Chapter 15: The Fusion Technique of Three Martial Souls, the Nine-Tailed Charm Demon!
Bibi Dong originally wanted Hu Bai to demonstrate his newly acquired abilities, but then she remembered that they still needed to help Hu Liena acquire her first soul ring. There would be an opportunity to observe the process later. So, she said, "Since you've already absorbed your second soul ring, let's go help Hu Liena obtain her first one now."
The maximum soul ring Hu Liena could withstand was around eight hundred years, similar to Hu Bai, which was two hundred years more than Xie Yue. After all, Xie Yue was one year older than them and had absorbed one less year of whale rubber.
Ever since learning that whale rubber could enhance a Soul Master's physique, Spirit Hall had been secretly acquiring it. Because they didn't want other forces to discover this anomaly, Spirit Hall's acquisition speed was very slow.
Currently, Spirit Hall has a considerable stock of century-old and thousand-year-old whale rubber, but ten-thousand-year-old varieties were scarce, with only a few small pieces.
Whale rubber comes from whale-type Sea Soul Beasts in the ocean, and for land Soul Masters, hunting Sea Soul Beasts is much more difficult than hunting land creatures.
Sea Soul Beasts of the same cultivation level are generally more powerful than land Soul Beasts.
A whale-type Soul Beast that has just reached ten thousand years would probably require several Soul Saints or even Soul Douluo-level powerhouses to kill. Therefore, ten-thousand-year-old whale rubber is extremely expensive—even if only used for virility!
"Teacher, can you give me a few minutes? I want to bury this Light Unicorn first," Hu Bai requested, pointing to the deep pit beside him.
Bibi Dong and the others only then noticed it. Qian Renxue asked, somewhat puzzled, "Xiao Bai, why is that?"
According to her knowledge and understanding since childhood, it was only natural for Soul Masters to hunt Soul Beasts. From birth, they were destined to be enemies.
Hu Bai controlled the earth element, causing the ground where the Light Unicorn lay to undulate and move toward the deep pit. Then he said, "I know that we Soul Masters are naturally opposed to Soul Beasts. To improve, we need to acquire soul rings. This is the choice of this world, and we cannot change it."
"But I've been thinking about a question recently: why is it that almost all of our Soul Masters' Martial Souls, except for Weapon Martial Souls, can find corresponding Soul Beasts on the continent? Why is this? Perhaps... our human race, before ancient times, was also a type of Soul Beast? It's just that, for some reason, we underwent mutation and evolution..."
Before acquiring a soul ring, I can ruthlessly kill them. But after the battle, I hope they at least have a place to be buried."
(T/N: One of Tang Jia San Shao's early settings in Douluo Dalu 3, not something the author made up, is the 'Otherworld DEW Evolution Theory.')
Hu Bai felt that his actions were somewhat contradictory. Was he sympathetic and pitying these Soul Beasts? It didn't seem like it.
And Hu Bai's theory shocked everyone present: Soul Masters evolved from Soul Beasts?
It was the first time they heard such a novel theory, and it came from the mouth of a six-year-old child!
Bibi Dong looked at Hu Bai's figure in his white robe and, for the first time, felt that this little fellow was quite interesting.
Although she didn't know if this theory was true, Spirit Hall could certainly research it.
Spirit Hall had a dedicated research and collection department for Martial Soul theories, and they might be very interested in this idea.
After burying the Light Unicorn's body, Hu Liena finally asked her doubt aloud: "Brother, I want to test whether we have a Martial Soul Fusion Skill compatibility. When your Martial Soul awakened, I seemed to feel something. Did you feel it too?"
"Oh, right, I've already tried with Big Brother. Both of us—like Mom and Dad—can fuse into a Charm Demon," Hu Liena said.
Prompted by her words, Hu Bai suddenly remembered something and immediately took Hu Liena's soft, boneless hand in his own. "I'll inject some soul power into you, and let's feel it together."
Xie Tian, Hu Leyao, and the others also held their breath. If Hu Bai and Hu Liena also possessed a Martial Soul Fusion Skill, then their family would have two such skills?
However, after their soul powers fused, they could indeed feel a resonance of each other's Martial Souls, but it wasn't enough. Hu Liena looked puzzled: "We're compatible, so why can't the two of us fuse?"
Hu Bai was equally confused. At this moment, Xie Yue spoke up: "Why don't the three of us try together? I should also have compatibility with both of you."
As soon as Xie Yue said this, everyone present widened their eyes—shock evident on their faces!
Xie Tian frowned. "Yue'er, are you sure you're not joking? If it succeeds, that would be a three-person Martial Soul Fusion Skill! Besides the Golden Iron Triangle, there's no record of a three-person fusion."
Hearing Xie Tian mention the Golden Iron Triangle, Bibi Dong's brows furrowed involuntarily. The murderous intent in her heart almost surged uncontrollably. But then, she immediately heard Hu Bai's magnetic voice, and that nameless anger vanished instantly. Even she was shocked—was her emotion purified?
"Dad, let Big Brother try with us? What if it succeeds?"
Hu Bai also suppressed the excitement and anticipation in his heart. This could be a three-person Martial Soul Fusion Skill!
As for the Golden Iron Triangle's Soul Skill—where the three of them fused into a Golden Holy Dragon—he wouldn't comment whether it counted as a three-person Martial Soul Fusion.
Well, he never considered that a true three-person Martial Soul Fusion, anyway. Luo Sanpao was originally a Golden Holy Dragon cub. It was just that Yu Xiaogang didn't know how to cultivate it; Liu Erlong provided the evolving dragon body, and Flender supplied ample soul power.
He could only think that way; otherwise, what other use could Flender have?
After Xie Yue took Hu Liena's and Hu Bai's hands, the three of them's soul powers intertwined, and suddenly a dazzling light shot up from the center of their fusion!
They transformed into... a Charm Demon?
No—wait, it was the Charm Demon form. The original pitch-black armor had been replaced by silver-white, and below its back, nine snow-white fox tails grew.
Most importantly, these tails were solid!
Generally, when a Beast Soul attaches to a Soul Master, it grants some characteristics of the Beast Soul. But tails—being physical parts—are virtual unless the Soul Master has an external Soul Bone.
In the original work, Hu Liena had an external Soul Bone that made her tails materialize.
"Did it succeed?" Xie Tian was stunned, then immediately cheered, "You three are amazing! Should we give this three-person Martial Soul Fusion Skill a new name? Let's not call it the Charm Demon anymore."
And this silver-white figure spoke. The voice sounded more like Hu Bai's: "Dad, then let's call it the Nine-Tailed Charm Demon. How about that?"
End of Chapter