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.
For every 5 Patreon memberships I receive, I'll release 15 chapters all at once. Your support means a lot to me.
******
Fortunately, there were no flaws in Ye Lan's "Limit Soul Ring Absorption Method." Coupled with the fact that Qian Renxue had already condensed a "Soul Power Core," consumed Immortal Herbs, and possessed the God-level Seraphim martial soul, she withstood the impact of the soul ring with ease.
Most importantly, the Artificial Soul Ring contained no soul beast soul shock, so there were no requirements for the Soul Master's mental strength.
After about an hour, Qian Renxue's entire body shone with golden light as she slowly floated into mid-air.
A golden phantom emerged behind her.
Three pairs of massive white wings unfurled completely, and a holy Seraphim stood tall before the countless Soul Masters.
The moment Qian Renxue opened her eyes, the pupils of the Seraphim phantom flashed with a blinding golden light.
At this moment, Qian Renxue's eight soul rings shone simultaneously.
Yellow, Yellow, Purple, Purple, Black, Black, Black, Red!!
To make this holy scene even more magnificent and to enhance the cohesion of Spirit Hall and Wuhun City, Ye Lan immediately summoned a Blue Silver Grass. He then used "Life Sharing" to link Qian Renxue's life force with the Blue Silver Grass.
Sensing the life link request, Qian Renxue directly agreed to share her life force.
At the same time, Bibi Dong, Qian Daoliu, Golden Crocodile, Star Douluo, and other Titled Douluos who knew Ye Lan's secrets and were trusted by him also received life sharing requests.
Just as everyone was wondering why Ye Lan was linking their life force with Qian Renxue, the size of Qian Renxue and the Seraphim began to expand rapidly.
With Qian Renxue's life force reaching a "Quasi-God" level under the boost of "Life Sharing," a prompt flashed in her mind again.
Activate "Titan Divine Body"?
Qian Renxue agreed decisively. After all, this was Ye Lan's soul skill, and Ye Lan would absolutely never harm her.
Subsequently, Qian Renxue's size instantly increased exponentially, her height growing directly to ten meters!!
The Seraphim phantom, originally three meters tall, expanded to over eighteen meters!!
At this moment, Ye Lan sent a mental transmission: "Little Xue, activate your Martial Soul Avatar immediately!!"
Qian Renxue's seventh soul ring instantly lit up, and the Seraphim Avatar descended.
Under the witness of countless Soul Masters, the ten-meter-tall Qian Renxue vanished, and the Seraphim phantom behind her solidified.
The originally eighteen-meter Seraphim phantom instantly grew to one hundred and eighty-seven meters!!
It was equivalent to the height of three Ultramen stacked together!!
Countless Soul Masters were thoroughly shaken by the holy, hundred-meter-tall Seraphim. Was this the legendary Angel God of Spirit Hall?!
Innumerable Soul Masters in Wuhun City fell to their knees to worship the Seraphim, constantly making wishes in their hearts for their own children.
Looking at the hundred-meter-tall Qian Renxue, Qian Daoliu felt as if he were seeing the ancient ancestor, the Angel God; his heart was equally shaken.
Qian Renxue looked down from high above at the humans, who seemed the size of insects, and the houses that looked like toys; she too was shocked.
She was astounded by the intensity of her man's soul skill. "Titan Divine Body"?
Truly worthy of being a Divine Body!
Even a Divine Skill would likely be no more powerful than this.
At this moment, Qian Renxue felt her body brimming with endless power. Under the judgment of the "Titan Divine Body," she had obtained one hundred and forty percent of the strength of a "Quasi-God's" life force.
A thought occurred to Qian Renxue, and she slowly drew a holy Angelic Sword, over a hundred meters long, from the void.
As the golden blade unsheathed and flashed with sword light, a mountain peak hundreds of meters high in the Xuefeng Mountain Range, several thousand meters away, slowly began to slide from its waist.
Under the witness of countless Soul Masters, the ground began to vibrate, and countless houses shook continuously.
Boom!!
A sound that shook the heavens and the earth let them witness the power of this single strike from the Seraphim.
That sword slashed through space and severed a mountain peak hundreds of meters high.
Is this the power of a God?!
Countless Soul Masters were shaken to their cores.
They did not know that all of this was due to their Holy Son exerting force from behind the scenes.
Seeing that Little Xue had raised the cohesion of Wuhun City and the Spirit Hall Soul Masters to its peak, Ye Lan decisively transferred the shared health bar above Little Xue's head to the Blue Silver Grass, and then chose to deactivate the "Titan Divine Body."
