Survival Instinct

Gu You spent about half an hour absorbing the Soul Ring. After the four of them rested and regrouped, they saw that it was still early and decided to continue onward.

Traveling along the stream was unlike moving through the forest. The ground on both sides was flatter, allowing them to advance much faster.

Along the way, Ma Xiunuo constantly pointed out the problems Gu You had displayed in that battle. As a Beast Martial Soul Master, his first reaction upon encountering a Soul Beast had been to draw his short sword rather than use Martial Soul Possession; he got carried away in battle and fought dangerous Soul Beasts alone; he lacked teamwork, and so on.

Gu You also knew Ma Xiunuo was saying this out of concern for him. Otherwise, if he did not care at all, he could have remained completely silent. Other than getting carried away at the time, which had not been under his control, the rest truly were problems Gu You had revealed in battle.

Thinking back to that fight, Gu You realized he knew almost nothing about his own Martial Soul. During the battle, he had felt like a bystander. The body controlled by that nameless rage and its cold, merciless fighting style made Gu You feel like a puppet on strings. As long as he let Ultimate Conductor Tyranno control his body, he could defeat any enemy.

That overwhelming combat stance driven by his Martial Soul stirred a trace of longing in Gu You's heart. A soul from a peaceful society was drawn in by that savagery, and the thrill of ruling over life and death rushed straight to his head.

At that thought, Gu You slapped himself hard across the face, clearing away the thoughts that were about to become intoxicated by power.

"Don't become a slave to power. Control power instead. You're not some tyrannical killing maniac. You gained power to protect yourself and make the world better, not to destroy others and rule over them." Images of all kinds of villains who had lost everything in pursuit of power flashed through his mind, and Gu You warned himself that he must never become one of them.

Gu You was lost in his thoughts and failed to notice Tang San's astonished expression behind him.

Although he had seen all sorts of strange states from Gu You over the years and believed that nothing Gu You did could surprise him anymore, this was Tang San's first time seeing Gu You slap himself.

Thinking of Gu You's occasional bizarre, unhinged episodes, Tang San decided to speak and distract him.

"Xiao You, what is your First Soul Skill?"

Hearing Tang San's question, Gu You stopped thinking and replied, "Xiao San, my Soul Skill is incredibly powerful."

"I named my First Soul Skill 'Survival Instinct.' Its effect is to activate the combat instincts within my Martial Soul—Ultimate Conductor Tyranno—allowing me to better bring out my Martial Soul's combat abilities. It also strengthens all my basic attributes and self-healing ability. It's a Soul Skill that completely improves combat and survival ability."

"We'll have to test exactly what it strengthens and by how much after we return, but just from that first effect alone, it makes up for my lack of combat experience."

"Survival Instinct? Shouldn't the Soul Skill provided by a Hunting Wolf be a tracking-type skill, or that ability you mentioned before called Wild Hunt?" Tang San asked.

"That's true. According to my plan, it should have been one of those two types of Soul Skills. But perhaps the previous battle left too deep an impression on me, so my Soul Skill became what it is now."

Ma Xiunuo could no longer sit still. If Gu You truly had a new understanding of this phenomenon, it might change the Soul Master world's approach to choosing Soul Rings. He opened his mouth and asked, "What does that have to do with the previous battle? And how did it affect the effect of your Soul Skill?"

Su Yuntao stopped as well. The entire group gathered around Gu You, waiting for his explanation.

Seeing that nobody wanted to keep moving, Gu You stopped too and explained the guess he had just confirmed. "At first, I believed there were only two factors in the formation of a Soul Skill."

"First was the Soul Beast's own traits, characteristics, and abilities. For example, wolf-type Soul Beasts usually produced a few fixed types of Soul Skills. One type was attack-type Soul Skills, such as claw attacks and charges."

