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"That's quite a bold speculation," Xue Qinghe chuckled, seemingly casually remarking, "If that's the case, then the Martial Soul Temple might indeed have been established by deities. After all, the Martial Soul Mountain in Martial Soul City, according to legend, was created by the Martial Soul Temple's founder, the Divine Angel, who cut off a piece of the mountain peak and moved it there."
"That's a possibility indeed," Tang San nodded earnestly, "However, compared to inheriting a divine position, I'm more inclined towards the martial souls materializing into deities."
"In that case, the mother and daughter, with their beast martial souls, have already materialized while attached to their bodies."
"One could say they are natural deities."
Xue Qinghe furrowed his brow.
Natural deities?
Although the martial souls of that mother and daughter indeed seem to have materialized, they are too weak themselves, lacking even a ten-level soul power. How could they possibly be natural deities?
"Do you find it incredulous? Perhaps even find it difficult to comprehend what I'm saying?" Tang San said firmly, "But their appearance does indicate a genuine materialization of martial souls. Their weakness merely stems from their soul power being absorbed by their bodies once it reaches the ten-level, preventing them from obtaining soul rings and advancing in cultivation."
"Is that so?" Xue Qinghe nodded slightly, not intending to delve further. After all, if this continued, Tang San might compare the talents of that mother and daughter to the Six-Winged Angels of the Martial Soul Temple! Moreover, even if that mother and daughter were indeed natural deities capable of cultivation, their inability to obtain soul rings signified difficulty in success during their lifetime. If they were to concentrate on cultivation, the resources they would consume would be immense.
This was by no means a profitable deal!
Since it had been established that Tang San would at least stay in Tian Dou City for a month, there was plenty of time for her to visit during that month.
After seeing off Xue Qinghe, Tang San began organizing the information gathered along the way, preparing to write a theoretical paper on the "Evolution Theory of Martial Souls."
The so-called theory of evolution implies that martial souls, under the influence of human consciousness, accumulate over the years and generations, resulting in corresponding evolution.
This concept parallels the "bond between humans and martial souls" and is also based on Tang San's foundational theory, "The Primary and Secondary Theory of Humans and Martial Souls," which was previously published.
The basis of the "Evolution Theory of Martial Souls" lies in the distinct martial soul styles encountered by Tang San and others on their journey, particularly in one village where such styles were notably clear—
Dao Hua Village.
In this village, the villagers' martial souls mainly consist of three types: hoe, sickle, and shovel.
All agricultural tools.
Tang San once asked the elderly in the village about this. Since the establishment of the village, it has intermarried with other villages. Those who married into the village primarily possessed hoe martial souls or Blue Silver Grass.
According to the elderly in the village, initially, there were only hoe martial souls in the village. It was only later that sickle and shovel martial souls emerged.
The appearance of these martial souls also puzzled the elderly, as none of the people who married into the village had sickle or shovel martial souls.
Then, Tang San inquired about the situation at the establishment of the village.
The elderly said that initially, the village needed to build roads and cultivate fields. Most of the villagers had hoe martial souls. Later, once the roads were built, the fields were cultivated, and crops were planted, children awakened sickle martial souls.
"However, according to the portraits provided by the elderly, the sickle actually resembles the hoe quite closely. It just has a shorter and thinner handle, while the blade is twisted and tilted, becoming sharp on one side."
"Furthermore, as the town near Dao Hua Village transformed into a small city with a demand for a certain type of fruit... subsequently, the shovel martial soul emerged."
"According to the portraits, the initial appearance of the shovel martial soul was very similar to the hoe, except that the blade turned from horizontal to vertical, and the blade surface widened."
"The changes in the environment and the longing for a better life led to the evolution of the hoe martial soul according to people's desires."
"However, this is just one case study Tang San looked into."
"Another example is a village built around a mine. A hundred years ago, the people in this village relied on mining for their livelihoods, with their martial souls being pickaxes. Later, when the mine was depleted, for survival, after three or four generations of evolution, their martial souls transformed into hoes, and the village turned to farming."
"There are more than ten such cases."
"Or villages mainly based on food martial souls, where to sell the martial souls, the taste and appearance of the food gradually improved."
"Or villages mainly based on bow and arrow martial souls, originally relying on hunting for a living, but as wild animals were hunted to near extinction and influenced by nearby city orchestras, some people wanted to make a living by singing. Thus, they influenced the new generation's thoughts, such as: It would be great if the martial soul were a musical instrument."
"So, the bow martial soul slowly evolved into some kind of peculiar monochord."
"Although the people in these cases may not have innate soul power or only have half a level of innate soul power, and they may never break through to the level of soul masters in their lifetime, they long to become soul masters and feel a kind of disdain for their own martial souls."
"Martial souls possess spirituality. If people don't communicate with them, they won't care about people either. But martial souls are ultimately part of humans. In the depths of their consciousness, they will accumulate power for the sake of their masters' better survival, thus undergoing slow changes."
