"Just as I expected, absorbing the Cockscomb Phoenix Sunflower has transformed my attributes into pure fire and pure light. Even my original soul skills have significantly improved, especially my first soul skill, Morning Light, which has increased in effectiveness by at least twenty percent."
Xu Yang felt ecstatic. With the transformation into pure attributes, it meant he had taken the first step toward becoming a Title Douluo; now all he needed to do was cultivate and accumulate soul power.
After taking several deep breaths to calm his emotions, he began to meditate with his eyes closed. Although consuming celestial herbs wouldn't destabilize his foundation or create a sense of emptiness, the sudden enhancement could still lead to difficulties in manipulating his soul power.
What he needed to do now was eliminate this feeling of obstruction and ensure that his soul power flowed smoothly within him. To improve his control, he could only rely on meditation and repeated practice.
Xu Yang had always placed great importance on soul power manipulation. He often pondered why martial arts techniques in martial worlds seemed to express themselves much more powerfully than soul skills in this world. Eventually, he realized that the primary reason was the manipulation of energy.
Many martial arts worlds had a characteristic regarding inner strength: when a martial artist's inner strength was shallow, they struggled against those who had practiced external techniques for years. However, as their inner strength grew stronger, the roles would reverse.
A prime example of shallow inner strength was Linghu Chong, while a representative of powerful inner strength would be Duan Yu after he grew stronger.
Soul power operated similarly; the difference lay in control.
For this reason, Xu Yang temporarily categorized soul power manipulation into four levels: Enhancement, Eruption, Compression, and Subtlety.
The so-called Enhancement was akin to ordinary techniques in martial arts worlds—strengthening the martial spirit, weapons, and physical attacks through soul power manipulation to enhance attack, defense, and speed.
Eruption represented a more advanced form of martial arts; top-tier martial arts in martial worlds generally fell into this category. Each technique could unleash powers several times greater than one's own—sometimes even dozens of times stronger.
Compression wasn't merely about simply compressing soul power; basic soul power compression could be done by any prepared soul master. What Xu Yang meant by compression was a more refined manipulation of soul power—raising its quality and enabling quicker control.
As for Subtlety, it involved manipulating soul power from a macro level down to a micro level.
The latter two levels required one's spirit, will, and realm to be elevated to a certain extent for free use. Compression required at least reaching Soul Sect level; Subtlety was even more difficult—likely impossible without reaching Soul Sage level.
Xu Yang's planned first five soul skills were all functional aside from "Morning Light," each contributing to his soul power manipulation; especially the shaping technique brought by the Sun Sacred Beetle would incorporate both enhancement and compression techniques.
After tirelessly training every day for three days, Xu Yang finally eliminated that feeling of obstruction and consolidated his cultivation back to the level he had before consuming the celestial herbs.
Once consolidated, Xu Yang hurriedly went to find Madam Ning so she could help him hunt for his third ring. Ning Fengzhi had already consolidated his cultivation a day earlier and set off toward Star Dou Great Forest with Ning Haiyan and Sword Douluo Cheng Xin.
"Madam! I've consolidated my cultivation! Let's go hunt for my soul ring!"
His voice reached them before he did. Xu Yang was not one to easily suppress his level of cultivation; after all, there was a significant gap between Soul Master cultivation and Great Soul Master cultivation. Advancing sooner would create a considerable distance between them.
"Then Uncle Bone will take care of Rongrong!" Upon hearing Xu Yang's voice, Madam Ning smiled helplessly as she walked over to Gu Rong, who was drinking tea nearby, and handed Ning Rongrong over to him.
"Don't worry! Leaving Rongrong with me is no problem. You hurry and take that brat to hunt for your soul ring! I bet he's been itching for it!" Gu Rong cheerfully accepted Ning Rongrong and waved his hand as if shooing them away.
Madam Ning rolled her eyes helplessly before standing up and walking toward the exit.
"Yang'er! Let's go!"
Madam Ning didn't waste any time; she grabbed Xu Yang's hand and headed out of Seven Treasures Glazed Tile School. Over these three days, Ning Fengzhi and others had already determined the age limit for Xu Yang's third soul ring based on their soul pressure assessments.
Soul beasts under ten thousand years could be hunted freely!
The Cockscomb Phoenix Sunflower's pure medicinal properties not only allowed his Solar Martial Spirit to evolve into an ultimate martial spirit but also reinforced his entire being from within. Its effects were even more astonishing than those of ten-thousand-year whale glue—allowing Xu Yang's endurance capacity to reach incredible levels.
Had it not been for concerns about being unable to withstand the mental impact from a ten-thousand-year soul ring, Ning Fengzhi would have arranged for Xu Yang to absorb one right away.
Major sects generally wouldn't allow their true disciples to take risks; moreover, given Xu Yang's age and current level of soul power, he simply wasn't suited for a ten-thousand-year soul ring—a point Xu Yang himself agreed upon.
He certainly didn't want to harm himself; that would be counterproductive.
However, his fourth soul ring must be from a ten-thousand-year beast—otherwise it wouldn't be worth it!
The Sunset Forest wasn't far from Seven Treasures Glazed Tile School; with the pace of a Soul Douluo, it wouldn't take long at all—only five hours passed. If not for considering Xu Yang's presence, Madam Ning could have easily cut that time in half or more.
"Yang'er! Do you remember where the Sun Flower Field is?!" Madam Ning asked casually while walking through the forest.
"I remember!"
"Then lead the way!"
Xu Yang nodded and took the lead toward the direction of the Sun Flower Field. Having been there twice before made him quite familiar with it. As for the soul beasts within the forest—under Madam Ning's presence as a Soul Douluo—they wouldn't dare approach at all.
As soon as Xu Yang got close to the vicinity of the Sun Flower Field, everything began shaking violently. The central Sun Flower King instantly burrowed underground while hundreds of soul beasts that cultivated using sunflowers fled in all directions.
The sunflowers had grown accustomed to Xu Yang's aura after two forced harvests—they had developed an instinctive reaction by now.
"This..." Seeing this scene left Xu Yang somewhat dumbfounded.
Fortunately, their target was solely the Sun Sacred Beetle; they only needed to focus on those few flying Sacred Beetles above. As a Soul Douluo-level powerhouse, Madam Ning could determine the age of any nearby soul beasts without relying on their characteristics but rather through her own pressure assessment instead.
With just a glance around her surroundings, Madam Ning quickly spotted a two-meter-long Sun Sacred Beetle with sharp horns resembling swords atop its head. Under her perception, this beast's aura radiated purple tinged with black—indicating it was infinitely close to being a ten-thousand-year beast.
"This is it!"
Madam Ning smiled slightly as she summoned forth a slender sword with a blue gem on its hilt that appeared in her hand. The sword measured less than an inch wide with eight shining rings beneath it—yellowish purple intermingling with black—and as her third ring lit up, she vanished from sight in an instant.
"So fast!"
Xu Yang barely saw how Madam Ning disappeared; one moment she was there and then suddenly appeared above that Sun Sacred Beetle. With her long leg extended outwards in a kick directly onto its hard shell...
(End of Chapter)