If Chu Chengzhou had not packed up and taken home the rare metal stock of the Seven Treasures Chamber of Commerce in the city today, Ning Fengzhi would actually have come by in the next few days as well.
It just happened to coincide, so he mentioned it in advance now.
Hearing this, Chu Chengzhou looked at Fang Quan beside him.
He had not noticed before. Now he realized that Fang Quan's soul power had reached the peak of Rank 89, just a hair from Rank 90, quasi-Titled Douluo.
For other spirit masters, the chance of breaking this bottleneck was much greater than being stuck at it for life.
But Fang Quan was different. It was not that the old man's cultivation talent was outstanding. It was because Chu Chengzhou knew his father-in-law had a portion of whale brain produced by a 100,000-year sea spirit beast.
As for the compatibility between a sea spirit beast's spirit ring and a martial soul?
Even if the compatibility was low, as long as there was no direct conflict, advancing by hunting a 100,000-year spirit beast was definitely stronger than advancing by hunting a 90,000-year ring. After all, hunting a 100,000-year spirit beast guaranteed the drop of a 100,000-year spirit bone.
"I will be back in at most a month. But if the old man can break through in the next few days, I can get you a 100,000-year spirit ring first before I go."
After thinking for a moment, Chu Chengzhou said.
"Uncle Fang, take the whale brain when you get back. Do not try to break through on your own to save the treasure. Every 100,000-year sea spirit beast has this thing anyway," Ning Fengzhi said to Fang Quan.
In fact, Fang Quan had already reached the peak of Rank 89 a month earlier. But as a member of the sect, he did not think only of himself. Whale brain was certainly a treasure. If he could break through on his own, it would be better to save this treasure for the sect.
It was precisely because of this thought that Fang Quan had not directly taken the whale brain to break through.
"All right. I will wait for your good news."
Chu Chengzhou nodded.
Activating the soul tool technology tree was not urgent. It had been delayed this long already. Delaying another two or three days would not matter.
"By the way, Uncle Ning, I think there is no need to condense a soul core too early unless the talent is very strong.
Take Grandpa Fang as an example. Wait until soul power is cultivated to the peak of Rank 89, when there is no way forward, then condense the first soul core. Most likely you will break through along with it."
Suddenly, Chu Chengzhou offered this suggestion to Ning Fengzhi.
In this era, those who could rely on their own talent and reach the eight-ring Soul Douluo realm without external aids such as refining spirit bones were rare geniuses on the continent. Their innate soul power was basically Rank 7 or above.
With talent at that level, once they cultivated to the peak of Rank 89 and then condensed the first soul core, the Rank 90 bottleneck would mostly not hold them.
But if they condensed a soul core early, say at Rank 88, then when they reached the peak of Rank 89 it would be hard to break through directly.
Of course this did not mean that condensing a soul core early could not help with the bottleneck. It meant that if you condensed it early, you could not break through along with the peak of Rank 89. In the end, however, because the soul power in the body was of higher quality, the probability of breaking through Rank 90 would still be much higher than that of spirit masters with the same talent who had not condensed a soul core.
For this reason, when the soul core system matured in later generations, most experts on the continent, apart from a few super geniuses, condensed their soul cores at the peaks of Rank 89, Rank 94, and Rank 98.
There was no other reason. The bottlenecks from Rank 89 to 90, 94 to 95, and 98 to 99 were clearly harder to break than other levels.
"Is that so?"
Ning Fengzhi raised his brows, half doubtful.
"Trust me. You will not be wrong."
Chu Chengzhou replied with certainty.
Carrying out the most basic four-element Heavenly Refinement cost even less than Chu Chengzhou had expected, and the power of the four-element lightning tribulation was still within his tolerance.
By dusk, as the elemental tribulation clouds in midair dissipated again, after the Deep Silver Hammers, Chu Chengzhou upgraded his Nine Heavens Mystic Spirit Armor and Nine Heavens Mystic Spirit Bow, which had been at the Soul Forging level, as well as all his Flowing Gold Armor-Piercing Arrows, to the Heavenly Refinement level.
It was somewhat unexpected yet reasonable. The four-element Heavenly-Refined spirit metal forged from fine gold and magic silver could provide a 50% elemental amplification effect for him, an eight-ring Soul Douluo.
With a 50% elemental boost from the material alone, Chu Chengzhou could not help looking forward to a true Heavenly-Refined battle armor.
After upgrading his own gear, Chu Chengzhou stopped forging.
There was no point continuing. Outfitting his sister with Heavenly-Refined metal armor would be worse than lighting up the soul tool tech tree later and directly giving her proper battle armor.
Then Chu Chengzhou moved a lounge chair, lay in his own courtyard, consumed whale brain to increase his soul power, and sat waiting for Nine Breaths Qi to upgrade.
Yes. After a day, following the Creation Hammer advancing to gold grade, Nine Breaths Qi, which had already been at gold grade, would also undergo a new metamorphosis and upgrade.
Chu Chengzhou was also inwardly expectant. Once it surpassed gold grade, what changes would Nine Breaths Qi show.
He knew that in the attribute panel's grade division, a gold-grade peerless art corresponded to a million-year spirit skill.
When a million-year spirit skill was driven by soul power, it was only a million-year spirit skill, at most bearing the label of a pseudo-divine skill. But once a spirit master became a god and drove it with divine power, a million-year spirit skill was a genuine divine skill.
By that logic, would Nine Breaths Qi, after upgrading beyond gold grade, be the legendary transcendent divine skill.
Time passed. In a blink, more than an hour went by.
Suddenly, a vast flood of information and insights poured into the mind of Chu Chengzhou, who was consuming whale brain.
After a long while, once he had digested it, Chu Chengzhou exhaled a turbid breath, his expression hard to read.
It did not disappoint him. The upgraded Nine Breaths Qi was extremely powerful.
In the new version of Nine Breaths Qi, the speed of cultivating soul power again saw a qualitative leap, and the quality of the cultivated soul power became higher than before. Most importantly, a new function appeared.
However, this new function was a bit sinister.
In myth from his previous life, Nine Breaths Qi was one of the Thirty-Six Tiangang Divine Powers. Breathe in and out for nine breaths to convert the world's primal energy into qi. It could also be used to meditate and regulate breathing to restore one's mana.
But the upgraded Nine Breaths Qi could convert all energies into his own soul power. It could be used not only to restore himself but also to increase his accumulation of soul power.
Increase his accumulation of soul power. At once, Chu Chengzhou thought of Beiming Divine Skill and the Great Absorbing Technique, those man-eating styles of cultivation.
Then he thought of the most common thing in the world that contained massive energy. Spirit rings.
F*ck. Is this forcing me, Chu, to become an evil spirit master.
"Perhaps just like my big nephew thinks, do I have a way to seek death?"
T/N: For 40 chapters ahead on my translations, become a p@tron at [email protected]/LordHipposApostle