Soul-Maiming Source-Slaying, the Emperor's Talent

However, before starting cultivation, I need to take care of some miscellaneous tasks.

Lin Yi rubbed his temples, his consciousness sinking into the Constant Island Emblem. Looking at the densely packed visitor applications and Invitation, he felt a headache coming on.

During this period, he truly experienced the troubles of "overnight fame".

Invitation of all kinds arrived like snowflakes.

Some expressed a desire to get to know him, using Universal Epoch like "I've long admired your name," "We've known each other for a long time," and "If it's convenient, I'd like to pay you a visit."

The wording used was increasingly sophisticated, and the family crests used in the signatures were all remarkably prestigious.

Some people wanted to recruit him into their inner circle, saying that they could learn from each other and encourage one another on the path of cultivation, and they even included a list of the circle's members.

Lin Yi glanced at them and found that they were all students from the inner island with names and identities. The cultivation techniques they practiced were all well-known, and some even had exclusive entries on the exchange list.

Some of these actions represent gestures of goodwill from behind-the-scenes forces.

This type of Invitation is the most formal, ranging from "Our clan patriarch has always admired the demeanor of Constant Guard" to "If Imperial Guard Constant Ban free time, he might as well come and sit in the clan."

His words were impeccable, clearly stating his background and sincerity without any hint of reluctance.

Even more outrageous, some of the more outspoken female trainees from certain ethnic groups actually expressed their affection for him, and some even asked him out for sex, saying that they had good talent and that if the two were combined, the offspring's talent would definitely be exceptional.

Lin Yi glanced at the messages, which were boldly worded and undisguised, his lips twitched, and he quickly scrolled them aside.

But those can be ignored; everything else needs a decent response.

Those who can cultivate on the inner Inner Island of Constant Island are the cream of the crop. They are either direct descendants of the major Eternal Source Family, core talents of Dao Lord- level forces, or at the very least, potential talents nurtured by the capital cities of the major jurisdictions. They all have various backgrounds and should not be underestimated.

Not to mention that several of these invitations were from Constant Lord- tier organizations.

Although Lin Yi is now a worldly person who has even spoken with the Dao Lord in person, the Constant Lord is still the Constant Lord. He can't just ignore the goodwill that the Lord of Heng has offered.

But here's the problem.

If you accept one, you have to accept a whole bunch.

If Zhang San is invited but Li Si is not, will Li Si feel slighted?

If we go to Li Si's place but not Wang Wu's, won't Wang Wu's family feel slighted?

Even spiritual practitioners are not saints; they too have a competitive spirit. Sometimes, what you perceive as an unintentional choice may have already been noted down by others.

Lin Yi actually finds these kinds of social engagements quite annoying.

This kind of purely social interaction and networking was more tiring for him than fighting a tough battle.

His first instinct was to use the old method and give a unified reply, saying that he needed to focus on seclusion to prepare for the top-level trial.

No one should be able to find fault with these steps.

Of course, there may be a very small number of people who are narrow-minded, but they are only a minority.

Just as Lin Yi was about to give a unified reply, he suddenly caught a glimpse of his clone standing up and walking out of the cultivation room.

This is an old habit of his clones; they go to the training grounds to practice.

The clone can only naturally generate 10,000 strands of Spiritual Enlightenment Qi each day, so his strategy for the clone is to accumulate it every thousand years and use it once, burning it all at once, and then use the rest of the time to do tasks that do not require too much comprehension.

Recently, the clone's main task has been to hone his combat skills in the training grounds.

Once the Chaos Power is used up, return to recover. When you're fully recovered, go back to the training ground to continue practicing, and so on.

In truth, these combat skills have long been honed to perfection; what I'm doing now is merely adding the finishing touches.

Lin Yi stared at the clone, then suddenly had a thought and changed his mind.

etc.

What was I thinking just now? Should I just give a unified reply about going into seclusion?

There's no need for that.

Having a wide network of contacts is definitely beneficial.

Since clones aren't as intelligent as the user, it's better to let them do something meaningful than waste their time on combat techniques that are already well-known.

For example, you could make it difficult for someone else to handle the social obligations on your behalf.

The more Lin Yi thought about it, the more reliable the idea seemed.

In the Chaos Cosmic Sea, it is common practice for high-level cultivators to have their clones act as their main Main Body to handle social affairs.

