Han Tianyi broke down the Spirit Ascension Platform's technology for interfacing with reality and gave Jiang Xia a brief explanation.
"Imitating these technologies alone requires at least Spirit Abyss Realm spiritual power as a foundation."
"Then, at the instant you turn the illusory into the real, you also have to seal off the corresponding area of space."
"There are many errors and omissions in it. To apply it in combat, you would have to keep refining this technology."
"So, for now, you don't need to consider truly mastering the transformation of illusion into reality."
After hearing Han Tianyi's explanation, Jiang Xia remained fairly calm.
If turning the illusory into the real were that simple, some spiritual-attribute Soul Master on the Douluo Continent would surely have accomplished it long ago.
So before I can truly turn the illusory into the real, I still need to develop other means of combat.
Jiang Xia pondered.
Not only did he need to develop other abilities, but he also couldn't stray from his future system.
The simplest, most direct approach is offensive Soul Skills.
At this thought, Jiang Xia looked at Han Tianyi.
"Teacher, I remember you mentioned that the research institute had a project studying Soul Spirit Fusion Skills?"
Soul Spirit Fusion Skills had been a research direction before, but there had never been any progress.
Now that the technology for combining Ice Silkworms and Evil Eyes had emerged, the unexpectedly high compatibility between the two species had given the research institute new ideas.
The offspring produced by combining the two species had two forms, mutating with either the Ice Silkworm or the Evil Eye as their basis.
If two mutant Soul Spirits of these two forms also happened to be compatible, perhaps they could achieve Soul Spirit fusion under a Soul Master's mediation.
"What? Interested?"
Han Tianyi hadn't expected his disciple to remember an offhand remark he had made back then until now.
Jiang Xia nodded.
"I have a few ideas, but before that, I'd like to understand what purpose Soul Spirit Fusion Skills serve."
What benefit would fusing two of one's own Soul Spirits bring a Soul Master?
After some thought, Han Tianyi asked in return, "What do you think a Soul Spirit is?"
Jiang Xia frowned.
After pondering for a moment, he replied, "The soul form of a soul beast."
Han Tianyi said, "Yes, that was the original source of Soul Spirits."
"But as the times have advanced and Soul Spirit technology has evolved, Soul Spirits have taken on an entirely new definition."
"Your Ice Fire Silkworm Soul Spirit in particular-you know its origins yourself."
"It never went through a soul beast stage at all."
"It was born directly in Soul Spirit form and formed its contract with you in that form."
Jiang Xia nodded, knowing that what came next would be core secrets of contemporary Soul Spirit technology.
His teacher had spent a long time participating in research projects at the Spirit Pagoda and had a profound understanding of this.
Han Tianyi continued, "The foundation of modern Soul Spirit technology, especially artificial Soul Spirit technology, is the Soul Master's Soul Rings."
"Artificial Soul Spirits don't have to involve creating a Soul Spirit species from nothing to count as artificial."
"In a sense, 'artificial Soul Spirits' is a collective term for Soul Spirits produced through various technologies derived from the Spirit Pagoda's current new definition of Soul Spirits."
"And the Spirit Pagoda's current new definition of a Soul Spirit is the soul of a Soul Ring."
The soul of a Soul Ring?
Not the soul form of a Martial Soul.
But the soul of a Soul Master's Soul Ring!
Jiang Xia mulled it over carefully, murmuring under his breath as he savored the meaning.
Han Tianyi gave Jiang Xia ample time to understand.
"In fact, before it fully contracted with you, this Ice Fire Silkworm Soul Spirit only existed in an illusory realm. You can think of it as a soul beast inside the Spirit Ascension Platform. It relied on your Soul Ring to truly become a Soul Spirit, to become a soul."
"Starting from its parents' mating, everything afterward was merely the evolution of data. There was no actual union, nor any process such as birth. Do you understand?"
Without a doubt, Han Tianyi had imparted some extremely crucial knowledge to Jiang Xia today.
Before fully fusing, these artificial Soul Spirits were nothing more than bundles of code!
They relied entirely on Soul Masters' Soul Rings to turn from code into living Soul Spirits!
Shock flashed in Jiang Xia's eyes.
"So Soul Spirit fusion is essentially the fusion of Soul Rings."
Returning to the original question, Jiang Xia suddenly lost interest.
If it was Soul Ring fusion, couldn't he simply practice the secret art of Ring Fusion?
Seemingly seeing through Jiang Xia's thoughts, Han Tianyi said, "Ultimately, Ring Fusion is merely a simple splicing together of Soul Rings."
"It's like the difference between a fusion skill and a Martial Soul Fusion Skill."
"One point will make it clear. Ring Fusion can increase your output, but your Soul Rings remain as they were. When an ordinary Soul Master fuses their first four Soul Rings, they're still yellow, yellow, purple, purple."
"But Soul Spirit Fusion Skills are different. In the Soul Spirit Fusion Skill state, the Soul Rings provided by these two Soul Spirits will fuse together."
"All the Soul Rings will undergo a qualitative transformation. Turning four yellow, yellow, purple, purple Soul Rings into four black Soul Rings is only the baseline. On that foundation, you can still use Ring Fusion to achieve a burst of power from your Soul Skills."
"And according to the Spirit Pagoda's previous research data on this project, once a Soul Spirit Fusion Skill is truly achieved, the fused Soul Spirit's foundation will become more stable than ever before. Grounded in the Soul Master and the Soul Rings that supported the two Soul Spirits before fusion, it may be able to fight independently of the Soul Master without consuming the Soul Master's Soul Power!"
Han Tianyi's final statement was the key.
Ever since Soul Spirits first appeared, people had said they could fight on behalf of Soul Masters, but very few people actually did this in battle.
Aside from the Spirit Pagoda's founder, Huo Yuhao, whose Soul Spirits were all beyond the norm, no one would truly use their Soul Spirits' abilities in battle.
Having fused with a Soul Spirit, you would certainly have obtained its Soul Rings and basically mastered its abilities.
Unless you were dealing with attacks from all sides, there was no need to have a Soul Spirit consume your Soul Power to fight.
To put it more bluntly, a Soul Master might have greater control than the Soul Spirit itself over the Soul Skills it bestowed.
Of course, all of this rested on the premise that a Soul Spirit consumed the Soul Master's own Soul Power when fighting.
A Soul Spirit was only a soul. It had no power of its own and could only rely on the Soul Master if it wanted to fight.
Since Soul Power would be consumed either way, why not use it yourself?
After all, it was stronger when you used it yourself.
But-
Then again.
What if a Soul Spirit didn't consume its Soul Master's Soul Power in battle?
That would be a pure buff.
Jiang Xia slowly nodded.
Put that way, a Soul Spirit Fusion Skill would give him an additional fused Soul Spirit as a fighting force.
"That's not all."
Han Tianyi indicated that this was only the beginning.
Jiang Xia looked at his teacher in surprise.
There's more?
Han Tianyi said, "This project ran for a long time before. The Spirit Pagoda maintained substantial investment in it for centuries. Without bright prospects, how could this project have scammed funding for so long?"
Without research results, it was called scamming funding.
Producing results was another matter, of course.
The institution currently responsible for farming Soul Spirits for Jiang Xia seemed capable of letting this project enjoy its Nth spring.
Whatever the case, they would secure the funding first.
With Han Tianyi, a Limit Douluo, vouching for it, the chances of approval were high.
Of course, the research institute had also painted a rosy vision.
According to them, success was just within reach.