Stacking Soul Power...
Su Ming's face scrunched up.
It was precisely because of the Soul Power Amplification from his First Soul Ring that he had been forced to halt his Soul Power at level 20, not daring to obtain a Second Soul Ring.
If his First Soul Ring's passive effect had not granted him a constant thirty percent boost in every form, his Soul Power would not have condensed to near-solid form so quickly.
Soul Power Amplification manifested in three ways in the Soul Master World. The first directly increased the Soul Power Upper Limit, the second improved Soul Power Quality and strengthened the Soul Power itself, while the third, which was rarer, reduced Soul Power Consumption.
His First Soul Ring's passive possessed all three forms of amplification. His Soul Power Upper Limit had increased by thirty percent, his Soul Power Quality had increased by thirty percent, and even his daily Soul Power Consumption had been reduced by thirty percent.
The Martial Soul's inherent mechanisms, combined with the Soul Ring's effects, had caused his Soul Power Quality to rise too quickly, forcing him to condense a Soul Core at level 20.
"If there had been no Soul Power Amplification, I could at least have waited until Level 30 and absorbed the Third Soul Ring before ending up like this."
Soul Power Amplification was practically a death sentence for him.
If his next Soul Skill was still Soul Power Amplification, he might have to face the condensation of a Second Soul Core again at Level 40.
"But if I don't amplify my Soul Power and push it to its limits, where am I supposed to begin with my Martial Soul's Second Awakening?"
Su Ming sighed.
So, he still needed to choose a Soul Spirit that amplified Soul Power, preferably one with a Mental Attribute as well.
Dou San.
"Teacher, can the Thousand Forgings Metal we forge, as well as the Spiritual Forged Metal that comes later, be fused with Soul Spirits?"
Faced with yet another wild idea from Su Ming, Zhen Hua could only rub his temples.
On the first day after taking him on as a disciple, Su Ming had already asked countless questions. They seemed useless on the surface, yet every one of them touched upon the essence of Forging, making them quite taxing for Zhen Hua to answer.
His earlier questions had all been rather impractical, but this one seemed grounded in reality.
"Spiritual Forging and Soul Forging can be integrated into a Soul Master's body because Soul Masters are made of flesh and blood and can contain Spirituality."
"What about Soul Beasts?"
"Soul Beasts..." Zhen Hua said helplessly, "No one has tried it, but in theory, they should be able to integrate it into a Soul Beast's body."
"Also, Teacher, Soul Spirits don't have physical bodies. They aren't made of flesh and blood, so while they can't contain Spirituality, they should be able to form contracts, right?"
"Contracts?"
Zhen Hua was stunned.
He began to think seriously.
"You want Soul Spirits to receive the same amplification from Battle Armor as Soul Masters?"
"Not exactly. The main purpose is to give Soul Spirits additional abilities and let them evolve with external help."
Zhen Hua sucked in a breath and seriously considered the possibility.
"Yes!"
Before Zhen Hua could give an answer, Mu Ye, dressed in a chef's uniform, pushed over a dining cart.
On the table before him was a fragrant plate of shrimp, each one seeming as if it had been carved from crystal.
"I've already verified that," Mu Ye said. "My Soul Spirit was integrated into my Mecha."
Su Ming looked at Mu Ye, waiting for him to explain further.
He knew that Mu Ye's Soul Spirit had fused with that God Level Mecha, but he knew none of the finer details.
"Little Red was my third Soul Spirit, and also my last. When I absorbed her, she was only sixty thousand years old, and she granted me my Sixth Soul Ring."
The Sixth Soul Ring?
Su Ming's gaze flashed.
If he remembered correctly, Mu Ye's Soul Rings were five black and four red!
"According to the original plan, I should have fused with another Soul Spirit for my seventh ring, allowing my seventh, eighth, and ninth Soul Rings to reach the Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring level," Mu Ye said. "But while I was still a Soul Emperor, I had the same idea you just mentioned. Since I was obsessed with Mecha, I already owned a Black-grade Mecha even back when I was only a Soul Emperor."
A Soul Emperor with a Black-grade Mecha!
Mecha grades differed from Battle Armor grades. Their correspondence with a Soul Master's Soul Power Level was not as strict, because Mecha had plenty of space and could store additional energy rather than relying purely on the Soul Master's Soul Power. Battle Armor, meanwhile, was a transformation created by refining Mecha to the extreme, leaving no space to store extra Soul Power.
Therefore, Mecha relied more on operation. If one's Soul Power was insufficient, additional energy sources could be equipped.
Their actual combat effectiveness was difficult to assess. In terms of destructive power alone, White-grade Mecha was the weakest. Yellow-grade Mecha was weaker than a One-word Battle Armor Master, Purple-grade Mecha was slightly stronger than a One-word Battle Armor Master but weaker than a Two-word Battle Armor Master, and so on.
The highest-grade Red-grade Mecha was stronger than a Three-word Battle Armor Master. Moreover, because its materials still had room for improvement, its theoretical upper limit was even higher.
In terms of destructive power, a Black-grade Mecha was slightly stronger than a Two-word Battle Armor Master, and Two-word Battle Armor corresponded to Soul Masters at the Soul Emperor stage.
In reality, Soul Emperors could not truly handle Black-grade Mecha, because it was too expensive. Even though its materials were several grades lower than those used for Two-word Battle Armor, the sheer quantity required made it difficult for a Mecha Master to sustain.
The hardship Mu Ye had endured to own a Black-grade Mecha while still a Soul Emperor was easy to imagine. He truly loved Mecha.
"I designed that Mecha to suit Little Red as perfectly as possible. Its core components even used Soul Forging Metal, and at that time, I had Little Red merge into the Soul Forging Metal."
"I succeeded as well. Little Red smoothly integrated into my Mecha's core, and her cultivation duration even increased as a result, rising from sixty thousand years to eighty thousand years. After that, I no longer pursued Hundred Thousand Year Soul Spirits. Instead, I focused on nurturing Little Red and upgrading the Mecha again and again."
A trace of reminiscence appeared on Mu Ye's face.
Back then, he had been filled with nothing but passion. He had only wanted to witness the pinnacle of Mecha, the pinnacle of the fusion between Mecha and Battle Armor envisioned by his ideals.
"After I upgraded the Mecha to Red-grade, Little Red successfully transformed into a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Spirit, and I gained a full four Hundred Thousand Year Soul Rings."
At this point, Mu Ye did not continue the subject. Instead, he suddenly asked Su Ming, "Xiao Ming, do you know what level your teacher is?"
"Level 94?" Su Ming said.
"That's right, level 94." Mu Ye smiled bitterly. "Once a Soul Master reaches level 94, breaking through to level 95 and becoming a Super Douluo requires opening up one's own Martial Soul. My development of my Martial Soul has completely kept pace, yet I have been unable to break through because Little Red fused with the Mecha. She formed a contract with me and granted me four Hundred Thousand Year Soul Rings, causing the connection between me and the Mecha to become too deep. My Main Body is my Martial Soul, so I have never been able to break through level 95 and become a Super Douluo."
He told Su Ming, "In theory, as long as I continue upgrading the Mecha, Little Red's cultivation duration can continue increasing. As the Mecha improves, the restraints on my Main Body will disappear, and my Soul Power will rise. But the Rare Metal required for a single Mecha is a hundred times that needed for Battle Armor! If every material within the Mecha were replaced with Soul Forging Metal, the Soul Forging Metal consumed would be enough to make one hundred sets of Three-word Battle Armor."
Su Ming's scalp went numb upon hearing that.
His teacher had truly fallen into a bottomless pit.
Before you continue