"One hundred thousand years soul skill, Stardust Mirror of Annihilation, Stardust Demon's Grasp. Self-designed Spirit Ring soul skill successfully."
On a small island, atop the corpse of a two-hundred-meter-long orca, You Chen slowly rose.
In the original story, Tang San also acquired these two skills, though the prefixes of the skill names were slightly different, the effects were the same.
One skill involves condensing a red crystal mirror using Divine Power for defense and attack. When defending, it maintains the mirror surface; when attacking, it shatters the attack directly through the mirror or binds the enemy before shattering them.
This soul skill can be said to be one of the most suitable functional soul skills for You Chen.
The soul power consumption is minimal, primarily relying on Divine Power. If it weren't for the feedback from the Spirit Ring's vibrations, You Chen could almost use this soul skill indefinitely.
The other soul skill, Stardust Demon's Grasp, is different from the other "grasp" skills; this one indicates its attacking nature is primarily based on energy impact rather than mental attacks. It can ignore almost all defensive effects, forcing the opponent to be stunned for up to three seconds.
This skill is not as freely usable as Stardust Mirror of Annihilation. Like the Emperor Golden Body, such powerful mechanism skills often come with certain limitations.
However, this limitation is relatively minor for You Chen...
Although he had mentally prepared himself before absorbing the Spirit Ring and actively discarded the conflicting parts during the absorption, You Chen still felt the impact of the attribute conflict.
If the Evil Orca King's evil aura clashed directly with You Chen's Stardust Power, it would definitely be the Evil Orca King's evil aura that would be at a disadvantage.
But absorbing the Spirit Ring is akin to actively incorporating this foreign object into his body, leading to even greater internal destruction and damage.
You Chen could clearly sense that a tiny bit of darkness had appeared in his originally pure and clean Martial Soul Origin.
Fortunately, You Chen's control over the power of the Martial Soul Origin had already improved to the late stage of the Spiritual Realm over the past six months, through digesting nearly all the remaining "Reflecting on the Origin" instances. Coupled with the dominance of Stardust Power, purifying and eliminating this tiny foreign object would only take a few days.
However, during this process of power confrontation, You Chen felt that his control over Stardust Power, especially the part leaning towards divine power, had significantly improved.
In a sense, it could be considered a blessing in disguise.
On the other hand, You Chen could not truly activate the Stardust Demon's Grasp soul skill using the power of the Martial Soul itself; he could only use the energy that had been pre-transformed within the Spirit Ring.
This is the additional limitation brought about by the attribute conflict.
Given the natural absorption and storage speed of the Spirit Ring for heavenly energy, You Chen could probably only use this soul skill once a day.
Logically, it would be impossible to use a soul skill that does not correspond to one's own attributes, but the Spirit Ring is such a peculiar existence.
Many Soul Masters can use skills that have not been developed from their Martial Soul, completely inheriting the skills from the soul beast's lifetime.
Even in cases like You Chen's, where there is an attribute conflict, the world's rules would adapt on their own, providing a usable method.
Even the Spirit Ring from the Evil Orca King, which only carries a portion of evil attributes, caused You Chen some trouble, let alone the extremely evil soul beast, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger.
Once absorbed, it would likely cause irreversible damage to the Martial Soul, such as... directly evolving into the Sin·Stardust Dragon.
This also thoroughly verified You Chen's previous conjecture, completely extinguishing his last glimmer of hope.
A hundred thousand-year soul beast would definitely drop a conventional Spirit Bone that fills the unfilled positions on the Soul Master.
The conventional Spirit Bones You Chen currently possesses are: the right leg bone of the Blue Silver Emperor, the left leg bone of the Wind Dragon, and the right arm bone of the Archaeopteryx.
The positions that need to be filled are the skull, torso bone, and left arm bone.
This time, the Evil Orca King dropped a hundred thousand-year torso bone.
But You Chen did not intend to absorb it.
Because he had already reserved the most critical torso bone position.
