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*****
The bottleneck of rank ninety was not difficult for Su Wen to break through.
What truly consumed his energy was the condensation of his second soul core.
If not for the constraints of the soul core, and if he had followed the cultivation path common on the continent in this current era, Su Wen estimated that his solid-state soul power would have naturally condensed, allowing him to break through to rank ninety directly.
Unfortunately, his soul power had already solidified to form a soul core before rank seventy.
Both paths had their pros and cons. The traditional path was more suited for ordinary soul masters, allowing their cultivation to better align with their true intentions. After becoming a Titled Douluo, and assuming they had no special injuries, they could still grope their way to rank ninety-five. Even beyond that, they could rely on time to slowly polish their realm in search of a breakthrough.
This was the path applicable to the continent today. Aside from these benefits, there was another point: because all cultivation was related to the martial soul, the condensed solid-state soul power also existed in a form that best fit the martial soul and the soul master themselves. The degree of fusion between the soul master and the martial soul would reach an extremely high level--and it was not a violent fusion, but a highly harmonious one, which would grant the soul master a longer lifespan.
The more natural the breakthrough, and the more it aligned with one's true intention, the longer the lifespan would be.
In contrast, Su Wen's soul core method possessed too many disadvantages.
It could be said that aside from making the breakthrough to Titled Douluo more formulaic, it offered no other benefits.
Unless it was a genius soul master who, without delaying their soul power cultivation speed, solidified their soul power ahead of time and condensed a soul core before rank eighty, or preferably before rank seventy.
Only by doing so--condensing the second soul core at rank ninety and the third soul core at rank ninety-nine--could one carry the soul core system to its peak and maximize its advantages.
Three soul cores. This was the greatest advantage of the soul core system compared to the traditional system--pure power.
Once three soul cores were condensed, a soul master's strength would become far more powerful. Moreover, once the three soul cores were formed into a trinity and one's essence, energy, and spirit were properly aligned, the degree of fusion between the soul master and their martial soul would be even higher and more stable than the traditional path.
However, the sole drawback was that it was too difficult to cultivate. Furthermore, during the periods of having only one or two soul cores, while one's combat power would be higher, it would actually shorten their lifespan.
Besides, the so-called ease of cultivation in the soul core system only lay in the convenience of condensing the first soul core to break through to Titled Douluo.
For a genius soul master walking the soul core path, condensing the first soul core at rank seventy, the second at rank ninety, and the third at rank ninety-nine--none of these three stages were simple.
It could only be said that different paths suited different soul masters.
Nothing was immutable, and no single path was entirely the correct one.
Within Su Wen's body, his soul power circulated without pause.
For his first soul core, Su Wen had condensed a soul power soul core, which was located in his middle Dantian.
At this moment, for his second soul core, he was condensing a blood-qi soul core, intending to form it in his lower Dantian.
With an abundance of blood-qi, he was qualified to condense a blood-qi soul core. Furthermore, because he was about to open up a physical small world next, he had to condense his blood-qi soul core at this time to further compress his blood-qi and enhance his physical strength.
"The opening of the physical small world can be achieved using all the acupoints throughout my body. The lower Dantian gathers the main meridians of the body and is also the core of acupoint operation. In condensing the blood-qi soul core, I not only need to consider its relationship with the first soul core, but I must also take into account its upcoming linkage with the acupoints." Countless thoughts flashed through Su Wen's mind.
He rapidly deduced how he needed to proceed with condensing his second soul core.
Suddenly, he opened his eyes.
Right at that moment!
The blood-qi within his body erupted.
Floating in the vast universe, Su Wen was instantly dyed crimson.
The surrounding space was entirely filled with his surging blood-qi power.
Blood-red energy enveloped Su Wen.
The blood-qi traveled through his body's meridians, seeping from the meridians into every part of his body, every tissue, and every cell. At this moment, every single part was involved in the circulation of blood-qi.
In his lower Dantian, a massive amount of blood-qi power was abruptly compressed, collapsing into a solid state in an instant.
The blood-qi within his body began to contract.
Similarly, the immense blood-qi power surging outside Su Wen's body also began to draw inward.
Rumble!
Within his Dantian, a blood-red vortex emerged, spinning steadily.
Having just taken shape, it immediately entered a stable phase.
With the assistance of his powerful mental strength, it was indeed effortless.
Yet, Su Wen did not dare to be careless in the slightest, his expression remaining solemn.
"Condensing the soul core isn't hard. What is truly difficult is coordinating the entire body to open up the physical small world after the soul core is successfully formed."
Su Wen felt the changes in his own blood-qi. The circulation of blood-qi within each acupoint was under his command. Within the lower Dantian, the soul core continued to resonate with the contracting blood-qi power and the acupoints throughout this process.
