Heavenly Circuit Apertures, Entering Sunset Forest

At first, the number of Apertures Su Fan could manifest within his body was limited.

He used Soul Power to simulate his Martial Soul, condensing tangible Apertures and freeing himself from the limitations of his Martial Soul.

This was equivalent to having Apertures as actual parts within his body.

In that case, he himself was a Body Martial Soul.

That was the principle behind his cultivation.

Initially, he could only manifest nine illusory Apertures within his body—the Apertures formed by his Martial Soul. Later, that number became eighteen.

Now, it had surpassed one hundred, even reaching two hundred.

This was not because he could divide his attention so finely that he could simultaneously maintain the condensation of more than two hundred Aperture Martial Souls.

He had discovered this after condensing Apertures within his body. Once his body contained Apertures, manifesting his Martial Soul became easier, as it had something to anchor itself to.

The manifested Martial Souls could attach themselves to the Apertures within his body, saving Su Fan a great deal of effort.

The same was true whether he manifested them externally or internally.

Now, he had a full ninety-one Apertures, capable of supporting the condensation of two hundred and twenty-six illusory Apertures.

Altogether, that made three hundred and seventeen.

According to Su Fan's estimates, once he condensed the Apertures before his third Soul Ring to their limit—namely, 108 Apertures—his total limit, including illusory Apertures, would reach three hundred and sixty!

Matching the number of the Heavenly Circuit.

It would also happen to cover all the meridians throughout his body.

The three uses of the Spirit Crossing Method had failed to push him past level thirty, but Su Fan was not anxious.

There was nothing to worry about.

The Aperture Method had given his cultivation a tangible path.

Condense Apertures. Once they reached their maximum number, he could use the power of those Apertures to push his Soul Power past its bottleneck.

That was also the advantage of his Aperture Method.

Of course, not every Soul Master who cultivated his Aperture Method would be so monstrous.

Condensing Apertures also required talent.

As its creator, Su Fan's Martial Soul was itself an Aperture. His talent in this regard was maxed out from the start, so naturally, he seemed rather outrageous.

Only the last few Apertures remained.

After some thought, Su Fan decided to apply for a longer leave of absence.

"Before breaking through level thirty, I still need to take a risk and make a trip to the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well."

Su Fan was deeply helpless.

He had spent a year exploring it. Level thirty was within reach, yet his Sea of Consciousness had still failed to open, and the Soul Aperture Method he had envisioned remained impossible to put into practice.

That left him without confidence.

The Soul Shock of a Ten-Thousand Year Soul Ring could not be underestimated. Over the past year, Su Fan had consulted plenty of information on Soul Shock, and the more he learned, the more he felt that his spiritual power was simply insufficient.

Having lived two lives was impressive.

But Su Fan had not yet grown up.

After all, his previous life had lacked any extraordinary power to nourish him, and his body could not give much back to his soul.

His spiritual aptitude had never been particularly outstanding.

Even though the starting point of this second life was far from ordinary, the soul grew alongside the body's development. He was only nine years old now.

It could only be said that he cultivated too quickly and had begun considering the strength of his spiritual power too early.

Otherwise, even if he had not cultivated Soul Power so quickly and had merely grown normally, by the time he turned eighteen, his spiritual strength would have been fully capable of enduring the Soul Shock of a Ten-Thousand Year Soul Ring.

"The Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well..."

Requesting leave was not difficult.

Su Fan smoothly left Lingdou City and headed toward the Heaven Dou Empire.

Sunset Forest.

"This Tang San is ruthless enough."

Ten thousand years ago, Sunset Forest had also been one of Douluo Continent's major Soul Beast habitats. Though it could not compare to the Star Dou Great Forest, it was home to many rare Soul Beasts.

Yet as the poisonous miasma of the Green Phosphorus Seven-Absolute Flower spread, the entire Soul Beast ecosystem of Sunset Forest fell into crisis, until it was now nearly extinct.

