After some deliberation, Xu Yuan made his decision.
"The formation of the Spiritual Domain should be left to nature. With my talent in spiritual power, I shouldn't be stuck in this area for too long."
Of course, the key factor was that Xu Yuan felt that the stimulation from forming a second soul core and breaking through to the ninth ring would be sufficient.
The ninth ring symbolized the completeness of soul rings and marked the maturity of a martial soul.
Additionally, although Xu Yuan didn't differentiate between power systems and condensed his soul cores in their most primal form, the Sea of Spirit could only condense a spiritual soul core.
This created an imbalance.
It was better to wait until the third soul core's formation, which would coincide with separating the various systems' powers, to condense this spiritual soul core.
Considering multiple factors, Xu Yuan ultimately chose to condense it in the middle dantian.
Of course, there were still potential issues.
The main risk was that forming the third soul core in the Sea of Spirit carried a certain level of danger, though it wasn't high.
Xu Yuan wasn't like Huo Yuhao or Mu Ye, who pursued yin-yang complementarity; instead, he aimed for same-position resonance.
The process of condensing a same-position resonance soul core, aside from the first soul core, involved gradually forming subsequent cores by finding resonance with the first core. This process adjusted and stabilized the second and third soul vortexes, inherently reducing the danger.
Moreover, Xu Yuan had his own methods of deduction.
"Accelerating deductions within the dream space and using stellar energy to promote soul core condensation, success within two months is quite hopeful."
Xu Yuan continued absorbing stellar energy, compressing the soul power within his body to approach the critical point of solidification. Simultaneously, he conducted experiments within the dream space to explore possibilities beforehand.
---
One Month Later
Above the Blood God Legion, origin energy converged, and massive streams of energy streaked across the sky, leaving trails of dazzling, colorful light. A giant vortex appeared above the Blood God Legion.
The soldiers of the Blood God Legion looked up at the sky, exclaiming in awe.
This scene of breakthrough rivaled even Commander Zhang Huanyun's transcendence to Limit Douluo!
When Zhang Huanyun broke through to become a Limit Douluo, it wasn't during seclusion but in the heat of battle. Though the scene was grand, it had been overshadowed by the backdrop of war.
Perhaps for this reason, the soldiers felt that this spectacle was no less impressive than the commander's breakthrough during wartime.
Within the military camp, three Blood Gods of the Blood God Legion were present—Blood One Cao Dezhi was absent, leaving Blood Two, Blood Five, and Blood Seven. They gazed at the sky, their expressions grave.
This fluctuation of soul power surpassed that of most Super Douluos.
Had they not known beforehand who was in seclusion, they might have thought someone was attempting to break through to become a Limit Douluo.
Mu Ye flew out from the logistics department building, landing atop it while holding a plate of fragrant shrimp.
"This kid... How is he breaking through so quickly when the process of condensing a soul core is so difficult?"
Mu Ye couldn't comprehend.
If he remembered correctly, the last time Xu Yuan condensed his first soul core, he only spent seven days in seclusion, completing the process in just a week.
The previous instance could be attributed to Xu Yuan training in the Sea God Pavilion under the influence of the Golden Ancient Tree, but what about this time?
Even though the same-position resonance method of condensing a soul core was simpler compared to the nine-to-one odds of yin-yang complementarity, it was still no easy feat.
The vortex of origin energy grew larger and larger. Initially, it was only about a hundred meters in diameter above Xu Yuan's head, but soon it expanded to cover the entire military camp.
This massive vortex gathered enormous amounts of origin energy, and as the elements within it condensed, they seemed to liquefy by the time they reached the funnel's base below.
Inside the cultivation chamber, Xu Yuan devoured vast amounts of origin energy, making his final breakthrough.
His second soul core had already formed and was now in the process of stabilization. He intended to consume all the origin energy gathered above his head to rapidly strengthen this new soul core.
This idea had unexpectedly occurred to him within the dream space, where he had tested it beforehand.
The key to condensing a same-position resonance soul core lay in resonance. The newly formed soul core needed to resonate and connect with the original core, mutually promoting each other.
