"An embryo?!" Zhu Zi Yang was stunned, his gaze a mix of confusion and curiosity as he examined the airflow in Electrolux's hand.
At this moment, because the airflow was bound by Electrolux, its interior gradually revealed a circular shape. Beneath the hazy gas, a small, infant-like silhouette indeed emerged.
Such a peculiar sight greatly surprised Zhu Ziyang.
"That's right, it's an embryo!" Electrolux nodded, his eyes gleaming with an unusual light, and he said, "If my understanding is correct, this embryo should be the product of a Spirit Beast transforming into human form, a phenomenon widely rumored in the Spirit Master's world!"
"Teacher, you mean?" Zhu Ziyang immediately understood Electrolux's thought, a surprised smile on his face as he said, "This embryo is a 100,000-Year Soul Beast that is currently transforming into human form?"
"Exactly!" Electrolux nodded and said, "Besides this, no other possibility can explain why an embryo, and one with such powerful strength, would appear in this Extremely North Core Circle!"
"Hmm! That makes sense!" After a moment of thought, Zhu Ziyang agreed with Electrolux's statement, then said, "Which 100,000-Year Soul Beast's transforming embryo is this, exactly? Also, how should we deal with it?"
"According to the theory of Spirit Beast transformation, this embryo has not yet formed a physical body and bloodline, so it should still be regarded as a Spirit Beast," Electrolux said, "Therefore, as a Spirit Beast, and a 100,000-Year Soul Beast at that, the best way to deal with it is to kill it and absorb its spirit ring and Spirit Bone."
"Or, directly let a Spirit Master who can withstand a Hundred-Thousand-Year spirit ring absorb this embryo, making it the Spirit Master's second Spirit!" Zhu Ziyang recalled the knowledge about Spirit Beast transformation from the Silver Dragon Wolf's memories and added.
"Hahaha, others might only have these two choices, but Ziyang, you are different; you have a third choice!" Electrolux burst into laughter, a smug and mysterious smile on his face.
"Teacher, do you have another solution?" Zhu Ziyang looked at Electrolux expectantly, eager to know what kind of surprise his teacher from another World would bring him this time.
"That's right!" Electrolux nodded profoundly and said, "In our World, there exists a type of contract, a master-servant contract that allows humans to control magical beasts. So-called magical beasts are special life forms that exist just like the Spirit Beasts in this World. Just like Spirit Beasts and Spirit Masters, magical beasts and professional practitioners are also incompatible.
However, in our World, a powerful individual emerged and developed such a contract that allows magical beasts to be controlled by humans, which we call the Master-Servant Equal Contract. Under the binding of this contract, humans and magical beasts will be in a symbiotic state. Humans are the masters, and magical beasts are the servants. The strength of the magical beasts will grow with the increase in human strength, and humans can freely command magical beasts to fight for them.
Regarding symbiosis, for humans, if the human dies, the magical beast will also die. For magical beasts, as long as the human is alive, they will be resurrected an infinite number of times. Although each resurrection requires the erasure of all memories and cultivation, it is still a form of eternal life."
"This… such a miraculous contract actually exists!" Zhu Ziyang exclaimed with great novelty, saying, "The universe is truly vast and full of wonders! Teacher, is the third option you mentioned this Master-Servant Equal Contract?"
"Naturally!" Electrolux nodded, a faint smile appearing on his face, and he said, "I have made some modifications to the Equal Contract to make it adaptable to the rules of the Douluo Continent. Although it has not been put into practice, I, this old man, am confident that this will become a new system in the Douluo World, coexisting with the spirit ring system!"
Electrolux's arrogant demeanor made Zhu Ziyang's eyes light up. After so many years of interaction, he already knew Electrolux's temperament: he was the kind of person who either didn't do something, or if he did, it would be astonishing. Now that he had expressed himself this way, it meant that Electrolux had full confidence in the modified Equal Contract.
"Teacher, what are we waiting for? I'm ready!" Zhu Ziyang said excitedly. Although he understood that he was being a test subject for Electrolux, he still went ahead without hesitation because he knew that no matter what, Electrolux would always prioritize his safety.
"Hahaha, originally I was a bit hesitant, but seeing your trust in me, Ziyang, I am very pleased!" Electrolux's face was filled with emotion and satisfaction as he said, "Originally, I intended to use that little dragon as the subject for practice, but the appearance of this embryo gave me new ideas and a safer method! Ziyang, what we are about to do is essentially to create a new system of rules. If we succeed, all will be well. If we fail, we will be punished by the World's rules, and the Purple Heaven Divine Lightning will certainly not be spared."
"Teacher, I understand!" Zhu Ziyang nodded solemnly and said.
