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Half an hour had passed.
Even with Ye Wen's extraordinary physical condition, he still felt a wave of exhaustion.
Using his soul power to sense again, he confirmed that all of Ah Ba's internal injuries had been forcibly stitched together.
Next, Ye Wen administered a diluted essence of the Qi Rong Tong Tian Ju herb for Ah Ba to drink. The damage to his internal organs began to heal rapidly, and the stitched wounds also accelerated in recovery.
{T/N: Chrysanthemum Douluo's martial soul and the herb that Dai Mubai took}
As the operating room door opened once more, Chen Youyu finally let out a sigh of relief. Ah Ba lay peacefully on the moving hospital bed.
"The physical injuries have been treated, but over the next month, you must ensure he doesn't move around recklessly. The life energy within the Blue Silver Forest will aid his recovery. Don't let him engage in any physical training or combat—otherwise, the stitched wounds may reopen, causing secondary damage," Ye Wen instructed.
Chen Youyu bowed deeply in gratitude. "Thank you, Master."
"There's no need for formalities among family. Take him back to rest. When he wakes up tomorrow, both of you come see me—I'll plan your future martial soul cultivation paths."
"Yes."
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Early the next morning, Ah Ba and Chen Youyu came to thank Ye Wen and seek guidance for their future cultivation.
"You, Youyu, were born with a defective martial soul. Reaching the rank of Great Soul Master at your age is proof of your hard work.
However, relentless cultivation alone can only bring a soul master to their lower limit. To reach their upper limit, one must explore other avenues to unlock their potential instead of fixating solely on hard training.
Your first two soul rings were well-chosen—they don't conflict in attributes, both being wind-based. Moving forward, you should stick to this path consistently."
Ye Wen didn't address Ah Ba's cultivation direction first, despite his higher talent. Instead, he focused on explaining to Chen Youyu, the younger sister.
Chen Youyu calmly accepted her inferior talent and readily agreed with Ye Wen's advice. After all, most soul masters on the continent already highly regarded Ye Wen's 'Theory of Essence'.
"Therefore, you don't need to worry about soul ring issues. Your future hunting direction should continue to focus on wind-attribute spirit beasts.
However, even among wind-attribute spirit beasts, there are distinctions of quality. Tell me, what spirit beasts did your first two soul rings come from? This will help better plan your martial soul cultivation."
Chen Youyu respectfully answered: "My first soul ring came from a 300-year-old sword willow. Our school teacher advised me that sword-type martial souls benefit from acquiring long-range attack abilities early on. I gained the first soul skill, Sword Qi."
"Though not the optimal choice, it's still suitable," Ye Wen nodded approvingly.
"As for my second soul ring, it came from a 500-year-old Green Feathered Bird. My second soul skill, Whispering Wind, increases my overall speed by 20%."
Though neither soul ring was of the maximum possible age, they were quite impressive for someone of Chen Youyu's civilian background. However, these two spirit beasts were vastly different in nature, slightly wasting some of her potential.
But this wasn't a major issue. Early soul rings provided limited assistance to soul masters anyway. As they advanced, most high-level soul masters abandoned these century-level skills because their principles were simple enough to replicate without relying on soul rings as a medium.
After pondering for a moment, Ye Wen spoke:
"Though your two soul rings came from different types of spirit beasts, the impact isn't significant. For your future development, focus on obtaining soul rings from bird-type spirit beasts and wind-attribute ones.
However, as a sword martial soul user, you must understand that neither your martial soul nor your soul rings will provide significant boosts. The main focus should be on personal cultivation. Your next direction of training will be the Six Styles I created. These styles can significantly enhance your foundational combat abilities. In the later stages, they'll allow you to develop your own unique self-created soul skills. Such skills consume minimal energy and are best suited for you.
Remember, the ultimate principle of soul skills is that speed cannot be broken, and nothing is impenetrable. Speed will be your primary focus in cultivation.
As for soul power cultivation, staying in the core area of the Blue Silver Forest will passively increase your aptitude. Though the boost isn't massive, you won't need to worry about your future cultivation speed."
"Thank you, Master, for your guidance," Chen Youyu said gratefully.
Ye Wen then turned his attention to Ah Ba.
Instead of immediately asking about Ah Ba's soul rings, he asked:
"What do you think of your martial soul?"
Ah Ba's weathered face broke into a simple smile.
"A blade that feels comfortable to wield and even more so when cutting people."
"Is that so~" Ye Wen chuckled. Ordinary people would at least try to conceal their violent tendencies, but in a way, Ah Ba possessed a pure-hearted honesty.
Ye Wen continued thoughtfully: "Martial souls are fascinating things. They're not just tools for soul masters to grow stronger—they also influence a soul master's entire life.
I once surveyed twenty soul masters who awakened frog-type martial souls. Before their awakening, they were normal children who mostly engaged in playful mischief. But after awakening their frog martial souls, they developed a peculiar fondness for eating insects.
I also investigated some snail martial soul users—their personalities became notably slower-paced.
Tiger and wolf carnivorous martial soul users tend to crave meat, while plant-type martial soul users prefer vegetarian diets.
However, these influences primarily affect beast martial soul users. Most weapon martial soul users retain their original personalities after awakening.
But your damaged blade martial soul, despite its low innate soul power, has made you exceptionally bloodthirsty and battle-hungry. This is highly abnormal."
Though Ah Ba wasn't stupid, years of immersion in combat left him somewhat confused by such theories. He instinctively asked:
"So what? Isn't this good? It's because I fight constantly that I've reached level 38 at this age. If I trained normally, my progress would be as slow as a turtle."
As he spoke, Ah Ba's face betrayed dissatisfaction with his regular training speed.
"That's true, but have you ever considered that you've become a slave to your martial soul? What makes humans human is our ability to control our desires—to know what we should and shouldn't do, to have a moral baseline. Unchecked desires can destroy a person."
With that, Ye Wen gave Ah Ba a meaningful glance.
Though slow to catch on, Ah Ba understood something.
"So… my current cultivation method is wrong?"
"What do you think? If you don't rein it in, sooner or later, you'll be consumed by the killing intent within your martial soul, becoming a fallen soul master hunted by everyone in the Spirit Hall."
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