Within the Soul Beast forest, poisonous miasma covered every corner. Aside from the original toxins of the Green Phosphorus Seven-Absolute Flower, there were also the poisons produced by the decay of countless Soul Beast corpses.

The Soul Power of countless Soul Beasts had nourished this miasma. Even a Soul Saint would be in great danger upon entering its outer edges.

Su Fan took a deep breath and stepped into the poisonous miasma.

A full eighty-one Apertures around his body lit up.

At the same time, eighty-one Apertures within his body lit up as well.

He did not activate all his Apertures at full power.

Eighty-one Apertures were enough.

Two Soul Rings slowly rose beneath his feet, shining at the same time.

An invisible barrier enveloped Su Fan.

It was only five meters in diameter.

Eighty-one Apertures were distributed throughout that five-meter spherical space. Even if any poisonous gas breached the spatial barrier and entered, it would immediately be transported back outside the barrier.

And so the cycle repeated.

Su Fan's expression changed slightly.

"A five-meter margin for error is a little too small."

He looked at the barrier outside his body.

After entering the poisonous miasma, the distinct colors allowed him to clearly see his situation.

Outside lay the poisonous miasma, pale mist rising through the air. Within was a clean space.

At that moment, mist within the clean space was continuously closing in on him.

Within the five-meter range of Heaven Sealing Earth Locking, only the four meters around Su Fan were completely free of poison.

And this was only a short distance into the poisonous miasma.

If he went any deeper, who knew how much poison would infiltrate.

Taking a deep breath, he decisively increased the range of his Heaven Sealing Earth Locking.

The five-meter diameter became ten meters.

"Fortunately, expanding the range midway lets me expel the excess toxins. There is some consumption, but it is still acceptable."

Su Fan spent some effort compressing the portion within the ten-meter diameter that had been eroded by poisonous mist—a six-meter area—down to one meter.

The safe area was now nine meters wide.

He continued deeper.

With Apertures supporting him, Su Fan recovered quickly. Especially since he was using Milk Bottles, which stored his own Soul Power and were exceptionally smooth to absorb from.

Whenever his Soul Power fell to eighty percent, he would drink from a Milk Bottle and refill it.

The poisonous miasma itself was an enormous threat.

But it also had one benefit: there were no other threats.

Su Fan focused on maintaining his speed and advanced deeper bit by bit.

Finally, when he could see the toxins changing color and taking on an obvious seven-colored hue, Su Fan glanced around.

Of the ten-meter-diameter Heaven Sealing Earth Locking, six meters had already been eroded.

It was not safe.

Gritting his teeth, he expanded the range once more.

Twenty meters in diameter!

With that, the consumption of Soul Power immediately intensified.

It was eight times the consumption.

He did not hurry onward. Instead, he took eight spheres from the bracelet on his right wrist. Each metal sphere was only the size of a fist, hollow inside and engraved with numerous Core Arrays.

They were Soul Tools.

These were Soul Tools Su Fan had specially made for his Aperture Martial Soul.

Their effect was simple. Like the Apertures condensed within his body, they could support him in manifesting more Martial Souls.

Beyond that, their key function was to strengthen Su Fan's ability to make use of his Apertures.

The eight spheres circled Su Fan, each merging with one of his Apertures.

They all lit up.

The next instant, much of the poison that had invaded the six-meter area receded, leaving only one meter.

Unhurried, Su Fan took out a Milk Bottle and restored his Soul Power.

At that moment, he no longer needed to control Heaven Sealing Earth Locking or expel the toxins. He only needed to focus on recovering Soul Power.

The eight Soul Tools absorbed his Soul Power to operate before doing their work, while he worked hard to restore Soul Power and meet their demand.

As a result, his Soul Power remained between eighty and one hundred percent the entire time.

That was also thanks to the more than thirty Milk Bottles he had prepared.

Every one of those Milk Bottles contained his Soul Power.