"Don't rush for now," Yunze shook his head. "Let me fully stabilize the soul power I just gained first. Only then should I absorb the Emerald Dragon King's dragon soul."
"My soul power has increased by two levels consecutively. If I push it another level, it will destabilize my foundation, and stabilizing afterward would take longer."
"But if I stabilize first and then absorb it, the total time spent will be much less."
"Besides, the Emerald Dragon King is much smaller than the Mountain Dragon King. It will take far less time for it to devour its bones. We don't need to hurry."
"Then we'll do as you say," Gu Yuena said with a smile.
For the next period of time, the two remained in the valley, each cultivating and consolidating their gains.
Yunze was stabilizing the two levels of soul power he'd just increased, tempering and refining it to perfectly merge with his foundation.
The Dragon God's dragon soul had boosted Gu Yuena mainly in bloodline and spirit. Her soul power had increased only by a single rank.
However, she had absorbed nearly half of the dragon souls and dragon clouds in the entire miniature world. This increased her spiritual power, physical strength, and soul power simultaneously.
She had now reached rank 60. Once she condensed another soul ring, she would become a six-ring Soul Emperor.
One noteworthy point: while absorbing the Dragon God's dragon soul, she used its power to condense her soul core.
Her soul core was nine-colored, representing the nine elements. With the soul core formed, her elemental control increased even further.
During the core's formation, her soul power had already been refined thoroughly—stable and solid, without the need for further consolidation.
Thus she began condensing her sixth soul ring immediately.
The process went smoothly—completely natural. Five hours later, a soul ring of dark black tinged with red appeared.
Its color alone showed that it had over 90,000 years of age, approaching the 100,000-year threshold.
After forming the soul ring, Gu Yuena focused entirely on absorbing and digesting her gains.
Time flowed like water. More than twenty days passed quickly.
During this period, Yunze had fully stabilized the two levels he increased. No trace of instability remained.
The soul power within his body had become extremely dense—and near his dantian, it was beginning to solidify, its concentration astonishing.
"Once I absorb the Emerald Dragon King's soul spirit, I can begin forming my soul core." Yunze planned silently.
Seeing that Gu Yuena was still deep in her comprehension, he did not disturb her. Instead, he summoned his martial soul and then the Emerald Dragon King's dragon soul, which had remained nearby.
Thump… thump… thump…
Compared to the Mountain Dragon King, the Emerald Dragon King's body was small—but only relatively.
In reality, it was over a hundred meters tall, muscular and powerful. Each step made the ground tremble.
Yunze wasted no time and immediately started pulling the Emerald Dragon King's dragon soul into his body, merging its soul and origin imprint with his martial soul.
Gu Yuena had already explained the process to the Emerald Dragon King earlier, so it offered no resistance—in fact, it cooperated eagerly.
The absorption went smoothly, far easier and faster than absorbing the Mountain Dragon King.
A little over twenty hours later, Yunze fully absorbed the Emerald Dragon King's dragon soul. His soul power rose another level, reaching rank 44.
Gu Yuena finished her comprehension and saw Yunze in the middle of the absorption. She did not continue cultivating and simply watched quietly from the side.
The Chaotic Ancient Dragon martial soul gained a third soul ring—again, with a strange color, a mix of emerald and black.
"Congratulations, you've gained another Dragon King-level soul spirit," Gu Yuena said playfully.
"It's a pretty good gain," Yunze smiled and released the Emerald Dragon King soul spirit.
"Roar—!"
Excited the moment it emerged, the Emerald Dragon King soul spirit flapped around joyfully.
Its body wasn't purely emerald, but streaked with dark silver, radiating intense spatial fluctuations.
"Go absorb your bones," Yunze said, sensing the soul spirit's longing.
"Roar—!"
The Emerald Dragon King nodded its head with childlike intelligence and flew off energetically.
Soul spirits absorbed inside this miniature world were not bound by the formation's restrictions, so they could move freely.
Yunze also released the Thunder Holy Dragon, allowing it to find and absorb its own remains.
Where there is a dragon soul, there must be bones. Thunder Holy Dragon's bones simply weren't in the valley.
They were outside the valley, and through its link to Yunze, he sensed the Thunder Holy Dragon already devouring its bones—and nearly finished.
"I wonder what changes they'll undergo after absorbing all their bones?" Gu Yuena said while watching the Emerald Dragon King soul spirit fly off.
Yunze glanced at the Mountain Dragon King soul spirit, which was gnawing endlessly on its own bones.
Sensing its condition, he answered:
"They'll still exist as soul spirits. But after I summon them, they may be able to manifest physical bodies."
"Really?" Gu Yuena's eyes lit up.
"My senses tell me so," Yunze replied. The Mountain Dragon King had already absorbed a third of its bones, and parts of its body were beginning to solidify.
Once it consumed all of its bones, its entire body would be able to take physical form.
"So these other dragon souls could do the same by eating their bones?" Gu Yuena pointed at the nearby dragon souls.
"No. Only soul spirits can do that. Pure dragon souls cannot." Yunze shook his head.
"I see…" Gu Yuena looked disappointed.
"Not now, anyway. But once you become a god, you may be able to restore them."
"After all, they aren't truly dead. As long as their bodies can be rebuilt, they can live again," Yunze said.
Hearing this, all her disappointment vanished. She shot Yunze an indignant glare.
"Can't you say everything at once? You whiplash my emotions like this. If I didn't understand you, I'd think you were teasing me deliberately."
Yunze laughed. "You were disappointed too quickly. You didn't let me finish. Not my fault."
"It is your fault," Gu Yuena pouted.
After absorbing the Emerald Dragon King dragon soul, Yunze began stabilizing his soul power again and simultaneously started forming his soul core.
After half a month, the single level he gained from the absorption was completely stabilized.
As soon as his soul power was firm, he started condensing the soul core—his viscous, liquid-like soul power drawing toward his dantian.
The surrounding energy stirred as well, rushing toward him.
Two hours later, a vortex formed around him, rapidly absorbing spatial energy.
All the gathered energy poured into his body, fueling the formation of his soul core.