"Martial Soul fusion. Is it really possible?"
Bibi Dong asked the question for the third time, visibly tense.
It was not because she did not trust Wu Ling. Over the years, Wu Ling had proven himself through cultivation methods, Soulcraft, combat strength, and many other things. Aside from herself, he was the outsider Bibi Dong trusted most.
But even in a relationship where she could entrust her life to the other person, this matter was larger than any ordinary life decision. Nervousness still outweighed everything else.
Because this was Martial Soul fusion, something even more absurd than a second awakening of the Martial Soul. It was not a so-called Spirit Fusion Skill.
In truth, those second awakenings of Martial Souls were mostly general terms for Martial Soul evolution, mutation, or similar changes that made a Martial Soul stronger. This Martial Soul fusion, however, would be the first real example in recorded history.
After all, twin-Martial-Soul Spirit Masters were already rare. Anyone who could grow with twin Martial Souls would become a powerhouse in their own right. Under those circumstances, who would have the free time and courage to think about fusing their Martial Souls together?
"It can absolutely be done, Teacher. Relax. Rose and I would never harm you. Or rather, what benefit would Rose and I get from lowering your strength?"
As Wu Ling and Rose comforted Bibi Dong, they continued drawing the Magecraft array on the ground. Azure and Ember stood to the side, assisting them.
"I believe you, Ling'er. But you should also understand. Anyone who encountered this kind of thing would struggle to stay calm. Even the Grand Elder might lose composure."
Bibi Dong stood there awkwardly. All of her usual authority had vanished. She looked as if she had returned to the moment of her Martial Soul awakening, when her entire life was about to change.
"Can you describe the expected result again? If I have a prediction to hold onto, I should feel more at ease."
Wu Ling understood her completely. This was like the minutes before checking exam results, or the moment before a doctor told you whether surgery had succeeded. So he began comforting Bibi Dong in a gentle voice.
"Teacher, your twin Martial Souls are the Death Spider Emperor and the Soul-Devouring Spider Emperor. Either one can be considered a top-tier Martial Soul. If the two fused naturally, they would definitely break past the limit of top-tier Martial Souls, but whether they could reach divine-grade would still be uncertain."
"Now, however, we have the Evil God Bead I obtained from the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger a month ago as the catalyst, plus my blood, which has been touched by the aura of a true evil god. With those, I have a ninety percent chance of fusing Teacher's Martial Souls into a divine-grade Martial Soul capable of rivaling the Seraphim."
"As for the advantage of twin Martial Souls, when the two Martial Souls cannot be used simultaneously, the greatest benefit is that you can cultivate one Martial Soul first, then attach stronger Spirit Rings to the other one later."
"But now, with Rose's Spirit Ring age-amplification Magecraft array, we can fuse Teacher's eighteen Spirit Rings from two Martial Souls into nine without wasting anything. Then, using the soul-blood from those death-row prisoners, we can raise the age of your first few Spirit Rings a little more."
"Think about it, Teacher. A divine-grade Martial Soul with four ten-thousand-year rings and five hundred-thousand-year rings. How powerful would that be?"
"As for why we are not raising every Spirit Ring to one hundred thousand years, the answer is your physical condition. If we push further, it may place a long-term burden on your body. Even with cultivation methods to digest the strain, it would still be troublesome."
"But you do not need to worry. Before long, Rose should be able to research a method that directly increases Spirit Ring age without prerequisites. Once Teacher's physical condition rises enough, we can raise them one by one."
After hearing Wu Ling's detailed prediction and careful plan, Bibi Dong finally calmed down. The feeling was like hearing the attending doctor say the operation had gone smoothly, or having someone check your score first and promise that you did well.
"All right, Teacher. Drink the potion, then come lie down in the array."
Wu Ling wiped imaginary sweat from his forehead and looked toward Azure.
Azure handed Bibi Dong a bottle of gray potion. Sensing the evil aura inside it, Bibi Dong felt no disgust. Instead, she drank it all in one breath.
She walked slowly to the center of the Magecraft array and lay down. As she sensed her bloodline and Spirit Power gradually becoming restless, she also felt a force tugging from the outside. No, it was not tugging at her. It was tugging at the Spirit Power inside her.
"I leave it to you, Ling'er."
Before losing consciousness, Bibi Dong looked deeply at her disciple. In that moment, she had entrusted everything she had to Wu Ling.
Gradually, the Magecraft array fully activated. On Bibi Dong's body, one green mist and one black mist appeared. The two masses of mist slowly condensed, finally becoming two enormous spiders.
They were Bibi Dong's Martial Souls: the Death Spider Emperor and the Soul-Devouring Spider Emperor.
Bibi Dong's Martial Souls had been stripped out. She could not even use them. Even a three-year-old child holding a kitchen knife could kill her now.
Wu Ling only glanced over to confirm her condition, then immediately lowered his head and continued working.
Afterward, nine Spirit Rings appeared on each side of the two spider Martial Souls. On one side, aside from the ninth ring being red, the rest were all reasonable top-tier configurations. On the other side were five black Spirit Rings and four red Spirit Rings.
After killing the Sky Azure Bull Python and the Titan Giant Ape, Wu Ling had told Bibi Dong about the three ninety-thousand-year Thousand Jun Ant Emperors. Since then, Bibi Dong had kept people watching them. Those three Thousand Jun Ant Emperors had emerged half a year earlier than the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger, and Bibi Dong had taken Ghost and Yue Guan to capture them in one strike while they were unprepared.
Under Rose's control, the two spider-shaped Martial Souls gradually fused, finally forming something like a cocoon. The eighteen Spirit Rings also began merging together.
After the fusion, the first four rings and the last four rings were beyond dispute. One side had become four black ten-thousand-year rings, and the other side had become four red hundred-thousand-year rings. Only the fifth ring in the middle remained uncertain, black with red mixed through it.
Wu Ling could tell that if this continued, the black would still cover the red in the end.
"Let me give it one more push."
As he spoke, Wu Ling took out a soul-blood bottle. Threads of pure Spirit Power flowed under his control and merged into that Spirit Ring. In the end, the ring also became blood-red, reaching the hundred-thousand-year level.
With the Spirit Rings fully fused, the Martial Soul fusion also entered its final stage.
A pair of hands suddenly burst out of the cocoon. Then came a body covered in black armor, long limbs, and eight claw-like jointed appendages extending from the back.
"An eight-winged demon? No, no. There are no horns or tail. And those are jointed limbs, not wings. If I change the wording, then let us call it the Queen of Blades."
"Yes. Divine-grade Martial Soul: Queen of Blades!"