"Xiao Lin, do you know why fossil soul bones are even possible?"
Suddenly, within the consciousness space, the Ice Dragon King asked.
Hearing the Ice Dragon King's question, Xiao Lin immediately fell into deep thought.
The Ice Dragon King wouldn't be asking about reasons Xiao Lin already knew—such as geological pressure during fossilization compressing soul power and the like.
So he must be asking about something else.
Before long, inspiration struck Xiao Lin, and he guessed part of the answer.
"Is it because the soul beast's corpse still retains residual soul power? Or even vitality, spiritual power, and a soul?"
"Correct. You're already very close to the answer."
"It's the residual soul and vitality of the soul beast."
The Ice Dragon King nodded. Xiao Lin's mind really was quick.
"Compared to the consciousness within soul rings and soul bones, a soul beast's residual soul is much weaker—but it still exists. And because of these residual souls, when you humans eat soul beast meat, it can actually pose a mortal danger."
So this was the reason no one on the Douluo Continent spread the practice of eating soul beast meat. Xiao Lin's eyes lit up.
No wonder… Yet both he and Little San had eaten soul beast meat before.
The meat of the Mighty Vajra Bull was delicious, and they hadn't encountered any danger.
Aside from their bodies being strong enough and having cultivation techniques to help absorb it, could it be that his Coiling Dragon Staff had absorbed the Mighty Vajra Bull's entire soul?
As for the Three-Eyed Salamander, they had only eaten a few tail segments.
But since residual soul beast souls were this dangerous, could they be used instead?
Xiao Lin's thoughts raced. While he was thinking wildly, the Ice Dragon King continued.
"Actually, if you could let that residual soul autonomously refine soul power and then condense a soul core, you wouldn't need our help at all."
As the Ice Dragon King said this, Xiao Lin suddenly saw the light.
But the problem was that figuring out how to accomplish that might take him a very long time.
It might be better to let the two Dragon Kings handle it.
"Eh? Do you think it's possible to let this soul beast's residual soul increase the age of a soul ring—or even the age of a soul bone?"
Xiao Lin's thoughts abruptly jumped to another direction.
Other soul beasts might not work, but soul beasts of the same species—or simply the residual soul of the very soul beast that had been hunted—should theoretically be capable, right?
"Xiao Lin, you killed it, and now you still want it to strengthen your soul ring and soul bone ages for you?"
At this moment, the Fire Dragon King rolled his eyes and said speechlessly.
"Rather than having the soul beast's residual soul help you strengthen your soul ring, it'd be better for you to absorb the power of the residual soul yourself and level up."
The Fire Dragon King's words did wake Xiao Lin up—but Xiao Lin had no intention of doing that.
That was because doing so felt no different from what evil soul masters did, and his Coiling Dragon Staff had already preserved the consciousness of all the soul beasts.
Xiao Lin now suspected that the Coiling Dragon Staff existed precisely to help him strengthen his soul rings in the future.
He hadn't expected the Coiling Dragon Staff to be this intelligent.
Even though Xiao Lin didn't plan to do it himself, he still chose to record this ability of residual souls to strengthen soul rings.
If he didn't do it, future soul masters would definitely think of it and carry out evil research.
If he could extract a perfect method from the two Dragon Kings, wouldn't that reduce the need for such evil research?
Wait—
Something felt off. Why did this feel like the same thing as the future Body Sect's second awakening of martial souls?
Xiao Lin didn't know the exact process of the Body Sect's second awakening, but he knew it seemed to increase the age of soul rings.
According to Xiao Lin's previous theories, the method to increase the age of soul rings and soul bones was high-quality soul power.
Other methods all ultimately led back to that principle.
But if the Body Sect used residual soul beast souls… was that even possible?
The Body Sect shouldn't have access to high-quality soul power. So either they used methods similar to evil soul masters, or they used residual soul beast souls?
Or perhaps… the soul power left behind by generations of Body Sect experts?
The last possibility seemed the most reliable.
Predecessors leaving behind vast amounts of soul power before death, storing it in some object capable of containing soul power, then using that object to perform a second awakening of martial souls for future generations.
If that were the case, it would indeed be possible.
That object was most likely something like a soul bone, and the principle probably relied on the special nature of body-type martial souls.
Even if they were body-type martial souls of different organs, they ultimately belonged to the human body. Compared to soul beasts, body-type martial soul power would be more compatible with soul masters.
Even if there were differences between organs, they could be refined and improved over generations by Body Sect experts.
Thus, different tiers of second awakenings would emerge.
Xiao Lin felt as though he had uncovered a major secret, and he recorded this as well.
Unfortunately, Xiao Lin didn't possess a body-type martial soul, nor did he have a Body Sect expert to pass on soul power for a second awakening.
But he did have Tang San.
Didn't Tang San have the second awakening of the Blue Silver Emperor?
Once Tang San returned, he would definitely ask him in detail about the sensation of a martial soul's second awakening.
Perhaps, in the future, even his Coiling Dragon Staff could undergo a second awakening.
Moreover, since the Body Sect's second awakening likely relied on power of the same origin, perhaps his soul rings could work the same way.
Hadn't the two Dragon Kings said as much?
Ice and fire attributes, draconic qi awakening—both soul rings and soul bones could be strengthened.
As for Xiao Lin's other soul rings—the Mighty Vajra Bull, Thunder Shadow Leopard, Blazing Vajra, Comet Snow Wolf…
Forget it. The more Xiao Lin thought about it, the more difficult it seemed.
These soul rings would be extremely hard to find same-origin power for a second awakening.
He might as well honestly fleece the gods instead.
Still, the two Dragon Kings had reminded Xiao Lin of one thing: the corpses of soul beasts were also a usable resource.
If he became a god in the future, he could have his believers place soul beast corpses in his inheritance land.
Then, using the power of the corpses and residual souls, he could help his followers self-condense soul rings.
That would be an efficient use of soul beasts.
At the very least, it would slow down the rate at which soul beasts went extinct.
As expected, I really am a good person—actually thinking about those who come after. A trace of pride flashed across Xiao Lin's face.
According to the five levels of human needs, he should have reached the highest level already, right?
However, there was still one thing that Xiao Lin cared about deeply.
That was the second awakening of martial souls.
Tang San could use the Blue Silver King to achieve a second awakening—so why couldn't Xiao Lin use the two Dragon Kings to help him awaken again?
Xiao Lin threw his question to the two Dragon Kings, but they had never done such a thing either and could only admit their inability.
Moreover, in their eyes, the Coiling Dragon Staff already qualified as a divine artifact. They were simply powerless.
Wasn't Qian Renxue's god-level martial soul also just that of a six-year-old Great Soul Master?
Xiao Lin was six years old too.
"Perhaps I can help."
At this moment, within the consciousness space, the lowest-ranking of them all—the Thunder Emperor Dragon—spoke up.
His words stunned both Xiao Lin and the two Dragon Kings. Could Lei Lei actually do something like this?
"I might not be able to achieve a second awakening, but I can make the Coiling Dragon Staff a bit stronger—for example, by letting it fuse with a dragon soul."
As soon as Lei Lei said this, Xiao Lin immediately thought of martial souls like the Panlong Staff.
"So, Lei Lei, are you planning to become the dragon soul of my Coiling Dragon Staff?"
Xiao Lin immediately asked in return.
"No! I'm going to become a god. Didn't you all say we're going to look for fossil soul bones? Then why not absorb the residual soul inside the fossil soul bone instead?"
Lei Lei's face darkened, but he still explained his idea.
(End of Chapter)