After absorbing the Soul Ring from the 25,000 Years Old Azure Flame Luan, Ma Xiaotao's Soul Rank increased to the Soul Rank 45 Soul Ancestor. With the Celestial Revolutions Mantra that the core members of the Spirit Hall were practicing, her power was already comparable to that of the peak Soul Kings.
Perhaps she could fight against the Soul Emperor.
The Celestial Revolutions Mantra was something that was practiced only by the core members of the Spirit Hall.
Namely, by the Worship Elders, Cardinals, Archbishops, and other crucial personnel, their disciples and families. They were prioritizing the Titled Douluos of the Spirit Hall for the practice of the Celestial Revolutions Mantra, because there was a serious need for the Titled Douluos to get stronger as soon as possible.
The Spirit Hall was surrounded by enemies on all sides, and their ambition of unification, contentment, and then, even the whole planet under their rule was something that would require a lot of strength and power.
The Soul Power Gathering Method was just a heavily watered-down version of the Celestial Revolutions Mantra.
The Soul Power Gathering Method focused primarily on opening the Acupoints and Meridians in the body of the Soul Master and increasing the Soul Power Capacity and Regeneration, which collectively increased the strength of the Soul Master by a significant degree.
But the Celestial Revolutions Mantra?
This was Hun Tiandi's brainchild and perfected by the Worship Elders of the Douluo Consecration Hall. Obviously, he didn't create it alone, but it was created together with the Worship Elders of the Spirit Hall, who also practiced the technique.
Hun Taindi, as someone who reached the Rank of Dou God and still retained his pinnacle Emperor Level Soul Power, or rather, as it was called, Spiritual Realm at the Spirit Domain Realm, even though it was partially sealed and could be used for only a brief amount of time.
The Celestial Revolutions Mantra was divided into the 9 Layers, and even a single layer achieved by a Soul Master could make a drastic difference, like heaven and earth between the Soul Masters.
The Celestial Revolutions Mantra was the ultimate cultivation technique that was created based on the knowledge of the cultivation techniques of the Dou Qi Continent, ancient records about cultivation systems of other Dimensions aside from the Dou Qi Continent, and knowledge of the Soul Power.
1st Layer: Acupoint and Meridian Opening – Opens all Acupoints and Meridians in the body of the cultivator. Getting rid of impurities, purification of the Soul Power. At this stage, the Soul Master will undergo elementary rebirth and get rid of everything that could hinder smooth cultivation. With the opened Acupoints and Meridian Pathways, the cultivation speed is increased by 25%, and the Soul Masters can also store more Soul Power in their bodies.
2nd Layer: Body Tempering – Tempers the muscles, bones, flesh and internal organs, body strengthening. At this Layer, the Soul Master would use the Soul Power in his body for the Body Tempering. For a better and stronger effect, it was most appropriate to use it in correlation with the corresponding Body Tempering Immortal Herbs and Alchemy Pills.
3rd Layer: Soul Power Cyclone – Creation of Soul Power Cyclone, permanent rotation. This Layer was rather simple, but the effects were staggering as Soul Master would obtain an increase in their Soul Power Regeneration by 20%.
4th Layer: Energy Liquidification – Soul Power Cyclone transforms into a Liquid State. The Soul Power would move from the previous gaseous state to the Liquid State, which would increase its strength and potency, while at the same time, after reaching this Layer, the Soul Master would obtain 100% of their Soul Power Capacity.
5th Layer: Soul Power Solidification – Soul Power Transforms to the Solid State. The solidification of the Soul Power was essential for the future advancement and would be tremendously helpful to the creation of the Soul Cores and reaching Titled Douluo. The benefits of reaching this Layer ranged it could be anyhwere from the 100% to 500%.
6th Layer: Body Transformation – Reforging and Tempering the Body with the Soul Power. This Layer was basically just a repeat of the 1st Layer, just on a much larger spectrum. Hun Tiandi and several Worship Elders of the Douluo Consecration Halls created several Layers like this, because having a strong Body was essentially for the accommodation of stronger Soul Rings and also strengthened the Martial Souls.
