Ling Mo's Martial Souls

On the crowded streets, pedestrians flowed back and forth. Ling Mo walked alone at an unhurried pace, his slightly oversized cloak concealing him completely and preventing passersby from seeing his face. Yet it was precisely this strange attire that drew their curious stares.

Twelve years had passed since he had crossed over from the Honkai World to Douluo Continent. He remembered Xuan Zi telling him that when he had first found Ling Mo in the Star Dou Great Forest, Ling Mo had only been an infant. Xuan Zi had nearly mistaken him for a soul beast that had taken human form to cultivate anew. However, he had sensed no soul beast aura from Ling Mo, and after Ling Mo's Martial Souls awakened, it was confirmed that he was a genuine human—because he possessed Twin Martial Souls.

His First Martial Soul was a purple crystal that occasionally flashed with multicolored light within. But Ling Mo knew it was not merely a crystal. It should have been a Herrscher Core. At first, Ling Mo had thought it was the core of the Thunder Herrscher, but he later discovered that it was not the Thunder Herrscher's core at all. Logically, after his Martial Soul awakened, he should have been able to use a little of its power. Yet Ling Mo felt that his Martial Soul showed no reaction whatsoever, as if he were an ordinary person without Soul Power. But that was not the case. He did possess Soul Power. Although his Innate Soul Power was an absurdly low Rank One, it truly existed. It was not until Ling Mo reached Rank Ten through cultivation and absorbed his first soul ring that he understood why. His First Soul Skill had two forms: the Herrscher of Reason form and the Herrscher of the Void form. Only then did Ling Mo learn his Martial Soul's true nature. It was very likely the Herrscher Core of the Herrscher of the End. What was this supposed to be, some alternate version of "the dragon slayer becomes the dragon"? Thanks to his pitifully low Innate Soul Power, Ling Mo had only barely reached Rank Twenty-One and had just absorbed his second soul ring. However, that second ring had been absorbed by his Second Martial Soul. His Herrscher of the End Martial Soul still had only one ring.

Ling Mo's Second Martial Soul was much easier to identify: a mass of golden liquid. Ling Mo recognized it at once. It was the weapon he had stolen from Otto in his previous life—the Divine Key, Void Archive! Ling Mo had once tried using Void Treasury Mimicry to replicate other Divine Keys and several powerful weapons from the Honkai series that he knew of, but not once had he succeeded. Every attempt had failed. Ling Mo believed this was because his Soul Power Level was too low. But if Void Archive could not mimic those powerful weapons, then it would be extremely weak while his Soul Power Level remained low. After all, he was a warrior, not a scientist, nor one of Douluo Continent's Soul Engineers. Thus, after much consideration, Ling Mo had decided to prioritize cultivating his First Martial Soul, which he had mistakenly believed to be the Thunder Herrscher's core. The result was obvious. After absorbing his first soul ring, Ling Mo regretted it so deeply his guts turned green! He decisively gave up on his First Martial Soul and switched to focusing on his Second Martial Soul.

Yet surprises came every year, and Ling Mo seemed to get more than his share. Only after Void Archive absorbed its second soul ring did he realize that this Martial Soul was not Void Archive at all. After absorbing the second soul ring, his Second Martial Soul transformed into a red-and-white hair accessory, strikingly beautiful. Ling Mo recognized it at a glance. Wasn't this Yu Du Chen, which the Herrscher of Knowledge had handed to him? No way—was his Martial Soul not Void Archive, but the Divine Keys themselves? He could understand Finality possessing all Herrscher Authority and thus having multiple Herrscher forms, but why had unrelated Divine Keys been mashed together into a single Martial Soul?!

Ling Mo continued walking until the sky had darkened before finally stopping. It's about time to head back. Sigh.

According to his speculation, the Herrscher of the End forms should appear according to the Herrschers' rankings. In other words, if he absorbed his second soul ring, he should gain the forms of the Thunder Herrscher and Wind Herrscher. Then, his seventh ring would bring the final Herrscher of Corruption, along with the Herrscher of the End form under his Martial Soul Avatar. But what would the eighth and ninth rings be? There were only fourteen Herrschers.

As for the Divine Key Martial Soul, it gained one form per ring, and the order in which they appeared was difficult to predict. Besides, of the thirteen Divine Keys, he should only have nine forms, perhaps even just eight, because the seventh ring in the Douluo World was simply too special—unless he became a god and obtained a tenth soul ring.

