Unfalling Sandcastle

"Please, my lord."

Hearing this, Ma Chengyuan bowed, then knelt on one knee before Golden Crocodile Douluo, waiting for the Spirit Hall superior to give his orders.

Looking at the face that had grown calm, its former arrogance gone, Golden Crocodile Douluo could not help lamenting how times had changed.

Ma Chengyuan, who had once left thirty volumes of substantial theories in the Spirit Hall's Martial Soul Research Office and was hailed as the foremost expert on Martial Soul research, had shed his youthful arrogance. Only then had he found his present calm.

Time really was interesting.

But after putting aside an old man's habit of dwelling on the past, Golden Crocodile Douluo stated his request.

"For this little fellow's First Soul Ring, besides having all the qualities you mentioned, it would be best if it could weaken his desire to eat or convert that need to eat into another form."

"As he is now, the little fellow still can't control the sinister malice in his Martial Soul."

As he spoke, Golden Crocodile Douluo instinctively turned his gaze toward Mu Tian'en.

The little fellow himself had not noticed what was rising in his eyes, merely swallowing his saliva on instinct.

Ma Chengyuan's expression grew quite serious at Golden Crocodile Douluo's request.

Before Ma Chengyuan had added his own restrictions, there had been a great many Soul Beasts to choose from for Mu Tian'en's First Soul Ring.

According to the Spirit Hall's information books in Vast Sea City on Soul Masters with whale Martial Souls, most of them chose Soul Beasts that could produce Soul Skills to strengthen the body and harden the skin.

Commonly seen sea creatures such as sea crabs, Vast Sea Ice Crystal Crabs, Armored Blade Shield Fish, Reef Vine Tigers, and Pearl Oysters could all produce such Soul Skills.

Because these Soul Beasts were quite easy to obtain, many Soul Masters with whale Martial Souls chose Soul Skills of this kind.

But there were also some exceptions.

These whale-type Soul Masters had Water Generation as their first Soul Skill.

Further investigation revealed that most of the whale-type Soul Masters who had chosen Water Generation had selected the corresponding Soul Beasts because they worked as water rescue lifeguards.

Soul Beasts such as Saltwater Jellyfish and Lush Green Jellyfish, which could separate out salt to ensure they did not lose water and could also extract fresh water, could all produce the corresponding Soul Skill.

But none of these were the Soul Beasts Ma Chengyuan wanted to choose for Mu Tian'en.

They were too weak, and the Soul Skills they produced were simply unworthy of Mu Tian'en's top-tier Beast Martial Soul.

More importantly, Ma Chengyuan still remembered a record in the Vast Sea City Spirit Hall's library about a fish-type Soul Master. After absorbing a water-and-sand-type Soul Beast, the Sinking Sand Water Turtle, which had wandered the beaches for years, that Soul Master had gained a Soul Skill that combined energy storage, environmental transformation, and energy recovery in one.

"Soul Skill: Unfalling Sandcastle."

Ma Chengyuan's murmur trembled.

Even now, remembering that Soul Skill's effects brought a hint of fervor to Ma Chengyuan's face.

However, with Golden Crocodile Douluo present, Elder Ma Chengyuan still hoped to persuade him to let him return to Spirit City and resume the research he had abandoned years ago, so he did not go wild.

He gave a full account of everything he knew about the Soul Skill called Unfalling Sandcastle.

Jin Huang was startled as well.

"Once obtained, it permanently increases the upper limit of Soul Power reserves by one hundred percent, and the increase grows with Soul Power Level."

Hearing about the Soul Skill for the first time, Jin Huang could not hide the longing on his face.

His Martial Soul was the Primal Crocodile, a top-tier Beast Martial Soul, and he was a Soul Douluo, yet he still felt dejected by his lack of Soul Power in battle.

If he had been able to obtain this Martial Soul back then, perhaps he really could have gone further than his father.

The Sinking Sand Water Turtle was a Soul Beast he had to catch and breed.

Old Xiu Nuo's eyes shifted.

He repeated Ma Chengyuan's words: "Using the corresponding Soul Skill in one place will gradually transform the surrounding land into a place of sand and water. As long as Soul Power continues to flow, the fortress-like armor wrapped around the body will not break."

There was a hint of envy in Old Xiu Nuo's voice.

The method he had just used to absorb cold and recover Soul Power after sealing off many of Old Ma's Soul Skills was not merely due to the characteristics of his Martial Soul. He had also paid a considerable price, absorbing a forty-thousand-year Ice Sea Cave Turtle for his seventh ring and narrowly escaping death before comprehending it through his Martial Soul Avatar.

Yet now, the boy Mu Tian'en might be able to obtain, simply by absorbing a hundred-year-old turtle, something other Soul Masters sought desperately in vain.

Besides, Old Ma had left some things unsaid.

That did not mean Old Xiu Nuo and Jin Huang could not hear or see them.

Wasn't that ability to assimilate the surrounding environment a domain skill limited to a certain area?

What a pity.

Jin Huang and Old Xiu Nuo glanced at each other.

They had already reached the Soul Saint and Soul Douluo realms, respectively. When they sought another breakthrough, the Soul Beasts they needed to hunt were no longer ones they could find simply because they wanted to.

Everything depended on luck.

As for Golden Crocodile Douluo, he calmly picked up the cup of tea Old Suolong had poured for him. After drinking it, he looked at Ma Chengyuan with a hint of surprise in his eyes.

Over the years, Ma Chengyuan had not only tempered his disposition but also raised his research into Martial Souls and even Soul Skills to another level.

Unlike his student and grandson, he did not make a fuss, showing envy and distress on his face.

Still, he was a little surprised that the main Spirit Hall in Vast Sea City had been sitting on information powerful enough to change every Soul Master's future choices of Soul Rings and Soul Skills.

Already considering what benefits this discovery could bring him, Ma Chengyuan continued explaining the Soul Skill's effects: "At the same time, before the armor breaks, it can absorb Soul Power from the surrounding environment to strengthen and restore itself."

"And that armor will generally only shatter completely once an attack exceeds the Soul Master's endurance limit by twenty percent."

Golden Crocodile Douluo tapped the table, interrupting Ma Chengyuan's endless stream of words.

Leaning down to look at the little old man, Golden Crocodile Douluo smiled slightly.

"That's quite a good choice of Soul Beast."

"But the effect I just mentioned, converting the little fellow's desire to eat, doesn't seem to have shown up in any of this."

As though he had expected this, Ma Chengyuan cheerfully took out the detailed Soul Ring information he had specially prepared.

"My lord, if I may explain, this is the scroll recording the information about that Soul Skill."

"One passage describes it like this: 'After obtaining the Martial Soul, I no longer felt hungry. It was as if my surroundings were feeding me every moment, and I became a creature that ate only once every few months.'"

At that single passage, Golden Crocodile Douluo closed his eyes.

He tilted his head back and took a deep breath before slowly opening his eyes. "Very good."

"But how can you guarantee that my disciple will obtain this Soul Skill, rather than some other strange Soul Skill from that Sinking Sand Water Turtle?"

"Besides, it seems only one person in this record obtained such a Soul Skill."

Golden Crocodile Douluo's eyes grew somewhat solemn.

Indeed, he was tempted.

But where his disciple's first Soul Skill was concerned, the old man still chose to exercise the utmost caution.