Soul Skill Modification: Spiritual Erosion

Soul Skill Modification: Spiritual Erosion

After absorbing his second Soul Ring, Huo Yuhao led the Soul Hunting Team back to Shrek Academy. No new mishaps occurred along the way.

The trip had taken a total of fourteen days, leaving sixteen days until the end of the holiday.

Huo Yuhao did not plan to go out again during that time. After all, he had more or less finished preparing everything he needed, and there was nothing else to do.

He was now basically holed up in his dormitory. Aside from occasionally going out for a meal or some exercise, Huo Yuhao spent most of his time in his Spiritual Sea testing and attempting to modify his newly acquired Second Soul Skill, Spiritual Suggestion.

"Based on the tests, it is more or less what I expected when I first obtained this soul skill. It can use a specific Spiritual Power frequency to bypass Soul Power defenses and spiritual perception, influencing others. But perhaps because of the Soul Ring's age, the effect is too weak."

"That mutated Three-Eyed Demonic Ape must have used Spiritual Suggestion together with another powerful control-type spiritual soul skill to influence the others. But compared to Elder Yi and Brother Sky Dream in my Spiritual Sea, its Spiritual Power and level were far too low."

"That is why it had no obvious effect on me. Rather than using Spiritual Suggestion alone, it would be better in actual combat to pair it with other spiritual-attribute attacks or soul skills that inflict spiritual effects."

Then, as Spiritual Power gathered and took shape in Huo Yuhao's hand, an enlarged Soul Ring materialized before him. Its color and appearance were precisely those of Huo Yuhao's second Soul Ring.

Next, Huo Yuhao began modifying it atop its original foundation. He preserved the Martial Soul's influence over and composition of the Soul Ring's core structure, then began layering, overlaying, and stacking new structures and patterns onto it.

In the end, a pitch-black Soul Ring took shape within his Spiritual Sea according to Huo Yuhao's design.

"Spiritual Suggestion, Spiritual Strong Control, and Spirit Interference. That should be about right. It will maximize Spiritual Suggestion's advantages, disrupting and bypassing defenses formed by the opponent's Soul Power and Spiritual Power while remaining difficult to detect, clearing the way for other spiritual-attribute methods."

"Once this soul skill is truly complete, I'll call it Spiritual Disintegration." Huo Yuhao's brow relaxed. After speaking, he looked toward a corner of his Spiritual Sea, at the gray sphere that had floated up and was circling him as it observed him. "Elder Yi, what do you think?"

The aged voice replied, "The Soul Power Circuit you created based on these so-called soul skills and Soul Rings is rather interesting."

"Quite a few parts resemble some Magic Arrays and magic structures guided by Spiritual Power from the world I once lived in."

"Yet their foundations are quite different. Still, it is clear that your eyes are extraordinary, little fellow. Even I would need to put in some effort to fully see through the operational logic of a soul skill or spell."

"For you right now, it takes no more than a few extra glances. But all paths lead to the same destination. Having observed your Spiritual Sea for so long, I have also gleaned a few insights."

"Whether it is the soul skills or the Soul Power Circuits you construct, they are all copied from the original power structures of this world through this thing called Soul Power. Then take a look at these two spells I have constructed."

A faint gray current drifted out of the gray sphere and immediately wound itself around the Spiritual Power-simulated Soul Ring structure Huo Yuhao had created earlier.

As the gray current entered, the completed Spiritual Power-simulated Soul Ring structure instantly crumbled apart. The portion of Spiritual Power that represented Soul Power was restored into pure Spiritual Power.

Then, guided by the gray current, that Spiritual Power transformed into lines. The lines became planes, swiftly assembling two simply constructed patterns.

"Little fellow, can you tell what these two structures are?"

After activating the Eye of Truth, Huo Yuhao carefully observed the two patterns before him while continuously searching through the knowledge stored in his Spiritual Sea.

With a deep frown, he asked, "Could it be Thunder Dragon Claw? No, this structure seems to contain Wind Blade components as well. Is the other one the Spiritual Disintegration I just created?"

"No, why does this Spiritual Disintegration have additional runes around its outer edge? Those are Absorption Runes, and there are other runes too?"

Indeed, after repeated comparisons, Huo Yuhao found that these two extremely simple skeletal structures shared many components with several soul skills he had recorded, though their details differed.

Yet he could not be certain, because the structures of these patterns were simply too uncomplicated. Even with Huo Yuhao's own Spiritual Power, he could probably complete one of them with ease within three breaths. With enough practice, instantly forming one in battle would not be difficult at all.

"Correct. This is Thunder Dragon Claw, though more accurately, it should be called Swift Wind Dragon Claw, because it is composed of Wind Element. The other is the Spiritual Disintegration you just created. I merely added a construct for absorption atop its original foundation."

"It is not convenient to test the first magic array structure within the Spiritual Sea. Little fellow, go outside and try it yourself. Leave concealing the fluctuations of its aura to me." Electrolux sounded to be in quite a good mood.

Once Huo Yuhao's consciousness left his Spiritual Sea and he regained control of his body, he imitated the Spiritual Power structure Electrolux had displayed earlier, tracing it through the air before him.

Using those Spiritual Power structures as a framework, a miniature dragon claw formed in the air, composed of densely arranged wind-attribute elements. As Huo Yuhao withdrew his Spiritual Power, the Swift Wind Dragon Claw immediately dispersed.

Huo Yuhao blinked and asked Electrolux inwardly, Is this... the elemental particles in the air spontaneously filling in the remaining parts of this soul skill?

Electrolux's aged voice replied, Correct. That is precisely the case. The Soul Power Circuits and soul skills you constructed earlier all contained many redundant portions in their foundations to stabilize their structures and sustain their existence.

