"But do you have that much Soul Power?" Green Willow Heart Wood rolled her eyes. She felt that what he had just used was at least half of the other party's Soul Power.
Nan Xuan said nothing this time and led her out of his room.
Then the area shifted, and they arrived at the imperial capital of the Heaven Dou Empire.
Green Willow Heart Wood had never seen such a prosperous city before, much less one with so many people.
Taking the opportunity, Nan Xuan said, "This is a world I created. They are all enjoying themselves in this world in the form of spiritual power. This world has brought them endless convenience. Although they cannot abandon their lives in the real world, there are so many people on Douluo Continent that people enter this world during every period of the day. And it is paid. What they pay is Soul Power, spiritual power, and human currency."
"Everyone on the continent gives me a wisp of Soul Power every day. How many people are there on the continent? So, what will you choose now?"
Seeing Green Willow Heart Wood's shocked expression, Nan Xuan knew the mission was about to be completed.
"Then, if I become a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, what benefit is there for you? Are you helping me for nothing?" Green Willow Heart Wood asked calmly. She did not believe he wanted to help her for free.
"I want you to sacrifice yourself to me. Your cultivation will be sacrificed, while your soul can reside within the soul ring. My martial soul can extract your soul and then materialize it, allowing you to coexist with me." Nan Xuan did not beat around the bush and directly stated his purpose.
"Don't doubt my ability. You have seen this world. You should believe me." Seeing that she was still hesitating, Nan Xuan added another heavy blow.
"Fine, I agree." Green Willow Heart Wood ultimately chose to agree to this human. Even if she refused, she would still become a soul ring. She might as well give it a try.
The man and the tree returned to reality once more.
Nan Xuan began using his domain skill to envelop the entire lake region, then summoned his martial soul, the Wireless Router.
Streams of immense Soul Power then surged forth and drifted toward Green Willow Heart Wood.
"Hey, aren't you worried that I'll break our agreement after becoming a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast?" Green Willow Heart Wood asked curiously.
"Stop talking and absorb it properly. You soul beasts aren't as full of lies as humans. Besides, even then, you still won't be my match." Nan Xuan spoke in a steady tone.
Hearing this, Green Willow Heart Wood was somewhat displeased, but that weird soul skill of his was truly overpowered.
The Soul Power infusion continued for an entire day.
When Nan Xuan sensed that she had absorbed nearly enough, he withdrew his supply of Soul Power and activated the Digitization soul skill.
Sure enough, Green Willow Heart Wood broke through not long afterward, releasing a fierce burst of Soul Power.
Green Willow Heart Wood was still in the form of a massive willow tree, but her aura had grown considerably, and she had become taller as well.
Green Willow Heart Wood raised one of her willow branches and stabbed it toward Nan Xuan.
Seeing that her attack was still ineffective, she gave up and began the sacrifice ritual.
The same blood-red light filled the entire lake region. The surrounding trees trembled as though wailing. Then a wave of red energy swept over Nan Xuan's entire body. Before long, the crimson glow faded, and a blood-red soul ring floated above the Wireless Router.
Nan Xuan let out a breath. Rather than immediately sensing the changes brought by the hundred-thousand-year soul ring, he used his martial soul's properties to digitize the soul within the soul ring and store it inside his martial soul for materialization. If he simply used the Materialization soul skill, what returned would still be a soul rather than a physical body.
Nan Xuan fed the appearance data Green Willow Heart Wood had first displayed in the Network World into his martial soul. A green light then floated out from it.
When the green light faded, a girl around 166 centimeters tall appeared. She had an oval face, cherry lips, twin ponytails, and a fresh-looking long green dress. Her pair of light-green heeled boots added a touch of liveliness.
"Wow, it seems you succeeded." Green Willow Heart Wood excitedly looked herself over.
"More or less. Congratulations, you can now move freely in the human world. Your body is covered by my martial soul's properties, so no one will discover that you are a soul beast. Under normal circumstances, you can only move ten meters away from me, but my spiritual power covers the entire continent, so your wish can be fulfilled."
Nan Xuan's first experiment in artificially cultivating a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast had been a complete success. This experiment had only come to him on a whim, yet it had unexpectedly worked. Even Nan Xuan found it unbelievable. Aside from the Soul Power expenditure, everything else had gone smoothly.
