Birdman Feng

After class, a handsome boy who was even more dashing than Osler found him and casually draped one arm over his shoulder.

"Leopard, your new roommate's kind of ridiculous. An eight-year-old Soul Grandmaster? You must be under a lot of pressure."

"Get lost, birdman!"

Osler shoved him away in disgust. "Don't forget, we're in the same class. If I'm under pressure, aren't you?"

The handsome boy looked amused. "Honestly, I was under pressure at first. But I'm a flying-type Soul Master! You ground-bound Soul Masters can't understand the advantage of air superiority~ Besides, why should I compare myself to him? It's enough if I beat you."

Osler's face twisted, veins bulging on his forehead, but he couldn't squeeze out a single word.

Xing Tian quietly asked Ye Lingling, "Who's that? What's the deal between those two?"

She answered softly, "His name is Yu Feng, and his Martial Soul is the Wind Bell Bird. Their families have been close for generations, and they even arranged a marriage between the two of them when they were babies. Who knew both families would have boys, born only a few days apart?"

"Their elders thought they'd become good brothers. Instead, they became bitter rivals. They've been competing since they were little. Whenever they meet, they bicker. I've never seen them speak calmly to each other for more than a few words."

"They both work hard to beat the other, but their Soul Power Levels have always stayed even. Yu Feng's a flying-type Soul Master, though, so Osler has never won a Soul Fighting match against him."

At that, a sly glint flashed in Xing Tian's eyes. If I get close to Yu Feng and become friends with him, won't Osler shift his attention to Yu Feng? Then he'll stop giving me a hard time.

But Xing Tian quickly dismissed the idea. The two of them argued too much. Better to deal with Osler alone.

A month gradually passed, and the thing Xing Tian had been dreading still happened. Because of Osler, Yu Feng started spending more and more time with him, and the four of them slowly formed a little group.

It was just a bit too noisy, though—and that was entirely due to Yu Feng and Osler.

Fortunately, Yu Feng could always shut Osler up by pointing out that he had never lost a match, ending their verbal battles on the spot.

During this time, Xing Tian hadn't focused on cultivation. He'd focused on studying, but the results left him a little disappointed.

"It seems this world doesn't have anything like cultivation techniques. Almost everyone relies on Calm Mind techniques to cultivate. They do cover the extraordinary meridians and the body's acupoints, but not completely, and they seem to be aimed only at cultivating Soul Power. There's no way to cultivate both internally and externally."

"As for external combat techniques, those mostly rely on Soul Skills granted by Soul Rings and Soul Bones. The techniques passed down by certain clans and factions are little more than systems for adding Soul Rings. They don't have external combat techniques suited to the individual—in other words, Self-Created Soul Skills."

"Only truly top experts have secret arts passed down to them, such as the famous Dragon Transformation, Seven Kill Sword Technique, Kill Character Seal, Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer, and Clear Sky Nine Arts."

Xing Tian instantly lost most of his desire to spar with people who had no secret arts to pass down. He could only hope to face those powerful secret arts and gain some insight from them.

Of course, he hadn't come away empty-handed.

It turned out that a person could really have more than one Martial Soul. This was called Twin Martial Souls.

"It seems I'm a Twin Martial Souls holder too. My Second Martial Soul is... seems like it's me... The teacher said in class that when a body part becomes a Martial Soul, it's called a 'Body Martial Soul.' But its quality is only considered average, and its Innate Soul Power varies greatly."

"But shouldn't the organs of the human body be vital? Especially the skin, bones, heart, blood, and brain—lose any of those and you're dead. Can something like that really be only average quality?"

"Also, why didn't I awaken two Martial Souls from the start? Why did I only awaken one after dying and coming back to life? Or was it precisely because I came back to life that I gained a Second Martial Soul..."

"Still, cultivating Twin Martial Souls doesn't seem to be that simple."

The Soul Master World still didn't know what conditions led to the birth of Twin Martial Souls, or even how to cultivate them.

There had only been two Twin Martial Souls holders in the past hundred years. When the first tried to add a third Soul Ring to his Second Martial Soul, the two Martial Souls clashed, and he exploded and died.

The second Twin Martial Souls holder succeeded, becoming an unprecedented existence. That person was the current Pope of Spirit Hall—Bibi Dong.

Although some scholars had realized that as long as the body was strong enough to withstand the clash between Martial Souls, one could successfully cultivate Twin Martial Souls, many details remained unclear, and the risks were enormous.

First, there were few ways to strengthen the body. As mentioned earlier, Soul Masters mainly cultivated Soul Power through Calm Mind techniques. It was difficult to cultivate both internally and externally, so their bodies couldn't keep pace with the growth of their Soul Power.

Second, resources for strengthening the body were scarce. The most direct way for a Soul Master to improve their physical condition was to absorb a Soul Bone. But Soul Bones were incredibly rare and expensive. On top of that, they had to match the Soul Master's attributes and be of a sufficiently high age, making them even harder to come by.

Third, even if the body was strengthened, it was still unclear what age Soul Rings the Second Martial Soul could bear.

Put simply, when the First Martial Soul could bear a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring, the Second Martial Soul might not be able to bear one. It might not even be able to bear a high-level Thousand-Year Soul Ring. The clash between the two Martial Souls couldn't be accurately calculated, so there was no way to know what age Soul Rings the Second Martial Soul could bear.

Finally, the clash between the two Martial Souls wouldn't disappear just because the body was strengthened. It would only build up over time. No one knew when it would reach the limit and cause the Soul Master to explode and die. There had been such cases before.

"Cultivating Twin Martial Souls really is a big problem. It's like two mutually clashing cultivation techniques—two kinds of power that can't coexist. Besides, the Dark Evil Spirit Mantis Martial Soul is already enough for me. I'll put the Body Martial Soul aside for now."

Besides studying Soul Master knowledge, Xing Tian also had his first practical training class. His teacher had paired him with Yu Feng.

Osler was so excited he danced around, waving his arms. "Xiao Tian, do your best! Pluck that birdman's feathers and turn him into a flightless chicken!..."

"Osler, if you make another peep, I'll send you back to the classroom to study on your own!" the practical training teacher barked.

Osler mimed zipping his lips to show he'd keep quiet, but he still looked excited.

Yu Feng struck a flashy pose. "Leopard, I may be a flying-type Soul Master, but air superiority is absolute! Someone like you who can't fly will never understand!"

Osler said nothing. He merely clenched his right hand, stuck out his thumb, and pointed it sharply downward.

"Both sides, summon your Martial Souls!"