First Spirit Skill Fusion

Soul Masters on Douluo Continent had no concept of the Dantian, aside from Tang San, who cultivated the Mysterious Heaven Skill. They possessed this "thing" called a Dantian, but had never made use of it. In a sense, their Martial Souls were an alternative kind of Dantian.

Xia Tianling was different. His Martial Soul was merely a vessel for his power, while the Sea of Qi that formed the source of his cultivation remained in his Lower Dantian.

Xia Tianling felt himself enveloped by a warm force. Like a returning swallow entering its nest, it slowly flowed through his Martial Soul into the Meridians within his body, circulating throughout him.

He instinctively activated the Dao Scripture, guiding the warm current through a Great Heavenly Cycle.

The anticipated mental assault never came. Perhaps Slimes were creatures driven only by instinct; with their low intelligence, they simply lacked the desire known as "hatred."

They fed on carrion, possessed no intelligence, and eventually became food for Plant-type Spirit Beasts or Spirit Rings for Soul Masters. They truly were selfless creatures.

A thought suddenly surfaced in Xia Tianling's mind, but it passed in an instant, and he refocused on absorbing the Spirit Ring.

The Hammer and Axe of the Two-Piece Set continuously revolved around each other. As time passed, they unexpectedly turned two different colors, one red and one yellow.

The two continuously merged, separated, then merged again.

Chrysanthemum Douluo, standing guard nearby, stared in bewilderment. After cultivating for so many years, he had never seen anyone undergo such changes while absorbing a Spirit Ring.

Well. It seemed he had never seen a matched set of Martial Souls, either.

Meanwhile, Xia Tianling, still absorbing with all his strength, had reached a critical moment.

The power he absorbed from the Spirit Ring was continuously refined and compressed within his body, transforming into Soul Power that belonged to his body itself. This Soul Power then continued circulating through his Meridians in heavenly cycles.

As the power within him accumulated to a critical point, the extremely compressed gaseous Soul Power finally condensed into a droplet of liquid within his Dantian.

Then, more and more liquid appeared until it gathered together, forming a glittering golden liquid sphere.

The lingering power of the Spirit Ring within his body surged madly into his Dantian. By the time his Meridians were left completely empty, all of that power had entered the liquid golden sphere.

Outside, the yellow Spirit Ring produced by the Slime dissipated.

Core Condensation, complete!

The appearance of this liquid Golden Core signified that a cultivator stood only half a step away from the true Golden Core realm—what was commonly known as the False Core Stage or Core Condensation Stage.

As long as Xia Tianling absorbed one more Spirit Ring, the immense Soul Power accumulated through the Spirit Rings would be enough to refine and compress his power once again. Forming a Golden Core would then be effortless.

That was the benefit of complementary rules.

In the orthodox Cultivation World, forming a Golden Core required years of ceaselessly tempering one's Bones, body, Meridians, and Flesh and Blood, allowing them to withstand greater power first.

Then came several more years of arduous cultivation to accumulate power before condensing a Golden Core or False Core in one go.

For him, it was far simpler. He only needed to cultivate to level twenty, then rely on the external support of two Spirit Rings to directly form a False Core and Golden Core. If other cultivators learned of this, they would be green with envy.

As for why Golden Core cultivators from other worlds, capable of wielding Divine Abilities, became weak Soul Grandmasters at only level twenty-something upon arriving on Douluo Continent—don't ask. The answer was simply rule restrictions. He had enjoyed such convenience without undergoing bitter cultivation or weathering Thunder Tribulation. Having this much strength was already pretty good. A man ought to know contentment.

Having completely finished the absorption, Xia Tianling slowly ended his cultivation and rose to stretch his body.

He had grown taller, and his physique had become sturdier. Every gesture was filled with strength, a sensation so intoxicating it was beyond compare. Soul Power, unique to Douluo Continent, was truly remarkable. This additional ability to promote physical development was almost nonexistent in other cultivation civilizations.

Having been strengthened by a nine-hundred-year Spirit Ring and receiving the triple enhancement of the True Dragon Spirit, the Dao Scripture's body tempering, and the Spirit Ring, Xia Tianling's physical strength was already comparable to that of a level-thirty Battle Spirit Master, perhaps even greater. Absorbing a Thousand-Year Spirit Ring would be as natural as water flowing downhill.

"Tianling, how did it go?" Chrysanthemum Douluo asked.

Xia Tianling sensed his Martial Soul and could not suppress his delight. He clenched his fist and threw an empty punch through the air.

"It worked! Just as I expected. Carpenter's Set, appear!"

The crossed Hammer and Axe appeared in the air. Xia Tianling grabbed them in one hand as a dark yellow Spirit Ring slowly pulsed beneath his feet.

"First Spirit Skill, Fusion!"

The dark yellow Spirit Ring lit up. The hammer in his left hand turned into light and vanished, while the axe in his right hand grew much larger and longer.

A thick cylindrical striking head protruded from the rear of the originally pale golden axe, like half a hammerhead. On the other side, an even heavier blade extended outward, resembling a battle axe from Earth in his previous life.

The axe's sharpness and the hammer's heft had fused perfectly. Despite its strange form, this bizarre two-handed battle axe maintained balanced weight on both sides. It could chop or smash, and switching sides while swinging it was completely unaffected.

Xia Tianling lifted the axe and swung it several times with a whoosh. Satisfied, he nodded.

"Tianling, what effect does your First Spirit Skill have? How much does it consume?"

"The effect of my First Spirit Skill is very simple. It boosts my strength and Spirit Skill effects by one hundred percent, but at the same time, my Soul Power consumption becomes twice that of my dual form. It also increases further with other activities. Once I actively release the fusion, Soul Power consumption returns to its normal rate." Xia Tianling pondered for a moment. "The Soul Power consumed when activating Fusion is practically negligible."

Doubling Soul Power consumption in exchange for a one-hundred-percent boost in strength sounded fair and worthwhile.

Originally, Xia Tianling could remain active for about an hour after Martial Soul Possession. But after using Fusion, even if he stood In Place without moving, he would go limp after half an hour. If he fought while fused, the duration would only be shorter. Adding the use of other Spirit Skills, he might not even last ten Minutes.

Then again, he had only just obtained it, so the time required to fuse them was relatively long. However, Spirit Skills could be optimized through constant practice.

If Xia Tianling could one day fuse or separate the two instantly, he could use it as a short-duration, instant-cast burst enhancement skill. He could even use it to trick people.

Chrysanthemum Douluo's eyes lit up after hearing the description of the Fusion Skill.

"Tianling, this skill of yours is excellent—extremely practical! Even the Spirit Rings provided by many strength-type Thousand-Year Spirit Beasts would pale in comparison. As expected of a naturally gifted matched-set Martial Soul. By the way, does this, uh, axe formed after your weapons fuse have a name?"

Xia Tianling looked at the axe in his hand, then considered the power of lightning he wielded. After a brief moment of thought, he said,

"Let's call it the Storm Axe!"