Widening the Gap with a Former Genius

You Chen completely ignored his old classmate, who was questioning his entire life, and stroked his chin thoughtfully.

He realized that his damage output was complete overkill against Jiang Liu.

If he had not held back just now, Jiang Liu would probably have been blasted out of commission for half a month by the explosion from Starlight Avatar.

At full power, its might was likely no weaker than the maximum output of an ordinary assault-type Soul King.

That was not to say You Chen's soul power had reached Level 50, nor that its intensity was at the level of a Soul King.

Before obtaining his Fifth Soul Ring, his soul power had always remained at the Soul Ancestor level.

Below the Titled Douluo rank, Soul Masters at the same tier did not differ much in soul power intensity.

Take Jiang Liu, for example. At Level 43, his soul power intensity was indeed inferior to You Chen's, but whether the gap even reached ten percent was hard to say. The greater difference lay in their total reserves of soul power.

You Chen leaned toward the Agility Attack System, while Jiang Liu leaned toward the defense system.

Such a small difference in soul power was clearly not enough to create a crushing advantage.

The gap came from the combined differences in Soul Power Level, soul power control, soul skills, the application of soul skills, and soul ring age.

At the Soul Ancestor stage, You Chen's raw strength already rivaled that of the most outstanding Soul Masters with top-tier martial souls.

Even among all Soul Ancestors across the continent, he ranked in the top one percent. He had already left his former genius classmate far behind.

"Damn, we haven't seen each other in a while, and you've gotten even more monstrous. Just how the hell do you train...? Aren't you supposed to be a researcher?"

While You Chen was deep in thought, Jiang Liu finally recovered enough to sit up, covered in dust and looking at You Chen in speechless disbelief.

You Chen said calmly, "It's nothing. I only have a slight advantage at this stage. Having one more ten-thousand-year soul ring during the Soul Ancestor stage is indeed a bit like bullying weaker opponents in the forties. Once we reach the Soul Emperor and Soul Sage stages, a ten-thousand-year soul ring barely over ten thousand years old won't offer much of an advantage. At any rate, I definitely won't be able to one-shot you then."

Unlike Ye Han, You Chen did not trust Jiang Liu very much. He had no intention of telling him that his martial soul had evolved again, so he brushed it off by attributing it to the ten-thousand-year soul ring.

Bibi Dong's control over Spirit Hall was growing ever stronger. There was no guarantee that these classmates had not become her eyes and ears.

"Is that so? No, but it's still a ten-thousand-year soul ring! How does it become trash when it comes out of your mouth...? And what do you mean it won't be much of an advantage once you're a Soul Emperor or Soul Sage? Do you know how few registered Soul Sages Spirit Hall even has? Ah, forget it. Why am I even talking about this with a big shot like you?"

Jiang Liu grumbled, though his tone became somewhat despondent.

You Chen was not surprised.

After all, Jiang Liu had once been regarded as a genius by their classmates, while the former You Chen had been seen by most of them as someone undeserving of his reputation.

Now, their strength and status had completely reversed.

In a sense, You Chen had not lied.

In You Chen's Soul Scoring System, the higher the score, the more enormous each individual point of difference became in the later stages.

That truly reflected the gap between martial souls of different grades in reality.

At the Soul Master and Soul Grandmaster stages, Soul Masters with low-grade martial souls could still rely on soul skills, combat techniques, and favorable matchups to defeat Soul Masters with high-grade martial souls.

High-grade martial souls could still show off their strengths before top-tier martial souls.

But super martial souls completely crushed weaker top-tier martial souls.

The gap in pure combat power at the same tier was not even the most important thing.

The true difference in martial soul grade lay in breakthroughs between realms.

To break through to Soul Sage, one's martial soul had to be at least high-grade.

To break through to Titled Douluo, success was impossible without a top-tier martial soul.

These were all records plainly written in Spirit Hall's archives.

For high-grade martial soul users like Jiang Liu, there was little need to worry about soul ring age or soul beast selection. As long as they absorbed reasonably suitable soul rings and kept their Soul Power Level from falling behind, becoming a Soul Emperor was not difficult. So long as they had sufficient resources, becoming a Soul Sage would not pose much of a problem either.

