Original Soul Spirit

"Cooperate...?"

Hu Liena carefully pondered those words, and a different thought arose in her heart.

All three of them were geniuses. Until now, the concept of cooperation had never existed in their dictionaries.

After all, the purpose of cooperation was to solve problems. With their strength, any one of them could solve a problem alone, so there was naturally no need to cooperate.

But now, Su Chen had placed a new proposal before them. Already blessed by heaven, if they could cooperate, would they be able to reach even greater heights?

As they spoke, the four of them arrived at the Teaching Hall.

"Children squabbling over pride is no big deal. Twenty lashes each—just go through the motions."

After hearing the general course of events, the Teaching Hall had no intention of punishing them severely.

They simply gave each of them twenty lashes and called the matter settled.

"I thought it was going to be something serious. Looks like that was all."

He had thought they would be taught a harsh lesson, but the outcome had been unexpectedly mild.

Stretching lazily, Yan spoke without a care.

"I think you really are asking for a beating. Maybe I should handle it next time."

Xie Yue said irritably, clasping his hands behind his head as he led the group toward the meditation chambers used for cultivation.

After they ate lunch together, it was time for their usual cultivation.

"Come to think of it, do you know anything about meditation?"

Suddenly remembering that Su Chen had never undergone systematic training, Xie Yue asked.

"I know the general theory, but I've never really tried it."

Su Chen had indeed attempted meditation over the years, but he had only been feeling his way through it without guidance. No one knew whether he had gone down the wrong path.

"If that's the case, then give it another try now."

After having his spiritual power rebounded by Su Chen earlier, Xie Yue had been eager to find an opportunity to save face.

Now that he heard Su Chen had never truly attempted meditation, he volunteered to guide him.

"Meditation is about emptying both body and mind completely. Then, you sense the energy between heaven and earth and condense it into your own Soul Power."

"I see. I understand."

After hearing Xie Yue's explanation, Su Chen imitated the way martial arts masters cultivated in television dramas from his previous life.

He sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and calmed his mind.

"Let's start cultivating too."

Seeing Su Chen enter the state so quickly, the others refused to fall behind and began cultivating as well.

Following Xie Yue's instructions, Su Chen gradually emptied himself.

Slowly, the scene before his eyes darkened as well.

Only two balls of Soul Power, one black and one white, circled around him.

"Where is this...?"

Looking around, there was nothing in any direction. As far as his eyes could see, there was only dead silence.

Yet Su Chen could clearly feel that his Soul Power seemed especially abundant now.

"Little Black, Little White. Where are you going?"

Seeing Little Black and Little White slowly moving forward, Su Chen could only follow behind them.

As Su Chen continued onward, the surroundings began to change.

"Are these... all dead souls?"

Ghost-like creatures gradually began appearing along both sides of the road.

But the moment they approached him, they vanished in an instant.

Who knew how long passed before a towering city gate emerged from the chaos ahead, rising into the clouds.

"Gates... of... Hell."

After straining to observe for a long time, Su Chen finally made out the three large characters on the city wall.

The moment he softly read those three words aloud, Su Chen was greatly startled and instinctively staggered several steps back.

The Gates of Hell!

What those words meant to Su Chen, who had been Chinese in his previous life, went without saying.

According to legend, after a person died, they first had to pass through the Gates of Hell. Beyond the Gates of Hell lay the Road to the Underworld, with Spider Lilies blooming as brilliantly as fire along both sides. After the Road to the Underworld came the Wangchuan River, and over the river stood the Bridge of Helplessness. After crossing the bridge was the Terrace of Looking Home, and beyond that, one could drink Meng Po's soup.

"Wait, the Gates of Hell...?"

Looking at Little Black and Little White still floating before him, Su Chen suddenly had a new thought.

"Soul-Reaping Ghoul, Life-Claiming Impermanence..."

Recalling the battle not long ago, Su Chen became even more certain of his guess.

"Could these two little guys be Black and White Impermanence?"

Staring at the two little fellows before him, Su Chen fell into deep thought.

Since when had Black and White Impermanence's jurisdiction become so extensive? Not only did they handle Earthlings, but they also handled the world of Douluo Continent?

"Wait, could it be that thing?"

Before long, Su Chen recalled a familiar term.

Soul Spirits.

Originally, in Douluo Continent 2, with the help of Holy Necromancer Electrolux, Huo Yuhao had extracted the souls of soul beasts from their bodies through a special method.

He then had them sign equal contracts with soul masters, allowing them to transform into soul rings when the soul masters reached a bottleneck at every tenth level, thereby helping them break through.

More importantly, this method allowed their souls to retain their consciousness.

For soul masters, not only could this help them successfully break through, but the Soul Spirits could also assist their hosts in battle.

For soul beasts, it was another form of existence.

Although this was only a temporary solution rather than a permanent cure, it greatly eased the conflict between soul masters and soul beasts.

As Douluo Continent developed, Soul Spirit technology continued to advance.

There even emerged beings like Companion Soul Spirits, which required soul masters and soul beasts alike to sincerely sign contracts to share life and death together.

Little Black and Little White's behavior, however, more closely resembled another special type of Soul Spirit.

Original Soul Spirits.

For truly top-tier soul masters, their earliest Soul Spirits were the ones that stayed with them the longest.

Like humans, Soul Spirits possessed the potential to grow. This meant that as long as a Soul Spirit had sufficient growth potential, it would continue improving alongside its soul master.

Soul Spirits with such immense growth potential were what soul masters loved most—the so-called "Original Soul Spirits."

Earlier, Little Black and Little White had absorbed the magma released by Yan, and even their own Soul Power had increased along with it.

Such behavior happened to fit the characteristics of Original Soul Spirits perfectly.

"Looks like I do have a few trump cards after all."

At last, he had come up with a reasonable explanation for Little Black and Little White's existence.

A weight lifted from his heart, and Su Chen felt much more at ease.

"Though it still can't compare to all those cheats Tang San has, at least I've taken the first step."

Spirit Hall's technological level undoubtedly represented the pinnacle of this era.

Since even they had been unable to determine what exactly his martial soul was, that meant his martial soul was definitely not so simple.

"Just the Gates of Hell. Charge."

If Little Black and Little White were Soul Spirits, then these so-called Gates of Hell were probably nothing more than his sea of consciousness.

To verify his guess, Su Chen strode toward the "Gates of Hell."