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"I'm really just following the steps to condense the Blood Soul Rings," Su Yu said helplessly. "If there's anything different, it's probably that my seventh soul ring is drawn from my own origin and condensed through myself. It's my life soul ring."
The life soul ring was something even Poison Douluo understood. It was a concept found in soul power cultivation, a term that became widespread after the Federal Continental Union's promotion of cultivation knowledge.
According to Su Yu, it was best to only condense one life soul ring. If one had enough capability, they could attempt to dig out all nine of their soul rings from their own origin. But that wouldn't carry much meaning. Condensing just one would allow a soul master to fully unleash the essential characteristics of their martial soul. Why bother with more?
The best position for a life soul ring was naturally the seventh soul ring.
Of course, one could condense multiple life soul rings. For example, Su Yu's disciple, Bai Feng, who had the Star Soul Sword martial soul, could condense a life soul ring with a mental attribute, another one related to sword techniques, a third one with a star-related attribute, and even one for demon-slaying techniques.
If he had enough energy, he could add a life soul ring that would merge all of these traits into one, placing it as his seventh soul ring.
If that could be done, not only would it avoid wasting a soul ring slot by condensing too many, but it would also ensure that the martial soul's potential was fully explored, merging all traits into one.
Moreover, most of the power came from within. Su Yu believed this would forge a stronger soul master, who would undoubtedly be far superior to others of the same rank if they could grow to their fullest potential.
Especially in the soul spirit cultivation system, soul masters had the chance to increase the age of their soul rings. For life soul rings, as the characteristics of the martial soul were further developed, their life soul rings would continue to grow.
This might be the road to success for late-blooming soul masters.
"But is it only when the Blood Soul Ring reaches the seventh ring that you condense a life soul ring?" Poison Douluo still seemed skeptical.
While it made sense that the seventh Blood Soul Ring would enable the abilities akin to a martial soul's true body, greatly enhancing one's power, could it really be this dramatic?
"If you insist on saying there's something off about my strength, I'd say it's probably because I've fused the essence of my first six soul rings directly into my bloodline. So, now my blood power is perfectly unified."
Poison Douluo fell into deep thought.
"Of course, it might also be because the bloodline power from which I condense my soul rings is quite advanced," Su Yu continued.
After all, the first six of his soul rings were technically god-level soul rings.
For a soul master at level 70, having seven million-year god-level soul rings, two soul cores with complementary yin and yang properties, and the enhancement of a super battle armor, it wasn't too hard to imagine having the strength to crush a near-god.
Realizing this, Poison Douluo finally understood. It wasn't that Su Yu was hiding anything.
Seven million-year soul rings—just this fact explained everything.
"But I absorbed the bloodline of the Golden Behemoth, refined it into a Blood Soul Ring, and integrated it into my martial soul rings…"
Poison Douluo thought about his own situation.
That meant the Golden Behemoth's bloodline power was also god-level.
But his nine soul rings hadn't reached that level.
Poison Douluo didn't plan on seeking more bloodline powers to fuse. He felt the Golden Behemoth's bloodline was perfect for him. By strengthening himself with its bloodline, he could fully refine it into his own bloodline, then condense the Blood Soul Ring into a life soul ring.
This would be his path forward.
"To truly unleash the full potential of this bloodline power, I'll need to merge the three-in-one soul rings even more thoroughly."
That way, he could fully realize the essence of his Blood Soul Ring.
God-level soul rings!
This was something Poison Douluo had overlooked before.
Indeed, while the Blood Soul Ring was supposed to be god-level, it hadn't yielded the expected effects when merged with his soul power and mental strength.
Seeing Poison Douluo lost in thought, Su Yu was surprised.
"Could Poison Douluo also be favored by fate?"
Under the Golden Era, figures like Huo Yuhao, a child of destiny, weren't the only ones with immense luck. There were other soul masters with remarkable fortunes who, through the great unification of Douluo Continent, entered an era of great development, their potential greatly boosted by their fate.
In Su Yu's eyes, these individuals were "favored by fate"—those with a special talent that, under the push of fortune, would increasingly thrive in their area of expertise.