"After organizing this paper on the 'Evolution Theory of Martial Souls,' Tang San summarized two rules of martial soul evolution:
"Firstly, martial souls will change according to people's thoughts, but for ordinary people who are not soul masters, martial soul evolution requires at least three generations.
"Secondly, when martial souls evolve to adapt to and meet the needs of human life itself, they will temporarily stop evolving, thus fixing the form of the martial soul and achieving stable inheritance."
"Both of these points exclude cases of sudden mutations caused by external factors — special environments, special drugs, etc."
"After tidying up the corresponding drafts, Tang San bound them together and found that their thickness exceeded two centimeters. Slapping her forehead in realization, she chuckled to herself, 'This is too thick. It probably isn't suitable for publication in the Martial Soul Daily. Should I write a concise version?'"
"After much consideration, Tang San decided against it."
"After all, he's already famous now, there's no need to focus on the Martial Soul Daily. Directly publishing a book is also feasible. However, this theoretical paper still needs to be sent to the Martial Soul Daily, and regarding the compensation, it shouldn't be a direct buyout like before. Instead, it should be a split... Tang San feels that he could propose a partnership agreement with the Martial Soul Daily for profit sharing."
"I'm sure the Martial Soul Daily will give face to the Holy Son of the Martial Soul Temple."
"What are you writing?"
Suddenly, a familiar childlike voice came from behind. Gu Yuena had somehow entered the study and leaned over the desk, curiously looking at the "Evolution Theory of Martial Souls" on the table.
She reached out to grab it, but Tang San quickly took it away and said, "It's extremely rude to enter without knocking."
"This is my home, I can do as I please." Gu Yuena put her hands on her hips, chin up, staring directly at Tang San.
"What's with this self-righteous attitude?" Tang San rubbed his forehead speechlessly. "By the way, have you learned to do the dishes?"
"I have," Gu Yuena said loudly.
Tang San was about to nod when Gu Yuena continued, "But since the dishes are all broken, there's no need to wash them, right? Am I smart or what?"
"Well, you are quite clever, but since the dishes are broken, you'll need to spend money to buy new ones. Consider this as a debt for now, and you can repay it slowly in the future." Tang San put away the "Evolution Theory of Martial Souls" into his storage wristband. "Let's go, I'll help you awaken your martial soul. Humans living in this world cannot be without martial souls. Unless the usual methods fail to awaken it, I might be able to help you try."
However, Gu Yuena didn't really care about awakening her martial soul. Instead, she stared at the storage wristband on Tang San's left hand and asked, "Is that a storage soul device? Can you give me one?"
"People without soul power can't use storage soul devices," Tang San refused. "And besides, I bought you for thirty million gold soul coins."
Gu Yuena pouted and said, "Stingy! When I grow up, I'll return the measly thirty million to you in the blink of an eye."
"When you grow up, it won't just be thirty million."
"Why?" Gu Yuena was puzzled. "Are you asking me to pay back more?"
"It's including interest. And during your growing up period, you'll be eating, using, and living on my expenses, and you'll also have to learn various knowledge from me. This will incur huge expenses, at least over ten billion." Tang San gestured with his fingers, as if calculating how much Gu Yuena would owe him when she grew up.
Gu Yuena had some concept of numbers. When she heard "over ten billion," she immediately protested, "How could it be that much? Are you trying to trick me?"
"Congratulations, you guessed it right. I am tricking you, and you've already fallen into the trap!" Tang San chuckled.
"Hmph!" Gu Yuena turned her head away, pouting. She realized Tang San was teasing her and felt a little upset.
"Alright, don't be so upset." Tang San reached out to pat Gu Yuena's head, but she dodged. However, could she evade Tang San's large hand? Eventually, he managed to pat her head.
"If anyone else treated me like this, I would have bitten them already. It's only because you provide for me that I don't mind." Gu Yuena had a tsundere expression, a cute blush appearing on her round face.
Tang San smiled and suddenly asked, "This young lady, where did you learn this term? The Luo Wang Auction House wouldn't teach something like this, right?"
"Before being sent to that auction house, I heard it from a woman dressed in flashy clothes. It sounded good to me, so I started using it," Gu Yuena said casually. "Let me tell you, I've learned a lot on this journey, far beyond your imagination!"
"Is that so? Then how come you only learned to use chopsticks yesterday?" Tang San pretended to be puzzled.
Suddenly, Gu Yuena's face turned crimson, "That's because I've never seen chopsticks before. Those people who fed me just placed the food in front of me."
"Those bastards! How despicable!"
"When I grow up, I'll definitely teach those guys at the auction house a good lesson!"
Tang San nodded, "Indeed, trading slaves and such is a bit inhumane. Such industries will gradually disappear with the development of the times."
Gu Yuena glanced at Tang San and said, "You're a good person."
Tang San: "???"
(End of this chapter)