"Hm, I don't know. This little guy doesn't seem to have changed much?"
Qin Qi examined the Strength-Eating Immortal Gu. It was still plump and chubby overall, with no strange new patterns appearing on its body.
Nor did he immediately know what his soul skill was, like learning a skill in a game.
"Let's head back first. We can slowly figure out the soul skill once we return to the academy."
"Don't worry. The soul skill a Thousand-Year Spirit Ring gives you definitely won't be ordinary."
Seeing Qin Qi staring at the Soul Beast's corpse, Qin Ming assumed he was worried about his soul skill.
He patted Qin Qi on the shoulder and spoke.
"Yeah, bro, how do you think we should haul this guy back?"
"Or should we roast it right now?"
Qin Qi looked at the Soul Beast. He was not pondering what his soul skill might be; he was figuring out how to eat the thing.
This was Soul Beast meat—an enormous tonic. Leaving it here would be such a waste.
"This... forget it."
"It's too large to carry conveniently, and it could also attract attacks from other Soul Beasts."
Hearing Qin Qi's words, Qin Ming was somewhat stunned. Ever since awakening his Martial Soul, his little brother seemed to have turned into a glutton.
"I know, but looking at such a huge pile of meat, I really can't bear to waste it."
As Qin Qi spoke, he could not help licking his lips. The Strength-Eating Immortal Gu perched on his shoulder nodded as well.
It seemed to agree with Qin Qi.
"Does a Detached Beast Martial Soul affect a Soul Master's personality? Or does a Soul Master's personality determine what kind of Detached Beast Martial Soul they have?"
Looking at the man and bug, Qin Ming unconsciously began thinking about it. He had been a teacher for too long and had developed an occupational habit.
"Ahem. We can buy Soul Beast meat anytime. Getting out of the forest safely is more important right now."
"Let's go, let's go."
Hearing the beast roars in the forest around them, Qin Ming pulled himself out of his thoughts.
He grabbed Qin Qi's hand and hurried away. The Soul Beast's blood would attract nearby predators.
"Ah... what a shame."
"It would definitely have smelled amazing roasted. Why do I suddenly feel so hungry?"
A powerful wave of hunger suddenly washed over Qin Qi. With a face full of regret, he let Qin Ming pull him away.
After returning to a village near the Star Dou Great Forest and entering an inn, Qin Qi's first action was to order an entire table full of dishes.
"Mm, mm, mm!"
The Strength-Eating Immortal Gu repeatedly bumped its head against Qin Qi's neck, as though it were trying to say something.
"Are you hungry too?"
Qin Qi looked at the Strength-Eating Immortal Gu and asked instinctively.
"Mm, mm, mm."
The Strength-Eating Immortal Gu nodded frantically.
"Here."
Qin Qi fed the Strength-Eating Immortal Gu a piece of pork, which it quickly finished.
"Mm, mm, mm."
The Strength-Eating Immortal Gu continued bumping Qin Qi's neck.
"You're still not full?"
"Mm, mm, mm."
"Then have two more pieces."
Qin Qi fed the Strength-Eating Immortal Gu some more food. Once it was full, it curled itself into a coil and fell asleep.
"Bro, I think I know what my first soul skill is."
As Qin Qi ate, feeling energy continuously flow from the Strength-Eating Immortal Gu into his body, he spoke.
"What is it?"
Qin Ming asked.
"It seems the Strength-Eating Immortal Gu's appetite has increased. It could normally only eat one piece of meat, but now its appetite has at least tripled."
"I think we can gradually change what we feed it from pork to Soul Beast meat. Its digestive ability should be sufficient now."
Qin Qi could not help laughing as he spoke. The effect of the first soul skill from his Thousand-Year Spirit Ring was turning him into a bottomless pit.
"My soul skill... seems to have turned me into a bottomless pit."
Qin Qi said with a laugh.
"Even a bottomless pit has its outstanding qualities. You can't underestimate it just because it's a bottomless pit."
Qin Ming pushed up his glasses and spoke very seriously.
After eating their fill, Qin Qi and Qin Ming went to rest. The next day, they set off and returned to Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
Qin Ming first went to greet the three instructors, then returned to help Qin Qi measure the specific changes brought by obtaining this Soul Ring.
Soul Power, physical condition, increased appetite—after three full days of precise measurements, they finally obtained the data.
First, his Soul Power had shot straight up to level seventeen!
"A Thousand-Year Spirit Ring alone shouldn't have provided such an enormous boost. Over this past year..."
"Although your Soul Power seemed not to have increased, it had actually been accumulating the entire time. Once you absorbed your first Soul Ring, all that accumulated Soul Power erupted at once."
"Looking at it this way, this past year was not wasted at all. Instead, it has put your cultivation progress far ahead of others."
"At the same time, it has made your foundation incomparably solid. Unless something unexpected happens, you will definitely become a Soul Douluo in the future!"
Qin Ming looked at his little brother with an extremely gratified expression. In this era of Douluo One,
there were no specific cultivation methods. Becoming stronger depended entirely on talent, so Titled Douluo carried considerable weight in those days.
"Mm."
Qin Qi nodded and felt the energy within his body. For some reason, he seemed hungry again.
"Next is the increase in your physical condition. Based on the previous test data and the records gathered by the academy..."
"Your various physical attributes are now roughly comparable to those of a level-thirty Soul Master under Martial Soul Possession with a beast Martial Soul."
Qin Ming's expression became a little strange as he said this. How should he put it? His little brother...
Although his Martial Soul had no direct combat ability, and his Soul Ring did not provide a combat-type soul skill,
with the support of his Martial Soul, he was simply absurdly strong. At barely over level ten, his physical condition alone rivaled that of someone at level thirty.
Question: What ability does your little brother have?
Answer: He's strong.
"Ah, the Strength Path is declining."
Qin Qi could not help shaking his head. How great would it have been if he had gotten a Refinement Path Immortal Gu, or a Luck Path Immortal Gu?
Now, all he had was brute strength. No skills, no effects.
When he dueled others with Martial Souls in the future, everyone else would have special effects flying everywhere, while he would have, at most, two Soul Rings.
Then he would clench his fist and could only Eula them.
"Then there's your appetite... Your appetite has tripled from before, and the same goes for your Martial Soul."
"Your digestion speed has also tripled."
"Originally, your Martial Soul could only eat once a day, about a fist-sized piece of pork each time."
"Now it needs at least three meals a day, and pork doesn't provide enough energy anymore. It has to eat beef."
"Your appetite has increased as well. You originally ate three meals a day, but now you need at least five or six."
"However, the increased appetite has brought faster growth in your physical condition. According to the data, your improvement speed has roughly doubled compared to before."
Looking at the data, Qin Ming drew a question mark beside this section with his pen. His appetite had increased threefold.
Logically, his physical condition should have improved threefold as well, but the data showed only a twofold increase.
He guessed that some energy might have been consumed during conversion, or perhaps it had been directed elsewhere.
"Bro, do you think I still need to do all that physical training?"
Qin Qi rubbed his stomach with a smile on his face. Great—he really had become a bottomless pit now.
"Mm. Based on the data, there's no need. You'd be better off spending that time eating more."
"Pure physical training helps you very little now. You should spend your extra time honing your combat techniques instead."
"That will make the most effective use of your abilities."
Qin Ming said.
Originally, I planned to show the protagonist's growth through pounds of force, which would have made the improvement more intuitive.
But the original author was too bad at math, and the displays of strength contradicted themselves before and after.
I was also afraid of getting it wrong, so I decided not to use numerical values for pounds of force.
Before you continue