My Martial Soul Can Transform?!

At the foot of the mountain north of the village, Bamboo House.

After sharing the good news with his grandfather Zhu Gang, Zhu Wu quickly ran into his bedroom under the pretense of studying his Martial Soul. He went straight to the wooden table and sat down. Without the slightest hesitation, he raised his right hand before his eyes and spread it open. With a thought, he summoned his Martial Soul.

A flicker of white light flashed, and the White Silkworm appeared.

Zhu Wu leaned forward to examine it closely.

The plump White Silkworm lay in his palm, raising its upper body and waving its tiny forelimbs. An inexplicable sense of familiarity entered Zhu Wu's mind once again.

"It can move on its own. This is an External Martial Soul!?" Zhu Wu was startled, and a certain guess arose in his heart.

"Little guy, go back first." With a thought, he recalled the Martial Soul into his body, then stood up.

He strode to the open space in the middle of the bedroom, spread his feet, assumed a stance, and began practicing the Vajra Power Exercise.

Very soon, as his movements unfolded, he could clearly feel a warm current flowing through his body, traveling throughout him along a particular route.

He calmed his mind and focused his spirit, practicing while sensing the changes.

"So the online explanation of the Vajra Longevity Exercise—that external qi induces internal qi, and when internal qi moves, it drives external qi—is true? In this world, practicing the movements of the Vajra Power Exercise and Longevity Exercise can draw Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy into the body, then transform it into the Soul Power cultivated by Soul Masters?"

"So my Martial Soul really did degenerate. Originally, like Yu Xiaogang, I should only have awakened with 0.5 levels of Innate Soul Power. But because I practiced the Vajra Longevity Exercise every day and accumulated some Soul Power in my body, I ended up with Level 6 Innate Soul Power?"

"Damn!" He suddenly wanted to slap himself twice.

Although he practiced the Vajra Longevity Exercise every day, the time he spent on it had been far too short. He had always treated it as a health exercise. If he had practiced longer every day, did that mean he could have awakened with Innate Full Soul Power like Tang San?!

Fuck, these were actually two "real" cultivation methods!

Who could possibly have guessed that?

His greatest cheat after transmigrating had obviously been right on him all along, yet he had not known!

Mushroom. Blue and thin!

With that frustration in mind, Zhu Wu practiced the Vajra Power Exercise through once in full, then practiced the Longevity Exercise once as well.

"Before awakening my Martial Soul, I couldn't sense anything. Now that I've awakened one, not only can I sense Soul Power, but the internal changes while practicing the movements have become much clearer. I'm truly convinced by this world's cultivation rules!"

"Is this the result of cultivation methods, Martial Souls, and Soul Power merging together? Like Tang San's Mysterious Heaven Skill."

"When practicing the Vajra Power Exercise, a warm current moves through my body. But with the Longevity Exercise, there are threads of coolness, and my mind becomes much clearer." Zhu Wu kept recalling and comparing the sensations.

"Clearly, after becoming compatible with this world's laws of heaven and earth—or rather, its energy—the Vajra Power Exercise and Longevity Exercise have become two different cultivation methods that can cultivate Soul Power, each with different effects. However, they can be cultivated together. Otherwise, I would have run into trouble long ago."

With that thought, he stopped moving.

"Unfortunately, I still can't use Internal Vision. Otherwise, I could properly study the differences in the flow of Soul Power when cultivating these two methods, as well as their respective effects. If I can figure that out, I have a feeling I'll gain two distinct Soul Power circulation routes with different uses that can still be cultivated together. And that means I can achieve cultivation by actively circulating the Soul Power inside me, with even greater efficiency."

In his view, using bodily movements to draw in Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy definitely could not compare to actively circulating Soul Power within his body. That was the difference between passive and active cultivation!

"And according to what I read online in my previous life, the Vajra Power Exercise is best practiced in the morning just as the sun rises, while the Longevity Exercise is best practiced late at night under the moonlight. There hasn't been a moon these past few nights. Looks like I'll have to wait until I get a chance to carefully compare the so-called optimal cultivation times with other times." Thinking this, he strode back to the wooden table, sat down, and summoned his Martial Soul again.

White light shone, and the Silkworm Martial Soul appeared in his palm once more. Zhu Wu picked it up and held it before his eyes for inspection. It could not be helped—the little fellow was simply too small to see clearly without bringing it close.

"Is this really a silkworm?" Staring closely at the little fellow's forehead, Zhu Wu could not help muttering. There was actually a tiny inverted triangular scale between its brows, and it was seven-colored. Its widest diameter was not even as wide as a rapeseed, so he truly would not have noticed it without looking carefully.

