Finding Shelter in the Tavern, A Discussion on Light and Shadow Martial Souls

He snatched the certificate, examined it carefully and repeatedly, and even rubbed the seal of the Spirit Hall branch in the bottom right corner with his finger.

It was real!

He looked at Ye Feng again. Although the boy was dressed in rags, his silver hair was exceptionally striking, and his eyes were clear and calm, showing none of the timidity typical of children his age.

A Spirit Master with innate full spirit power of level seven, even at only six years old, was destined for greatness.

A small investment now could yield immeasurable returns in the future.

Manager Wang's face instantly broke into a beaming smile.

"So you are a young Lord Spirit Master, please forgive my rudeness."

He politely returned the spirit certificate to Ye Feng, then turned his head and barked at the waiter.

"You dog-eyed thing! Why haven't you apologized to young Lord Ye Feng yet!"

The man trembled in fear and hurriedly bowed ninety degrees to Ye Feng.

"I'm sorry, young Lord, it was my eyes that failed to recognize a person of importance!"

Manager Wang waved his hand and personally led Ye Feng into the restaurant.

"Ye Feng, is it? Our hotel happens to be short-handed. If you don't mind, you can stay on as a waiter. We provide room and board, plus a monthly salary of 10 Silver Spirit Coins. What do you think?"

Ye Feng nodded.

"Thank you, Manager Wang."

Soon, Ye Feng washed up in the hotel's backyard bathroom and changed into a small-sized suit vest specially found for him.

A white shirt, a black vest, and black trousers.

Though the boy in the mirror was thin and small, his silver hair was neatly combed. With this outfit, his presence was significantly elevated, and he looked clean and spirited.

Afterward, Manager Wang personally took him around, explaining the restaurant's rules and precautions in detail.

For example, which guests in which areas must not be offended, which routes to take when serving dishes, how to arrange tableware, and so on.

After going through the process, Ye Feng finally understood everything.

Then, he began his first day of work.

Carrying trays, clearing tables, and guiding guests.

For a six-year-old body, this was quite exhausting work.

By the end of the day, Ye Feng felt as if his legs no longer belonged to him.

At night, he dragged his weary body back to the staff dormitory assigned to him.

It was a very small single room with only a bed and a table.

Although crude, for Ye Feng, it was already a home that could shield him from the wind and rain.

He carefully took out the parchment scroll containing the meditation technique from his pocket.

But when he unfolded the scroll and looked at the ghost-like characters written on it, he could only smile bitterly.

He didn't recognize a single word.

It seemed he would have to find an opportunity tomorrow to ask for guidance without shame.

He put away the scroll, sat cross-legged on the bed, and decided to try releasing his martial soul.

As his thoughts stirred, a bright shadow emerged from behind him, silent and soundless.

In his previous life, Ye Feng had at least read the Douluo Continent novels and watched the anime, and he had even studied it in depth with his friends, so he understood a thing or two about martial souls.

He truly hadn't expected his martial soul to be Light and Shadow.

But for a shadow martial soul—and one that carried an innate light attribute—he felt that there was no limit that could bind a shadow martial soul with innate attributes.

The shadow martial soul belonged to the rarest special category; it did not have the huge limitations of beast, tool, or plant martial souls.

Let's start with beast martial souls.

The physical body is deeply bound to the martial soul; if the body is damaged, the martial soul's combat power plummets.

The spirit power of a beast martial soul continuously transforms the user's body, and the release and power amplification of spirit skills rely entirely on the body's capacity—if the body is injured (such as broken bones or damaged internal organs), not only can the melee-type beast martial soul's basic attacks and spirit skills not be executed.

Even for agility-type or power-attack-type long-range spirit skills (such as elemental breaths), the power will be reduced by more than half due to the obstruction of spirit power conduction in the body;

Low-level beast martial soul masters may even suffer from physical exhaustion and sluggish movement as a side effect when their spirit power is depleted, due to the bond between the martial soul and the body.

The martial soul's form determines the boundaries of its capabilities, lacking flexible adaptability across forms.

The spirit skills and combat tendencies of a beast martial soul are determined entirely by the corresponding spirit beast form, making it almost impossible to break through this "form shackle":

For example, terrestrial beast martial souls (tigers, leopards, bears) are naturally good at melee/agility and cannot cultivate long-range output capabilities;

Avian beast martial souls (eagles, geese, eagles) are good at aerial dominance, but their ground combat power will shrink significantly;

Aquatic beast martial souls (fish, turtles, crabs) will lose their core mobility on land, and some spirit skills may even be impossible to release.

This rigid capability bias makes the combat style of beast martial soul masters highly solidified and extremely easy to counter.

High-level Avatar manifestations carry the risk of physical backlash; if the body's strength cannot keep up, the user will die instantly.

The Avatar manifestation of a Beast Martial Soul is a "fusion between the Spirit Master and the Martial Soul form," placing much higher demands on physical strength than other types.

If the Spirit Master's body and spirit power have not been sufficiently tempered, the surge of spirit power from the Martial Soul can tear the body apart and cause a backlash that impacts the spiritual sea.

In minor cases, the Avatar manifestation will end prematurely, forcing the user into a period of weakness; in severe cases, the origin of the Martial Soul is damaged, rendering the user unable to manifest it ever again.

Furthermore, the duration of a Beast Martial Soul's Avatar manifestation is limited by physical endurance, making it far shorter than the Tool manifestation of a Tool Martial Soul.

Some Beast Martial Souls possess "physiological shortcomings" that become inherent weaknesses.

Most Beast Martial Souls inherit the physiological weaknesses of their corresponding spirit beasts, which are then exposed on the Spirit Master themselves.

For example, herbivorous Beast Martial Souls (rabbit, deer, horse) have naturally weak defenses, with the neck and abdomen serving as inherent weak points.

Cold-blooded Beast Martial Souls (snake, lizard, crocodile) experience a significant drop in spirit power circulation speed in low-temperature environments, leading to delays in the release of spirit skills.

Gregarious Beast Martial Souls (wolf, bee, ant) find some of their group-based spirit skills rendered completely ineffective when fighting alone.

As for Tool Martial Souls, their essence is a "physical object manifested from spirit power," with the physical object acting as the core vessel; if the object is damaged, the Martial Soul fails immediately.

The integrity of the object itself directly determines the combat power of the Martial Soul.

Even for power-attack Tool Martial Souls (Clear Sky Hammer, Seven Kill Sword), if the object develops cracks or dents, the power of spirit skills will decay geometrically.

If the object is shattered (such as when the core part of the Tool Martial Soul is damaged).

The Martial Soul will enter a "collapsed state," rendering the Spirit Master unable to manifest it for a short time, and causing intense pain during subsequent attempts due to the damage to the Martial Soul's origin.

The material of the object determines the growth ceiling, as ordinary materials lack the space for high-level development; growth depends not only on spirit rings but also on the grade of the object's material.

Ordinary Tool Martial Souls.

(Such as iron swords, wooden hammers, or stone shields) are made of common iron, ordinary wood, or stone.

Even if they absorb a hundred-thousand-year spirit ring, they cannot break through the physical limits of their material, and the power of their spirit skills will be constrained by that material.

High-level Tool Martial Souls (such as the Clear Sky Stone of the Clear Sky Hammer or the Cold Iron of the Seven Kill Sword) are all made of innately rare materials. If a Spirit Master with an ordinary Tool Martial Soul wishes to break through, they must expend vast resources to temper the material of their object.

(Such as through heavenly treasures or rare metals), otherwise, they will remain stuck at low to mid-levels; this is the most fundamental growth barrier for Tool Martial Souls.