Douluo: I am the True Master

After about ten minutes, Ye Wen confirmed there were no lurking ambush predators nearby and turned to Ah Yin.

"Thanks, Ah Yin."

Ah Yin raised her hand and summoned her martial soul. Her first soul ring lit up, activating the same first soul skill as Tang San's—Entangle. Dozens of meters of Blue Silver Grass vines sprouted from her hands, lifting the fallen Qing Nang Beast into the air and slowly pulling it toward them.

Thoughtfully, Ah Yin wrapped the beast's head to prevent its blood from attracting any blood-sensitive spirit beasts.

Watching this, Ye Wen couldn't help but marvel at the power of a superior martial soul. The control range of her first soul skill was immense—ordinary soul masters wouldn't even get close before being bound tightly and left helpless on the ground.

But Ye Wen couldn't resist an internal critique.

"Yu Xiaogang's theory is truly misleading. If Tang San had honestly absorbed plant-type spirit beasts to enhance his Blue Silver Grass, wouldn't that have been far more useful than absorbing that so-called 'limit soul ring' from the Mandrake Snake? 

The snake venom only mattered in the early stages, and afterward, it disappeared entirely. As the core development focus for early cultivation and the most energy-efficient soul skill, it was completely ruined by Yu Xiaogang's garbage theory.

First soul skill: Binding.

Second soul skill: still binding, with maybe a slight element of surprise.

Third soul skill: Tang San somehow obtained Spider Web Restraint, but any soul master with decent reflexes could dodge it.

And as for the thousand-year fourth soul skill, Blue Silver Prison Cage? Pfft, it only worked against fragile opponents. Later, after awakening his Blue Silver Emperor lineage, those skills were basically shelved.

But Tang San's combat core was never his two martial souls—it was the self-created soul skills he learned and the stolen Xuantian Treasure Record. Eventually, he even abandoned the Clear Sky Hammer to play around with the Sea God's Trident. It's utterly frustrating to watch two top-tier martial souls be reduced to useless waste, only occasionally brought out for show.

If I had the Blue Silver Emperor martial soul, forget everything else—I could easily create a whip technique. A supersonic whip? Just imagine how terrifying that would be. Even gods wouldn't escape unscathed.

Examining the Qing Nang Beast dragged over by Ah Yin, Ye Wen carefully inspected it and found four evenly spaced segments on its horns. This meant the beast had exactly 400 years of cultivation, just below the 423-year threshold of Yu Xiaogang's "limit soul ring absorption theory."

Ye Wen inwardly sighed at his good fortune. He was about to ask Ah Yin to keep watch while he began absorbing the soul ring when she hesitantly asked,

"Brother, do you really have to absorb the soul ring of such a useless spirit beast like the Qing Nang Beast? I can't think of what kind of useful soul skill it could give you.

And didn't you teach me that the first soul skill determines a soul master's future development path? Shouldn't we look for another spirit beast?"

At this question, Ye Wen paused momentarily. If anyone else had asked, he might not have answered, but this was his sister who spent every day with him.

To ease Ah Yin's concerns, Ye Wen explained:

"Ah Yin, while it may seem to you that the Qing Nang Beast is nothing more than a fleeing spirit beast with no special abilities beyond regurgitating Blue Silver Grass to save its life, it's not that simple in my eyes.

Every spirit beast species that has survived must have its unique traits. My martial soul doesn't align with the path of a strong offensive-type soul master, so I'm focusing on other aspects.

From my research, the Qing Nang Beast's regurgitation ability isn't as straightforward as it appears. While it consumes ordinary Blue Silver Grass, the regurgitated material gains the ability to confuse other spirit beasts. This effect isn't due to some hallucinogen—it's because the Qing Nang Beast amplifies the vitality of the grass, causing other spirit beasts' instincts to focus on these highly vital regurgitated objects, which are essentially counterfeit spirit herbs. This indirectly suggests that the Qing Nang Beast's stomach possesses life-enhancing capabilities.

And that's precisely what I need.

As you know, my martial soul, Black Cloth, is a space-attribute weapon-type soul capable of storing inanimate objects. But you're unaware that on this continent, there are storage-type soul tools that can hold living beings. My goal with this first soul ring is to use the Qing Nang Beast's life-enhancing abilities to grant my martial soul the capacity to store living creatures."

"I see. Brother, you're so knowledgeable. Hurry up and absorb it—I'm curious to see your martial soul evolve!"

Ye Wen didn't say anything further. He summoned his massive one-meter-square Black Cloth and held it in his hand, using his willpower to guide the yellow soul ring toward his martial soul.

In an instant, the soul ring enveloped his martial soul. Ye Wen felt a surge of warmth flow from the soul ring into his body. Every cell in his body seemed to rejoice, as if something foreign was integrating into him.

"So this is what it feels like to absorb a soul ring. This energy resembles soul power, but there's a subtle difference—it seems to contain something else. I can't fully analyze it yet.

However, I now understand the principle of soul ring absorption. The energy within the soul ring merges into the body, but this energy operates independently, flowing spontaneously. If the soul master's body can handle it, the energy integrates; otherwise, the body collapses and dies. It's like stretching a rubber band—within a certain threshold, it won't snap, but exceeding that limit results in catastrophic failure.

Ignoring the mental shock of ten-thousand-year soul rings, as long as a soul master's physical condition is sufficient, they can theoretically absorb soul rings from spirit beasts up to 9,000 years old within the four-rank limit.

Before coming here, I tested my physical limits: my maximum weightlifting capacity is 600 jin, and my speed reaches 100 meters in five seconds. However, these metrics aren't definitive references.

{T/N: 1 jin = 500g = 0.5kg = 1.10lbs}

If a Soul Douluo-level expert were nearby to apply soul power pressure on me, we might develop a better theory for soul ring absorption.

For now, absorbing this 400-year soul ring is effortless. I'd only feel pain if the energy exceeded my current capacity by half. Based on this, I estimate I could absorb a 600-year soul ring without issue. It feels like a bit of a loss.

Of course, normal soul masters don't rely solely on physical strength to absorb soul rings. But right now, channeling soul power doesn't seem to help much—perhaps because the soul ring's age is too low?

There's still insufficient reference data, but physical limits do provide some insight into soul ring absorption."

After a while, Ye Wen slowly opened his eyes.

"First soul skill: Realm of Life. This alters the fundamental spatial properties of my martial soul, allowing it to accommodate living beings. However, if the internal space is attacked, the martial soul will instinctively expel any living creatures inside. If the destructive force exceeds a certain threshold, the soul space will shatter, and I'll suffer severe damage. Clearly, this ability requires careful use in the future.

Additionally, this soul skill is tied to my martial soul's innate talent. Currently, maintaining it consumes 5% of my soul power per day. The living storage space created by the soul skill can be adjusted in size to reduce soul power consumption. Furthermore, my martial soul has been strengthened through the absorption of the soul ring—its inherent storage capacity has expanded to three cubic meters." Ye Wen said with delight.

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**(Author's Note: Since I aim to become a theoretical master, and the original work leaves this boundary vague, I've adopted the approximation that a ten-year-old spirit beast equates to a physical endurance of ten jin. Physical fitness is a comprehensive metric, and it's difficult to define precisely. To avoid fatal mistakes, erring on the side of caution is best.

Absorbing a ten-thousand-year soul ring would require the strength to lift 50 tons—the equivalent of a main battle tank or half the weight of a commercial airplane. Though this sounds exaggerated, remember, this is a fantasy world. Still, the trope of a god failing to destroy a city wall is admittedly absurd.)**

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