This neither interferes with cultivation nor diminishes the other person's face.

If someone invites you and you send a clone over, it means you take the invitation seriously.

Everyone understood why the Main Body didn't come; after all, they were all high-level cultivators, and everyone needs to go into seclusion sometimes.

Of course, if it's an invitation from Constant Lord- level being, sending an avatar would be somewhat disrespectful.

But those were few in number, and he could easily schedule a time for his Main Body to visit them individually.

As for the other invitations from those in the Eternal Source Realm, sending clones is perfectly sufficient.

Having figured this out, Lin Yi immediately felt a sense of relief.

He calmed himself down and mentally reassigned tasks to his clones.

First, there are the two clones located far away in Mist Sea City.

The clone on the Black Mist Sea Frontline has the most opportunities for real combat. Now that the intensity of the battle has increased, the frequency of appearance of mid-stage and even late-stage second-tier Black Silence Beast is getting higher and higher. This realistic combat environment is just right for cultivating <Nine-Seal Vast Cosmos: Eternal Source Realm Secret Technique Collection>.

"The collection contains eleven secret techniques; let him be solely responsible for cultivating this one, practicing as he goes."

Then there's the clone responsible for fulfilling the duties of the Constant Guard.

This clone is relatively safer.

Although there are occasional tricky cases that require pursuing wanted criminals or dealing with unexpected disputes, the intensity is generally much lower than on the Frontline.

This relatively stable environment is perfect for cultivating secret techniques that require slow and meticulous refinement.

"The three secret techniques, <Pact Condensation>, <Swift Thunder>, and <Flowing Scripture>, will be entrusted to him for practice."

As for the clone that follows him, when it has Spiritual Enlightenment Qi, it continues to study the classic texts on laws and cultivation; when it lacks Spiritual Enlightenment Qi, it steps forward to engage in social interactions.

"By the way..." Lin Yi thought to himself, "I could also inquire about whether there's any information on the first or fourth ranked blood essence."

He wasn't a perfectionist; if he couldn't find the first and fourth essence blood, it didn't matter. He wouldn't force it; it would be better if he could have them, but if not, so be it.

Having arranged everything, Lin Yi immediately felt refreshed and invigorated.

After his clone went to keep his appointment, Lin Yi was left alone in the cultivation room.

He took a deep breath and gently tapped the deep purple crystal box.

The box lid opened silently, revealing six drops of essence blood, each with a different shape and varying undulations, reflecting each other within.

The essence blood of the Radiant Nirvana Mantis -silver; the dark purple, resembling the underworld, is the essence blood of the Calamity Abyss Soul-Devouring Python, ranked fifth; the essence blood of the Nine Nether Qilin, ranked sixth, is dark green, with a constantly churning black mist in the center of the droplet; and the essence blood of the Scarlet Swirl Whale, ranked eighth, is the color of the sunset, reddish-pink, like the essence of the melted sunset solidified into a droplet.

The tenth-ranked essence blood of the Ashen Rift Kui Ox is simple and unadorned, just a drop of dark gray blood condensed to the extreme.

And in the very center of these five drops of essence blood, in the most prominent position, floats a drop of blood with the most powerful aura.

It was bluish-gray, translucent, and rippling with strange waves.

The ripples spread outwards in concentric circles from the blood droplet, creating a faint, transparent ripple in the air with each concentric circle.

This is the essence blood of the second-ranked Chaos Beast, the Voidless Time Titan Beast.

The Voidless Time Titan Beast.

In the book "Complete Guide to Chaos Beasts", this name occupies the second most space after the Chaos Sky Whale, which ranks first, and is longer than the Radiant Nirvana Mantis, which ranks third.

In some respects, its records are even more detailed than those of the Chaos Sky Whale.

The reason is simple: the Chaos Sky Whale had already disappeared by the end of the Imperial Era, Voidless Time Titan Beast had at least been sighted by people.

Lin Yi reached out and carefully took the drop of blue-gray essence blood from the box, then quickly closed the crystal box and put it back into his Divine Kingdom.

The essence blood floated above his palm, and blue-gray ripples spread outward in concentric circles at an extremely slow rhythm.

Lin Yi stared at the drop of blood essence for a moment, but did not rush to make a move.

He needs to get himself into peak condition first.

For him, the first step in forming the seal of faith, shaping the prototype of the constant seal, was no longer a difficult task.

