A few days later—by the time Xiao Lin and his group returned to the area near the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well—
Xiao Lin was still deep in discussion with Tang San about the possibilities of soul spirits.
Over the past few days of talking—
Xiao Wu was the first to lose interest.
Yes, she did want to revive her mother, but after several days of listening, she no longer held much hope.
Now, she just wanted to become a god—and see whether godhood itself might allow her to bring her mother back.
So lately, Xiao Wu had become unusually diligent.
Tang Ni, meanwhile, was the second to lose interest.
To her, all this talk about "soul spirits" only suggested that perhaps soul masters and soul beasts might get along slightly better in the future.
But beyond that, she didn't see much value in it.
In fact, the more she thought about it, the more she felt that turning soul beasts into "soul spirits" meant they'd be controlled by humans forever— which was even worse for beings who valued freedom above life itself.
And this still didn't fundamentally change the antagonistic relationship between soul masters and soul beasts.
To her, even the old concept of self-condensed soul rings had been more promising.
Of course, higher-level self-condensed rings were mostly a fantasy now—she only thought about it wistfully.
After so many days of talk, Tang Ni realized her only takeaway was:if she never got the chance to become a god in the future…
Maybe she could sacrifice herself to Xiao Lin, and hitch a ride on his ascension to godhood—becoming a god together with him?
But no—Tang Ni's pride would never allow such a thought to take root.
She would definitely reach godhood on her own!
At this moment, Xiao Lin and Tang San were still discussing how soul spirits could be formed.
Although Xiao Lin's Dragon Staff was uniquely capable of retaining beast consciousness, others didn't have such an artifact.
So Tang San believed soul spirits would require external assistance.
For example—his own experiment with the Yellow Soul Grass.
Ever since he planted its seeds near the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, the plant had begun to grow—and over the past few days, Tang San had noticed it evolving, showing signs of transforming into a Sacred Soul Grass.
It even seemed to carry dual attributes.
If properly cultivated, Tang San believed it could become a full-fledged immortal herb.
It was precisely because of this special herb that Tang San still held some faith in the possibility of creating soul spirits.
However, Xiao Lin believed that for a soul beast to truly become a soul spirit, it must willingly sacrifice itself.
A soul beast that was killed would have its spiritual power greatly weakened by its injuries—such a soul spirit would have almost no combat strength.
And getting a soul beast to willingly sacrifice itself? That was nearly impossible.
So, for now, Tang San had no way to contribute further to this line of research.
Only Xiao Lin continued pondering whether soul spirits could somehow appear early.
If not—then perhaps the better path was self-condensed soul rings.
If future generations of soul masters could replicate high-quality rings and condense their own, that would be far simpler than creating soul spirits.
"By the way, Brother Lin, here—take this back."
Suddenly, Tang San handed Xiao Lin the Windchaser Soul Bone.
Seeing Xiao Lin's puzzled expression, Tang San explained,
"Brother Lin, I can't carve a soul power array directly onto a soul bone. I've tried doing it on other minerals too—it works fine, but on bones, it's useless. So this one's better in your hands."
Though he hadn't made progress with soul bones, Tang San had gotten some new inspiration regarding soul tools.
He proudly pulled out a newly crafted weapon—similar to his Zhuge Divine Crossbow—and said with a grin,
"Look, Brother Lin, this is my new hidden weapon."
Xiao Lin took the weapon carefully and studied it.He quickly noticed that the projectiles were no longer bolts—but small, round metal balls, like bullets.
Tang San explained excitedly,"The inspiration came from your talk about soul cores and the 'soul power vortex.' I realized that rotation increases power—so I mimicked that in a hidden weapon. I carved rifling grooves inside the barrel of this Zhuge Crossbow."
"Now, when you pull the trigger, these metal balls are launched while spinning rapidly in the air—their power increases dramatically!"
"Hiss!"
Xiao Lin sucked in a sharp breath.
He stared at the device in disbelief—it was practically a pistol in form and function.
But since this world had soul power and energy arrays, he didn't bother asking the usual questions—like how it worked without gunpowder or whether it reduced range.
"It's… really quite impressive," Xiao Lin praised sincerely.
Hearing that, Tang San couldn't help but smile proudly.
But a second later, Xiao Lin added,
"Xiao San, have you considered putting gunpowder behind the metal ball?"
Tang San froze for a moment—then his mind started racing.
His eyes widened in realization as he stared at Xiao Lin in shock.
"Brother Lin, you mean to use gunpowder to boost the projectile's explosive force?"
Tang San's insight was extraordinary. He remembered that when he'd once made gunpowder, Xiao Lin had casually observed him doing it—and now, he realized that Xiao Lin had already thought of using it this way!
As expected of Brother Lin.
Tang San frowned slightly, though. "Using gunpowder would definitely increase power—but it would also damage the Zhuge Crossbow itself. The only advantage would be that it doesn't need soul power—ordinary people could use it. But the sound would be loud, so it couldn't be used as a stealth weapon."
"Then make it out of steel," Xiao Lin said calmly. "Just so happens—I know how to make a firearm."
"Steel would work… wait—Brother Lin, what's a 'firearm'? A gun of fire?"
A moment later, the two were completely absorbed in a new discussion—about guns.
Heaven Dou City, Blue Tyrant Academy
Inside the infirmary—
Dai Mubai lay on the bed, his body trembling in agony.
Ever since returning from the Soul Master Tournament, his surface injuries had been healed by Oscar's sausages—but certain parts of his body still throbbed faintly with pain.
And now, when he tried to meditate and absorb soul power, those same areas burned as though fire were roasting him alive.
The pain was unbearable—he couldn't focus at all.
Sweat poured from his face, his lips pale as he clenched his teeth hard.
He knew exactly what this was—It had to be the handiwork of that so-called Dou Zong expert.
"Damn that Dou Zong bastard… I'll kill you someday," he cursed inwardly, even as the pain broke his concentration again.
Just then—
"I've got a big sausage! I've got a caterpillar sausage! I've got a diamond sausage!"
"Oscar's voice cut through the room—"Boss Dai, quick! Eat my sausages!"
He handed over three sausages, each made from one of his spirit skills—One restored physical strength and healed injuries, another replenished soul power, and the third enhanced bodily resilience.
Together, they could at least restore Dai Mubai's condition slightly.
"Thanks…"
Dai Mubai managed a weak smile as he accepted them and swallowed all three.
A little color returned to his face, and he regained a bit of strength.
"How's Teacher Liu Erlong's diagnosis?" he asked hoarsely.
Oscar's expression darkened. "Teacher Liu Erlong said she's gone to check some ancient texts. She said the flame in your body is very high-level—if nothing helps, you'll just have to cool it with ice and endure it."
Hearing that, Dai Mubai's heart sank.
Even Liu Erlong—a powerful Fire-attribute Soul Douluo—couldn't help him. That meant he really could only grit his teeth and suffer through it.
As for why he didn't ask Yu Xiaogang—
Well, Yu Xiaogang had simply told him to "absorb a better soul ring."
But how could he do that now?
He could barely cultivate—how could he go out hunting for a high-level ring?
At this rate, how could he ever fight Da Weisi again?
Despair filled Dai Mubai's heart.
And with it came renewed hatred for Zhu Zhuqing.
If it weren't for her betrayal—he never would've gone looking for that expert in the first place…
(End of Chapter)