Under normal circumstances, this kind of ability was exceedingly rare—so rare that even among top-tier Martial Souls, only a handful of individuals possessed it. In this era, the only ones known for "Beast Soul Toolization" were the members of the Black Turtle clan.
And yet, Chen Ming still gave a serious, well-considered answer.
"Difficult—but not impossible," he said.
In theory, as long as one first obtained a weapon-type Spirit Ability, it could serve as a foundation. From there, by gathering and shaping the Martial Soul's energy through that skill, one could achieve a simplified form of Beast-Soul Toolization.
The problem, however, lay in the odds.
Weapon-type Spirit Abilities were among the rarest of all. They were effectively equivalent to gaining a secondary, minor Martial Soul. Even a mere hundred-year-level weapon-type ability could remain useful all the way up to the level of a Titled Douluo.
At present, aside from the Angel lineage, no family in the world possessed a reliable method for consistently obtaining such abilities.
Perhaps in the future, when new systems emerged, it might become possible to stabilize and inherit such abilities through more advanced means—but in this era, everything still depended on luck.
That said, Chen Ming's thoughts didn't stop there.
He had already begun exploring the idea of achieving similar effects through non-weapon-type Spirit Abilities—essentially working backward to recreate the function of a weapon ability.
In fact, the target of his upcoming hunt was closely tied to that very concept.
Dugu Bo could only sigh, both helpless and faintly relieved. Looking at Chen Ming, he found himself at a loss for words. After a long pause, he finally remembered to ask why Chen Ming had come to find him in the first place.
Surely it wasn't just to show off this new ability?
"Senior Dugu, I'd like to ask for your help in obtaining a Spirit Ring."
"A Spirit Ring, huh?" Dugu Bo stood up, his expression shifting. "So you've finally decided to hunt one. I was beginning to think you were waiting for something—your Spirit Power had already reached its limit, yet you didn't move. Now it seems you were waiting for this ability to take shape."
He studied Chen Ming closely before asking directly, without any attempt at subtlety.
"Will this ability actually help when you absorb a Spirit Ring?"
"It will," Chen Ming replied without hesitation. "In theory, completing this form of Beast-Soul Toolization means my control over Spirit Power is more refined, and my understanding of my Martial Soul's origin is deeper. Under the same conditions, I should be able to withstand a stronger Spirit Ring."
He paused briefly before adding, "Also… while I can't be certain, this ability might influence the type of Spirit Ability I obtain. Whether that's a real effect or just probability at work, I can't say for sure."
"After all, I didn't originally possess this talent. I developed it here, under your environment and guidance. There probably aren't many precedents like mine in history—I don't have any references to rely on."
"…Yeah, that's beyond me," Dugu Bo admitted, scratching his head. "I really don't have anything to say about that."
He exhaled, then shifted to a more practical line of thought.
"What kind of Spirit Ring are you aiming for? What kind of ability do you want—offense, defense, enhancement? Or something like control or utility? Tell me, and I'll help you look for a suitable target in the Sunset Forest."
Chen Ming met his gaze calmly.
"If possible… I want a dragon transformation ability."
"…Dragon transformation…" Dugu Bo frowned slightly. That was no easy request.
Weapon-type Spirit Abilities were largely a matter of luck. Dragon transformation abilities, while somewhat more traceable, were still notoriously difficult to obtain.
At minimum, two strict conditions had to be met.
First, the Spirit Beast in question needed to possess a sufficiently pure dragon bloodline.
Second, its type had to be highly compatible with the user's Martial Soul.
Only after satisfying both conditions would there even be a chance of obtaining a dragon transformation ability.
And that was precisely why the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan stood as the strongest beast-type Martial Soul family in the world.
Their direct descendants were born with a stable, inheritable dragon transformation ability—one that didn't even require a Spirit Ring to acquire.
In other words… they began their journey with an additional top-tier enhancement ability already in hand.
The dragon transformation ability was not merely a matter of technique—it relied heavily on the purity of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon bloodline. Even within that clan, only a small number of direct descendants could truly wield it.
And yet, despite such harsh limitations, it remained something countless people could only envy for a lifetime, never hoping to obtain.
"Do you have any specific ideas?" Dugu Bo asked, frowning slightly as he thought it through. "The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan has been searching for powerful sub-dragon Spirit Beasts like this for generations. High-purity bloodlines are extremely rare nowadays. While earth-attribute sub-dragons are relatively common, finding one that can reach this level at just five or six hundred years of age is anything but easy."
He paused, mentally stacking the conditions one by one.
"High bloodline purity, only a hundred years old, and still a sub-dragon… Putting all that together…" He exhaled slowly. "We'd probably have to venture deep into the Star Dou Forest and try to snatch one straight from a dragon's nest."
"Troublesome… very troublesome. But not impossible."
Rolling up his sleeves, Dugu Bo looked ready to act immediately, as if he truly intended to storm the depths of the forest and drag out a suitable Spirit Beast by force.
Despite the difficulty, he didn't believe it was beyond him.
"Senior Dugu, no—really, there's no need to go that far," Chen Ming quickly interjected, stepping in to stop him.
If it were within the Sunset Forest, Chen Ming wouldn't doubt Dugu Bo's capabilities. But the Star Dou Forest was a completely different matter.
Trying to steal a dragon whelp from the nest of a high-purity, high-level sub-dragon would most likely provoke a brutal retaliation. And in the worst case… it might even attract the attention of a true calamity—a ferocious beast like the Hell Demon Dragon King.
Even if they somehow managed to escape that, there was still the terrifying possibility of encountering the legendary ruler among Spirit Beasts, the Golden Eyed Black Dragon, Di Tian.
And with Dugu Bo's standing as one of the weaker Titled Douluo, Chen Ming wasn't entirely confident he'd even make it that far. There was a very real chance he'd be torn apart by other dragon-type Spirit Beasts before encountering anything of that level.
After all, dragon-type Spirit Beasts were among the strongest of all. Even sub-dragons possessed formidable strength, along with exceptional resistance to toxins and abnormal conditions.
Dugu Bo's poison was undeniably powerful—but against creatures with such vitality and resistance, its effectiveness would be significantly diminished. If anything went wrong, failure wasn't just possible—it was likely.
"My second Spirit Ring should be able to handle a limit of around one thousand three hundred years," Chen Ming said calmly. "There's no need to restrict ourselves to five or six hundred-year Spirit Beasts. And as for dragon blood… I have an idea. The sub-dragons in the Sunset Forest might be… modified."
"One thousand three hundred years? How did you manage that?" Dugu Bo's eyes widened.
Chen Ming began explaining again—patiently walking him through the process step by step.
"It's like I told you before. First you do this… then stimulate bone development… after that, adjust it like this… and finally, depending on the condition, you either proceed this way or that way…"
He spoke at length, laying everything out clearly.
And Dugu Bo, after listening for quite some time, realized with a faint sense of helplessness that… he had indeed heard all of this before.
He just hadn't understood it.
He had even considered improving his granddaughter's limits, allowing her to absorb higher-quality Spirit Rings in the future. But after a moment's thought, he came to a much simpler conclusion—why struggle to figure it out himself when the expert was standing right in front of him?
With that realization, Dugu Bo nodded decisively and thumped his chest.
"Alright. Let's go. The Sunset Forest is practically my backyard—I know where most of the Spirit Beasts are. Since you've got a plan, I'll take you to pick one out."
With that, he quickly gathered his things and led Chen Ming away from the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, heading straight toward the regions of the forest where earth-attribute sub-dragon Spirit Beasts were known to appear.