Martial Soul

Biodata

Power Progression

Gu Mingyuan’s martial souls

Huo Yuhao’s martial souls

Forms and Development

• Body Martial Souls manifest through the user’s body. Gu’s original Bone martial soul strengthened his bones; its evolved Golden Jade Body extends the change across his skin, muscles, and body 2 18 67. Huo Yuhao’s Spirit Eyes are also identified as a Body Martial Soul 3 18.
• Mutations can change a martial soul’s nature. Gu’s Bone-to-Golden-Jade-Body change was documented before he entered Shrek Academy. Xuan Zi judged it more likely to be an evolution than a completed Body Martial Soul Second Awakening, leaving the possibility of a future awakening open 18 30.
• Twin Martial Souls allow one person to possess two distinct martial souls. Gu has Golden Jade Body and Demon’s Contract; Huo Yuhao later displays Spirit Eyes and an ice-attributed scorpion martial soul 29 37. Xiao Xiao is also explicitly identified as possessing Twin Martial Souls 28.
• A martial soul’s attribute does not alone determine whether it is evil. Xuan Zi finds darkness and a sense of judgment in Demon’s Contract, but none of the traits he associates with an Evil Soul Master 29 31.
• Tool Martial Souls can provide specialized utility rather than direct combat strength. Jiang Wenzhou’s Heartbound Bell locates a carried child bell within three kilometers, senses its bearer’s condition, and transmits silent signals. Its limited usefulness in a small assessment arena does not diminish its value for scouting, surveillance, and group coordination 28 29.
• Creature-associated martial souls can transform parts of their wielders’ bodies. Bei Bei’s Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon enlarges his arm, covers it in scales, and transforms his hand into a dragon claw 7.
• Contract-summoning martial souls can manifest equipment rather than a conventional bodily transformation. Demon’s Contract initially summons the Sin-Cleaving Scythe and later manifests additional demonic equipment and a demonic body 2 29 135 154.
• Martial souls can have strong elemental affinities. The Sea Dragon martial soul is described as a supreme water-attribute martial soul; Tang San possesses it after his rebirth in the body of a Sea Dragon Island child 140 144.
• Immortal herbs are described as capable of improving cultivation and evolving martial souls. Yu Xiaogang recounts the evolution of Ning Rongrong’s Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda into the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda and the purification of Ma Hongjun’s Evil Fire Phoenix into a true Fire Phoenix 117.

Body Martial Soul Second Awakening

• Xuan Zi investigates whether Gu’s transformation involved an uncontrolled release of his original martial soul, a skeletal or humanoid apparition, a surge of Soul Power, or a separate enhanced state that could be activated independently. Gu reports no such apparition or independently accessible second state 30.
• The Body Sect regards Second Awakening as central to developing Body Martial Souls. Lang Ya argues that Golden Jade Body may still be only Gu’s martial soul’s initial form and offers the sect master’s assistance in achieving a high-level Second Awakening 70.
• According to Du Busi’s assessment, developing a body part to its utmost limit and combining it with the sect’s Second Awakening method can produce overwhelming strength, speed, or physical defense against opponents of the same rank, and may allow victories against higher-ranked enemies 138.
• Physical development does not automatically protect a Body Martial Soul user from mental attacks. Long Aotian’s sudden defeat prompts Du Busi to reconsider the Body Sect’s rejection of soul tools, particularly equipment capable of automatically providing mental defense 138.
• The Body Sect suspects that Wan Zhanghan’s third eye may be a rare mental-attribute Body Martial Soul, but Du Busi orders his elders to investigate rather than treating that classification as established 138.

Evil Development and Instability

• Gu’s original Bone martial soul could acquire a sinister aura with slight guidance, making its original owner attractive to the Holy Spirit Cult as a prospective Evil Soul Master and infiltrator 2.
• Tang Ya’s Blue Silver Grass develops through devouring vitality and Soul Power. During her revenge on the Ironblood Sect, its vines become blue-black and thorn-covered, her Soul Power rises, and Zhang Peng observes that the martial soul evolves with each kill while affecting her mind 61.
• Ma Xiaotao’s Evil Fire Phoenix accumulates evil fire during cultivation. Ultimate Ice can suppress it, while the judgment power associated with Gu’s second martial soul can remove part of the sinister component from her flames 46 50 51.
• External forces can aggravate a martial soul’s instability. The Sword of Judgment’s light and darkness powers trigger Ma Xiaotao’s evil fire, turning her Phoenix Flame black and increasing her combat power at the cost of control. Xuan Zi subsequently seals her martial soul 75 76.
• A foreign power embedded in a person’s soul can threaten their control over their martial soul. Electrolux identifies such a power in Feng Ling and confirms that it can be used to control her martial soul and endanger her life 95.