His gaze moved downward. The edges of the spiracles on both sides were silver, completely different from the black ones found on ordinary silkworms.

The next moment, his pupils widened slightly.

"Holy shit, these legs actually have claws!" Zhu Wu was secretly shocked.

Upon closer inspection, the tops of the tiny stubby legs on both sides each had four sharp claws. They looked rather like the claws of a tardigrade from his memories.

"So what exactly is this thing? A hybrid between a dragon and a silkworm?" His expression could not help turning strange.

"Little guy, spit some silk and let me see?" he said aloud.

As an External Martial Soul—and a silkworm at that—it should naturally know an ability like Silk Spitting, right? Just like how Luo San Pao knew how to fart.

As a Martial Soul, it was one with Zhu Wu, so the little fellow understood him. It shook its head, indicating that it could not.

"..." Zhu Wu fell silent.

Having to absorb a Soul Ring just to spit silk made that setup feel incredibly unreasonable!

As if sensing its master's low mood, the little fellow shook its head. The scale between its brows suddenly radiated seven-colored light before the glow vanished in a flash. The next second, white light surged from its tiny body. Zhu Wu reflexively shut his eyes and raised a hand to shield them, then felt an enormous force squeeze his fingers, making him let go. In the blink of an eye, the white light disappeared from between his fingers. Only then did Zhu Wu lower his hand and look at the tabletop.

"Woof woof woof!" A dog was barking.

"..." Zhu Wu was startled. Sitting on the table was actually a dog, one identical to his deceased Da Huang.

Holy shit, my Martial Soul can transform!

So would catgirls and bunny girls work too?

Or Qian Renxue, Bibi Dong, Bo Saixi, Ning Rongrong, Zhu Zhuqing, Zhu Zhuyun, Tang Yuehua, Ah Yin, Silver Dragon King... hehehe, it would be nice to have something pleasing to look at.

Then he noticed the Soul Power inside his body draining rapidly, as if his body were about to be hollowed out.

Clearly, this transformation ability consumed an enormous amount of Soul Power.

"Little guy, transform back quickly!" Zhu Wu hurriedly shouted.

Then the yellow dog flashed with white light and turned back into a tiny White Silkworm, obediently lying on the table.

Zhu Wu immediately sensed that the rate at which his Soul Power was being consumed had become extremely slow. Compared to before, it was practically negligible.

"Could it be related to size? The larger the form, the more Soul Power it consumes?" he could not help guessing.

He reached out, picked up the Martial Soul, and placed it back in his palm. He stared at it blankly, then asked tentatively, "Do you have any other abilities?"

People were never satisfied, and he was no exception.

The little fellow nodded repeatedly, conveying a cheerful emotion to Zhu Wu, as though saying that it was very useful.

Then it bent down its upper body and pressed its head against Zhu Wu's palm. The seven-colored scale between its brows glowed once more with a faint halo.

"!!?" Zhu Wu immediately felt a massive amount of information force its way into his mind and surge wildly.

Yet he did not feel the slightest discomfort, as if the information came from his bloodline and he was merely reading it at the appropriate time.

"This!" His mouth fell slightly open in shock.

"Fuck, that's amazing!" He truly could not stop himself from shouting.

Was this the true strength of an External Martial Soul? The information in his mind had genuinely stunned him.

His Martial Soul actually possessed innate abilities like a real Soul Beast, and it had more than one. Moreover, aside from slight differences in certain aspects, these abilities were largely identical to those of a certain Soul Beast that appeared in the sequel.

First, Illusion Transformation. His Martial Soul could transform into any creature it had seen, including its aura. Of course, there was no need to guess that it could only perfectly imitate the appearance and aura, as well as the most basic abilities. If it transformed into a bird, it could fly, and its cries would sound the same. As for Soul Skills, forget it.

Even so, there was plenty of room to make use of it.

For example, Intimidation.

If it could transform into a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast with an identical aura, wouldn't low-level Soul Beasts piss themselves on the spot?

Well, his Soul Power probably could not support that in the early stages.

But what about after his cultivation rose? Besides, the Martial Soul could absorb Soul Rings and evolve. If it absorbed suitable Soul Rings, perhaps this ability could go even further.

Oscar's Mirror Sausage copying ability was pretty good!

The future looked promising!

Second, Treasure Seeking. As the name implied, it could search for treasures. With its keen senses, it could detect the presence of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures within a certain range. Because of those keen senses, it also possessed some ability to foresee danger.

"So that strange ability I had to sense medicinal herbs really did come from my Martial Soul," Zhu Wu thought to himself.