Only then could the second soul core be smoothly and seamlessly formed.
Resonance was only one aspect; the second soul core also needed to grow in strength until it matched the first. Only then could the process be considered complete. Otherwise, over time, the first soul core would quickly drain the second.
Even with resonance, there was still competition between them.
Only when their strengths were comparable could a truly stable situation emerge.
Just as in reality, strength was fundamental. Without power, any consensus or agreement achieved through other means wouldn't last long.
This process of strengthening the second soul core was crucial.
Therefore, the condensation of dual soul cores via same-position resonance typically required a long period of seclusion. First, it allowed the accumulation of soul power to strengthen the second core, and second, it gradually transferred part of the first core's power into the second to quickly close the gap between them.
During this process, most soul masters wouldn't fully link the two cores immediately. Instead, they would forcibly form the second core, striving to synchronize them slightly to reduce maintenance difficulty without achieving full synchronization. This way, they could extract power from the first core to compensate for the second core's deficiencies.
Only after the second core was fully formed would they complete the resonance connection, thereby breaking through the bottleneck.
The drawback was that this process was time-consuming and exhausting. Seclusion lasting several years was common, and facing the critical juncture in a weakened state after expending much mental effort was one reason for the low success rate.
Xu Yuan was different.
He directly formed the second soul core.
Then, leveraging the commotion of the breakthrough, he used the Great Devouring Heaven and Earth Technique to attract vast amounts of origin energy.
Fully refining this origin energy wouldn't be enough to immediately bring the quality of Xu Yuan's second soul core to par with the first, but it was sufficient.
This was because Xu Yuan's soul core structure differed from normal soul cores.
"My soul cores contain solidified soul power, constantly being solidified and ignited. The resulting force continues to drive the soul core's operation."
For the second soul core, Xu Yuan adopted the same form.
The resonance he completed was part of this process.
As long as the driving force was strong enough, even if the two soul cores weren't equal in strength, there was no need to worry about imbalance.
Because the second soul core had ample momentum.
A core with a power rating of five, after accumulating for a long time, might have an exaggerated total mass of ten thousand. Meanwhile, a newly formed core might have less than a thousand units of mass but could possess a power rating as high as ten.
Soul core operation relied on momentum. The first core's momentum had already weakened, and Xu Yuan hadn't adjusted it. Its momentum couldn't keep up with the demands of the core, and maintaining its basic operation was already a challenge. Gradually absorbing normal soul power growth was already slow, let alone drawing from another core with abundant momentum.
Conversely, the second core, endowed by Xu Yuan with greater momentum, could resist the pressure from the first core and catch up quickly.
Although this shortened the seclusion time and eliminated the need to expend additional effort to maintain balance between the cores, it wasn't the final form.
The ultimate form would still involve both cores reaching the same level.
"Quickly fill the gaps in the second core while gradually increasing the momentum of the first core. Once they achieve balance, I'll test the maximum momentum they can withstand under resonance."
With the Great Devouring Heaven and Earth Technique in operation, the liquid origin energy at the base of the funnel split into five dragons, each transformed into one of the five elemental attributes and absorbed into Xu Yuan's body without a trace of fluctuation.
The five elemental energies circulated within his body, entering his soul cores layer by layer until they reached the innermost core, where they solidified and were ignited.
By the time the energy reached the innermost core, over eighty percent of it had already been assimilated.
Finally, it solidified and ignited.
From this point onward, the energy Xu Yuan devoured was fully converted into his soul power.
This core was the key to Xu Yuan rapidly devouring external energy to accelerate his growth.
After a full ten hours, the vortex in the sky dissipated.
The concentration of origin energy around the Blood God Legion seemed to have significantly decreased.
However, origin energy was fluid, and since the factors affecting its concentration hadn't changed, the energy levels would quickly return to their original values.
At this moment, many soldiers were drawn to Xu Yuan's breakthrough.
Most were those who had been cultivating in nearby chambers, as their cultivation had been disrupted, giving them time to gather. Other soldiers mostly had their own tasks.
