Douluo Continent: The Legend of the Gods

By the time we got back to the small building, it was already dark.

In the afternoon, he began to work with level two soul tools. It wasn't too complicated, and he felt that he could now try to inscribe soul guidance arrays.

"Qinglin, I have a discovery to tell you." Electrolux's voice came, and Yun Qinglin sank his consciousness into his spiritual sea.

"These past few days I've been studying your spirit rings. Your first spirit ring was given to you by the Radiant Deer. I arrived just in time for the sacrifice and witnessed the entire process. There are some things I've been thinking about for days and would like to discuss with you."

"Please speak, Elder Yi."

"During the soul beast sacrifice, a large amount of energy is wasted. When that Radiant Deer sacrificed itself, it released all of its cultivation, vitality, and spiritual essence."

But the soul ring that ultimately coalesced around you only absorbed a portion of it; the rest dissipated into the world.

Yun Qinglin frowned. Why was that?

"If that Radiant Deer's thousand-year cultivation were fully condensed, it would give you far more than what you have now. But its energy was restricted by some rule, and most of it dissipated, with only a small portion remaining, which became your soul ring."

"I have carefully examined the structure of your spirit ring," Electrox continued. "The core of the spirit ring is the soul and spiritual essence of the spirit beast, supplemented by a portion of spirit power."

When you absorb a spirit ring, these are the things that become integrated into your body. The stronger the spirit beast's soul, the harder it is to absorb the spirit ring, because the soul itself has consciousness and will resist.

The reason why that ten-thousand-year-old spirit ring you mentioned causes soul tremors is because of this.

"What about soul skills?" Yun Qinglin asked.

"Soul skills are randomly selected from the skills a soul beast possessed in its lifetime," Electrox said. "The more a soul beast uses and the more proficient it is with a particular skill, the more likely that skill will be solidified in its soul ring. But it's only 'likely,' not 'certain.' What's your Glowing Deer's best skill?"

Yun Qinglin thought for a moment: "It has a strong vitality and recovers very quickly after being injured."

"Yes, so what soul skill did you get? Azure Breath, single-target healing, can regenerate severed fingers. Isn't that its forte? But have you ever thought that it might have other abilities?"

A two-thousand-year-old Radiant Deer couldn't possibly only possess this one skill. What about its other soul skills? They've all dissipated.

"Therefore, soul beasts under 100,000 years old can only be given one soul skill," Yun Qinglin murmured. "When a soul beast sacrifices itself, its energy dissipates less than when it is hunted. Hunting a soul beast also results in the soul ring's energy being less intact..."

Yun Qinglin pondered slowly, wondering if this rule was somewhat contradictory.

"Perhaps it's because the development of the dimension didn't go as originally planned, and something intervened," he speculated.

"You mean the realm of gods here?"

He recalled the events from the original story. Judging from Tang San's every move, the God Realm could intervene in the lower realms. The God Realm had rules that prohibited gods from directly interfering in the lower realms, but those rules only restricted those who were willing to abide by them.

For example, Tang San's arrangements in Douluo Continent, his manipulation of Huo Yuhao's fate, and his surveillance of the lower realms all violated the rules, but he did them anyway, and no one seemed to care about him.

If the rules of spirit rings can be modified, and if the fate of spirit beasts can be arranged, then these unreasonable aspects can be explained.

"It's possible," he said, "but I'm not sure."

"Every plane has its own rules, some gentle, some cruel. But I've never seen anything like this before, where cultivation requires killing another life to break through bottlenecks, and the rules drain most of your energy. This rule is very unfriendly to both sides."

"However, I haven't been idle these past few days either." There was a hint of amusement in Electrox's voice. "I've already come up with some ideas about your Soul Spirit Technique. This kind of contract isn't actually difficult. It uses the soul as a bond and life force as a bridge to connect two lives."

The principle isn't complicated, but some experiments are needed to verify its stability. Furthermore, a Soul Master with sufficiently strong mental power is required to establish the contract. Your current mental power isn't quite enough; perhaps it will be sufficient when you reach around the second ring.

So fast? How long has Electrox been in his spiritual sea? Less than a month.

He was busy with his own things, while Electrolux quietly studied the spirit rings in his mind, silently figuring out the framework for the spirit contract.

