Chu Tian, lost in thought, had been listening to their accounts.
Martial artist, Divine Soul user – these were terms he encountered for the first time.
It seemed he himself was a Divine Soul user, and Luo Luo's family appeared to harbor animosity towards Divine Soul users.
Luo Luo was the daughter of the Luo family patriarch. The extent of the Luo family's influence was already evident from the fact that the car he was currently in was allowed on the road.
As for the Ninth Office, it was likely a state organization that capable individuals could join upon selection.
From Ye Ling's words, it seemed only she knew about his status as a Divine Soul user, and it hadn't yet been reported to the Ninth Office.
Moreover, she implied that the Ninth Office could protect him from being hunted by the Luo family.
Reborn into this life, he had encountered things he couldn't have imagined in his previous one.
He had transformed from a cripple into a so-called Divine Soul user.
Did the abilities of a Divine Soul user solely stem from a powerful soul force?
Ye Ling had mentioned that the Divine Soul Stone had shown three anomalies. The first, he presumed, was when he emerged from a five-thousand-year dream, and the system rewarded him with five times his soul force.
The second time was when he returned from the Underworld, having consumed countless Shoreside Flowers, thus enhancing his soul force.
The third was just moments ago, when he had inadvertently projected his divine sense.
This confirmed it, indeed.
Hearing Luo Luo call him, Chu Tian snapped back to attention and asked, "What exactly is a Divine Soul user?"
"The young miss of the Luo family is most qualified to answer that question," Ye Ling said, looking at Luo Luo.
Luo Luo did not hesitate and slowly began to explain.
Divine Soul users were collectively defined as individuals whose soul force strength exceeded that of ordinary people by more than five times.
As for why it was five times, no one knew when this standard was established.
However, people with soul force exceeding five times always met a grim end, inviting misfortune.
Some would self-harm, others would go mad and kill indiscriminately, and some would even die physically, their souls becoming powerful enough to leave their bodies and wreak havoc.
In short, there were all sorts of outcomes, the only commonality being the loss of sanity.
Some said Divine Soul users were cursed; others believed they should not exist in this world.
Luo Luo's family harbored such hatred for Divine Soul users because a Divine Soul martial artist had once massacred the entire Luo family, killing the current patriarch's wife and children at the hands of that individual.
From that point on, the Luo family suffered a severe decline, only to rise again in the last two generations, with Luo Luo's grandfather's generation marking their resurgence.
This was precisely why the Luo family held such deep-seated animosity towards Divine Soul users.
In fact, it wasn't just the Luo family; many martial artists would spontaneously eliminate Divine Soul users upon encountering them.
Firstly, it was out of jealousy, and secondly, they masked their actions under the guise of acting on behalf of heaven.
Divine Soul users who embarked on the path of martial arts could cultivate and grow at an extremely rapid pace.
Furthermore, the selection criterion for various families and hidden sects when recruiting new disciples was a soul force reaching 1.5 times that of an ordinary person.
This presented a paradox: they desired their sects to recruit prodigies, yet they prohibited the existence of Divine Soul users whose soul force exceeded five times.
"It's not absolute that Divine Soul users will invite misfortune!" Ye Ling interjected at this point.
"You mean to say..."
"Indeed, the founder of the Ninth Office back then was a Divine Soul user. The exact figure is unknown; he simply disappeared.
Even after his disappearance, there were no reports of him causing harm to the world. And our current director's soul force is rated at 5.1. He is already in his seventies, yet he is perfectly fine?"
Ye Ling refuted Luo Luo's assertion that Divine Soul users invited misfortune.
"Perhaps his disappearance is also a form of misfortune? As for Elder Xu, he remained unmarried his entire life, and he has no children. Doesn't that also count as misfortune? Who can explain it clearly?"
Luo Luo uttered these words with a light tone, causing Ye Ling to glare at her fiercely.
Misfortune – this word echoed in Chu Tian's mind.
Unmarried for life, no children... this...
Chu Tian looked at Luo Luo, wondering if he would end up like that.
"You won't!" Dao Tian's voice suddenly echoed in Chu Tian's mind.
"Holy crap..." Dao Tian's sudden voice startled Chu Tian. It was the first time he had heard Dao Tian's voice outside of the game.
However, his sly and cunning remark caused everyone else in the car to look at him strangely.
"N-nothing, I was just reflecting on how truly bleak Elder Xu's life was," Chu Tian quickly fabricated an excuse.
He then began to communicate with Dao Tian in his mind.
Chu Tian no longer felt the need to inquire about Dao Tian's mysterious nature.
After all, this old fellow seemed to possess immense capabilities, and judging by his name and the name of the world, Tiandao,
It was likely that he was behind the entire game. Chu Tian hadn't pressed him on why he had created a game.
"You said I won't invite misfortune?" Chu Tian asked Dao Tian in his mind.
"Yes, your soul force was bestowed upon you postnatally."
"Is there a difference between postnatal and innate?" Chu Tian asked.
"Human soul force originates from the soul. Where does the soul originate from?"
"Where?" Chu Tian asked.
"Are you an idiot? You've been there before," Dao Tian retorted.
Chu Tian exclaimed in surprise, "Are you referring to the Underworld?"
Dao Tian ignored him and continued, "According to their assessment standards, souls permitted to reincarnate from the Underworld cannot have a soul power exceeding 4.9.
An ordinary person's soul is typically a strength of 1. Those exceeding 1 are usually powerful beings who, after death, used their supreme magical powers to resist the weakening effects of the Underworld's laws.
But 4.9 is a fixed value. Even the most powerful individuals will have their souls reduced to below 4.9 by the Underworld's rules before reincarnation.
This means the stronger the soul, the longer it must spend in the Underworld to reincarnate.
As for souls with soul power exceeding 5, they are generally escapees who have used special channels or illegally fled the Underworld.
Therefore, inviting misfortune is inevitable. Even if misfortune hasn't arrived, their physical bodies, not being suited for such high-intensity soul force, will experience problems.
This is also one of the reasons I advised you to choose Druid and allocate your stat points with balance."
"So, you're saying I truly won't invite misfortune, right?" Chu Tian pressed.
"Uh... try not to be too smug, and you probably won't!" Dao Tian replied vaguely.
"What do you mean, 'try not to be too smug'? What am I being smug about?" Chu Tian grew slightly agitated.
"It means don't use your Divine Soul powers unnecessarily before you become strong. If some entity targets you, I can't do anything about it."
Hearing Dao Tian's words, Chu Tian felt a sense of concern from him, so he asked, "Then how can I become stronger?"
"Your top priority now is to fully activate your bloodline power!
You said you've been slacking off, and you're already over level thirty, yet the Elven King's bloodline power hasn't been officially activated."
By the end, Dao Tian sounded somewhat disappointed, as if he couldn't stand Chu Tian's lack of progress.
"Bloodline power still needs activation? You haven't told me how to activate it!"
"Don't you have any uncompleted tasks? Think about it yourself!" After saying this, Dao Tian vanished once more.