Back in the Star Dou Forest,
Yun Chuan returned to test whether his current martial soul could still absorb soul rings, and if so, whether soul skills might manifest.
A worthy question.
Boom!
A Thunder Spear shot out, striking a yellow-glowing bird. The devastating lightning ravaged the speedy bird soul beast, blackening and convulsing it before it fell to the ground.
Bang!
The immense, bull-like bird crashed down.
In the distance, Yun Chuan still held the spear-throwing stance—clearly, the events had been swift.
Losing soul rings hadn't affected him, since due to his martial soul's nature, attached soul rings never granted soul skills. The soul skills he used all came from his own exploration and invention. Soul rings were merely aids for breaking through soul power limits.
"Tch! A ten-thousand-year Aurora Bird!" Yun Chuan smirked, watching the convulsing bird with a spiraling blood-red soul ring. Previously, he had felt shackled—great power trapped inside, unused.
Now escaping the soul master system's bounds, his strength soared exponentially. Before, his attacks were capped by his Soul Saint rank regardless of soul power amount.
But now unrestricted, his power adjusted at will. He was far stronger—and even a ten-thousand-year soul beast would fall with a flick of his hand!
"Let's see if I can absorb this soul ring."
Yun Chuan knelt beside the blackened Aurora Bird's corpse, summoned his smoky Clear Sky Hammer spiritual weapon, and transformed his five-element power into soul power. He tried to pull the blood-red soul ring toward himself.
But no matter what, the soul ring remained still, quietly hovering above the corpse.
"No response—can't attach to a martial soul anymore?" Yun Chuan frowned, then wondered if he could absorb the soul ring directly.
"Using five-element power, can I absorb the soul ring outright?"
He extended his hand, five-colored light glowing in his palm. The blood-red soul ring, once motionless, seemed drawn to him, floating slowly his way.
With the element power, Yun Chuan gathered the soul ring into his body.
Closing his eyes, he felt the soul ring enter, and the five crystal organs glowed and rotated, grinding the soul ring with great focus. Eventually, it transformed into pure energy and fused with his body.
After fully absorbing the ten-thousand-year soul ring, his eyes snapped open. He understood.
He looked toward the Aurora Bird's body, raising his hand as five-colored light exploded forth.
Under this brilliant light, the blackened body crumbled to dust, leaving only a golden right leg bone—the soul bone of a ten-thousand-year soul beast.
The five-colored light swept up the golden soul bone, fusing it into Yun Chuan's body. He closed his eyes again, entering deep meditation.
Some time later, opening his eyes, Yun Chuan smiled—he realized soul bones and soul rings were not useless to him. Their true value was even greater than he had imagined.
The Aurora Bird, as the name suggests, was a light-element soul beast, famed for speed akin to light itself (though not truly reaching it). Despite relatively weak attack power, its speed was unbelievably fast—especially for one with a ten-thousand-year cultivation.
After absorbing its soul ring and soul bone, Yun Chuan naturally gained insight or a latent soul skill—or innate talent—the ability of light-speed movement!
Though he'd had light previously for illumination or dispelling gloom, now he could embody light itself with its incredible speed.
How fast is light?
300,000 kilometers per second!
Theoretically, circling the Earth would take 0.13 seconds; from the Moon to Earth, only about 1.28 seconds.
"I can finally boast: speed is power! Ever been kicked at light speed?" Yun Chuan laughed, eager to test out his newfound velocity.
With light speed, he felt invincible in Douluo Realm.
Standing, stretching, he readied to run. A white glow shimmered as he prepared to sprint.
Boom!
Blood splattered everywhere.
Instead of disappearing in a flash, Yun Chuan streaked less than ten meters before his body exploded in pain. He collapsed, barely conscious.
"…Too reckless!" Gasping, bleeding, Yun Chuan's face showed helpless regret. He'd underestimated the bodily strain of light-speed movement.
Though his body was much tougher now, it still couldn't withstand the shock of light-speed travel. Lucky he stopped in time—or he'd have been pulverized into mist.
Movies and comics lied—it was not so easy to use light speed freely without injury.
Grateful for his caution, Yun Chuan halted, but his body was badly battered from the impact.
Fortunately, his five crystal organs emitted healing five-colored light, washing over his broken bones, muscles, and organs…
Soon, the battered Yun Chuan sprang up, vigorous as ever. If not for his shredded clothes and fresh bloodstains, no one would guess he'd been nearly killed moments ago.
"My body is still too fragile—I can't handle true light speed yet," he muttered, shaking his head, sobering from his illusion of invincibility.
"If I reduce speed to a level my body can handle… that should still greatly increase my speed."
Newly inspired, Yun Chuan began experiments, measuring his body's limit over distance and speed.
True light speed was impossible now, but a pseudo-light speed might be achievable.
(End of Chapter 100)