Soul Beast

Biodata

Power Progression

Appearance

Soul Beasts have no common physical form. Documented examples range from plants and elemental spirits to mineralized creatures and ordinary-looking beasts.

• Moonlight Great Mushroom — A blue mushroom with a soft, springy umbrella-shaped cap; it stores Moon Essence and releases it together with spores when threatened 54.
• Frosty Gale — A nearly transparent snow spirit whose body consists mostly of whirlwinds surrounding three ice-like cores, only one of which is genuine 154.
• Gargoyle — A rock-like Soul Beast formed when a creature with exceptionally powerful Mental Power dies beside mineral infused with Vitality 474.
• Netherworld Moonshadow Cat — An ancient dark-furred feline Soul Beast with crescent-shaped wings; it possesses darkness and mental abilities 475.
• Auspicious Beast — A small, lion-like Soul Beast with golden, crystal-like fur that can conceal its true aura with the Power of Fate 98.

Ecology and Behavior

Soul Beast society is governed by survival pressure. Xiao Lin describes the Soul Beast world as following the law of the jungle: creatures that devote their Soul Power to non-combat functions risk becoming prey for stronger Soul Beasts 302.

• Water sources are especially important in the Extremely North Land, where most Soul Beasts rely on locations such as the Profound Nether Ice Lake to survive 154.
• Herd-dwelling herbivorous Soul Beasts can be more dangerous than solitary predators; a stampede of thousand-year Soul Beasts can be fatal even to a Soul Ancestor 229.
• The Moonlight Great Mushroom has difficulty reproducing because a small pool cannot provide enough moonlight; its spores are normally activated only when Moon Essence erupts from its body at death 54.
• Soul Beast corpses can retain Soul Power, Vitality, and remnant souls. These remnants may endanger those who consume Soul Beast meat, but may also have uses in Soul Ring and Soul Bone research 275 276.

Society and Leadership

The strongest Soul Beasts organize around the Star Dou Great Forest's Ferocious Beasts and the fate of the Auspicious Beast.

• Di Tian — Leads the Ferocious Beasts and opposes reckless war with humanity, fearing that provoking humanity's Children of Destiny could further damage Soul Beast fortune 97.
• Silver Dragon King — Redirects Soul Beast resources toward Tang Ni's ascension, orders Scarlet King to protect Tang Ni, and assigns Da Ming and Er Ming to protect Xiao Wu 399.
• Tang Ni — The Auspicious Beast whose condition reflects the fortune of the Soul Beast race; she can conceal Soul Beast auras and was sent to seek humanity's Child of Destiny 97 98 118.
• Xiao Wu — A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soft Bone Rabbit in human form and a former senior figure within the Star Dou Great Forest 118.
• Ten Thousand Demons King — A wood-, poison-, and mental-attribute Ferocious Beast later refined into Xiao Lin's first Soul Spirit 514 515.

Relationship with Soul Masters

Soul Masters traditionally become stronger by absorbing Soul Rings from Soul Beasts, a dependence Xiao Lin considers a flawed evolutionary path for humanity 175. Hunting is also portrayed as a major cause of the Soul Beast population's long-term decline 16 141.

Soul Rings and Soul Bones

• Soul Beast corpses retain power not fully absorbed into a Soul Ring, making their flesh, blood, bones, Vitality, and remnant souls potential resources 275 276.
• Soul Bones are believed to originate from Soul Cores and may theoretically be upgraded by restoring them to a Soul Core state and allowing them to grow with the Soul Master 193.
• Strong Soul Beasts can willingly sacrifice themselves, producing a special Soul Ring and establishing the basis for later Soul Spirit research 409.

Self-Condensed Soul Rings

Xiao Lin researches a system in which Soul Masters condense their own Soul Rings rather than kill low-level Soul Beasts. If implemented, ordinary Soul Masters would no longer need ten-year and low-level Soul Beast Soul Rings, giving those populations time to reproduce and advance 141.

Soul Spirit System

Xiao Lin's Soul Spirit System is intended to let Soul Beasts retain consciousness after death and become contract partners rather than disposable Soul Ring sources.

• A viable Soul Spirit requires a willing sacrifice; a Soul Beast killed by force suffers severe Mental Power loss and has limited combat value as a Soul Spirit 222.
• Contracting is difficult with weaker Soul Beasts because most lack the intelligence or strength needed for an acknowledged contract 409.
• Ten Thousand Demons King becomes Xiao Lin's first Soul Spirit after being absorbed and refined 514.
• Soul Spirits can grant an additional Soul Skill beyond the normal Soul Ring allotment and can fight alongside their contracted Soul Master 576.
• Xiao Lin plans Spirit Pagodas that would preserve, transfer, and supervise Soul Spirits while reducing the need for future Soul Beast hunting 514.

Story Role / Major Arcs

• Xiao Lin's first Soul Ring hunt establishes the conflict between Soul Masters' need for Soul Rings and the survival of Soul Beasts; before killing the Great Strength Vajra Bull, he reflects on the strong preying upon the weak and the risk of Soul Beast extinction 16.
• Di Tian's gathering of the Ferocious Beasts reveals that the weakening Auspicious Beast is linked to humanity's multiple Children of Destiny, making Soul Beast fortune a central concern 97.
• Tang Ni and Xiao Wu recognize one another as Soul Beasts in human form and form an uneasy alliance to locate Tang San, the alleged Child of Destiny 118.
• Xiao Lin's Self-Condensed Soul Ring research introduces a possible future where low-level Soul Beasts are no longer routinely hunted for advancement 141.
• His later Soul Spirit research develops into a proposed replacement for conventional Soul Ring acquisition, beginning with Ten Thousand Demons King's refinement 409 514.
• During the Abyss invasion, Soul Masters and Soul Beasts fight together using the Mental Sharing Network Platform for coordination, united against the Abyss Creatures 620.