Douluo: Starting with a self-created soul ring

**Chapter 3: Create Your Own Soul Ring**

So, Gu Ziyi plans to try to create his own Soul Ring.

Because he understands that what suits him is the best.

What kind of Soul Ring is more suitable for oneself than one that is self-condensed?

Of course, Gu Ziyi also thought of some other, more extreme methods.

For example, blowing up his own Martial Soul. Since Soul Power cultivation is limited by the Martial Soul, it might be better to simply destroy the Martial Soul.

However, Gu Ziyi only dared to think about it and didn't risk actually trying it.

After all, cultivating Soul Power requires absorbing energy from between heaven and earth through the Martial Soul.

By blowing up his Martial Soul, perhaps he really wouldn't be limited by the Martial Soul anymore. Like in other cultivation systems from various stories, where one could directly absorb energy to achieve cultivation.

But Gu Ziyi still didn't dare to try, because if it failed, he would become a cripple in this world.

Moreover, destroying one's Martial Soul is also a tricky issue.

If that didn't work, he could try blowing up the Soul Ring instead.

Gu Ziyi had read "Douluo Begins with Blowing Up the Soul Ring." 

(Note: This is an older work by the original author of this story. If you want, I can bring it for translation too.)

Of course, Su Xing blew up the Soul Ring so that his soul abilities wouldn't be limited by the Soul Ring.

If the Soul Ring was created by oneself, then this problem wouldn't exist.

So, Gu Ziyi still thought it would be better to try to create his own Soul Ring, rather than risking so much with other ideas.

As for how to create his own Soul Ring, Gu Ziyi already had an idea of how to proceed.

For this reason, Gu Ziyi asked all the teachers at the school, as well as two seniors who had already graduated and were currently at the school, about how they surpassed Level 10 and absorbed Soul Rings. He had prepared himself thoroughly over the five years he spent cultivating.

Gu Ziyi primarily asked them about the detailed process of absorbing Soul Rings from Soul Beasts.

The school doesn't teach anything about this.

Absorbing Soul Rings is simply about finding a Soul Beast that matches you best, hunting it, and then directly absorbing the ring.

As for the specifics of the absorption process, there's nothing.

Perhaps that's why this doesn't seem to matter to the people of the Douluo Continent. After all, they just need to hunt Soul Beasts and absorb the rings.

Most of the teachers and students that Gu Ziyi asked couldn't explain the feeling in words.

"Just absorb the Soul Beast's Soul Ring, and you'll be fine!"

"The detailed process? I can't really remember…"

"It means absorbing the Soul Beast's Soul Ring for myself and refining it. Once the refinement is done, that ring becomes my first Soul Ring!"

"More details? The Soul Ring absorbed into the body is first absorbed by my Martial Soul, and then begins to be refined…"

"…."

After combining everyone's memories and multiple confirmations, Gu Ziyi learned the truth about Soul Ring absorption.

Soul Masters hunt Soul Beasts and absorb the Soul Rings produced after the Soul Beasts die. They are not directly condensed within the Soul Master.

Instead, after being absorbed by the Soul Master's body, the Soul Ring is first absorbed by the Martial Soul within the Soul Master's body. Then, over time, the Soul Master refines it (continuously), and it eventually turns into the Soul Master's own Soul Ring.

Looking at the essence behind the phenomenon, the final formation of the Soul Master's Soul Ring is completed through their own Martial Soul.

As to whether the Soul Ring that the Soul Master finally condenses is that of the Soul Beast or something that the Martial Soul itself condenses, Gu Ziyi was full of doubts.

All the Soul Masters said it came from the Soul Beast.

But Gu Ziyi thought otherwise. He believed it was just a Soul Ring that had been absorbed and refined by the Soul Master's Martial Soul, then combined with the characteristics of the Soul Beast's Soul Ring (from which the ring originated) to be reshaped into a Soul Ring that the Soul Master could use.

The performance of many soul abilities is proof of this.

Except for some Soul Masters with special Martial Souls, where the soul abilities condensed are fixed, regardless of the Soul Beast they absorb. The soul abilities condensed by other Soul Masters are fused with the characteristics of their own Martial Souls and Soul Beasts.

