Douluo: In an extraordinary world, with unparallel understanding!

Join my Patreon to be 30 chapters ahead of the webnovel releases:

patreon.com/ZeroMoney

I would appreciate your help if you could join my Patreon and support me because it would keep me motivated. 

******

After absorbing the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and gaining three soul rings, Huo Yuhao's soul power naturally broke through the level 60 barrier.

"Yuhao, what level is your soul power now?"

The three soul rings had absorbed and refined nearly all of the soul power from the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass, including the remaining origin energy from the Ice Bear King, Xiao Bai, which was completely refined by Huo Yuhao. (Note: Xiao Bai is nearly 300,000 years old, just 30,000 years short of the Heavenly Tribulation. Apologies, I mistakenly referenced the Titan Snow Demon King, who is only 200,000 years old.) Even the small portion of soul power that the Ice Emperor had sacrificed and sealed was also absorbed and processed by Huo Yuhao.

However, despite this, Huo Yuhao's soul power was only at level 69.

Training with extreme attributes is incredibly difficult.

Although the soul rings he absorbed were of exceptionally high age, Huo Yuhao's situation differed from Su Yu's.

The vast majority of the energy from his soul rings was used to enhance the attribute of Extreme Ice.

His second martial soul now contained three soul spirits of Extreme Ice, and all the soul ring abilities were focused on using this attribute.

The energy he absorbed had been significantly amplified in terms of extreme attributes, which, in turn, made his training even more difficult. His path was far harder than Su Yu's Extreme Life training.

It's truly unfortunate.

An important factor was that Su Yu's training speed was faster. The feedback he received from absorbing soul rings was more exaggerated. A major reason for this was the tremendous life force provided by the Blade of Life. With external assistance, the life force from the Blade of Life merged into Su Yu's soul power, greatly improving the efficiency of increasing his soul power level.

Every time Su Yu absorbed a soul ring at a higher level, he could be considered similar to a normal attribute soul master because any inconvenience caused by extreme attributes was offset by the Blade of Life.

"Level 69?"

Huo Yuhao had hit the bottleneck just before level 70, which was a frustrating situation.

Especially since Huo Yuhao's level 70 bottleneck might be even more difficult to break through than that of a normal soul master.

He had relied on external forces to break through the previous nine levels, and this final level was already a huge bottleneck, making it all the more difficult to pass.

Huo Yuhao felt deeply troubled. He had been hoping to reach the rank of Soul Saint before the Soul Master Competition.

"It's okay, no rush."

After all, the energy required to form a soul core is immense, and until Huo Yuhao finds a suitable energy source, Su Yu also advised him not to attempt it hastily.

Su Yu had access to both the Sea of Souls and Blue Silver Domain, which allowed him to accumulate vast amounts of soul power, life force, and Immortal Spirit Energy through the Ice and Fire Dual Eyes and Blue Silver Grass.

However, Huo Yuhao did not have such advantages.

He would need to search for other rare treasures or energy sources as a substitute.

"Yuhao, your physical condition has far surpassed what it was before, and the purity of your Extreme Ice has now surpassed even what I had when I was at your level. You can start gradually absorbing the power I sealed," the Ice Emperor said.

Her cultivation of 400,000 years had mostly been sealed by herself. Otherwise, Huo Yuhao would not have been able to absorb and refine it into his second martial soul.

Afterward, she only used a portion of her soul power when granting Huo Yuhao his soul rings, but most of it remained sealed.

This remaining soul power would greatly accelerate Huo Yuhao's soul power growth in the future.

Now that he was about to reach level 70, perhaps it was time to use this power to break through?

For an Extreme Martial Soul, it was between levels 30 and 70 that these kinds of enhancements were most needed.

Huo Yuhao, upon hearing the Ice Emperor's words, was deeply tempted.

"Yuhao, your soul power should be at a high concentration now. Don't rush to break through to level 70 just yet. First, solidify your soul power and condense your soul core before attempting to break through. This will be more beneficial for you in the long run."

Su Yu's voice interrupted Huo Yuhao's excitement.

A soul core?

What was that?

It seemed that Jing Hongchen, noticing his disciple's lack of knowledge about martial soul cultivation, began to explain.

"As your soul power level increases, the meridians and dantian within a soul master expand, improving the capacity to store soul power. But this improvement is only the most basic. The real enhancement comes from the quality of the soul power itself. With higher quality and a naturally larger amount, high-level soul masters exert overwhelming pressure over lower-level ones.

Of course, you two are different.

The quality of your soul rings and martial souls makes your soul power far surpass that of other soul masters of the same level. Additionally, with powerful soul skills, you're able to fight beyond your level. However, because of this, you'll need to try condensing your soul core now, whereas it would normally be considered only when reaching level 90.