A supreme being at the pinnacle of power in another world. Even now, with only a fragment of his soul remaining and incomplete memories, his understanding of the essence of the soul is still unmatched by anyone in this world.

"Old Yi, when I reach the Third Ring Road, we can give it a try."

"Um."

"Elder Ilex, did you create a plane?" Yun Qinglin asked tentatively. He remembered that it was mentioned in the original work that Ilex had a demiplane of the undead, but he had never asked about it.

Electrolux chuckled, a laugh tinged with a sense of antiquity. "I did create one, which I call the Necromancer Demiplane. The original purpose of its creation was to research necromancy and accelerate the summoning of undead creatures. In the context of this world, it was to research a soul skill."

"However, the undead demiplane has been wandering with me for a long time, and now the undead creatures inside are probably only one-tenth of their original strength."

Yun Qinglin's heart skipped a beat. The undead demiplane was one of the biggest cheat codes in the original story. He felt that Huo Yuhao hadn't made good use of this demiplane at all. Although he said he didn't reject it, he was actually still resistant to using this ability, which he considered evil.

If he could learn those things, if he could master the two powers of life and death, the life force of the Emerald Swan, and the necromancy's understanding of the soul, he would be able to do far more than he does now.

He hesitated for a moment, then spoke up: "Mr. Yi, I would like to learn from you."

"What should I study?" Electrox asked, his tone revealing no emotion.

"Necromantic magic, your method of creating demiplanes, your understanding of the soul," Yun Qinglin said directly.

"You've reminded me," Electrox finally spoke. "I haven't mentioned it because I felt your martial spirit and necromancy weren't quite compatible, and I was worried you might have a resistance to necromancy."

Yun Qinglin breathed a sigh of relief.

He hadn't actually been unaware of the matter; he was simply too busy with things like Qinglin Hall, treatment methods, soul tools, and herb cultivation—one thing after another, filling his mind to the brim.

Today, when I heard Electrolux talk about the planes, I suddenly realized how much treasure the one residing in my spiritual sea holds.

"Have you thought this through?" Electrox's voice turned serious. "Necromantic magic doesn't seem like something a good person would use."

Back in the day, I was called the Calamity of the Dead. That wasn't a nice title; it was a name given to me out of fear and hatred. If you learn these things, you might be misunderstood, treated as an oddball, or even targeted because of them. Do you still want to learn them?

Yun Qinglin said almost without hesitation: "Elder Yi, we've known each other for so long, and you've never shown me the slightest malice."

"You helped me research the art of spirits, taught me how to cultivate spiritual power, and analyzed the rules of this world for me..." He paused, "Abilities themselves are neither good nor evil; it all depends on how people use them. A knife can kill people, or it can cut vegetables. Necromancy is the same; why can't I use it to save people?"

Electrolux laughed. Not a faint laugh, but a hearty laugh.

"Good!" Electrox's voice was half an octave higher than usual. "I've lived for so many years and taken on two disciples. I thought I would never take on another disciple in this lifetime." His voice softened a little. "I didn't expect that you would have this idea again."

"You have a good character," Electrox continued. "You have a firm goal and a heart turned towards the light. People like you won't abuse necromancy."

If I had your clarity of mind back then, I wouldn't be in this predicament now.

From this day forward, you will be my third disciple. All I have left is that demiplane and my necromancy.

But this is also my greatest strength. If you are willing to learn, I will impart all that I know to you. How much you learn depends on your own ability.

Yun Qinglin bowed respectfully to Electrolux in the Sea of ​​Spirit: "Teacher."

Electrolux responded, his voice soft but steady.

"Get up," Electrolux said, his tone returning to its usual languid manner, but Yun Qinglin could hear the underlying meaning beneath it. "We don't do this kind of bowing and scraping around here. If you call me teacher, then we're family. Don't bother with these formalities in the future."

Yun Qinglin thought of Wang Xian'er and remembered her saying, "You are my disciple, but you are not my vassal."

Now there is another teacher, a teacher who only has fragments of his soul left, living in his spiritual sea, a teacher who gave him his last possession.

"Teacher," he called out again, this time much more naturally.

"Mm," Electrox replied naturally. "Necromancy isn't urgent. You have too much to learn right now: healing, soul tools, mental cultivation..."

