area51novel Chapter 244 begins
Chapter 244 begins
The explanation was given by Long You. As mentioned before, Long You's family and Liu Bai, the King of the Undersea Secret Realm, did not actually have any fundamental conflict of interest. Based on this, Long You spoke very frankly and in detail, explaining the advantages of soul spirits over soul rings, their help to soul masters, his father's current need to advance to Soul Douluo, and his own need to increase the soul power level of the Ten Thousand Year Willow Wood Heart.
After Long You finished speaking, Liu Bai's incarnation, the willow sapling, began to sway slightly. It was unclear whether it was communicating with its original self or pondering on its own.
After a long pause, Liu Bai's calm and youthful voice rang out again: "Quite frank. A ten-thousand-year-old willow heart is indeed a treasure for you at this stage, and according to the soul transformation method you gave, the willow heart will indeed remain. However, I must remind you of one thing: a ten-thousand-year-old willow heart has a very high probability of being transformed into a soul bone, a ten-thousand-year-level soul bone."
“Soul bone? It’s better to convert it into a soul bone. Ten-thousand-year willow heart is very rare in the outside world, but it’s certainly not a particularly rare thing for you, Mr. Liu Bai. We can trade it with other things, there’s no need to include it in the soul conversion.”
"Ha! What a clever lad. Fine, we'll trade the Ten-Thousand-Year Willow Heart separately. However, I have an additional requirement for the Soul Transformation Ritual; I need it to be performed within my domain. A true king once told me that you human Soul Masters are cunning and cannot be fully trusted. Of course, I have no ill intentions towards you in these transactions, and I can swear an oath."
The matter of the soul bone didn't make the Longyou family hesitate, but the thought of entering the underwater secret realm again did make them hesitate. Although Liu Bai said he could swear an oath, in a moment when their lives depended entirely on the whim of a powerful figure, they really couldn't completely trust the power of an oath.
"Excuse me, Mr. Liu Bai, we need to discuss this."
"I understand, please go ahead."
After creating a slight distance, Long You spoke first: "The problem now has become a matter of trust. Mr. Liu Bai's request to set up the soul transformation ritual in the secret realm is a perfectly normal request."
Whether considering that the Ten Thousand Years of Hitting Willow has no mobility, or that our every move in the secret realm is under Mr. Liu Bai's control, or even that when I first drew the Soul Transformation Array, I wanted to use the abundant life energy in the secret realm, this underwater secret realm is the best place to help my dad attach the Hitting Willow's soul spirit.
But! Trust is the key issue. Although Mr. Liu Bai could certainly do something for us outside the secret realm if he wanted to, it's easier there anyway.
"Xiao You, I only have one question: Is there a problem with your soul transformation ritual? Is it possible that it will fail?"
"As long as both sides are willing to cooperate with the guiding power of the consciousness array, failure is absolutely impossible! Although this array is more complex than the one my cousin Longping used, I have already deduced it hundreds of times, and the array has not encountered any problems in its operation."
Long You wasn't lying about this. Although he didn't know the King of the Hit-Man Willow was so powerful, his initial target was a 100,000-year-old soul beast. Since his father's safety was at stake, Long You wouldn't be negligent in the slightest, and he utilized the simulation capabilities of the Imagination Pearl to its fullest extent.
"That's fine then. We're not lying, so there's no need to worry about anything unrelated. On this continent, every living being capable of using soul power must abide by the oath they've sworn to the Heavenly Dao. As for the possibility of the other party violating their oath, that's just a risk we have to bear in our pursuit of greater power."
“Alright, if you want something better, you always have to take greater risks. But before that, we need to figure out one thing: in my exploration, that place is clearly a small world with relatively complete rules. Why would Mr. Liu Bai say that it is his domain?”
“Yes, a domain! I noticed this issue before too.” After Long’s father expressed his willingness to take this seemingly dangerous risk, Long’s mother, who had been silent, finally spoke up. “Could this domain not be the underwater secret realm we saw before, but actually a domain?”
