The next morning, the morning sunlight filtered through the exquisite window lattice, spilling into the bedchamber of the Young Sect Master of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. Yu Yuanchen slowly opened his eyes from his meditation; a night of quiet cultivation had left him feeling refreshed. Turning his head, he saw that Ye Zhilan had already risen and was combing her hair before the mirror. Her movements were light, and her brows and eyes carried an undisguised excitement and anticipation.
"Awake?" Ye Zhilan saw him open his eyes in the mirror, turned back, and smiled brilliantly, her face glowing with radiance. "Hurry up and wash up. After breakfast, come with me to the research institute! I have so much new data and many ideas to share with you. Yesterday, I was too focused on... I completely forgot about the important matters!" As she spoke, her cheeks flushed slightly, and she cast a coquettish, reproachful glance at Yu Yuanchen.
Yu Yuanchen chuckled. He had truly experienced the feeling of Ye Zhilan waiting alone for his return during his past retreats or expeditions. They had only been reunited for one night, and his "leisurely" days hadn't even begun before he was dragged in to "assist with work."
Yu Yuanchen rose and walked behind her, taking the wooden comb from her hand. He naturally began to comb through her waterfall-like dark hair, teasing, "Yes, yes, it is this husband's fault for delaying Scholar Ye's research. I shall make amends today by accompanying you all day, at the beck and call of Scholar Ye, with absolutely no complaints."
Ye Zhilan enjoyed his service, pursing her lips in a smile. "That's more like it. However..." She blinked craftily through the mirror. "I must warn you, the research institute is very dull. It's full of data, samples, and those profound notes left by Miss Gu Yue. Don't complain that it's boring."
"My wife is devoted to academics; I am honored to be part of it. How could I find it boring?" Yu Yuanchen's movements were gentle, his tone sincere. He was genuinely happy for Ye Zhilan. His wife was not a vine that could only cling to him, but a Campsis grandiflora that could bloom with its own brilliance.
She had her own pursuits and her own career. This focus and enthusiasm made her radiate a unique charm, far more heart-stirring and admirable to him than a virtuous wife who only revolved around her husband. He was happy to see her shine in her own field and prove her value to the world.
After breakfast, Ye Zhilan impatiently pulled Yu Yuanchen to the Beast Taming Research Institute, located in the secluded back mountains of Dragon City. This was a place where the Ye Family and she had poured their heart and blood. It consisted of several connected stone buildings covered in emerald vines, with internal divisions for laboratories, observation areas, sample repositories, and data rooms. Although not as grand as the sect's main hall, it possessed a rigorous and vibrant academic atmosphere.
Upon entering the institute, Ye Zhilan seemed like a different person; her eyes became focused and bright. She first took Yu Yuanchen to see the latest achievements—several young soul masters from the Ye Family who had awakened the Seven Heart Begonia Martial Soul were, under the supervision of specialists, performing soul power synchronization with their respective contracted plant spirit beasts.
One could see those children, barely ten years old, with their palms pressed against various plant spirit beasts (such as a swaying, glowing Seven-Colored Moon Orchid or a tough Iron Wire Vine). They closed their eyes and concentrated, their soul power fluctuations subtly blending with the life energy emitted by the plant spirit beasts, forming a harmonious resonance. Under the nourishment of their gentle soul power, the leaves of those plant spirit beasts became increasingly crystalline, and their auras grew slowly and steadily.
Ye Zhilan explained in detail, "The essence of the contract is to use the soul master's spiritual power as a guide to build a two-way soul power circulation channel. The soul master's soul power is more 'active' and 'malleable,' which can assist the spirit beast in purifying and compressing its own relatively complex soul power, allowing it to possess the purity that only higher realms usually have. It is equivalent to 'forced ripening'."
"As for the spirit beasts, especially plant spirit beasts, they have a massive total amount of soul power and high affinity with nature, which can provide the soul master with long-lasting endurance. Once the contract deepens, they may even provide feedback in the form of unique innate abilities. Most importantly," Ye Zhilan's eyes shone, "by condensing a soul ring through the contract, the spirit beast does not die, and the soul master can obtain the soul skill most suited to them. It is a true win-win!"
She became more excited as she spoke. "I plan to have all future healing soul masters of the Ye Family condense their soul rings by contracting plant spirit beasts! This will not only reduce the hunting of spirit beasts but also allow healing soul masters, who lack offensive power, to possess a loyal and powerful plant partner, granting them decent self-defense and even auxiliary combat capabilities!"
Yu Yuanchen listened intently, nodding from time to time. He could see the immense potential of this research; it was almost reshaping the relationship between soul masters and spirit beasts, opening up an entirely new path of cultivation. He praised her sincerely, "Amazing! Zhilan, if this path succeeds, you and Miss Gu Yue will have performed a feat of immeasurable merit. You will surely change the future of the entire soul master world!"
