The Martial Soul Skeleton, in Douluo Continent's Bone-Changing Susanoo

Chapter 2 Skeleton Martial Soul

After a while.

The blackish-purple will-o'-the-wisps that had been seen vanished, and the mournful cries that echoed in their ears also disappeared.

Immediately afterwards, Xia Liang felt a surge of heat within his body. This heat flowed through his entire body along with his blood, causing all his bones to feel as if they had doubled in size.

The swelling sensation in my bones gradually subsided after three minutes, replaced by a feeling of comfort and lightness.

The discomfort from the shrinking body was gone, and the feeling of strengthening bones became more and more obvious.

Just as these changes disappeared, the dark purple light on Xia Liang's skin condensed into a huge dark purple rib that enveloped him.

"Skull Martial Soul?"

The surprise in Su Yuntao's eyes immediately turned into disappointment. "No, it's just a rib. It's not a complete skeleton."

The light inside the room gradually dimmed. Su Yuntao dispelled the Lone Wolf's possession and retrieved the two spirit rings at his feet. He smiled and said, "Child, were your parents' spirits like this too?"

"Hmm." Xia Liang subconsciously concealed the truth, "The Skeleton Martial Soul should be inherited from my father."

Su Yuntao shook his head regretfully, "What a pity. This is an incomplete skeleton martial soul."

"Master, what does 'incomplete skeleton martial soul' mean?" Xia Liang asked, puzzled.

"A complete person has all four limbs and all parts of the body intact. A complete skeleton should also have every bone in a healthy body. But you have only awakened your ribs. As an externally manifested weapon spirit, it is clearly a crippled spirit. If it were a complete skeleton, perhaps..."

"Sigh. I suppose so. After all, you're just an ordinary person, not a successor of any major sect. It's really too difficult for you to awaken a complete and powerful martial soul."

"Never mind that for now. Come on. Let me test your innate soul power. If you have soul power, even with a crippled martial soul, you can still cultivate."

As he spoke, Su Yuntao handed the blue crystal ball to Xia Liang, gesturing for him to place his right hand on it.

Xia Liang did as instructed, placing his palm on the blue crystal ball.

A moment later, the disappointment in Su Yuntao's eyes gradually turned into surprise. "Level 5 Soul Power? A crippled Martial Soul can awaken innate Level 5 Soul Power? What incredible luck did Guowan Village have today? Child, congratulations, you are qualified to become a Soul Master."

Hearing this, Xia Liang finally felt relieved.

Perhaps because he had only been in the world of Douluo Continent for less than a year, his martial soul bloodline had not yet truly formed, which is why he awakened a skeleton martial soul that only consisted of his ribs.

However, none of that matters.

Most importantly, he has innate level 5 soul power.

Although he is not as abnormal as Tang San, the protagonist of the original work, and cannot compare with those original characters who have high innate soul power, at least he can cultivate on his own.

With the help of the opportunities mentioned in the original work, he might have a chance to become a Title Douluo.

"Um, Master Su, how should I put my ribs back?" Xia Liang suddenly changed his mind, "No, how should I put my skeleton martial spirit back?"

"Use your mind to retrieve your martial soul, and the same applies when releasing it," Su Yuntao reminded him.

Xia Liang did as instructed, and under the control of his mind, the dark purple ribs that had been protecting his entire body like a shield gradually retracted back into his body.

The martial spirit awakening ended, and the wooden house door opened.

As Su Yuntao led the children out of the house, the old village chief rushed forward anxiously, asking, "Master Su, how did it go? Is there any chance that any of the children in our village will become Soul Masters this year?"

"There is one. I asked his name, and it's Xia Liang. The other seven children have no soul power and cannot become soul masters. Xia Liang's martial soul is a skeleton. Although it's a crippled martial soul, his ribs can protect his body, which means he has a certain defensive ability. He has innate level five soul power, so becoming a soul master will be quite easy for him. Old village chief, I want to congratulate you. Your village has finally produced a soul master."

Su Yuntao glanced at Xia Liang and suddenly said, "However, in all the years I've been in charge of your village, I haven't found any inheritance of the Skeleton Martial Soul. This child shouldn't be from your village, right?"

The old village chief nodded. "Yes. I met A-Liang yesterday when he was wandering outside the village gate. According to him, he was originally a villager of Konoha Village. The village was destroyed by a powerful Soul Master, and his parents and other villagers were killed. He was homeless and had no relatives."

"I felt sorry for him, and since it happened to be the day of the Martial Soul Awakening, I left him in the village to participate in the Martial Soul Awakening together."

"So that's how it is." Su Yuntao said in realization, "Old village chief, good deeds are rewarded. You've struck gold. Maybe in the future, your village will be renamed Skull Village."

night.

A small hill a few hundred meters away from Guowan Village.

The bright moonlight shone on the hill, making the surrounding plants look like they were covered in a thin layer of silver. A gentle breeze blew, and the shadows of the trees swayed.

Xia Liang stood alone in the open space at the foot of the hill.

Leaving Holy Soul Village and coming to Pot and Bowl Village was truly a wise move.

In this way, whether it's a skeleton martial soul in the form of only ribs or innate level 5 soul power, there's no need to worry about being noticed by Tang Hao.

With a thought, a dark purple aura spread from Xia Liang's body and then condensed into dark purple ribs that covered his entire body.

"A crippled skeleton martial spirit?"

Reaching out to touch the dark purple ribs blocking his way, Xia Liang was utterly shocked. Was this rib-shaped skeleton martial spirit formed from his own bones?

It should not be.

Because the skeleton martial soul in the form of ribs is exposed on the outside, while his own ribs are still inside his body supporting him, it is unknown whether the injury to the skeleton martial soul's ribs will backfire on the ribs inside his body.

This was the first time Xia Liang had ever heard of the concept of a crippled martial spirit.

After carefully questioning Su Yuntao, he learned that the so-called crippled martial soul was actually a congenital disability of humans, with defects in physical structure.

A complete skeleton, in addition to ribs, should also have the bones of two arms and legs, and even the skull.

The current Skeleton Martial Soul only has the rib section, so Su Yuntao calls it a crippled Martial Soul.

There are many cases of crippled martial souls on the mainland. Tang Yuehua's Clear Sky Hammer martial soul in the original work can also be said to be a crippled martial soul.

Due to defects in its shape, structure, and function, the potential of a martial spirit is no different from that of a useless martial spirit.

However, Xia Liang did not consider his crippled skeleton martial soul to be a useless martial soul.

As mentioned in the original work, innate soul power is formed by the martial soul absorbing nutrients from the body.

The higher the quality of a martial soul, the better it is at absorbing nutrients from the body to form soul power.

His malnourished six-year-old body, along with the sub-healthy constitution of a Blue Star human, was simply unable to absorb excess nutrients to form soul power.

So having innate level 5 soul power means that the skeleton martial soul in the form of ribs has a good energy foundation, and the quality of the martial soul should be at least at a medium level.

Since the rib-shaped skull martial soul is not a useless martial soul, there is only one possibility.

Ribs are likely just the initial form of the Skeleton Martial Soul.

As a Soul Master grows, the Skeleton Martial Soul may evolve into arm bones, skull bones, and so on, until it grows into a complete skeleton.

Thinking of this, a look of surprise flashed in Xia Liang's eyes.

To his delight, the original work stated that the appearance of a martial soul would change to varying degrees with each additional soul ring.

Doesn't this clarify whether a rib-shaped skeleton martial soul can indeed grow into a complete skeleton?

What's even more surprising is that this upgrade path from rib form to complete form seems to have a similar effect to the upgrade of Susanoo in Naruto.

(End of this chapter)