Martial Soul Devouring Evolution Method!

After Huo Si brought Chu Youwei, the Spirit Power Meditation Method, and a large amount of research on snake-type Martial Souls and snake Soul Beasts back with him,

the entire Plane Research Institute sprang back into action.

Dozens of top scientists from across the country began studying the Martial Souls and Soul Beasts of the other world, carefully screening them to find a suitable Martial Soul for Huo Si.

When the Spirit Power Meditation Method was submitted, Elder Long was once again startled into action.

"From the fact that I can recover Soul Power in that world, we can tell that it has Soul Power too."

"That means people in our world can become Soul Masters and cultivate Soul Power as well!"

Thud, thud, thud!!!

Elder Long strode into the research room.

"Excellent! Excellent!"

"Thanks for all your hard work!"

"You two have worked hard too, Xiao Huo, Xiao Chu!"

Elder Long's gaze settled on the two of them. When he saw that Long Weiguo hadn't appeared, his expression shifted slightly.

"Where's that boy, Weiguo?"

"Did something happen in the Douluo World?"

"Do we need to dispatch heavy weapons from the national treasury?"

Huo Si bowed slowly.

"Everything went smoothly. We didn't encounter any danger."

"Long Weiguo stayed behind at the hotel. We brought the materials back first."

"Elder Long, this is the Spirit Power Meditation Method we bought from Spirit Hall."

Huo Si personally handed the Spirit Power Meditation Method to Elder Long.

"With this, our Dragon Kingdom can produce Soul Masters without end—even make the whole nation into Soul Masters!"

Huo Si furrowed his brows, wanting to speak but hesitating.

Seeing his troubled expression, Chu Youwei quickly stepped forward.

"Elder Long, I'm afraid that won't work. In the Douluo World, you have to awaken a Martial Soul and possess Soul Power before you can cultivate this method. Without Soul Power, you can't become a Soul Master."

"Even in that world, according to the information provided by Planar Pioneer Huo, only a tiny fraction of the population can become Soul Masters. There are fewer than a million among tens of millions of people—not even one in ten."

Huo Si added,

"And we have another problem to contend with. We're all adults now, so we've already missed the most important period for rapid cultivation. We're who knows how many years behind the people of that world."

"The ideal cultivation period is at age six, right after awakening your Martial Soul. I was already twenty when I crossed over, so I lost fourteen whole years of cultivation. Even if I cultivate this Spirit Power Meditation Method, I probably won't break through Level 90 before I die of old age."

At Huo Si's words, Elder Long narrowed his eyes.

"Haha, young man, you're underestimating our people."

"We've fallen into decline countless times, and risen back to the peak just as many. We don't fear hardship. If there's a problem, we'll overcome it."

"What we need is an opportunity. As long as there's an opportunity, there's hope, and if there's hope, we can get things done!"

Elder Long raised a hand, his spirit soaring. His words gave everyone present a much-needed boost.

"If we're starting late, then we'll work even harder and seize every opportunity. We'll start training the next generation."

"If this method doesn't work, we'll study it, modify it, and create a new cultivation method that suits you. Breaking through may be difficult, but difficult doesn't mean impossible, does it?"

"Starting now, mobilize the Think Tank. Dissect, analyze, imitate, innovate... Create a cultivation method tailored specifically to Planar Pioneer. We must solve the problems of age and difficult cultivation!"

As soon as Elder Long finished speaking, a new group of people took up posts at the Douluo Research Institute.

There were old and young among them. They had once been pillars of the nation, martial arts grandmasters of the Dragon Kingdom, and inheritors of various sects and schools.

Watching the research institute bustle with activity once more, Huo Si was filled with emotion. Was this the Dragon Kingdom?

It had top scientists and brilliant geniuses with astonishing intelligence. Whenever he needed them, they would step forward to help him overcome his problems.

Before long, the Douluo Research Institute used Huo Si's Martial Soul and its rigorous research into evolution to produce its first recommended Soul Ring.

[Spirit Soul Devouring Evolution Theory!]

[Planar Pioneer: Huo Si!]

[Main Martial Soul: Snake (thumb-sized)!]

[Based on Spirit Hall's maximum absorption limit of 420 years for the First Soul Ring, the Douluo Research Institute selected a Soul Beast and age based on the Spirit Soul Devouring Evolution Theory.]

[Soul Beast: Giant-Mouthed Snake]

[Age: 420 years]

[Soul Beast Illustrated Entry: Its body was segmented and covered in dark-green, ridged scales. Its broad head gaped with sharp fangs exposed, and its belly sagged into a distended food pouch. Fluorescent Soul Power curled around it as it coiled in the forest, its gluttonous ferocity on full display.]

[Abilities: Entanglement, corrosive acid, gluttony. It could swallow prey several times its own size whole.]