Whether in a gaseous or liquid state, soul power flows relatively smoothly through a soul master's body.

But once the concentration of soul power reaches a certain point, it becomes extremely viscous. At this stage, the liquid soul power is on the verge of solidifying. Once solidified, the flow of soul power through the meridians slows down significantly, which heavily impacts the soul master's cultivation. It also greatly affects the use of soul power during combat.

This is where the soul core comes into play."

Jing Hongchen explained the role and principle of the soul core in as much detail as possible.

It was clear that, compared to his concise explanations of soul tools, he became more wordy and somewhat repetitive when discussing martial soul cultivation.

With the teacher's explanation and the Ice Emperor's further elaboration in his mind, Huo Yuhao had a rough understanding of the soul core's function.

At the same time, the difficulty of condensing multiple soul cores in the future, as mentioned by the Ice Emperor, made Huo Yuhao's expression turn somber.

Normally, Titled Douluo would condense one soul core, and when reaching level 98, they would attempt to condense a second one to break through level 99. Even so, countless talented individuals would fail to condense a second soul core in their lifetime.

However, if he were to condense his soul core at level 70 now, he would then need to condense a second soul core when breaking through to level 90 as a Titled Douluo.

To reach level 99 and become a Limit Douluo would require condensing a third, unprecedented soul core!

This was nearly impossible.

But, if he didn't condense the soul core now, how long would it take to break through to level 90 while being hindered by this incredibly viscous soul power?

Huo Yuhao's difficulty in advancing past level 69 was largely due to the thick, sticky soul power, which made it difficult for it to circulate smoothly within his body.

Wait!

Su Yu must have condensed his soul core at level 70 as well!

Huo Yuhao suddenly thought of Su Yu, recalling that it was Su Yu who had mentioned the soul core. He must have condensed his own at level 70.

And if Su Yu dared to condense a soul core at level 70, he must have had some kind of support or reason to do so.

"Teacher, if we condense the soul core at level 70, how do we break through to Titled Douluo later?" Huo Yuhao wanted to inquire about the process of condensing multiple soul cores, but naturally, he first needed to bring up this question.

His martial soul cultivation teacher, Kong Deming, was only at level 95. He had neither condensed a second soul core nor reached the point where a second soul core would be necessary, so he had overlooked this detail when explaining the soul core.

After Huo Yuhao raised his question, Kong Deming responded.

"Of course, you'll need to condense the second soul core. By the way, Xiao Yu, when did you condense your first soul core? I didn't even know about it."

At this moment, Kong Deming realized that his disciple had already condensed his first soul core.

No wonder he felt a stronger connection with the surrounding world, and his soul power seemed to have higher quality.

"Condensing a second soul core is no simple task."

Kong Deming, now at level 98, had not yet reached the point where he needed a second soul core to push toward Limit Douluo, but he was approaching that stage.

His second martial soul was still missing one soul ring, and once he absorbed a soul ring of at least 100,000 years, he would immediately face the decision of whether to condense his second soul core.

Even he had no experience with condensing a second soul core. Without experience, it was inherently difficult.

Kong Deming couldn't believe that Su Yu had dared to condense his first soul core at level 70 under such conditions.

"Don't worry, Teacher. Since I dared to do this, I'm confident I can condense the second soul core when I reach level 90," Su Yu responded without a hint of worry.

"Actually, according to my latest design ideas, we can try incorporating some support for the soul core when designing the Super Soul Armor," Su Yu said.

Previously, Su Yu had not condensed a soul core and had little understanding of its properties. As a result, his approach to the Super Soul Armor's structural principles had only included the amplification methods he was familiar with.

Currently, the most unique aspect of the Super Soul Armor was the domain.

However, after gaining an understanding of the soul core and its condensation process, Su Yu realized that it would be entirely possible to incorporate some technology related to the soul core into the construction of the Super Soul Armor.

For example, a virtual second soul core!

By using the armor as the core, a virtual second soul core could be formed, greatly enhancing the soul master's power and allowing them to experience the effects of two soul cores ahead of time.

It might not be as powerful as a real second soul core, but the purpose of the virtual second soul core was to amplify the first soul core through resonance or the complementary interaction of yin and yang, while also allowing the soul master to experience and understand the effect of a second soul core early on.

Su Yu's latest concept made Kong Deming's eyes light up.

The more he listened to Su Yu's description, the more he felt that everything was achievable.

Moreover, Su Yu's ideas about integrating the virtual soul core into the Super Soul Armor were quite comprehensive. The key technologies required were already outlined. While Su Yu had not fully resolved the technical issues, he had proven that everything was theoretically possible.

