What I Still Can't Do Is Infinite Transformations!

By the time they returned to the valley, the sky was gradually growing dark.

Feng Qie volunteered to prepare dinner, Zhu Mao silently stood guard at the valley entrance, while Giant Fang and Black Blade, the newest additions, had been assigned by Lu Ming to familiarize themselves with their new bodies and powers.

In the entire valley, only Xiao Wu was unable to sit still.

She looked toward Lu Ming, who sat cross-legged atop a blue stone not far away, his eyes closed as he regulated his breathing. Her heart was torn by conflict.

Should I ask him?

Would it be too presumptuous to ask him directly about the Arrancar?

But... if I don't get a clear answer, I definitely won't be able to sleep again tonight!

Xiao Wu struggled for a long time, but in the end, her curiosity—so intense it nearly overflowed—still overcame her hesitation.

She drew a deep breath, rose to her feet, and shuffled over to Lu Ming in tiny steps.

"Lu Ming..."

She called out softly.

Lu Ming slowly opened his eyes, revealing just the right amount of puzzlement.

"What is it, Xiao Wu?"

His spiritual power had been heavily depleted, but seeing Xiao Wu's hesitant expression improved his mood considerably.

Xiao Wu, you finally couldn't resist taking the bait!

"I... I have a question I want to ask you. It might be a little presumptuous..." Xiao Wu twisted the corner of her clothes, looking somewhat embarrassed.

"Go ahead." Lu Ming's tone was gentle. "Aren't we friends? There is nothing friends can't ask each other."

Friends...

Hearing that word, an inexplicable warmth welled up in Xiao Wu's heart, followed immediately by even deeper guilt.

She steadied herself and finally gathered the courage to ask:

"It is... about the Arrancar."

"Hmm?"

"Giant Fang and Black Blade... Their strength seems to have increased by a great deal." Xiao Wu stared fixedly into Lu Ming's eyes, unwilling to miss even the slightest change in his expression. "Does this transformation happen to every soul beast you transform?"

Lu Ming did not answer immediately.

For Xiao Wu to ask that question meant she had begun seriously considering what the Arrancar truly meant.

He also knew that his next answer would very likely reach the ears of those two forest overlords through Xiao Wu.

Therefore, he needed to demonstrate his value without making himself seem too monstrous, lest he provoke their wariness and hostility.

He had to strike the right balance!

After pondering for a moment, Lu Ming slowly spoke, a bitter smile appearing on his face.

"Xiao Wu, you have made my ability sound too simple."

"What you saw was only the successful outcome. You did not see how much danger filled the process."

He sighed and continued, "My soul skill, Formless Transformation, does not have a one-hundred-percent success rate. In fact, the success rate is very low."

"Before I met Zhu Mao, I failed many times."

"The soul beasts I attempted to transform lacked sufficiently firm spiritual wills. They simply could not endure the pain of having both soul and body reshaped. In the end, their souls scattered and they perished completely."

Lu Ming's tone carried a trace of melancholy.

Those words were half true and half false.

He really had failed before, but that was mostly because his spiritual power had been insufficient in the early stages and he had not yet mastered the technique!

Now, as long as he chose suitable candidates, the success rate was actually already quite high!

Still, it was enough for him to know that!

What he needed now was for Xiao Wu, and for those two forest overlords, to understand that his ability was not without limits, nor was it without a price...

Xiao Wu froze when she heard this.

Failure... means a soul beast's soul would scatter?

Only then did she realize that she had apparently been imagining things too perfectly.

She had only seen the strength and rebirth Zhu Mao, Feng Qie, Yue Xi, Giant Fang, and Black Blade had gained after succeeding, while overlooking the risk of failure that might be hidden behind it all.

"Then... what about Giant Fang and Black Blade's increased strength?" Xiao Wu pressed.

"That can be considered a gift of destruction followed by renewal," Lu Ming explained.

"A soul beast's body is actually a set of shackles. It limits how efficiently soul beasts absorb the energy of heaven and earth, while also restraining the growth of their souls."

"And my Formless Transformation shatters those shackles, liberating the soul beast's soul and placing it within a more perfect vessel, one better suited to that soul."

"During this process, the energy the soul beast had originally accumulated within its body—the energy it could not fully utilize because of the body's limitations—undergoes a concentrated eruption and purification. That is why their strength can make such an enormous leap in a short time."

"However..." Lu Ming abruptly changed course. "Such a leap also has its limits."

"It depends on the soul beast's own talent and accumulation. The higher its talent and the deeper its accumulation, the greater the increase in strength after becoming an Arrancar."

"Besides, with my current ability, I cannot transform soul beasts endlessly either..."

Lu Ming spread his hands, several traces of helplessness appearing on his face.

"At the end of the day, I am only a level twenty-two soul master. My spiritual power is limited..."

"Transforming two two-thousand-year soul beasts at the same time, like I did today, was already my limit. Look, I am practically drained dry now."

He pointed to his pale face.

"If I wanted to transform stronger soul beasts, say four-thousand-year ones, or even those over five thousand years old... then for the current me, that would be an almost impossible task. Unless... my own strength could improve accordingly as well."

This explanation was reasonable, logical, and well-supported.

It explained both the principle behind the Arrancar's increase in strength and his current "upper limit" and "potential for growth."

Xiao Wu nodded repeatedly as she listened, and many of the doubts in her heart were answered.

She understood now. Although Lu Ming's ability was extraordinarily powerful, it was not without restrictions.

As she felt a measure of relief at this realization, the wariness she held toward Lu Ming quietly diminished considerably as well...

An ability with limits, one that could grow and required "good luck," was far easier to accept than a divine skill that was omnipotent and could be replicated without end.

At the very least, it was still within the bounds of her understanding...

Seeing that Lu Ming had not concealed anything and had told her so directly, the way Xiao Wu looked at him changed completely!

She felt that Lu Ming seemed to... truly regard her as a friend he could confide secrets in.

That feeling of being trusted warmed her heart.

"So that is how it is..." Xiao Wu murmured. Then she thought of an even deeper question.

"Lu Ming, how do you... view soul beasts? Are they merely tools?"

She raised her head, her large, clear eyes fixed unblinkingly on Lu Ming.

Her question was somewhat abrupt, but it was very important!

Lu Ming possessed such a special ability. His attitude toward soul beasts was what would truly determine how Xiao Wu, Da Ming, and Er Ming should interact with him.