[Reason for Recommendation: This Soul Beast grows extremely quickly, gaining decades more in age each year than other Soul Beasts of its kind. It likely eats a great deal of Soul Beast meat, which contains Soul Power. It has a special stomach pouch and an extremely powerful digestive system. Its weakness is that, without enough food, it will eat itself and often starve to death. As a result, it hasn't overrun the area, and specimens over a thousand years old are rare.]

[An ideal match, strengthening, and evolution path: gluttony, rapid digestion, and high energy conversion efficiency!]

Looking at the Soul Beast the research institute had carefully selected,

Huo Si had to admit that if he'd been on his own, he probably would've picked some random snake-type Soul Beast.

Whatever else, they were all snakes, so they were bound to have something in common.

But the research institute was different. It had chosen this one specifically for Huo Si's Martial Soul, accounting for its growth and laying the groundwork for evolution.

Even so, Huo Si still wasn't entirely satisfied.

He was pleased with the Soul Beast, but not with the choice itself, because it wasn't the limit.

The research institute was full of top scientists. It wasn't their fault. They'd followed the limits and the textbooks, and delivered the best possible answer.

Huo Si turned and walked straight toward the head of the Scientific Research Institute.

"Change this part."

Elder Ke looked at the place Huo Si was pointing to, and his brows immediately knitted together.

"Pioneer, you mustn't!"

"Spirit Hall set the limit at 420 years. They've been developing for over a thousand years. Their research conclusions can't be wrong."

"If a Soul Master absorbs a Soul Ring beyond its age limit, they'll explode!"

Seeing Elder Ke's agitation, Huo Si reached out and pressed a hand to his shoulder, signaling him to calm down.

"Elder Ke, I know you don't want me to take risks."

"But the path I have to walk is already full of dangers. If my Martial Soul doesn't grow to its utmost, how can it evolve?"

"Besides, I only told you the official information from that world. They haven't recorded everything at all."

There was no other way. If the Scientific Research Institute didn't agree, even that person wouldn't allow him to take the risk.

So Huo Si could only explain the Soul Ring limit in more scientific terms.

"The limit for absorbing a Soul Ring was based on physical fitness ten thousand years ago."

"Spirit Hall's data is based on the approximate absorption limit for six-year-olds with Innate Full Soul Power, which is around Level 10."

"But everyone's physical fitness is different. Their ability to withstand and absorb Soul Power is different too."

"Do you think my body at Level 10 Soul Power and age twenty is the same as that of a six-, eight-, or nine-year-old who just reached Level 10?"

The top scientists around the research institute quickly crowded around at his words.

After hearing Huo Si's explanation, Elder Ke's eyes grew brighter and brighter.

"Put that way, everyone's physical strength is different. That does make some sense."

A young researcher in the crowd suddenly looked up.

"Could Pioneer be thinking of challenging the absorption limit for the Second Soul Ring directly—760 years?"

Elder Ke immediately shouted him down.

"No!"

"Although Pioneer's reasoning makes sense, there's a huge difference in physical fitness between Level 10 and Level 20."

"To exceed the limit for the First Soul Ring, you can rely on being physically stronger than a six-year-old child. But with the Second Soul Ring, the Soul Power at Level 20 and the physical fitness of a Soul Grandmaster make absorbing a Soul Ring over seven hundred years old understandable. Pioneer, however, only has Level 10 Soul Power, and his body is still that of an ordinary person. With Soul Power strengthening him, he'd only be slightly stronger than an ordinary person."

"But he's definitely not stronger than someone at Level 20 who already has a First Soul Ring. I, Ke Jun, absolutely won't agree to you absorbing a 760-year Soul Ring. Unless Pioneer brings back a native from the Douluo World who has just reached Level 20 Soul Power, and a physical-fitness scanner confirms that Pioneer is stronger than a Soul Grandmaster, it's out of the question!"

Watching Elder Ke dig in his heels, Huo Si sighed. Of course, he knew the old man was looking out for him.

But now that he had the support of the whole country, with top scientists among 1.4 billion people helping him overcome his difficulties,

he couldn't accept ending up with the same Soul Ring Configuration as the natives.

Huo Si's eyes shifted as a new idea came to him.

"Elder Ke, you're right. You're definitely right, and I don't disagree with you."

"But look—am I not physically stronger than those six-, eight-, and nine-year-olds?"

"I'm not saying my physical fitness has reached the level of a Soul Grandmaster, but can't I raise the limit by two hundred years from where it is now?"

Huo Si first agreed with him, then offered his own conclusion.

"Seven hundred years?"

"Seven hundred years is absolutely out of the question. I don't know how strong a Soul Grandmaster's body is, but I think even six hundred years is too risky. Five hundred years still poses a risk, so we should stick with four hundred."

Huo Si's face darkened again and again. Elder Ke was an old fox: seven hundred years was out of the question, six hundred was too risky, and five hundred still posed a risk. He'd shot Huo Si's proposal straight back down to four hundred years.

