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*****
Su Wen had found his motivation, and he no longer cultured his soul power at a leisurely pace.
He poured his full effort into cultivating his soul power.
Since his personal realm had already reached the necessary level, the growth of his soul power followed naturally like water flowing down a river. He encountered none of the bottlenecks where every single rank within the Hyper Douluo level felt like a chasm between heaven and earth; however, he still needed to cultivate his soul power step by step to strengthen himself.
Thus, half a year flashed by in the blink of an eye.
By the time the God of Destruction noticed that Su Wen was pushing the Douluo Planet to ascend, Su Wen was already on the verge of breaking through to rank ninety-eight. Only a month after that, he succeeded in his breakthrough, spending the subsequent five months continuing to cultivate his soul power until it reached absolute saturation.
Now, he had once again arrived at the threshold of a breakthrough.
"The God of Destruction hasn't paid any attention to me for half a year. He has probably tacitly approved of my plan. The Douluo Planet is still a ways away from a breakthrough right now; it will probably take another year or two."
However, this did not mean Su Wen did not need to make progress.
His soul power cultivation had not yet reached the edge of the God Rank.
"The third soul core is finally about to condense."
Back then, he had opened the visualization pocket world ahead of schedule entirely because his visualization world was too perfect. It contained all the comprehensions and insights he had ever learned, and it was structured quite flawlessly, resembling a grand palace of knowledge within. After opening the pocket world, the derivation of the Spiritual Path system inside it also resembled a path of knowledge--mastering runes of knowledge allowed one to become stronger.
Of course, aside from the rudimentary Spiritual Path runes, there were still no living creatures within Su Wen's entire miniature world. Thus, these cultivation systems were things he, as the master of the world, understood solely through the feedback of the rules derived within it.
"My perception was still too narrow."
Upon becoming the master of a world, Su Wen once again corrected a misconception in his own understanding.
In the beginning, within his understanding, abstract things like "rules" in the form of pre-programmed codes did not exist. Everything was merely the fundamental laws of material development, and so-called rules were simply conforming to these laws.
Later, in the Heavenly Jewel Planet, Su Wen tangibly felt the existence of the Heavenly Dao and the existence of rules. In fact, benefiting from the vast rules of that realm, he rapidly elevated his own comprehension, crossing the God Rank barrier and reaching the God Rank in terms of realm early on.
However, during this past period, as he experienced the development inside his own miniature world in his capacity as its master, witnessed the development of the three pocket worlds, and even compared them to the changes in the Douluo Planet, Su Wen gained a new understanding.
Rules are something that come into existence post-creation.
Yet, for a plane, they are innate, holding a status no lower than the world's origin itself.
It is not that they do not participate in the operation of the plane, nor do they refrain from interfering with the intrinsic laws within it.
Rules are the very foundation upon which a plane stands.
The development of a plane depends entirely on the degree of perfection of its rules.
The universe is chaotic and scattered, possessing only fundamental operational laws that provide a peaceful soil for all planes.
Meanwhile, the development of a life-bearing plane requires it to birth rules unique to itself, to birth the laws of its own plane and imprint them upon the universe. While perfecting the operations of the universe, it also gains the ability to further utilize the universe to expand the territory radiated by the plane.
Rules are born under the influence of the collective thoughts of the cultivators and the vast array of living organisms within a plane. Therefore, the development of a plane actually depends on the level of development of its internal civilization.
The higher a civilization develops, the higher the rank of the plane.
The reason the Douluo Planet had not broken through to the God Rank was also because there had never been any Spirit Masters who helped the Douluo Planet perfect the rules of the God Rank domain.
Because anyone who broke through to the God Rank would directly ascend to the Divine Realm after fusing with a Godhood. Even a First-Class God could only stay on the Douluo Continent for a limited time and was not permitted to interfere too much with it.
Back to the topic at hand.
Su Wen reined in his stray thoughts.