Additionally, many relatively free officers gathered.
Above Xu Yuan's cultivation chamber, a starry river flowed.
After the vortex disappeared, the sky subtly shifted.
The sky suddenly became deep and profound, with stars flowing through it, resembling a cosmic starry expanse.
Rings of soul halos emerged in the air.
Black, black, black, black, black, black, red, red.
Six black, two red.
As the two red soul rings appeared, the hearts of those present immediately became restless.
Even though times were changing and progressing, the significance of a hundred-thousand-year soul ring for soul masters had not changed. At most, there were now many other equally precious pursuits in addition to the hundred-thousand-year soul rings.
Beyond the eight soul rings, above the starry river, starlight gathered, mingling with countless blood-red threads.
The blood-red starlight outlined a massive halo.
After the halo formed, it began to shrink, eventually condensing into a soul ring that encircled the original eight soul rings.
Six black, three red!
Zhang Huanyun took a deep breath.
This combination of soul rings was among the very best on the entire continent.
Even many renowned top-tier powerhouses couldn't reach this standard.
Yet Xu Yuan had achieved it.
And he hadn't even fully settled yet!
Moreover, this was Xu Yuan's primary martial soul!
For dual martial souls, the configuration of the second martial soul could be high, but the first martial soul's configuration was usually difficult to elevate to such heights, especially in the era of spirit souls.
However, Xu Yuan not only seemed to possess three martial souls but also maxed out the configurations of at least two of them.
Yu Guanzhi had personally seen that Xu Yuan's spear martial soul had seven hundred-thousand-year soul rings.
"He must have at least ten hundred-thousand-year soul rings," Zhang Huanyun blurted out.
Mu Ye gazed at the scene in the sky, feeling as if he were dreaming.
The changes over these past few years had been tremendous, especially regarding Xu Yuan's soul rings—they seemed to change every day.
Ah Ruheng, Jiang Wuyue, and Wang Jinyang had long since gathered beside Mu Ye; they were now a team.
"Xu Yuan's breakthroughs are too fast. I was stuck at Level 89 for over two years," Ah Ruheng muttered, scratching his head anxiously.
He felt like he was about to be caught up to.
"Yes, forming soul cores seems to pose no difficulty for him whatsoever," Mu Ye said with a bitter smile.
The most critical stages in a soul master's cultivation were all tied to forming soul cores.
Yet Xu Yuan seemed completely unhindered by them. He condensed his first soul core after just seven days of seclusion, and his second soul core took only a month.
It seemed his third soul core wouldn't take much time either.
At this rate, his true potential ceiling was incredibly high. If there were levels beyond the hundredth level for soul masters, perhaps he could reach an extremely high level through focused cultivation alone.
Wang Jinyang stared at the interwoven starry river and the six black, three red soul rings, feeling an unprecedented amount of pressure.
"Second Senior Brother—no, Senior Brother Xu Yuan is far too strong!"
Who could possibly catch up to him?
"Jinyang, don't think too much about others. Your senior brother's performance in the Soul Ancestor stage may seem exaggerated, but it hasn't reached absurdity yet. Everything is the result of his own hard work afterward. You're only at the Soul Ancestor stage now; nothing about your future is set in stone," Mu Ye consoled him with a pat on the shoulder.
But even in offering comfort, he couldn't bring himself to say that Wang Jinyang might surpass Xu Yuan.
It simply wasn't something he could say.
Wang Jinyang continued to stare at the starry river formed by Xu Yuan's breakthrough, his gaze flickering.
After a long while, he finally spoke: "Teacher, I've had some thoughts. I might need my senior brother's help."
"Oh? You mean your senior brother Xu Yuan?"
"Not exactly. My senior brother once mentioned that my martial soul has a connection to the stars, but I've never been able to sense the corresponding star until now. But now I feel it." Wang Jinyang explained, "It was during that time when my senior brother opened the observatory at the academy that I realized my martial soul could resonate with a certain star. Now I feel it again, so one of the stars my senior brother resonates with must correspond to me."
"I see?" Mu Ye nodded slowly.
