Wang Nan sat cross-legged beside Life Lake, his hands placed in front of him, palms facing each other, left hand on top, right hand on the bottom. Slowly, a vortex began to form between his palms.
All his spirit power was mobilized, and a golden speck appeared in the vortex. Then, this golden speck grew larger and larger.
It was the moment to absorb the Black Dragon's Soul and break through the Rank 80 bottleneck. The liquid spirit power within Wang Nan's body was not as stable as usual, but under the control of his vast mental force, this spirit power steadily flowed into the space between his palms.
The spirit power began to rotate with the vortex, and its speed increased rapidly.
In Wang Nan's memory, various past experiences resurfaced before his eyes. Mu En's past recollections, Xuan Zi's spatial abilities used during travel, his own experience using Spirit Abilities and spatial powers, and finally, the strike that Di Tian had just unleashed.
The space around him began to vibrate slowly, and tiny cracks appeared one after another.
Wang Nan seemed to feel the spirit power in his hands suddenly "sink," and immediately after, the surrounding light began to distort, converging with the spirit power into the vortex.
A terrifying suction force spread outward. Beside Life Lake, the Heaven and Earth Yuan Power rapidly gathered, stirring up a storm in the core area of the Star Dou Great Forest. The surrounding Vicious Beasts seemed to sense something, raising their heads to look toward the core area.
Two Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bears, already displaced from their original territory, sensed the changes in the Heaven and Earth Yuan Power and turned toward the core area as well.
Wang Nan, at the center of the vortex, endured immense pressure. However, a golden glow emanated from his body, and a faint green light lit up on his chest, with strands of green light continuously pouring into his body.
Initially, Wang Nan still needed to actively circulate spirit power into the vortex between his palms, but at this point, the vortex began to actively absorb the spirit power within his body. At the very center of the vortex, his spirit power had already condensed into form, and the surrounding space was attracted and distorted by it.
Di Tian, observing Wang Nan's performance from the side, showed a hint of emotion on his face.
Condensing a Soul Core is the mark of a human training to become a Titled Douluo. To raise one's spirit power rank from ninety-eight to ninety-nine, one must condense a second Soul Core within the body—only then can one become a Limit Douluo.
However, humans are uniquely favored, naturally possessing upper, middle, and lower Dantians. Theoretically, a Spirit Master can condense a maximum of three Soul Cores.
It's just that very few people have ever done so.
Condensing a second Soul Core under the interference of the first Soul Core is already extremely difficult. Otherwise, there wouldn't be only a handful of Limit Douluo on the entire Douluo Continent.
And condensing a third Soul Core means that this Spirit Master must first condense the first Soul Core before breaking through to Titled Douluo. This not only requires the Spirit Master to possess mental force and physical strength comparable to a Titled Douluo before reaching the strength of a Titled Douluo, but also means that the subsequent Dao will be even more difficult.
Once a Spirit Master condenses a Soul Core in advance, it means that when they break through to Rank 90, they will face the bottleneck that ordinary Spirit Masters face when breaking through to Limit Douluo.
And to go a step further, one must complete the unprecedented third Soul Core. Even among those humans who had once become Gods on the Douluo Continent, no one had ever heard of anyone possessing a third Soul Core.
Di Tian's golden eyes watched Wang Nan, sensing the turbulent Heaven and Earth Yuan Power and the pervasive spatial force around him. If before he was merely working for the great cause of Spirit Beasts, at this moment, his heart couldn't help but give Wang Nan an extra glance.
Half of the spirit power within Wang Nan's body had already merged into the nascent Soul Core in front of him. The nascent Soul Core, condensed with immense spirit power and spatial force, had completely turned into a brilliant golden color.
The mist on Life Lake seemed to have thickened considerably. Abyss-like mental force firmly controlled Wang Nan's nascent Soul Core between his palms.
Not enough.
From a young age, Wang Nan could dedicate a portion of his mind during meditation to communicate with the unawakened Evil Breaking Dragon to hone his mental force. At this critical moment of condensing the Soul Core, while controlling the spirit power, he still had enough spare capacity to pay attention to his surroundings.
His own spirit power was still continuously pouring into the Soul Core, but Wang Nan was not satisfied. This was not his limit yet.
Even among Titled Douluo, their strength is not entirely the same. Besides the difference in Spirits, there are also differences in the Spirit Masters themselves.
The stronger the Spirit, the more spirit power that can be combined, coordinated, and stored, and naturally, the stronger the strength.
Similarly, as a Titled Douluo, the stronger the Soul Core one condenses, the more one's strength will increase accordingly.
Wang Nan's body had been continuously nourished since childhood through Spirit Bones using the Coiling Dragon Staff, coupled with the power of the dragon core and the subtle influence of life gold. The power he could withstand was no less than a Titled Douluo's, and his mental force even more so.
Possessing the mental force and physical strength of a Titled Douluo, he now lacked only one thing.
Thinking of this, he suddenly took a deep breath. Not only the nascent Soul Core in his hands, but his entire body began to attract the surrounding Heaven and Earth Yuan Power.
Like a whale swallowing, the surrounding Heaven and Earth Yuan Power instantly vanished, followed by an even denser gathering of Heaven and Earth Yuan Power.
A strong wind swept across Life Lake, and the surrounding trees swayed violently. Some small branches and accumulated fallen leaves on the ground were swept into the air. The surface of Life Lake instantly became turbulent, with white waves rolling and crashing against the shore with a roaring sound.
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion's fur was blown high, and it hurriedly stepped back to hide behind Di Tian.
Only Di Tian, though his robes flapped loudly in the wind, remained as still as a mountain, standing firm in his original spot.
The Evil Breaking Dragon emerged from Wang Nan's mental force sea. At this moment, its body had completely solidified, and a golden light also shone on it, reflecting the Soul Core in Wang Nan's palms.
Solidified spirit power is a manifestation of a Spirit Master's own ability. At this moment, within the Soul Core between Wang Nan's palms, spirit power and mental force had harmoniously combined. The spatial cracks appearing around were gradually increasing, and the escaping spatial force was also absorbed by the Soul Core.
The violent spatial force was both the foundation for the formation of the Soul Core and also constantly destroying its stability. However, under Wang Nan's mental force, this destruction was quickly suppressed.
Time passed by minute by minute. All of Wang Nan's spirit power had already merged into the Soul Core. Losing all his spirit power, Wang Nan only felt a wave of weakness, but he continued to support himself by relying on his extraordinary physical strength.
Finally, the rapidly spinning Soul Core suddenly stopped. A brilliant golden halo spread out, containing Wang Nan's own mental force and spirit power. The moment he came into contact with this halo, he saw a vast, boundless expanse, like a starry sky.