If it were just the difference between a hundred thousand-year Spirit Bone and a ferocious beast Spirit Bone, You Chen wouldn't care much, but if it were a million-year Spirit Bone, the significance would be different.
A million years... he felt that he might not even be able to accumulate a million-year Spirit Bone age enhancement card.
Therefore, this critical part must be reserved for the strongest million-year Spirit Bone, for the drop from the million-year Deep Sea Demon Whale King...
Having hunted so many Evil Orcas, You Chen was not lacking in Spirit Bones, enough to fill the skull and left arm bones, but he still needed to hunt more than one hundred thousand-year soul beast or even ferocious beast, so there was no need to rush.
This trip could indeed be said to be quite fruitful.
So many ten-thousand-year whale-type soul beasts, and a hundred-thousand-year whale king, the whale glue produced was enough to make powers like the Martial Soul Hall envious.
Although there were some flaws in absorbing the Spirit Ring, it was within You Chen's expectations.
Moreover, aside from needing a few days to wear down the foreign energy in the Martial Soul Origin, the quality of the Evil Orca King's Spirit Ring was extremely high. Not to mention that Sacred Spirit Bird Spirit Ring, even the Emperor Golden Lion Beast's Spirit Ring enhancement could not compare to it.
There are differences among soul beasts; although the age was forcibly increased, You Chen's Spirit Ring age card would not enhance the bloodline quality of the soul beast.
Having not broken through a hundred thousand years in life, experiencing that bloodline transformation during the leap of the fish over the dragon gate, its strength would naturally be somewhat inferior to other hundred-thousand-year soul beasts of the same race.
Moreover, the Evil Orca King was a standout among the generations of Evil Orcas, its strength ranking among the super soul beasts, and its bloodline strength was naturally formidable; some ferocious beasts might not even be its match.
If You Chen had not used poison in advance to significantly weaken the Evil Orca King's strength, it might not have been so easy to take it down.
If You Chen's previous normal combat power could be classified as peak level 96, then now it was definitely at level 97.
Not only due to the various attribute enhancements from the Spirit Ring, but his soul power level also jumped to level 89. After absorbing the next target's ferocious beast Spirit Ring, his true soul power level would likely reach at least level 93.
In the original story, there were instances of soul power levels soaring and becoming unstable, and part of the reason some Soul Masters could not break through their bottlenecks was due to this aspect, but You Chen had no such risk at all.
The strength of Stardust Power rivaling the ultimate attribute power was one aspect; more importantly, You Chen's control over soul power had long reached a mature level.
A Titled Douluo's control over soul power is about this level; the soul power at the Soul Douluo level can naturally be refined and controlled in an instant.
After storing the Evil Orca King's Spirit Bone and corpse, You Chen quickly flew away from the island.
He had dragged the Evil Orca King's corpse here for Spirit Ring absorption, and the bloody smell was overwhelming.
Before fully restoring the Martial Soul to its peak state, You Chen did not plan to attract unnecessary attention.
Moreover, the Spirit Avatar also had a considerable period of weakness, so it was just right to find a concealed and safe place to recover before starting the next Spirit Ring hunt.
About a day after You Chen left, a robust man with an ancient and dignified appearance flew to this place.
Sensing the lingering aura of the Evil Orca King on the island and the numerous bloodstains, the man, who was Sea Dragon Douluo, showed a clear solemn expression.
After hearing the report from his capable subordinate Shurano, he realized that this matter was unusual.
The quality of Soul Masters on Seagod Island is generally high; Shurano was able to pass the purple-level assessment and gain the trust of the strongest among the seven Sacred Pillar Douluo, Sea Dragon Douluo, so his quality was naturally extraordinary.
Sea Dragon Douluo was confident that even with his Divine Power, it would be impossible to make Shurano enter such an illusion.
In the entire Seagod Island, the only one capable of doing this would likely be the Grand Offering, who stands above ten thousand under the Sea God.
Thus, he immediately chose to meet with the Grand Offering Bo Saixi to report this matter.
