The Creative Idea Behind Artificial Soul Rings

To think I intended to test others, only to end up being tested myself—what kind of situation is this?

Thinking this, Xu Mochen gave a wry smile. Not one to act arrogant, he began to recount his understanding in detail: "According to the views of the predecessor in the book Origin of Martial Souls, the soul of a life form in nature is actually divided into two parts: one is the Soul Body, and the other is the Spirit Body."

"The Soul Body, also known as the Consciousness Body, is a non-material existence that dominates and manipulates its host body. Only beings that possess life have a Soul Body. Its form is relatively fixed, originating from the cycle of heaven, and while it possesses no inherent power, it is our most primitive form."

"The other part is the Spirit Body, also known as the Cultivation Body. It absorbs the essence of heaven and earth, manifesting as the myriad things in nature. Its form can undergo various changes based on internal and external factors. It is precisely because of the existence of the Spirit Body that extraordinary Spirit Masters and Spirit Beasts appeared in the world. In fact, what we call a Martial Soul is a type of this Spirit Body."

"The existence of a Spirit Body is not limited to living things; even inanimate objects possess them. Take this teacup in my hand, for example—it, too, has a Spirit Body. Spirit Bodies are ever-changing, varying in quality, strength, and weakness. They are not only complex in classification but can also alter the strength of their host."

"Whether for a Spirit Master or a Spirit Beast, the quality and rank of the Spirit Body determine the fundamental strength of the individual. Since the Spirit Body itself lacks consciousness, it must rely on the Soul Body to be absorbed and manipulated. Essentially, a Martial Soul is a new Spirit Body formed by the Spirit Master's Soul Body, which has fused with the Spirit Body absorbed from the myriad things of heaven and earth."

"In the book Natural Gene Decoding written by the predecessor, it is also mentioned that a human's Martial Soul is determined by both innate and acquired factors. Innate factors, also known as genetic factors, are the primary elements determining the form of the Martial Soul. Generally, a Spirit Master inherits the Martial Soul of either their father or mother, with a higher probability of inheriting the one of higher quality."

"This is mainly because a Soul Body has limited energy and can usually only manipulate one Spirit Body. Before the Martial Soul awakens, different loose Spirit Body genes compete, kill, and devour one another within the body. Much like the law of the jungle, a 'winner' eventually emerges. This survivor is the sole remaining Spirit Body gene, which becomes the person's Martial Soul and fuses completely with the Soul Body during awakening."

"As for acquired factors, they are secondary reasons for Martial Soul determination. Such changes often stem from special living environments, the absorption of medicinal herbs, or long-term contact with objects containing special Spirit Bodies, leading to the acceptance of external Spirit Bodies and subsequent changes to the Martial Soul. While its influence on the Martial Soul's form is smaller than innate genetic factors, many mid-to-high-tier Martial Souls today are born precisely from these acquired factors."

"In terms of physical constitution, the human body is mostly at an innate disadvantage compared to beast bodies, but the human body's ability to absorb external Spirit Bodies is far superior to that of beasts. The Martial Souls of human Spirit Masters are likewise derived from this absorption of external Spirit Bodies."

"The appearance of mutated Martial Souls is largely because the 'winner' Spirit Body gene, while eliminating and devouring other Spirit Body genes, is also influenced by parts of these defeated genes, thereby altering the original genetic sequence of the winner."

"This change can lead to a rejection reaction between the winner's gene and the remnants of the defeated genes, resulting in a mutated Martial Soul that is weaker than the original form. Conversely, it may happen that the consumed remnants happen to be compatible with the winner's genetic sequence, resulting in a mutated Martial Soul that is even more powerful."

"Of course, there is an extremely rare situation where, due to both innate and acquired factors, two Spirit Bodies that do not devour each other—and may even complement one another—coexist within the human body! This is what we call Twin Martial Souls! This situation violates the 'law of the jungle' theory in Spirit Body genetics."

"However, as there have only been three instances of Twin Martial Souls in the entire history of the Sun Moon Empire, there are too few samples for reference. Therefore, our current understanding of the causes of Twin Martial Souls is not yet comprehensive; we only know that besides innate factors, certain special external factors must also be involved."

"Regarding Spirit Power, to put it plainly, it is a type of molecule born between heaven and earth when nature operates. Its essence is colorless, odorless, formless, and intangible. These Spirit Power molecules can be absorbed by the Spirit Body to help it improve, much like how photosynthesis helps plants grow."

"Therefore, the essence of Spirit Power cultivation is not, as many believe, the creation of Spirit Power to improve the Martial Soul. Rather, it is the Martial Soul, under the control of the Spirit Master's Soul Body, filtering and purifying the energy of the surrounding heaven and earth to strip away the Spirit Power molecules and fuse them into itself."

"Because some Spirit Bodies are of poor quality—like a coarse filter—they cannot purify the surrounding Spirit Power to a degree sufficient for the Martial Soul to absorb. This leads to slow cultivation speeds or even the inability to cultivate at all. These are what we call Waste Martial Souls."

