"A Soul Spirit fighting independently without consuming its Soul Master's Soul Power is only the beginning."
"The principle behind independent combat is that, in the Soul Spirit Fusion Skill state, it can autonomously absorb the world's primordial Qi, convert it into Soul Power, and store it."
"And since it can convert and store Soul Power in this state, could it cultivate like a normal soul beast?"
"That way, the Soul Spirit could undergo spirit ascension on its own!"
A sharp gleam flashed through Jiang Xia's eyes.
"Is a Soul Spirit's cultivation speed tied to a Soul Master's, or a soul beast's?"
Han Tianyi said, "The information provided by the research institute indicates that it's very likely tied to a Soul Master's."
Jiang Xia was speechless.
If the research institute wanted to swindle funding, of course it would paint a rosy picture.
He suspected that his teacher's use of the word "likely" meant he had his doubts as well.
But regardless, such a grand pie in the sky still smelled delicious.
Should I give it a try?
Of course.
After all, Jiang Xia needed an assault-type spiritual-attribute Soul Skill.
He already needed a Soul Spirit like this.
And by infusing the Ice Silkworm's spiritual talent into an Evil Eye, the resulting new Soul Spirit, with the Evil Eye as its base, would already be a superior specimen.
If he could also hitch a ride on the effects of a Soul Spirit Fusion Skill, that would naturally be good.
Even if he couldn't, he wouldn't lose out.
"Teacher, let's give it a try."
"It seems you're planning to fuse with an Evil Eye for your second Soul Spirit?"
Jiang Xia nodded.
"In that case, it would be best for the Ice Fire Silkworm and the Evil Eye to each grant you two Soul Rings. Otherwise, they'll take up your later Soul Ring slots."
"Yes, I understand."
Han Tianyi sighed.
"In that case, you'll be under a lot of pressure when you reach rank 30."
He had absorbed a thousand-year Soul Spirit as his first Soul Spirit, yet hadn't enjoyed the benefit of a thousand-year Soul Spirit being able to provide three Soul Rings.
That could be considered a waste.
Of course, Han Tianyi understood as well.
The Soul Skills the Ice Fire Silkworm could grant Jiang Xia had already reached their limit.
Perhaps the Ice Fire Silkworm could still provide the offensive Soul Skill Jiang Xia needed: Soul Impact.
But compared with similar impact effects granted by Soul Spirits such as the Evil Eye, it would definitely fall short by more than a little.
A Soul Master only had nine opportunities to fuse with Soul Rings.
Every Soul Ring was an opportunity to draw on outside power to transform and uncover the potential of one's Martial Soul.
Ignoring the most fundamental need just to enjoy the multiple Soul Rings a Soul Spirit could grant was putting the cart before the horse.
So Jiang Xia didn't consider it a waste.
"Teacher, the Evil Eye species can master numerous attributes. Could we select an Evil Eye with a spatial attribute this time?"
Jiang Xia figured that since the Spirit Ascension Platform's technology required mastery over space anyway, he might as well satisfy that requirement through his second Soul Spirit too.
Han Tianyi was deeply gratified.
In his view, Jiang Xia's understanding of how to pair Soul Rings and Soul Spirits was already very mature.
"Of course!"
"But for the possibility of a Soul Spirit Fusion Skill, this Evil Eye will also have to possess the fire attribute, allowing it to coexist with the Ice Silkworm's ice attribute."
"Although combining it with the Ice Silkworm will temper its spirituality through ice and fire, offsetting the spiritual talent diverted by the Evil Eye's additional fire attribute, adding an unrelated spatial attribute will still affect its aptitude."
Jiang Xia waved a hand.
"No matter how much it affects it, it won't be worse than a pureblood Evil Eye with a pure spiritual attribute."
This combination technology provided two boosts to the Evil Eye's spiritual talent. It should be able to offset the debuffs from two secondary attributes.
So the Evil Eye they created wouldn't have poor aptitude to begin with.
Han Tianyi nodded in agreement.
"Even so, I'll still have them find a way to resolve the additional spatial attribute's effect on the Evil Eye's aptitude."
"It'll be good if they can resolve it, but even if they can't, it won't matter."
