"All right, Nana, stop teasing him."
Seeing the pressure around Xuan Ming begin to drop again, Bibi Dong finally spoke up to stop Hu Liena.
A little teasing was acceptable, and normal contact was fine too, but if it went on too long, he would get irritated...
Why was he like a cat?
Would he fly into a rage if you petted him a little too long?
"Oh." Hu Liena immediately withdrew her hands.
She could also tell that the two dragons on Xuan Ming's back could barely resist biting her!
"Follow me." Bibi Dong led the way, taking Xuan Ming and Hu Liena toward the training grounds inside the Pope's Palace.
The vast Spirit City had been built around the central mountain. The Worship Hall and Douluo Hall stood at the summit, while the Elder Hall lay halfway up the mountain. It was Spirit Hall's true center of power, responsible for deciding its major affairs.
The Pope's Palace, meanwhile, was the most magnificent structure on the entire Douluo Continent. It was not merely a single palace, but a complex built around the central mountain, including the grand papal hall where meetings were held, the administrative hall where routine affairs were handled, and the work areas of the many bishops beneath them.
"Before repairing your Martial Soul, I still need to understand its condition thoroughly," Bibi said.
"Nana, use Fox Charm on him."
"I need to test my conjecture."
Hu Liena nodded and underwent partial Martial Soul Possession. Her hair turned fiery red, and a large, fluffy tail grew from her back, looking like a mass of flowing flames.
"First Soul Skill: Fox Charm!"
Hu Liena looked into Xuan Ming's eyes and blinked. The power of her charm poured into his mind through their gazes.
Caught by it, Xuan Ming briefly went dazed, but he soon came to his senses.
"Teacher, he..." Hu Liena could hardly believe it.
"Could his spiritual power be stronger than mine?"
"No, his spiritual power is much weaker than yours," Bibi Dong said.
"Then why was he barely affected?" Hu Liena asked in confusion.
Even her brother could not possibly recover so quickly after being hit by her Fox Charm!
"Do you remember what I told you about the essence of mental control?" Bibi Dong asked.
"I remember," Hu Liena said.
"Our minds and bodies depend on each other. The body feeds its sensations back to the mind, while the mind issues commands to the body."
"The mind and body are closely connected, but we can regard a gap as existing between them."
"Mental control is when another person uses their powerful spiritual power to issue a different command, intruding into that gap and interfering with the original owner's control over their own body, causing immobilization."
"If their spiritual power is strong enough, they can even forcibly override the commands issued by the original owner's mind and control the other person's movements."
"But if the other person's spiritual power is stronger than their own, the mental control will be driven back, causing backlash..."
Hu Liena froze for a moment.
If Xuan Ming's spiritual power were stronger than hers, she should have suffered backlash from Fox Charm.
"The mutation of his Beast Martial Soul didn't just mutate his body. It also affected his mind," Bibi Dong said.
"Because of this special Beast Martial Soul, he has two mental wills, two trains of thought."
"Two trains of thought?" Hu Liena froze.
"What does that mean?"
"Your charm can only affect one of his trains of thought. When one is disrupted, the other takes over his body," Bibi Dong said.
"However, his spiritual power is too low, and he isn't skilled at handling his multiple trains of thought. He also doesn't know how to shut out the one being disrupted. That was why he paused briefly. So your charm has little effect on him, rather than no effect at all."
"If he can fully master his two trains of thought... he should be able to achieve immunity to mental control."
Hu Liena looked utterly bewildered. "That's even possible?"
Bibi Dong's expression grew a little unnatural. "This is my first time seeing such a situation too."
Some special Ten Thousand Year Soul Bones also granted immunity to mental control. However, those Soul Bones helped block mental control, keeping the Soul Master's own mental will from being disrupted, rather than giving the Soul Master another train of thought.
"Teacher, how did you think of him having two trains of thought?" Hu Liena asked in confusion.
