Condensing three soul cores was indeed an arduous task.
Mu Ye was undoubtedly one of the most exceptional individuals.
His innate martial soul possessed an extraordinary aptitude for blood essence, and as the leader of the Body Sect, his blood essence could independently form a soul core.
As for soul power, there was no need to elaborate further.
Regarding spiritual power, even though he had an innate martial soul, the strength of his physical body ultimately nourished his spirit.
Especially since martial souls acted as a bridge between the spirit and the body. If the body itself served as the martial soul, it would not only affect the physical body but also influence the spirit.
Within the Body Sect, there existed a theory:
The reason why the secondary awakening of innate martial souls was relatively easy wasn't just because the innate connection between the body and the martial soul allowed the body to directly benefit from hormonal stimulation during physical stress, promoting mutations. Another key factor was the deficiency in the integration with the spirit.
Because of this deficiency in spiritual fusion, there was room for mutation.
Once a mutation occurred, it was highly likely to involve spiritual fusion, leading to the complete transformation into a fully developed martial soul.
From that point onward, spirit and body would no longer be separate.
In the meditation space, the innate martial soul's meditation lacked a tangible shape. However, after the secondary awakening, it took on a form—even without the Body Sect's secret techniques, this would naturally occur.
To put it plainly, the Body Sect's meditation secrets, which pre-shaped the form of the innate martial soul within the meditation space, were based on early successful examples of secondary awakenings of innate martial souls. This method also served as a means to induce secondary awakening, ensuring that once the martial soul awakened, it genuinely moved toward spiritual variation.
The secondary awakening of an innate martial soul might not necessarily grant the martial soul spiritual attributes, but it certainly provided a qualitative leap in spiritual power.
With this breakthrough, the Body Sect's soul masters wouldn't lag behind in terms of spiritual power. On the contrary, due to the stimulation of secondary awakening and the tempering of willpower during the process, their spiritual power often surpassed that of most soul masters specializing in spiritual attributes.
After so many years, Mu Ye's spiritual power had consistently improved. A few days ago, when he broke through, the mental barriers that had long troubled him finally dissipated, and the door to the Spirit Domain realm opened effortlessly.
Spiritual power at the Spirit Domain level qualified one to condense a spiritual soul core.
Overall, Mu Ye surprisingly met the criteria for condensing soul cores in all three domains—essence, energy, and spirit. Each individual ability had the potential to form its own soul core.
In other words, he was qualified to condense three pure soul cores:
- Blood Essence Soul Core
- Spiritual Soul Core
- Soul Power Soul Core
Once these three soul cores were fully separated, his power would become more distinct and layered, giving him the opportunity to rapidly break through to the divine-level and even make subsequent advancements to quasi-divine-level much easier.
However, all of this required meticulous preparation.
Each soul master's internal conditions differed, and the techniques for circulating soul power during breakthroughs needed careful planning.
Since Mu Ye intended to condense a new soul core while separating the three systems of power, he saw no need to rush his breakthrough to level ninety-eight.
Instead, it was better to take his time, steadily building up his foundation. Eventually, the time it took to reach the ultimate level of ninety-nine wouldn't be far off.
"Teacher, can battle armor serve as a location for condensing a soul core?" Xu Yuan's attention was still focused on resonance.
Triple resonance was already comparable to dual complementation.
Dual complementation didn't simply involve one pair of complementary cores; rather, it involved three soul cores, with two pairs of complementary relationships. The middle dantian's core complemented the cores in both the upper and lower dantians, driving the formation of black hole-like vortices of soul power throughout the soul master's body. Meanwhile, the cores in the upper and lower dantians, which weren't directly connected, resonated remotely.
This dual complementation structure was on par with triple resonance.
If four soul cores could be condensed, and all four cores resonated…
Mu Ye smiled.
"This idea has been proposed by many battle armor users in the past, but they ultimately abandoned it."
"Oh? Are there drawbacks?"
