Martial souls can indeed be passed down through bloodline — this point was beyond doubt.
But during the inheritance process, it was not uncommon for mutations to occur. And this was precisely the primary direction Su Cheng had focused on researching in recent years.
It wasn't just to make up for his own shortcomings. More importantly, starting from this angle might allow him to uncover some part of the mystery behind martial souls.
After consulting numerous documents, he discovered that aside from mutations, during long lineage inheritance, the vast majority of martial souls would gradually weaken over time.
The reason was that martial souls were inherited through bloodline. As years accumulated, impurities within the bloodline would gradually increase.
Every martial soul possessed its own attribute. Unless the martial soul was one of those top-tier, absolutely dominant ones, the succeeding generation would inevitably be influenced by both parents, even if externally it only manifested as one of them.
As impurities continued to accumulate within the bloodline and reached a critical level, mutation would occur.
Su Cheng speculated: if the impurities within the bloodline clashed with the primary martial soul's attribute, an evil mutation would appear; if the attributes harmonized, then it was very likely to create a positive mutation or even an evolution.
Take himself as an example: aside from the metal attribute inherited from his father's Wufeng Sword martial soul, there were also large quantities of fire-attribute elements — an attribute extremely antagonistic to metal.
Thus, his awakened martial soul showed cracks all over its blade — an evil mutation.
When a soul master adds soul rings to their martial soul, the attribute contained within the soul ring's energy could feed back to the martial soul to some degree.
To compensate for his martial soul's internal attribute conflict, Su Cheng thought of using the extreme earth attribute to reconcile the metal and fire within it.
But he had only done so with a "try it and see" mentality.
After all, how effective this feedback energy truly was, he himself wasn't sure. Whether it would even work at all was hard to say.
But based on the current outcome, his line of thought was correct.
Of course, since changes to a martial soul originated from the impurities in the bloodline, aside from harmonizing attributes, there was naturally another path — purification.
Tracing back to the source, returning to the purest and strongest form of its lineage aside from the mutated version.
If the martial soul carried an ancient bloodline, purification could result in a throwback phenomenon — a second awakening. But that would depend on fortune.
"The path to Martial Soul Completion has only just begun," Su Cheng thought silently.
Once he had adapted to his newly-advanced level 32 body, he turned to the Moonlight Douluo (Yue Guan) who had been waiting at the side.
"I didn't have time to ask earlier — Elder Chrysanthemum, what brings you here today?"
"Mr. Su, His Holiness the Pope requests your presence."
"She's asking for me? For what reason?"
Their relationship had always been good — Yue Guan's breakthrough two years ago was partly thanks to their past exchanges — so he didn't hide anything and replied directly:"To be honest, I'm not entirely sure. But before sending me, His Holiness asked about your recent research progress on martial soul mutations."
Su Cheng's mind stirred when he heard this, and he made a few guesses.
After a moment of thought, he turned toward Qian Renxue."Is the Grand Worship still in seclusion?"
"No, he came out several months ago," Qian Renxue shook her head, puzzled why he suddenly cared.
Su Cheng continued, "I'm going to the Pope's Palace with Elder Chrysanthemum. Your fourth soul ring will have to wait. First, go to the Worship Hall and greet your grandfather."
Qian Renxue instantly understood and nodded."Don't worry. I'll go right away."
Yue Guan, watching the two speak, looked a bit strange.
But he knew the matters here were far beyond his level and wisely pretended to admire the scenery, as if he'd heard nothing.
Before long, the two arrived at the Pope Palace's audience hall.
Yue Guan remained at the entrance. Su Cheng entered alone.
Bibi Dong, dressed in the Pope robes, stood at the foremost position in the grand hall, cold-faced and imposing, releasing an aura that made people instinctively fearful.
But when she saw Su Cheng enter, her expression subtly shifted, showing a trace of change.
She immediately felt something different about him.
She had a brief moment of confusion, then recalled Yue Guan's earlier report — and was instantly stunned.
"Impossible…"
She quickly asked, "It seems Mr. Su has already become a three-ring Soul Elder. I assume the harvest was considerable?"
"It wasn't bad."
"Release your martial soul and let me see."
Her tone was blunt and authoritative — an order.
Su Cheng simply glanced at her, didn't argue, and raised his right hand.
A flawless long-sword martial soul manifested in his palm, with one yellow and two purple soul rings rising around it.
Bibi Dong's eyes widened and lost focus slightly. She even took two steps forward uncontrollably.
Only after half a day did she finally speak again, her voice trembling from excitement,
"You truly solved your martial soul's evil mutation?!"
"No need to be so emotional, Your Holiness. Even if the mutation is solved, it's still just an ordinary martial soul. They're everywhere on the continent."Su Cheng withdrew his martial soul and said calmly,"And why are you suddenly so concerned about me? I'm just a mere Soul Elder — hardly worthy of your attention."
A vein twitched at the corner of Bibi Dong's eye.
Again.This tone.This attitude.
Just as she was about to speak, she suddenly sensed a gaze spying from the direction of the Worship Hall.
Her expression changed slightly and she sneered,"Mr. Su's caution is truly impressive."
Su Cheng instantly understood — Qian Renxue had informed Qian Daoliu.
But he pretended not to know."I don't understand what Your Holiness means. The Martial Soul Hall is like my home. You have always been someone I respected as family. Why would I have any defenses?"
Seeing his utterly innocent look, Bibi Dong took a deep breath, suppressing the irritation welling in her heart.She asked, "How did you resolve your martial soul's evil mutation?"
She had originally intended to only understand his research progress. She had never expected that he had already solved the problem, which threw her rhythm off entirely.
"For what reason do you want to know? The Martial Soul Hall has countless talents. My trash-tier aptitude is just a special case."
"Just to be prepared."
Su Cheng waved his hand dismissively."I don't think it's necessary. Spending time on useless trash like me is purely wasting effort."
Hearing him calling himself "trash" and "waste" over and over, Bibi Dong's earlier joy evaporated completely, replaced with irritation.
She snapped,"Weren't you the one shouting about 'are nobles born superior'? What, now you want to pretend humility?"
"Your Holiness, did you misunderstand the meaning of that sentence? Whoever has trash aptitude can figure out their own solution. I am just a good person — not a saint."
.................
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(End of Chapter)