Changing History

There had been no need to stir things up and forcibly change history before, but now Su Ming needed to give it a try.

He was also deeply curious whether the effects caused by his three Main Bodies in different times would ripple through the Time River and affect later points in time.

If such influence could be achieved, then while it was uncertain whether the him in Dou Yi could more easily complete Spiritual Forging and successfully forge Battle Armor, Su Ming in the Dou Er era would have a high chance of completing Spiritual Forging.

For now, the three bodies existed at three points in time, yet every faction's distribution and pace of development known to Su Ming remained no different from the Original Work. The three bodies seemed to have had no effect on this world.

Su Ming saw two possible reasons. One was that the points in time occupied by his three bodies did not affect one another. The other was that he had only just entered this world and had yet to form a closed time loop. He leaned toward the latter, because with the help of his First Soul Skill in Dou San, he could see his own position on the river. There were clearly only three of him, rather than countless versions of himself at countless points in time.

If he wanted to influence the future, he had to start now.

For example, if Su Ming in Dou Yi wanted to affect the arrangements in Dou Er, he had to make a change—such as hunting the Titan Giant Ape and absorbing its Soul Ring. Then, in Su Ming's Dou Er era, there would no longer be the legend of the Titan Giant Ape and Sky Azure Bull Python becoming Tang San's Soul Rings before being resurrected after he went to the God Realm. History should change. The Titan Giant Ape would instead have been slain by Su Ming ten thousand years ago and turned into a Soul Ring. But if Su Ming in Dou Yi was only seven years old and merely imagined that he would definitely hunt the Titan Giant Ape once he gained the ability to do so, then nothing would change in the Dou Er era.

Even if he found a way to become the disciple of three Titled Douluo, one of whom was Qian Daoliu, and thus had a one-hundred-percent chance of hunting the Titan Giant Ape, it would not affect the future unless he actually carried it out.

Su Ming in Dou Er handed the task of changing history over to himself in Dou Yi, then resumed his usual cultivation.

Dou Yi.

The corners of Su Ming's mouth twitched slightly.

"I've only just gotten my First Soul Ring. It'll take at least a few years before I can fuse with a Soul Spirit. Besides, I need to learn more about Soul Spirits over in Dou San as well."

Time passed.

In the blink of an eye, twenty months had gone by.

"I finally bought it."

Su Ming looked excitedly at the gelatinous substance in his hand, which gave off a strong fishy stench.

Although this Whale Rubber was not as difficult or expensive to buy as it was in Dou Er, it was still contraband for children. He could not ask Zhu Jiuyang or Duan Jin to help him find a source, so he could only buy it in secret himself.

"Such a large piece of Thousand-Year Whale Rubber only cost a thousand Gold Soul Coins. That's not too bad."

In later times, a piece of Thousand-Year Whale Rubber this size would cost roughly twice as much. More importantly, it was available in name only. Even if one could afford it, there was no way to purchase it.

Ordinary noble lords would not buy a piece and eat it all at once, either. The piece in Su Ming's hand was enough for a lustful noble to use for three months, so one thousand Gold Soul Coins truly was not expensive.

His First Soul Ring had exceeded the limit by several decades, but the improvement to his body's tolerance was not especially obvious. During this period, he had trained his body while keeping himself within limits. Although the maximum age of his Second Soul Ring would certainly no longer be seven hundred years, it would at most reach around nine hundred years. Breaking through the thousand-year threshold would not be easy, so Whale Rubber was essential.

"If I take it directly, I should be able to break through the Level 20 bottleneck at the same time."

After becoming a Soul Master, Su Ming's cultivation speed had dropped from one level every two months to one level every two and a half months. Twenty months had passed since he decided to transform Soul Spirits.

After obtaining his First Soul Ring, he had directly broken through to Level 12. There was a gap of eight levels between that and Level 20. At a rate of one level every two and a half months, twenty months should have been exactly enough, but every full ten levels came with a bottleneck.

Even with sufficient talent, one would still be hindered by such a bottleneck for some time. In Su Ming's understanding, this bottleneck existed because another level, which would manifest after absorbing the next Soul Ring, had accumulated alongside it.

In other words, under normal circumstances, he would have to remain stuck at Level 19 for another two and a half months before breaking through to Level 20.

Now that he had obtained the Whale Rubber, there was no need to remain stuck. Its energy would also merge into a Soul Master's Soul Power when consumed, producing a certain Soul Power-enhancing effect.

Su Ming placed the Whale Rubber in a furnace to roast it. Before long, the fishy smell dissipated and was replaced by a delicate fragrance. After it cooled slightly, Su Ming took a bite. The soft, glutinous gel melted as soon as it entered his mouth.

He quickly took several more bites and swallowed the entire large piece of Whale Rubber, then sat cross-legged and circulated his Soul Power to refine its medicinal effects.

The Whale Rubber's effects were impressive. In only a moment, Su Ming's lower body swelled, and he felt as though a ball of Evil Fire were rampaging through his lower abdomen. He could only suppress it with all his strength.

Hiss—

His willpower was extraordinary. He forcibly cast aside all distracting thoughts and focused solely on refining the Whale Rubber's medicinal effects, cleansing and scouring his meridians again and again.

Three hours later.

Su Ming opened his eyes.

"I broke through, just as expected."

Feeling the surging Soul Power within him, Su Ming stood up and felt as though he had limitless strength.

He was bursting with vigor.

"I could knock out ten with one punch!"

After practicing a set of punches in the room, he felt thoroughly refreshed.

"I've broken through to Level 20 and can prepare to absorb a thousand-year Soul Ring. I can try transforming a Soul Spirit and change history. Over in Dou Er, Grandpa has come through too—he's contacted the Body Sect, and I'll be joining them soon. In Dou San, my teacher Zhang Tianyang has finally found a way to introduce me to Divine Craftsman Zhen Hua."

Good news had arrived from all three points in time.

After taking a bath, Su Ming left the blacksmith shop.

"Time to find Teacher and Hunt Soul!"

He practically glided along as he jogged to the end of the corridor on the Fifth Floor of the Blacksmith Association.

"Xiao Ming, here to study again?"

Silong, who was guarding outside Lou Gao's door, smiled and greeted Su Ming.

Su Ming's talent had spread through the circle of Grandmasters. They all sighed over Zhu Jiuyang's unbelievable luck at finding such an outstanding blacksmithing prospect.

A seven-year-old Blacksmith Master had directly shattered the Blacksmith Association's record.

Of course, more than a year had passed, and there had been no further news of Su Ming becoming a Blacksmith Grandmaster.

That was perfectly normal. No one thought a genius like him had fallen short.

If Su Ming truly became a Master Level blacksmith at this point, the Blacksmith Association would really be thrown into an uproar.

"Senior Silong, it's you again today."

Su Ming returned the greeting with a bow, sounding surprised.

Thinking back over the past year or so, Silong had been on duty every time he came here to study under Zhu Jiuyang.

Perhaps that was fate.

Zhu Jiuyang had not expected Su Ming to come looking for him today.

"Xiao Ming? You don't have lessons scheduled today, do you?"

"That's right, Teacher. I didn't come to learn blacksmithing today."

"Oh? You're busy every day, kid. If you didn't come to learn blacksmithing today, what are you doing here?" Zhu Jiuyang asked.

"Teacher, I've broken through to Level 20."

"I knew you wouldn't come looking for your teacher without a reason. So you've broken through to Level 20..." Zhu Jiuyang came to his senses, then frowned. "Didn't you break through to Level 19 less than three months ago?"