The instant it was deactivated, that stalk of Blue Silver Grass exploded directly into a cluster of soul power particles, as if it had never existed.
Ye Lan watched all this with lingering fear. It had to be said, the "Titan Divine Body" was truly a dangerous soul skill.
But the "Titan Divine Body" was also the only soul skill Ye Lan could attach to others; the other three soul skills could only be used by himself and the Blue Silver Grass.
After slicing the mountain peak, Qian Renxue slowly floated down.
But this did not stop the cheering atmosphere of the Spirit Hall Soul Masters. This was the Deputy Hall Master of their Sanctuary! And the Young Miss of Spirit Hall!
Only now did the Spirit Hall Soul Masters realize that, aside from the Holy Son, the Young Miss was also ridiculously strong.
If they dared to feign compliance while acting in opposition in the branch halls in the future, and the Young Miss unleashed such a sword strike, their branch halls would likely be instantly sliced in half along with them, right?!
The Bishops, filled with lingering fear, re-evaluated the new power within Spirit Hall—the Sanctuary.
Or rather, they re-evaluated the new generation of Spirit Hall Soul Masters. Only now did they realize that the Young Miss of Spirit Hall was already a Rank 81 Spirit Douluo!
And she was the first Spirit Douluo to absorb a 200,000-year Artificial Soul Ring!!
This meant that in the future, Spirit Hall would produce another Limit Douluo!!
Thinking of this, the Spirit Hall Soul Masters recalled the recent riots in the Heaven Dou Empire. At that time, they were incredibly anxious, worried that Spirit Hall would be in a dangerous situation due to a lack of funding sources.
But now, after witnessing His Highness the Holy Son's "Artificial Soul Ring" and the strength of the Young Miss, they suddenly felt their previous worries were in vain!
Under the leadership of the Sanctuary's Hall Master and Deputy Hall Master, Spirit Hall would march toward even greater heights, until it stood above the heavens.
After Qian Renxue returned to her normal size, she spoke instantly:
"The '200,000-Year Seraphim Artificial Soul Ring' created by the Holy Son of Spirit Hall and Hall Master of the Sanctuary, Ye Lan, has been successfully absorbed by me. With the help of the 'Limit Soul Ring Absorption Method' developed by Ye Lan, after absorption, this soul ring reached the absorption limit of the Seraphim Martial Soul, effectively becoming a 180,000-year Seraphim Soul Ring!!"
"Furthermore, this soul ring is no different from a natural hundred-thousand-year soul ring; it directly granted me two 180,000-year soul skills!"
Seeing Qian Renxue personally finish absorbing the 200,000-year Artificial Soul Ring, and hearing her affirm its effects, the countless Soul Masters of Spirit Hall became thoroughly convinced that the Holy Son had truly created "Artificial Soul Rings."
And they, too, would have the opportunity to absorb ten-thousand-year, or even hundred-thousand-year soul rings.
As for the Spirit Hall Elders, they could only lament repeatedly that they had advanced too early. If they had cultivated to become Titled Douluos in an era where Ye Lan existed, they might also have had the chance to obtain legendary hundred-thousand-year soul rings.
After Qian Renxue finished absorbing the ring, the celebration organized by Bibi Dong officially concluded. Most Soul Masters began to return to their original posts to spread the joyous news.
Meanwhile, the Titled Douluo Elders of Spirit Hall, the Priests of the Douluo Palace, Pope Bibi Dong, and Holy Son Ye Lan went to the main hall of the Pope's Palace for a secret meeting.
The content of the secret meeting was precisely the production of "Artificial Soul Rings."
Regarding the most basic principles of the "Artificial Soul Ring," Ye Lan did not publish them. Instead, he chose to teach these Elders how to condense the "Stabilized Artificial Soul Ring," also known as the "Soul Ring Embryo."
Ye Lan decided to adopt a pyramid structure for human resource allocation in the manufacturing of Artificial Soul Rings. Since the production of Soul Ring Embryos had extremely high requirements for the ratio of soul power in the "Soul Beast Bloodline Factor Structure"—or "Soul Power Particle Clusters"—he had to be careful.
Ye Lan would tell different Titled Douluo Elders the proportions of bloodline factors for different types of soul beasts, allowing them to focus on condensing just a few types of Soul Ring Embryos each.
The upper limit of a soul ring was related to the "vacuum" space within the Soul Ring Embryo. Therefore, depending on their individual spirit power levels, these Titled Douluo Elders could condense Soul Ring Embryos ranging from one hundred thousand years to several hundred thousand years.