"Domain? So that's what you're most worried about! The domain I'm talking about is actually the underwater secret realm you've been talking about."
If you've noticed the issue with domains, I believe you all have some understanding of domains. Normal domains are temporary and do not support the long-term existence of any creature other than the lord, let alone the reproduction of a small world.
The reason my domain is the way it is now is entirely due to some changes that I couldn't control. I don't know exactly what those changes were; I can only say that when I awoke from my slumber, my domain had already transformed into the underwater secret realm you speak of. To survive the tribulation of the ferocious beasts, I unleashed my domain, barely managing to endure the tribulation thanks to the powerful vitality of plant-based soul beasts. However, the tribulation not only left me severely injured and on the verge of death but also blasted me from this land-connected island into the sea, plunging me into a deep sleep.
"To be honest, my ability to master the domain was actually thanks to a powerful human figure. According to a Soul Beast King who visited me after I regained consciousness, that figure belonged to a god-level powerhouse among you humans who had broken through to level 100—the Sea God."
Liu Bai's words made Long You's eyebrows twitch slightly. Although he already knew that Di Tian, the king of soul beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest, and the current God King Tang San had both completed "round-the-world travel," hearing this news from a ferocious beast-level soul beast still made Long You sigh at his own insignificance.
"Alright, what are your answers?"
"Respected Mr. Liu Bai, as long as you are willing to swear an oath to protect our safety, the soul transformation experiment can begin immediately."
The oath was not the issue; Liu Bai was willing to awaken from his shallow slumber, not to hunt down three humans. Since he didn't intend to take back what he had said, Liu Bai naturally didn't mind making a Heavenly Dao oath with serious consequences.
The task of diving again was no challenge for Long's parents and Mr. Liu Bai. The only problem was Long Ping, who had just broken through to the Soul Master level. With no other option, Long You had to put his cousin, who wanted to watch the show, into the cockpit of the Soul Guidance Powered Mech.
Upon entering the underwater secret realm, the Long family, led by Liu Bai, easily reached the central area of the island. Incidentally, Liu Bai also placed the soul conversion array plate created by Long You in a suitable location.
After completing these tasks that required moving the tree, Liu Bai's sapling returned to its original position, and as it swayed slightly, information that Long You and the others could not perceive was quietly transmitted in one direction.
More than ten minutes later, a rumbling sound came from the willow grove behind the Long family. Along with the sound, Long You also felt the ground tremble.
"Here we come. As plant-type soul beasts, we possess greater vitality compared to animal-type soul beasts. However, in other aspects, plant-type soul beasts are actually at a significant disadvantage against animal-type soul beasts. For example, in terms of movement, unless plant-type soul beasts can transform into human form, their movement speed will be extremely slow, and they may even be unable to move at all without giving up some things."
The Long family couldn't see Mr. Liu Bai's expression, but from the change in his tone, they could easily tell that Mr. Liu Bai seemed to yearn to become a free-moving animal-type soul beast.
The rumbling sound continued for another five minutes before the Long family finally spotted a huge willow tree slowly moving through the dense foliage of the willow grove. At a glance, Long You and the others could tell that this large willow tree was nearing the end of its life cycle. Compared to the vibrant life force emanating from Mr. Liu Bai, this willow tree was permeated with an aura of decay.
"Alright, this is my descendant. It failed when it tried to survive the 100,000-year tribulation, and its essence was severely damaged. It doesn't have many years left to live. It agrees to become your soul and experience a world and life it has never experienced before."
"Greetings. Your clan leader has already explained your purpose to me. However, before that, I would like to speak with my future Soul Master."
The large willow tree that had come to the open space swayed its branches slightly, transmitting its spiritual energy carrying information. While it hadn't truly reached the 100,000-year level and couldn't speak like Mr. Liu Bai, its intelligence was already comparable to a true 100,000-year-old soul beast, and transmitting accurate information through spiritual energy was no problem at all.
