martial Soul Fusion Skill, despite the apparent mismatch between a battle scythe and a feline Martial Soul 94.
• Their fusion manifests through gray light and mist; Fang Ling and Zhu Zhuqing disappear within the formed gray robe while the Long-Handled Battle Scythe emits a deep-gray glow 151.

Relationships

• Fang Ling — Owner and wielder. His Stats Panel allows him to spend Points on the Martial Soul's levels, evolution progress, form, and innate specialties 2 47 228.
• Zhu Zhuqing — Martial Soul Fusion partner; her Hell Spirit Cat resonates with the Long-Handled Battle Scythe 60 94 151.
• Dugu Bo — Tested the Law Breaking Blade against his own Martial Soul Possession and assisted Fang Ling's growth through spirit-ring hunts and guidance 120 172.
• Lin Tianyang — Witnessed the scythe's transformation after Fang Ling absorbed the Spiked Blood Dragonfly spirit ring 52.
• Ah Yin — Witnessed the Death Battle Scythe's second evolution at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well 228.

Trivia

• The original Martial Soul was so weak that Fang Ling feared it could be broken by powerful weapon Martial Souls such as the Clear Sky Hammer or Seven Kill Sword 24.
• The form-changing option of the Stats Panel could not depart from the basic form of a sickle; Fang Ling used it to turn the short agricultural weapon into a long-handled battle scythe 47 48.
• The Martial Soul's increasing weight repeatedly challenged Fang Ling's agile fighting style, forcing him to improve his body, spirit rings, and Soul Bones to maintain control 178 187.