Space Jump

"Brother, I've reached level ten!"

Su Fan immediately shared the good news with Su Tian.

He had never hidden his cultivation progress, and Su Tian knew that although his younger brother's martial soul mutation had failed, he had found another way to develop his cultivation speed.

"Your cultivation speed truly is extraordinary."

Su Tian was also thrilled by this.

Although Su Fan's innate level-one Soul Power might limit his potential, there was still a chance to solve that problem.

The Su Family was not incapable of helping Su Fan.

"Brother, have you found a Soul Ring for me?"

Su Tian smiled at those words.

Since he ran a trading firm, Su Tian thought more like a merchant. He had never considered hiring high-level Soul Masters to take Su Fan into a soul beast forest for months of Soul Hunting.

When Su Fan had broken through to level nine, he had already sent people to gather information on soul beasts within the Dou Ling Empire that would suit Su Fan.

After two and a half months, they had made some gains.

Su Tian said, "Soul beasts with spatial attributes are difficult to find. I've only collected information on five of them, and only two are at the hundred-year level."

He told Su Fan about the two soul beasts.

One was a four-hundred-year Void-Escaping Rat, skilled at slipping into space and fleeing at high speed.

The other was a six-hundred-year Mystic Turtle, which possessed the soul skills Space Barrier and Spatial Displacement.

Su Fan stroked his chin and considered it carefully.

The Void-Escaping Rat had an extreme affinity with space. Absorbing its Soul Ring might help him condense Apertures faster, but that would not be very useful for now.

As for its soul skill, perhaps he could use the Apertures he had opened to slip into space.

It would naturally be powerful if he could obtain such a soul skill, but the Mystic Turtle could also provide an escape ability. Moreover, the Mystic Turtle possessed the Space Barrier soul skill, which would give Su Fan more options.

Besides, the Mystic Turtle's age was higher—six hundred years!

It matched Su Fan's current limit of endurance.

Over the past year and a half, Su Fan had persisted with dietary supplements. He could not consume Whale Rubber whole yet, but he could divide a piece into hundreds of portions and add them to his daily meals, gradually improving his physical condition over time.

Without further hesitation, Su Fan made his decision.

"Brother, let's go with the Mystic Turtle."

Su Tian could not help but smile at that.

Over the past year and a half, Su Fan had consumed an entire piece of thousand-year Whale Rubber. Acquiring that piece had cost Su Tian a considerable sum—more than two thousand Gold Soul Coins.

Since his younger brother had talent in cultivation and cultivated quickly, he could not allow his innate aptitude to hinder his normal progress.

Thus, he had arranged for his younger brother to take the path of Whale Rubber and absorbing Soul Rings beyond his level.

"Alright. I'll find someone to take you there right away."

Three days later, on the Eastsea Coast.

Under the protection of three Soul Elders, Su Fan found the six-hundred-year Mystic Turtle.

It had originally been a Mystic Armor Turtle, but its bloodline had reverted to its ancestors, transforming it into a Mystic Turtle and awakening its spatial attribute in the process.

"You'll do."

Su Fan did not pick and choose any further.

In this era, Huo Yuhao was a genuine cheat character. But even knowing that, Su Fan could not possibly force himself to compete with someone like that.

He was not yet qualified to absorb a so-called Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring.

All he could do was lay the strongest possible foundation for his cultivation.

For his first Soul Ring, he intended to absorb one beyond his level, making up for the shortcomings of his martial soul through a method that surpassed what ordinary Soul Masters could obtain.

At least, based on Su Fan's current assessment, condensing nine major Apertures along with his usual dietary supplements would absolutely allow him to absorb this six-hundred-year Soul Ring.

The Su Family Trading Firm was not small, but the help it could provide Su Fan was still limited.

According to Su Tian, as long as it did not affect the trading firm's normal operations, one complete piece of Whale Rubber and one Mystic Water Pill were the limit.

Su Fan was already very satisfied with that.

The Mystic Water Pill had not arrived yet, but it had already been reserved. The Mystic Underworld Sect would be opening its furnace this month, and because the Su Family Trading Firm had provided a large amount of materials free of charge, it had secured the right to purchase one Mystic Water Pill.

Looking at the bright yellow Soul Ring before him, Su Fan took a deep breath and released his martial soul, merging it with the ring.

The next moment, the Soul Ring transformed into a streak of light and rushed into his body.

Violent Soul Power flooded his meridians.

Su Fan could feel that his meridians were faintly beginning to buckle under the strain.

Especially in the areas beyond the reach of his nine major Apertures, his meridians were showing faint signs of fracturing.

The improvement from a piece of thousand-year Whale Rubber allowed his body to endure a six-hundred-year first Soul Ring, but it was still close to the limit.

The good news is that the Apertures I condensed can indeed stabilize my meridians, making it easier for me to absorb Soul Rings beyond my level.

The bad news is that nine Apertures—even counting the eighteen illusory Apertures, for a total of twenty-seven—still can't completely cover all my meridians.

If he could not cover all his meridians, then he could not rely on his Apertures to absorb Soul Rings beyond his level.

That was the short-board effect.

Fortunately, Su Fan had not become overconfident this time.

Three hours later.

Su Fan opened his eyes, a sharp glint flashing through them.

At that moment, his entire body seemed to be drawing in the ambient essence of heaven and earth.

"Absorbing a Soul Ring beyond one's level really does have benefits!"

Su Fan had long suspected as much.

Apart from soul skills far stronger than those of normal Soul Rings, the greatest benefit of absorbing beyond one's level should be the additional nourishment it gave to one's martial soul.

While everyone else's martial souls were still at level ten, you absorbed a Soul Ring that could only normally merge with a level-twenty martial soul ahead of time. Of course there would be benefits.

Eastsea City.

Su Family Trading Firm.

The moment Su Fan returned, Su Tian set aside his work and came to ask about the results.

"How did it go?"

"My first soul skill is quite effective."

"Oh?"

Faced with Su Tian's curious gaze, Su Fan directly explained the effect of his first soul skill.

"My first soul skill is called Space Jump. Using my Aperture Martial Soul as anchors, it can jump power between two points. Right now, because my martial soul's coverage is too small, my physical body can't jump over."

By this point, Su Tian had already frowned.

How was that very good?

Wasn't that terrible?

It was a Space Jump soul skill, yet the Soul Master himself could not jump through space.

However, Su Fan's next words made Su Tian feel much better.

"This time, my Aperture Martial Soul has been strengthened. It's no longer as small as before, and as I cultivate, the maximum size of my Apertures should continue to increase."

As he spoke, Su Fan released an Aperture.

Previously, the maximum size of his Apertures had only been that of a thumb.

Now, above his palm, the distorted spherical structure had clearly grown to the size of a fist.

"If it keeps growing by this factor, my Apertures will be large enough to contain my physical body by the time I reach five rings."

Su Tian's expression eased slightly.

That would be acceptable, then.

Moreover, he realized something.

"Can only you use this Space Jump?"

"Of course not. My Apertures are the nodes for the jump. As long as someone passes through one of those nodes, they can complete the jump. It just consumes my Soul Power each time."

A trace of shock flashed through Su Tian's eyes.

If these Apertures could truly grow to the size of a human body, then as long as the Apertures were arranged beforehand, would it not be possible to secretly transport people between two nodes without anyone noticing?

He immediately asked, "Is there a distance limit?"

Su Fan nodded.

How could such an ability possibly have no distance limit?

"The jump relies on my Soul Power. If the distance exceeds what my Soul Power can sustain, it will fail."