Nan Xuan summarized two reasons why Green Willow Heart Wood's soul could be converted into an entity and directly "revived" with a body.
First, it had to be a physical-body sacrifice that preserved the soul.
Second, the sacrifice had to be made to his martial soul. Otherwise, there was no point in discussing it.
These experimental procedures were all based on the connection between his martial soul and the sacrificed soul beast.
"Hey, what are you thinking about?" Green Willow Heart Wood smiled at the absent-minded Nan Xuan.
"I'm summarizing the experience of raising a soul beast's cultivation and then reviving you." Nan Xuan answered honestly.
"I see. Then give me a name first." Green Willow Heart Wood looked at Nan Xuan and spoke somewhat shyly.
"Green Willow, Green Willow... How about Liu Bi?" Nan Xuan pondered for a moment before speaking.
Liu Bi. Green Willow Heart Wood looked at Nan Xuan with a dark expression, her face full of complaints. She did not like that name.
"Liu Mumu." Nan Xuan stopped teasing her and gave her a normal name instead.
"Mm, not bad. So where are we going now?" Liu Mumu's first impression of the name was fairly good. At least it was much better than the previous one.
"Come home with me first. From now on, you'll be my distant cousin. That will be your identity in the human world. As for your martial soul, you should be able to use your Green Willow Heart Wood, right?" Nan Xuan said.
"I can, but I can't add any more soul rings." Liu Mumu said gloomily.
"Come on. If you could still add soul rings, then I really might be a god. Being able to use your hundred-thousand-year soul ring and Soul Power now is already a heaven-defying feat." Nan Xuan smiled bitterly.
"When can I travel across the continent?" Of all things, Liu Mumu still liked that best.
"Get familiar with the human world first. Once I've fully figured out the soul skills you gave me, the whole world will be yours to roam." Nan Xuan said with a smile.
After tidying up, Nan Xuan left the Star Dou Great Forest with Liu Mumu.
This harvest had greatly surprised Nan Xuan. The hundred-thousand-year soul ring had given him two soul skills, and he had also gained a torso soul bone with two soul skills of its own.
As for the soul skills, he would talk about them after getting home.
Along the way, Nan Xuan took Liu Mumu around to eat and drink. Of course, it had all been Liu Mumu's request. He did not want Bibi Dong to misunderstand.
All along the way, he had been explaining things to Bibi Dong: why he had not told her and had gone alone to obtain a soul ring, and whether Liu Mumu's existence meant that Nan Xuan had other intentions. Nan Xuan nearly fainted from all the explanations.
After he explained everything, Bibi Dong said nothing more. She only found what Nan Xuan had done far too miraculous and wanted to find an opportunity to meet Liu Mumu.
Nan Xuan naturally agreed a hundred times over. Seeing Nan Xuan chatting with a woman the entire way, Liu Mumu shook her head, unable to make sense of it.
"There, that's my home ahead. A soul master lives in the wooden house opposite, and he's a Title Douluo. He's also the husband of the Blue Silver Emperor from Blue Silver Valley. He doesn't know I'm a soul master, so don't expose me, Cousin Mumu." Nan Xuan pointed out his wooden house and the one Tang Hao lived in, letting Liu Mumu understand the situation.
"The Blue Silver Emperor... What a pity. She actually fell in love with a human." Liu Mumu knew something about the Blue Silver Emperor of Blue Silver Valley. She had been a very good soul beast.
"That's not the point. The key is that there's a problem with the man she fell for. Once we get home, I'll send you something. Read it yourself." Nan Xuan casually told Liu Mumu about the Blue Silver Emperor's story.
Liu Mumu immediately became interested and smiled sweetly.
By the time they returned home, it had been almost exactly half a month. After Nan Xuan arranged a room for Liu Mumu, he handed her a green Network Card printed with the image of Green Willow Heart Wood. It was merely a disguise; the real thing had long since been imprinted upon her martial soul.
Still, Liu Mumu liked the Network Card bearing her original form very much.
"Later, I'll send you the Lan Hao Picture Book adapted from the true story. Just check it through your Ling." Nan Xuan did not arrange another Smart Guide for Liu Mumu. Instead, he copied his own Ling for her, because his Ling had higher permissions than the others. In any case, they were only used to guide operations.
After answering, Liu Mumu lay on her bed and entered the Network World.
