How Is This Playable Without a Nerf?

After their many exchanges, both sides had expended a considerable amount of Soul Power.

Chen Ming had kept his First Soul Skill, Fire Lotus Overlord Body, active throughout the entire fight, maintaining a threefold recovery rate for both stamina and Soul Power. His Second Soul Skill had not lasted long; he had only used it to heal after his defense was first broken and he was struck by that second slash.

"What a peculiar Soul Skill. Is it some unreasonable form of control like Xuanming Displacement?"

Chen Ming did not rush forward. Instead, he carefully observed Yuan Liu's condition.

From the start until now, Yuan Liu had already used his Second Soul Skill twice and expended both marks.

It was clear that the marks from this Second Soul Skill were Yuan Liu's core ability. Since they had been used up, he should have replenished them immediately.

Yet Chen Ming noticed that Yuan Liu remained cautious and had not replenished the marks from his Second Soul Skill right away.

"So this Soul Skill has restrictions."

As Chen Ming pondered it, he found this Second Soul Skill truly overpowered.

It did not merely allow Yuan Liu to activate his Third and Fourth Soul Skills a second time without any windup or cooldown.

These marks could also stack!

If he remembered correctly, when Yuan Liu had used his Second Soul Skill to replenish his marks for the second time, the first mark on his Fourth Soul Skill had not even been triggered yet.

If this Second Soul Skill could truly be used without limit to stack marks onto other Soul Skills, then it would be absurdly overpowered. Wouldn't endless slashes from a ten-meter-long broad blade, with no windup whatsoever, be terrifying?

"Your core Soul Skill should no longer be usable. Let's end this battle here," Chen Ming suggested.

There would be plenty of chances to spar. There was no need to rush for victory now.

Hearing this, Yuan Liu also lowered his weapon. The flow within the long blade returned to his body, and the remaining wounds on his body visibly healed as the flow returned.

After storing the long blade, which had reverted to an ordinary weapon, in his Storage Soul Tool, Yuan Liu looked seriously at Chen Ming and said, "Martial Uncle, your talent truly surpasses mine. Even with only two rings, your strength already exceeds mine. I concede defeat."

He knew that once Chen Ming had seen through the fact that he could no longer use his Second Soul Skill, he had already lost.

There was no other way. Without his Second Soul Skill, he could not unleash continuous slashes. Without continuous slashes, he could not even break through Chen Ming's Red Lotus Protection.

His only hope was to drag things out, using the Soul Power of a four-ring Soul Ancestor to outlast a two-ring Soul Grandmaster. Yet even with that method, victory was still uncertain.

"Your Second Soul Skill..." Chen Ming trailed off.

Soul Skills were the foundation of a soul master. Unless their relationship was close enough, rashly asking about the effects of someone's Soul Skill was extremely impolite.

That was why he brought it up without fully stating his question. He was also testing Yuan Liu's attitude.

"I know you're curious, Martial Uncle. Although my Second Soul Skill is my core Soul Skill, revealing it will not affect anything. That is because this Soul Skill of mine grows. As I acquire more Soul Rings in the future, both the number of marks and the number of times I can use it will increase."

The more Chen Ming listened, the more he felt this Soul Skill was outrageously overpowered.

According to Yuan Liu, every Soul Ring he acquired in the future would grant one additional mark to that Soul Ring's Soul Skill, while the number of times he could use his Second Soul Skill would also increase by one.

Once he became a Titled Douluo, his Second Soul Skill could be used seven times, adding marks to the Soul Skills of his Third through Ninth Soul Rings.

"Of course, the Soul Skills triggered by the marks consume the same amount of Soul Power. My Soul Power cannot support me using my strongest Soul Skill more than three times."

If his Ninth Soul Skill were a hundred-thousand-year Soul Skill, using it even once would consume nearly half his Soul Power. Using it repeatedly would drain him dry. That was also the restriction on this Soul Skill of his.

But Chen Ming's expression did not change.

"When you condense your marks, you should be gathering external energy into them. When the marks are activated, does that external energy replace part of your Soul Power consumption?"

Yuan Liu looked at Chen Ming in surprise.

Such sharp intuition?

"Indeed. When condensing the marks, I can fill them with Heaven and Earth Vital Energy to reduce the consumption of my own Soul Power. But it is difficult to fill them with enough Heaven and Earth Vital Energy during battle, especially since my marks have a duration. And although the number of times I can use my Second Soul Skill is increasing, it cannot be cast continuously without interruption. There is also a recovery period in between. This recovery period is shorter than the marks' duration, but longer than half their duration. In other words, I can use the Soul Skill at most three times in succession."

There were many restrictions, yet it was still an overpowered combination.

Chen Ming knew that the root cause of these restrictions was the age of the Soul Rings.

Once the Soul Rings were upgraded, the many limitations on this Soul Skill would be removed one by one, and it might even gain more outrageous effects.

If it were upgraded to a hundred-thousand-year Soul Ring, the marks might last an extremely long time. At that point, Yuan Liu could frantically stack marks on himself with Heaven and Earth Vital Energy before battle.

Unfortunately, at least for now, Chen Ming was the only one who could use the Soul Ring Filling Method. It was not a matter of whether he was willing to teach it or not.

However, there was not no way to make up for it.

"Yuan Liu, have you decided on the direction of your future Soul Skills?"

Yuan Liu shook his head.

"I suggest that for your Fifth or Sixth Soul Skill, you find a Soul Skill that can rapidly absorb Heaven and Earth Vital Energy."

Yuan Liu's eyes flickered.

That was a good suggestion.

With such a Soul Skill, paired with his Second Soul Skill, he could produce an explosively powerful effect. As long as the Soul Skill that absorbed energy was strong enough, it would be equivalent to using two Soul Skills to cast every other Soul Skill once without any cost.

Chen Ming thought of this as well, and the corner of his mouth twitched.

How was this playable without a nerf?

His thoughts had already shifted to another question. Was Yuan Liu a character from the original novel? He had not existed in the original work—was that because an accident would happen next, or was Yuan Liu's existence a change brought about by Chen Ming's first eight lives?

But then again, no matter where Yuan Liu came from, he was on Chen Ming's side.

After their first battle, Chen Ming began interacting with Yuan Liu more often.

Every day thereafter, once Yuan Liu's second soul skill had finished cooling down, the two of them would fight.

Perhaps because of the stimulation of battle, Chen Ming's Soul Power cultivation became increasingly smooth.

In the blink of an eye, half a year passed.

Chen Ming sat alone at the bottom of Yang Spring, enduring the water pressure and the impact of Yang Spring's energy without changing expression.

An intense surge of Soul Power burst from his body, affecting the surrounding currents and sending layer upon layer of dark ripples through the water.

"Level twenty-eight."

Chen Ming opened his eyes, extremely satisfied with this breakthrough.

Three levels in half a year—one level every two months. It was even faster than his cultivation speed during the Soul Master stage!

Unfortunately, though he was satisfied with that pace, his goal kept pulling farther ahead.

"Senior Disciple Brother has been stuck at level twenty-nine for three months. He could break through at any moment. I can't let my guard down."

Chen Ming calmed himself and continued cultivating.