Qi and Blood Contract

Xu Yuan felt helpless.

Did he really look like someone so reckless and impulsive?

He knew how to learn, draw lessons from experience, and listen to others' opinions, all right?

After receiving Zhen Hua's suggestion back then, Xu Yuan had agreed with it wholeheartedly. He knew it was the safest and most effective method.

The shift in the cultivation relationship between his Martial Souls was also something he had planned afterward.

In any case, for Twin Martial Souls on the current continent, which Martial Soul was primary and which was secondary in cultivation was no longer that important.

Because Soul Spirits did not return much Soul Power, even when one contracted a Soul Spirit with a genuine Soul Beast, there would only be surplus Soul Power returned at the moment the contract was first formed. Thus, the method of rapidly accumulating Soul Power by using a Second Martial Soul was no longer applicable under the Soul Spirit system.

At the same time, due to the existence of the Spirit Ascension Platform, Soul Ring age was no longer the key issue troubling Soul Masters with Twin Martial Souls when they added Soul Rings to their Second Martial Souls in advance.

Now, the only thing Soul Masters with Twin Martial Souls needed to consider was the burden of supporting Soul Spirits for both Martial Souls.

And Xu Yuan clearly did not need to worry about that.

Therefore, with two Martial Souls, Xu Yuan could switch at any time between which one needed to be his main focus during a given stage of cultivation.

At present, it seemed that before he truly achieved Man and Spear as One and transformed his Vital Energy into a Martial Soul, Xu Yuan's Heaven Origin Brush Martial Soul would likely not gain any more Soul Rings. Any breakthroughs in Soul Power would require his Brain Martial Soul to acquire Soul Rings.

None of that was a problem.

Even if Xu Yuan's primary combat methods in the future remained spear techniques and using the Heaven Origin Brush to control Heaven and Earth Origin Qi, they would not be affected by which Martial Soul he focused on cultivating.

He could practice his spear techniques. With the Five Elements Spear Tactic as his foundation, Xu Yuan had already established his own basis in spear techniques.

As for elemental control, as his Brain Martial Soul cultivated and his Spiritual Power increased, with the foundational Soul Skill of controlling the Five Elements, Xu Yuan's progress would likewise remain unaffected.

Xu Yuan sat at the center of the array.

To ensure both success and safety, Xu Yuan divided the entire process of the Qi and Blood Contract into three parts.

The first part was the external array. This had been the form used during the earliest development of Soul Spirits, relying on arrays inscribed outside the body to help human Soul Masters and Soul Beasts form contracts. As the Soul Spirit system developed, this model was gradually phased out.

The second part was Xu Yuan's modification of the contract between himself and the Five Elements Spear Spirit. This was unavoidable. After all, incorporating Vital Energy into the contract was fundamentally an alteration to the contractual relationship itself. Fortunately, after evolving into a Thousand Year Soul Spirit, the Five Elements Spear Spirit had become more sentient and was highly cooperative, making this process smoother.

The third part was Xu Yuan circulating his own Soul Power to assist. Different methods of circulating Soul Power produced different effects. By using Soul Power circulation to stabilize his Martial Soul and stimulate his own Vital Energy, he could improve the chances of success and ensure safety.

Calming himself, Xu Yuan began modifying the contract.

Sea of Spirit.

The Five Elements Spear Spirit appeared.

As both sides exerted their strength together, the contract connecting them emerged as well, and Xu Yuan began altering it.

Throughout the process, the Five Elements Spear Spirit suppressed its instinctive resistance.

Sweat beaded on Xu Yuan's forehead.

Modifying a contract after the fact was a huge hassle. Even with his Spiritual Power, manipulating it was somewhat strenuous.

Fortunately, every aspect of the plan had taken his own circumstances into consideration. Xu Yuan persisted until the Contract Array was fully perfected.

Once the array was complete, Xu Yuan's Bloodline Power began circulating.

His Vital Energy flowed through the Meridians of his body, while the Contract Array remained within the Sea of Spirit. The two were separated by the boundary of space and had not truly fused.

Fortunately, the external array began to take effect at that moment.

