At this moment, Mu Ye, who was being talked about by Hu Jie, was walking deep within a mountain range outside Star Luo City.
His upper body was bare, revealing his muscular physique. His blood essence was as deep and vast as an abyss, yet it remained calm and restrained. Outside of his immediate vicinity, there was no trace of disturbance—birds and beasts far away continued their normal activities, seemingly unaffected by his presence.
High above Mu Ye's head, at an unknown altitude, a crimson-orange mech hovered in the air, shifting through various forms. It too emitted a dense surge of blood essence.
Unlike Mu Ye on the ground, the blood essence fluctuations emanating from this crimson-orange mech spread across tens of kilometers, churning the surrounding clouds and dispersing them outward.
The sky was dyed a deep red, as if a second red sun had appeared.
Back in the viewing box, Xu Yuan turned his attention to the arena, where the match had already concluded.
Xu Yuan hadn't yet inquired about the details of the previous match. Instead, he felt a sudden intuition and gazed toward a distant point on the horizon.
Rumble, rumble!
A series of thunderclaps echoed.
"Is it raining?"
Many spectators were startled by the sudden sound of thunder. They looked up to see thick clouds gathering rapidly in the sky.
What had been a clear blue sky just moments ago was now covered by dense clouds. Thunder roared, and raindrops began to fall.
However, the audience didn't panic.
Though the rain came unexpectedly, the Star Luo officials quickly responded. A transparent energy shield formed over the entire open-air stadium. Raindrops fell onto the shield, creating ripples across its surface.
As the rain intensified, the ripples grew denser, eventually making the sky beyond the shield appear hazy.
In the next instant, the energy shield shifted. The once-blurry barrier became crystal clear. Even as rain continued to fall, no ripples or traces of water remained—quite miraculous.
Xu Yuan's gaze wasn't distracted by the sudden downpour. His eyes remained fixed on the direction he had initially sensed.
There, a powerful surge of blood essence fluctuated.
This fluctuation… was familiar.
Xu Yuan guessed the truth and couldn't help but smile.
So this is what Master has been busy with these past few days?
Stagnant at this level for decades, he has finally taken this step. I wonder if the breakthrough in soul power will further enhance his blood essence.
Like Xu Yuan, En Ci and other powerful figures of the Star Luo Empire also turned their attention to the horizon, their focus not on the thunderous rainstorm but on something else entirely.
On the horizon, the sky was dyed a deep red, resembling the afterglow of a sunset.
No—it was the vibrant red of a rising sun.
The color grew more vivid, the light more dazzling.
Mu Ye looked up, gazing at the tiny red dot thousands of meters above him, and softly called out.
"Little Red."
In the air, the crimson-orange mech responded to his call, releasing an overwhelming surge of blood essence. In an instant, it plummeted toward the ground.
Mu Ye raised his head, unleashing his own blood essence in response. A dim golden glow erupted around him, and for a brief moment, his body seemed to collapse inward. A set of dim golden battle armor enveloped him.
With a flap of his dim golden wings, his body shot rapidly into the sky.
Two dazzling beams of light shone brilliantly.
In the sky, a red sun descended.
From the ground, a radiant golden sun ascended.
The two merged into one.
Fusing into a single gold-red sphere of light.
Mu Ye's soul power fluctuations suddenly emerged from the sea of blood essence.
Ninety-four levels of soul power broke through.
Ninety-five levels.
Ninety-six levels.
Ninety-seven levels!
In an instant, he broke through to become a Super Douluo and consecutively shattered three levels, reaching level ninety-seven!
This was the culmination of years of accumulation. His understanding of his martial soul had long reached an extraordinary level.
His soul power had been constrained by the fusion limitations of his martial soul, preventing further progress. However, his cultivation of his innate martial soul had never stopped. With the aid of four-word battle armor, his blood essence broke through the soul power bottleneck, gradually increasing in strength until it rivaled that of a level ninety-seven Super Douluo. Using secret techniques to stimulate his blood essence, his pure blood essence alone could rival a level ninety-eight Super Douluo.
Of course, he had never fought in this state. Since acquiring four-word battle armor and divine-level mechs, his combat displays had always been amplified by at least one of these enhancements.
Now, with this breakthrough, his soul power had caught up to the level corresponding to his blood essence.
Level ninety-seven.
Yun Ming had once told Xu Yuan that after becoming a Super Douluo, the stage could be described as "harvesting."
Harvesting the fruits of cultivation.
Mu Ye's fruits were abundant. Swallowing them whole, he consecutively broke through three levels, reaching level ninety-seven!
The breakthrough in soul power left a profound impression on Mu Ye.
The overall increase in his strength was negligible, almost imperceptible.
However, the breakthrough in soul power reciprocally deepened the integration of his martial soul with his body.
Martial souls were wondrous creations, bridging the gap between a soul master's spirit and flesh while connecting them to heaven and earth. They were the most fundamental tool for soul masters to communicate with the universe.
The breakthrough in soul power caused his innate martial soul, which had long been constrained and unable to fully transform, to finally undergo metamorphosis.
Previously, his physical blood essence had advanced under pressure, but his martial soul had been suppressed, creating an imbalance.
Now, with the breakthrough in soul power and increased fusion, his spirit and body further integrated, allowing his martial soul to evolve. It no longer constrained the advancement of his blood essence.
Boom!
The blood essence in the sky surged violently.
Mu Ye laughed loudly, his voice echoing across dozens of kilometers.
Level ninety-eight!
His blood essence had broken through.
Another step forward.
At this moment, with the dual amplification of his battle armor and Little Red, his true displayed aura had transitioned from near-divine to fully divine-level!
Little Red amplified his combat power.
The battle armor enhanced his overall capabilities, not just his blood essence.
Thus, even with the simultaneous amplification of Little Red and his battle armor, while Mu Ye's combat power reached divine-level, his blood essence fluctuations were still only quasi-divine at their peak.
However, at this moment, his blood essence fluctuations had thoroughly and truly reached the divine-level.
This was the significance of battle armor.
His blood essence strength was inherently at level ninety-eight, but the four-word battle armor allowed him to experience divine-level blood essence intensity ahead of time.
This gave him a clear direction for his future blood essence cultivation.
Without the constraints of his martial soul, reaching the pinnacle of blood essence was now within reach!
Xu Yuan gazed at the horizon, feeling the blood essence fluctuations spreading in all directions and hearing that hearty laugh. He was somewhat surprised.
This is the commotion of breaking through to Super Douluo?
It feels… a little off.
Master, we agreed you'd achieve your limit within ten years. Don't tell me you're going to do it in just one!
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