White Soul Ring

"Gu Ziyi, have you broken through to Level 10 yet?"

"Not yet? Don't rush. Cultivate diligently, and you'll definitely break through to Level 10 before graduation..."

"That's strange. At Gu Ziyi's pace, he should have already broken through to Level 10. I didn't expect him to go so long without making a breakthrough..."

"Yeah, there shouldn't be much difficulty between Level 9 and Level 10..."

"..."

Another half year passed.

During that time, Gu Ziyi did not reveal that he had broken through to Level 10, drawing quite a bit of attention.

However, Gu Ziyi had always been the center of attention, so he did not care much about it.

He concealed the truth simply because he did not want to explain why he had not gone to attach a Soul Ring to his Martial Soul after breaking through to Level 10.

Because he needed to keep his Self-Created Soul Ring a secret!

Whether or not he succeeded in creating his own Soul Ring, Gu Ziyi did not want anyone else to know for the time being.

This time, Gu Ziyi once again attempted to condense a Soul Ring of his own.

Buzz—

Gu Ziyi skillfully poured all the Soul Power in his body into his Martial Soul.

Next, while suppressing the Soul Power within his Martial Soul to prevent it from leaking out automatically, Gu Ziyi simultaneously began practicing the Meditation Technique.

If his own Soul Power was not enough to condense a Soul Ring, then he would draw in more energy.

Under Gu Ziyi's meditation, energy from the outside world slowly flowed into his body.

This process was far from easy and required tremendous endurance, because this method was hardly any easier than saturated cultivation.

Only because Gu Ziyi had long grown accustomed to the agony of saturated cultivation could he make it look so effortless.

Even so, Gu Ziyi had still not managed to replenish his Soul Power through the Meditation Technique after pouring all of it into his Martial Soul.

Moreover, after every failure, as soon as Gu Ziyi relaxed his suppression of the Martial Soul, the Soul Power contained within it would rapidly flow back through his entire body and effortlessly expel the overloaded Soul Power from his body.

Gu Ziyi tried every possible method, yet he could not retain that overloaded Soul Power.

In the end, he simply stopped worrying about it and continued trying to fill his entire body with overloaded Soul Power first.

Time gradually passed amid Gu Ziyi's attempts.

His body had long been drenched in sweat from the constant endurance.

Buzz—

Finally, through Gu Ziyi's gritted persistence, overloaded Soul Power filled his entire body for the first time.

In an instant, the Soul Power within Gu Ziyi's body and the Soul Power within his Martial Soul seemed to trigger some kind of reaction, beginning to resonate with each other.

Boom—

In the end, Gu Ziyi felt as though some kind of shackle within his body had broken, and his whole body relaxed.

Gu Ziyi sensed the Martial Soul within his body and, sure enough, saw a white Soul Ring surrounding the Martial Soul Talisman.

"It worked!"

Gu Ziyi's heart trembled, overflowing with joy.

After working at it for so long, he had finally succeeded.

Most importantly, Gu Ziyi's hypothesis had proven correct. Soul Masters truly could condense Soul Rings of their own.

Though the process had not been easy.

"Talisman!"

Gu Ziyi opened his eyes and impatiently stretched out his right hand, summoning his Martial Soul.

Buzz—

The talisman, emitting a faint glow, appeared in Gu Ziyi's palm. Immediately afterward, a white Soul Ring floated around it as well.

"So this is my First Soul Ring. It's really beautiful!"

Gu Ziyi examined his First Soul Ring and found it incomparably beautiful—white and perfectly rounded.

Gu Ziyi did not disdain his First Soul Ring for being a Ten-Year Quality White Soul Ring. After all, even if the academy's teachers helped him, it was unlikely that they could help him hunt a hundred-year Yellow Soul Ring.

After admiring his First Soul Ring, Gu Ziyi also discovered that his Martial Soul had changed somewhat. It was no longer so plain and unremarkable; a soft white radiance flickered across the talisman, carrying a flowing Dao aura.

It seemed this was a change brought about by attaching a Soul Ring, and probably did not count as evolution.

Martial Souls changed after absorbing Soul Rings. That was perfectly normal.

"Let's try out my First Soul Skill!"

Gu Ziyi smiled faintly. Right now, he really wanted to know what his First Soul Skill was.

"First Soul Skill: Purifying Heart Mantra!"

Gu Ziyi made a couple of gestures with both hands like a Daoist priest. A talisman immediately condensed at his fingertips, and he lightly pinched it between his index and middle fingers.

Runes flowed across the talisman, making it anything but ordinary.

"It's actually the Purifying Heart Mantra!"

Gu Ziyi looked at the talisman in his hand, both surprised and unsurprised.

Talismans were meant for drawing all sorts of incantations, weren't they?

He just had not expected his First Soul Skill to combine the Daoist Purifying Heart Mantra with a talisman.

It dispelled distracting thoughts, clarified the mind, and calmed the spirit.

That was the effect of Gu Ziyi's First Soul Skill: it granted a mental boost to anyone bearing the Purifying Heart Mantra talisman.

The Purifying Heart Mantra talismans Gu Ziyi summoned could be used on himself or on others.

"So after all that, my Martial Soul is actually support-type?"

Gu Ziyi was a little stunned. Judging by the effect of his First Soul Skill, this was undoubtedly a support Soul Skill! He had never imagined that he would become a support Soul Master.

For a moment, Gu Ziyi's feelings were extremely complicated.

What future did a support Soul Master have? Support Soul Masters were different from Battle Soul Masters. Battle Soul Masters relied on themselves, while support Soul Masters relied on others.

Even the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, one of the Upper Three Sects, consisted of support Soul Masters. Yet in the end, it had only risen to become one of the Upper Three Sects because of Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo.

No matter how powerful the support effects were, they still needed Battle Soul Masters to bring them out.

Thus, learning that his Martial Soul was support-type truly left Gu Ziyi somewhat disheartened. Compared to relying on others, he preferred relying on himself.

He had always believed that only one's own strength was true strength! "It's fine. If Oscar could become a powerful fighter despite being a support Soul Master, then so can I!"

Gu Ziyi quickly calmed down and consoled himself.

But even so, it was still difficult for him to truly settle down so quickly.

Slap~ With no other choice, Gu Ziyi simply slapped the Purifying Heart Mantra talisman in his hand onto himself! Buzz—

After the Purifying Heart Mantra talisman stuck to Gu Ziyi's body, it shimmered with a stream of light. Then, the talisman gradually dissolved and merged into him.

The effect of his First Soul Skill soon manifested itself.

Gu Ziyi only felt refreshed and clear-headed. All his agitation and gloom vanished in an instant, leaving behind only calmness and rationality.

"As expected of the Purifying Heart Mantra. It's really useful!"

Gu Ziyi praised it inwardly, his heart free of sorrow or joy.

After carefully experiencing the Purifying Heart Mantra's effects, Gu Ziyi realized that it was undoubtedly a powerful support Soul Skill.

Though it could not grant Soul Masters any direct boost in strength—unable to increase their power, speed, Soul Power, or anything else—it could grant them a waterlike calmness and rationality.

Such a state of mind was by no means weak in battle.