**Chapter 49 Self-Consolidating Soul Ring**
In Gu Ziyi's opinion, self-consolidating Soul Rings are not suitable for all Soul Masters.
In ancient times, the reason why self-consolidating Soul Rings were abandoned is that Soul Masters of that era focused more on the evolution of Martial Souls.
Therefore, even now, not every Soul Master is fit to use them.
The quality of many Soul Masters' Martial Souls is still quite low, making self-consolidating Soul Rings a poor choice for them.
With low talent quality, their Soul Power level cannot be cultivated very far. If they still have to condense their own Soul Ring, it will only waste more time.
Most importantly, Martial Souls using this method to acquire their Soul Rings cannot evolve, so low-quality self-consolidating Soul Rings may not produce any soul skills.
Thus, these Soul Masters would become completely useless!
They would be reduced to pure Soul Masters who rely solely on cultivating Soul Power without any soul skills to back them up.
The best candidates for self-consolidating Soul Rings are Soul Masters with high-quality Martial Souls.
A Soul Master with a high-level Martial Soul would not have weak cultivation talent. The Soul Ring would also be able to produce their own soul skills. In the early stages of cultivation, it may not upgrade as quickly as the Soul Rings of Soul Beasts normally hunted, but the soul skills born from self-consolidating Soul Rings are much more suited for the Soul Master.
The soul skills consume less power and are easier to control.
In the long run, self-consolidating Soul Rings can be continuously upgraded in the later stages of cultivation and will only become stronger than any Soul Ring obtained from a hunted Soul Beast.
Of course, this method has its own drawbacks—namely, that the self-consolidating Soul Ring must be manually upgraded by the Soul Master.
Thus, besides cultivating their Soul Power level, the Soul Master must also cultivate to improve the quality of their Soul Ring, which will consume more cultivation time.
However, if one hunts a Soul Beast, no additional time is needed, and one can grow stronger in a shorter period.
This depends on the Soul Master's choice.
Furthermore, Soul Masters with low-quality Martial Souls are not entirely incapable of choosing self-consolidating Soul Rings. For example, those born with Level 1 Soul Power would be stuck at Level 29, unable to advance, no matter how many resources are spent on them or how much they practice.
If they choose this method, they would abandon their soul skills and become Soul Masters who only rely on their Soul Power. After reaching Level 29, they could finally work hard to upgrade their self-consolidating Soul Rings.
The Soul Power within the Soul Ring can increase the Soul Master's level, though not in direct proportion.
Otherwise, there would be no difference between a Soul Master with a century-old Soul Ring and a Soul Master with a millennium-old one. The total amount of Soul Power they possess is the same.
However, part of the Soul Power in the Soul Ring will still be returned to the Soul Master and converted into Soul Power levels.
Therefore, a Soul Master with innate Level 1 Soul Power could attempt to completely break free from the Level 30 barrier and absorb a millennium-quality Soul Beast Ring as their third Soul Ring, thereby gaining a better effect for Martial Soul evolution.
In short, self-consolidating Soul Rings are useful for all Soul Masters; it just depends on the individual's choice.
Additionally, it's not recommended that all Soul Masters follow this method for acquiring Soul Rings. Doing so could lead to the proliferation of Soul Beasts, which would not benefit humans' control over the continent.
However, the emergence of self-consolidating Soul Rings is absolutely necessary for Douluo Continent; otherwise, as time passes, there will be fewer and fewer high-cultivation Soul Beasts for Soul Masters to train with. Eventually, high-level Soul Masters may face the problem of not having any high-quality Soul Beast Rings available.
Gu Ziyi hadn't watched the later parts of Douluo Continent in his previous life, but he had heard that in the future, there seemed to be a shortage of Soul Beasts and Soul Rings, so they researched other substitutes.
This could also be a solution.
However, if one can consolidate their own Soul Ring, why continue searching for substitutes?
Gu Ziyi believed that self-consolidating Soul Rings might be the right path to take.
Except for the possibility of a future Soul Ring substitute, he explained everything else to the three.