For instance, Crazy Iron's forging techniques, Xuan Ziwen's soul guide device development, and even Poison Douluo's blood cultivation skills.
Poison Douluo had an epiphany, and Su Yu didn't pay it much mind, deciding to continue his seclusion for a while longer.
"My soul power is still a bit lacking. I need to reach level 99 as soon as possible so I can absorb the Abyss's energy and break through to godhood," Su Yu thought, preparing for this pivotal moment where he would become a god, gain a divine position, and ascend to the Divine Realm.
"The Blood Soul Ring is missing two more, but that's not the main issue. What's more important is that I haven't started condensing my Mental Power Soul Rings yet."
So far, only Poison Douluo had truly proven the existence of Mental Power Soul Rings. His three-in-one soul ring contained both blood and mental power, with both powers fully awakened, imprinting the characteristics of both the Blood Soul Ring and the Mental Soul Ring.
"Should I condense nine Mental Soul Rings from the beginning?" Su Yu pondered.
At this point, would it be a waste of energy to take the time to condense nine Mental Soul Rings?
Or, like Poison Douluo, could he fuse Mental Power directly into his Blood Soul Rings when combining his soul power and blood, awakening the characteristics of the Mental Soul Ring along the way?
"Nine soul rings…"
How would the Mental Soul Rings be condensed?
The Blood Soul Rings could be fused with bloodline power, but what about the Mental Power Soul Rings?
"Perhaps... I could use runes to condense them?" Su Yu suddenly had an idea.
Runes, after all, represent the very rules of the world.
Su Yu's mind raced as his thoughts flickered rapidly.
"If runes can connect to the rules and sense their fluctuations, could they also help control the power of the rules directly?"
The idea suddenly clicked in Su Yu's mind.
"Yes, it's possible!"
He felt certain of it.
"From my initial understanding, a soul ring is the bridge that connects a soul master to the rules. Every soul skill comes into being because it aligns with a certain rule, allowing the soul master to directly access powerful, specialized abilities without needing to cultivate them step by step."
Even now, Su Yu still believed this. It was just that in the process of cultivation, he had gradually forgotten this original insight.
The so-called power of a soul beast's bloodline was merely auxiliary.
If bloodline power could aid in the process, then runes should be able to as well.
"By using runes to condense the Mental Soul Rings, after the three soul rings merge, perhaps I will be able to control multiple rules at once."
Suddenly, Su Yu realized how crucial the nine Mental Soul Rings were.
Nine Great Rules!
Based on his understanding, gods were merely using their divine positions to wield certain powers, fusing various rules to manipulate them.
In essence, power was just the extent to which one could channel the power of the rules.
"Will the power of these nine rules be enough to reach the level of a God King?" Su Yu thought, feeling as though he had found a direct path to godhood.
If that was the case, what symbols or runes would be central to each of these nine Mental Soul Rings?
"Actually, each rune doesn't necessarily represent only one rule. For example, '凝' (condense) and '聚' (gather) may involve several rules. There are also rules like those of thunder, which might relate to both the pure Thunder Rule and the Heavenly Tribulation Rule, among others."
However, the effects of runes at the same level didn't seem to differ significantly.
"Thus, the number of rules doesn't matter as much. What truly counts is the level of the rune, which corresponds to how well one grasps the power of the rule. For instance, merely touching upon many rules is not the same as mastering one completely. The power you unleash might seem similar, but the depth of understanding would be vastly different."
With these thoughts, Su Yu continued to refine his understanding of the power of rules. Simultaneously, he began to explore methods for condensing the Mental Soul Rings.
Even Poison Douluo, who had completed the breakthrough to awaken both the Blood Soul Ring and Mental Power at the same time through his three-in-one soul ring, had no clear understanding of how to condense a Mental Soul Ring.
His breakthrough had been a natural occurrence during a life-and-death crisis.
It was similar to how most soul masters achieved breakthroughs: they naturally grasped the new power without delving into the underlying theories.
This made their cultivation easier since they didn't need to understand the complicated principles. However, it also made their progress unpredictable, relying heavily on luck and opportunity.
