Soul Beast

Biodata

Feature	Information
Name	Soul Beast
Original Name	魂兽
Species/Race	Non-human lifeforms that cultivate and wield Soul Power 73
Status	Extant; their populations are threatened by Spirit Masters’ traditional hunting for Spirit Rings 103 114

Classification and Habitats

Soul Beasts encompass both animal- and plant-type lifeforms, as well as specialized bloodlines such as dragonkind. Their attributes and abilities vary widely by species and environment. Chen Feng considers ordinary animal and plant Soul Beasts broadly compatible with Biological Spirits, while dragon-type Soul Beasts possess a distinct capacity to influence bloodlines 39.

Habitat	Known Soul Beast Traits
Sand Gold Valley	Contains Moon-Drawing Foxes, which gather near Moonlight Stone to absorb moonlight; they are exceptionally timid 12
Storm Bay	Home primarily to Wind- and Thunder-Attribute Soul Beasts 12
Dust Mud Swamp	Contains large populations of Poison- and Water-Attribute Soul Beasts; known as the “Poison Swamp” 12
Death Desert	Supports numerous Fire-, Earth-, and Gold-Attribute Soul Beasts 12 157
Star Dou Great Forest	A major Soul Beast gathering place inhabited by powerful species and Soul Beast factions 171 203
Extreme North	Home to powerful ice-aligned Soul Beasts, including the three great kings and their clans 172

Attributes and Forms

• Soul Beasts may possess elemental attributes including metal, water, earth, wind, thunder, fire, poison, ice, darkness, and light 7 12 157 185.
• Certain species develop specialized innate talents by directly absorbing environmental energy; humans may acquire weaker versions of such talents through Soul Rings 108.
• Slimes are jelly-like Soul Beasts that mutate into elemental variants according to their environment, such as Wind Slimes in Wind-Attribute regions 161.
• Dragon-type Soul Beasts are especially significant to Biological Spirit Masters because dragon bloodlines can promote bloodline evolution 39.

Cultivation and Intelligence

Soul Beasts grow through long-term cultivation rather than the realm bottlenecks faced by humans. Their growth is slower, but their bodies and control over Soul Power are generally stronger 73.

Cultivation benchmark	Documented characteristics
Low cultivation	Often operate primarily by instinct; low-year plant-type Soul Beasts are described as having little to no intelligence 88
Thousand-year	May be capable of roughly understanding human speech, though intelligence varies substantially by individual 88 110
Ten-thousand-year	Soul Beasts are stated to develop intelligence at this stage; their lingering souls can produce soul shock after death 88 162
Hundred-thousand-year	Possess exceptional Soul Power control and may be able to transform into humans; strong control is considered necessary to reach this level 73 88

Chen Feng theorizes that a Soul Beast’s age reflects the intensity and frequency of the energy within its body. Older Soul Beasts form higher-frequency Spirit Rings, which are more difficult for humans to absorb but can yield greater power if successfully integrated 73.

Soul Power and Physiology

Soul Power Control

Soul Beasts can directly absorb energy from the outside world, an ability humans do not naturally possess 108. Their long cultivation grants them stronger bodies, greater energy reserves, and finer Soul Power control than human Soul Masters 73.

Chen Feng’s Spirit Power Frequency Hypothesis proposes that humans advance by blending their Soul Power with that of a Soul Beast, shifting its frequency through a Spirit Ring. By contrast, Soul Beasts can continue growing without the same ten-level bottlenecks, though at a far slower rate 73.

Soul Power Circuits

Chen Feng believes Soul Power circulates through internal routes within Soul Beasts, analogous to the meridians used by human Soul Masters. These routes are central to the formation of both Spirit Rings and Soul Bones, but cannot be directly observed through ordinary means 145 148.

• A Soul Beast’s Soul Power, life force, internal circulation route, and physical material are considered possible components in Soul Bone formation 144 145.
• Mapping these circuits through repeated Soul Power fusion could eventually allow the compilation of a Soul Beast circuit encyclopedia 146.
• Chen Feng deliberately chooses not to fully solve the problem of observing Soul Beast circuits, believing unrestricted access to this knowledge could accelerate the species’ extinction 148.

Relationship with Humans

Traditional Hunting

A Soul Beast can leave behind a Spirit Ring upon death. Spirit Masters traditionally kill Soul Beasts to obtain these rings and advance their cultivation 72 114.

