Can the Past Affect the Present?

"Why is there Faith Power in my Sea of Consciousness?"

Su Ming came to his senses, deeply puzzled.

"I only completed the Spirit transformation at this point in time in Dou Er. I can understand why the me in Dou San can benefit from faith related to Spirits, but why do I have Faith Power on me?"

Su Ming tried using his Spiritual Power to touch the Faith Power within his Sea of Consciousness, sensing the aura contained within it.

"It's different from the faith from the future. It wasn't Teleported onto me from the future across the Timeline, and the faith within it doesn't seem to have much to do with Spirits either."

He examined it carefully, his gaze growing increasingly confused.

What kind of faith was this?

Su Ming was utterly baffled as to the exact source of this faith. He simply could not trace its origin.

But he knew where it had come from: himself in Dou Yi.

"Even to collect faith, one needs the corresponding Rank, and it takes time to condense faith into Faith Power. What the me in Dou San absorbed was the faith accumulated by the Douluo Continent over ten thousand years. That faith had long since naturally gathered into innate Faith Power. Due to the influence of the current me, the me in Dou San gained the corresponding Rank and could absorb that Faith Power.

"But the current me definitely doesn't have any Rank. Even if I did, I wouldn't have had the time to condense faith, much less absorb it so naturally. There can only be one reason for this: the me from the past has affected the present!"

Su Ming's heart shook.

Could the past change the present?

According to the principle he had previously concluded—"the past cannot be redeemed, but the future can be changed"—the him in Dou Yi should have been unable to affect Dou Er or Dou San. What he did should not have affected the future, and he himself could not leave behind any record in history.

Whenever he gained an understanding of the Timeline, he would enter a state of sudden enlightenment and observe through the perspective of the Time River. And when he had comprehended that "the past cannot be redeemed, but the future can be changed," he had also seen an anomaly in the Time River during one such moment of enlightenment.

It was that time when a phantom had appeared in the cross-section of the river where Su Ming's Dou Yi node was located. At the cross-section corresponding to the point in time where Dou Yi Su Ming was, an illusory scene had appeared, completely detached from the Main Body of the river and existing in phantom form.

Could a Rank within illusory history also be used?

"But if it's only that single fragment, it shouldn't be enough to obtain any so-called Rank, right?"

Doubt filled Su Ming's heart.

It might seem as though he had merely created Spirits, but in truth, every change in the present would evolve along the Timeline. Even foolish Su Ming, who was not influenced by the will of Su Ming's Main Body, could spread Spirits under the influence of Du Busi, Su Can, and others, establishing Su Ming's Rank as the ancestor of Spirits.

But what did the Su Ming of the past have?

He had only created Spirits; he had not yet obtained a Rank.

"Could it be..."

A guess formed in Su Ming's mind.

As that thought emerged, the familiar sound of flowing water faintly echoed around him once more. A river spanning time appeared before him. Upstream, at the Dou Yi node, the illusory afterimage that had appeared due to past Su Ming's influence broadened!

What had originally been just a cross-section—the phantom side of that node—had now become a fragment with its own timeline!

"From the point when that phantom node split off until now, several months have passed. That illusory cross-section kept overlapping, becoming a segment of illusory history."

Su Ming drew a deep breath, his expression grave.

Because that was not all that had changed upstream.

Below the node where his Past Body was located, illusory history was also continuing to evolve.

In other words, what his Past Body now affected was no longer a single point, but a stretch of time with a future—even if that future had been illusory from the very beginning.

"Within that evolving segment of illusory history lies the key to establishing one of my Ranks."

Su Ming relaxed.

By now, he had understood most of the changes occurring within himself.

What he was still curious about was which aspect the Faith Power on his body came from.

"Soul Tools? Spirits? Or perhaps my Main Body?"

Su Ming was still pondering when his future self interrupted him.

"Fuck! Don't just eat it!"

As he prepared to check from the future perspective, he heard Du Busi's voice.

"Did something go wrong while absorbing the Soul Ring?"

Only then did he remember that two people were still waiting outside. After his breakthrough, he had spent a long time researching on his own.

Opening his eyes, Su Ming said, "Teacher, I'm fine."

Du Busi and Su Can both breathed sighs of relief.

Although Su Ming had successfully absorbed his Soul Ring and there had been no accident while condensing his Soul Core, the formation had genuinely malfunctioned earlier. They had worried that something had happened because Su Ming had remained unconscious for so long.

"Xiao Ming, what happened to the formation? Did anything go wrong with the Soul Ring absorption?"

"Teacher, Grandpa, there was indeed an accident during the Soul Ring absorption, but it was a good thing." Su Ming spoke the explanation he had prepared. "The Soul of the Star Tree was unexpectedly preserved and even formed a contract with me. It didn't disperse directly. Instead, it stabilized itself through the Soul Ring it left on me and became a special spiritual entity."

A special spiritual entity?

Du Busi and Su Can exchanged glances, both surprised.

Su Ming released the Star Tree Spirit.

The Star Tree Spirit was currently asleep. Su Ming still had to find a way to wake it and make it willing to undergo Spiritual Forging with him.

Du Busi and Su Can were seeing a Soul Spirit for the first time in their lives, and both found it novel, using every possible method to examine the Star Tree.

"It's alive," Du Busi said.

The moment he said that, the Star Tree's trunk trembled.

"As long as it doesn't affect your soul skills, having an extra Soul Spirit might even help share some of your mental burden. That's a good thing," Su Can said.

"That's exactly how it is. Not only have my soul skills not been affected, their effects are actually excellent. The amplification to my soul power is astonishing."

"Oh?" Du Busi and Su Can both looked at Su Ming, waiting for his explanation.

"The passive effect of my First Soul Skill already provides a thirty percent Soul Power Amplification in every sense. When actively activated, it can further increase everything by fifty percent."

Su Can nodded.

He had helped Su Ming hunt this soul ring, and its effects were top-tier.

The numbers might have seemed to be only thirty and fifty percent, but they simultaneously amplified soul power in three aspects: the total amount, the quality, and they also reduced consumption. Those three effects stacked together—meaning they multiplied!

The effect of this soul skill owed much to the quality of the soul ring, but even more to Su Ming's Martial Soul.

Now that he had absorbed the Second Soul Ring beyond his level and even created a form like a Soul Spirit, what soul skill had Su Ming gained?

"My Second Soul Skill likewise has both passive and active forms. Passively, my soul power receives another fifty percent amplification. Of course, the active effect no longer amplifies soul power. Instead, when actively released, it can draw upon the Power of Stars, bathe me in starlight, imbue my soul power with star attributes, and use starlight to accelerate my soul power recovery."