Douluo: Martial Soul Iron-Eating Beast, Never a Slave

Perhaps because of his own martial soul, Zhao Mu could understand what the Iron-Eating Beast was trying to convey.

Zhao Mu did not think the Iron-Eating Beast had misunderstood. He nodded, then silently added, Of course, food and lodging depend on my circumstances.

The Iron-Eating Beast howled again. The expression on its round, chubby face grew even more bewildered as it struggled internally, drool dripping helplessly from the corner of its mouth.

Food and lodging were definitely better than finding food on its own.

In the end, reality defeated its inner resolve. The Iron-Eating Beast nodded reluctantly.

Its Dao heart was still not firm enough.

It could not hold out anymore.

The Iron-Eating Beast would never be a slave—unless food and lodging were provided.

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This Iron-Eating Beast did not seem too stupid.

Zhao Mu was very satisfied when he saw the Iron-Eating Beast quickly snap out of its resistance and accept reality.

After all, his martial soul was this Iron-Eating Beast. It would be far too absurd if a martial soul and its soul master did not get along.

Besides, was it not just a safe environment to grow up in? How could human cities and villages be any less safe than the wilderness?

As for food, once he became a powerful soul master, would he not be able to have whatever he wanted?

Still, before that happened, this Iron-Eating Beast would first have to sweat and help him become a formidable soul master.

After Zhao Mu set the Iron-Eating Beast down, it landed on all fours. It first glanced at Zhao Mu with its pitch-black eyes, then picked up the half section of Purple Bamboo from the ground again.

Before long, Zhao Mu suddenly felt a warm current appear inside his body.

The warm current emerged from nothingness in an extremely strange manner, and sweat quickly beaded on Zhao Mu's forehead.

It was as though something had been pent up within his body. Only when it suddenly found an outlet at a certain moment did the swelling, burning sensation gradually fade and return to normal.

Zhao Mu spread his hands, unable to figure out what had just happened to his body. Could he have some hidden ailment?

He quickly dismissed that thought. After the strange occurrence, his physical condition was exceptionally good—better than before, even—as if he had endless strength.

"Brother Mu!"

"Brother Mu! Look under your feet!"

The surrounding children suddenly shouted at Zhao Mu.

Prompted by them, Zhao Mu looked down at his feet as well. His eyes widened, his pupils constricting sharply, as though he had seen something unbelievable.

A distinct purple light ring had risen beneath his feet, spiraling around his body.

A soul ring?!

He already had his First Soul Ring?!

And it was purple?!

Zhao Mu looked utterly bewildered. He had no idea what had happened, yet he had somehow gained a soul ring—and his First Soul Ring was a purple Millennium Soul Ring.

Zhao Mu thought for a while. If the problem was not with him, then it could only be...

When Zhao Mu looked at the Iron-Eating Beast on the ground again, he saw it licking its paws.

Its mouth and paws were empty.

That section of purple bamboo had vanished without a trace!

Only a few crumbs remained on the ground.

From those fragments, he could vaguely tell that they seemed to have come from that purple bamboo.

So that purple bamboo had been eaten by the Iron-Eating Beast?

And the change in his body, as well as his Millennium First Soul Ring, had all happened because this little fellow ate a strange piece of purple bamboo???

Was that not ridiculously absurd?

Even Zhao Mu, as a transmigrator, was stunned.

Having found the cause, Zhao Mu considered it carefully and realized that it all seemed barely explainable.

First, although he did not know where the Iron-Eating Beast had carried that purple bamboo from, it was obvious to the naked eye that it was no ordinary item.

Second, martial souls were independent lifeforms, and he shared a symbiotic relationship with his martial soul. So when the martial soul consumed food, could its energy also be transferred to the soul master?

Martial souls being independent lifeforms was already inconceivable. In the original story, Yu Xiaogang seemed to be the only exception. If poison could erode a soul master through a martial soul, then could other things also be passed on to the soul master? Such as energy.

Third, Zhao Mu possessed Innate Full Soul Power and was at the point where he could absorb a soul ring. Therefore, after the Iron-Eating Beast ate that section of Purple Bamboo, its energy formed his First Soul Ring.

Soul rings did not necessarily have to be obtained by killing soul beasts. The essence of a soul ring was simply a vessel of energy.