Chen Feng describes this system as a zero-sum relationship: human advancement plunders a portion of a Soul Beast’s life energy and cultivation, while much of the Soul Beast’s accumulated energy appears to be wasted during conversion into a Spirit Ring 114 207.

According to Di Tian, Soul Masters originally arose while exterminating fallen or “evil” Soul Beasts. After those targets became scarce, humans increasingly hunted ordinary Soul Beasts for power 171.

Cooperative Ring Condensation

A Soul Beast does not need to die for a Soul Master to advance. If it actively cooperates, it can blend its Soul Power with the Soul Master’s and enable the formation of a Spirit Ring while remaining alive 73 114.

Requirement	Role in cooperative ring condensation
Intelligence	The Soul Beast must understand or participate in the Soul Power fusion process 114
Cooperation	It must willingly allow the Soul Master’s Soul Power to enter and circulate through its body 110 114
Communication or exchange	Cooperation may be achieved through prior bonds, intermediaries, useful resources, or payment 114 177 188
Suitable Soul Power	The Soul Beast’s cultivation and abilities must still fit the Soul Master’s needs and tolerance 88 158

This process, later developed as the Ring Expansion Method, can benefit both sides: Soul Power lost by the Soul Master during the process may remain in the Soul Beast’s body and be absorbed as energy 114. The method can also work with Soul Beasts that have weak self-awareness, as demonstrated with a Wind Slime 161.

Soul Bone Creation

Living Soul Beasts can participate in experiments that create artificial Soul Bones. Chen Feng concludes that this process consumes an unidentified deeper resource from the Soul Beast, even when no visible weakness follows 146 152.

• A Silver Electric Flying Snake was used with Lightning Yuan Stones and Star Soul Mithril to create an artificial Soul Bone 146 147.
• The Soul Beast could not repeatedly produce Soul Bones without limit 152.
• Chen Feng regards this limitation as reassuring, since unlimited production would likely make Soul Beasts even more vulnerable to exploitation 152.

Human Transformation

Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts may take human form, but the process is dangerous; failure results in death and destruction of the soul 172. Human-form Soul Beasts retain unusual significance in Soul Power research because their former Soul Beast nature may allow them to bridge aspects of both species 84.

Chen Feng theorizes that Soul Beasts and humans follow different Soul Power development paths. In his model, a Soul Beast that reaches one hundred thousand years can cross onto the human path through transformation, while further cultivation beyond that point makes transformation increasingly difficult 74 207.

Snow Empress states that transformed Soul Beasts must enter human society and interact with humans in order to grow quickly. Chen Feng interprets this as a need to acquire “Human Popularity,” potentially allowing them to evade the restrictions imposed on Soul Beasts 209.

Notable Soul Beasts

• Moon-Drawing Fox — A timid moon-associated Soul Beast that gathers around Moonlight Stone to absorb moonlight 12.
• Heavy Mud Horse — A four-hundred-year Soul Beast whose Heavy Trample ability increases its weight during an attack 18 22.
• Flying Lightning Rat — An unusually intelligent Lightning-Attribute Soul Beast that cooperated in Chen Feng’s successful Soul Ring Experiment 106 110.
• Silver Electric Flying Snake — A silvery-white, horned lightning-controlling snake with fin-like structures that aid high-speed flight; it participated in artificial Soul Bone experiments 145 147.
• Great Steel Snake — A thousand-year snake that cooperated in Ning Rongrong’s Ring Expansion Method experiment and consumes Gold Soul Coins 159 161.
• Wind Slime — A weakly self-aware elemental Slime whose cooperation demonstrated that the Ring Expansion Method is not limited to intelligent Soul Beasts 161.
• Dark Soul Cat — A ten-thousand-year Soul Beast that peacefully communicated with Zhu Zhuqing and assisted her in condensing a Spirit Ring in exchange for canned fish 188.
• Evil Serpent — A calamitous Soul Beast whose toxin pollutes dragon bloodlines and drives nearby creatures mad; its Spirit Ring granted Meng Yiran the Mass Frenzy skill 186 187.
• Titan Giant Ape — A powerful Soul Beast called the “Ape God,” capable of communicating and influencing other Soul Beasts 104 114.
• Snow Empress — A powerful Extreme North Soul Beast who supports the Ring Expansion Method’s potential to benefit both humans and Soul Beasts 206 209.