The Soul Ring within the Soul Master's body is either the Soul Ring of the Soul Beast they hunted or the Soul Ring they reabsorbed and condensed after absorbing the Soul Beast's Soul Ring. Soul Masters here don't seem to care about this matter, but Gu Ziyi cares greatly about it.

Because this is the key point for Gu Ziyi as he prepares to create his own Soul Ring.

If the Soul Beast's Soul Ring is considered energy, it's simply injecting energy into the Martial Soul, causing it to transform and condense into the Soul Master's own Soul Ring.

Then, instead of using the Soul Beast's Soul Ring, what if the Soul Master injected Soul Power into the Martial Soul?

Would it be possible to condense a Soul Ring belonging to the Soul Master himself?

Gu Ziyi wasn't sure either. This was just a hypothesis without a complex experimental basis.

Because if that were the case, wouldn't it be something simple?

Then, shouldn't the Soul Masters here have discovered this long ago?

However, even if this is the truth behind Soul Ring formation, Gu Ziyi wouldn't be surprised that no one has discovered it.

The Soul Masters here couldn't figure this out because they were limited by their own past thinking, with no innovation for a long time.

It is believed that the Soul Rings needed by Soul Masters must be hunted from Soul Beasts.

No one has ever broken the rules and thought that the Soul Masters could actually condense their own Soul Rings.

This is something that others don't dare to think, but it's not a big deal for Gu Ziyi. As a person from the modern world, he's been bombarded with so much information that there's nothing he can't imagine.

"Sigh—"

"Let's begin!"

Gu Ziyi took a deep breath, closed his eyes, calmed his mind, took another deep breath, and focused.

He was calm, and soon sensed the presence of his own Martial Soul.

Then, Gu Ziyi controlled the Soul Power in his body and began to inject it into his own Martial Soul.

*Buzz—*

Gu Ziyi's Soul Power was easily injected into the Martial Soul under his control.

In his consciousness, he saw his Martial Soul—a talisman—tremble slightly, then begin to emit a faint glow as the Soul Power flowed.

Everything went smoothly so far.

However, after Gu Ziyi poured all his Soul Power into the Martial Soul, no further changes occurred, except that the glow emitted by the Martial Soul became slightly brighter than before.

And Gu Ziyi no longer had any extra Soul Power to continue injecting.

"…Failure!"

Gu Ziyi opened his eyes and sighed in disappointment.

When he stopped the process (due to exhaustion) and no longer continued to inject Soul Power into the Martial Soul, the Soul Power that had been in the Martial Soul naturally flowed back into Gu Ziyi's body.

Then, Gu Ziyi tried several more times, but without exception, all attempts failed.

His Martial Soul did not give rise to a Soul Ring.

"Is my hypothesis wrong, or is it for some other reason?"

Gu Ziyi frowned, wondering where he might have gone wrong or if he had overlooked any steps.

"Not enough energy?"

If the Soul Beast's Soul Ring is really considered a source of energy, then perhaps there wasn't enough of it.

This was the only reason Gu Ziyi could think of.

"Then I'll continue practicing for a while, and try again!"

Gu Ziyi gritted his teeth and decided to keep trying.

For this reason, he preferred to add a Soul Ring to his Martial Soul later. After all, even if he asked the academy to help hunt a Soul Ring, it would likely only be a ten-year white-quality Soul Ring.

Unless you're extremely lucky, the academy doesn't have the resources to help all students find a suitable hundred-year Soul Ring.

Even Xiao Chenyu, the son of the Nouding City Lord from the original work, only had a ten-year white-quality Soul Ring as his first Soul Ring.

Even Su Yuntao, the Examiner who joined the Martial Soul Hall, had his first Soul Ring as white.

It's clear from the story that it's not easy for small places to support powerful people.

Moreover, after reaching Level 10, even if you don't absorb a Soul Ring to advance, you can still continue to cultivate and increase Soul Power, but you won't be able to level up.

So, even if Gu Ziyi fails to create his own Soul Ring in the end, he won't be too affected by this decision.

"I don't believe it's really impossible!"

…

(End of chapter)

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