Xu Yuan inwardly grumbled but still felt happy for his teacher.
The exhilaration of breaking through a bottleneck that had confined him for so long was something Xu Yuan himself had experienced.
Although he hadn't been stuck at a single level for decades, the longest he had ever been trapped was at the forty-ninth to fiftieth level, where he remained stagnant for a full five months.
When he finally broke through on the Star Observation Platform at Tian Ding Stellar Soul Academy, Xu Yuan had been overjoyed.
As for Mu Ye, he had been trapped for decades.
He had long since given up hope of advancing in his cultivation and no longer aspired to reach the Super Douluo level.
But now, he had broken through.
While Xu Yuan was pleased, the atmosphere within the Star Luo Imperial Family was heavy with tension.
"Limit Douluo!" En Ci's expression turned grave, his voice heavy with unease.
Someone had broken through.
Not to Limit Douluo, but from quasi-divine to divine-level.
But why had there been such an intense surge of blood essence?
The strength of this blood essence made even En Ci wary.
He was an offensive-type soul master.
And precisely because he was an offensive-type soul master, he was wary of bloodline soul masters at the same level.
Blood essence practitioners were among the most explosive fighters at their tier, especially those who cultivated pure blood essence to match their level.
En Ci compared himself internally and realized he didn't have complete confidence in defeating the soul master who had just broken through.
"Teacher, could it be Hu Jie who broke through?" Dai Tianling began speculating about the identity of the breakthrough individual.
En Ci shook his head.
"No, even if Hu Jie broke through, he wouldn't instantly reach this level."
He was absolutely certain. After breaking through the Limit Douluo stage, one couldn't immediately ascend to the divine-level.
Many Limit Douluos spent their entire lives unable to reach the divine-level.
Though in terms of hierarchy, a newly minted Limit Douluo surpassed a level ninety-eight Super Douluo, their power was classified as quasi-divine. With proper refinement, they could eventually reach the divine-level by transforming their abilities into techniques fitting the Limit Douluo realm.
However, achieving that transformation required true mastery of the Limit Douluo threshold.
In the past, ten thousand years ago, breaking through to Limit Douluo often relied on rare opportunities or profound insights, and most practitioners could eventually refine themselves to the divine-level.
At the very least, they could achieve it before death.
But in today's Douluo Continent, while more soul masters were breaking through to the Limit Douluo stage and their innate talents were generally higher than those ten thousand years ago, they relied heavily on external aids.
Even without possessing four-word battle armor beforehand, the existence of three-word battle armor greatly assisted these breakthroughs.
Relying purely on raw power to touch the limits and then continuing cultivation afterward became far more difficult.
The Limit Douluo stage represented the pinnacle allowed by the plane—it was the highest point of soul power cultivation.
Beyond that lay the application of laws.
And the hallmark of the Limit Douluo stage was transforming all of one's techniques into manifestations of laws.
Their signature moves, their strongest soul skills, their secret arts, their ultimate techniques—all had to be refined to the domain of laws, touching upon them and integrating them.
Only then could one truly be considered divine-level.
Of course, this was the normal progression.
The existence of four-word battle armor introduced shortcuts to this process.
With four-word battle armor, even a freshly ascended Limit Douluo could possess divine-level might.
By rapidly boosting their strength with battle armor, their realm would also shift to divine-level.
Even if Hu Jie broke through to Limit Douluo, he didn't possess four-word battle armor, so it was impossible for him to instantly wield divine-level intimidation.
This was why En Ci was so confident in his judgment.
"So, who is this Limit Douluo?" Dai Tianling muttered under his breath, gazing at the crimson-gold light in the distance, his eyes filled with worry.
If the individual were friendly, the Star Luo Empire would naturally welcome them with open arms.
But if this newly ascended soul master harbored ill intentions toward the Star Luo Empire, it would spell disaster—a calamity unprecedented in the history of the Star Luo Continent.
"Your Majesty, rest assured. This person's blood essence is pure and righteous, not that of an evil soul master. Moreover, they broke through within our Star Luo Continent. Even if they don't feel gratitude for the inspiration gained here, it's highly unlikely they'll cause trouble for us," En Ci reassured.
Dai Tianling let out a sigh of relief.
---
Tang Sect
Hu Jie stared at the horizon, his brows furrowed like mountain ranges.
Whose blood essence could be this powerful?
A Limit Douluo?
On Douluo Star, if one were to ask where the cultivation of blood essence was most advanced, the answer would unquestionably be the Ben Ti Sect. Even though the sect had declined, its soul masters still stood unmatched in blood essence achievements across the entire Douluo Star.
It had to be either Hu Jie or Mu Ye.
Even third place would undoubtedly belong to someone from within the Body Sect.
And anyone whose blood essence reached the Limit Douluo level after breaking through would certainly be a member of the Body Sect.
But did the Body Sect still have any hidden experts?
A fact Hu Jie was reluctant to admit became the only possible answer.
"Mu Ye… wasn't he unable to break past the ninety-fifth level?"
Had he secretly reached the limit already?
Who was this kid planning to deceive?
The squinty-eyed fatty now contemplated Mu Ye's "concealment of his soul power level" with suspicion.
"Hmph, fortunately I didn't act against you, or I'd have become the first target of your deception," Hu Jie thought bitterly.
At this moment, he rescinded his earlier decision.
Teach Mu Ye a lesson?
There was no need.
Mu Ye had done well, producing an excellent successor for the Body Sect.
After the breakthrough, Mu Ye quickly retracted his presence. He landed atop a mountain peak, and with a flash of red light, the orange-red mech condensed around him, transforming into a streak of light that shot off into the distance.
"He's gone."
En Ci exhaled in relief.
It seemed the breakthrough had merely been a coincidence occurring nearby.
Even so, the appearance of another Limit Douluo—let alone one at the divine-level—within their territory left En Ci with an uneasy feeling.
"My journey to Douluo Continent will have to be postponed indefinitely."
En Ci, who had already planned to retire, was forced to continue serving as the Imperial Tutor, safeguarding the Star Luo Royal Family.
The anomalies in the sky finally dissipated.
Time in Star Luo City seemed to return to normal.
Under Mu Ye's blood essence fluctuations, ordinary people had held their breath, while stronger individuals were filled with apprehension, too uneasy to engage in idle chatter.
The entire city of Star Luo felt as though it had been paused.
Now, with Mu Ye's presence gone, the city erupted into chaos.
In the stadium, the content of the previous match was no longer the topic of discussion. The audience was now fervently debating what had just occurred.
"Big Brother Xu?" Tang Wulin looked at Xu Yuan, his voice clearly tinged with inquiry.
"Such powerful blood essence fluctuations—was that one of your predecessors from the Body Sect?"
The others quickly turned their gazes toward Xu Yuan.
Xu Yuan nodded.
"That was my teacher, my teacher from the Body Sect," he stated plainly, making no attempt to hide the truth.
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