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"Of course, I'm here to rest."
Xu Yuan spoke indifferently as he closed the door behind him.
Dai Yun'er sat on the bed, shrinking back slightly. She had intended to say something tough to warn Xu Yuan but, recalling his overwhelming strength, quickly lost the courage to speak.
Xu Yuan glanced at her briefly before ignoring her completely. He moved to the other bed, sat down cross-legged, and immediately entered a meditative state.
Dai Yun'er remained tense for a long time, but seeing that Xu Yuan wasn't moving, she finally relaxed.
Curiously observing him, she realized that he seemed to have truly immersed himself in deep cultivation.
Is this the secret to his immense strength?
---
Dreamscape
"Yao Yao, save."
Xu Yuan called out, and Yao Yao materialized two small hands, patting her tiny chest to signal, You can trust me with this.
Without any visible action from Yao Yao, Xu Yuan retrieved the medicinal energy he had discreetly brought into the dreamscape earlier.
Using his spiritual power, he delved deeply into the structure of the medicinal energy, violently breaking it down.
"Yao Yao, rollback."
At Xu Yuan's command, Yao Yao waved her little hands, and the broken-down medicinal energy reverted to its original state.
This was a soul skill replicated by a senior student from Shrek Academy's inner court, facilitated through Xu Yuan's teacher's connections.
The rollback effect of the soul skill wasn't inherently this powerful, but when paired with the dreamscape—a space entirely under Xu Yuan's control—it enabled operations akin to saving and loading progress.
After practicing a few times, Yao Yao, as the secondary controller of the dreamscape, gradually learned how to perform these operations herself.
Xu Yuan repeatedly deconstructed the medicinal energy while Yao Yao rolled it back each time.
Finally, Xu Yuan gained a clear understanding of the structure within the medicinal energy.
"This sealing technique is quite ingenious, but unfortunately, it cannot be integrated into the Seven Forbidden Techniques."
Through his research, Xu Yuan abandoned his initial idea.
Yun Ming's Seven Forbidden Techniques were purely based on spear techniques and represented the pinnacle of willpower. The sealing technique, however, involved overly complex formation patterns.
Could Yun Ming not understand it?
Impossible.
At the very least, the formation patterns in this sealing technique were far inferior to those of four-word battle armor, barely matching a portion of the core formations in two-word battle armor.
And only a small portion at that.
Xu Yuan had deduced the structure overnight through reverse engineering. If Yun Ming had obtained this technique from the Tang Sect, he would have understood it even faster. Yet, he hadn't integrated this sealing technique into the Seven Forbidden Techniques.
The reason was simple: the structure was too complex to execute instantly.
As for engraving it onto battle armor, it was entirely unnecessary.
For Yun Ming, rather than wasting space on sealing-type formations, it was better to inscribe more formations that enhanced fundamental attributes like soul power, spiritual power, and willpower.
"Still, this formation isn't useless to me."
After some thought, Xu Yuan summoned the paper spirit soul, Shan He, into the dreamscape.
The Heavenly Origin Brush fell into his hand, and he began inscribing on Shan He's scroll.
In an instant, a complex formation was sketched out.
"With Shan He's assistance, my Heavenly Origin Brush has significantly improved its auxiliary effects in battle. It now has numerous formations inscribed, though they haven't been used yet. Once the origin of my first soul ring is replenished, I'll be able to officially deploy these formations in combat."
Most of the formations Xu Yuan inscribed were elemental in nature, with the first soul skill being particularly crucial.
During battle, his primary means of attack remained spear techniques. Therefore, whether it was the manifestation or release of formations, it was best handled by spirit souls. Shan He alone couldn't fully maximize the potential of elemental formations, and partially utilized formations held limited value for Xu Yuan.
"Pure soul-guided formations are still too weak; they require the support of spirit souls to have a noticeable effect."
"Or, I could attempt to further refine the formations and integrate additional capabilities..."
As Xu Yuan pondered, an old idea resurfaced in his mind.
Runes
"Based on formations, with willpower and insight as the core, runes are constructed to unleash effects far surpassing pure soul-guided formations."
Willpower—the foundation of cultivation.
Whether it's soul power, spiritual power, or blood essence, the reason these forces are harnessed by soul masters lies in the willpower embedded within them.
Xu Yuan's understanding of willpower surpassed that of ordinary soul masters. However, integrating this force into soul-guided formations to create runes was not something that could be achieved overnight.
"It's worth a try."
Once the Heavenly Origin Brush's origin was restored, he could incorporate this project into his research agenda.
After a night of study, Xu Yuan opened his eyes.
Dai Yun'er had already left.
Outside, the commotion was loud.
After listening carefully, Xu Yuan quickly grasped what had happened.
Tang Wulin hadn't eaten much on the bus the previous day and returned late at night, only to find all the food shops in the town closed. Starving through the night, he rushed to every shop the moment they opened this morning and bought out all their food.
No—more accurately, he swept through them rapidly and cleaned them out.
Now, the other fighters outside were criticizing him.
Xu Yuan had eaten the same amount yesterday but wasn't hungry.
First, he still had ample medicinal energy to absorb within his body. Second, unlike Tang Wulin, he didn't possess such a heightened sense of "crisis awareness."
The dragon clouds and dragon souls within the Dragon Valley were abundant sources of energy that could directly replenish blood essence. Even without preparing rations, both Xu Yuan and Tang Wulin could rely on these resources once inside.
"What's going on?" Black One noticed the situation and came to mediate.
Upon learning that White Three—Tang Wulin—had monopolized all the food in the town, Black One's face darkened beneath his mask.
What nonsense was this?
"What use is buying so much food?"
"Hungry," Tang Wulin said pitifully.
He had been starving last night.
"Quickly distribute what you bought to everyone else. Once inside the Dragon Valley, you'll understand. Ordinary food is sufficient for daily needs, no matter how large your appetite. There's no need to worry."
Black One still refrained from revealing specific details about the Dragon Valley but assured Tang Wulin enough to convince him to share the food.
After the commotion settled, the thirty participants gathered under Black One's organization.
Once assembled, the group headed toward the depths of the forest beside the town.
They set off at noon and arrived at their destination by evening.
At this point, they stood on a mountaintop. Vegetation here was sparse, the altitude exceeded two thousand meters, and the ground was covered in snow.
On the summit stood a small stone hut. As Xu Yuan and the others arrived, the door opened, and an elderly man stepped out.
"Elder Wu." Black One approached respectfully.
Elder Wu scanned the group, pausing momentarily on Tang Wulin and Xu Yuan, then nodded at Black One.
"The quality of this batch of youngsters is decent. Are they ready?"
Black One nodded.
"Then let's begin." Elder Wu didn't elaborate further and simply walked toward the peak beside the stone hut.
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