Soul Beast

Biodata

Power Progression

Background

Soul Masters traditionally kill Soul Beasts to acquire the Soul Rings required for further cultivation. A Soul Master must personally deliver the killing blow to absorb the resulting ring. Soul Beasts can also leave behind immensely valuable Soul Bones, making them targets beyond the needs of ordinary ring acquisition 9 165.

This system places Soul Beasts and humans in an entrenched cycle of violence: Soul Masters hunt them to advance, while Soul Beasts kill Soul Masters to avoid being killed themselves. Cheng Xiao notes that the much slower cultivation of Soul Beasts could eventually drive them toward extinction 30.

Cheng Xiao becomes a major exception to this relationship. He can condense his own Growth Soul Rings from Shadow Power rather than hunting Soul Beasts, a claim he proves before the Sky Azure Bull Python and Titan Giant Ape 32 33. By the end of the story, magic power eliminates hunting Soul Beasts as a cultivation method and gives rise to Beast Masters, who form contracts with them instead 275.

Appearance

Soul Beasts have no single form. Their appearances range from animalistic predators to plants, birds, bears, and multi-headed creatures; highly cultivated individuals can take human form 129.

• Beast forms include wolves, tigers, spiders, apes, dragons, serpents, and rabbits 44 46 128.
• Plant forms include Blue Silver Grass and the Brilliant Light Flower 162 172.
• Human forms may be adopted by Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts, either through re-cultivation or by powerful Fierce Beasts that retain their original cultivation 129.
• Shadow Soldier forms are typically black, mist-wreathed, and armor-like versions of the original Soul Beast 48 49.

Traits

Intelligence and Cultivation

Soul Beasts become intelligent after exceeding ten thousand years of cultivation. This intelligence allows them to understand human language, perceive the implications of Cheng Xiao's nonlethal Soul Ring method, and participate in organized social structures 32.

Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts must periodically face Heavenly Tribulations. Those who fail are reduced to ash, while survivors may become Fierce Beasts. Many instead take human form and begin cultivating anew to avoid the tribulations 129.

Soul Rings and Soul Bones

A slain Soul Beast ordinarily leaves behind a Soul Ring, which can only be absorbed by the Soul Master who killed it 9. Soul Bones are rarer treasures that grant qualitative increases in a Soul Master's strength; their value varies by both age and body part 165 231.

Shadow Soldier Conversion

Cheng Xiao's Shadow Extraction can turn dead Soul Beasts into Shadow Soldiers. These soldiers retain the forms and combat traits of their former bodies while serving the Shadow Monarch without hesitation 45.

• Shadow Soldiers can be dismissed into black mist and stored in Cheng Xiao's shadow 46.
• Their strength is limited by Cheng Xiao's own level; a Soul Beast stronger in life may be heavily suppressed after conversion 46.
• They grow stronger as their Sovereign's Soul Power rises, and their intelligence increases alongside his rank 115.
• When destroyed, they dissipate without leaving a corpse or Soul Ring; some can be summoned again at the cost of Shadow Power 44 48.
• Holy Energy and the Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul suppress darkness-based Shadow Soldiers 48.

Known Soul Beasts

Story Role / Major Arcs

• Cheng Xiao and Xiao Wu discuss the long-term danger facing Soul Beasts, including their potential extinction under the traditional Soul Master system 30.
• The Sky Azure Bull Python and Titan Giant Ape confront Cheng Xiao in Star Dou Great Forest; after he forms a Thousand-Year second Soul Ring without hunting, they recognize that he is not an ordinary enemy of Soul Beasts 31 32 33.
• Cheng Xiao begins expanding his Shadow Legion by converting the Nether Demon Wolf, Ghost Tiger, Man Faced Demon Spider, and other slain Soul Beasts into Shadow Soldiers 44 45 46.
• Shadow Soul Beasts become Cheng Xiao's signature combat force in Soul Battles, overwhelming the Fierce God Team and defeating Tang San and Dai Mubai 68 83.
• Di Tian and the Fierce Beasts gather at the Lake of Life when the Silver Dragon King's awakening causes upheaval in Star Dou Great Forest's core region 129.
• Cheng Xiao restores the dying Ah Yin as a Shadow Soldier, demonstrating that his power can preserve a Soul Beast's human form rather than simply create a disposable summon 172.
• The final change to Douluo Continent's cultivation system ends Soul Beast hunting and replaces it with Beast Master contracts 275.

Trivia

• Cheng Xiao initially tells others that his martial soul is a beast martial soul called Shadow Soldier, concealing its true identity as the Shadow Monarch 1.
• Cheng Xiao's second Soul Ring appears as a Yellow Hundred-Year ring to Xiao Wu and the Forest Emperors despite being a Thousand-Year Growth Soul Ring 33.
• Shadow Soldiers are distinct from ordinary Soul Beasts: although they resemble their former species, they are beings of Shadow Power and do not leave rings or bodies upon destruction 48 49.