"The other was the Soul Beast's inherent advantages. For example, the Leaping Wolf with well-developed hind legs that I recommended to Brother Tao granted Lone Wolf Assault, which was related to explosive leg strength. And the tracking-type Soul Skill obtainable from the Hunting Wolf we just killed was formed because of the Hunting Wolf's unique trait of relentlessly pursuing its prey."

"Second was the Martial Soul's own adaptability. It would transform skills and techniques bearing the Soul Beast's traits into a form suitable for use by a human Martial Soul. Most Tool Martial Soul Soul Skills were like this. Take Grandpa Ma Xiunuo, for example."

Seeing everyone turn to look at him, Ma Xiunuo sighed. Though he was reluctant to reveal the effects of his Soul Skills, everyone present was on good terms, and the two children were geniuses who would not remain confined to a small city like Nuoding City.

He still answered, "My Martial Soul is the Iron Rod. My First Soul Skill is called Heavy Strike. After raising the Iron Rod high to gather strength, I smash it down with force. It can stun any enemy it hits, though the effect depends on the difference in cultivation. It came from the Soul Beast Earth-Splitting Bear. My Second Soul Skill is called Sweep. It can force back enemies within range and came from the Soul Beast Long-Armed Ape."

"Did you hear that, Xiao San? This is proof that Soul Skills are related to the Martial Soul itself." Gu You shot Tang San a smug glance. Tang San: ? I wasn't even arguing with you.

"The Earth-Splitting Bear is an Earth Attribute Soul Beast with extraordinary strength. Its most common attack is raising its bear paw and smashing it down. Because it can easily crack the ground, it was named the Earth-Splitting Bear."

"The Long-Armed Ape is an attribute-less Soul Beast. Its defining trait is its extremely long arms. It can easily grab a branch with one hand while using the other to reach down and pick up fruit that has fallen from the tree. It often swept enemies back with its long, thick arms before leaping into a tree to escape."

Gu You nodded. "Just as I thought. Grandpa Ma Xiunuo's two Soul Skills are exactly the most commonly used attacks of those two Soul Beasts. The only difference is that the thing used to perform them became his Iron Rod Martial Soul."

"But now, the Survival Instinct Soul Skill I obtained has confirmed for me that it isn't only Soul Beasts and Martial Souls that influence the formation of Soul Skills. A Soul Master's thoughts—no, they should be called will—can also cause Soul Skills to change."

"This will may be a deep inner desire, or the inertia of the subconscious." As he spoke, Gu You's gaze gradually became unfocused. "The Dai Clan of the Star Luo Empire's imperial family possesses the White Tiger Martial Soul. Their first three Soul Skills have been fixed in every generation: First Soul Skill, White Tiger Protection Barrier; Second Soul Skill, White Tiger Intense Light Wave; Third Soul Skill, White Tiger Vajra Transformation. The first three are defense, attack, and enhancement respectively."

"Isn't that strange? Take the Third Soul Skill, Vajra Tiger, as an example. The Dai Clan isn't the only one that hunts Vajra Tigers. Yet as long as a Vajra Tiger becomes a Soul Ring for the Dai Clan's White Tiger Martial Soul, the Soul Skill it provides will always be White Tiger Vajra Transformation, without a single exception."

"Besides the White Tiger Martial Soul's enhancement-type Soul Skill, White Tiger Vajra Transformation, Vajra Tigers have also provided sound-type Soul Skills and defense-type Soul Skills. Vajra Tigers, known for their physique and defensive power, have even provided attack-type Soul Skills."

P.S. In the original work, enhancement-type Soul Skills were almost all strengthened by percentages or multipliers. Personally, that felt too much like playing a game and stacking stats. There were even bug-level Fourth Soul Skills like Invincible Golden Body. So in this book, apart from a very small number of exceptions, Soul Skill effects will be kept vague, and there will rarely be absolute or definite Soul Skill effects.

In order to write the story in my heart, I directly gave up most forms of entertainment. I no longer know whether it was worth it. Sob. Please continue to support me with recommendation votes, bookmarks, and monthly tickets. Thank you, everyone.