"Grand Offering, according to the report from my subordinate Shurano, there is a ninety percent probability that a powerful Titled Douluo from the mainland has arrived in the sea area. That person did not reveal himself but used mental pressure to leave Shurano in a daze, and his Divine Power mastery is far beyond mine. His stated purpose seems to be to hunt the cunning Evil Orca King."
Upon hearing Sea Dragon Douluo's report, Bo Saixi remained facing the Sea God statue and simply said, "That person was willing to let Shurano and the others return to inform you, so it seems that he is not necessarily a friend but certainly not an enemy. The specific hunt for the Evil Orca King does not rule out the possibility of him hunting for others to obtain a hundred-thousand-year Spirit Ring. You should discern that person's situation; if he leaves, there is no need to worry. Otherwise, I will take action personally. What you need to pay more attention to is that he did not swiftly kill the Evil Orca King; if this evil soul beast goes berserk, it will cause great destruction to the surrounding sea area and islands. I will instruct the other Sacred Pillar Douluo to prepare preventive measures in advance."
"Understood." Sea Dragon Douluo complied and took his leave.
Just as You Chen had guessed, Bo Saixi was not concerned about the safety of the Evil Orca King.
Although this fellow was the target of one of the Sea God's Nine Trials in the original story, the content of the Sea God's Nine Trials was not fixed. Given the vastness of the sea, it was not difficult to create other assessment contents.
Moreover, at this moment, Tang San had not yet been connected to the Sea God in any way.
The one who passes the Sea God's Nine Trials will become the new Sea God; that was a story from many years ago, akin to a myth...
In any case, when Sea Dragon Douluo found the last lingering aura of the Evil Orca King, it was already a day later.
It is hard to say whether this situation is good or bad; in any case, the death of the Evil Orca King is likely a foregone conclusion.
"Even the Grand Offering misjudged that person's strength."
Sea Dragon Douluo recalled the traces he saw along the way, the underwater topography damaged by the aftermath of yesterday's battle, and let out a long sigh, his expression extremely grave.
It seems that Grand Offering Bo Saixi only regarded the Titled Douluo that Shurano encountered as a strong individual who was merely outstanding in Divine Power, never considering that the Evil Orca King, which they had repeatedly tried to kill but failed, would die at the hands of the other.
However, the reality slapped Bo Saixi hard in the face.
The strength of the Evil Orca King was such that even the seven Sacred Pillars working together could only barely contend; to be able to kill such a monster in one night...
Sea Dragon Douluo felt a chill: 'It seems that the other party is indeed a powerhouse on par with the Grand Offering, a... peerless Douluo!'
Just thinking about the fact that he was now tasked with tracking such a powerhouse made even Sea Dragon Douluo feel a shiver of fear.
This feeling was far more intense than when Ben Bo Er Ba was ordered by the Nine-Headed Insect to eliminate Tang Seng and his disciples.
After all, Ben Bo Er Ba only needed to deal with the White Dragon Horse, not face Sun Wukong directly.
Fortunately, his firm faith and loyalty ultimately solidified his resolve, allowing him to continue on the path of pursuit.
However... he took a slight detour, informing the nearby island's undercover Sea Soul Master that the Evil Orca King was dead, and handed over his token for them to quickly relay the message to the nearest Sacred Pillar Douluo.
However, the distance from here to Seagod Island is quite long; given the pace of this yellow-clad Sea Soul Master, it would likely take several days to reach Seagod Island...
Thinking of this, Sea Dragon Douluo could not truly feel at ease, and even unconsciously slowed his pursuit speed.
Then... Sea Dragon Douluo searched for an entire week without finding any trace.
It was as if this mysterious powerhouse had never appeared at all...
Uncertain if they had left or remained in the sea area, it felt as if they had evaporated from the world at some moment.
Sea Dragon Douluo was troubled.
...
"Hmm?"
You Chen, however, sensed the energy fluctuations of Sea Dragon Douluo racing across the sea surface, Divine Power swiftly sweeping past him.
