However, not everyone was happy. The unhappiest bunch were the t.i.tled Douluo. Their soul rings were all complete, and they could never possess a Spirit. When they saw their juniors with their Spirits, how could they not be envious of them?
While the experiment was successful, Huo Yuhao asked to remain with the soul beasts, standing distinctly apart from the soul masters.
---
The first day of the experiment was a huge success, but it was not the end. They still had to do a lot of statistical research, such as the situation of a fusion between a soul master and a Spirit, the amount of spirit power drained, and the number of soul rings that could be formed, among other things.
The next question they wanted to investigate was how many Spirits a single human could fuse with.
Then, they wanted to research if Huo Yuhao"s equal contract could be done by the soul masters themselves. If they wanted to perfect the Spirit System, there were many things for them to do.
Of course, Huo Yuhao did not have to do all these things personally. Shrek Academy"s research in the area of martial souls was ranked first on the entire continent. The many elders of the Sea G.o.d"s Pavilion and teachers of the Academy had already started their research and data collection. Once soul masters could form equal contracts by themselves, there would be a lot less things for Huo Yuhao to do.
Huo Yuhao"s hard work for the day had not been wasted. The most obvious change was that the enmity between the humans and the soul beasts was greatly reduced. They were no longer spoiling for a fight, and the Bear Lord had yet to reappear.
The success of the Spirit experimentation helped to alleviate the unresolved conflict between humans and soul beasts. Even though further experiments were required, they had at least found a direction to work toward. Just like the Beast G.o.d Di Tian had said, Huo Yuhao had made history today!
As he smiled faintly, Huo Yuhao finally closed his eyes tiredly, and started to meditate. While his spiritual power was strong enough, he was completely drained after today.
Elder Xuan stood next to him to protect him while he rested. On the side of the soul beasts, the Myriad Demon King and the Scarlet King stood on either side of him, as well.
In the eyes of both humans and soul beasts, Huo Yuhao"s position had been greatly elevated. He was the only one who could currently complete Spirit Contracts.
The people who were the most excited were the soul masters who had already fused with their soul beasts. The signing of the equal contracts meant that they were the first batch of soul masters to possess Spirits. As of right now, a Spirit was much more useful than a soul ring. Even if they could only possess one Spirit, this would greatly increase their strength. Some of them even hoped that the subsequent experiments would fail so that they would be the only ones who possessed Spirits. Of course, such a perverted mindset was only shared by a few of them.
---
Many soul beasts spent the night in admiration and regret, particularly those who had reached a bottleneck. This sentiment was shared by the soul masters who lacked the courage to be the first batch of test subjects.
The soul masters from Shrek Academy were in a better mood. After all, Huo Yuhao came from Shrek Academy. They believed that they still stood a chance to get a spirit in the future. However, the external soul masters of were dejected. They could not remain in Shrek City forever. The moment they left, they would never be able to experience a Spirit Fusion! Obviously, there would be truckloads of soul masters hoping Huo Yuhao could help them fuse with Spirits. He could barely manage the soul masters from Shrek Academy by himself!
At this time, Shrek Academy demonstrated its magnanimity. The elders of the Sea G.o.d"s Pavilion indicated that the moment Shrek Academy achieved a breakthrough in Spirit research, they would attempt to spread it across the entire continent, and not keep it for themselves.
The reinforcements all acknowledged this promise. They knew that Shrek Academy would never go back on its word. In the Douluo Continent, Shrek"s prestige and name were without equal. If they said they would do it, they would do it. If not, they would not even have shared the secret of Spirits with everyone in the first place.
The vast majority of soul masters understood Shrek Academy"s mindset. After all, the conflict between soul masters and soul beasts had become increasingly aggravated. In the Douluo Continent, the habitats of all soul beasts, with the exception of the Great Star Dou Forest, had been shrinking for several thousand years, due to the increase in soul masters and soul engineers. In particular, the development of soul engineers affected even ten-year and hundred-year soul beasts. If this continued, what could humans do when they no longer had soul power? At that time, even the soul tools that required soul power would be useless, much less soul masters.
