The First Step in Preventing Love-Brain: Teaching Bibi Dong Martial Soul Theory

"Senior Sister, do you know why this book says that Weapon Souls cannot absorb Beast Soul Beasts?"

Gu Han held a book and opened the conversation with a question.

"I seem to remember Teacher mentioning it... but I forgot."

Bibi Dong thought for a moment, then shook her head. Teacher seemed to have explained it back then, but she had not taken in a single word.

Gu Han slightly shook his head. Sure enough, she was a little academic scum.

"On the continent, people often classify Plant-Based Martial Souls among Weapon Souls."

"Although some say that Martial Souls on the continent are divided into three categories, the more common view is that there are only Beast Martial Souls and Weapon Souls."

"Senior Sister, you must have heard of the Clear Sky Hammer and the Seven Kill Sword, right?"

"Mm-hmm, I know. The Clear Sky Hammer is the inherited Martial Soul of the Clear Sky Sect, while the Seven Kill Sword is the Martial Soul of successive Sword Douluos. Both are among the continent's most famous top-tier Weapon Souls."

Bibi Dong nodded. She still knew such basic things.

"Mm. The Clear Sky Hammer, the Seven Kill Sword, and Junior Brother's Sword Martial Soul all share one trait: they are all weapons."

"For Junior Brother's Sword Martial Soul, both the first and Second Soul Rings came from Beast Soul Beasts. Not only did it succeed, but they also improved the Martial Soul's attributes and quality."

"But Plant-Based Martial Souls are different. Take Senior Yue Guan's Martial Soul as an example. Based on my conversations with and understanding of Senior Yue Guan, all of his Spirit Rings came from Plant Soul Beasts rich in metal attributes and powerful offensive power."

"Mm-hmm, then why do they still say Weapon Souls cannot absorb the Spirit Rings of Beast Soul Beasts?" Bibi Dong tilted her little head thoughtfully and asked in confusion.

"To be precise, Plant-Based Martial Souls do not belong to Weapon Souls. They should be classified separately. When Spirit Masters absorb Spirit Rings, there is one defining principle: they do so to evolve their Martial Souls, which requires absorbing Spirit Beasts with matching attributes."

"If Plant System Spirit Masters absorb the Spirit Rings of Beast Soul Beasts, it is not impossible, but it may cause their Martial Souls to mutate or even regress. The best outcome is that the Martial Soul's quality cannot be improved."

"Think about it, Senior Sister. What would happen if a Plant-Based Martial Soul rich in powerful life force absorbed a poisonous Beast Soul Beast?"

"Emmm..." Bibi Dong considered it before tentatively answering, "It would regress?"

Gu Han smiled and explained, "If the Martial Soul itself is already of extremely high quality, absorbing one or two would not have much effect. But if it keeps absorbing them, the Martial Soul's original function will be completely obscured. At best, it will be unable to continue evolving; at worst, it may even regress."

"Moreover, if a Martial Soul cannot evolve, someone who should have had the talent to break through to Rank 97 as a Title Douluo might remain stuck below Rank 95 for their entire life, never able to advance another step."

"The same is true for Beast Martial Souls."

"So, in Junior Brother's view, rather than saying Weapon Souls cannot absorb Beast Spirit Rings, it would be more accurate to say that unless they are Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts, Plant System Spirit Masters should avoid absorbing Beast Spirit Rings."

Tang San had been exactly like this in the original story. His first four Spirit Rings had all come from poisonous and Dark Attribute Spirit Beasts. Before he absorbed the Immortal Herb, that Blue Silver Grass had been as fragile as paper.

That poison had been just as useless. By the later stages, it was completely redundant. Stronger opponents were not afraid of that little paralysis effect at all, while anyone could defeat opponents weaker than themselves.

If Tang San had not had Hidden Weapons and Tang Sect's Secret Techniques to fall back on, he would not merely have failed to reach the finals; he probably would not even have made it past the Cang Hui round.

Throughout the entire competition, when facing true geniuses near the end, Tang San's Blue Silver Grass had been completely useless. He had relied almost entirely on Tang Sect's Secret Techniques and even the Clear Sky Hammer.

Tang San's Martial Soul had only begun taking a different path after his Fifth Soul Ring, when the Blue Silver King helped Tang San completely awaken the Blue Silver Emperor Martial Soul.

He abandoned that ridiculous poisonous Soul Skill route from before and took the Power Attack System path. The Blue Silver Overlord Spear and that Spring Breeze Blows Again Spirit Bone skill could be said to have helped Tang San get through several God Trials.

Fortunately, Tang San's Blue Silver Grass had not been ordinary Blue Silver Grass, but an unawakened Blue Silver Emperor.

If it had truly been ordinary Blue Silver Grass, Jade Belt Master would most likely have ruined it.

Come to think of it, if Tang San's first four Spirit Rings had been Plant Soul Beast Spirit Rings with matching attributes, could it have evolved on its own?

Gu Han shook his head. He could not be certain about that, but he was certain that even if it could not evolve into the Blue Silver Emperor, evolving independently into the Blue Silver King would have been more than possible.

"Oh, so that's how it is. No wonder the first two Spirit Beasts Teacher prepared for me were both Spider-Type Soul Beasts with the same poison attribute as my Martial Soul."

Bibi Dong seemed to understand something, her face showing sudden realization.

"But speaking of which, why do Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts not have this requirement?"

"Because Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts are already beyond comparison to ordinary Spirit Beasts. Once a Spirit Beast breaks through one hundred thousand years, it undergoes a qualitative transformation. At that point, even if a Plant System Spirit Master's attributes do not match, the boost gained after absorbing it will be far greater than that of a ninety-thousand-year Spirit Beast with matching attributes."

"And most importantly, Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts are guaranteed to produce Spirit Bones and grant Spirit Masters two powerful Soul Skills."

"So that's how it is..."

Bibi Dong nodded thoughtfully, then raised a thumbs-up with a grin. "Junior Brother, you're amazing. You explain things much more clearly than Teacher does in class."

"Thank you for the praise, Senior Sister. But how does Teacher usually teach you?"

"Every time, Teacher makes me hold a book and read it, then rattles off a huge pile of stuff like chanting scriptures. Whenever I have that kind of lesson, I can't help wanting to fall asleep."

Bibi Dong propped her cheek on her little hand. Recalling the times she had learned Martial Soul theory with Teacher, she could not help sighing.

"If Teacher could explain these complicated things in just a few sentences like you do, Junior Brother, that would be great."

"It's fine. From now on, Junior Brother can study Martial Soul theory together with Senior Sister."

Gu Han smiled. He had studied for several years himself, so it was impossible for it not to be dull. Having someone accompany him, while explaining things to her and reviewing what he had learned, was not bad either.

"Mm-hmm. Oh, right, Junior Brother, does that grappling technique you taught me have a name?"

Bibi Dong suddenly changed the subject. She practiced the grappling technique Gu Han had taught her every day, but she had suddenly realized that she did not know its name.

"Junior Brother really has not thought about naming it. How about Senior Sister gives it one?"

Gu Han had truly never considered names for the moves and cultivation methods granted to him by the Nameless Technique. In his view, names were not important at all, as long as he himself knew what they did.