Then what would the Divine Key Martial Soul Avatar be? According to Douluo Continent's classification, Divine Keys belonged to the Tool Martial Soul category, so a Tool Martial Soul Avatar should have been easy to guess. But the Divine Key Martial Soul had multiple forms, and it might even gain a new form after obtaining its Martial Soul Avatar. Therefore, Ling Mo had a guess: his Divine Key Martial Soul Avatar should be the Divine Keys' original Zero Rated Power! No matter what, Divine Keys had transformed from real weapons into Martial Souls. Their most powerful Zero Rated Power definitely could not be used as relatively easily as it had been in his previous life in the Honkai World, where he merely had to endure the side effects.

After returning to his little home, Ling Mo removed his cloak, revealing his Purple-Gold Shoulder-Length Hair. He walked before the mirror and examined himself. His awakening of the Herrscher of the End Martial Soul was probably because he had accidentally absorbed Finality's Herrscher Core when he killed Finality. Perhaps that was also why his cool silver-gray short hair from his previous life in the Honkai World had turned purple-gold in this life. On top of that, he was only twelve years old, and his Adam's apple, a masculine trait, had yet to develop. Combined with his delicate features, if he did not know clearly that he was male, he might have mistaken the reflection in the mirror for a girl.

It should get much better once my Adam's apple grows in. Then I won't have to wear a cloak everywhere. You really don't understand how troublesome it is to have your gender mistaken until you experience it yourself. Sigh, I finally understand why Fu Hua was a little hostile toward me when I first entered St. Freya. Fortunately, she had a good temper. Since we were classmates, she forgave me quickly. Though she kept asking me to practice boxing with her, which was quite a headache.

I wonder whether they're doing well now. They should be living happily, right? Himeko survived, though she could no longer return to the battlefield because of her physical condition. But there's no need for that anymore. Honkai is gone, everyone's wishes have finally been fulfilled, and my mission can be considered over...

Come to think of it, if I hadn't stolen Otto's Void Archive, would he not have died? Before I crossed over, I used to shout every day that he should show his health bar. But when it all became reality, I realized he was a pitiful person too. It really was just as they said: when it came to murder and arson, the difference between a protagonist and a villain was only a tragic past. Still, Otto had brought it upon himself. Evil was evil in the end, even if I didn't think his original intentions were wrong. Maybe I would have been even crazier in his place. From a certain perspective, we were somewhat alike. Though Otto seemed more devoted than me. Haha.

He looked around his little house. He had bought it by hunting low-level soul beasts to earn money. Over the years, Xuan Zi had taken very good care of Ling Mo. Ling Mo felt that perhaps it was because Xuan Zi had brought him out of the Star Dou Great Forest and thus believed he bore some responsibility for him. In Ling Mo's eyes, Xuan Zi was like a grandfather. Later, after obtaining soul rings and learning the "true nature" of his Martial Souls, Ling Mo had taken the initiative to hunt low-level soul beasts to support himself. Though he knew that his relatively frugal expenses were insignificant to Xuan Zi, Xuan Zi was not truly his family. Besides, this was also a way to prove something to Xuan Zi—to prove that the child Xuan Zi had raised could now take care of himself. After several months of hard work, he had finally bought this little house. The cramped room was only large enough for one person, but Ling Mo was still very satisfied with it.

Relying on the strength of his Martial Souls, Ling Mo had saved nearly ten thousand Gold Soul Coins over the next few years. However, having grown accustomed to living here, he had never considered moving elsewhere. But he could not stay here after tomorrow. Shrek Academy would begin its term tomorrow, and he was already twelve. If he did not go this time, he would never have another chance. Xuan Zi had urged him to enroll two years ago, when his Soul Power reached Rank Fifteen, but after seeing that Ling Mo was in no hurry at all, he stopped pressing the matter.

Peerless Tang Sect, huh? If nothing unexpected happens, the protagonist Huo Yuhao should also enroll tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to it. Will my existence affect the course of this world? I'll just let nature take its course. Unlike in the Honkai World, I don't desperately need to grow stronger to fulfill their wishes. I can barely remember the plot of the Douluo World anyway, and there's nothing in particular that I need to change. I remember that, aside from Huo Yuhao and Ju Zi being somewhat regrettable, the ending was fairly happy for everyone. Should I find a way to help Tang Ya solve the problem with her Martial Soul? Forget it. I'll take things one step at a time.

Within Shrek City, the lights in the house that belonged to Ling Mo gradually faded into the night.