"Four soul cores may seem stronger than three, but they are extremely unstable!" Mu Ye explained. "A triangle is inherently stable. Three soul cores mutually restrain and entangle each other, creating a stable foundation. However, adding a fourth core within the battle armor would disrupt this balance."
Xu Yuan fell into deep thought.
Mu Ye continued his explanation.
"Theoretically, balance can still be established, as four points can form a tetrahedral structure, which is also quite stable. The real reason battle armor cannot serve as a location for condensing a soul core lies in the fact that battle armor is constantly evolving."
Battle armor was never static.
Especially the core formations within the armor, which determined the flow and structure of soul power inside. A small change could affect the entire system.
"And this is without considering that battle armor is an external object."
"Even if spatial techniques were used to create a space within the battle armor for condensing a soul core, that space would still exist outside the soul master's body."
"Rather than condensing an additional soul core, it's better to use the battle armor to facilitate the soul master's interaction with the external world. This way, the three soul cores can integrate more fully, resonate with the forces of heaven and earth, and merge with them."
Mu Ye's subsequent explanation delved deeper into the reasoning.
Xu Yuan found it reasonable.
Rather than endlessly nesting more soul cores, it was better to unify essence, energy, and spirit, then interact with the external world to directly harness the forces of heaven and earth.
Why bother accumulating and stacking more so-called explosive soul cores?
Xu Yuan asked Mu Ye some additional questions about soul cores.
Mu Ye patiently answered each one and explained the specific process, steps, and precautions for condensing soul cores.
"Alright, we'll discuss soul cores later. For now, let me take you somewhere first." Mu Ye waved his hand dismissively.
After explaining everything once, his understanding of soul cores had become clearer. However, like flowers in water or the moon in a mirror, the finer details of condensation still required careful deliberation.
Before entering seclusion to work out these details, he needed to take care of a few loose ends.
First, he would bring Xu Yuan to the place where he had discovered the fortuitous opportunity and claim it.
Second, he would visit Hu Jie, his senior uncle.
"Teacher, where exactly are we going?" Xu Yuan asked curiously.
Mu Ye didn't answer. Instead, he flew out from the balcony, heading directly toward the outskirts of Star Luo City.
Xu Yuan followed closely behind.
Although Xu Yuan couldn't fly on his own, he was using a mech made of spirit-infused alloys, which made things convenient.
Outside Star Luo City.
As Xu Yuan followed Mu Ye, they arrived at a small mountain range.
They landed halfway up a hill.
"To be honest, I've sometimes wondered if this Star Luo Continent was once a gathering place for divine beasts," Mu Ye mused aloud as he led Xu Yuan forward.
Hearing this, Xu Yuan immediately had an inkling of what to expect.
He was itching with curiosity.
Though they were close to their destination, he couldn't stop pondering what kind of fortune awaited them.
---
Author's Note:
Regarding Huo Yuhao's soul cores, I initially misunderstood. His three soul cores represented spiritual power, ice, and space attributes. At first, I thought he had a physical martial soul with a blood essence-based soul core, but that wasn't the case.
However, the logic holds. What Huo Yuhao left behind were foundational methods for constructing soul cores based on three core forces. Later developments built upon this foundation. But not everyone possesses three exceptionally strong attributes, so the concept gradually shifted to essence, energy, and spirit. Since not everyone cultivates all three aspects equally, hybrid methods emerged, primarily centered around soul power. The lower dantian incorporates blood essence, while the upper dantian integrates spiritual power. In later generations, cultivating spiritual power became much simpler, so the spiritual soul core primarily focuses on spiritual force.
As for the order of storing essence, energy, and spirit in the three dantians: the lower dantian is where the human body stores essence. In the Douluo universe, I consider blood essence to be connected to the life source—the essence of the physical body. Therefore, blood essence resides in the lower dantian. This arrangement is typically considered only after forming two soul cores.
Yes, in most novels, internal energy or true qi resides in the lower dantian. Similarly, the protagonist's soul power gathers here. However, during later refinement, it condenses in the middle dantian. There's no issue with this, as the lower dantian gathers energy from all the meridians in the body, making it convenient for early cultivation.
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