“Tell me, what are you, and why did you try to ambush me?”
Ling Xiao’s soul entered the Mountain River World and coldly asked the black shadow before him.
“Damn it, I was sealed by the Human King for who knows how many years. I wanted to seize your body, but who knew you had abilities similar to his? I hate this!”
As it spoke, the black shadow finally revealed its true form.
It was actually a huge black lizard, its size somewhat resembling a black giant dragon.
“You are the Lizard Ancestor?”
Ling Xiao asked in surprise.
“Correct, the power of the lizard people began with me, their ancestor!”
The black shadow said.
“Liar. The Lizard Ancestor was sealed nearly a hundred thousand years ago. You no longer have a body. How could you still be alive?”
Ling Xiao said coldly.
“Kid, how dare you speak to this ancestor like that?”
“Ancestor? Yes, you are the Lizard Ancestor, but here, you can only obey me!”
Ling Xiao merely waved his hand lightly, and piercing sunlight targeted the huge lizard shadow.
“Stop, stop! I will tell you everything. Please do not torture me anymore!”
The Lizard Ancestor had only its soul left, more precisely a departed spirit, so it naturally feared the torment of sunlight.
Just as it feared the Eye of Light.
“The reason I am still alive is that I once cultivated a soul martial art from beyond the heavens, the ‘Primordial Spirit Fragment’.”
“Primordial Spirit? What is that?”
Ling Xiao asked curiously.
“This ancestor does not know either. In any case, warriors from beyond the heavens can cultivate their souls into a primordial spirit. Even without a body, they can achieve immortality. It is said that when cultivated to a powerful level, the primordial spirit can leave the body, which is extremely terrifying!”
The Lizard Ancestor explained.
“Interesting. So what you have now is not a departed spirit, but the so-called primordial soul?”
Ling Xiao asked.
“How could that be? If I had truly cultivated a primordial spirit, the Human King could not have killed me. Unfortunately, I only condensed a primordial soul, still far from a primordial spirit.”
“Primordial soul?”
“The cultivation levels in the ‘Primordial Spirit Fragment’ are primordial soul, shell emergence, night wandering, day wandering, object manipulation, manifestation, possession, seizure, thunder tribulation, primordial spirit.”
Hearing this, Ling Xiao felt a surge of joy in his heart. Although his soul force was very strong, it ultimately came from the natural enhancement of the Mountain River Martial Soul. He had no idea how to cultivate the soul.
This ‘Primordial Spirit Fragment’ from the Lizard Ancestor was truly too useful for him. Though it was only a fragment and likely incomplete, with nothing after the primordial spirit stage, for Ling Xiao who lacked soul cultivation methods, it was undoubtedly excellent.
However, judging by the Lizard Ancestor’s situation, the ‘Primordial Spirit Fragment’ was extremely difficult to cultivate. Otherwise, how had this fellow only reached the first stage, primordial soul?
This was too strange.
“Humph, if the ‘Primordial Spirit Fragment’ is so good, why have you only cultivated to the primordial soul stage?”
Ling Xiao snorted coldly and asked.
“Is it not that Human King fellow? This ancestor had only just obtained it for a short time before he sealed me. How could I have the chance to cultivate further?”
The Lizard Ancestor spoke with righteous indignation.
“I see.”
Ling Xiao saw that the Lizard Ancestor did not seem to be lying.
“Little one, you were able to open the stone coffin today and free this ancestor. We can be considered fated. How about this: I pass the ‘Primordial Spirit Fragment’ to you, and you let me go? This is an absolutely worthwhile deal for you.”
The Lizard Ancestor suddenly smiled and said, “This ancestor sees your soul force is so powerful yet you cannot utilise it better. What a waste. With the ‘Primordial Spirit Fragment’, everything will be different. Even if you do not cultivate martial arts, relying solely on the soul, you could dominate the Profound Realm.”
“You are so kind?”
Ling Xiao asked with a smile.
“This ancestor is not kind. I am indeed not a good person, but now I only want to live. This is merely a transaction.”
The Lizard Ancestor appeared very sincere.
“Mm, I need to think about this.” Ling Xiao fell into thought.
“What is there to think about? This ancestor can sense you possess an extremely powerful martial soul, yet you cannot command it. Do you know why?”
The Lizard Ancestor said.
“Why?”
The other was right. Ling Xiao had always found it strange. Logically, since his Mountain River Martial Soul had fused with his soul, he should be able to control it easily, but in reality, that was not the case. Clearly, there was an issue.
“Simple. The martial soul was brought by the Human King from beyond the heavens, so the true methods to cultivate and control martial souls also come from beyond the heavens! Let me put it this way: the connection between soul and martial soul is far tighter than between body and martial soul. The stronger the soul, the stronger the martial soul, and the easier it is to manipulate.”
The Lizard Ancestor seemed determined to make this deal with Ling Xiao, so he had to explain all the benefits of soul cultivation.
“Still not quite clear.”
Ling Xiao shook his head.
“You are clearly a genius, how can you be so slow? Simply put, the martial soul is actually the external manifestation of the soul. However, current warriors do not understand this. They think martial souls are forever unchanging, always in one form. What a huge mistake!”
The Lizard Ancestor shook his head and said, “The appearance and power of a martial soul are completely generated and changed by the warrior’s soul and cultivation.
Do you know why some people awaken sword martial souls, while others awaken knife martial souls or something else?”
“I do not know.”
“That is correct, you would not. When you were born, was there not a grabbing lots activity? Elders place a pile of items in front, then let children choose.”
“Yes, I think I understand something. So the awakened martial soul is actually influenced by the warrior’s own soul? Like grabbing lots: if you grab a sword, it is a sword martial soul; if you grab something else, it is that martial soul?”
Ling Xiao suddenly had an epiphany.
“Exactly, basically that is it. However, some warriors are influenced by external things during martial soul awakening, such as bloodline, martial art secrets, weapons, inheritance, and so on.”
Ling Xiao completely understood the Lizard Ancestor’s words.
The reason he had awakened the Mountain River Martial Soul was because of the book he obtained from Hong Qi, which influenced him.
He had not understood before, but now it was completely clear.
Most warriors passively adapt to their martial souls rather than actively transforming them.
Although once formed, the shape of a martial soul is hard to change again.
But in terms of power, combat methods, and so on, upgrades and modifications are possible.
For example, someone with a sword martial soul might start with just the external form of a sword, enhancing the sword user’s attacks.
But if deliberately modified to give this sword martial soul more characteristics, continuously improving while maintaining the “sword” shape.
It is like a magical treasure that can be continually refined.