'Approaching Super Douluo's soul power fluctuations; it really is that Sea Dragon Douluo.'
Seeing only the figure of Sea Dragon Douluo, You Chen silently withdrew his Divine Power.
As long as it wasn't Bo Saixi coming directly, even with the Sacred Pillar Douluo and that Demon Soul Great White Shark King, he had nothing to fear.
Over these past few days, You Chen had completely recovered from the weakness following the Spirit Avatar.
Moreover, the bit of evil aura from the Evil Orca King in his Martial Soul Origin had also been completely eliminated.
However, during this process, he gained further insights into the power of the Martial Soul Origin, which led him to continue staying and cultivating for a while longer.
As of today, the effects of Reflecting on the Origin were no longer as pronounced as at the beginning, which made You Chen's own cultivation insights even more necessary.
In the past six months, You Chen had used "Reflecting on the Origin" more than once.
He hoped to encounter a higher form of the Stardust Dragon during the Reflecting on the Origin process, just as he had when his Martial Soul was still the Star Corpse Dragon.
Unfortunately, his expectations fell short.
What he encountered was still that flawless Stardust Dragon.
Unable to gain future guidance through Reflecting on the Origin, he only harvested insights from the blurred boundaries between himself and the Martial Soul.
After his control over the power of the Martial Soul Origin reached the so-called late stage of the Spiritual Realm, the side effects of Spiritual Realm Burst significantly decreased.
Unlike the Spirit Avatar, which would leave him weak for a week, he could recover in just one day.
The reason he did not use Spiritual Realm Burst when hunting the Evil Orca King was simply that the consumption of both Spirit Avatar and Spiritual Realm Burst was still enormous. Facing a giant enemy like the Evil Orca King, it was more appropriate to use only the Spirit Avatar.
If You Chen's current normal state could be compared to a level 97 Super Douluo, using either Spirit Avatar or Spiritual Realm Burst alone could grant him combat power of level 98. Combining the two, he could likely briefly match an Ultimate Douluo.
Well, just briefly match, not truly contend.
Ultimate Douluo represents a transcendence of life levels compared to Titled Douluo, the pinnacle of mortal beings under the divine in this era.
To reach the ultimate level, they must not have any shortcomings in spirit, body, or soul power; they can only be particularly adept in one or more aspects.
Taking any one aspect alone is enough to contend with a level 98 Super Douluo, and when all three are combined, it creates a chasm that keeps all beings below the ultimate level at bay, as if they are not of the same life form.
Even if You Chen's Divine Power breaks through again, surpassing the ultimate level, he cannot simply rely on Divine Power to crush an Ultimate Douluo.
The physical body is the shell of the spirit and soul, and soul power can also be seen as a protective membrane. With these two layers of barriers, even an Ultimate Douluo whose Divine Power is not outstanding would not be easily taken down by the Divine Origin Realm's Divine Power.
You Chen had already cultivated the Spiritual Realm to the late stage.
This realm is not like any cultivation realm; after the late stage, there is no concept of perfection.
Or rather, You Chen could feel that once he reaches the perfection of the Spiritual Realm, he would naturally break through to the next stage.
Thus, the so-called perfect level does not exist.
Just as he had previously realized the existence of the Spiritual Realm in the Microscopic stage, after using Reflecting on the Origin in the late stage of the Spiritual Realm, You Chen also vaguely touched upon the changes that the next level would bring.
That is... the perfect level.
Now, You Chen had a deeper understanding of Spiritual Realm Burst; it is essentially a state of excessive soul explosion. By stimulating the soul and deeply resonating with the Martial Soul, it unleashes the potential of the Martial Soul, temporarily exhibiting strength far beyond the normal state. However, due to the excessive stimulation of the soul, it also affects the Martial Soul, leading to a prolonged state of weakness afterward.
As his control over the Spiritual Realm gradually improved, this unnecessary and excessive stimulation became less and less, thus shortening the duration of the weakness.