Xu Yuan's Spiritual Power and the Five Elements Spear Spirit were drawn out by the array. His Bloodline Power also emerged from his body and merged into them.

The entire process went quite smoothly.

After all, Xu Zhi had already laid most of the groundwork for this project. Xu Yuan had also consulted extensive materials on Bloodline Cultivation from the Body Sect, and he had Zhen Hua as a real example of Vital Energy fused with a Martial Soul to guide him.

As the array's light dimmed, the Five Elements Spear Spirit flickered and merged into Xu Yuan's body.

This time, the Five Elements Spear Spirit did not return to Xu Yuan's Sea of Spirit. Instead, under Xu Yuan's control, it merged into his Vital Energy.

A Soul Spirit was merely a form of energy and could take on all manner of shapes. At this moment, it fused into Xu Yuan's Vital Energy and circulated throughout his entire body along with his Bloodline Power.

With the Five Elements Spear Spirit now fused into his Vital Energy, Xu Yuan used it to attempt the Heaven Devouring Earth Eating Great Art.

It was not to promote digestion.

He simply circulated the power of the Five Elements Spear Spirit. Five Elements Power transformed and flowed through his internal organs, promoting the fusion between the Five Elements Spear Spirit and himself.

Seeing Xu Yuan enter a cultivation state, Zhen Hua and Mu Ye sighed in relief and patiently waited for him to finish this round of cultivation.

Two and a half hours later.

Xu Yuan opened his eyes.

"Teacher, Martial Uncle, everything went smoothly." He smiled.

This meant that he had great hope of transforming his Vital Energy into a Martial Soul.

"Mm. You cannot stop practicing your spear techniques in the future. Even if you cannot be like Ji Juechen, whose heart contains only the sword, you must at least be utterly focused on your spear whenever you practice it," Mu Ye said.

Although Xu Yuan did not possess Ji Juechen's obsession with the sword, he had his own advantages.

The Five Elements Spear Spirit possessed an Innate Spear Soul, and its understanding of the spear was incomparably pure. Moreover, these insights were shared with Xu Yuan. When Xu Yuan practiced spear techniques, he could inherit the Five Elements Spear Spirit's Spear Will and Spear Soul, allowing him to become even more focused.

Spear Will and Spear Soul themselves represented an extremely high level of control over the spear. They gave Xu Yuan the ability to fuse his Heaven Origin Spear form into the Five Elements Spear Spirit, then further merge it into his Vital Energy.

"I understand. When I practice spear techniques in the future, I'll try to merge the Heaven Origin Spear into the Five Elements Spear Spirit. I'll use the Five Elements Spear Spirit as the main body and practice with the Heaven Origin Spear fused within it."

Previously, Xu Yuan held the Heaven Origin Spear while the Five Elements Spear Spirit merged into it. In the future, Xu Yuan would hold the Five Elements Spear Spirit while the Heaven Origin Spear merged into it. Only when there was no difference whatsoever between holding the Five Elements Spear Spirit and holding the Heaven Origin Spear would this cultivation of his be considered up to standard.

"Stay here and cultivate for a while first. It just so happens that I can also teach you the subsequent cultivation techniques for fusing Vital Energy and Martial Souls."

Zhen Hua had only mutated by chance back then, gaining the foundation for a Martial Soul fused with Vital Energy. Only after gradually exploring the techniques step by step had he truly fused the two together.

"Thank you, Martial Uncle."

Over the next week, Xu Yuan cultivated at the Forging Master Association.

His Soul Power was sealed.

A simple seal was not some secret technique of the Clear Sky Sect.

With his Soul Power sealed, he could still mobilize his Martial Souls and Bloodline Power.

Every day, Mu Ye prepared medicinal meals for him. Xu Yuan refined them with his Vital Energy and used the Five Elements Spear Spirit to activate the Heaven Devouring Earth Eating Great Art, absorbing their medicinal effects.

He also gained an additional benefit from this.

His Five Elements Spear Spirit seemed to have been nourished as well. Though he could not determine whether its age had truly increased, Xu Yuan could be certain that his Five Elements Spear Spirit had grown stronger.

Don't give up on following the story, brothers. I'll be releasing a lot more over the next few days—five updates a day.