God-Bestowed Soul Rings, as well as the inner core of the Ten Headed Fierce Yang Serpent in the original story transforming into Ma Hongjun's Seventh Soul Ring, both proved that killing soul beasts was not the only way to obtain soul rings.

So, soul beasts could form soul rings by eating things.

That made sense, did it not?

Still, it had to be something relatively high-grade to form a stronger soul ring.

For example, after the Iron-Eating Beast ate that extraordinary section of purple bamboo, it transformed into Zhao Mu's purple Millennium Soul Ring.

After reaching a conclusion about his Millennium Soul Ring, Zhao Mu turned his attention to another important point.

His First Soul Ring was a millennium-level one!

According to the common understanding in the original Douluo Continent story, the limit a First Soul Ring could withstand was a little over four hundred years. Yu Xiaogang had even specified it precisely as 423 years.

Although nothing was absolute, absorbing a soul ring far beyond that limit was extremely dangerous for a soul master.

Even if one succeeded by sheer luck, that surging, tyrannical energy beyond the limit could torment them half to death.

Thinking back on what he had just felt, Zhao Mu had experienced, at most, a sense of pressure building up inside him. Once it passed, everything became smooth again. If that counted as torment, then it did, but it was nowhere near enough to leave him half-dead.

It was probably not even as difficult as other soul masters absorbing a hundred-year soul ring.

Turning to look at his Iron-Eating Beast, Zhao Mu saw the little fellow lying lazily flat on the ground, occasionally scratching its bloated backside with its forepaws. It did not look troubled at all.

Perhaps that section of purple bamboo would not have been so easy for anyone else to consume, but it posed no pressure whatsoever to the Iron-Eating Beast. Did this little fellow have an incredibly powerful stomach? Or perhaps its physical constitution and body strength were sufficient for it to fear no Purple Bamboo comparable to a millennium-level treasure?

Or had the Iron-Eating Beast absorbed part of the Purple Bamboo's energy, with only a portion transferred to his body, allowing him to safely absorb and condense a Millennium Soul Ring?

No matter which possibility was true, or what the reason was, the outcome was good. Zhao Mu's First Soul Ring was miraculously millennium-level!

Next, Zhao Mu needed to focus on studying the process of this soul ring conversion.

If it worked, then whenever his Soul Power reached full level and he needed to absorb a soul ring, he could simply have this little fellow eat some powerful food to help him form one.

For example, Dugu Bo's Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, the opportunity every transmigrator had to plunder.

That place was full of treasures. The Immortal Herbs there had to be far better than that section of Purple Bamboo.

If the Iron-Eating Beast ate the Immortal Herbs there, would he not gain a ten-thousand-year soul ring?

Perhaps even a 100,000-Year Soul Ring would be the minimum!

For example, the two Immortal Herbs within the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well—one supremely yang and one supremely cold.

Infernal Delicate Apricot and Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass!

By having the Iron-Eating Beast consume these two Immortal Herbs and transfer their energy into his body, could he also obtain the energy of those herbs?

And not just those two. Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum, Eight-Petal Immortal Orchid, Cockscomb Phoenix Sunflower, Aromatic Silk Beauty, Lovesick Heartbreak Red, Narcissus Jade Bone, Nine-Rank Ganoderma... they all seemed edible.

What?

You said one person should not be too greedy?

The key was that the Iron-Eating Beast was not a person!

Although he had set his sights on the Immortal Herb opportunity at Dugu Bo's Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, this was not something that could be accomplished in one stroke.

He needed to plan before acting!

Dugu Bo had an eccentric temperament. If Zhao Mu went to him openly, he might be poisoned to death at any moment.

Zhao Mu would not assume he had protagonist luck, escaping every danger and having everyone hand treasures over to him.

Moreover, Zhao Mu needed to conduct more experiments on the Iron-Eating Beast's ability to form soul rings through eating. For now, it was only a guess and still required practical testing.

In fact, something else deserved Zhao Mu's attention even more than all that.

Soul skills!

Since he had a First Soul Ring, he definitely had a First Soul Skill!

Although the First Soul Skill was the most basic of all a soul master's soul skills, Zhao Mu's First Soul Skill came from a millennium-level soul ring. Its strength was comparable to an ordinary soul master's third soul skill.

Though the strength of a soul skill was not fixed and would increase with the soul master's own power, Zhao Mu's millennium-level First Soul Skill at least ensured that he had won at the starting line.

Winning at the starting line was the dream of countless people.