After absorbing his second soul ring, Huo Yuhao led the Soul Hunting Squad back to Shrek Academy. The journey home was uneventful, without any unexpected incidents.
This trip had taken a total of fourteen days, leaving sixteen days before the end of the vacation.
Huo Yuhao had no plans to go out again during this time. After all, his preparations were mostly complete, and there was nothing else that required immediate attention.
He mostly stayed in his dorm room, occasionally going out for meals or to stretch a bit. The rest of his time was spent in his spiritual sea, testing and attempting to modify his newly obtained second soul skill, Spiritual Suggestion.
"After testing, it's roughly as I expected when I first obtained this skill. It can influence others by bypassing their soul power defenses and spiritual perception using specific spiritual frequencies. However, due to the limited age of the soul ring, its effect is too weak."
"The mutated Three-Eyed Demon Ape probably used this skill in combination with another powerful spiritual control ability to influence several people. But compared to the level of spiritual power that Elder Yi and Tianmeng possess in my spiritual sea, its strength is far inferior."
"So, it didn't have much of an effect on me. Rather than using Spiritual Suggestion alone, it's better to pair it with other spiritual attacks or interference-based soul skills during combat."
As Huo Yuhao concentrated, spiritual power gathered in his hands, and a magnified image of his second soul ring appeared before him. Its color and pattern were identical to his actual soul ring.
He began modifying it,keeping the basic influence and structure defined by his martial soul intact,while adding and layering new circuits and engravings.
Eventually, within his spiritual sea, a pitch-black soul ring took form.
"Spiritual Suggestion, Spiritual Domination, and Spiritual Interference… This combination should be enough. It will maximize the strengths of Spiritual Suggestion, disrupting and bypassing the opponent's soul power and spiritual defenses, all while remaining hard to detect. It will also open the way for other spiritual techniques."
"When it's complete, I'll call this new ability Spiritual Collapse." Huo Yuhao relaxed his brow and turned toward a small gray orb floating nearby, observing him. "Elder Yi, what do you think?"
A deep, aged voice replied, "The soul power circuit you've created based on the soul skill and soul ring system is rather interesting."
"Many parts of it resemble the magic arrays and spiritual conduits used in my original world, though the foundations are quite different. Still, I can see that your eyes are extraordinary. Even I must exert effort to fully analyze the logic of a soul skill or magic structure, but for you, it seems as simple as looking a few more times."
"Still, it's the same principle in a different form. I've observed your spiritual sea for a long time, and I've begun to grasp some of its workings."
"Your soul skills and circuits are modeled after this world's existing system,an imitation built upon its rules. Take a look at the two magic formations I've constructed here."
A faint gray current flowed out from the gray orb, coiling around Huo Yuhao's spiritual imitation of the soul ring.
The moment it touched, the previously stable soul ring disintegrated completely. The part that represented soul power reverted into pure spiritual energy.
Under the influence of the gray current, the spiritual energy turned into lines that quickly connected into two simple geometric figures.
"Little one, can you tell what these two formations represent?"
Activating the Eye of Truth, Huo Yuhao studied the two shapes carefully, searching through all the knowledge stored in his spiritual sea.
After a long moment, he frowned. "Could it be Thunder Dragon Claw? No, it has the structure of a Wind Blade… And the other one resembles my Spiritual Collapse? But why does it include absorption runes and several other markings?"
Indeed, after comparing them closely, Huo Yuhao realized that these two minimalistic frameworks resembled several soul skills he had recorded, though the details differed.
Still, they were so simple that, with his current level of spiritual power, he could probably complete one of them in under three breaths of time,and with practice, he could easily form it during battle.
"Correct. The first one is Thunder Dragon Claw,more accurately, Swift Wind Dragon Claw, since it's formed from wind elements. The other one is your Spiritual Collapse, but I've added a structure that allows absorption."
"The first formation isn't suitable for testing in the spiritual sea. Try it in the real world, little one. I'll conceal your energy fluctuations." Elder Electrolux sounded quite pleased.
As Huo Yuhao's consciousness returned to his body, he followed the pattern Elder Yi had shown him, tracing it in the air with his spiritual power.
Along the structure, a miniature dragon claw composed of tightly packed wind elements appeared in the air. When Huo Yuhao withdrew his spiritual power, the claw dissipated instantly.
Blinking, Huo Yuhao asked inwardly, "So the air's elemental molecules naturally fill in the missing parts of the soul skill?"
Elder Yi's aged voice answered, "Exactly. Your earlier circuits and soul skills contained many redundant stabilizing structures. That design has its advantages,it lets your skills persist longer with less spiritual output,but it also slows your casting speed."