Having received her husband's affirmation, Ye Zhilan smiled like a flower, but then her delicate brows furrowed slightly. She pulled Yu Yuanchen into her main laboratory and pointed to a pile of dense data and notes on the table, sighing, "However, Brother Yuanchen, we have hit a major bottleneck."
She picked up a report, her tone filled with confusion and frustration. "The contract method that Miss Gu Yue and I have been researching has significant effects on plant spirit beasts. They have tenacious life force; even broken branches and fallen leaves can regenerate, and their bodies seem to adapt well to the burden brought by such rapid increases in cultivation. But for animal-type spirit beasts..."
Ye Zhilan pointed to an isolation observation area nearby, where several dying, abnormally bloated low-level Wind Wolves and Flame Leopards with cracked fur lay. "Animal-type spirit beasts are different. Their body structures are complex; their bones, internal organs, and meridians all need to be strengthened simultaneously to support the suddenly surging cultivation. We have tried several times, but even for hundred-year spirit beasts, when their cultivation is rapidly raised to the thousand-year level under the power of the contract, they all, without exception, fail because their bodies cannot withstand it... Except for a few with unique talents and special physiques, the vast majority of animal-type spirit beasts cannot adapt."
Yu Yuanchen looked at the struggling, suffering spirit beasts, and his brows furrowed as well. Although his combat power was heaven-defying, he was not an expert in such profound research involving the essence of life and the coordination between energy and the body. He pondered, "Is it that the body strength, or rather the 'resilience of the container,' of animal-type spirit beasts cannot keep up with the rapid growth in the 'quality' and 'quantity' of soul power?"
"We thought so too at the beginning!" Ye Zhilan picked up another stack of data. "Miss Gu Yue and I tried various methods: using medicinal herbs to temper the body, using special soul power to nourish them, and even simulating high-pressure environments to train their physiques... but the effects were minimal. Either the cost was too high to be popularized, or the strengthening speed could not keep up with the cultivation increase."
The research seemed to have reached a stalemate. The laboratory fell into silence, with only the faint, painful whimpering of the spirit beasts in the isolation area audible.
Yu Yuanchen looked at his wife's furrowed brows and the exhaustion in her eyes. Heartbroken, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and comforted her gently, "It is normal to encounter difficulties when researching a new system. You and Miss Gu Yue have already walked a path that no one has trodden before and solved the problem of plant-type contracts; this is already an earth-splitting achievement. Animal-type spirit beasts are more complex; don't be impatient. Take it slowly, and you will eventually find a breakthrough."
To distract Ye Zhilan and help her relax, Yu Yuanchen began to talk about the interesting things he had seen in the Demon Plane and Demon Quelling City. He spoke of how Tang Chen was obsessed with forging and had tinkered with "enchantment inscriptions" that combined demon technology, claiming he was going to create a big surprise. He spoke of how Qian Daoliu was purifying Fallen Angels all over the world, and accidentally mentioned that those purified angels seemed to have become a new race—without martial souls, similar to humanoid spirit beasts, existing between spirit beasts and humans...
Yu Yuanchen was just chatting casually, wanting to help Ye Zhilan relax. However, when he mentioned "no martial soul," "similar to humanoid spirit beasts," and "between spirit beasts and humans," Ye Zhilan's previously somewhat unfocused gaze suddenly sharpened!
She jerked her head up, grabbed Yu Yuanchen's arm, and asked urgently, "Yuanchen! You just said those purified angels have no martial souls? They are like humanoid spirit beasts?"
Yu Yuanchen was taken aback by her sudden excitement and nodded. "Yes, that is what Brother Qian said. They possess angel bloodlines and forms and can cultivate light attribute power, but they truly do not have martial souls in the human sense. They are more like... humanoid spirit beasts with high intelligence? What is it?"
Ye Zhilan did not answer immediately. She let go of Yu Yuanchen's hand and paced slowly around the laboratory, muttering to herself, "No martial soul... humanoid spirit beasts... between the two... Why can plant spirit beasts do it, but animal spirit beasts cannot? Why can human soul masters withstand rapidly increasing soul power, while spirit beasts, especially animal-type ones, cannot? Clearly, at the same level, the body strength of spirit beasts is generally far superior to that of humans..."
Her eyes grew brighter and brighter, as if a bolt of lightning had pierced through the fog in her mind!
"I understand! I understand!" Ye Zhilan suddenly stopped, turned around, her face filled with ecstasy and sudden enlightenment, her voice trembling slightly with excitement. "Brother Yuanchen! We might have been thinking in the wrong direction all along!"
"Thinking in the wrong direction?" Yu Yuanchen was also infected by her emotions and asked curiously.
