In a valley outside Spirit City.
Inside a training ground that had been hastily carved out, several figures were sparring.
They were Tian Yue and the others.
Lin Huai was observing the winding river from the mountaintop.
Two months after Hu Liena and the other two had joined them, Lin Huai had completely mastered the Micro-Perception realm.
To help Lin Huai better comprehend "momentum,"
Qian Daoliu had sent all seven of them here, with Guangling Douluo responsible for looking after them.
During that time, Bibi Dong had gone to see Qian Daoliu,
hoping he would give Hu Liena and the other two an Immortal Herb each.
After the three swore an oath, Qian Daoliu gave them the Immortal Herbs.
So their current levels were:
Hu Liena, Level 42.
Xie Yue and Yan, Level 43.
Tian Yue had also successfully absorbed her third Soul Ring a month ago,
and had now reached Level 31.
Kuang Zhan had progressed by the usual two levels.
Qiangu Yichen was the most diligent. The others still found time to play and relax,
but all he did was train or meditate.
The only time he had ever gone out for a stroll was when the others dragged him along.
So he had broken through to Soul Ancestor two days ago and gone to hunt for a Soul Ring.
If all went well, he would soon catch up to Hu Liena and the other two.
As for Lin Huai,
he had made the least progress of the group.
After all, he had the most to cultivate, and only had the evenings left for Soul Power meditation.
Still, over the past year, Lin Huai had absorbed two more leaves from the Primordial Immortal Herb. Together with the two levels of Soul Power he had gained through meditation, he had barely reached Level 28.
Only five leaves remained on the Primordial Immortal Herb in Lin Huai's possession.
"Xiao Huai, you all pack up. We'll head back to Spirit Hall and cultivate there for a few days."
Guangling Douluo descended from the sky,
scooped up Lin Huai, and brought him back to the temporary training ground.
"Grandpa Guang Ling, why are we suddenly going back to Spirit City?"
The others in the training ground had naturally heard Guang Ling's voice too.
When Tian Yue asked, the others wore the same puzzled expressions.
After all, their cultivation here had been going quite well.
Besides, they actually went back for a few days every month to consolidate their progress in the Mimicry Training Ground.
"The Soul Core theory is complete."
Guangling Douluo swept them all up and explained as they flew.
"After forming a Soul Core, people will experience an epiphany that may last a short or long time."
"I'll also need to stay at Spirit Hall for a while, just in case anything happens, so I'm taking you there first."
Lin Huai was stunned. He hadn't expected them to develop Soul Cores so quickly!
The main thing was that Lin Huai hadn't realized
just how appealing Soul Cores would be to the elders whose lifespans were almost at an end, and to the several bishops at the peak of Soul Douluo.
(We won't use the original setting here where every level after Level 90 adds a hundred years to one's lifespan. Otherwise, Spirit Hall would probably have more than five Limit Douluos.)
If Qian Daoliu hadn't been there to protect them,
some of the impatient Soul Douluos might have been killed when their Soul Cores exploded out of control.
After they returned to Spirit Hall, Guangling Douluo left Tian Yue and the others at the training ground,
then took Lin Huai to the Elder Hall.
A few days later, Qiangu Yichen returned to the valley:
"Where is everyone?"
The Elder Hall was as simple yet lavish as the Worship Hall, though slightly larger.
As soon as the two entered the Elder Hall,
the delighted elders and bishops began praising Lin Huai nonstop.
An elderly man with a towering build and a bovine face stepped forward.
"Your Highness the Holy Son!"
"Old Ox isn't much good with words. I saved these especially for you: the paws of two ten-thousand-year bear-type Soul Beasts."
"Steamed or braised? If neither suits you, chop me up and add me to the feast!"
Lin Huai took the bear paws, the corner of his mouth twitching.
"Elder Kui Ox, you're too kind. I can prepare these two bear paws myself."