"As for Spirit Rings, they are formed when a Spirit Beast dies and its Soul Body leaves its physical form. Unlike the Spirit Body of a deceased Spirit Master, which dissipates immediately, the Spirit Beast's Spirit Body can persist for a period of time. During this window, the Spirit Body does not immediately scatter back into nature; instead, the entire body's Spirit Power, under the unconscious attraction of the Spirit Body, rapidly gathers and solidifies, eventually forming the Spirit Ring we see."

"The human body's unique genetic mechanism determines that a Spirit Master's ability to absorb external Spirit Bodies after the descent of the Soul Body is higher than that of a Spirit Beast. However, correspondingly, once a Spirit Master dies and the Soul Body departs, the Spirit Body dissipates rapidly. This is why no Spirit Ring is produced after a Spirit Master dies."

"The color of a Spirit Ring is actually a visual effect determined by natural laws, as perceived through human eyes, brains, and life experience. Its variations adhere to the objective natural laws set by the Creator."

"..."

Xu Mochen finished recounting everything he knew with a glib tongue. Kong Dehan, standing to the side, was already unfazed; instead, he watched Cang Ming's stunned expression with a smile. He had experienced too much of this over the past year and had long since come to terms with the Crown Prince's monstrous nature.

There was no helping it; the seven-year-old Crown Prince was simply monstrous to an unreasonable degree. Now, Kong Dehan only wanted to observe his old friend—who was usually unflappable in the face of world events—wearing a look of sheer disbelief, which brought him a sense of satisfaction.

"Old Kong, tell me honestly, is this child really only seven years old?" Cang Ming turned to stare at Kong Dehan in disbelief, his heart beyond mere astonishment.

Kong Dehan had mentioned Xu Mochen to him more than once, praising him to the heavens as if a genius had been reborn. At the time, Cang Ming hadn't fully believed him, wondering if Kong Dehan had developed some mental issue. Now, however, he had no choice but to believe.

Although most of the knowledge Xu Mochen possessed came from his own works, for a seven-year-old child to possess such a volume of knowledge was simply too exaggerated. Kong Dehan merely shrugged, wearing an expression that said, "I told you so, but you wouldn't listen."

Cang Ming could only offer a wry smile. Looking at the serious-faced Xu Mochen, he sighed: "Your description of the relevant issues is very detailed. While not entirely comprehensive, you are already a one-in-a-million genius! In fact, just as you described, the appearance of a Spirit Ring is indeed the manifestation of the Spirit Power gathered within a Spirit Beast after its death, under the unconscious state of its Spirit Body."

"To manufacture an Artificial Spirit Ring, we must create a Spirit Body similar to that of a Spirit Beast and gather enough Spirit Power for it. My approach has always been to extract the Spirit Body genes of a Spirit Beast and use them to replicate the Spirit Body that the beast possessed."

"But the problem lies in how to replicate it using only a portion of the Spirit Beast's genes to achieve further regeneration of the Spirit Body. The Spirit Body genes of a Spirit Beast are difficult to interfere with using external factors; trying to make them devour other genes to strengthen themselves is likely unrealistic."

"Moreover, I cannot conduct experiments by extracting Spirit Bodies from non-living things. Don't forget, one of my most important deductions is that while all things have Spirit Bodies, they are recessive and generally invisible and intangible, making intentional extraction almost impossible. Only Spirit Bodies that have undergone awakening and fused with a Soul Body can form a Spirit Ring."

"Regarding this, I do have some thoughts." Xu Mochen naturally understood Cang Ming's line of thinking, though he couldn't be certain if his proposed solution would truly be effective: "Currently, both Spirit Beast genes and Spirit Master genes have their own pros and cons. Spirit Beast genes are rarely affected by external factors and can exist for a longer time after leaving the Soul Body. Spirit Master genes are more susceptible to external influence but can barely exist once they leave the Soul Body."

"If we can find a way to combine the strengths of both, fusing them to alter their genetic sequences and generate a new type of Spirit Body gene, we might be able to manufacture corresponding Artificial Spirit Rings."

Hearing this, Cang Ming's eyes twitched slightly. He asked in an uncertain tone: "Combining Spirit Master and Spirit Beast genes to create an entirely new Spirit Body gene? I have considered this method, but the difficulties are immense, and the success rate is negligible. At least, the few experiments I attempted all failed."

"With current technology, it is extremely difficult to effectively distinguish and extract the necessary parts of both genes and then combine them. Unless we can find something else that helps us extract and combine these two types of genes."

Xu Mochen smiled slightly at this: "Actually, it is not entirely impossible. According to the methods for creating God-Bestowed Soul Rings left by our ancestors, it is clear that divine genetic energy is sufficiently pure and noble, such that neither Spirit Beast genes nor Spirit Master genes can resist it. In fact, under the influence of god-level Spirit Body genes, the two can be perfectly combined. If we could utilize god-level Spirit Body genes, it might be achievable."

"And, if I may be so bold, while the Spirit Body genes in my own bloodline may not be god-level in the true sense, they do possess divine bloodline characteristics—the Spirit Body genes of a divine beast. Furthermore, as I am human, my own Spirit Body genes also incorporate the form of a Spirit Master. If you were to extract my Spirit Body genes for research, perhaps we might achieve a breakthrough."