I've also recently started a new translation, please check it out and show your support! Douluo: Seven Kill Shock the World
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In the afternoon, halfway to the Great Star Dou Forest.
"Boy, how did you manage to reach Level 60 so quickly?"
Mid-air, on the back of the fire phoenix spirit Xiao Hong, Chen Xin couldn't help but ask Chu Chengzhou in surprise.
He remembered clearly that during the Soul Master Tournament, Chu Chengzhou was still a four-ring Soul Sage. After the tournament ended, he had just advanced to a Soul King. Now, after only a little over a year, his soul power had already broken through to Level 60, making him a quasi-Soul Emperor. Wasn't this progress a bit too rapid?
After all, even Chen Xin himself had been a genius with full innate soul power, yet it took him more than four years to break through from Level 50 to Level 60. Compared to Chu Chengzhou's little over a year, the difference was incomparable.
"I'm a genius, you know," Chu Chengzhou 'humbly' smiled.
Although he had once been a little nobody with only half a level innate soul power, now, when it came to soul power cultivation speed, even excluding the added effects of the immortal herbs stored within his body, across the entire continent, he estimated that only Qian Renxue, who possessed Level 20 innate soul power, surpassed him.
If the effects of the immortal herbs were included (even excluding the Nine Breath Qi Absorption Technique), his cultivation speed could likely rival Qian Renxue's—though not the lazy Qian Renxue who worked for three days and distracted for two, but rather the diligent one.
And with the added boost of the Nine Breath Qi Absorption Technique, when it came to soul power cultivation speed, if he claimed to be second best, no one could claim to be the best.
Advancing one whole rank (10 Levels) in soul power in just over a year? A piece of cake!
Compared to the original story where Qian Renxue only needed five or six years to ascend from a Soul Sage to the position of Angel God, his progress was still far behind.
"Tsk, there's something off about you, and Rongrong too!"
Clicking his tongue, Chen Xin couldn't help but complain.
It wasn't just Chu Chengzhou's cultivation speed that was questionable; his precious granddaughter Ning Rongrong's cultivation speed was equally suspicious.
Chen Xin remembered clearly that during the Soul Master Tournament, his beloved granddaughter Ning Rongrong was at Level 44 as a Soul Ancestor. Yet, just two months ago, when she returned home, she told him that she had already advanced to a Soul King.
At the four-ring stage, increasing her soul power by six levels in ten months included the infamous "nine bottleneck" that most soul masters encountered. Moreover, this wasn't achieved through methods like refining soul bones—it was entirely through self-cultivation. If someone else heard this, they wouldn't believe it.
Additionally, though he was getting on in years—he had celebrated his 90th birthday two years ago—his eyesight was still sharp. His precious granddaughter, who had no soul bones, had a fifth soul ring whose years weren't just over ten thousand. Judging by the depth of its color, it looked similar to his own twenty-thousand-year sixth soul ring.
Of course, since this was his precious granddaughter and future grandson-in-law, Chen Xin didn't seize them for interrogation. Otherwise, he would have subjected them to severe torture to uncover the reason behind their rapid progress.
"By the way, what kind of sixth soul ring do you want?"
Chen Xin asked seriously.
"Any attribute among time, space, earth, or wind below a hundred thousand years will do."
Without hesitation, Chu Chengzhou replied directly.
He didn't possess any soul bones. Even though his current body-forging technique, the Gold-Tier Unbreakable Golden Body, was extraordinary, Chu Chengzhou estimated that he probably couldn't handle a hundred-thousand-year sixth soul ring.
After all, the five soul rings he currently possessed weren't low-level, with even his fourth soul ring exceeding fifty thousand years.
However, a hundred thousand years was a threshold. While he couldn't handle a hundred-thousand-year soul ring, most soul rings below that level shouldn't pose much of a problem.
Keep in mind, his current Unbreakable Golden Body was a Gold-Tier body-forging technique, far stronger than its previous Red-Tier version.
As for the issue of attributes, time and space needed no further explanation. In any extraordinary world, time and space were universally the strongest single attributes.
As for earth and wind, these were considerations for his future plans.
The Sky Azure Tree summon Xiao Qing had the wood attribute, the Fire Phoenix summon Xiao Hong had the fire attribute, the Dark Gold Terror Claw Bear summon Big Bear had the metal attribute, and the Mystic Water Turtle summon Gui Er had the water attribute.