The blood-qi power surged like mighty rivers, washing through his body, making Su Wen's physical form increasingly resilient.
Within a single day, Su Wen completed the condensation of his second soul core.
Co-directional resonant dual soul cores.
With the successful condensation of the blood-qi soul core, Su Wen did not rest, moving directly to his next action.
Splitting open the heavens and earth!
With his previous two experiences, Su Wen appeared somewhat more composed this time.
But only somewhat.
While he was more composed during the opening process, the pressure did not decrease in the slightest.
Lying flat in the universe, the individual acupoints within his body lit up one by one.
Each acupoint seemed like a fragmented space. As all the acupoints across his body lit up, they projected into the void, making it seem as if a complete world was emerging.
Rumble!
A pocket of space connected all of Su Wen's acupoints, situated right within his Dantian.
In the lower Dantian, at the site of the blood-qi soul core, a pocket of space was split open.
The newly condensed blood-qi soul core shuddered violently, as if enduring an immense amount of pressure.
The soul core seemed to show signs of collapsing!
Having just been condensed, a space was immediately opened directly upon it; the pressure could well be imagined. The fact that it did not collapse instantly was entirely due to the excellent quality of Su Wen's blood-qi soul core.
The acupoints glowed, projecting into the void and corresponding to this space within Su Wen.
The acupoints resonated with the blood-qi soul core inside the Dantian, bearing the pressure for it.
The blood-qi soul core, which had been on the verge of collapsing, finally halted its trend of dissipation and began to stabilize once more.
The space opened up and continued to expand. Countless amounts of cosmic energy were devoured by Su Wen, turning into nourishment for the expansion of the small world.
It was that same black eye.
Opening once again, the Abyss Sovereign looked in the direction of the Douluo Continent, his heart growing increasingly urgent.
"The devouring force has increased again. Is the progress really this fast?"
When a plane increased its devouring force toward cosmic energy, it indicated that it was drawing closer and closer to an upgrade.
And with consecutive increases in the magnitude of devouring, the probability of a successful upgrade was clearly greater.
The Abyss Sovereign steered the Abyss, rapidly closing the distance toward the Douluo Continent.
The closer he got, the stranger the Abyss Sovereign felt.
"That direction... I hope it isn't a subordinate plane of the Douluo Divine Realm."
The Abyss Sovereign was deeply wary.
The Douluo Divine Realm was not considered the most powerful divine realm in the boundless universe, but its origin was a legend.
Back then, the Douluo Divine Realm had almost become a Divine Star. Unfortunately, something went wrong with the Dragon God, which led to the decline of the entire Douluo Divine Realm. Yet, even today, the Douluo Divine Realm remained the ruler of this starry sky.
Even someone like the Abyss Sovereign could only choose to take a detour around it.
However, despite his wariness, he still held onto hope.
"Given the disposition of those fellows in the Douluo Divine Realm, they wouldn't allow a subordinate plane to advance to the Divine Level. Therefore, my target might not necessarily be their subordinate plane."
The Abyss Sovereign comforted himself while also swiftly heading toward the spatial coordinates he perceived.
Su Wen devoured the massive cosmic energy while simultaneously weaving the laws of the physical small world within his body.
For the Heavenly Book small world, using his own comprehension, he had woven its laws to be the most realistic and closest to a plane in reality.
For the Visualization small world, he leaned more toward the world in his own imagination--an era of myth. Although its overall baseline might be low, it was modeled after a mythical era and evolved on its own.
Now, with the physical small world opening up, Su Wen operated his acupoints to act as the pillars of heaven and earth. Following that, blood-qi took the dominant role, and the entire world was washed by the power of blood-qi.
The physical small world also evolved on its own, centered around blood-qi.
Perhaps one day, this physical small world of Su Wen's would give rise to endless blood-qi creatures, developing a civilization centered around blood-qi cultivation.
Having just opened the small world, before he could enjoy much peace, the pressure brought by Su Wen's Visualization small world had already become immense.
"The repulsive force is getting stronger and stronger."
Su Wen sighed.
He suppressed his Visualization small world, even temporarily cutting off its devouring of external cosmic energy.
At the same time, due to his absolute control over the small worlds, while preventing mutual repulsion, he also used the Visualization small world to reinforce the physical small world, assisting it in refining and absorbing cosmic energy to rapidly grow stronger.
However, the more he did this, the faster the repulsive force between the two sides skyrocketed.
Su Wen could only forcefully endure this repulsive force, suppressing both small worlds simultaneously while continuing to develop the physical small world.
Time flowed by, and in the blink of an eye, half a month passed.