"Originally, according to my old man's plan, if we failed, I would use this wisp of remnant soul to protect you." Electrolux said with a smile, "But now, with this Spirit Beast embryo, I don't need to die. If we fail, this Spirit Beast embryo will be the perfect scapegoat!"
"Teacher, don't be too pessimistic! We will definitely succeed!" Zhu Ziyang felt that Electrolux was being a bit pessimistic and encouraged him.
"Hahaha, I'm getting old, and I'm a bit timid in my actions." Electrolux smiled upon hearing this and said, "Since Ziyang, you are ready, then what reason do I, this old man, have to back down? To create a new system, first requires a large amount of heaven and earth elemental energy. Fortunately, this lake, full of source-less water, is very suitable. Ziyang, I will first explain to you the Equal Contract after my modifications, and then you can clear and survey the environment on this island. After making full preparations, we can begin to sign the contract!"
"I understand, Teacher!" Zhu Ziyang nodded, his gaze seriously directed at Electrolux.
"I have named the modified contract the Soul Spirit Contract. The so-called Soul Spirit is the Spirit of the spirit ring, which is the core of my Soul Spirit Contract." Electrolux said, "Through the Soul Spirit Contract, after a Spirit Master reaches a bottleneck, they no longer need to directly hunt Spirit Beasts. They only need to sign a Soul Spirit Contract with a Spirit Beast to directly obtain a spirit ring, while retaining the consciousness and soul of that Spirit Beast, making it a special spiritual entity that can fight cooperatively."
"Soul Spirit!" Zhu Ziyang murmured these two words, a brilliant smile gradually appearing on his face.
"In my vision, a Soul Spirit is a special spiritual entity with consciousness, formed by fusing the remnant soul of a Spirit Beast, originally residing in the spirit ring, with the vitality within the spirit ring. It possesses the combat abilities it had during its lifetime and can evolve as the host's cultivation level increases." Electrolux elaborated on his expectations and plans for the Soul Spirit System, saying, "A Soul Spirit will provide a certain number of spirit rings to its host, either one or multiple, based on its cultivation during its lifetime. The growth in the Soul Spirit's strength will also drive the increase in the spirit ring's age, synchronously reflecting in the power and effect of the Spirit Ability!"
"Teacher, if such an effect can truly be achieved, wouldn't that mean reducing the Spirit Master's hunting of Spirit Beasts, thereby alleviating the conflict between Spirit Masters and Spirit Beasts?" After listening to Electrolux's words, Zhu Ziyang's mind quickly churned, sorting out the potential impacts of Soul Spirits. He was immediately filled with admiration for Electrolux and said, "In this way, Teacher, you would truly become the savior of the Douluo Continent!"
In the current Spirit Master's world, there are two attitudes towards Spirit Beasts: one is captive breeding, and the other is symbiosis. Both of these attitudes are due to one reason, which is the decrease in the number of Spirit Beasts, or more precisely, the sharp decline in the number of low-level Spirit Beasts.
Far-sighted high-level Spirit Masters have already realized that if this trend continues, the Spirit Beast population will become smaller and smaller, low-level Spirit Beasts will become fewer and fewer, leading to a decrease in the number of Spirit Masters. Spirit Masters will be unable to obtain spirit rings and thus unable to continue advancing. Inability to advance means no future, and without the support of high-level Spirit Masters, the Spirit Master's world will inevitably decline, and eventually the entire Spirit Master profession will gradually disappear.
This idea now seems overly alarmist, but it is an undeniable trend. Perhaps it will be a thousand years later, or perhaps ten thousand years later. However, very few Spirit Masters today consider the rise and fall of the entire Spirit Master's world. They don't care about the World; they only care about themselves!
In fact, Zhu Ziyang also held an attitude of inner worry but undiminished action towards this trend, because he was truly powerless. Spirit Masters hunting Spirit Beasts to obtain spirit rings was a matter of course, and he had no reason to stop it.
"Hahaha, I, your teacher, don't have such noble thoughts; I just simply want to leave something for you." Electrolux chuckled indifferently and said, "Of course, if you want to take it out and contribute to the development of the Spirit Master's world, I, your teacher, will not object. To be honest, even with Soul Spirits, the conflict between you Spirit Masters and Spirit Beasts will not fundamentally ease. The root of the conflict lies in the rules of the Douluo Continent!"
"Hmm!" Zhu Ziyang nodded thoughtfully, then immediately gave instructions to the Hell Knight and Lich King, telling them to clear the island and harvest all the snow lotuses. Afterward, he walked towards the ruins of the ice house.
He wanted to see if there was anything left beneath the ruins of the ice house that could reveal the embryo's identity.