If he could achieve perfect control over the power of the Spiritual Realm, allowing the Martial Soul to explode without wasting any power, he would naturally reach the next level...
The perfect level!
By that time, Spiritual Realm Burst could be turned on and off at will, without worrying about the so-called weakness.
Even...
You Chen speculated that perhaps the weakness of the Spirit Avatar could also be eliminated through this perfect control.
At the same time, the simultaneous use of Spirit Avatar and Spiritual Realm Burst could become a norm.
You Chen believed that he could now confidently call himself a master of the Spiritual Realm domain. In this era, aside from himself, there likely isn't even a Soul Master who has stepped into the Spiritual Realm. The only one who might touch upon the Spiritual Realm is the previous Clear Sky Douluo Tang Chen, who has already gone mad, but this guy poses no threat to him now.
If he masters the perfect realm, it would definitely be a trump card that could threaten an Ultimate Douluo!
No need for anything else; once he breaks through to Titled Douluo, with his physical strength and soul power strength elevated to another level, combined with the perfect realm of Martial Soul Origin power, there would be no opponent for him in the mortal realm!
And Stardust Power, as the core strength of the Stardust Dragon, its enhancement and the control level of the Martial Soul Origin can be said to complement each other.
Over the past six months of cultivation, learning the application of divine power from the Sacred Spirit Bird, continuous battles with peers of similar strength, and the confrontation and wear down of Stardust Power against evil energy after absorbing the Spirit Ring... You Chen felt that his control over Stardust Power had finally progressed from the initial entry level to a small mastery level where he could perform slight fine control.
'Star Soul Art can finally be officially put to use.'
You Chen, with his top-notch talent in Divine Power, quickly began to integrate Stardust Power after perfecting the Soul Shackling Art, incorporating the mental techniques and martial skills rewarded by the system over the years, ultimately giving birth to this "Star Soul Art."
Born from the original "Soul Conquest Technique," after integrating with Stardust Power, it fully interprets the overwhelming might of its manifestation, a technique that directly crushes the enemy's Divine Power into dust, known as "Wheel of the Stars"!
In addition, the technique "Void God Stab," which allows the user to unleash their Divine Power away from the sea of consciousness without suffering backlash even against stronger foes, becomes the more powerful "Star God Stab" after merging with Stardust Power!
On the defensive side, it incorporates the "Void Tower," which constructs a mental tower in the sea of consciousness, forming the even more powerful and truly absolute mental defense known as the "Star Tower"!
The final technique is the combination of the group mental attack "Conqueror's Haki" with Stardust Power, resulting in the "Stardust Field"! This not only allows for large-scale mental attacks but also connects allies through the Stardust Field, helping them share the mental pressure from enemies!
These four major techniques are naturally mastered most proficiently by You Chen, who can directly deploy the fully realized "Wheel of the Stars" from the very beginning.
The other three techniques, aside from the pre-constructable Star Tower, were previously unusable in actual combat.
However, now, with You Chen's increasing mastery of Stardust Power, he is ready to officially engage in battle.
The automatic defensive mental skill "Star Tower"! The group mental attack and group support defense "Stardust Field"! The single-target consumption-type, probing mental attack "Star God Stab"! And the strongest single-target mental attack "Wheel of the Stars"!
This is the embryonic form of You Chen's mental techniques, from which one can already glimpse the subsequent perfect hexagonal form.
Such is the nature of mental skills.
You Chen's skills in the physical and energy domains have not been as smooth, as his talent in these areas is indeed somewhat lacking compared to the world's top Divine Power talents. It may take him quite some time to refine and perfect them.
After carefully studying and stabilizing his state for two more days, You Chen finally chose to rise and leave.
He opened the sea chart, quickly gliding his index finger across it, and soon found his target by comparing it to his current location.
On that map, there was an icon resembling a palace.
It was indeed the final hunting target of You Chen's journey, the underwater structure where the Sea Princess resides— the Crystal Palace.
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