The visualization pocket world, in the end, lacked a solid foundation.
The spiritual soul core was now finally about to condense.
When the time came to fuse the visualization pocket world with it, it would mark the true formation of a balance among the three pocket worlds of essence, qi, and spirit--a trinity.
Utilizing the relationship between his miniature world and the three pocket worlds, Su Wen could also rapidly execute the fusion of his essence, qi, and spirit.
Essence, qi, and spirit would fuse into one.
A trinity, co-located resonant soul core!
When the time came, they would also fuse into one.
When everything became one, that would be the day he ascended to godhood.
He was still situated out in the void of the universe.
Although Su Wen's current soul power was still within the framework of the Douluo Continent plane, his spiritual power had long since surpassed the shackles of the Douluo Planet, reaching the Divine Origin Realm.
The reason his Law-Forbidden Domain was so powerful was also because during the peak period of his spiritual power before reaching the Divine Origin Realm, he had unearthed his spiritual talent and aligned it with the Law-Forbidden Domain. The fusion of the two formed a brand-new Law-Forbidden Domain.
To only begin condensing a spiritual soul core after possessing spiritual power of the Divine Origin Realm could be considered unprecedented.
In the Sea of Consciousness.
This was a true, vast ocean.
The platinum-colored spiritual power was condensed into a liquid state, gathering drop by drop, endless and boundless. Waves rolled across the sea, with every single drop of seawater containing astonishing spiritual power.
Su Wen set his entire Sea of Consciousness into motion.
The seawater vaporized.
It gathered.
Above the Sea of Consciousness, a massive vortex emerged.
The vortex continuously condensed and compressed.
The spiritual power at the absolute core became tighter and tighter.
With a thunderous boom, it underwent a qualitative change into a solid state.
Under a chain reaction, the surrounding spiritual power was also rapidly affected, collapsing toward the interior under a massive gravitational pull.
The endless seawater of the Sea of Consciousness gathered along the vortex, all collapsing toward the center.
A magnificent platinum vertical pupil appeared within the Sea of Consciousness, emitting a trace of the world's power that stabilized Su Wen's Sea of Consciousness.
At the same time, it was also stabilizing the spiritual vortex.
Everything proceeded very smoothly.
The spiritual vortex continuously collapsed.
What seemed like just an instant was actually a long passage of time.
Two months later.
Above Su Wen's Sea of Consciousness, a massive vortex rotated, driving endless spiritual power to circulate along with it.
At the center of the vortex was his spiritual origin, which had condensed into a solid state.
The entire vortex was in a state close to being between a solid and a liquid. In terms of concentration, it was not inferior to solid spiritual power crystals.
Under the compression of a vortex in such a state, the crystal at the absolute core gathered the very origin of Su Wen's spiritual power. The density of the condensed solid was extremely high, to the point that it even affected space.
The visualization pocket world was also fused into it by Su Wen.
"It has finally finished condensing."
Su Wen let out a sigh of relief. With his spiritual power being so massive, condensing it was truly a hassle.
The collapse itself was just an instant's matter, but Su Wen had to control the extent of the collapse. He could not allow his spiritual power to entirely collapse into a solid state all at once; otherwise, it would become stagnant and unmovable, so how would he deploy it in the future?
This state between solid and liquid was the most ideal. Its own concentration was higher than that of solid spiritual power, yet it possessed the fluidity of a liquid. Under compression, the solid at the true core utilized the vortex to gather the complete origin of his spiritual power, turning into a spiritual origin crystal.
"The trinity, the three major soul cores have all been condensed. My soul power should break through now as well."
As Su Wen spoke, the soul power inside his body surged furiously, roaring like mighty rivers and oceans.
Behind him, tens of thousands of scenes seemed to manifest, all of which were anomalous phenomena from his Heavenly Book pocket world.
Boom!
A breakthrough.
Limit Douluo!
Breaking through to a Limit Douluo gave Su Wen an entirely different feeling.