Soul Rings and Skills

• Absorbing a Soul Ring can grant a new skill to a martial soul. Gu’s Bone-Shaking Ape ring grants Jade-Shaking Force, while his White Jade Mammoth ring grants Sunken Jade Force Field 8 99.
• A Soul Ring’s age can exceed what observers consider a safe limit. Yu Xiaogang predicts Gu will die absorbing a roughly 900-year second ring, but Gu completes the absorption in less than an hour 8.
• Ring acquisition can depend on the soul master’s physique and preparation. Gu uses a Cold Marrow Gall and his unusually strong body to endure the energy of a roughly 7,500-year third ring 33 34.
• A hundred-thousand-year ring can grant two skills: Gu’s first Demon’s Contract ring creates the blood-curse-inflicting Hand of the Kingkiller and grants Sin Mark Sealing, which can interrupt an enemy’s Soul Skill after the gauntlet marks them 97.
• A million-year ring can provide more than two skills: Huo receives four Soul Skills from the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm’s ring 5.
• A ring’s visible color is not always reliable evidence of its true age. Huo’s Simulation disguises his Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion ring as a thousand-year purple ring when he demonstrates it to Shrek’s teachers 35 37.
• Twin Martial Souls can be developed at different rates. Yu Xiaogang advises Huo to concentrate on Spirit Eyes and postpone further development of his second martial soul until his physique can support higher-level rings; this is advice from Yu Xiaogang rather than a demonstrated universal requirement 88.
• Skills from the same martial soul can reinforce one another. Gu’s Sunken Jade Force Field becomes stronger when Golden Jade Strength Transformation increases his physical strength, allowing a full-strength attack to coincide with intensified gravitational pressure 100.
• Martial soul sealing does not necessarily erase physical development or previously stored force. After Golden Road seals Gu’s martial soul, he breaks free using his trained body and the energy already accumulated through Jade-Shaking Force 22 24.
• A martial soul’s elemental quality can suppress another user’s control over the same element. Huo’s Ultimate Ice causes Ling Luochen’s ice armor to turn against her and fuse with the surrounding ice, immobilizing her 50.
• Demon’s Contract’s abilities are not limited to ordinary weapon damage. The Sin-Cleaving Scythe’s Evil Severing increases its damage according to the target’s crimes and evil deeds 2. Soul Tether draws out a soul shadow linked to the target, allowing damage to reach the soul directly, although sufficient spiritual strength can resist or break its chains 131.
• Demon’s Contract’s second-ring skill includes Possession, which Gu asks the Snow Empress to test after she takes control of the White Demon body 154.

Alternative Ring Formation and Soul Spirits

Electrolux proposes forming a Soul Ring from pure essence voluntarily left behind by souls after their purification and release. His method would use necromancy and purification to build a receiving framework, with Demon’s Contract absorbing the offered power. He distinguishes it from forcibly extracting and refining souls: souls that leave nothing behind must still be released, and forcibly taken power would be impure and dangerous to the martial soul 126. Gu later learns to catch this source power and senses its compatibility with Demon’s Contract 129.

For the Snow Empress, Electrolux proposes preserving her complete spiritual consciousness, reuniting it with her separated origin, and establishing an equal life bond with Gu’s martial soul and body through a special contract. He calls this new form of existence a Soul Spirit. Its Spirit Form would retain independent spiritual vitality, manifest outside the host, and interact with physical objects 145.

The process requires willing cooperation and careful control of the transferred energy. Because Gu cannot contain the Snow Empress’s nearly seven hundred thousand years of cultivation, Electrolux proposes sealing most of it within her Spirit Form and releasing it gradually as Gu advances 145. The later White Demon manifestation gives the Snow Empress a body through which she can already exercise Hyper Douluo-level strength without releasing those seals 154.

Martial Soul Fusion

• Two users can combine their martial souls into a Martial Soul Fusion Skill. Examples shown include Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu’s Hell White Tiger, and Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong’s Splendor in Decay—Golden Road 20 58.
• A fusion skill can be disrupted if its users’ Soul Power falls out of sync. Gu strikes a brief break in the Hongchen siblings’ synchronization to shatter their Red Dust Attachment 76.
• Compatibility can also support shared power outside a fully manifested fusion skill. Huo and Wang Dong use Hao-Dong Power to strengthen Soul Shock during the freshman assessment final 21.
• Fusion skills can exhaust their participants. After Huo and Wang Dong’s fusion ends during the tournament final, both are left extremely weak and are separated and eliminated by their opponents 75.

Interaction with Soul Tools

• Soul tools can complement a martial soul’s strengths rather than replace them. Gu commissions a gauntlet that distributes impact through his arm and torso without reducing recoil, protecting vulnerable joints while preserving the force available to Jade-Shaking Force 59 63.
• A soul master’s current cultivation can limit the usable output of high-level equipment. Although Gu can activate the Level Seven Secret Soul-Bearing Mountain with three Soul Rings, its immediate output is restricted to approximately Level Four or Five. The Level Seven spear Golden Radiance is likewise limited by his Soul Ancestor-level Soul Power 63 113.
• Soul tools can be tailored to counter particular martial soul traits. The Sun Moon team’s Four-Pole Traction Array is designed to restrain Gu long enough to eliminate his teammates, illustrating a technological alternative to assembling soul masters with naturally countering martial souls 73.
• Protective soul tools can cover weaknesses that martial soul cultivation leaves exposed. After Long Aotian’s defeat, Du Busi acknowledges the value of automatically triggered shields and equipment designed to reduce the penetration of spiritual attacks 138.