Although the framework he is building this time is far more complex than the previous three seals, with his current soul comprehension amplified by the three divine seals, plus the Spiritual Enlightenment Qi, building the framework is only a matter of time.

What truly required him to be on his guard was the second step: stripping away the secret technique of his innate talent.

That was the signature secret technique of the Voidless Time Titan Beast, or rather, its main skill that allowed it to rank second on the list of exotic beasts.

Voidless.

The name of this innate secret technique is consistent with the name of the Voidless Time Titan Beast.

It could even be said that the reason the Voidless Time Titan Beast was named "Voidless" was because of the existence of this secret technique.

The "Time Tank" in its name refers to another time-related talent/secret technique.

You can tell just from their names how closely related Voidless and Voidless Time Titan Beast are.

The function of Voidless doesn't sound complicated; it allows users to move from the real to the virtual, and then back from the virtual to the real.

It's that simple.

But this simple description is the fundamental reason why the list of mythical beasts ranks it second.

In the ethereal state, as long as the attacks received do not exceed the limit, all damage can be ignored.

Even if the attack exceeds the intangibility's tolerance limit, intangibility can weaken most of its power.

Furthermore, Voidless can first render the attack intangible, and then solidify it the instant the attack lands.

In his ethereal state, the user of Voidless is like a walking shadow; others cannot hit him, and he can directly deliver attacks to his opponent's face.

That's just how twisted it is.

Of course, Voidless is not without its weaknesses.

Its ability to withstand ethereal transformation has a limit, and although this limit is extremely high, it will begin to take damage once it is hit by an attack that exceeds this limit.

Additionally, the illusion will be briefly dispelled the instant the attack becomes real. Although this window is extremely short, it is still possible to catch the attacker.

However, Lin Yi believed that these weaknesses were completely within acceptable limits.

At the Eternal Source Realm level, how many people can unleash attacks exceeding the limit of the Voidless Transformation Realm?

It is likely that only those top geniuses who also possess top-grade divine seals and have stacked seals to a terrifyingly high level of power amplification could achieve this.

Such figures are so rare that you might not be able to find even one in the entire Eternal Source Realm of the Seventh Constant Domain.

As for the moment he was exposed when the illusion was removed, combined with the <Swift Thunder> secret technique he had just acquired, he could completely compress this window infinitely.

Approaching in the ethereal state, then instantly solidifying in time to dodge with Swift Thunder, followed by a move like, "Look me straight in the eye, you bastard!" Just thinking about it is exhilarating.

Lin Yi took a deep breath and suppressed all these thoughts.

Don't think that far ahead.

Let's practice until we've mastered it.

His gaze returned to the drop of bluish-gray blood in his palm, and then he slowly closed his eyes.

Within the Purple Mist Space, Spiritual Enlightenment Qi suddenly ignited.

The first step is to create the initial form of Hengqi.

They knew the way well.

More than four hundred Epoch later, the hollow frame was completed.

Lin Yi let out a long sigh of relief, rested briefly, and then calmed his mind, drawing the nascent form of Hengqi out of his Soul Origin and slowly moving it toward the drop of blue-gray blood essence of the Voidless Time Titan Beast.

The moment the embryonic form came into contact with the essence blood, Lin Yi felt as if his consciousness had been thrown into a void of time and space.

In his perception, the river of time no longer flows in one direction.

His consciousness was torn into countless pieces by an invisible force, each piece being thrown into a different dimension of time.

In that instant, he simultaneously saw the scene of when he condensed the first few seals; the chilling killing intent in the blood essence of the Eternal Silence Abyss Dragon was impacting his soul; and the light and dark swamp of the blood essence of the Eternal Dark Constant Fusion Beast was crushing his consciousness.

These are just two slices from a disordered time dimension.

More fragments arrived simultaneously from different points in time.

There are fragments of his cultivation in the original universe's cosmic clam, scenes of him fighting the Black Silence Beast on the front lines of the Black Mist Sea, scenes of him breaking through to the Eternal Origin Realm in seclusion at the Wen Family's East Garden, and even a future he has not yet experienced.

He even felt as if he could see the trial grounds of the Eternal Source Ring, the Law Inscriptions runes flying everywhere in the team trial, and a blurry figure attacking him.

Those chaotic torrents of time and space swept through his consciousness at a frenzied pace, each wave bringing endless dizziness and a tearing sensation.