Although condensing "Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring Embryos" was currently difficult for them, and they had to rely on feeling, practice makes perfect in all things.
Under Ye Lan's leadership, these Elders and Priests began to condense hundred-year, thousand-year, and even ten-thousand-year Soul Ring Embryos.
Different Soul Ring Embryos would be directly distributed to Spirit Hall Soul Masters of various ranks. This meant that the Titled Douluos of Spirit Hall were only responsible for condensing the embryos, which greatly prevented the leakage of "Artificial Soul Ring" technology.
The "Soul Ring Embryo" condensation method Ye Lan taught the Elders only allowed them to know the how, but not the why. Furthermore, the number of soul beast "bloodline factor" types each person knew was limited.
Ye Lan did this to prevent the core technology from leaking.
The only ones who truly knew the principles and theory behind the "Artificial Soul Ring" were himself, Qian Renxue, Qian Daoliu, and Bibi Dong.
After assigning the tasks for the "Soul Ring Embryos," Ye Lan handed the prepared propaganda drafts and the "Limit Soul Ring Absorption Method" to his teacher, Bibi Dong. He asked her to use Spirit Hall's propaganda channels to promote the "Artificial Soul Ring" first.
The content of the propaganda was mainly Ye Lan publishing the basic concept of the Artificial Soul Ring to build anticipation.
The "Limit Soul Ring Absorption Method" would be used for the initial launch promotion: Buy an 'Artificial Soul Ring' and get the 'Limit Soul Ring Absorption Method' free!!
He didn't believe that those Soul Masters unable to hunt souls could resist such a huge temptation and run off to participate in anti-Spirit Hall protests instead.
Looking at the excited faces of the Spirit Hall Elders, Ye Lan said:
"Seniors, the 'Artificial Soul Ring' will be our Spirit Hall's ultimate weapon to counter the Myriad Beast Sect, the Star Luo Empire, and even to dominate the Douluo Continent!!"
"To ensure the supply of 'Artificial Soul Rings,' I ask all seniors to diligently condense 'Soul Ring Embryos.'"
"During the condensation process, cultivate a batch of talents sensitive to 'Soul Power Particles' and let them gradually take over the task of condensing low-year Soul Ring Embryos to relieve the pressure on everyone."
"His Highness the Holy Son is wise!!" the Spirit Hall Elders expressed their gratitude.
Then Ye Lan continued:
"To ensure the supply of soul beast blood, all Soul Beast Forests within the Heaven Dou Empire must be controlled by our Spirit Hall!!"
"In the future, if there are any more incidents of Soul Masters storming the Soul Beast Forests, please do not hesitate to strike, seniors. Have no scruples."
"From today on, the Soul Beast Forests will never be touched by any other faction."
"This is the foundation of the 'Artificial Soul Ring.' Only when soul beasts are protected and the variety of species is sufficient can the 'Artificial Soul Ring' system prosper."
"Moreover, as time passes—perhaps decades, perhaps centuries, perhaps tens of thousands of years—the principles of the 'Artificial Soul Ring' will sooner or later be leaked."
"But as long as Spirit Hall controls the Soul Beast Forests, we control the lifeline of the 'Artificial Soul Ring'!"
"Therefore, for the sake of Spirit Hall, I ask all seniors to guard your assigned Soul Beast Forests well."
"In the future, the Soul Beast Forests will be Spirit Hall's most important asset!!"
"In the future, he who holds the Soul Beast Forests holds the world!!"
"Yes!!!" The Titled Douluo Elders of Spirit Hall nodded solemnly.
Through the Holy Son's words, they re-evaluated the importance of the Soul Beast Forests.
The Holy Son was absolutely right. Once the "Artificial Soul Ring" was promoted to the whole continent, in a way, as long as Spirit Hall controlled all the forests, they would remain dominant even if the technology leaked.
Without soul beast blood, how could one condense an "Artificial Soul Ring"?
Even if they knew the ratio for certain "Soul Ring Embryos," it would be useless if they couldn't find the same species of soul beast.
And "Martial Soul Ring Embryos" were even rarer. The soul power particle ratio for every "Martial Soul Ring Embryo" was different. Not to mention that martial soul types were as numerous as stars; even within the same type of martial soul, there were strong and weak variations.
Those Soul Masters who didn't know the basic principles of the "Artificial Soul Ring" wouldn't even know what a soul power particle ratio was.
They didn't have Ye Lan's "Golden Dragon Eyes," nor did they have a Limit Douluo's perception of soul power particles. So, trying to condense an "Artificial Soul Ring" without obtaining the fundamental theory was no different from trying to ascend to heaven in a single step.
