Chapter 508: Hypothesizing the Existence of the Original "Human" from Repeated Awakenings of Body Martial Souls

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"What a fantastical idea," Gu Yuena mused. She began to wonder—if humans can mimic the shapes and energy flows of soul beasts to develop cultivation techniques and invent soul tools, might soul beasts also be able to imitate humans?

Well…

Soul beasts' transformation into human forms is already a near-perfect imitation, even changing their species to become human in every sense.

But that's a result of the rules specific to Douluo Continent. After all, before transforming, soul beasts barely know what humans look like on the inside, yet after transformation, their internal organs are identical to humans'.

This is likely an aspect predetermined by the rules of the Douluo Continent's realm.

At the mention of this, Tang San suddenly recalled that the Tianmeng Iceworm once reversed the transformation process, fully altering Huo Yuhao's physical form into that of the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion.

Tang San had once asked the Tianmeng Iceworm about this, and it explained that it had harnessed immense energy and, using Huo Yuhao's Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion martial soul, reversed the energy flow typically used in transformation.

Tang San was less interested in the concept of "humans transforming into soul beasts" than in the transformational process itself. Whether it's a soul beast turning into a human or a human transforming into a soul beast, both require an initial alteration in physical form—either compressing a large body or expanding a small one. The first step in this process must involve a full energy conversion of the body, or any minor material collision could cause intense pain or even immediate death for a once-powerful creature.

After all, after years of cultivation, a soul master's meridians can become painfully stretched, and in severe cases, even rupture.

Transforming the structure of the entire body is another level entirely—naturally, the first step would be to convert the entire body into pure energy!

Yet, Tang San still didn't fully understand how this energy conversion is possible without a god-level power. Is it an effect of Douluo Continent's realm rules? Rules are rules, and energy is energy; the two shouldn't be so easily conflated.

Tang San had a theory: perhaps, during the transformation, the surrounding energy from the heavens and earth gathers around the body, creating a unique environment.

When Huo Yuhao transformed into the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion, there was indeed a disturbance in the surrounding energy, which concentrated around him. However, in terms of power, this energy was nowhere near that of a Level 90 Titled Douluo.

There must be another reason behind this phenomenon.

To fully grasp the concept, experimentation would be necessary, but transforming a person into a soul beast is hardly ethical. Thus, focusing on martial soul fusion seemed the next best approach.

In a way, martial soul fusion is also a form of "transformation," only it's merging two different martial souls into one unified form, representing an energy fusion.

Martial souls, existing between energy and matter, make ideal subjects for research.

However, martial soul fusion cases are relatively rare.

While studying body martial souls, Tang San discovered that fusion among this type of martial soul encountered relatively few obstacles. He identified two primary reasons:

1. They are all parts of a complete body.

2. They lack any elemental attributes.

In essence, they don't naturally conflict in terms of fusion.

With other martial souls, attribute balancing is necessary before fusion, but body martial souls don't require this step.

As they lack attributes, no balance is needed.

That said, not all body martial souls can fuse with each other.

For instance:

A left-hand martial soul can't directly fuse with a left-foot martial soul, but it can merge with the entire left arm.

When six individuals, each possessing martial souls aligned to specific body parts—left hand, left arm, chest, waist, left leg, and left foot—joined hands, allowing their soul powers to circulate and stand closely together, they all sensed the potential for martial soul fusion. However, when one person is removed from the chain—

For instance, if the left arm is withdrawn from a lineup of the left hand, left arm, and chest, the fusion sense between the left hand and chest dissipates.

Similarly, in an arrangement of left arm, chest, and waist, removing the chest causes only a fusion sense to remain between the left arm and the left hand, while the waist, left leg, and left foot retain their fusion sense.

This phenomenon reveals that body martial souls can indeed undergo fusion, but continuity is essential; if any part in the fusion chain is interrupted, the sense of fusion fades.

Additionally, fusion between soul power is notably easier for body martial soul users than for weapon or beast soul users. The soul power of body martial soul users is exceptionally stable, rarely influenced by the attributes of soul rings in most cases.

For those with similar beast or weapon martial souls, their soul power often resists fusion due to the attributes gained from their soul rings. Even within the same clan, soul masters with martial souls derived from the same soul beast series still face differences in fusion potential due to varying soul beast cultivation levels, which impart either strong or weak attribute effects on the martial soul when absorbing a soul ring.

Body martial souls, however, lack these disadvantages or at least reduce them to a negligible degree. Their soul rings mainly provide soul skills, with most of the contained energy being absorbed and stored by the body martial soul itself for potential future awakenings.

This pure form of martial soul is, in many ways, even more pristine than elemental martial souls, as elemental martial souls also undergo changes upon absorbing soul rings.

This observation counters Tang San's prior theory about body martial souls: that they originated as a primal, human martial soul form, solidified into bodily organs. According to this theory, body martial souls and other martial souls should theoretically have no fundamental differences and should likewise be affected by external soul ring elements, attributes, and bloodlines.

In reality, body martial souls refine and store energy from soul rings, preparing for multiple future awakenings without changing appearance like the Blue Silver Emperor. Its predecessor, the Blue Silver King, appeared as common blue silver grass before revealing its true form upon evolving. When it transforms into the Blue Silver Emperor, it undergoes what could be considered a second awakening—returning to its true form.

Body martial souls likely operate on a similar principle.

Tang San was pleased with these insights.

After all, theories are meant to be overturned!

Furthermore, body martial souls appear more intrinsically pure, maintaining their form without external alterations from soul ring boosts—unlike the Blue Silver Grass, which evolved visibly under soul ring influence.

This purity intrigued Tang San—

What kind of being was the original "human," who could resist the powerful bloodline influences within soul beast soul rings? Tang San was certain this traceable origin predates even the era of the Golden Civilization.

The so-called Dragon God might have been nothing more than an overgrown lizard in the eyes of that primordial "human."

"Could you give me a break and not refer to the Dragon God as a lizard?" Gu Yuena rolled her eyes. Her feelings about the Dragon God were complex, after all. If he hadn't caused chaos, he wouldn't have been split in two... then again, without that split, she wouldn't exist as the Silver Dragon King.

Perhaps emotional growth is far more critical than cultivation progress...

(End of Chapter)