This feeling was a hundred times worse than the Light and Dark Swamp of the Eternal Dark Constant Fusion Beast.

Although the crushing force of the Light and Dark Swamp was painful, at least it followed a pattern. The alternation of light and darkness was cyclical, and he just needed to grit his teeth and fight against it according to the cycle.

But this dimensional disorder is completely random; the arrival of fragments, their quantity, and their eventual departure are all random.

Lin Yi grunted, and the nine Cosmic Universe Seal instantly merged, shining brightly, and then settled in the center of his consciousness.

A layer of golden light spread outwards from the center of the Fusion Cosmic Universe Seal, forcefully creating a space of order amidst the chaotic torrent of time and space.

The surging fragments of time, upon reaching the edge of the golden light, seemed to be stopped by an invisible barrier, their speed and quantity noticeably decreasing. Although they continued to surge and scour, the intensity of the scour had returned to a tolerable level.

Lin Yi took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the remaining dizziness and confusion, and then focused his attention on the crisscrossing secret technique imprints in his blood essence.

Lin Yi's gaze swept over each of the marks, finally settling on the center of the blood essence, on a secret mark emitting a strange blue-gray light.

That brand was different from all the other arcane brands around it.

Its light was not dazzling, nor did it exude any aggressive aura.

It simply floated quietly at the core of all the imprints, with five hundred imprints slowly rotating around it like stars surrounding the moon.

Voidless.

This is the Voidless.

Lin Yi directly placed the nascent form of Hengqi onto the mark.

Begin peeling.

Five thousand one hundred Epoch later, when the last thread of time was completely peeled from his essence blood, the complete secret technique imprint called "Voidless" finally presented its complete form in his consciousness.

Without pausing, Lin Yi immediately began to connect and refine the stripped-out Voidless imprint with the cavity reserved inside the Hengqi prototype.

The process was unremarkable.

More than three thousand Epoch later, finally, the blue-gray mark solidified completely and began to slowly rotate deep within his soul.

Voidless seals or contracts, the agreement is complete.

Lin Yi let out a long breath and slowly opened his eyes.

"It took more than nine thousand Epoch in total... a bit slower than expected, but..."

I subconsciously sensed the changes in my soul's understanding.

Then, a surge of joy welled up inside me.

The increase in soul comprehension from the Lu Voidless Seal was significantly stronger than he had anticipated, almost 30% higher than that of the Eternal Silence Seal.

As expected, although the overall increase was similar, the increase in essence blood from those ranked higher was still slightly greater.

This visible improvement in brain function made Lin Yi feel incredibly happy.

"There are still over ten thousand Epoch left, plenty of time to push my understanding of the laws even higher... Understanding the laws is fundamental, the higher the better."

With this thought in mind, Lin Yi closed his eyes, and Spiritual Enlightenment Qi ignited deep within his soul.

Time flies, and the cycle of life continues.

More than ten thousand Epoch have passed quietly.

On this day, inside the cultivation room, the Constant Island Emblem suddenly trembled slightly.

A pale blue light curtain automatically unfolded on the mask.

[Final Team Member Confirmation for the Seventh Phase of the Eternal Source Ring Trial]

The final selection process for the Eternal Source Ring Trial has been completed for Team Lu 7. Except for you, the sole core member, the remaining 99 team members have been confirmed. Their names are as follows...

Below is a long list of names, each followed by its corresponding realm and main pairing.

Lin Yi glanced at them and saw nine at the peak of the Eternal Source Realm, thirty at the high-level, thirty at the mid-level, and thirty at the initial level—not a single one was missing.

The last line of the notice reads:

[Departure time: After the 1st Epoch. Please assemble at the Central Plaza of the inner island at that time.]

There is still time to prepare for the next Epoch.

Lin Yi turned off the notification screen.

One can probably guess why this selection consists of nine Perfected, thirty High-Level, thirty Mid-Level, and thirty Beginner-Level individuals, instead of all Perfected.

It's not that they couldn't gather that many perfect combinations; it's most likely that Constant Island summarized the optimal ratio based on several experiences.

After all, the difficulty of the Eternal Source Ring challenges is Dynamic adjusted based on the overall strength of the challengers.

If all the characters are at the Perfect level, the difficulty of the level will also soar to the Perfect level. It's possible that you'll encounter quite a few Constant Lord level characters in the team trial, which will actually make it more difficult.