Gu Ziyi didn't suggest how the Martial Soul Hall should proceed. He only analyzed the cultivation methods—both the current one and the one he follows—leaving the final decision of whether to promote self-consolidating Soul Rings to Qian Daoliu and his son.
If they decided to keep the secret of how to use self-consolidating Soul Rings from the outside world and only use it within the Martial Soul Hall, Gu Ziyi would have no objection to that choice.
"Your analysis is very accurate. The Martial Soul Hall cannot make a hasty decision right now. We need to carefully analyze and study this issue before making any decisions!"
"Moreover, Xiaoyi, your analysis is based on the assumption that low-quality Martial Souls cannot produce soul skills through self-consolidating Soul Rings. If low-quality Martial Souls could produce soul skills like you, that would be a different story..."
"This applies to high-quality Martial Souls as well. If a high-quality Martial Soul's self-consolidating Soul Ring couldn't produce any soul skills, then the situation would be even more complicated, and the variables would need to be thoroughly studied!"
"You also mentioned that after absorbing a Soul Beast Ring, it may become harder to upgrade the self-consolidating Soul Ring. That's another uncertain factor that needs to be tested..."
After hearing Gu Ziyi's analysis, Qian Daoliu quickly gained a clearer understanding of this method. At the same time, he pointed out the uncertainties in Gu Ziyi's analysis.
"Yes, Grand Priest!"
"All of this requires experimentation before any final conclusions can be drawn!"
Gu Ziyi was a bit surprised to hear this and then admitted it.
That was what he had intended to continue explaining, but Qian Daoliu said it before he could.
"Yes, these must be tested before we can reach a conclusion!"
"Pope, it's up to you to organize these things that require experimentation. Remember to keep them confidential!"
"These matters are not suitable for public discussion just yet!"
Qian Daoliu nodded with a smile and gave instructions to Qian Xunji.
Since Gu Ziyi and Bibi Dong were also present, Qian Daoliu did not call Qian Xunji by his nickname but addressed him directly as "Pope."
"Yes, Father!"
Qian Xunji quickly responded.
"Dong'er, don't think about the self-consolidating Soul Ring for now!"
"Don't condense a low-quality Soul Ring when the time comes. Not to mention the possible lack of soul skills, the inability to upgrade the self-consolidating Soul Ring would be very unfortunate!"
After Qian Xunji answered his father, he quickly turned to Bibi Dong and warned her of the risks.
Because he saw the eagerness in Bibi Dong's eyes after learning about the self-consolidating Soul Rings!
"Ah... I see!"
When Bibi Dong heard what her teacher said, she pouted in disappointment. She had really wanted to try it when she had the chance to acquire her fourth Soul Ring, possibly helping her younger brother verify the method.
If she already had a Soul Beast Ring, even if the self-consolidating Soul Ring succeeded, there would be no way to improve its quality later.
"The teacher is right, your talent is extraordinary, you shouldn't play around with it!"
When Qian Daoliu saw Bibi Dong's expression, he also advised her.
"Yes, Grand Priest!"
When Bibi Dong saw that even Qian Daoliu was saying the same thing, she didn't dare act recklessly and quickly agreed.
"Xiaoyi, are you familiar with the self-created soul skills of the Clear Sky Sect?"
After seeing Bibi Dong agree, Qian Daoliu stopped talking about her and turned to ask Gu Ziyi about the Clear Sky Sect.
For some reason, after hearing that the soul skills born from a self-consolidated Soul Ring would be very suitable for one's Martial Soul, he thought of the self-created soul skills of Tang Chen.
Especially the Clear Sky Nine Absolutes, which could be used as long as the Martial Soul was the Clear Sky Hammer.
Qian Daoliu felt there was some connection, although he knew that Tang Chen's Soul Rings couldn't have been proper self-consolidating Soul Rings.
...
(End of Chapter)
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(N/E: I noticed that in this and other chapters, there may have been some mistranslated parts. My translation, as I am not fluent in English, is greatly helped by ChatGPT, which is why there may be errors. So if you read 'Pope' before, please note that I made a mistake and meant to say Pope (=Leader of the Catholic Church), so I apologize for the mistake.)