For someone like You Chen, whose martial soul had once been of medium or even low grade, there was much more to consider.

Sometimes, even with adequate cultivation resources, one simply could not break through.

The advantage of martial soul grade far surpassed the advantage of soul ring age.

You Chen had not deceived Jiang Liu, but the problem was... his martial soul was already a high-grade martial soul.

"A big shot?"

In response to Jiang Liu's teasing, You Chen wore a subtle smile. "I heard you'll soon be heading to Suotuo City as the deputy hall master, right? In a few years, once you become a Soul King, you'll probably be promoted to hall master and Purple Robe Bishop. You're the real big shot. Me? I'm just muddling along. How could I be called a big shot?"

If Yellow-robed Deacons were still considered lower-level personnel, then bishops, even Purple Robe Bishops, were already figures with real authority.

"A Purple Robe Bishop?"

Jiang Liu shook his head and laughed at himself. "With your true abilities, You Chen, it wouldn't be excessive to say your status rivals that of a Red Robe Bishop. What does my little achievement amount to?"

"Enough. We haven't seen each other in so long, so stop talking about such depressing things. I invited Ye Han. Let's go eat in Spirit City tonight. The food at that newly opened restaurant is genuinely excellent."

You Chen still had some human warmth in him. He would not simply toss aside a useful tool after using it.

After the gathering ended, he returned to his residence.

Calling it a residence was an understatement. In truth, it was a mansion comparable to a small villa complex.

After publishing "Another Use for Whale Jelly" at the age of fifteen, You Chen had never lacked money again. He could practically be called financially independent among Soul Masters.

His wealth could not compare to that of the great clans, but it absolutely dwarfed Flender's and rivaled that of a Titled Douluo.

You Chen had not taken a wife. Aside from himself, his home contained more than a dozen slaves bought from the market, who handled miscellaneous chores and household cleaning as maids and servants.

"Master, you have returned. The invitations you instructed me to send have all been delivered."

When You Chen arrived before the iron lattice gate at the front entrance, a tall woman in a Western-style maid outfit, half a head taller than You Chen, had already been waiting for a long time.

This maid's exquisite features and graceful figure went without saying. After all, You Chen had carefully selected her to be groomed as the face of his household, serving as both head maid and steward.

More importantly, she had fox ears and white hair—a genuine white fox beast-eared girl, with a special charm all her own.

You Chen now understood Ning Fengzhi's reaction when he had bought the catgirl. This maid had also suffered a malignant mutation during her Martial Soul Awakening. She could not become a Soul Master, yet she retained the animal traits of Martial Soul Possession.

"Ge Ruisi, well done."

You Chen gave a slight nod and offered a calm word of praise.

"I dare not accept it. It is merely this servant's duty."

Even though You Chen's expression did not change as he praised her, Ge Ruisi blushed as though she had received overwhelming favor, lowering her head humbly in salute.

The reverence hidden in her eyes made it seem as if the being before her were a lofty god in her heart.

There was no other reason. After purchasing Ge Ruisi, You Chen had spent a little effort to solve the problem preventing her from cultivating.

Ge Ruisi was now a Level 33 Soul Elder.

To Ge Ruisi, who had once been a slave, such an ability was naturally comparable to divine grace.

In truth, however, You Chen's method of solving Ge Ruisi's problem could not be widely applied. It was merely a non-universal method that consumed excessive resources.

Those resources were enough to train a Soul Ancestor or even a Soul King. It could be said that the investment was completely not worth the return.

But that was merely a simple numerical calculation; reality could not be measured so equivalently.

If You Chen invested from scratch in training a Soul Master to the Soul King stage, at most he would earn that Soul Master's gratitude. Whether he would gain their loyalty was far from guaranteed.

Ge Ruisi was different. For someone who worshiped him as a god, betrayal was unthinkable.

You Chen had secretly trained no fewer than a hundred such deathsworn.

Because all of them possessed mutated beast martial souls, they were collectively known as Soul Arena Beasts.