Huo Si turned and walked away without a moment's hesitation. He didn't want to talk to the old man anymore.

"Pioneer, wait! Wait! How about you bring back a native for testing? Don't be angry!"

Elder Long watched the whole exchange with a kindly smile.

Nearby, Chu Youwei recounted everything she had seen and everything that had happened after reaching that world.

"Elder Long, should we make further contact with Su Yuntao, the Spirit Hall deacon?"

After hearing everything Chu Youwei had to say,

the smile on Elder Long's face faded.

"All right. Huo Si did the right thing. He didn't let you awaken your Martial Souls because he was afraid you'd risk exposing yourselves."

"If you awaken your Martial Souls and they ask you to join Spirit Hall, what will you do if you refuse? What if they start watching you?"

"In the early stages, we absolutely must not attract the attention of the Douluo World's native forces."

"Until we fully understand that world, exposing ourselves recklessly would be too dangerous."

"At the very least, we can't expose ourselves until the Pioneer has stabilized the Plane Star Gate, can reliably transport large numbers of troops to the Dragon Kingdom, and can send missiles through to wipe out all our enemies!"

Chu Youwei's expression turned anxious.

"But right now, only the Pioneer has access to that world's power. I don't doubt his loyalty to the Dragon Kingdom, but..."

Elder Long's expression changed.

"That's enough. He was rejected by everyone in another world, mocked and humiliated to the extreme, and still managed to hide his Second Martial Soul. After returning to his homeland, he didn't hide that from us, either. I don't eat beef... That makes him one of our people."

"Youwei, remember this: based on what you've told me, with his ability and cunning, he could've lived very well by trading goods between the two worlds, even without the country's support."

"Right now, he's the one bringing our motherland along. The day he decides he doesn't want us along anymore..."

Chu Youwei's face paled.

"Yes, Grandpa Long. I understand."

"I'll follow your instructions and won't approach the natives on my own."

Thud, thud, thud!!!

Just then, a powerful-looking old man with white hair and beard strode over, his steps steady and forceful.

"Elder Long, our Think Tank has developed a cultivation method made specifically for the Pioneer!"

Elder Long accepted the new method. His eyes lit up at first glance, and he was stunned by its ingenious concept.

"Youwei, go call the Pioneer over."

Before long, Huo Si came over, his face still full of indignation.

After repeated discussions by the Scientific Research Team, the age limit had ultimately been fixed at five hundred years. Absorbing a six-hundred-year Soul Ring was absolutely out of the question.

"Have you developed the new method?"

"Let me see."

Elder Long looked at Huo Si with a kindly smile, then slowly handed him the new Spirit Power cultivation method. He also gave the white-haired elder a look, signaling him to explain.

"My name is Gong Changyun. It's good to meet you, Pioneer. I'll explain the method to you."

"Based on our Think Tank's analysis of the fundamentals of the Spirit Power Meditation Method..."

"The Spirit Power Meditation Method is nothing more than entering a specific state, absorbing the Soul Power in the world around you, merging it into your body, and taking it into the Soul Power within you..."

Excitement gradually shone in Gong Changyun's eyes.

"So why not take it a step further and absorb the Soul Power in the world directly, increasing the Soul Power in your body and quickly improving your cultivation?"

"If the point of absorbing Soul Power from the world is to take in Soul Power, then why not eat things that contain Soul Power? And considering the limited supply of heavenly treasures in that world, why not look for something plentiful, like... Soul Beasts?"

"According to the Scientific Research Institute's research on your Martial Soul, the little snake inside you also has Soul Power fluctuations similar to yours. We can conclude that your Soul Power is equal, or even that you share a symbiotic bond."

"Since the two of you share a symbiotic bond, and that aligns with the evolution path of your Soul Beast, we consulted with the Scientific Research Institute and modified the Spirit Power Meditation Method..."

"Considering that the Soul Power in the world may be gentle, while the Soul Power contained in spiritual treasures and Soul Beasts could be violent... we developed the Soul Beast Devouring Evolution Method!"

[Martial Soul Devouring Evolution Method!]

[By devouring Soul Beasts and the Soul Power, abilities, and strength they contain, then combining them with the Soul Beast's powerful stomach pouch, terrifying stomach acid, and a special circulation route, you can digest them and convert them into Soul Power!]

[You can have your Martial Soul devour a Soul Beast, then recall it and let it digest the prey. Your own body will circulate Soul Power along a special route, converting it into Soul Power. This avoids the damage to your body caused by eating Soul Beasts directly... and as your Martial Soul grows stronger, your physical strength will increase as well.]

[If your Martial Soul can't absorb everything, you can summon it and have it spit out the Soul Beast before it has finished digesting it, keeping the risk under control.]

"Holy crap!"

Reading the method's description, Huo Si felt his whole worldview shatter.