After half a month, Su Wen's physical small world was still growing, and the repulsive force between the two small worlds in his body had reached its peak.
"The Visualization small world is more powerful and exerts a stronger oppressive force on the physical small world. However, I condensed the blood-qi soul core and used it as a foundation to open the physical small world. Compared to the Visualization small world, the physical small world has a more stable foundation."
Though they were clearly one large and one small world, because one had a thicker foundation, they entangled with each other at this moment, finding an opportunity for balance.
However, even so, Su Wen did not attempt to capture this sliver of balance.
Establishing a balance now would only mean having to break it again once the Heavenly Book small world returned, needlessly adding another crisis.
Fortunately, he could still maintain the repulsion of the two small worlds at all times for now.
The physical small world continued to devour cosmic energy. To maintain this state, Su Wen also opened the Visualization small world, adjusting the growth speed of both small worlds in real time. As for the continuously increasing repulsive force generated by the development of the two small worlds, Su Wen could only bear it himself.
Being able to maintain the two small worlds without one side completely crushing and exploding the other was already a success.
Su Wen used his soul power to reconcile the two small worlds, allowing them to blend with his soul power in advance, making it easier to construct a balanced system when the Heavenly Book small world returned in the future.
Time passed, and another week went by.
Su Wen's expression was strained with extreme effort.
At this moment, the two small worlds had finally grown to a level close to the strength of the Heavenly Book small world.
Perhaps because the Silver Dragon King had entered the final stage and was no longer actively controlling the development of the Heavenly Book small world, its rate of improvement had slowed down, allowing the other two to catch up.
However, the development of the two small worlds also pushed Su Wen to the brink of collapse.
"It can't go on like this. If this continues, even if I can endure it, once the Heavenly Book small world joins in, I won't stand a chance to reconcile the three small worlds at all. I'll be directly blown apart by the clash!"
Su Wen took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.
Condense the ninth soul ring!
If not now, then when?
Beneath his feet, rings of soul rings rose one after another.
Black, black, red, black, red, red, white-gold, dark-gold.
Eight soul rings emerged. The further back they were, the stronger the oppressive force they exerted.
Su Wen's fifth soul ring had also finally reached the hundred-thousand-year level.
Having consecutively opened three small worlds, Su Wen's understanding of space had reached its peak. The feedback to the Void Silver-Moon Tapir soul ring had also allowed it to break through the hundred-thousand-year bottleneck, successfully turning into a red soul ring.
Among the eight soul rings, the final two golden soul rings were the most eye-catching, displaying their unique nobility and status.
As the two soul rings released their power, the light of the other soul rings seemed to be completely eclipsed.
And now, outside the two golden soul rings, a third golden soul ring was condensing.
Perhaps because it was a soul ring condensed from originally crimson blood-qi power, even in its phantom stage, this ninth soul ring was entirely crimson. The golden patterns within it merged perfectly with it, making it look like a radiant red-gold light at a single glance.
His blood-qi boiled. This region of the universe seemed to turn into a furnace, with blood-qi power serving as fresh firewood, smelting a ring of an unparalleled soul ring.
The phantom solidified.
The blood-qi power drew inward.
The red-gold soul ring settled around Su Wen's body, outermost to the white-gold and dark-gold rings, becoming Su Wen's third God-level soul ring, his ninth soul ring.
Standing proudly in cosmic space, the nine soul rings around Su Wen released endless radiance.
The universe trembled.
Three golden soul rings meant three God-level soul rings.
The God-level represented a lifeform capable of touching the laws of reality.
With three God-level soul rings draped over Su Wen simultaneously, under their combined effect, the energy within the cosmic space surged violently. Coupled with the gravitational pull of the two small worlds, a much more ferocious energy tide was formed.
Among them, Su Wen's physical small world devoured the most cosmic energy, and its devouring process was also the most violent.
"It sped up again!"
Its progress had accelerated yet again!
The Abyss Sovereign's deep pupils looked as if they wanted to swallow everything. He controlled the Abyss, traveling like lightning across a certain energy dimension, rapidly crossing the vast spatial distance to approach the location of the Douluo Continent.
After condensing his ninth soul ring, Su Wen's soul power also surged, reaching rank ninety-four, and his body's weight-bearing capacity became stronger as well.
However, the process of condensing the soul ring had lasted for another three days.
Su Wen turned his gaze toward the Douluo Continent.
He looked toward his Heavenly Book small world.
Within the small world, the Silver Dragon King did not wait until the very last day to undergo her transformation.
At this moment, she had entered the final step.
The Asura Divine Sword Qi destroyed her physical form, rampaging within the Heavenly Book small world, while a rainbow-colored strand of source light broke free from it, descending from the sky and landing in the core area of the Great Star Dou Forest.