By including some players of lower to mid-level difficulty to lower the overall challenge, Constant Island must have figured out this detail long ago, having organized six such events.

Lin Yi shook his head, deciding not to dwell on it any longer, and began to plan something else.

We're about to set off. Over the past ten thousand Epoch, besides my Law Comprehension increasing to 33.98%, my two clones in Mist Sea City have not only learned the secret techniques they were responsible for, but have also earned some contribution points while fulfilling their duties Constant Guard and fighting on the Black Mist Sea front.

There are approximately 3900 contribution points.

3900 points, not too high, not too low.

But if we save it until after the trial is over, the vegetables will be too cold.

We need to turn it into something that can directly enhance combat power.

Lin Yi pondered for a moment, and suddenly an idea popped into his head.

After all, no one can predict what might happen during the trial, so we need to develop a secret technique that can unleash devastating power in dire situations.

Secret techniques that can be used to unleash devastating power have extremely high costs, yet almost 99% of cultivators will try to learn them if they have the means.

This is something you can do without, but you can't live without.

Lin Yi directly searched for secret techniques related to "Desperate Strike" in the Constant Guard's Exchange Shop, scrolling down one by one.

Soon, his brows furrowed.

These secret methods come at a very high price.

Some directly burn their Soul Origin, which greatly increases their combat power, but once the time is up, their Soul Origin completely dissipates, and they die instantly.

There are also those who can never advance further in their cultivation level. They can survive after using them, but they will be stuck at the current level forever and never be able to break through again.

Lin Yi searched high and low, and the more he searched, the more he felt that these things were incompatible with his birth chart.

Just as he was about to pick up a book and prepare to practice it, his gaze suddenly fell upon a secret manual that was buried at the very bottom of Qingji.

<Soul Source Slaying>

Exchange price: 3300 contribution points.

Lin Yi noticed a detail: this battle manual was categorized under the "extremely costly" category, but unlike other similar secret techniques, it did not have a red warning label indicating "inevitable death after use" or "never being able to improve one's cultivation level after use."

I clicked on the detailed instructions.

[<Soul Source Slaying> Desperate Explosion Secret Technique.]

[Effect: This secret technique was created by Emperor Zao Ya. Its effect is to slowly and continuously burn one's own Soul Origin to comprehend innate talent at a fixed ratio, thereby entering the Soul Source Slaying state. While in this state, the practitioner will receive a massive boost. The burning is irreversible; upon exiting the state, the burned soul talent will be permanently lost.]

[Note: This secret technique can only ignite the cultivator's own soul's innate talent for enlightenment. Any external methods, such as soul crystals or secret techniques, will not work.]

Extra boosts to soul perception talent, such as those from rare and precious materials, cannot be recognized or burned by arcane techniques.

Finally, there is one more note.

"Soul perception talent is related to a cultivator's future potential. Perhaps only someone with extraordinary talent like His Emperor would not hesitate to burn some of his soul talent. Cultivators who wish to master this secret technique must use it with extreme caution, and it is advisable to regard it as something that would permanently stagnate one's cultivation level."

Lin Yi stared at the description for a long time, and the corners of his mouth slowly curled up.

A soul's innate talent cannot be ignited by external things; it can only be ignited by its own inherent talent.

Isn't that a coincidence?

What level is Me's innate talent?

Star Vortex level?

No, that sounds too awful. To be precise, it should be called Star Source Level.

Yes, Star Origin level.

However, even a Star Origin-level comprehension talent seems to be among the worst in the Chaos Cosmic Sea's cultivation system. It doesn't even qualify as Cosmic Source Realm- level talent, which is qualified to breathe in the Chaos Cosmic Sea; it can be directly considered an Embryo-level talent.

Currently, almost all of the total talent for soul perception is enhanced by external factors, while initial talents not enhanced by external factors account for only a negligible portion.

With such a small amount of talent, and it burning slowly and continuously at a fixed rate, what impact will it have on メ?

Even if it's shown up... it won't be any good.

However, it was created by the Emperor...

Lin Yi looked at these people and fell into deep thought.

Why would Emperor create such a secret method that proportionally burns one's soul's talent?

And that footnote.

Is it true that the Emperor's talent is so high that he feels a little burning doesn't matter, or... is he like me, Lin, whose talent is so low that burning a little won't hurt?