After Long Hun's detailed explanation, Ma Hongjun finally understood what this profession was.
"Soul" represents the soul, and "pet" represents a pet. A soul contract is established between a human and a soul beast, and the resulting soul beast is called a soul pet, or pet soul beast.
This is somewhat similar to Pokémon, which Ma Hongjun had seen in his previous life.
After signing the contract, the human remains human, and the soul beast remains a soul beast.
Their relationship is like that between a human and a Pokémon, establishing a connection.
Pokémon have Poké Balls and can follow their humans.
Soul beasts, on the other hand, enter the human's soul space.
The soul space is a special two-dimensional space, created by the power of the soul.
In the Five Elements Continent, soul pet masters cultivate soul power, which is divided into ten levels.
Each level allows the cultivation of a soul imprint, which contracts with a soul beast.
The soul imprint is the soul seed that the soul pet master integrates into the soul beast's soul, enabling them to achieve a spiritual connection with the soul beast.
Soul pet masters can only form contracts with young soul beasts because contracts impose certain restrictions on them. Mature soul beasts are unwilling to become human pets, and powerful soul beasts can overwhelm a soul pet master's soul space.
Therefore, soul pet masters typically begin contracting with soul beasts from a young age and then nurture them.
The growth rate of a contracted soul beast within the soul pet master's soul space is nearly ten times faster than in the outside world.
It's equivalent to one day of cultivation in the soul space being equivalent to ten days of normal cultivation outside. Most importantly, in the soul space, soul beasts can grow rapidly without needing to cultivate.
This growth rate increases as the soul pet master's soul level improves.
This is why soul beasts are willing to form soul contracts with soul pet masters.
After all, many soul beasts are quite lazy; they can advance effortlessly rather than risk their lives.
Furthermore, soul pet masters can also help soul beasts advance and even upgrade their species by concocting various potions and pills.
For example, a Green Bamboo Sound Serpent can be cultivated into a Wind-Singing Dragon.
In the Five Elements Continent, Soul Pet Masters place great importance on the racial rank of Soul Beasts, as different Soul Beast races represent their growth potential.
Besides this, Soul Pet Masters can also help Soul Beasts withstand Heavenly Tribulations, because their souls are connected, and they are bound together by life and death on the path of cultivation.
Dragon Soul is in a soul state; his power is mostly soul force, and his soul force is Ma Hongjun's soul force.
Previously, Dragon Soul's soul force was weak before it recovered, insufficient to create a soul space for a powerful Soul Beast like Ice Emperor.
Now, Dragon Soul's power is sufficient.
Dragon Soul passed on a Soul Pet Master cultivation technique called "Soul Meditation Method" to Ma Hongjun.
This technique cultivates soul force, similar to techniques like the "Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix Scripture," except one cultivates soul force, and the other cultivates internal energy.
These two do not interfere with each other and can coexist.
While Dragon Soul absorbed the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow, Ma Hongjun slowly comprehended the Soul Meditation Method.
Even without contracting a Soul Beast, cultivating this technique is highly beneficial, as it can enhance soul force.
Otherwise, Ma Hongjun's soul power used to be enhanced solely by the soul rings of soul beasts, without any opportunity for growth.
Spiritual power is soul power.
The fusion with the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm soul ring has laid a good foundation for Ma Hongjun's soul cultivation.
Furthermore, cultivating soul power allows for smoother use of the Dragon Soul Martial Soul's power.
In fact, the relationship between the Dragon Soul and Ma Hongjun is that of a Soul Pet Master and a Soul Pet.
A contracted soul beast is called a Soul Pet.
There was no formal soul contract between them because the contract was signed between the Dragon Soul and the Martial God, making the Dragon Soul the spear spirit of the Martial God's spear. After it regained its power, this relationship was transferred to Ma Hongjun.
This indirectly proves the Martial God's recognition of him.
When the Dragon Soul was on the Five Elements Continent, its true form was a five-clawed golden dragon, and it had once been the Soul Pet of a certain Soul Pet Master.
However, the lifespan of a Soul Pet is generally much longer than that of its Soul Pet Master.
Under normal circumstances, without war, the Soul Pet Master is usually the first to die. Being
a Soul Pet Master is just a period in a Soul Pet's long life; some Soul Pets even go through multiple Soul Pet Masters.
The Dragon Soul's former master had long since died.
However, his death wasn't natural. Because of the Dragon Soul's past power—the Five-Clawed Golden Dragon, as a soul beast of the highest race, had cultivated to the Divine Realm—he
, as the Dragon Soul's master, would have benefited from its advancements. Furthermore, the person who could tame a Five-Clawed Golden Dragon as a soul pet was inherently gifted, and he too had cultivated to the Divine Realm.
However, during the great war of the gods on the Five Elements Continent, his master perished.
The Dragon Soul didn't tell Ma Hongjun many details about the war of the gods.
However, it did tell Ma Hongjun that there were two extremely powerful bosses in that battle…
Demon Gods and Evil Gods!
Ma Hongjun had already encountered Evil Gods.
But Demon Gods were something he'd never heard of before.
It seemed the influence of Demon Gods wasn't primarily limited to this particular divine realm.
In short, the divine realm was very complex, roughly divided into four divine realms: East, West, South, and North!
Between a Soul Pet Master and their Soul Pet, if one dies, the other doesn't die with it, but their souls are damaged, because the death of one is equivalent to the soul being severed.
This kind of soul contract is merely a mutual bond between the two, allowing them to achieve a state of mutual understanding, sharing life and death, mutually promoting each other, and never betraying one another.
Actually, the sacrifices in Douluo Continent are also a kind of contract, only this time it's a one-sided sacrifice by the Soul Beast, an unfair and unequal way of fusion.
Although the Soul Master gains more this way, it's also because the Soul Beast has given its all.
The gains and losses are balanced.
The reason the Soul Beasts sacrificed to Ma Hongjun were able to retain their souls is because of the Dragon Soul's soul body; its soul body is equivalent to a soul space, capable of containing these souls.
Otherwise, the spiritual power of ordinary Soul Masters is simply insufficient to support the survival of a 100,000-year-old Soul Beast's soul. Furthermore, Soul Masters on the Douluo Continent don't understand soul cultivation methods or how to create a soul space.
As for Shui Bing'er's Soul Ring, the reason it could withstand a 200,000-year-old Ice Crystal Snow Lotus Soul Spirit was because Shui Bing'er received the inheritance of the Phoenix God.
Divine power is the source of all power; it can be either Soul Power or Soul Force.
Therefore, Shui Bing'er, who already possessed some Phoenix God Power, could easily create a suitable soul space for a Soul Spirit within her Soul Ring, and she didn't need to do anything about it.
A Soul Spirit with a strong will to survive will create a living environment based on the Soul Master's existing conditions.
Of course, this is on the premise that the Soul Master possesses these conditions.
Tian Meng initially merged into Ma Hongjun's body without hesitation because she saw Ma Hongjun's powerful and abundant soul power.
Ma Hongjun calmed down and carefully studied the Soul Meditation Method.
Creating a soul space suitable for the Ice Emperor to live in was not easy.
This isn't like Tianmeng, Xiao Zi, and Xiao Xuelian currently living in the form of spirits within the dragon's soul body.
Instead, it requires a tangible soul space so that the Ice Emperor's 400,000-year-old true form can also reside within it.
Not only that!
Ma Hongjun also wants to subdue the Snow Emperor.
Previously, the method of sacrifice to subdue the Snow Emperor only preserved her spirit; now, through a soul contract, he can subdue both her body and soul.
The Snow Emperor—this is one of Ma Hongjun's long-cherished desires!
(End of Chapter)