"Adding another necromancy spell is too much for your brain to handle. First, solidify your foundation and improve your mental strength. Once your mental strength is sufficient, I will teach you."

Yun Qinglin nodded: "What about the Soul Technique?"

"We can start with the Soul Spirit Technique," Elex said. "You don't need to know necromancy. I'll deduce the framework, and you'll execute it. As long as your mental strength is sufficient, the Emerald Swan's life force can also help. Once I've set up the framework, we'll find a suitable Soul Beast to test it out."

Yun Qinglin's mental strength has been steadily improving every day. Although the increase is not large, it is now almost equivalent to that of an ordinary Soul Master.

His progress benefited from the strength of his second martial soul, as well as the mental training methods of Electrolux, and the star power of the Star Abyss Pool.

"A suitable soul beast?"

"Well, it's best to choose an old soul beast that's nearing the end of its life. Such soul beasts have a clearer understanding of life and death and are more likely to be willing to try new things."

"And even if you fail, it won't cause too much loss." Elixton paused. "Don't you have that little green goose token? Go back and ask her if she can help you find one."

"This is a good thing for soul beasts; they won't refuse it."

Yun Qinglin is now somewhat grateful that he has established a friendly relationship with the soul beasts, which has provided considerable convenience for his research on the Soul Spirit Technique.

However, the method of soul spirits alone is definitely not enough, especially if artificial soul spirits continue to appear in the future. In that case, the existence of soul beasts will only become extinct even faster, because there are deeper benefits involved, namely soul bones!

When human strength improvement no longer entirely depends on spirit beasts providing spirit rings, the desire for spirit bones will be greatly amplified. Even some people who originally advocated against indiscriminately killing spirit beasts will be tempted. When the benefits are great enough, principles can be compromised.

Soul rings are necessities, everyone needs them; soul bones are luxuries, everyone desires them.

Never overestimate the choices people will make for their own benefit.

However, he doesn't have a soul bone yet. Soul bones required by healing-type soul masters are extremely rare. Even Wang Xian'er probably doesn't have any in stock. Otherwise, given how much Wang Xian'er values ​​him, she would have given them to him to absorb long ago.

What about other types of soul bones? For example, arcane soul bones.

The artificial soul bone that can be created with a special method and by using the soul rings of one hundred soul beasts as a guide.

The quality is not high and the effect is average, but the advantage is that it can be made in a targeted manner. Although the original work says that there is only a one in ten chance of success, this is already an extremely high success rate. Not to mention one in ten, even one in a hundred would attract countless soul masters.

However, since the secret technique soul bones are against the will of Heaven, the major powers do not dare to produce them openly, but each power definitely has a stockpile of secret technique soul bones.

If he asks Wang Xian'er for a secret soul bone to study, the teacher should give it to him.

"Teacher, can you research the matter of the soul bone?"

"Soul Bone? You don't have a Soul Bone, so I can't see it." Electrox said with great interest. He recovered his consciousness in Yun Qinglin's spiritual sea every day and was very interested in studying all kinds of items in this world. He had already learned about Soul Bone from Yun Qinglin.

"I know," Yun Qinglin said. "I plan to ask my teacher for a piece of mystical soul bone so you can study it."

"An arcane soul bone?" Electrox's interest was piqued. "What's that?"

Yun Qinglin recounted the origin of the secret technique soul bone.

After listening, Electrolux remained silent for a while, then sighed, "Your world really makes a thorough use of soul beasts, as if they are just materials for humans to become stronger from beginning to end."

Yun Qinglin nodded in agreement.

"However, your idea is correct," Electrox said. "The Soul Spirit Method solves the problem of Soul Rings, but if the problem of Soul Bones is not solved, the conflict between Soul Masters and Soul Beasts will still not be resolved."

"Bring me a piece of soul bone. I want to examine its structure and see if it can be artificially created."

"Okay," Yun Qinglin replied. "I'll ask the teacher in a few days."

"No rush," Electrolux said. "Take care of what you have on hand first. You need to develop the abilities of your second spirit as much as possible. This will allow you to go further on your research path."

He pulled his consciousness out of the sea of ​​his mind, opened his eyes, and saw that the moon had already risen and was hanging on the eaves.

He stood up, walked to the window, and opened it.

The days ahead will be very busy, won't they?