7th Layer: Soul Revolution – Formation of the 1st Soul Core. During this stage, the Soul Master would form the Soul Core and gain the ability to fly for some time. This would have been impossible in the old era, but with the Celestial Revolutions Mantra and the fact that at this stage, around Soul Saint, the Soul Masters would have Soul Power on the level of Titled Douluos who were not using the Celestial Revolutions Mantra, they could form Soul Wings and fly.
8th Layer: Blood Essence Forging – Formation of the Blood Essence Core. This was an essential step; the Blood Essence Core was unlike the Soul Core and was created from the Blood Essence. According to the Worship Elders who have already reached this Layer, this Blood Core aided the Soul Master in evolving both Physique and the Spiritual Realm.
Additionally, allows a Soul Master to merge their Soul Power and Blood Essence fully, allowing them to completely integrate blood essence and bloodline power into all their soul skills, and it could create a Bloodline Lineage-like on the Dou Qi Continent.
The last Layer of the Celestial Revolutions Mantra was the 9th Layer: Nine Soul Power Transformations. The Nine Soul Power Transformation was a special occasion when Soul Masters would transform their Soul Power from the Soul Rank 90 to the Soul Rank 98.
At each Rank, the Soul Master would undergo one Soul Power Transformation.
Each one added 100% of Soul Power Capacity and increases regeneration by 10%. Formation of the 2nd Soul Core at Soul Rank 90 and the 3rd Soul Core at Soul Rank 99.
Currently, within the Spirit Hall, there was only one person who managed to cultivate the Celestial Revolutions Mantra to the 9th Layer and undergo all Nine Soul Power Transformations, and it was Qian Daoliu.
The old man said that with his newfound strength, he could defeat his former self several times over. Not only he, but all other elders in the Spirit Hall were cultivating the Celestial Revolutions Mantra and were at various stages of the cultivation.
Nonetheless, the Soul Rank growth was the sole indicator of how powerful they had become.
With the Celestial Revolutions Mantra, the new Era of Cultivation would come to the Douluo Continent, because for the first time in many tens of thousands of years, the Soul Power Cultivation System was...
Not innovative...
This was a complete revolution for the Soul Masters and how they functioned.
Not to mention, the continual practice of the Celestial Revolutions Mantra could also lead toward the Martial Soul Mutations and Evolutions, which was another unprecedented and added benefit of the cultivation technique.
For Hun Tiandi, this was something essential, because he found the cultivation system of the Douluo World seriously lacking and pathetic. Nobody really focused on making any kind of adjustments to the cultivation system because everyone was focused on the development of their Martial Souls.
Now though... There was another thing that needed to be desperately resolved, which was the topic of the Soul Beasts and the Soul Rings.
Hun Tiandi knew that once the Soul Power Essence Manual became widespread across the Douluo Continent, it would lead to the overall increasement of the Douluo Continent's strength.
And then, various factions would start creating their own Soul Power Cultivation Manuals and Techniques that were better suited for their Bloodlines, Ranks, Martial Souls and everything, basically ushering in the new age of cultivation.
Which would mean more and more stronger Soul Masters, which in turn would mean more dead Soul Beasts, which would eventually lead to their extinction and then, the downfall of the Soul Masters as a whole.
Thus, it was unanimously decided that unless a solution was found for this, the Celestial Revolutions Mantra would be classified as Forbidden Lore, and the Soul Essence Cultivation Technique would be distributed only to the trusted members of Spirit Hall, and leaks or even potential ones would be punishable by death.
"Now then, I will be taking Xiatao back to the Spirit City."
Spirit Kite Douluo Ling Yuan stated as she saw that Ma Xiaotao finished absorbing the Soul Ring from the Azure Flame Luan. Ma Xiaotao reached the Soul Ancestor Realm; she needed to digest the gains and advance to the 4th Layer of the Celestial Revolutions Manual.
"I wonder how the old man is faring against the Ferocious Beasts..."
Hun Tiandi muttered as he saw Spirit Kite Douluo Ling Yuan taking Ma Xiaotao back to the Spirit City.
"With his newfound strength, if he went there to negotiate, I think that he could manage... the Beast. God knows that instigating war against the Soul Masters and Spirit Hall would be stupid."