The limit was truly the limit.
He vaguely touched the barrier that bound him.
This was not a barrier set up by anyone; rather, the path had reached its very end.
The path of a Spirit Master had reached its conclusion.
If one used the method of becoming a god from the Douluo Divine Realm--inheriting a godhood--it would mean breaking through the limits of soul power, condensing soul power into divine power, and then condensing divine rings.
That was the cultivation path of the Douluo Divine Realm.
It was not the cultivation path of the Spirit Masters of the Douluo Planet.
At this moment, Su Wen's path as a Spirit Master had reached its end.
"Rank ninety-nine is the end, which is why it is called Limit Douluo."
As for the states classified by later generations as Quasi-Demigod, Demigod, and Quasi-God:
"Just after breaking through, one still relies on the methods of a normal Spirit Master; this is the Quasi-Demigod realm."
"After the breakthrough, using the perspective of a Limit Douluo to perfect one's own methods, causing soul skills and the like to closely approach the laws and develop toward the direction of profound mysteries; this is the Demigod realm."
"To truly cultivate a profound mystery belonging to oneself, possessing the ability to distort fundamental rules; that is the Quasi-God realm."
A Quasi-God, reasonably speaking, should already be sufficient to pioneer the path of a Spirit Master further, breaking through to become a God Rank entity out in the universe.
If there were no suppression from the plane, achieving the God Rank would be a matter of course.
Therefore, a Limit Douluo, reasonably speaking, should only have the distinctions of Quasi-Demigod and Demigod--which is to say, the difference between a newcomer and a veteran--and there should not be a so-called Quasi-God realm.
A Quasi-God is simply the manifestation of a Limit Douluo who has reached the God Rank in terms of comprehension.
The appearance of the Quasi-God realm in later generations only came about with the assistance of Four-Word Battle Armor, using the Four-Word Battle Armor to reach a higher tier of power and slowly digesting it as one's own power, thereby achieving the Quasi-God state.
The barrier was a small matter.
Su Wen had enough confidence that he could break through this barrier at any time.
However, there was no need.
If he was going to break through, he would accumulate power to do it in one decisive surge.
"First, back to the Douluo Star."
Upon reaching Limit Douluo, the first thing Su Wen did was return to the Douluo Star. Just like when he had reached Heavenly Dao Power in the Heavenly Jewel Planet back then, returning to the Douluo Star now allowed him to feel the existence of the rules.
The endless, boundlessly vast rules made Su Wen ecstatic.
"As expected, the rules of the Douluo Planet are immense. The existence of various martial souls itself is an extension of the rules."
How martial souls had appeared in the beginning, Su Wen did not know.
However, there were roughly a few hypotheses.
The Soul Beast Lineage Theory: all Spirit Masters possess bloodlines left behind after soul beasts transformed into human form, which explains the existence of beast martial souls.
However, this could not explain Spirit Masters with tool martial souls.
The Heaven-Bestowed Theory: the martial souls of all Spirit Masters are bestowed by heaven.
Su Wen leaned more toward the latter--the Heaven-Bestowed Theory. The martial soul of every Spirit Masters was supported by a specific rule.
As for how this corresponded with inheritance and genetics, Su Wen had also been quite puzzled before.
Now that he could feel the rules and perceive them slightly, he was suddenly enlightened.
The so-called martial soul is an extension of a rule.
When a bloodline resonates with a rule, it can be influenced by that rule and inherit the corresponding martial soul.
"There are stable genetic factors within bloodline inheritance, so it can consistently affect a certain rule. If the rule being affected is stronger, then there is a chance to inherit a stronger martial soul."
"As for martial soul mutation, this is the development trend of the plane itself. The derivation of rules requires test subjects, and thus, martial soul mutations occur."