"I may not be able to perfect it immediately, but I can prove that my ideas are correct," Su Yu thought.

"Xiao Yu, this is a fantastic idea!" Kong Deming said with excitement, as if he could already envision the effects of this technology once it was perfected.

At the very least, his own path to breaking through to Limit Douluo would become significantly easier.

Of course, Kong Deming had just recently broken through to level 98, so he wasn't yet at the stage where he needed to condense a second soul core. However, it wasn't far off.

The creation of the tenth-level Sun-Moon Divine Light Shield was incredibly difficult, so Kong Deming planned to perfect this technology first.

In fact, Kong Deming had already shifted his focus on breaking through to a tenth-level Soul Tool. His experiment of incorporating the Sun-Moon Divine Light Shield into the Soul Armor was one such attempt.

Making a single tenth-level Soul Tool was too challenging, but he could enhance multiple Soul Tools to the tenth-level standard through other methods.

It was similar to Jing Hongchen's technique of linking multiple Soul Guide Cannons together to reach a higher-level effect.

If he couldn't instantaneously turn the metal energy controlled by his soul power into the material needed for a seventh-level fixed Soul Tool Cannon, he would make several sixth-level ones and link them together to achieve the effect of a seventh-level cannon.

The same strategy applied to Sun-Moon's defensive systems.

The laser Soul Guide Cannons used to counter the threat in Sun-Moon were based on this concept.

Each laser cannon was linked with multiple ninth-level Soul Tool turrets, allowing the single cannon to release a ray of energy far more powerful than an ordinary ninth-level Soul Tool Cannon. Then, multiple cannons formed a secondary link, amplifying the effect even further.

With the continued improvements in Soul Armor technology, Kong Deming's idea of linking components in the Super Soul Armor to enhance their effects became more feasible.

Achieving this technology would also bring the enhancement of the Sun-Moon Divine Light Shield to a tenth-level power closer.

Meanwhile, Huo Yuhao let out a sigh of relief.

As long as Brother Yu has a solution to this problem, that's what matters.

As for whether the Limit Douluo needs to condense a third soul core, well, the idea for a second soul core has already been established, so the third can follow a similar approach.

However, even if it's just a virtual soul core, experiencing it in advance will require extremely precise crafting of the Soul Armor. The difficulty is still quite high.

Especially since the spiritual metal used in the armor has limited spiritual properties. Achieving the desired results will require utmost caution—caution, and even more caution.

Since there's a way, then let's do it!

The unprecedented three soul cores will be incredibly powerful!

Huo Yuhao began to consult the three others about the techniques for condensing a soul core.

Learning that so much preparation and adjustment was necessary, he immediately relaxed a little.

It was clear now that breaking through to level 70 before the competition was virtually impossible.

Moreover, the process of seclusion should not be disturbed.

He would need to do everything in his power to focus on his senses and adjustments before immediately beginning the soul core condensation. It would be best if no intense battles interrupted this process.

So, before the Soul Battle Tournament, not only would Huo Yuhao be unable to break through to level 70, but he might not even be able to start preparing to condense his soul core.

"Perfect timing," said Jing Hongchen. "Yuhao, your Soul Armor is due for an upgrade. With a mid-level Soul Armor, nurturing its spirit, along with your soul power level and the enhancements from the mid-level armor, trying to craft an eighth-level Soul Tool should be no problem at all."

The level of the Soul Engineer couldn't fall behind, especially in the current wave of reforms. Once behind, it would be hard to catch up.

The Soul Armor system is undoubtedly one of the biggest transformations ever in soul masters' history!

Huo Yuhao, hearing his teacher's advice, nodded firmly.

"Teacher, I understand."

Right now, he was only at the level of a newly minted seventh-level Soul Engineer.

His ability to craft seventh-level Soul Tools wasn't yet refined enough, and he couldn't craft mid-level Soul Armor, much less create the core formation inside it.

Therefore, his task for the next half-year was to solidify his skills as a seventh-level Soul Engineer and craft his own mid-level Soul Armor.

As for eighth-level Soul Tools?

Heh.

Even if his soul power level reaches it, it won't be so simple to break through.

Crafting eighth-level Soul Tools demands a much higher level of skill, with an even deeper understanding of the core formations.

With his spiritual detection and mental power level, Huo Yuhao could easily imitate the required techniques to reach the level of an eighth-level Soul Engineer in a short time.

But that wasn't what he needed.

Now that the Soul Armor system was available, this traditional approach to advancing as a Soul Engineer didn't suit him anymore.

He needed to understand the use of core formations, truly internalize and apply them.

This meant that his progress toward becoming an eighth-level Soul Engineer would slow down considerably.

(End of chapter)