Qian Daoliu stopped the other elders and bishops from presenting their gifts, then explained to Lin Huai,
"I asked you here this time so that Spirit Hall's senior leaders would know of your contributions."
Bibi Dong's gaze swept over everyone in the hall.
"That should put an end to certain people questioning your status as Holy Son!"
The few bishops Bibi Dong had indirectly called out gave awkward, sheepish smiles.
The Whale Rubber and Soul Core theories—
even the Soul Tools that had been making waves lately—had all benefited from this young Holy Son's contributions.
Who could have seen that coming?
Lin Huai immediately composed himself and waved a hand modestly.
"It was all for the sake of strengthening Spirit Hall. There's no need for all this."
Those who had doubted Lin Huai wished they could slap themselves in the face when they saw how magnanimous he was.
What a wonderful Holy Son. And they had actually questioned him.
Qian Daoliu nodded in satisfaction.
"All right, no need to say more."
"Let's start by going over the current Soul Core theory and see whether Xiao Huai has any suggestions."
A bishop wearing scholarly spectacles stepped forward,
adjusted his glasses, and took out a notebook.
"Your Highness the Holy Son, at present, only Soul Douluos at the peak of their rank and Titled Douluos can form Soul Cores."
"That's because only experts at this level possess enough spiritual power to control the condensation of Soul Power."
They truly were among the strongest people of this era,
having directly tested and found the ideal stage for forming Soul Cores.
Seeing that Lin Huai had no questions, the bishop continued.
"After exchanging letters with Elder Dugu, we learned that Soul Cores are usually stored in the lower dantian."
"After the Grand Elder and Second Worship successfully formed Soul Cores, they speculated that it might be possible to form another Soul Core with a different attribute and place it in the middle dantian."
"However, this requires an exceptionally high amount of spiritual power and Soul Power."
Lin Huai hadn't expected
his teacher and Golden Crocodile Douluo to have already formed their Soul Cores.
"Grandpa Golden Crocodile, have you broken through to Level 99?"
Golden Crocodile, who was usually so composed, could hardly keep the smile off his face.
"Yes! And I have Xiao Huai to thank for that!"
Lin Huai turned to Qian Daoliu.
"Teacher, how do you feel after forming a Soul Core?"
Qian Daoliu had once thought that Soul Cores wouldn't do much for a Level 99 Titled Douluo.
But after forming one, he realized he had been wrong.
"In terms of combat strength alone, it increased by less than ten percent."
"But Soul Cores can significantly improve a Soul Master's stamina on the battlefield."
"So in practice, the improvement is quite substantial."
Lin Huai nodded to show he understood.
He recalled that in Douluo II, Dual Soul Cores had been mentioned as a necessary step toward becoming a Limit Douluo.
"It seems that forming a Soul Core can help a Soul Master break through a bottleneck."
"As for Dual Soul Cores,
I think either spiritual power or Soul Power must reach your level, Teacher, while the other must be close to it. Only then might it be possible!"
Qian Daoliu thought of his own situation, along with Tang Chen's and Bo Saixi's.
Indeed, all of them had relied on their abundant Soul Power to force their way past Level 99.
"That's right. I also relied on my Soul Power to force a breakthrough. And a Soul Core essentially increases Soul Power indirectly through spiritual power, allowing one to break through a bottleneck."
"As for Golden Crocodile's breakthrough, he had already been stuck at that level for a long time, and had accumulated most of the Soul Power he needed."
Lin Huai guessed that after Tang San became a god, he must have done something
that made Dual Soul Cores necessary to break through to the Limit realm ten thousand years later.
The Scholar Bishop kept taking notes.
His eyes shone as he looked at Lin Huai.
"Your Highness the Holy Son truly is a genius. Every conversation gets straight to the heart of the matter, and your suggestions always make everything click for me."
Lin Huai rubbed his nose. Being praised all the time did feel pretty good.
"All right, let's finish explaining the effects of Soul Cores first."
Before you continue