"After your senior brother finishes his breakthrough, I'll ask him about it."
"Simply meditating and absorbing energy can't compare to devouring tribulation lightning for speed."
This was why Xu Yuan chose this method of breakthrough.
He only needed to sit in meditation for a month instead of spending a year or more balancing two soul cores before emerging from seclusion.
For ordinary soul masters, secluding oneself to focus on cultivation was undoubtedly the fastest way to increase soul power, but Xu Yuan was different—he wasn't normal!
"Breakthrough complete: Exit seclusion, heavenly forging, upgrade!"
After confirming that there was no sign of mutual consumption between the two soul cores within his body, Xu Yuan ended his meditation.
"Hmm?"
Upon exiting seclusion, Xu Yuan checked his communication device and discovered fifteen missed calls from Xu Shengqun.
In addition, there were numerous text messages.
Ordinary soldiers in the Blood God Legion didn't have communication devices to contact the outside world, and contacting family required approval, but Xu Yuan was a general, so his device still functioned.
After skimming through the content of the messages, Xu Yuan's expression shifted slightly.
"It's research on the distribution of the Spirit Pagoda on the Dou Ling Continent."
The information indicated that the research conducted there was only a part of a larger effort, with over a dozen similar research institutes in total. The ultimate goal was to develop a suppressant.
A suppressant designed to inhibit human emotional fluctuations.
Xu Yuan already knew much of this, but the key point in Xu Shengqun's message was the purpose of the suppressant.
Based on the internal documents Xu Shengqun obtained from the Spirit Pagoda's creation and implementation of this research project, the suppressant wasn't aimed at some powerful soul beast.
Correct—it wasn't for soul beasts.
Xu Yuan had anticipated that this might be Qiangu Dongfeng's countermeasure against the Demon Emperor.
However, he had overlooked one thing: what did it matter if the Demon Emperor's emotional fluctuations were suppressed?
This clearly wasn't Qiangu Dongfeng's countermeasure against the Demon Emperor—it was something the Holy Spirit Sect needed.
After all, the main participants in this research were evil soul masters, and this research was providing results for their benefit.
The powerful evil soul master in charge of this research wasn't Ghost Emperor but Dark Blood Devil.
If it were Ghost Emperor, there might be a motive to counteract the Demon Emperor, but did Dark Blood Devil have such a motive?
Xu Shengqun revealed that the development of this suppressant was nearing completion, and an enormous quantity had already been produced.
Moreover, the research had been ongoing for fifty years!
In other words, shortly after Qiangu Dongfeng came to power, this research had already begun.
"Fifty years—they've developed at least five entirely different suppressants, produced vast quantities, and handed them over to the Holy Spirit Sect."
Xu Shengqun's conclusion was that the target of this research might not be the Holy Spirit Sect itself.
Instead, the Holy Spirit Sect might be targeting something—or someone—else.
Such as the Plane Master.
Xu Shengqun had heard many of Xu Yuan's speculations, and after much deliberation, he arrived at this conclusion.
And this conclusion wasn't without merit.
The development of five suppressants seemed aimed at avoiding drug resistance, with each new version being an improvement over the previous one.
Since they were avoiding drug resistance and had continuously worked on this for so many years, developing five suppressants in total, it was clear that the previously produced suppressants had already been used.
Such massive quantities couldn't have gone unnoticed across the federation, yet these suppressants had been quietly consumed.
"Either the Demon Emperor used them herself to suppress her own emotional fluctuations, fulfilling some condition to increase her chances of ascending to godhood, or, as Uncle speculated, they were used on Tang Hao."
Though it was a bit difficult to understand how the Demon Emperor became aware of the plane administrator's existence—after all, if this were true, there would be many questions—it was still a possibility that couldn't be ruled out.
Xu Yuan sent his speculations via message, calmed himself, and then left the cultivation room.
Soon, he learned from Mu Ye that Wang Jinyang had once again sensed stellar fluctuations during the display of his starry river, which surprised him greatly.
"Among the stars I resonate with, is there one with a high affinity for the Power Gem?"
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