Time after time, martial soul mutations caused a martial soul under the same rule to continuously develop and perfect itself. A ordinary iron staff martial soul, interlacing with the rule represented by fire, created an intersection and formed a fire staff martial soul. The fire staff mutated, forming a blazing staff. The subsequent rules of the blazing staff then connected and gathered with many other rules, forming node after node.
The Heavenly Eye emerged at the center of Su Wen's brow as he observed the rules of the Douluo Star.
The Heavenly Eye had been fused with the origin of his miniature world by him, making it a treasure at the level of an entire world. When he himself could sense the rules, it could serve as his tool to observe them.
Any plane he could sense, the Heavenly Eye could observe, granting it form.
"Phew, the entire Douluo Planet is a massive treasure trove."
The Heavenly Jewel Planet was one thing, but the Douluo Planet was different. Each and every martial soul represented countless directions. Furthermore, because of the existence of martial souls and the existence of mutations, the integration and fusion nodes between various rules were extremely numerous!
Fusion!
The mutual fusion between rules.
This was the characteristic of the Douluo Planet's rules.
For instance, because of the existence of the Coiling Dragon Staff martial soul, dragon-type rules and staff-type rules shared an intersection. There were even mutations that produced a fire-attributed Coiling Dragon Staff, which allowed fire-attribute rules and dragon-type rules to have a new form of fusion.
"My miniature world is in luck."
Although he had broken through to Limit Douluo, the source of Su Wen's true strength was still his miniature world.
By breaking through the God Rank, he would pioneer the path of a Spirit Master, but the main path he intended to cultivate could obviously no longer be that of a Spirit Master. Instead, it would be the path of a world master.
Perfecting and developing his miniature world was his primary objective.
"Incorporate the suitable portions of the rules within the Douluo Planet into my miniature world. Once this work is complete, the power of my miniature world should be enough to reach a First-Class God, right?"
If his miniature world wasn't enough, then he would borrow the power of the Douluo Planet.
While helping the plane break through, he would pilfer a bit of the Douluo Planet's power, using it to secure the qualification for the Douluo Planet to continue growing.
This was a cycle of cause and effect.
Su Wen entered a state of secluded cultivation.
No matter what happened in the outside world, he focused solely on comprehending the rules and integrating them into his miniature world.
At the same time, his soul power cultivation did not stop either.
Rank ninety-nine left no further room for advancement, but he still continued to polish his soul power.
His essence, qi, and spirit continuously tempered his body, making his physical form increasingly perfect.
The trinity of essence, qi, and spirit, along with the three major soul cores, were also continuously being adjusted.
Everything was accumulating.
In the blink of an eye, two years passed.
Heaven Dou City.
The Academy.
"Hall Master, everything is ready."
The Law Enforcement Hall, the Monitoring Hall--the exact same scene was playing out in both places.
Lin Dong and Ye Luochen's soul power was as deep as an abyss.
Five years had passed, and the soul power of the two had become increasingly unfathomable.
They were already nineteen years old.
Nineteen years old, Soul Emperors.
Although they were only Soul Emperors, they were the highest achievers in the strongest system developed on the Douluo Star today: the Divine Masters.
A Divine Master combined the Spirit Master system with spatial condensation technology to unearth their own bones and condense soul bones, while simultaneously condensing a set of armor. That was a Divine Master.
The armor set would grow along with the Spirit Master, just like an external soul bone.
Therefore, the amplification that Divine Master armor provided to a Spirit Master was immense, equivalent to a full set of external soul bones.
No, it was more than just that.
Because the prerequisite for condensing Divine Master armor was to walk the soul bone system--condensing one's own bones into soul bones. After already condensing one's own soul bones, one would then condense the Divine Master armor on top of it.
This was a stacked amplification.
One could only imagine how massive the gap would be between a Divine Master and a normal Spirit Master.
Lin Dong and Ye Luochen walked out of the Monitoring Hall and Law Enforcement Hall respectively.
"The task entrusted to us by Grandmaster Wen must not fail!"