Adding an earth-attribute summon would complete the five elements: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. With all five elements combined, if perfectly fused, the power of the Sun-Shooting Divine Arrow would skyrocket.
Alternatively, adding a wind-attribute summon followed by an earth-attribute summon would complete the four symbols: earth, water, fire, and wind. This also held great potential.
Or, thinking big, fusing metal, wood, water, fire, and earth into the five elements, and merging earth, water, fire, and wind into chaos might lay the foundation for ascending to godhood.
In the original story, there were three paths to becoming a god:
Passing a deity's trial and inheriting a divine position, such as Qian Renxue.
2. Accumulating vast faith to achieve godhood, such as Bo Saidong, the Sea God.
3. Advancing step by step through personal accumulation, though this method hadn't seen success on the continent yet. However, in later eras when the continent ascended and the world's energy increased, many soul masters achieved Level 100 without external aid.
Though the original story outlined only three paths to godhood, Chu Chengzhou knew there were surely more. For example, mastering laws.
If Gods mastered laws, then comprehending laws should lead to Godhood, right?
Moreover, to avoid the ruler of the Douluo universe having sole mastery of a law—or hating those who shared the same law—it was best not to choose laws already associated with existing divine positions, especially those controlled by the Five God Kings of the God Realm.
Of course, it wasn't guaranteed they'd be hostile—they might even take you as a disciple and pass down their divine position.
But regardless, as far as he knew, while the god realm had elemental gods, there were no gods who mastered the five-element laws or the chaos law.
In other words, these were two lofty paths to ascension. And the chaos formed by merging earth, water, fire, and wind held immense potential—it might even allow direct ascension to the position of a God King.
"Anything below a hundred thousand years is fine?"
Chen Xin was greatly shocked. He wasn't unaware of Chu Chengzhou's exceptional physical and mental strength, far surpassing soul masters of the same level, but saying anything below a hundred thousand years was acceptable seemed exaggerated.
After all, even mighty Titled Douluos like him had ninth soul rings of only around ninety thousand years.
Of course, it wasn't that he could only handle a ninety-thousand-year ninth soul ring—it was just that finding a hundred -thousand-year soul ring was near impossible.
But even so, excluding factors like soul bones, those who could handle a ninety-thousand-year soul ring were either Level 90 quasi-Titled Douluos or Level 80 quasi-Soul Douluos with powerful beast-type martial souls.
"Something like the Dark Gold Terror Claw Bear is out of the question, but ordinary soul beasts should be fine.
Though I don't necessarily need a ninety-thousand-year soul ring—the species of the soul beast is also important. If the same-level strength is strong enough, a lower year count is acceptable."
Chu Chengzhou shrugged.
Though once a soul beast reached a hundred thousand years, its abilities wouldn't be weak, when it came to Attack-type soul beasts, the differences in strength between species were still significant.
For instance, pure-blood dragons, Dark Gold Terror Claw Bears, and Dark Demon Evil God Tigers at the ten-thousand-year mark could easily dominate other attack-type soul beasts of the same age.
Even in the original story, a sixty-thousand-year Dark Demon Evil God Tiger was strong enough that even a combined effort by the hundred-thousand-year Da Ming and Er Ming couldn't defeat it—they could only drive it away, not kill it. In a one-on-one fight, it might even flip the tables.
Of course, his True Spirit Banner martial soul hadn't yet evolved, remaining a top-tier martial soul. The bloodline level of the summons would be restricted below the god level. Even if he attached the soul ring of a Dark Demon Evil God Tiger, the resulting summon wouldn't match the true Dark Demon Evil God Tiger.
"The Dark Gold Terror Claw Bear is strong. They haven't gone extinct in the Great Star Dou Forest, and very few soul beasts can defeat it at the same age. Why don't you get another one?"
After some thought, Chen Xin suggested.
"..."
Hearing this, Chu Chengzhou couldn't help but feel speechless.
The Dark Gold Terror Claw Bear was indeed strong. Initially, he had considered adding nine Dark Gold Terror Claw Bear summons.
Chu Chengzhou admitted that if all five of his attached soul rings were from Dark Gold Terror Claw Bears, with the same year counts, his summoning strength would undoubtedly surpass his current mixed setup.
But while it would be stronger, the drawbacks were also obvious.
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