And today, her idea for Separated Spirits had gained another possible path.
That was to cultivate a Soul Master's mental power from a young age. Once it reached a certain level, the Soul Master could release their Martial Soul and control it with their mental power.
Since there were pitifully few spirit-type Soul Masters on the Douluo Continent, there had been little research into controlling Martial Souls with mental power.
Most Soul Masters also didn't deliberately train their mental power. Releasing a Martial Soul required powerful mental strength to control it; with weak mental strength, they would be overwhelmed. It was more useful to simply use Martial Soul Possession.
Still, releasing a Martial Soul and controlling it separately was ultimately more useful than possessing it directly. After all, having two fighters against one was a considerable advantage over a one-on-one fight.
Take Qian Renxue, for example. Who wouldn't want to fight alongside a beautiful Angel?
"Separated Spirits really are the next research direction for Beast Martial Souls. It's like using a Beast Martial Soul as an Artifact Martial Soul. Could releasing a Beast Martial Soul be considered a kind of puppet among Artifact Martial Souls?"
Qian Xunqian thought and thought, then couldn't help raising her head to the sky and sighing:
"In this world, Beast Martial Souls aren't worth a single hair of an Artifact Martial Soul!"
After leaving the Angel Temple and assuring her uncle, Qian Daoliu, that she was safe, Qian Xunqian hurried off to find Xue'er.
"It's time to try my First Soul Skill! Charm! Hehehe..."
The Angel God, who was boredly flipping through a novel called My Uncle and the Clear Sky Douluo: The Untold Story of the Sea God Douluo, sneezed.
"Little Qian'er seems like an honest person. She should treat Soul Beasts kindly..."
"Ugh! Qian Daoliu, you useless fool! The Clear Sky Sect has people! Does that mean our Spirit Hall doesn't? How could you be so stupid as to go rescue someone from the Clear Sky Sect all by yourself? Ugh!"
Qian Renxue swallowed and looked at the eighty-thousand-year-old Light Unicorn before her, then hesitantly glanced at her aunt.
"A-Aunt, I'm only level 20! How could I possibly absorb an eighty-thousand-year-old Soul Beast?"
Qian Jun and Jiangmo Douluo, who had come along, both thought Qian Xunqian had gone mad.
Qian Xunqian wasn't like Tang San, who loved to take risks. Every time she hunted Soul Beasts, she brought two Titled Douluo along to help.
But this time was a little different.
"Just watch!" Qian Xunqian crossed her arms over her chest and gave a wicked smile.
"First Soul Skill! Charm!"
With her powerful mental strength, the little Light Unicorn was quickly charmed.
"Sixth Soul Skill! Sacred Domain!"
The Light Unicorn had been charmed by Qian Xunqian on the surface, and was now also inside the Sacred Domain, where it was constantly beguiled and assimilated.
Two hours later, the eighty-thousand-year-old Light Unicorn was drooling like an idiot. If Qian Xunqian ordered it to chop down its own parents, it wouldn't even bat an eye.
"Go! Offer yourself to my little niece! Don't let her absorb a Spirit Bone. Give her a head bone instead!"
The Light Unicorn obediently came to Qian Renxue and, in a daze, began offering itself to her.
Light Unicorn: For the sake of the noble and charming Queen Qian Xunqian, anything is worth it! If she's telling me to offer myself, she must have her reasons. She's my god! She could never deceive me!
Qian Xunqian didn't know whether she'd felt pity or remembered the Angel God's instructions.
As the Light Unicorn offered itself, she used the meager divine power granted to her by the Eight Angelic Trials to preserve its soul.
Then she condensed an energy body for the Light Unicorn with her own Soul Power and placed its soul inside.
Qian Renxue finished absorbing her First Soul Ring, and now had an energy-bodied Light Unicorn by her side.
"Th-this is...?"
Qian Xunqian watched the Light Unicorn hopping around, patted Qian Renxue on the shoulder, and said:
"This is a Soul Spirit. I preserved the Soul Beast's soul and used my Soul Power to give it a body. But for now, this Soul Spirit is independent."
"Because I temporarily made a vessel for its soul using my Soul Power, your soul isn't bound to this Light Unicorn yet, so you can't control it."
Qian Xunqian patted the Light Unicorn's back and said:
"This child will become a god in the future. When that happens, she'll revive you, and you'll become a divine beast. Don't resist her. Complete the soul bond with Xue'er!"
The Light Unicorn had regained consciousness after offering itself. At that moment, it wanted to cry but had no tears. It was already aboard the pirate ship, and the human before it had made this body out of her Soul Power. If Qian Xunqian withdrew her power, its soul would slowly dissipate without a vessel.
What else could it do? Either vanish from the world completely or listen to this demonic woman and take a gamble!
The Light Unicorn wasn't stupid. It chose to form a soul bond with Qian Renxue.
Once the soul bond was formed, Qian Renxue could use her own Soul Power to give the Light Unicorn a body. And, with its soul nourished by Qian Renxue's sea of consciousness, it wouldn't perish as long as she lived.
"As your battle partner, a Soul Spirit can be summoned to fight alongside you. Its strength is proportional to your own. You're a level-24 Soul Grandmaster now, so your Soul Spirit can display a maximum of level-24 combat strength."
Qian Xunqian paused, then continued:
"Of course, as your cultivation improves, your Soul Spirit will be nourished too, and its age will increase. It won't be long before this Light Unicorn can talk with you!"
Qian Renxue thought of how, in the future, a whole crowd of Soul Beasts might be "chattering away" inside her head, and felt dizzy.
Qian Xunqian tossed the Light Unicorn Head Spirit Bone in her hand and said to Qian Renxue:
"Let's go! Let's see if Auntie can get you a hundred-thousand-year one!"
"Uncle Qian Jun, Uncle Jiangmo, which of you wants this Spirit Bone?"
The two brothers, who had always been as close as could be, instantly turned against each other.
"Me! Me! Me!"
Qian Jun and Jiangmo Douluo summoned their Coiling Dragon Staffs in an instant and were about to fight.
Qian Xunqian was helpless. She should've known better than to say anything.
In the end, Qian Xunqian decided to find another Spirit Bone for the two of them to split later.
Qian Renxue now worshipped her aunt beyond measure. Was this what it meant to be a spirit-type Soul Master? To make a hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast offer itself willingly—how immense must her mental strength be?
Looking at herself, she suddenly felt that even her Six-Winged Angel wasn't so impressive anymore.
The four of them ventured deeper into Star Dou Forest and came upon an eighty-thousand-year-old Human-Faced Spider Emperor and its underlings surrounding a hundred-thousand-year-old Emerald Swan.
The Emerald Swan could only heal. When faced with a Man Faced Demon Spider, all she could do was run. She couldn't beat one even at two hundred thousand years old, let alone at a hundred thousand. She was soon beaten until she couldn't move.
"Let's see if we can save that Emerald Swan and get her to willingly offer herself to Little Xue."
Qian Xunqian said, "Uncle Qian Jun, Uncle Jiangmo, attack! Just kill the Human-Faced Spider Emperor. The others will scatter like frightened birds and beasts!"