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..."Rules..." Xuan Ming murmured. Gods can bestow spirit rings, and they can also deprive them.
Human Spirit Masters can theoretically also voluntarily abandon their spirit rings, but the cost is the complete destruction of their cultivation. Between these, the essence of divine force, spirit power, and spirit rings seems to have some kind of exploitable connection.
Thinking of this, Xuan Ming found a step in the Sea God Temple and sat down.
"Sea God, lend me two god-bestowed spirit rings."
Poseidon's Divine Thought carried a hint of doubt, but he still bestowed two ordinary god-bestowed spirit rings. The maximum lifespan of these was only 100,000 years, which was also the limit most Sea God Island assessors could reach under normal circumstances.
If it were a god-bestowed spirit ring that could reach up to a million years, like the one Xuan Ming absorbed before, it wouldn't be something that could be given out casually.
After all, a million years touches the boundary of the God Realm.
Contained within a million-year spirit ring is the Law power of the God Realm. The Asura, Evil, Destruction, and Ring of Kindness that Xuan Ming currently possesses all contain the Law power of the respective God Kings themselves. Although they are only prototypes, they also mean that Xuan Ming has a "seed."
Just like a Blue Silver Grass seed, it can grow into Blue Silver Grass, or a ten-thousand-year Blue Silver King, or even reach a hundred-thousand-year Blue Silver Emperor.
With the seed, how high it can grow depends on how he cultivates it.
Xuan Ming grasped the two god-bestowed spirit rings, closed his eyes, and immersed all his Divine Thought into the Ring of Kindness within his body. He wanted to feel, to understand, how Gods "create" spirit rings. He wanted to reverse engineer this process.
The Sea God Temple fell into a long silence, with only Bo Saixi quietly guarding nearby, watching the pure white halo around Xuan Ming interweave with the two god-bestowed spirit rings before him.
A month quietly passed.
Xuan Ming opened his eyes. He raised his hand, palm up, and the vast attribute-less divine force within his body began to slowly gather, compress, and construct in an extremely complex way... He tried to imitate the Law fluctuations of Poseidon bestowing god-bestowed spirit rings, using his own divine force to condense a brand new, independent god-bestowed spirit ring!
This process was extremely difficult, requiring an abnormal level of precise control over divine force, as well as a deep understanding of the underlying rules of spirit ring formation. The special meaning of "creation" and "endowment" contained within the Ring of Kindness gave him crucial guidance.
Time passed little by little, and fine beads of sweat even seeped from Xuan Ming's forehead, which was extremely rare for a hundred-level True God. The energy light cluster in his palm constantly shifted and flickered unsteadily, as if it could dissipate at any moment.
After a full day and night.
"Om—"
A faint but steady hum sounded.
A light sphere emitting a faint white glow, with energy fluctuations roughly equivalent to a hundred-year spirit ring, finally slowly took shape!
Success!
Although the quality of this spirit ring was extremely low, only able to bestow a hundred-year spirit ring upon a Spirit Master, and because his divine force had no specific attribute, this spirit ring was also attribute-less, its effect might even be inferior to hunting a suitable hundred-year Spirit Beast.
But that wasn't important!
What was important was that he could indeed create spirit rings.
Since creation was possible, then theoretically... reverse analysis to find the "node" connecting the spirit ring to the Spirit's Origin for "deprivation" was not entirely impossible!
Poseidon's Divine Thought carried unconcealed shock: "You... you brat... you actually pulled it off?!"
Although it was just a hundred-year spirit ring, the significance it represented was completely different! This was no longer a simple application of power, but rather touched upon "creation" at the rule level!
Just entering the Divine Rank, and without a God Position, he could actually achieve "creation"?
Xuan Ming gazed at the faint light sphere in his palm. The energy fluctuations of the hundred-year spirit ring were like fireflies to him, but its significance was as heavy as Qian Jun. He proved the possibility of "creation," which provided the theoretical Foundation for "deprivation" and "substitution."
He could understand Poseidon's shock, but he was more concerned with the feasibility of practical operation.
"What are the raw materials for condensing god-bestowed spirit rings?" Xuan Ming asked, wanting to assess the cost.
"divine force, Power Of Faith, both are fine." Poseidon replied, then understood Xuan Ming's intention, his tone filled with disbelief, "You're not seriously thinking of using this method to replace Spirit Beast spirit rings, are you? Kid, do you know how much that would require?"
Poseidon's Divine Thought carried a strong negative connotation: "Even my Sea God Island only bestows god-bestowed spirit rings for Black Rank assessments and above! How vast is the number of Spirit Masters on the Douluo Continent? A Spirit Master needs a maximum of nine spirit rings in their lifetime! Even if most Spirit Masters don't need that many, the number of spirit rings needed by the current generation of Spirit Masters alone is in the tens of thousands, millions! To fill that with god-bestowed spirit rings?"
"Believe me, even if you had the ability, you wouldn't have the leisure."
Xuan Ming didn't refute; he knew Poseidon was speaking the truth. But this didn't mean the path was completely blocked; it just meant a more efficient, more fundamental method was needed, or... the "demand" itself needed to change.
He temporarily put this problem aside and turned to another crucial question: "How much longer until Bo Saixi can inherit your God Position?"
Poseidon pondered for a moment, then estimated: "Her Foundation is solid, and she has the complete Sea God Trident and Sea God's Heart, but to fully merge with the God Position and condense her own Sea God authority, it will take at least two years."
Two years... Xuan Ming mentally calculated. Connecting this with Bibi Dong, who was undergoing the Asura God Legacy, a clear picture emerged in his mind.
Sea God Island has Bo Saixi, who is about to become a God, and the continental Spirit Empire has Bibi Dong, who is undergoing the Asura God Trial. The content of this fifth trial is to "reshape the continental order," essentially to help Bibi Dong establish a truly stable and sustainable Empire.
The God Realm is... putting reins on him.
Because of Bo Saixi's existence, he cannot, and will not, harm Sea God Island and the creatures in its protected waters.
Because of Bibi Dong and the Spirit Empire, he likewise cannot indiscriminately destroy humanity on the continent.
Poseidon's willingness to let Bo Saixi inherit the God Position is equivalent to indirectly handing over part of Sea God Island's "jurisdiction" and "responsibility" to Bo Saixi, who has a close relationship with him. This is not mere moral blackmail; instead, it grants him a certain degree of influence and intervention capability.
And once Bibi Dong becomes a God, given their complex and solid relationship, she will become the strongest force to restrain humanity and maintain continental order, also largely preventing humans from excessively harming Spirit Beasts and disrupting internal order.
The God of Kindness guided him to ponder the spirit ring rules and gave him the Ring of Kindness, which implied "creation," providing him with "tools" and "ideas" to solve problems.
Furthermore, even when he clearly showed signs of instability and destructive tendencies, the Godly Trial rewards were still issued on time: four God King-level god-bestowed spirit rings—Asura, Evil, Destruction, Kindness—and helping Gu Yuena restore her Origin... All of this indicates that the God Realm does not want to become completely antagonistic with him. They are also avoiding extreme measures and are willing to give him support and room for growth within the rules.
What they hope to see is a potential collaborator who can solve problems within the framework, possesses leadership and constructive thinking, rather than a madman and enemy who only knows destruction.
Having understood this, the agitated Qi in Xuan Ming's heart, caused by feeling manipulated and constrained, calmed down considerably.
Since the God Realm has shown its attitude, willing to play within the rules and giving him corresponding bargaining chips and a certain degree of freedom, then he is naturally willing to play a beautiful game on this chessboard.
He will not betray this "expectation," nor will he waste these "resources."