"Haven't you noticed that the two dragons on his back reflect his own emotions?" Bibi Dong said.
"His own emotions..." Hu Liena paused, recalling.
"That does seem to be the case."
"At first, I also thought his Mutated Martial Soul possessed an independent consciousness. But after interacting with him, I discovered that this mutated Beast Martial Soul was essentially his own subconscious," Bibi Dong said.
When Xuan Ming was unhappy, the two dragons on his back were very cold, and when he ate, especially when he was full, the two dragons on his back were very relaxed too.
Moreover, whenever resentment arose in Xuan Ming's heart, the two dragons on his back reflected it immediately!
But he himself would hold it in for a while, only showing it when he could no longer contain it!
Xuan Ming could endure and pretend, but the two dragons on his back could not.
"Then why do the two dragons on his back sometimes rebel?" Hu Liena asked in confusion.
When Xuan Ming slept in during the morning or spaced out, the two dragons on his back would bump him with their heads!
She had seen it several times herself!
"Because he isn't concentrating. There are too many thoughts in his head, and his thoughts stray," Bibi Dong said.
"Martial Soul Possession consumes a Soul Master's Soul Power and spiritual power. Low-level Soul Masters cannot maintain Martial Soul Possession for long, or the excessive consumption will leave them weakened."
"But because of his special Martial Soul Mutation, Xuan Ming is almost constantly in a state of 'partial Martial Soul Possession.'"
"If he loses focus, his Martial Soul will go out of control."
"And his Martial Soul's ferocity is terrifying. If he doesn't suppress it, it will go berserk!"
"So..."
Bibi Dong looked at Xuan Ming. "That is the true nature of your Black Dragon Martial Soul 'turning on its master.' It isn't deliberately turning on you. It simply goes berserk and attacks indiscriminately, correct?"
"..."
Xuan Ming remained silent, looking at Bibi Dong with a strange gaze.
"What's with that look?" Bibi Dong frowned slightly.
"Was I wrong?"
"No, everything you said was right," Xuan Ming said.
"I'm just a little surprised you're actually this smart."
The corner of Bibi Dong's eye twitched. "Watch your mouth, brat!"
"Oh." Xuan Ming behaved himself.
"Stop saying 'oh' all the time. It's rude," Bibi Dong said.
"Mm," Xuan Ming responded.
"..." Bibi Dong.
So now you can't even be bothered to open your mouth?
"Take out your Blood Spear." Bibi Dong sighed, deciding not to discuss etiquette and manners for now. Those were part of Spirit Hall Academy's curriculum.
"Mm." Xuan Ming extended his right hand and summoned the Blood Spear.
Bibi Dong approached to examine it. "Was this black lightning on it from the start?"
"No, it appeared after I absorbed my first Soul Ring," Xuan Ming said.
"Your first Soul Ring?" Bibi Dong paused.
"What Soul Beast did you absorb?"
"I think it was called a Rushing Thunder Tiger," Xuan Ming said.
"A Rushing Thunder Tiger..." Bibi Dong reached out and touched the faint black lightning at the spear's tip.
"Devour..."
After a Soul Ring was added to a Martial Soul, the Soul Ring would influence it, causing it to exhibit some traits of the corresponding Soul Beast. Sometimes, its attributes would even mutate.
Therefore, Soul Masters could not choose their Soul Rings carelessly. They had to select Soul Beasts whose attributes suited their Martial Souls. Otherwise, if a Soul Ring's attributes conflicted with those of the Martial Soul itself, it was entirely possible for the Martial Soul to be ruined outright!
Chapter 51: You're here to rob us, aren't you?
"Since your Blood Spear has already undergone a lightning-attribute mutation, try to choose lightning-attribute Soul Beasts when obtaining Soul Rings in the future. Don't let other attributes contaminate it further."
After examining the Blood Spear's condition some more, Bibi Dong offered her advice.