One Week Later, Heaven Dou City.
Due to the "Sunset Forest Meat Grinder" battle, nearly two thousand Heaven Dou City Soul Masters had died. Consequently, there were far fewer mid-level Soul Masters in the protests in Heaven Dou City.
But precisely because of that "Meat Grinder" battle, more low-level Soul Masters joined the procession.
As they marched, they attempted to attack anything related to Spirit Hall.
Only today, Heaven Dou City was a bit different from usual.
Some Soul Masters returning to Heaven Dou City from nearby cities brought back rumors. They claimed that everyone had been wrong—Spirit Hall controlled the Soul Beast Forests to create "Artificial Soul Rings," and the Holy Son of Spirit Hall, the current number one theoretical grandmaster of the Douluo Continent, had successfully created the ground-breaking "Artificial Soul Ring."
From hundred-year Artificial Soul Rings to several-hundred-thousand-year ones, all were pioneered by the Spirit Hall Holy Son alone.
Moreover, in addition to only raising one rank, the Artificial Soul Ring allowed for limit absorption based on the "Limit Soul Ring Absorption Method" created by the Holy Son, thereby allowing one to obtain a soul ring of the maximum possible age.
These protesting Soul Masters were horribly wrong. The reason the Spirit Hall Warrior Corps resisted the protesters so fiercely was precisely because the Holy Son was researching Artificial Soul Rings in the "Sunset Forest."
If not for the fierce resistance of the Douluo Warrior Corps, the Holy Son might not have been able to develop the Artificial Soul Rings.
Although most Heaven Dou Soul Masters and commoners didn't believe these remarks when they first appeared—if one person said it, they treated it as a joke and dismissed the speaker as a Spirit Hall stooge—when ten or a hundred people said the same thing, the Soul Masters who planned to continue demonstrating hesitated.
If Ye Lan really created the "Artificial Soul Ring" in the "Sunset Forest," then what were they, the protesters, doing?
Were they traitors to humanity, hindering progress?
Thinking of the consequences, these protesting Soul Masters began to restrain themselves and started paying attention to specific news from Spirit Hall.
Furthermore, Ye Lan was a native of the Heaven Dou Empire and the current number one theoretical grandmaster.
Ye Lan was a hero in the hearts of countless commoners. Although countless Heaven Dou citizens lamented for a long time after he became the Holy Son of Spirit Hall, Spirit Hall's image had been extremely good previously. Countless commoner Soul Masters in the Heaven Dou Empire, based on traditional views, only regretted that Ye Lan no longer served the Empire, but they did not criticize his joining Spirit Hall too harshly.
Meanwhile, the Kingdom regions effectively controlled by Spirit Hall near Wuhun City celebrated Ye Lan becoming the Holy Son.
It can only be said that the joys and sorrows of people are not interconnected; one's stance determines one's perspective.
Since the news spreading was that the commoner hero and number one theoretical grandmaster Ye Lan created the "Artificial Soul Ring," they believed the rumors a little more.
But there was no lack of skepticism. The appearance of "Artificial Soul Rings" was simply too outrageous.
And to appear suddenly with levels reaching several hundred thousand years? Yesterday, a hundred-thousand-year soul ring was still a legend.
Today, you tell me a twenty-year-old youth has created an Artificial Soul Ring of several hundred thousand years?
This was as absurd as someone building an aircraft carrier the day after fishermen were still using small boats.
Among the skeptics, the one with the loudest voice, resonating with countless Soul Masters, was a flat-headed, bearded figure who looked neither fully man nor woman, holding a chicken leg.
Because Yu Xiaogang's behavior and appearance had changed so drastically, some people only found him familiar, like a stranger they might have seen somewhere but couldn't place.
Yu Xiaogang, gnawing on a chicken leg, waved his hand and scolded with great vigor:
"Artificial Soul Rings?! And several-hundred-thousand-year ones at that?!"
"This is truly the funniest joke I've heard in my life!! Hahahahahaha~"
"I laugh at the child Ye Lan's arrogance and conceit; he considers everyone beneath him."
"He doesn't take martial soul theory seriously at all. I really don't understand how that child Ye Lan can brag about himself like this?!"
"He's truly just a person who knows a little theory and only learned to fish for fame..."
Yu Xiaogang shook his head and sighed.
A Soul Master beside him asked in surprise:
"No matter what, Ye Lan is the current Number One Theoretical Grandmaster of the Douluo Continent, right? Who are you to slander the Number One Theoretical Grandmaster like this?!"