Right now, Qian Daoliu, as the strongest Soul Master in the world and the only one who reached the Soul Rank 99 Limit Douluo Demi-God Stage, was currently negotiating with the Beast God of the Star Dou Forest.
What were they negotiating?
The topic of the Soul Rings and Soul Beasts.
The Spirit Hall always maintained control over the Soul Beast population in the great areas like the Extreme North, Sunset Mountain Range, Sunset Forest, Great Star Dou Forest, and other areas.
They explicitly forbade the unreasonable slaughter of the Soul Beasts and strove to maintain their population. But now, with the Hun Tiandi's revolution in the Soul Power Cultivation System, they needed to move fast.
But Hun Tiandi, as the former Heanvely Soul Emperor and someone who has the deepest understanding of the Souls in the entire Douluo Planet, perhaps even comparable to the Gods, had a solution.
Creating an Artificial Spirit Soul.
Hun Tiandi had the idea of using the Blood Origin of the Dragon God to create an Artificial Spirit Soul that could be absorbed by the Soul Masters instead of the Soul Rings from the Soul Beasts.
Why was the Blood Origin of the Dragon God needed?
Because, according to the lore of the Spirit Hall, the Dragon God was the primogenitor and ancestor of all Soul Beasts.
Before leaving for the Star Dou Forest to hunt for the Soul Ring, he discussed this with Qian Daoliu. His idea was to create a Spirit Soul Ascension Platform that would manufacture the Spirit Souls, Attributeless Spirit Souls, which then could be absorbed by the Soul Master.
Once the Soul Master absorbed the Attributeless Spirit Soul, the Spirit Soul would give the Soul Master the most appropriate Soul Ring for the Martial Soul. He got this idea from the thing called God-Bestowed Soul Ring, when a God could bestow a Soul Master Attributeless Soul Ring.
Upon absorption, this God-Bestowed Soul Ring would be as powerful as the Soul Master could bear, but most importantly, it would give the Soul Master the most appropriate Soul Skills based on the Martial Soul.
And this was also Hun Tiandi's idea. Much of its inner workings stemmed from the usage of the Soul Lore that he possessed from the Dou Qi Continent and some dimensions that were connected to the Dou Qi Continent.
Hun Tiandi, before his demise, managed to gather the largest and most extensive collection of Souls that anyone has ever seen.
The lore of tens of Sects, Clans, and factions was all concentrated in his hands; many of the books and scriptures were even from the different Dimensions that were connected to the Dou Qi Continuum.
Everything gathered over many, many millennia was stored in his memories.
And now, he used all of this lore to create the ultimate creation.
Artificial Spirit Soul.
Qian Daoliu was stunned to hear such a proposal, but coming from Hun Tiandi, he knew that this would be a staggering achievement, and it would also give Spirit Hall something that they lacked before.
Absolute power above the Soul Master world.
"We should be going to find the Abyssal Pit Serpent... according to the information, it's located a hundred kilometers north of our location, in a small valley."
Jin Eyu said as he picked up Hun Taindi and Hao Yue and flew toward the location where the Abyssal Pit Serpent was apparently located. Even though the Abyssal Pit Serpent was 80,000 Years Old, Hun Tiandi was very confident that he could defeat it on his own.
Just his Spiritual Realm was on the peak of the Spirit Abyss Realm, which was power comparable to the Titled Douluo of Soul Rank 94, and if he added the benefits of the Celestial Revolutions Mantra, then his Soul Power was the same as a peak Soul Emperor or early Soul Saint without the cultivation technique.
Jin Eye, as Limit Douluo of Soul Rank 99 and someone who had cultivated the Celestial Revolutions Mantra up to the 9th Layer, and right now, was around the 4th Soul Power Transformation of the Nith Layer, was far more powerful than he was previously.
Not only did his Martial Soul, Golden Crocodile King, undergo mutation and become a Divine Beast Martial Soul named God-Killing Golden Crocodile Emperor, but he also managed to create a Golden Crocodile Emperor Bloodline in his body.
Hun Tiandi predicted that in his current state, he would be able to fight two or three old-time Limit Douluo to a standstill.