For Martial Souls with innate attributes, such as the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul, obtaining Soul Rings meant prioritizing lightning-attribute lesser-dragon Soul Beasts, or Soul Beasts with dragon bloodlines. They could lack the lightning attribute, but they absolutely could not possess other elemental attributes, because those would make the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul's own lightning attribute less pure and lower its quality.
Although Xuan Ming's Blood Spear had no innate elemental attribute, since the Martial Soul itself had gained some lightning attributes after absorbing his first Soul Ring, it would be best to keep strengthening that attribute.
After all, lightning was the most domineering of the elemental attributes. Penetration, destruction, control, speed-it could be said to excel in every respect. Given a choice, lightning was naturally the best.
"Anything else?" Xuan Ming asked.
"That's all for now. Let's resolve your Martial Soul problem first," Bibi Dong said.
"How?" Xuan Ming asked.
"Go back to Spirit Hall Academy for classes first. I need to prepare some things," Bibi Dong said.
"Don't cultivate for the time being. The higher your Soul Power Level, the greater the disparity between your two Martial Souls, and the more troublesome the repairs will be."
"Also, don't use both Martial Souls at the same time again."
When Soul Masters activated their Martial Souls, they merged their own Soul Power with them. During this process, the Soul Power's attributes changed, and different Martial Souls interfered with each other. This was especially true of Martial Souls with greatly differing natures, whose power and characteristics would conflict.
Both her Twin Martial Souls were Beast Martial Souls. They could not possess her simultaneously, so naturally, she could not use them simultaneously either.
Of Xuan Ming's Twin Martial Souls, one was a Beast Martial Soul and the other a Tool Martial Soul. There was almost no overlap when he used them, so the interference between the two was relatively minor.
Moreover, because these two Martial Souls were connected, their natures were relatively close, and the conflict between their powers was not particularly strong. Added to the fact that both Martial Souls were currently very weak, even with Xuan Ming's weak spiritual power, he could still use the power of both Martial Souls simultaneously to a certain extent.
But if he released too much power, such as when using a Soul Skill, the Blood Spear's power would be greatly enhanced, making the characteristics of its power more pronounced. The originally slight conflict would intensify, and the Martial Souls' powers would fight inside his body. That was why Xuan Ming felt stabbing pain throughout his body.
That was only because he was still weak. If such a conflict occurred at a high level, it would not merely be a matter of some pain.
The Worship Hall.
"Why are you here again?"
Having seen Qian Renxue off, Golden Crocodile Douluo was about to return to seclusion, only to run into Bibi Dong as soon as he went up the mountain.
"I'm here for the Great Enshrined, not you." Bibi Dong did not even glance at Golden Crocodile.
"The Great Enshrined has no time to see you," Golden Crocodile Douluo said.
"That's fine. I don't necessarily have to see him." Bibi Dong took out a list and tossed it to Golden Crocodile Douluo.
"Find me everything on this list."
Golden Crocodile Douluo unfolded the list. After only a few cursory glances, his face fell. "You're here to rob us, aren't you?"
So many treasures, all of them unavailable even for a price. Even if one wanted to buy them, there were none to be had.
"What are you saying, Elder Golden Crocodile? How would I dare rob the Great Enshrined?" Bibi Dong said.
"These are all things needed to repair Xuan Ming's Martial Soul. If I collected them in my capacity as Pope, I'm afraid Elder Golden Crocodile would accuse me of using my position for personal gain again."
"To avoid any misunderstanding, I naturally have no choice but to trouble the Great Enshrined. Sorry for the trouble."
"Are you sure you need this much?" Golden Crocodile Douluo's brows knitted tightly, and he was deeply suspicious.
"If you don't believe me, Elder Golden Crocodile, suit yourself." Bibi Dong turned and left.
"However, please tell the Great Enshrined that Xuan Ming's condition cannot be delayed any longer, or it will only grow worse. If a minor problem is allowed to become a major one again, it truly will be beyond saving."