Su Yu, on the other hand, though expending considerable energy, was able to break through without seeming to encounter any bottlenecks, advancing steadily.
Three months passed in the blink of an eye.
In the training room.
Su Yu's soul rings floated around him, and the entire room seemed to transform into an ocean of soul rings.
There were nine soul power rings, seven blood essence soul rings, and one mental soul ring.
The soul power rings were in the center layer, the blood essence soul rings at the bottom, and the mental soul ring aligned with Su Yu's head.
"After three months of research, I've finally succeeded."
Su Yu looked at the silver rings surrounding him, a deep sense of accomplishment filling him.
The Mental Soul Ring!
The first Mental Soul Ring in the Douluo Continent.
This first Mental Soul Ring was formed using the "Fate" rune, a symbol born from Su Yu's comprehension of the power of destiny.
At the same time, he didn't create a separate soul ring for the "Tribulation" rune, which was also formed from his understanding of destiny. Instead, he fused the "Tribulation" rune into the Mental Soul Ring as a complementary element to the "Fate" rune.
Since authority can merge multiple rules, the Mental Soul Ring could also integrate multiple related runes.
"The fusion of the Life and Death runes can be considered as one symbol, forming my core. The seventh Mental Soul Ring will represent the cycle of life and death."
Su Yu was conflicted about which runes to choose for his nine Mental Soul Rings.
The Life and Death runes, almost a single entity representing reincarnation, would form his seventh Mental Soul Ring.
"The Void rune could also be a soul ring."
As for time-related runes, Su Yu didn't intend to dedicate a separate Mental Soul Ring to time. Instead, he planned to fuse time and space into a unified force.
However, after considering the remaining runes, Su Yu found it difficult to decide.
It wasn't about not being attached to any particular rune.
Rather, he felt that none of the runes he had mastered were truly fitting.
"Sigh, I never expected that after all this time, I'd end up not finding the right runes," he muttered.
He knew his selective approach might be problematic, but instinctively, he didn't feel there was anything wrong with his standards.
"The Mental Soul Ring's associated nine great rules need to be chosen with care. I can't link them just for the sake of linking."
He needed to ensure the rules he chose were useful to him.
Moreover, they needed to form a cohesive whole.
"Yes, a cohesive whole!" Su Yu suddenly realized what he had overlooked.
The whole!
The fusion of the three soul rings—spirit, blood, and mind—was precisely that: a unified whole.
Just like Bai Feng's training, his perfect plan was to excavate multiple innate soul rings and strategically merge his soul's core attributes into his seventh innate soul ring.
In the Divine Realm.
Sea God stood outside a grand palace, gazing into the distance with a look of concern.
Little Wu wrapped her arms around his waist from behind and asked, "Third Brother, you've been staring at the Douluo Continent for some time. Is something happening there?"
He sighed. "No new accidents, but that's exactly what worries me."
After the conflict with Destruction, the central control of the Divine Realm was jointly held, and there was no longer any opportunity to secretly use the power of the Divine Realm to interfere with the lower realm.
At the same time, a secret pact was formed with the God of Destruction to release Wang Dong from the Sun-Moon Hall, as a condition for temporarily severing ties between the Divine Realm and the Douluo Continent.
But just a few days after the disconnection, Tang San couldn't shake his concerns.
"In the Divine Realm, a day is a year in Douluo."
Being at a higher-dimensional level, the Divine Realm's time flow was different from that of the Douluo Star, where time passed differently in each realm.
This difference meant that when a day passed in the Divine Realm, nearly an entire year would pass in Douluo Continent.
Sighing, Sea God spoke, "Without the connection to the Douluo Continent, I'm afraid there might be uncontrollable changes down there."
"Third Brother, can't we reestablish contact with Douluo Continent?" Little Wu asked.
Sea God frowned.
"There is a way, but…" He hesitated. "I haven't fully mastered my Sea God position yet, and I'm not in a position to pass it on. The Shura God position also cannot be passed on for now."
Though there were ways to establish contact, using the trial process could achieve this, the issue was that both divine positions weren't yet suitable for transfer.
(End of Chapter)