"Number One Theoretical Grandmaster?! Hmph, after such outrageous rumors came out, he is unworthy of being the Number One Theoretical Grandmaster!!"
"Let me ask you!! How old is Ye Lan now?" Yu Xiaogang asked, shaking his head.
"The current Number One Theoretical Grandmaster is naturally the most talented legendary figure of our Heaven Dou Empire. He is only twenty years old now," another Soul Master said immediately. He wanted to hear what kind of ivory would come out of this "he-she's" mouth.
"You know Ye Lan is only twenty years old. Then let me ask you again. Based on Ye Lan's age of twenty..."
"Even if he started condensing inside his mother's womb, he couldn't condense a several-hundred-thousand-year soul ring, could he?"
"How can you idiots... people believe that Ye Lan can condense a soul ring of several hundred thousand years?"
"You must know, the highest known limit for soul beasts is only one hundred thousand years. A hundred-thousand-year soul ring is equivalent to a soul beast cultivating for a full one hundred thousand years."
"Based on Ye Lan's age of twenty, how could he possibly create a soul ring of several hundred thousand years?!"
Although Yu Xiaogang's words were harsh, what he said did make some sense.
Ye Lan was only twenty; how could he create an Artificial Soul Ring of several hundred thousand years?
Some Soul Masters who hadn't seen much of the world saw Yu Xiaogang's bizarre appearance and thought he might be some hidden expert, so they hurriedly asked curiously:
"Master, who are you?"
"I am..." Yu Xiaogang thought of his reputation and quickly swallowed the words "Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang."
If they knew the former Number One Theoretical Grandmaster, Yu Xiaogang, had turned into this half-man, half-woman appearance, he would surely become the laughingstock of the entire Douluo Continent, and even a negative example in the mouths of countless parents, right?
Yu Xiaogang cleared his throat and pretended: "I am merely a nameless person researching martial soul theory!"
"So you are a Master researching martial soul theory!! Master, why have you become like this?" that Soul Master exclaimed. Indeed, one cannot judge a person by their appearance.
Hearing the word "Master," Yu Xiaogang felt extremely gratified.
He continued:
"Others laugh at me for being too crazy; I laugh at others for not seeing through it!"
After Yu Xiaogang's refutation of Ye Lan and his pretentious speech, the nearby Soul Masters re-evaluated him. Perhaps this really was a hidden expert, they thought honestly.
Just as everyone gathered at the Spirit Hall branch waiting for firsthand news, someone finally emerged.
To control the scene, the one who came out was the Spirit Hall Elder, Chrysanthemum Douluo.
Chrysanthemum Douluo, Yue Guan, used "Air Walk" to stand directly above the thousands of Soul Masters.
These Soul Masters, who had a record of protesting, instantly fell silent. They could talk big, but they dared not truly provoke a veritable veteran Titled Douluo.
Seeing the quiet Soul Masters, Chrysanthemum Douluo spoke decisively:
"I have just received firsthand news from Spirit Hall, as well as a mysterious gift."
"Regarding the matter of the Spirit Hall Holy Son creating Artificial Soul Rings, I can tell you with certainty: It is true!!"
The moment Chrysanthemum Douluo spoke, the countless Soul Masters below instantly caused a sensation.
It was actually true!!?
After all, a Titled Douluo had no leisure to deceive them.
Yu Xiaogang's face changed drastically. He couldn't believe Ye Lan could create "Artificial Soul Rings."
After all, if Ye Lan created "Artificial Soul Rings," then the plagiarized "Core Competencies of Martial Souls" he had published before would truly become a joke.
Nothing could withstand comparison. Both became "Number One Theoretical Grandmasters," but he had only published the plagiarized "Core Competencies."
Ye Lan, however, not only published the "New Core Competencies of Martial Souls" which overturned and supplemented his theories, but also created the Artificial Soul Ring, which seemed like a myth to Yu Xiaogang.
Then wouldn't the "Grandmaster" reputation he had always pursued truly become a laughingstock?
Even if he used the "Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan" to whitewash his "Core Competencies" as merely coincidentally hitting upon the same ideas as the Spirit Hall classics...
When his "Ten Core Competencies" were compared with Ye Lan's "Artificial Soul Ring," his identity as the former Number One Grandmaster would truly become a joke.
Future generations would not acknowledge his status as a Grandmaster; they would only mock him for staining the word.
They would even suspect his Grandmaster status was marketed into existence—although it was marketed into existence, Yu Xiaogang would never admit that point.
(End of Chapter)