N/E: Sorry for the delay in posting, I was very sick today, it took me a long time to finish translating the two chapters, I hope you enjoy it.
-x-X-x-
**Chapter 37: So That's How It Is**
"Xiaoyi, your question is very good!"
"Many Soul Masters only know how to practice according to the paths of their predecessors, but they never think about the why!"
"Very few people in the Soul Master world know the answers to the questions you asked, but it so happens that your teacher knows a little about this subject!"
Qian Xunji praised Gu Ziyi at this moment and then smiled as he spoke.
Gu Ziyi immediately perked up when he realized his teacher truly knew the answer.
"Teacher, tell me quickly!"
Bibi Dong immediately urged him on.
Gu Ziyi suddenly realized how great it was to have Bibi Dong by his side—she was simply the best at getting their teacher to talk!
"As for why we Soul Masters need to absorb Soul Rings from Soul Beasts, it's not just to enhance our Soul Power and gain soul abilities, but mainly to evolve the Martial Soul itself!"
"As for Soul Masters who condense their own Soul Rings, it's been so long that the records are no longer very clear. I only know that hundreds of thousands of years ago, individual Soul Masters invented their own methods of condensing Soul Rings through trial and error. However, most of the Soul Rings self-condensed by Soul Masters had no soul abilities. Additionally, the quality of these rings was very low, far inferior to those obtained from hunting Soul Beasts!"
"The most important point is that condensing Soul Rings on one's own cannot bring about the evolution of the Martial Soul!"
"So, gradually, no more Soul Masters could self-condense Soul Rings."
"As for the method of condensing Soul Rings, it was lost a long time ago."
"The facts have proven that this was also the right choice, because hundreds of thousands of years ago, the quality of Soul Masters' Martial Souls was not as strong as it is today!"
"The many powerful Martial Souls we see today have gradually evolved through generations of Soul Masters absorbing Soul Rings from Soul Beasts!"
Qian Xunji's simple narration quickly gave Gu Ziyi and Bibi Dong a clear understanding of the reason behind it all.
It was like witnessing history unfold before their eyes!
Another surprise!
'It was as if I could see countless predecessors working hard for the development of the Martial Soul.'
Gu Ziyi was even more impressed. It turned out that the most important aspect of absorbing a Soul Beast's Soul Ring was the evolution of the Martial Soul.
It turned out that Soul Masters had created Soul Rings on their own before, but they were eventually phased out in the evolutionary process.
So, was it wrong for him to create his own Soul Ring?
No… the quality of self-condensed Soul Rings can be improved, and in the long run, they won't be inferior to Soul Beast Rings.
"I see, teacher, you're truly amazing!"
Gu Ziyi looked at Qian Xunji with admiration (although he exaggerated his reaction a bit) and then asked another question: "Teacher, I have another question. When did advanced meditation techniques come into existence? Have they always been around?"
"Advanced meditation techniques? That's not true. The emergence of these techniques is relatively recent for us cultivators. They were only developed a few thousand years ago!"
Qian Xunji smiled slightly upon hearing the question and answered Gu Ziyi with ease.
OOOOHH—
No wonder, no wonder the method for self-condensing Soul Rings was lost to history. It turned out that advanced meditation techniques didn't exist back then, so those Soul Masters who had successfully self-condensed their Soul Rings didn't know how to improve their quality, causing their progress to stagnate.
Hearing Qian Xunji's words, Gu Ziyi let out a long sigh of relief and finally understood.
Without the emergence of advanced meditation techniques, the self-condensed Soul Ring would obviously be the wrong path.
However, we are no longer in ancient times. Times are changing, and paths that were once impossible to walk are now possible.
Gu Ziyi even had a hunch.
The efforts of so many generations in the past, the continuous development and evolution of Martial Souls, have resulted in many powerful Martial Souls in the present day.
It could be said that, except for low-quality Martial Souls, other Martial Souls have already developed to a relatively mature stage in the current times.
At this point, these high-quality Martial Souls definitely wouldn't be without soul abilities if they tried to self-condense a Soul Ring again.
Especially two Martial Souls that Gu Ziyi knew of: the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda and the Nine Heart Flowering Apple (Nine Heart Begonia). No matter what type of Soul Ring they absorb, these two Martial Souls would always acquire the same soul abilities.
In other words, they no longer need to absorb any Soul Beast Rings. They simply absorb the cultivation energy contained in the Soul Beast's Soul Ring.
Therefore, if high-quality Martial Souls like these had self-condensed Soul Rings, they would have their own soul abilities.
This type of high-quality Martial Soul Soul Master would be better equipped with self-condensed Soul Rings.
Because self-condensed Soul Rings allow for better control of soul abilities and can improve the quality of the Soul Rings. As long as the quality of the Soul Rings improves later on, the Soul Master will definitely have a better future than those who absorb Soul Beast Rings.
Especially for those top-level Martial Souls that have evolved to the extreme, absorbing Soul Rings can no longer bring much evolution to their Martial Souls, except to add soul abilities with different characteristics to their Martial Souls.
When the external pursuit reaches its end, it's time to turn inward and seek progress from within.
Extract the characteristics of your own Martial Soul, strengthen it, purify it, and seek new breakthroughs based on yourself.
Gu Ziyi became even more convinced of this after reviewing many records collected by the Martial Soul Hall and researching various topics in the library.
There had been many high-end Martial Souls in the recent past, but in the end, none of those top-level Martial Souls could be passed down to the present day.
As their Martial Souls reached the extreme level of evolution, they needed to seek breakthroughs from within themselves. If they continued to absorb Soul Rings from Soul Beasts, it would not lead to any further evolution of their Martial Souls and might even result in a decline in the quality of their descendants' Martial Souls due to incompatibility with their own.
Of course, Martial Souls granted by the gods are another matter entirely.
"It seems that my Martial Soul is really not simple. To possess soul abilities, and such unique ones at that, my Martial Soul itself must be extraordinary."
Gu Ziyi once again confirmed the uniqueness of his Martial Soul, though for some reason, when he first awakened, his innate Soul Power was only at Level 1.
"There hasn't been a Martial Soul like my Talisman before on the Douluo Continent. It must have undergone a mutation!"
"Is it because of my transmigration to this world that my original Paper Martial Soul transformed into the current Talisman Martial Soul? Did I bring the Talisman Martial Soul?"
"If that's the case, it can be explained. My soul is special due to the transmigration, and it's possible that my Martial Soul mutated!"
"And it's very possible that the original owner of this body had a useless Paper Martial Soul with no Soul Power. So when I awakened the Martial Soul on the first day after transmigrating, my Martial Soul didn't have time to absorb Soul Power to complete its transformation. That must be why my innate Soul Power was only Level 1!"
"Hey, if that's really the case, I would've preferred to wake up a year later!"
After confirming that his Martial Soul was extraordinary, Gu Ziyi began to understand why his innate Soul Power was so low.
Moreover, the reason why his Martial Soul's quality was low and had not fully developed could be due to the fact that it was awakened immediately after his birth in the ceremony.
Why do the natives here wait until the age of six to awaken a child's Martial Soul? It must be necessary for its growth!
As for why his first soul ability was a Taoist ability like the Heart-Cleansing Curse, Gu Ziyi still didn't know the reason.
He hadn't been a Taoist priest in his previous life, so all he knew was that talismans were used by Taoist priests.
...
(End of Chapter)
--