Long's father wouldn't refuse such a simple thing, nor could he. Long You had already emphasized when introducing the soul transformation ritual that the transformation must be done voluntarily by both parties. If either party resists during the transformation process, the probability of the ritual failing will greatly increase.
After hitting Liu and Long's father went to a corner of the open space to talk, Long You looked at the array plate that had been set up and a rather abrupt thought came to mind.
"Mr. Liu Bai, now that the array plate is set up, and we're just waiting here anyway, why don't I demonstrate a rather special soul transformation process for you?"
"A special kind of soul transformation? How special is it?"
"I need your help to gather enough life force to the positions of the soul beasts on the conversion array. Compared to the living soul beasts, I first need to awaken the souls that have been dormant in my soul rings because of the sacrifice."
Seeing that the owner of the underwater secret realm had agreed, Long You revealed a faint smile.
Long You calmly walked to the center of the ceremony, took a deep breath, and summoned his martial soul with a slight thought. Compared to the usual optimal soul ring configuration for a soul master, one of Long You's five soul rings was clearly beyond the standard.
Gazing at the deep black spirit ring in his fourth spirit ring slot, a barely perceptible hint of bewilderment and reminiscence flickered in Long You's eyes. Feeling like a character with a significant role to play, Long You naturally hoped his spirit ring configuration could be more impressive. When his own strength was still weak and didn't meet the standards for absorbing a ten-thousand-year spirit ring, Long You had dreamt many times of being favored and sacrificed by a ten-thousand-year spirit beast. However, Long You had to admit that no matter how many times he had that dream, he always considered it just a dream.
The real world is very cruel. If Long You had encountered a ten-thousand-year-old soul beast when he was still weak, then it would have been more realistic for him to become the soul beast's meal rather than for the soul beast to sacrifice itself to him.
For Long You, the fourth spirit ring was a small hurdle. Having qualified for the fourth spirit ring, Long You believed he now possessed the ability to escape from the clutches of some newly-entered ten-thousand-year spirit beasts. Therefore, during his trip to the Star Dou Great Forest, Long You intentionally sought out ten-thousand-year spirit beasts that met his requirements, attempting to obtain his own ten-thousand-year fourth spirit ring.
But Long You really didn't expect that just out of curiosity and to join in the fun, he would be able to get the Ten Thousand Year Flame Crystal White Jade Tiger, whom he had never met before, to sacrifice itself to him.
Although the Ten-Thousand-Year Flame Crystal Jade Tiger said before sacrificing itself to Long You, "This sacrifice is a transaction. The Ten-Thousand-Year Flame Crystal Jade Tiger, which was not going to survive anyway, is exchanging its soul ring for Long You's care for its child," Long You was both apprehensive and grateful for such good fortune.
In taking care of Xiao Muyang, Long You believed he had done a decent job, but deep down, he still felt that it wasn't a good choice for a human soul master like himself to care for a soul beast. Soul beasts could live in human society, but they shouldn't forget their own innate skills.
In developing Xiao Muyang's innate skills, Long You was clearly unable to effectively intervene. It was precisely because he wanted to ensure that Xiao Muyang's growth as a soul beast was not crippled that Long You, the moment he was certain that he had the ability to transform into a soul spirit, wanted to awaken the soul of the ten-thousand-year-old Flame Crystal White Jade Tiger sleeping in his fourth soul ring.
This is why Long You needed to choose a location with abundant life energy when placing the Soul Conversion Array Plate he created this time. If it weren't for the need to awaken the dormant soul of the Ten-Thousand-Year Flame Crystal White Jade Tiger, Long You could have simply set up a large Soul Power Gathering Array to improve the surrounding Soul Power concentration, which wouldn't have been insufficient for the Soul Conversion requirement.
"It's very simple."
Having received Mr. Liu Bai's affirmative reply, Long You briefly greeted his mother and went directly to his position at the ceremony. Although Long's mother didn't know exactly what Long You was going to do, keeping Liu Bai waiting was clearly not a good option.
Considering that his son never did anything without being sure of success, Long You was absolutely certain that he could handle something that required his personal involvement.