Twin Martial Souls' Flaw

"Whew~ Done."

Ban Shu slowly set down his pen. The rice paper on the desk was densely covered with the names of all kinds of Soul Beasts.

Birds and beasts, every kind imaginable.

These were the Soul Beasts he could think of that would be most helpful to him right now.

"After picking through them, there really aren't that many."

Ban Shu smacked his lips, clearly less than satisfied.

By his reckoning, his enhancement Soul Skill had to boost him in every way—and it had to be powerful enough.

The Soul Beasts on the paper were all ones that could just barely meet his requirements.

Ban Shu even wanted to take things a step further. He planned to make his first five Soul Rings all grant enhancement Soul Skills.

After all, Madara didn't have any special mechanics in the original story or the mobile game. He relied on wide-ranging attacks and overwhelming stats.

In short: overwhelming force wins.

Of course, this wasn't a strategy he'd recommend to ordinary Soul Masters. Ban Shu dared to do it for two reasons: his Martial Soul was special, and he had Spirit Hall backing him.

With an organization behind you, things got done—and Spirit Hall was an organization of extraordinary power.

Ban Shu didn't have to worry about the various difficulties he might face early on. He only needed to plan for the future.

"Let's leave it at this for now. I'll see how things go when we enter the forest the day after tomorrow."

Ban Shu put the paper away in his ring, then stretched. "Ah... The nights on Douluo Continent really are dull. Spirit Hall doesn't have a single fun activity."

The reason Ban Shu kept training at night was partly to grow stronger, and partly because there was nothing fun to do here.

Spirit Hall enforced a curfew. At night, there was nothing to do; only nocturnal animals like owls and crickets roamed about.

"So boring~ So boring~"

Ban Shu propped up his chin, raised his paintbrush again, and resumed his "artistic creation."

"Maybe I should draw Lao Da this time?"

Ban Shu thought it over for a moment, then bent over his work and began to draw.

Just then, a figure quietly opened the door to Ban Shu's room, then tiptoed over behind him.

"Ban Shu~"

Ban Shu didn't even turn his head. He only said, sounding a little lazy, "Sister Dong'er, stop messing around. You didn't even hide your footsteps. How were you supposed to scare me?"

"Tsk, no fun. You guessed it right away."

Bibi Dong pouted and plopped down on Ban Shu's bed. "What are you doing? Aren't you usually meditating at this hour? What's with you today?"

"Nothing much. I'm just planning out my future Soul Rings so I can get stronger~"

Ban Shu leaned back in his chair and tipped his head toward Bibi Dong. "What about you, sister? Have you made any plans for your Martial Souls?"

"Well..."

Bibi Dong tapped her chin. "My idea is to train one Martial Soul first, to prepare for the second."

"Think about it. If I train my first Martial Soul all the way to Titled Douluo, wouldn't the first Soul Ring on my Second Martial Soul be ten thousand years old?"

The more Bibi Dong spoke, the more excited she became. "Then I'd be invincible!"

Watching Bibi Dong's delighted expression, Ban Shu shook his head helplessly. "I've told you time and again to read more, but you never listen."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Ban Shu had interrupted her beautiful vision of the future, and Bibi Dong rolled her eyes at him in annoyance. "What's wrong with what I said?"

"It's wrong—and not just a little."

Ban Shu reached out and casually tapped Bibi Dong on the forehead. "My dear sister, use that head of yours and think carefully. Would that really work?"

"What do you mean?"

Bibi Dong rubbed her head. Her dazed look was rather cute.

Ban Shu rolled his eyes and chuckled. "I'm not telling you. Not unless..."

"Unless what?"

Her curiosity piqued, Bibi Dong hurried over to Ban Shu's side and leaned close to his ear.

"Unless you call me senior brother."

"You're asking for it!"

Bibi Dong rolled her eyes and reached out to pinch Ban Shu hard around the waist.

"Ow!"

Ban Shu sprang out of his chair as if he'd stepped on a mousetrap, baring his teeth as he clutched his waist. "That hurts!"

"Serves you right! Trying to take advantage of your big sister. You deserve a beating!"

Bibi Dong folded her arms and gave a soft snort.

"Just tell me—do you want to hear it or not?"

Ban Shu leaned close to Bibi Dong, staring into her eyes. "I found this in the books at Spirit Hall. It's the secret of Twin Martial Souls."

"Don't you want to hear it?"

"Well..."

At that, Bibi Dong hesitated. Though she had Twin Martial Souls, she hadn't studied much, so her understanding of them was superficial at best.

Now that she had a chance to learn more, she didn't want to miss it.

Looking at Ban Shu's smiling eyes, Bibi Dong blushed and called out in a barely audible voice, "Senior brother."

"What did you say?"

Ban Shu pointedly cupped a hand behind his ear, pretending he couldn't hear. "Too quiet. I can't hear you."

Looking at Ban Shu's smug face, Bibi Dong took a deep breath and yelled right into his ear.

"Senior brother!!!"

"Whoa!"

That lion's roar left Ban Shu seeing stars, his head buzzing.

"Okay, I called you that. Now you have to tell me, right?"

Bibi Dong pulled Ban Shu down to sit and impatiently patted the bed. "Hurry up and tell me. Come on!"

"All right."

Ban Shu cleared his throat twice and said solemnly, "Actually, the records at Spirit Hall mention quite a few Twin Martial Soul prodigies. But every single one of them died."

"What? How could that happen?"

Bibi Dong was stunned. "Could it be..."

Ban Shu knew what she was thinking, so he shook his head. "No, they weren't murdered. They died because of their Martial Souls. Their own Martial Souls killed them."

"What?"

Bibi Dong covered her mouth, clearly not expecting Ban Shu to reach that conclusion.

"The main condition for Twin Martial Souls to appear is that the Martial Souls of both parents must be on par, or equal in quality."

"If one side is superior to the other, Twin Martial Souls won't appear."

Ban Shu began explaining it to her in detail. "Twin Martial Souls are a sign of talent, but they also carry a risk."

"Since Twin Martial Souls are born from balance, that balance must never be broken lightly."

Ban Shu took a small balance scale and some weights out of his ring.

"If this scale represents Twin Martial Souls, then these weights represent Soul Rings."

Ban Shu placed a weight on one side. The scale began to tilt.

"Look. If only one Martial Soul absorbs Soul Rings, this is what happens: the balance is gradually disrupted."

"If one side is loaded with weights while the other has nothing at all, the balance between the two Martial Souls will be broken."

"The stronger one will suppress the weaker one, and the weaker one will fight back. Your body will become their battlefield."

Ban Shu put down the scale in his hand. "If things reach that point, what do you think will happen to your body?"