Third, Storage. Every segment of its body contained a Storage space that could be used to preserve Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures. At present, each space had a diameter of less than half a meter.

Fourth, Cultivation. The aura it emitted could nourish Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, including fresh Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures stored in its Inner Space. In other words, the Storage space that came with his Martial Soul could store living things.

However, those living things were limited to plants.

That was also why the Martial Soul was called the Treasure Hiding Beast.

According to the information conveyed by his Martial Soul, it was called the Treasure Hiding Beast. Compared with the Treasure Seeking Beast, the parasite on the Dragon God that appeared in the sequel, the names differed by only one word. He had every reason to believe the two came from the same race, with only slight differences in individual abilities and different duties.

It was said that after the Treasure Seeking Beast, a parasite on the Dragon God, was discovered, the Dragon God nurtured it with his own body and granted it certain abilities along with powerful God Sense. Thus, it could keenly sense any Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures within a certain range, while the aura it emitted could ripen them. In addition, it possessed powerful Illusion Transformation abilities, allowing it to transform into any creature it had seen and possess a portion of that creature's abilities, at most reaching thirty percent of its level. The strongest member of its race possessed the strength of a First Level God.

Originally, they were responsible for managing the medicine gardens in the God Realm. Later, they were almost completely wiped out in the great war of the God Realm, with only a small number remaining.

"Apparently, the current God of Space and her older sister are also a kind of parasite from the Dragon God. Space Worms, with space attributes, responsible for stabilizing the spatial elements of the God Realm. My Treasure Hiding Beast also has some space attributes, but what it developed was Storage. It looks like it should be responsible for cultivating, storing, and transporting medicinal herbs. So was it a weakling nurtured by the Dragon God to handle logistics?"

Thinking of this, Zhu Wu fell silent.

The good news was that his Martial Soul was not a silkworm at all, but a parasite from the Dragon God. And as a parasite, was it not perfectly normal for it to feed on its host's blood and nutrients? It had also been nurtured by the Dragon God, so it was normal for it to have a trace of Dragon God Bloodline in its body, right? The Dragon God's scales were seven-colored, and so was the one between his Martial Soul's brows.

Wasn't that a perfect fit?!

It also neatly explained where the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan bloodline in his body had gone. So this should count as an absurdly powerful atavistic bloodline awakening, right? After all, it was connected to the Dragon God.

The bad news was that it was a logistics unit.

His mindset was a little broken!

After quite a while, he sorted out his thoughts and continued speculating.

"The Dragon God Bloodline is incomparably powerful. Even a trace so faint it is nearly nonexistent is not something a human can endure. Therefore, I encountered the same problem Yu Xiaogang did back then. I mutated, and I also degenerated. Fortunately, I cultivated cultivation methods and accumulated a certain amount of Soul Power—or energy—in my body. That nourished my yet-unawakened Martial Soul to some extent, so it did not completely degenerate."

"As an External Martial Soul, it retained racial talents like a Soul Beast. But because its mutated evolution was incomplete, its cultivation limit was also locked."

"Of course, that's only a minor problem!"

"After all, the Treasure Seeking Beast race can evolve by consuming Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures. My Treasure Hiding Beast should be able to do the same. And there are Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures in the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well."

"There are quite a few of them, and they're all top-grade!"

"Perhaps Yu Xiaogang could originally have done the same." Zhu Wu suddenly thought of it. As an External Martial Soul, Yu Xiaogang's Luo San Pao Martial Soul could eat as well. It was just that Yu Xiaogang fed it carrots instead of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures.

"If Yu Xiaogang's Martial Soul had not completely degenerated, or if he had made up for it through later efforts, then as another External Martial Soul with top-tier Dragon Clan bloodline like the Golden Sacred Dragon, it would probably have innate talents like a real Soul Beast, just like mine."

In the original story, Yu Xiaogang, Liu Erlong, and Flender formed a Martial Soul Fusion Skill. Yet Yu Xiaogang, who had the lowest cultivation, was the core and leader, and Luo San Pao became the Golden Sacred Dragon.

He had reason to suspect that the Golden Sacred Dragon was the ultimate evolved form of Yu Xiaogang's Luo San Pao Martial Soul.

"Good thing I learned the Vajra Longevity Exercise in my previous life!" At this moment, Zhu Wu felt incomparably fortunate.

If he had not learned the Vajra Longevity Exercise, his Martial Soul might have degenerated into a true domestic silkworm.

But now, it was merely missing a few body segments compared to its complete form.

It could still be saved!

If Caterpie could evolve into Rayquaza, why couldn't my parasitic Martial Soul evolve into the Dragon God?

I think it can!