In the year 1096 of the Douluo Calendar, Qian Renxue was six years old, and Bibi Dong was twenty-six years old.
The relationship between mother and daughter, which was already extremely bizarre, became even more peculiar with the involvement of a little black-haired girl.
Qian Renxue knew that her mother actually loved her, but for some unknown reason, her mother deeply detested her father and her grandfather. She was merely caught in the crossfire, yet she still very much enjoyed staying by her mother's side.
Bibi Dong, on the other hand, no longer detested Qian Renxue as she used to. She allowed the girl to appear within her personal space and would even guide her in her cultivation.
Qian Daoliu watched all of this unfold. As an old monster who had lived for countless years, he naturally knew that the reason for the softening of the relationship between the two lay in that mysterious little girl whose depth could not be seen.
However, he did not say anything. He merely took a chance encounter to meet with her alone, and the two conversed for a full day and night.
Qian Daoliu learned of Wan Ye's origins as well as the cause and effect of the entire matter. He also roughly guessed the deal between Bibi Dong and Hei Loulan, but he chose to face it with silence, effectively giving his tacit approval.
Subsequently, he began to distance the relationship between Qian Xunji and Qian Renxue. Qian Xunji also seemed to have guessed his future end, calmly accepting all of this--accepting that his father had abandoned him.
Meanwhile, Hei Loulan obtained the top-tier Martial Soul traditions of this era. She began to explore a path that did not rely on spiritual energy, soul cores, or even the enhancement of soul rings--a path to break through to Titled Douluo that was theoretically impossible.
A path called the Martial Soul Avatar Armor.
This set of Martial Soul Avatar Armor required the accumulation of six soul rings to form a prototype. After the seventh soul ring was activated, it would manifest as a physical armor. Its quality was determined by the seventh soul ring, and it could fully awaken upon reaching the Titled Douluo level.
Without any Soul Bone in the entire body, using this move before surpassing the Soul Saint realm would only make one weaker and weaker. Utilizing one's own soul power would only form an incomplete armor of soul power. This not only depleted one's soul power reserves and caused soul power cultivation to decline, but the lack of sufficient soul power and strength would also result in the condensed armor being incredibly fragile.
Therefore, cultivating this method without reaching the Soul Saint level and without possessing Soul Bone brought more harm than good.
The absolute key to this method lay in fusing Soul Bone first, using the method of 'nourishing bone with bone' to feed the soul master's own bones with the bones of Soul Beast. This formed a unique Martial Soul Bone Armor Avatar, which transcended one's own Martial Soul and served as a weapon derived from the extension of the Martial Soul.
This allowed the soul rings to not only provide soul skill for the soul master but also provide nourishment for the Soul Bone. Correspondingly, the six soul rings were respectively responsible for the growth of the six Soul Bone of the head, torso, and four limbs.
Ultimately, these six Soul Bone would become a part of one's own Martial Soul. The seventh soul ring acted as the key to turn on the switch, responsible for fully activating the Soul Bone, thereby manifesting the fundamental, externalized form of the soul master--the Martial Soul Bone Armor Avatar.
Later, upon reaching Rank 80, one needed to achieve the stage of Imprinting into the Bone.
Reaching the Titled Douluo level would bring the Final Awakening.
The Jade Phosphor Poison Armor of the Poison Douluo (consisting of two Soul Bone: a skull bone and a right arm bone) was an armor derived from walking this path.
This method held the possibility of ascending to godhood. Upon reaching the ninety-ninth rank of the Moon-Chasing Realm, a Limit Douluo could unlock the interior of their body and 'draw divinity into the body,' reaching a level where a mortal could battle a god.
However, one had to note: "If one lacks the favor of a god yet covets divine power, this path is often a quest for one's own death."
The effects of this set of armor were also extremely remarkable. It could multiply your combat strength several times over, causing your offensive and defensive attributes to skyrocket. Using it at the Titled Douluo level would even grant inherent domain skills, assisting you in breaking through the limits of soul power ranks.
