"Then how should I cultivate from here? I don't even know my current Soul Power Level, and I have no idea when I'm supposed to obtain a Soul Ring." Although he understood his ancestor's intentions, Xu Mochen still had questions.
The Purple Imperial Chaos Dragon King merely smiled faintly. "Since you've come here, I naturally won't let your Martial Soul and Soul Power remain in this state. All you need to do now is relax and not resist. I'll place a new restriction on you."
"It will help you conceal or change your Martial Soul's form, Soul Power Level, Soul Ring color, and so on at any time, without affecting your own perception. But remember, for now, I'll only let you have the state of innate tenth-level Soul Power—the so-called Innate Full Soul Power. To improve your cultivation from here, you'll need to cultivate on your own and complete the trials I set for you."
"Your Soul Power Level will only advance by one major rank each time you pass a trial. The Purple Imperial Chaos Dragon King Martial Soul is rather special. Throughout your cultivation, you won't need to obtain any Soul Rings, Soul Bones, or Domains from the outside world."
"Each time you complete a trial, you'll automatically receive these things. If you recklessly absorb external Soul Rings, Soul Bones, or Domains, you'll cause irreversible damage to your Martial Soul."
With that, the Purple Imperial Chaos Dragon King flicked a finger. A streak of purple light shot into Xu Mochen's body through the space between his brows. Xu Mochen didn't hesitate. He immediately sat cross-legged and focused all his attention on receiving the inheritance his ancestor had given him.
Time passed second by second. Xu Mochen's eyes were tightly shut, and a purple glow surrounded his entire body. Behind him, the Purple Imperial Chaos Dragon King Martial Soul flickered in and out of sight. Suddenly, powerful waves of energy burst from Xu Mochen.
As Xu Mochen let out a clear, resonant dragon's roar, a yellow Soul Ring slowly appeared around him, beginning to pulse rhythmically up and down. He slowly opened his eyes and clearly felt the surging Soul Power within him!
Level eleven! A yellow God-Bestowed Hundred-Year Soul Ring! Only now had he truly set foot on the path of cultivation.
"Thank you for your gift, Ancestor! Please accept this junior's bow!" Xu Mochen knelt before the Purple Imperial Chaos Dragon King once more. The dragon king only smiled faintly and waved a hand, effortlessly lifting Xu Mochen back to his feet.
The Purple Imperial Chaos Dragon King's warm voice rang in Xu Mochen's ears. "Not bad. Your First Soul Ring has reached seven hundred and thirty-six years, already on par with the Second Soul Ring of many Soul Masters. What's more, the Soul Ring I've bestowed upon you is far harder to absorb and fuse with than one from an ordinary Soul Beast of the same level. You truly are my descendant."
"I must remind you of one more thing. Compared with Soul Rings obtained by hunting Soul Beasts, the God-Bestowed Soul Rings I gave you not only possess a quality and compatibility with your Martial Soul that no Soul Ring from a hunted Soul Beast could ever match; they can also grow."
"In other words, as your cultivation improves, the years of your God-Bestowed Soul Rings will increase too, until they reach the limit your body can withstand. Before long, you'll feel the true power of these Soul Rings!"
God-Bestowed Soul Rings that could grow! Only now did Xu Mochen truly understand what it meant to defy the heavens. Surely only a god with such fearsome strength could possess this terrifying ability!
If he really cultivated this way all the way to the end, then by the time he became a Titled Douluo—or even a Soul Douluo—he might have a full set of optimally compatible Soul Rings, all a hundred thousand years old! If his ancestor gave him some Soul Bones, Domains, or powerful Self-Created Soul Skills later on, then defeating enemies above his level, just like the protagonist, would become incredibly easy!
The Purple Imperial Chaos Dragon King understood how stirred Xu Mochen felt, but offered him a solemn reminder. "To wear the crown, one must bear its weight. You may possess greater talent and fortune than others, but remember that you also have a difficult mission to fulfill. The road ahead is long and winding. Only when you reach the end will you claim the true fruits of victory."
"And now, you must begin the First Trial of the Nine Trials of Chaos." Hearing this, Xu Mochen slowly suppressed the excitement stirring in his heart and began to pay close attention. The Purple Imperial Chaos Dragon King flicked a finger again, sending another streak of white light into his brow. Information about the origins of God-Bestowed Soul Rings and how to create them immediately appeared in Xu Mochen's mind.
Just as Xu Mochen was wondering what was going on, the Purple Imperial Chaos Dragon King spoke slowly. "First Trial: use the God-Bestowed Soul Ring and the knowledge I've given you to create a cultivation product that Soul Masters can absorb and use without killing a Soul Beast. There is no time limit for this trial."
Without waiting for Xu Mochen to respond, the Purple Imperial Chaos Dragon King swept a dragon's claw through the air. The scenery around them instantly began to shift. Xu Mochen felt a powerful force pull him from behind, and before he could react, it sucked him out of the secret realm.
Outside the inner layer of the secret realm, Kong Dehan sat on the ground, calmly cultivating. Xu Yuanding, on the other hand, was far less composed. He paced back and forth anxiously, glancing now and then at the tightly shut door.
"Old Kong, I really admire you. The Crown Prince is still nowhere to be seen, and you can actually sit here and cultivate? Aren't you worried something might have happened to him?" Xu Yuanding mocked Kong Dehan, whose expression remained unruffled.
"Stay calm, Brother Xu. There's no point getting worked up. The ancestor isn't going to hurt the Crown Prince. It won't matter if we wait a little longer." Compared with the somewhat agitated Xu Yuanding, Kong Dehan seemed far more composed.