"For most soul masters, this is fine. But you are a spiritual-type soul master. Your greatest strength is not soul power, but spiritual power."
"The biggest flaw in your design is speed. By merging the concepts of magic from my world, I removed the dependency on soul power reinforcement. You can now directly manipulate external elemental energy using pure spiritual power. The skill's strength depends on how much spiritual power you invest and the local elemental density."
"The final power of the skill scales with both factors,the stronger your spiritual power, the higher the upper limit; the richer the elemental environment, the higher the lower limit."
"Also, remember this: A person's physical body and energy determine their affinity with the elements, and that affinity shapes their spiritual power. Your current spiritual power is pure and almost without attribute,aside from a faint trace of ice from that giant bug. Since your ice-based martial soul isn't yet formed, that trait is weak. Hence, your spiritual power attracts elements only weakly, limiting your performance in normal environments."
Huo Yuhao nodded thoughtfully. "I understand, Elder Yi. As for elemental affinity, I already have an idea. I know a place rich with rare herbs that can greatly enhance one's physique and elemental affinity."
"Then what about the second structure you showed me?"
"Spiritual power doesn't arise from nothing. It's directly tied to the strength of the soul, which in turn depends on the body as its vessel. Without a container, even the mightiest consciousness would dissipate,just like my own soul sense would vanish without your spiritual sea as its anchor."
"Your idea was correct: using specific mental frequencies, combined with spiritual domination and interference, you can open an almost undetectable crack in another's spiritual sea. But against someone with greater spiritual strength, this won't work,the sheer quantity of their power will overwhelm you."
"This absorption structure solves that. It converts the opponent's spiritual power into energy for your Spiritual Collapse skill."
"By using their own spiritual power to fuel your attack, you can erode even those stronger than you, as long as their spiritual realm isn't too far above your own. It may take time, but persistence will eventually wear them down. I call this technique Mental Devour."
In Huo Yuhao's spiritual sea, the sleeping Tianmeng Iceworm stirred slightly, sensing he'd just been mocked again, but he ignored it and continued sleeping.
Huo Yuhao's eyes brightened. This was something he hadn't considered,the idea of turning an enemy's strength against them was ingenious.
"I understand, Elder Yi. I'll continue developing both my soul power circuits and spiritual casting methods. Only by advancing both can I stay balanced and without weaknesses."
"Though, Elder Yi, the number of spell samples you've given me is still too few. Maybe,"
"Enough, boy. Greed leads to failure. Digest what you've learned first. I need to rest and repair my soul sense."
As Elder Yi cut off their mental link, Huo Yuhao sighed helplessly. "Greed leads to failure, huh? But I still feel like I don't have enough knowledge yet."
Watching the ever-shifting patterns of his spiritual power, Huo Yuhao couldn't help but feel as though a sword named Tang San hung above his head.
Soon, the main story would begin. He needed to use this period to contact the Body Sect, as he still had little progress on martial soul modification.
Before that, however, there was Elder Xuan,whose overwhelming strength could rival multiple Title Douluo. Though Huo Yuhao was confident in his own safety, he couldn't afford to underestimate that old monster.
Sitting cross-legged, Huo Yuhao summoned his martial soul and mentally called to Tianmeng Iceworm, who was still asleep. "Brother Tianmeng, wake up. Time to work. Help me keep watch."
"Huh? Oh,okay, got it!"
As Tianmeng's spiritual essence flowed into him, Huo Yuhao's second soul ring began to change, its color deepening continuously.
Under his control, the soul ring's structure evolved,no longer following the original pattern meant to enhance Spiritual Suggestion, but transforming toward his new design.
One thousand years. Two thousand. Three thousand.
Tianmeng's spiritual essence nourished the ring, stabilizing Huo Yuhao's body and concealing his energy from the outside world.
When the ring's age finally reached ten thousand years, Huo Yuhao finished his modifications.
"Fifteen thousand years, huh? Mental Devour is complete. Now it's your turn, Brother Tianmeng."
Huo Yuhao withdrew his consciousness from the spiritual sea, allowing Tianmeng to take over control of the soul ring.
The Iceworm skillfully began sealing the ring's age,
Fourteen thousand years.
Thirteen thousand.
Twelve thousand.
The number dropped steadily until it stabilized at fifteen hundred years.
"Yuhao, that's it. I can't compress it further without damaging your ring structure," Tianmeng said with some difficulty.
"That's fine. This is enough." Huo Yuhao opened his eyes and nodded.
Before him, the violet soul ring gleamed faintly, its pattern far more intricate and refined than before. He smiled with satisfaction.
Though compressed, the ring's core structure remained intact. It would now consume more soul power and spiritual energy than Spiritual Suggestion,but when the time came, that extra cost would be well worth it.
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