The appearance of Spirits helped to mitigate this perennial conflict between humans and soul beasts. As long as they could be propagated, it would slow the reduction of soul beasts and give them time to reproduce. Of course, the formation of Spirits still needed soul beasts, and very few soul beasts were on the brink of death. Hence, Spirits could not completely resolve the conflict between human and soul beasts, but only mitigate it to a certain extent. However, this was a good start. With its Spirit research, perhaps Shrek Academy would even be able to obtain more breakthroughs. What if they found a better way to replace soul rings?
Before the appearance of Spirits, many soul masters would have snorted at this notion. However, the moment Spirits appeared, these same soul masters were in awe. The situation became completely different. They became much more confident in Shrek!
With the success of his research and experimentation on Spirits, Huo Yuhao was able to atone for his previous mistakes at Shrek Academy. Furthermore, the more radical elders of the Sea G.o.d"s Pavilion, such as Elder Song and Elder Xuan, did not even believe that this problem was Huo Yuhao"s fault.
------
The next morning, as the sky in the distance started to turn white, Huo Yuhao woke from his meditation and habitually unleashed his Purple Demon Eyes to start his cultivation.
He then surveyed the bodies of the Spirits and soul masters, and asked them how they felt. Then, he personally inspected the level of coordination between each Spirit and soul master, as well as the degree of consciousness of each Spirit.
After a whole day, he was able to gather a huge amount of data. At night, he invited a few human representatives, as well as the Savage Beasts who represented the soul beasts.
"Everyone," said Huo Yuhao, as he bowed to everyone present. After all, these characters were incredibly influential in the entire continent, particularly the Beast G.o.d Di Tian, who was probably the strongest being in the entire Douluo Continent.
Di Tian nodded at Huo Yuhao. He was noticeably warmer than before.
Huo Yuhao continued, "Elders, the success rate of the experiment yesterday is delightful. The success rate is above ninety percent, which indicates that my research has been successful. Today, I conducted even more research and further experiments, which show that the situation is optimistic. Right now, the soul masters and Spirits that have fused are very well-coordinated, particularly the soul masters whose martial souls share the same element as their Spirits. After their fusion, their strength has increased visibly, and their Spirits have remained conscious and aware. Two Spirits, however, were the exceptions. Earlier on, they both suffered ma.s.sive brain damage, and in the fusion process, they lost their consciousness."
Di Tian nodded. He could accept some amount of failure. After all, this was just the beginning. With more experience, he believed that the process could be bettered.
Huo Yuhao continued, "Other than these two soul beasts, the other Spirits are in good shape. They can fight according to their own will and can also a.s.sist their soul masters to a certain extent. Through my research, I have discovered that for hundred-year Spirits, they can only give their soul masters a single soul skill. This goes without saying. Furthermore, in the future, they can no longer give their soul masters any more soul skills. However, their demand for their soul masters" spiritual power is the least, and this type of fusion is the most successful.
"For thousand-year soul beasts, when they sign their equal contracts with their soul masters, they will need a longer time to fuse. They have higher emotional demands of one another. When the two sides fuse, I can help to coordinate the two sides to a certain extent. If not, the success rate will decrease significantly. Furthermore, these fusions demand more spiritual power from both soul master and soul beast. According to my current studies, it is difficult for a soul master to gain another Spirit after having fused with a thousand-year Spirit. Unless their mental cultivation is exceptional, it is not likely for them to experience a second successful fusion."
Huo Yuhao mentioned the downsides of Spirit Fusion of his own accord. Both Di Tian and Bi Ji nodded when they heard this. They were satisfied with him. His words were enough to demonstrate the sincerity of his experiment.
Huo Yuhao continued, "When it comes to ten-thousand year soul beasts, it will be very hard for them to undergo a Spirit Fusion. I need to use a lot more of my spiritual power to control their emotions. This is because after a soul beast reaches the ten-thousand-year threshold, it will become sentient, and vastly more intelligent. Its emotions become harder to control.
"Furthermore, their own spiritual power and strength will increase, and hence, their autonomy will make them reject the contract to a certain extent. When they sign their contracts with soul masters, both sides will require more spiritual power. Furthermore, the pain these soul masters must endure will be beyond the level a normal human can endure. Hence, in the process of completing this pact, the soul masters must demonstrate a very strong will.
"However, I am certain that unless a soul master has a spiritual-type martial soul like me, it is impossible for a soul master to fuse a second time after he or she has fused with a ten-thousand year Spirit."