Limit Douluos were divided into three stages, technically, though there were four.
When the Super Douluos reached the Soul Rank 99, they were called Limit Douluos. This was the basic stage for the Limit Douluos, and 99% of the people who reached the Soul Rank 99 would remain at the very basic stage of the Limit Douluo.
Then there were Quasi-Demi-Gods. These Limit Douluos were the ones who managed to overcome the first obstacle and integrate Divinity into their Soul Power, thereby imbuing it with Divine properties.
After the Quasi-Demi-God Stage, there was a Demi-God Stage, when Limit Douluo further purified their Soul Power and their Soul Power had more and more of the Divine properties, and also, their Spiritual Realm reached the Divine Origin Realm.
At the peak, there were Quasi-Gods.
In Hun Tiandi's opinion, the Quasi-God Stage was the so-called impossible stage.
Only one kind of person could reach the Quasi-God Stage, but under two different situations.
One person was on the verge of Godhood, but because of the disappearance of the Divine Realm, it made it impossible for these powerful Limit Douluo to break through to the God level.
Second, the person was on the brink of Godhood, but suppressed the ascension and decided to remain in the mortal plane without ascending to Godhood.
The Spirit Hall has records of only a few Quasi-Gods...
Angel Goddess, Sea God, White Tiger God, and a few other Gods from many millennia ago.
***
Somewhere in the Star Dou Forest, half an hour later
The Abyssal Pit Serpent was a massive, snake-type Soul Beast. Because of the Hun Tiandi's special Martial Soul, Bloodviolet Seven Star Fiend Sword, he had a very wide range of options to choose his next Soul Ring.
Obviously, this wasn't something that any Soul Master could do, even though he once read theories proposed by some trash Soul Master with an ego of Holy Angel Mountain, who even called himself "Grandmaster", that it was possible for any Soul Master.
Its body was long, segmented, and armored with jagged, scale-like ridges that resembled sharp, overlapping plates, giving it both a serpentine and almost mechanical appearance. The serpent's head was crowned with a menacing crest of horn-like protrusions, making it look both regal and terrifying.
Its mouth glows with an eerie blue light, hinting at bioluminescence or some arcane energy dwelling within. From its maw spill glowing blue tendrils of energy, giving the impression that it either breathes lightning or channels some abyssal magic.
The serpent was coiled around the water's surface, its immense length vanishing into the dark waves, suggesting it is many times larger than what is visible.
"Are you sure that you can finish it? It looks rather fierce..."
Jin Eyu looked at the 80,000-Year-Old Abyssal Pit Serpent that was resting in the Valley, still not detecting them, because Jin Eyu, as a Limit Douluo of Soul Rank 99, was covering their aura, and the power of the Abyssal Pit Serpent was far from detecting someone who was a Limit Douluo.
"I should be alright... and if anything happens that I can't handle... I have backing here..."
Hun Tiandi chuckled as he summoned the Bloodviolet Seven Star Fiend Sword and prepared to engage the Abyssal Pit Serpent. His detached Austin Griffin Martial Soul, Hao Yue, has detached from them and gone to hunt for the Soul Ring.
Maybe he would even grow another head this time around.
Who knows...
The power and true capabilities of that Martial Soul were really weird, and nobody could explain them. Hun Tiandi didn't really dwell on that one for too long, as he knew that some things would unravel themselves.
Hao Yue was an extension of himself, as it was his Martial Soul, albeit one that defied all common sense about Martial Souls and the lore the Spirit Hall had gathered over many millennia.
Hun Tiandi planned to ambush the 80,000-Year-Old Abyssal Pit Serpent because it would be rather stupid to face it head-on. The moment he ambushed the 80,000-Year-Old Abyssal Pit Serpent with his Martial Soul, he would also use the Soul Attack on the Soul of the 80,000-Year-Old Abyssal Pit Serpent.
With this, he was almost guaranteed to finish the 80,000-Year-Old Abyssal Pit Serpent straight away if everything went according to plan. Thus, Hun Tiandi formulated the plan in his mind to sneak up on the 80,000-Year-Old Abyssal Pit Serpent and carry out the sneak attack.