These were the two unique paths of Martial Soul cultivation: the Avatar Armor and the Martial Soul Avatar Bone Armor.
"This method is much stronger than some Four-Word Battle Armor." When Hei Loulan obtained this cultivation method, her eyes practically shone with light. This was just like the armor of Saint Seiya--cool and stylish.
Beast Martial Souls could better express the charm of a beast, while Tool Martial Souls compensated for the weakness of overall low defense while making the user look much handsomer.
Being strong might just be a temporary phase, but looking cool was a lifetime matter.
Hei Loulan and Qian Renxue had already successfully taken over Bibi Dong's bedchamber, completely treating this place as their own home. At this moment, both of them were lying on Bibi Dong's large bed, discussing the profound mysteries of Martial Souls.
"But this method requires Soul Bone, doesn't it? A full set of six high-quality Soul Bone combined together is needed to rival a Four-Word Battle Armor." Hei Loulan rested her chin in her hands, pondering the future developmental potential of this Martial Soul Avatar Armor.
"Moreover, this thing seems to be the prototype of a divine attire! Although its combat power is a bit underwhelming, you have to admit that this is the proper path to achieving godhood."
Regrettably, during the era of the first Douluo generation, cultivation lacked a system. Humans were fundamentally unable to defeat Soul Beast, and soul masters were pitifully few in number.
Those with above-average talent had to cultivate for thirty to forty years just to reach the seven-ring level. To gather all of this, every single one of them had to be an exceptionally gifted genius.
"A completed six-piece Soul Bone Avatar Armor contains divine enhancements within it, and this is a path of cultivation specifically prepared for those destined for godhood." Sitting beside them, Bibi Dong was currently reading the "Self-Martial Soul Fusion Skills" passed down by Hei Loulan, occasionally asking this little teacher questions about Martial Soul theory.
"How about it? The future's Martial Soul theory is incredibly powerful, isn't it? Isn't this much stronger than that first-love grandmaster's 'Ten Core Competencies of Martial Souls'? How could you possibly fall for an idiot like that?" Looking at this diligent and studious genius of Martial Soul theory, Hei Loulan truly found it hard to comprehend how she could have taken a liking to Yu Xiaogang.
"Even I can directly point out five mistakes. First, that Clear Sky Sect Martial Soul is praised as being so powerful, yet not all of their members possess full innate soul power. Second, the theory discarding trash Martial Souls--I believe it was he himself who dragged down the evolution of that little dragon, Luo Sanbao..."
"Is that person Mother's first love?" Qian Renxue, who was lying to one side studying, immediately turned around to ask the moment she heard something about her mother.
"That's right, that's right. He's a piece of trash who trifles with feelings, a scumbag. When I have time, I'll take you to see him."
"Alright, I'll go finish him off!!"
"Don't do that. If you just kill him directly, he'll only feel that heaven is unfair. We need to slowly play him to death for it to feel right."
Bibi Dong turned her head to look at the two little ones discussing how they planned to play Yu Xiaogang to death, feeling somewhat speechless for a moment. To say how much love she still possessed, for the current her, it really wasn't that deep anymore. It was more that during the days she had been imprisoned back then, she had placed too many illusions upon him.
Now that the influence of the Rakshasa Divine Seat was blocked, looking at all of this rationally, she didn't love him all that much instead.
"However, Bibi Dong, I feel that once your cultivation reaches grand mastery, you can go ahead and search Yu Xiaogang's soul. There should be unexpected results, you know," Hei Loulan said.
"What is considered grand mastery?" Bibi Dong asked with a slightly dark expression.
"Awakening your own Natal Divine Ability! That small halo integrated before has already altered your rules independently. You can begin practicing mystic methods now!"
After so much time spent researching, Hei Loulan had already discovered that a marvelous substance like Law power could actually increase the age of soul rings...