The emerald green life force, like ink seeping into paper, bloomed in Kong Ming'an's mental force sea, in clusters.
Originally a monotonous and calm mental force sea, under the infiltration of this pure and vast life force, it slowly transformed into a truly existing mental space.
"The volume of the mental force sea has increased by at least four times, and it's still rising. My mental force has improved, and it seems to have gained some 'undying and unperishing' characteristics..." "Also, the physical qualities, when manifested externally, have improved. My Physique has reached at least the Spirit Ancestor level... I'm not far from being able to withstand a ten-thousand-year spirit ring..."
In the mental force sea, Kong Ming'an's projection silently used his Spirit talent to introspect, feeling the effects of fusing with the Life Gold, and a hint of satisfaction appeared in his eyes.
The improvement was even greater than he had imagined... It didn't waste the purification he had diligently performed day after day for the past six months.
Calming the thoughts in his heart, he rose and bowed slightly to the gray remnant Soul not far away.
"Thank you, Old Ilieks."
Ilieks shook his head, "It's merely my duty. The pure Life Gold alone cannot sustain this wisp of my remnant Soul. If not for you, this wisp of my remnant Soul would probably have vanished into thin air at any moment."
Kong Ming'an was noncommittal. His current relationship with Ilieks was one of cooperation, a mutually beneficial arrangement.
"What are your plans next, Old Ilieks?" Kong Ming'an looked at Ilieks with a hint of curiosity.
"...You don't need to probe me." Ilieks gently shook his head, but seemed to have developed some interest.
Looking at Kong Ming'an, a look of confirmation appeared in his eyes: "You know me, don't you?"
"..."
Did I expose myself so easily? As expected, the older ginger is spicier... Kong Ming'an shook his head, no longer bothering to hide it, and casually spread his hands, "I do know you, and I'm aware of many of your deeds, but... this is indeed the first time I've met you."
"Is that so..."
Ilieks understood, but didn't delve too deeply.
He was, after all, a remnant Soul, with not many memories remaining, so dwelling too much on it was pointless.
At least at this moment, he could confirm that the young man in front of him bore no ill will, and even held a bit of goodwill.
However, if one were to deduce based on the young man's actions just now... Ilieks raised his eyes and said calmly:
"Child, are you willing... to make another deal with me?"
Kong Ming'an was stunned, but from Ilieks' serious expression, he understood something. With a slight smile, he nodded.
"My pleasure."
...Deals between two smart people are usually easy and effortless, because they both know what the other needs, and they both know how much leverage to offer to sway the other.
With just a simple exchange, Ilieks generously offered Necromancy, Light Magic, and derivative usage techniques for Soul power and mental force.
In exchange for this knowledge, Ilieks would recuperate and recover within his Eye of Life.
For Kong Ming'an, the precious knowledge of magic and various power derivative usage techniques was secondary; the most important thing was Ilieks himself!
This person was a rare research talent, and he had overturned the entire World of Godly Throne of Seal with his own power.
Compared to him, who had awakened the memories of his previous life and possessed the 'Energy' Spirit, which was uniquely advantageous for research, Ilieks had a completely different scientific research perspective and a power system entirely different from the Douluo World.
Compared to others on the Douluo Plane, even including Miss Meng, his assistant whom he had been cultivating, they easily entered certain blind spots in their thinking due to the various common sense they had been exposed to in the Douluo World since childhood.
But he and Ilieks would not; they were the least likely to be constrained by the traditional Spirit Master system.
Simply acquiring this person's knowledge was certainly not enough. Bringing this person over to research with him, that was the Righteous Path!
Of course, this matter was not urgent. After all, he and Ilieks had only just met. Establishing a relatively peaceful cooperative relationship was already sufficient for now.
Later, it would require more time to gradually build trust.
Watching Ilieks transform back into a small gray light cluster and re-enter the Eye of Life, Kong Ming'an's consciousness returned from his mental force sea to his body.
His eyes slowly opened, and at the first moment, Kong Ming'an unconsciously clenched his right hand gently, then slowly spread it open.
The significant increase in his body's strength gave him a sense of unreality about his own body. This would require some time to adapt, but of course, it was not difficult.
Most importantly... Kong Ming'an's thought moved, and in the next moment, a refreshing emerald green slowly emerged from his palm... Life force!
And it was life force of extremely high purity!
This was the pure life force that, after the Fusion of the Life Gold with him, naturally flowed within his body, continuously nurturing and strengthening his body and mental force.
In the original work, after Huo Yuhao fused with the Life Gold and obtained the Eye of Life, he gained an expansion of his mental force sea and strengthening of his own body. The essence of this also came from the nourishment of life force.
However, after Kong Ming'an fused with the Life Gold, he gained control over the life force flowing within his own body.
"'Energy'... Life force can also be categorized as 'Energy'... Indeed, my previous conjecture was correct.
"The type of 'Energy' that the 'Energy' Spirit can control depends on the types of 'Energy' I possess..."
Kong Ming'an slowly raised his hand, and three different types of Energy slowly emerged from his palm, "'spirit power', 'mental force', 'Life force'..."
Kong Ming'an's eyes were calm, and a hint of contemplation flashed in them.
Under such circumstances, it could be fully confirmed that his future control over 'Qi and blood' would not be an issue, and the basic framework of a 'Body Cultivator' was completely established.
Then, another problem arose: the choice of his spirit ring.
Currently, he was seven and a half years old, and his spirit power Rank was seven. After various Medicinal Pills like the Xuan Water Pill that could enhance Innate spirit power, plus the secondary modification by the Life Gold,
Barring any accidents, within a year, his spirit power Rank would successfully reach ten, followed by the normal absorption of his first spirit ring.
However, here lay a problem.
Is a spirit ring... entirely considered a Spirit Master's own power? If so, can its special attributes be controlled by him?
For example, if he kills a fire-attribute Spirit Beast and absorbs its spirit ring, can he also control 'fire'?
If he could, then the type of Spirit Beast for his spirit ring choice would be basically determined.
Firstly, multi-attribute Spirit Beasts. Like the Silvermoon Wolf King, possessing multiple elements such as 'water', 'fire', 'earth', 'wind', 'light', 'darkness', 'lightning'.
Secondly, special rare attribute Spirit Beasts. Such as Spirit Beasts with attributes like 'space', 'time', 'gravity', 'annihilation'.
There were many choices, fortunately, he still had a long time to think about them.