Time passed.
After settling on his second Soul Spirit, Jiang Xia's cultivation also got on track.
His goals were clear.
Cultivating three secondary professions simultaneously, cultivating Soul Power, and practicing Broken Dream Imitation.
Not yet having mastered the technology to turn the illusory into the real didn't prevent him from building up his foundations in advance.
Unfortunately, whenever he entered the Spirit Ascension Platform, he could only imitate the basic transformations of all things within it, rather than undergo spirit ascension.
He still had to reserve his spiritual power for his new Soul Spirit.
In the blink of an eye, two years had passed.
Heaven Dou City.
The Spirit Ascension Platform.
In one corner of this virtual world lay a desolate area that had been opened up separately.
A figure sat quietly cross-legged, seemingly meditating in cultivation.
If the other Soul Masters inside the Spirit Ascension Platform saw him, they would probably question everything they knew.
How precious was the opportunity to enter the Spirit Ascension Platform? What Soul Master would waste their time sitting cross-legged here after entering?
Especially when the fluctuations of Soul Power coming from this young man were far from weak.
Not only was he not weakened, he was in peak condition.
The young man sat cross-legged, meditating with his eyes closed.
He did nothing, yet seemed to have done everything.
Around him, the world's primordial Qi gathered. Normally imperceptible, the world's primordial Qi was now so dense that it took visible form.
Most incredibly, this primordial Qi revolved around the young man.
As it moved, the primordial Qi transformed into various attributes.
Water, fire, earth, and wind-the transitions between the four attributes were seamless. A halo formed from the four elements enveloped the young man, its four-colored light interweaving and lending him an air beyond the mundane.
Jiang Xia slowly opened his eyes.
Looking at the scene of elemental transformations constructed from illusory dreams around him, he smiled faintly.
"Two years. My mastery over water, fire, earth, and wind has finally shown some initial results."
Over these two years, he had come to the Spirit Ascension Platform from time to time to comprehend the transformations of all things.
Elemental mastery was naturally his first choice.
He had been exploring the underlying code governing the flow, transformation, eruption, and other aspects of the corresponding elements.
Analyzing and breaking them down one by one, then recombining them, had led to his current achievement.
The process was dull and tedious, but filled him with a sense of accomplishment.
The smile gradually faded from his eyes, and a trace of helplessness flashed through his gaze.
"It's been two years. I reached rank 29 half a year ago, and now I've broken through to rank 30."
"But the research institute still hasn't farmed my Soul Spirit."
In fact, it wasn't that they hadn't farmed one, but that the research institute had rejected the exceptional specimen they had obtained.
Half a year ago, the research institute had already completed the farming service and produced an exceptional mutated Evil Eye.
At the time, the research institute had already abandoned its plans for a Soul Spirit Fusion Skill.
There was no helping it. Farming one with exceptional aptitude that was also compatible with Jiang Xia's incomplete Ice Fire Soul Spirit was simply too difficult.
Just as a White Tiger Soul Master and a Hell Civet Soul Master wouldn't necessarily have a Martial Soul Fusion Skill, a combined Evil Eye and a combined Ice Silkworm wouldn't necessarily be compatible either.
Moreover, they couldn't even be sure whether a Martial Soul Fusion Skill was possible between these two species.
The research institute had originally abandoned this spur-of-the-moment research into Soul Spirit Fusion Skills.
But half a year after the farming service was completed.
That was, yesterday.
Jiang Xia had received a request from the research institute.
"Deacon Jiang, please give me a chance."
"I'm sixty percent confident I can achieve Soul Spirit fusion."
"Really, please give me a chance to verify my idea."
"..."
The other party had all but knelt down, showing sincerity in full measure.
But Jiang Xia had already broken through to rank 30.
Gazing at the sky within the Spirit Ascension Platform, even clearer than the real one, Jiang Xia recalled the new proposal the other party had outlined.
"The spatial attribute you requested isn't a burden. On the contrary, it's the true opening for Soul Spirit fusion."
"The mutated Evil Eye doesn't need to inherit the ice and fire attributes."
"On the contrary, we need to remove both ice and fire completely."
"..."