Nan Xuan, meanwhile, lay in an old reclining chair beneath the eaves of the wooden house. He closed his eyes and entered the Network World, sent the Lan Hao Picture Book to Liu Mumu, then began studying his four soul skills in the designated Training Ground.
Hundred-thousand-year torso soul bone skill: the first was Distraction, namely Heart Separation Control. The exact number that could be controlled depended on the willow branches of Green Willow Heart Wood's original body.
The second was Absorption. It absorbed external energy and matter to replenish the user. It could be converted into blood energy, Soul Power, or spiritual power, with a conversion rate of ninety-five percent.
Hundred-thousand-year soul ring skill: the first was Network Control. It formed chains from spiritual power to attack or restrain the enemy's soul or spiritual body. At the same time, it could also grant greater authority allocation, management, optimization, and updates to the Network World.
The second was Network Sanction. Countless willow branches transformed into longswords and gathered into a giant sword to sanction those who defied the God of the Network.
Within his own Network World, Nan Xuan used the two skills granted by the hundred-thousand-year soul ring. Since they were merely data simulations, their effects did not seem very obvious.
"Sigh, it looks like I've gone farther and farther down the path of an auxiliary soul master." Nan Xuan exited the Network World, looked at his status panel, and sighed helplessly.
After obtaining his fifth soul ring, he had begun departing from the category of auxiliary soul masters. If Seal Wings were included, he might have already strayed from that path at the fourth soul ring stage.
After staying with Nan Xuan for about a month, Liu Mumu could no longer sit still and left. Nan Xuan agreed as well. After all, nothing particularly unusual had appeared during his recent observations. If she wanted to leave, she could leave. He could not even be bothered to cook for one more person.
If you expected a soul beast that could cook, Ah Yin was the best choice.
After twenty-five years on Douluo Continent, Nan Xuan's Soul Power Level had reached level 90. Half a year ago, through Liu Mumu's sacrifice, his Soul Power had reached level 85. During the following half year, he had continuously absorbed the Soul Power stored within his martial soul. With a trace of the power of faith, he did not need to worry at all about his Soul Power becoming unstable.
Until the day before yesterday, he broke through level 90 and began considering the matter of a soul ring.
At first, he had planned to seek out Xiao Wu or Xiao Wu's mother. Their clan's soul skills were quite good. However, after obtaining the Digitization soul skill, he abandoned that choice.
Any other Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast he chose now would affect the direction of the plot. Since it would affect it either way, he decided he might as well do something big.
Half a year ago, in order to raise Liu Mumu to the level of a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, if his Soul Power reserves were divided into ten portions, he had only used one portion stored within his martial soul. For the current Nan Xuan, that expenditure was not much. By this calculation, the stage from one hundred years to twenty thousand years required one portion of reserves, while the stage from twenty thousand years to forty thousand years and then to one hundred thousand years required four portions. Together, that would be five portions of energy.
"About half my energy." Nan Xuan hesitated. Using so much energy just to stir something up did not seem worthwhile.
Just as Nan Xuan was still wavering, he saw the one-year-old Tang San outside the wooden house across the stream.
Nan Xuan gave a mischievous smile and immediately decided to do it.
"Using five portions now in exchange for my great future is worth it. Keeping it is just keeping it. Once I reach level 100 and my martial soul advances another level, everything will have a perfect ending." Nan Xuan smiled inwardly as he justified himself.
Nan Xuan planned to act tomorrow afternoon, because Tang Hao would go deliver ironware to the village chief's house then. He had observed this several days ago. Based on Tang Hao's forging speed, he would definitely deliver it tomorrow afternoon.
Thus, Nan Xuan planned to leave today. He left as soon as he decided, carrying a small backpack. He deliberately slowed his pace in front of the village chief's house before heading out of the village.
Nan Xuan found an inn in Nuoding City and rested for the night. The next morning, he used a soul skill to monitor Tang Hao. As for the small cave where Tang Hao had buried and planted Ah Yin, he had known about it long ago. All he lacked was an opportunity.
Sure enough, Tang Hao went to the village chief's house that afternoon. Nan Xuan's figure flashed as he ran straight toward the small cave, where he saw a stalk of Blue Silver Grass with golden patterns.
Seeing that the visitor was not Tang Hao, Ah Yin's heart tightened, and she curled up her leaves.
Nan Xuan paid no attention to Ah Yin's movements. He grabbed her roots and yanked her straight out.
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