"Yes!" Ye Zhilan walked quickly to the table, picked up a pen, and quickly drew a diagram on the paper. "We have been thinking about how to strengthen the 'body strength'—the 'container'—to carry the rapidly surging 'water of soul power.' But we ignored the most critical difference—spirit beasts and humans are different in the 'form change rules' of the 'container' itself!"
She pointed to the drawing, speaking very quickly. "Human soul masters, from the moment they awaken their martial soul until they become a Titled Douluo, unless they use a Martial Soul Avatar or special soul skills, their body size is basically fixed! Our soul power increase is about improving the 'density' and 'quality' of energy within a 'relatively constant volume' container!"
"And what about spirit beasts?" Her pen pressed heavily on the side representing spirit beasts. "For the vast majority of spirit beasts, as their cultivation years increase, their body size grows significantly! A ten-year spirit beast and a ten-thousand-year spirit beast may differ in size by ten or a hundred times! Their cultivation is a process where the 'container volume' and the 'content quality' grow slowly in synchronization!"
Ye Zhilan's eyes sparkled as she looked at the abnormally bloated spirit beasts in the isolation area, her tone clearer than ever. "The problem lies right here! Through the contract, we forcibly inject the 'quality' and 'quantity' of soul power that would take them hundreds of years to accumulate into their bodies in a short time! This indeed increases their soul power cultivation, but their 'body'—the container—cannot keep up with the natural growth process of taking hundreds of years to 'grow up,' to adapt, and to become tough!"
"It's like a water skin that can only hold one liter of water, and we are forcibly pouring ten liters into it! No matter how tough the leather of the water skin is, it will be burst! No matter how strong the spirit beast's body is, it cannot withstand this surge of 'volume' that fails to keep up with the 'content,' which violates their growth laws!"
"And why can plant spirit beasts do it?" Ye Zhilan asked and answered herself. "Because the growth patterns of many plants are inherently more elastic! Broken branches can regenerate, body size changes can be more flexible, and some can even temporarily adapt to energy shocks by rapidly proliferating cells! More importantly, the correlation between the 'cultivation' and 'body size' of plant spirit beasts may not be as absolute and rigid as that of animal spirit beasts!"
"And why can humans do it?" She looked at Yu Yuanchen. "Because our 'container' size is basically fixed; cultivation is just constantly purifying and compressing energy within this fixed container! We are naturally more adapted to this 'internal' growth model!"
"And those purified angels..." Ye Zhilan's train of thought was completely connected. "They have no martial souls and are more like humanoid spirit beasts, but their 'human form' is relatively fixed! Their cultivation system may be closer to our human model of 'improving energy quality within a fixed form'."
Yu Yuanchen listened to Ye Zhilan's analytical breakdown, feeling shocked. This perspective was too tricky, yet too fundamental! He had always been accustomed to thinking about problems from the level of power, while Ye Zhilan had found the key from the fundamental differences in life forms and growth laws!
"So, the key to solving the bottleneck of animal-type spirit beast contract improvement may not lie in blindly strengthening their 'body strength'," Ye Zhilan concluded, her face glowing with the radiance of wisdom. "It lies in how to 'trick' or 'regulate' their bodies so that while their soul power surges, their bodies can either synchronously achieve 'controllable and safe' rapid growth adaptation, or... let their cultivation mode temporarily shift toward the 'human-style' fixed-form container and internal growth!"
She grabbed Yu Yuanchen's hand excitedly. "Brother Yuanchen! I know what to do next! I need to redesign the experiment, focusing on spirit beast growth hormones, cell division rates, and how to use the power of the contract to temporarily simulate a 'Form Stabilization Field'... My god, my thoughts have suddenly opened up!"
Looking at his wife, who was glowing with radiance and full of drive because of a breakthrough idea, Yu Yuanchen felt filled with pride and tenderness. He held her hand back and smiled. "It seems that my return this time really did bring some 'good luck.' Congratulations, Zhilan, for finding the true direction."
Ye Zhilan nodded vigorously, her eyes flashing with the desire to explore the unknown. "Brother Yuanchen, I need to start the new experiment immediately! I might be busy for a while again..."
"No matter," Yu Yuanchen stroked her hair gently. "Go ahead and get busy. Whatever resources you need, the sect will provide full support. I will be right here, accompanying you."
He knew that if this research of Ye Zhilan's succeeded, its significance would far exceed personal cultivation improvement. This might be the key to changing the ten-thousand-year-old antagonistic pattern between soul masters and spirit beasts, and the path of hope that truly leads to the harmonious coexistence of man and nature.
And all he could do was to be her most solid backing, protecting this hope, and waiting quietly for the flowers to bloom.
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Translated by: randomtranslator.com
Proofread by: GodKun-Chan