Zeng Yi shook his head and said, "This is Ronin Sword's scabbard. When the martial soul awakened, the sword and the scabbard appeared together. But I feel that they are one entity, not two martial souls."
"Not two?"
Upon hearing this answer, Grandmaster's excited expression dimmed, his brow furrowing as he began pondering this question.
This shouldn't be the case! According to his many years of research on martial souls, inanimate martial souls, such as swords and knives, have never appeared with scabbards. In the category of inanimate martial souls, there are sword sheath martial souls and knife sheath martial souls, but they are just empty shells without swords or knives. Logically speaking, the knife and the scabbard should be two different martial souls, but Zeng Yi said they are one entity, not two martial souls. This made him feel conflicted and troubled.
"This shouldn't be the case."
Grandmaster muttered to himself, pacing back and forth in front of Zeng Yi, his brow furrowed, searching his knowledge for an answer.
"What's this?"
Seeing Grandmaster's appearance, Zeng Yi couldn't help but look at Tang San.
"Whenever the teacher encounters a problem, he looks like this." Tang San shrugged helplessly.
"Speaking of which, Zeng Yi, your martial soul is clearly a knife. Why do you call yourself a swordsman instead of a knifeman?" Ma Hongjun, the chubby boy, curiously asked while looking at the long knife in Zeng Yi's hand.
"Oh, this?" Zeng Yi looked at Ronin Sword and explained, "Swords and knives belong to the same category. Swords have many types—long swords, short swords, heavy swords, broadswords—and they can be divided into double-edged and single-edged swords. Knives, on the other hand, evolved from single-edged swords. So it's not a problem to call knives a type of sword since they already belong to the category of swords."
"We all have handles, they're long, sharp, and hard. Why differentiate between each other? Don't you agree?" After hearing Zeng Yi's last sentence, several boys looked at him in astonishment. They had initially thought Zeng Yi was a serious person, but suddenly he started talking about something unrelated, catching them off guard.
"Phew! Ruffian." Ning Rongrong couldn't help but scold Zeng Yi.
This left Zeng Yi somewhat confused. In an instant, he suddenly realized that his words just now could be interpreted ambiguously. But why did you guys come up with such twisted thoughts? I didn't even think of that. Your thinking is really problematic.
"Come on, how am I a ruffian? Have you become one yourself? If your mind were pure, you wouldn't have thought about all this. What's the point of talking back and forth?" Zeng Yi rolled his eyes at Ning Rongrong, leaving her speechless and feeling a little embarrassed.
"So there are these different ways to refer to a knife. Tang San, is what Zeng Yi said correct?" Oscar, the scholarly boy who knew the most, asked.
"It's indeed like that."
Tang San nodded. In his previous world, he had learned about the history between knives and swords, and Zengyi's explanation was indeed accurate. Knives were derived from single-edged swords because there was a significant difference in the way single-edged and double-edged swords were used, so they became two separate weapons, knives and swords.
"I got it!"
A sudden exclamation startled the group who were chatting, and they all turned their gaze in the direction of the sound. They saw that Grandmaster, who had previously looked troubled, now had a bright and cheerful expression, just like the sunlight dispersing the clouds.
Grandmaster was excited. He walked quickly to Zeng Yi's side, grabbed his shoulders, and said excitedly, "I figured it out. Your martial soul is a kind of symbiotic martial soul."
"Symbiotic martial soul?"
Zeng Yi was a little puzzled, as were the others.
"This is just my speculation, but there is a high probability it's true." Grandmaster released Zeng Yi and slowly explained his thoughts to the group.
"Actually, Zeng Yi, you should have two different martial souls, which are twin martial souls. However, because one of your martial souls is a long knife and the other is a scabbard, the two have an extremely close affinity, resulting in the fusion and combination of the two martial souls into a new one that is even stronger than the original two. This is my guess: martial soul symbiosis!" Grandmaster said excitedly.
"So, it's a martial soul mutation, becoming a completely new martial soul."
"Martial soul mutation?"
"Yes! Zeng Yi, quickly release your soul rings and let me have a look."
"Uh, okay."