"But you can't be too careful. What if—" Xu Yuanding was arguing in alarm when the entire secret realm suddenly shook violently again. The tightly shut door opened once more, and a purple figure darted out of the cave, landing outside. Then the door slammed shut again.
Xu Yuanding and Kong Dehan immediately turned to look. A closer glance confirmed it was Xu Mochen! His appearance was almost unchanged from when he'd gone in, but both powerful men keenly sensed that his aura now carried a sharpness and strength it hadn't had before.
"Your Highness, are you all right? Were you hurt?" Xu Yuanding hurried over and anxiously examined Xu Mochen from head to toe. Kong Dehan had also come to Xu Mochen's side. He said nothing, but concern showed in his eyes.
Seeing this, Xu Mochen felt warmth in his heart. Judging by the two elders' sincere concern and the guidance they'd given him earlier, he could trust them completely.
"Don't worry, I'm fine. I just met our ancestor." Xu Mochen's very first words left Kong Dehan and Xu Yuanding utterly stunned.
"Our ancestor? Hadn't he left long ago? How could he be in the secret realm's inner layer?" Xu Yuanding was the first to ask. Xu Mochen patiently explained, "The secret realm's inner layer is actually a space our ancestor created. The ancestor I met wasn't his true body, only a wisp of his soul. He created this space in order to..."
Xu Mochen told the two elders almost everything that had happened in the secret realm's inner layer without hiding a thing. One reason was that he trusted them.
Another was that he would need the help of two powerful, trustworthy elders for his upcoming trial and plans. Otherwise, even with the knowledge in his Smart Brain to draw on, he had no idea how long it would take to complete the trial his ancestor had set!
Besides, his circumstances were far too strange. With his current abilities, he couldn't keep everything hidden on his own. Xu Mochen needed a few powerful people he could trust to cover for him, and the two elders before him were naturally the best choices for now.
"Good heavens, Your Highness, you actually received a divine trial from our ancestor! Wonderful! You truly are my good great-nephew. I'm sure the late emperor and empress would be proud of you from beyond the grave! But this trial really is a bit too much, isn't it?" Xu Yuanding's eyes filled with admiration, though a trace of worry showed as well.
Xu Mochen could only smile helplessly. According to the novels in his Smart Brain, the protagonist of Douluo Continent 2, Huo Yuhao, and Electrolux had created something called a Soul Spirit to replace Soul Rings. But putting aside the fact that he didn't have the technology to make a Soul Spirit, even a naturally occurring Soul Spirit still came at the cost of a Soul Beast's life. The difference was that the Soul Beast gave its life willingly instead of being forced.
Artificial Soul Spirits that didn't require a Soul Beast to die did exist, but they wouldn't appear until thousands of years after the events of Douluo Continent 2! That was far beyond the era he lived in. For now, that path seemed unworkable.
So for the time being, Xu Mochen planned to settle for the next best thing. Artificial Soul Spirits involved the study of souls on Douluo Continent, and the knowledge about souls in his Smart Brain differed too greatly from the nature of souls on Douluo Continent to be useful for now. But perhaps he could change his approach. If artificial Soul Spirits were out of reach, artificial Soul Rings might actually be possible!
From the knowledge his ancestor had given him about God-Bestowed Soul Rings, their basic principle was that a god fused divine energy with extracted Soul Beast genes, creating an energy ring corresponding to that Soul Beast.
The difficulty was that he had nothing like a god's powerful perception and control. He couldn't simply use some method to extract the necessary genes from a Soul Beast and fuse them with Soul Power to create the desired energy ring. Therefore, he'd need some other method to create an Artificial Soul Ring based on the same principles as a God-Bestowed Soul Ring.
For now, though, he knew far too little about Soul Beasts. Finding the relevant knowledge and mastering it completely in a short time would take an unimaginable amount of time—and he simply couldn't afford to wait.
Just as Xu Mochen was growing troubled, Kong Dehan's voice suddenly sounded. "Perhaps I can help. I don't know anything about Soul Beast genes or the like, but I know an old fellow who specializes in Soul Beast research. He's exceptionally knowledgeable about Soul Beast studies and has accumulated a great deal of academic research. The things he's published, though, have all been anonymous, so no one knows who he is."
"I heard one of his research projects recently made some new progress. Perhaps we could visit him for help another day. He might have a solution."
Xu Mochen's eyes lit up as if he'd seen hope. He immediately asked, "Really, Great-Uncle? Where is this senior? Why don't we set out to visit him tomorrow?"
Xu Yuanding chimed in, exasperated, "You rascal, Old Kong! How come I've never heard you mention this friend? You're a lousy friend indeed. Why has such a remarkable man stayed unknown all this time? Don't tell me you've deliberately kept him hidden for some reason?"
"Don't rush, you two. It's not that simple." Kong Dehan patted his head, his face full of helplessness. "We can't go right now. The old fellow says he needs to conduct experiments for another year, so he isn't receiving visitors. And he's not only powerful, but strange-tempered too. Most importantly..."
At this, Kong Dehan's gaze toward Xu Mochen grew a little strange, leaving Xu Mochen and Xu Yuanding utterly baffled. Kong Dehan hesitated, then finally gritted his teeth and decided to be honest. "That old fellow isn't human! More precisely, he's a hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast who took human form! And he doesn't like humans. If I hadn't saved his life by chance once, and kept funding his research, I doubt he'd even give me the time of day."
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