Zeng Yi agreed to Grandmaster's request. His soul power surged, and three soul rings quietly rose, shimmering and revolving around his body. The oppressive aura of their soul power spread from these soul rings, making the surrounding space heavy and filled with a solemn and murderous intent.
"2 thousand-year soul rings?"
Once Zeng Yi's soul rings were revealed, the others were shocked when they saw the colors of his soul rings. As a Soul Sage, having three soul rings, and two of them being thousand years old was incredibly abnormal!
"Damn it! Zeng Yi, how did you manage to obtain a thousand-year soul ring?" Dai Mubai was dumbfounded. No wonder there was such a huge power gap between himself and Zeng Yi. Even though he possessed an exceptional beast martial soul, the White Tiger, Zeng Yi's soul rings were just too abnormal.
"Huh? Dai Big Bro, haven't you fought against Zeng Yi before? How come you don't even know what his soul ring configuration is?" Oscar asked in confusion.
"Well, Zeng Yi defeated Dai Big Bro without even releasing his soul rings." Ma Hongjun whispered to him. However, they were all Soul Masters, and they were close enough to hear Ma Hongjun's words. Dai Mubai's shocked expression instantly turned ugly, and he clenched his fists.
"Fatty, it seems necessary for me to give you a lesson."
Grandmaster ignored their banter and focused on Zeng Yi's shimmering soul rings. His eyes narrowed as he discovered something extraordinary.
"No, Zeng Yi's second soul ring isn't just thousand years old. His first soul ring is also thousand years old."
As soon as these words came out, everyone was stunned. The first soul ring was thousand years old, so how did Zeng Yi endure it?
"The positions of the soul rings follow a certain order. Look at the order of Zeng Yi's soul rings. It starts with purple, then yellow, and ends with purple again. Am I right, Zeng Yi?" Grandmaster asked.
"That's right, my first soul ring is indeed around one thousand years old," Zeng Yi nodded.
"Just as I expected!"
Seeing Zeng Yi's soul rings, Grandmaster's speculation was confirmed.
"Do you know why Zeng Yi can absorb soul rings with a longer age limit?"
After Grandmaster said this, the group exchanged glances and shook their heads, unable to comprehend the reason.
"Is it because of martial soul symbiosis?"
Suddenly, Tang San thought of what Grandmaster had just said and spoke up.
Seeing that his disciple had come up with the answer, Grandmaster nodded and then proceeded to explain to them.
"As you all know, the absorption of soul rings is closely related to one's physical qualities, soul power intensity, and martial soul. The maximum limit that a Soul Master's body can withstand for the first soul ring is approximately four hundred and thirty years. The second soul ring is around seven hundred and fifty years, and the third one is about one thousand five hundred years."
"However, because Zeng Yi's martial soul is a fusion and mutation of twin martial souls, resulting in a stronger martial soul, the age limit that his martial soul can bear becomes higher. Moreover, Zeng Yi's physical qualities are the strongest among all of you. Because of this, he can absorb soul rings with a longer age limit without his body crumbling under the exceeding soul power."
"Look at the colors of Zeng Yi's three soul rings. The first soul ring is purple but very faint, indicating that it's about one thousand one hundred years old. The second soul ring, which is yellow, is extremely intense, confirming that it's over nine hundred years old. The third soul ring is even deeper purple, surpassing the age limit. It's an extraordinary soul ring." Grandmaster said, his face solemn and serious. In his own disciple, Tang San, the third soul ring was also a soul ring with an age limit exceeding a thousand years—the Man Faced Demon Spider, two thousand years of cultivation. But the third soul ring Zeng Yi possessed had an even deeper purple, estimated to be around five thousand years.
"The age limit of all three soul rings is exceeded, am I right, Zeng Yi?"
"Yes, Grandmaster, your guess is spot on." Zeng Yi was also shocked by Grandmaster's speculation. He didn't expect that the foremost theoretical master in the world of soul masters would possess such insight and intelligence to clearly and thoroughly explain it to him. He truly deserved to be called exceptional in both theory and practice.
I never expected that you could come up with this speculation and back it up with reasoning and evidence.
Impressive! I admire you!
When it comes to theory, I crown you as the strongest!
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