There are naturally advantages to doing things your way. By using Soul Power to reinforce and stabilize the construct, you can reduce Spiritual Power output while allowing those soul skills and Soul Power Circuits to exist for extended periods.

But as a spiritual-attribute Soul Master, compared to other Soul Masters, your strongest power is actually your Spiritual Power, not your Soul Power.

At the same time, the greatest drawback of your method is its slow construction speed. The mobilization, circulation, and integration of Soul Power and Spiritual Power involve many complex steps.

This leaves you with virtually no time in battle to construct them slowly. Thus, after drawing upon the magical principles of my world, I helped you make some minor modifications.

I eliminated the method of combining Spiritual Power and Soul Power into a final composite construction. Instead, pure Spiritual Power can draw upon external elemental power to complete the soul skill's structure. Its might, however, depends on how much Spiritual Power you invest and the concentration of elemental power in the environment.

The power of the completed soul skill is directly proportional to both. Of course, Spiritual Power is what matters most. Spiritual Power determines its upper limit, while elemental concentration determines its lower limit.

You must also understand that the affinity of a person's body and energy toward elements will affect the nature of their Spiritual Power. Spiritual Power will gravitate toward the body and the energy within it.

At present, however, your Spiritual Power is the purest form of attribute-less Spiritual Power. At most, due to that big bug's influence, it carries a trace of ice-attribute nature. But because the Martial Soul it granted you has not yet taken shape, that is not obvious.

This is why your Spiritual Power's attraction toward all kinds of elements is not strong enough. It is difficult for you to draw in more elements and achieve greater effects in environments with merely average elemental concentration.

Huo Yuhao nodded thoughtfully. I understand what you mean, Elder Yi.

I already have some ideas regarding elemental affinity. I know of a place with many rare herbs that can greatly improve one's aptitude and affinity for various attributes.

Then what does the second patterned structure you showed me mean? Huo Yuhao asked in confusion.

Spiritual Power cannot arise from nothing. In truth, Spiritual Power is directly tied to the strength of one's soul, and the soul requires a physical body as a vessel in order to exist.

Otherwise, no matter how powerful one's Divine Sense or Divine Soul may be, it will ultimately be nothing more than rootless duckweed.

Without your Spiritual Sea as a vessel, this strand of my Divine Sense would also dissipate.

Your previous idea was correct. By using the specific Spiritual Power frequency of Spiritual Suggestion together with Spiritual Strong Control and Spirit Interference, you can tear open an inconspicuous crack in another person's Spiritual Sea.

But if you encounter someone whose Spiritual Power is of a higher level than yours, their sheer quantity of Spiritual Power will make it difficult for you to succeed.

The effect of this absorption construct is to convert the opponent's Spiritual Power into a supply for your Spiritual Disintegration soul skill.

It uses the opponent's Spiritual Power to fuel Spiritual Disintegration. That way, when you encounter those whose Spiritual Power level is higher than yours, so long as their Spiritual Power cultivation realm does not exceed your own Spiritual Power cultivation realm—

Though the speed will be slower, it will still be faster than relying on Spiritual Suggestion alone. It can wear away at their spiritual defenses drop by drop until they break. I call this Spiritual Erosion.

The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, who had been peacefully asleep in the Spiritual Sea, suddenly felt as though someone had looked down on him from somewhere again. Yet he paid it no mind, rolled over, and continued sleeping.

Hearing this, Huo Yuhao's eyes lit up. He truly had not considered this before. The idea of borrowing the opponent's strength against them was simply brilliant.

I understand, Elder Yi. Next, I still intend to focus my research on both Soul Power Circuits and Spiritual Casting. Only by developing both at once can I remain sufficiently versatile without any glaring weaknesses.

But Elder Yi, there are still too few spell samples you have given me. How about—

Enough, little fellow. Bite off more than you can chew, and you will not digest it. Go properly absorb what you have first. I am going to repair my Divine Sense.

Feeling the Spiritual Sharing connection being cut off by Electrolux, Huo Yuhao shook his head helplessly. Bite off more than I can chew? Yet I have always felt that what I possess is still not enough.

As he watched Spiritual Power continuously shift and turn in his hand, Huo Yuhao only felt as though a sword named Tang San hung high over his head.

After all, the main storyline would begin before long, and he still needed to use that opportunity to make contact with the Body Sect. He still had little idea how to modify his Martial Soul.

Before the main storyline began, there was also Xuan Zi, that old bastard, and his astonishing feat of wiping out Shrek Academy's main team in one go. Although Huo Yuhao had confidence in his ability to protect himself, the deterrence of that Erwu Douluo was simply too great. For the sake of caution, he had to prepare.

Sitting cross-legged in meditation, Huo Yuhao summoned his Martial Soul Possession and awakened the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, who had just been sleeping, through Spiritual Sharing. Brother Sky Dream, get up and get to work. Help me keep watch.

Huh? Oh, oh, understood!

As the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's Spiritual Power origin slowly flowed in, Huo Yuhao's second Soul Ring began to change. Its color steadily deepened.

The Soul Ring patterns that should have naturally grown from the original soul skill and strengthened it instead changed under Huo Yuhao's control.

They began evolving toward the soul skill Huo Yuhao required. One thousand years, two thousand years, three thousand years.

Aside from nourishing the Soul Ring, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's Spiritual Power origin also stabilized and protected Huo Yuhao's body while isolating the aura connected to the outside world, preventing anyone from discovering it.

As the Soul Ring's age gradually increased, Huo Yuhao finally completed the series of adjustments when it reached ten thousand years.

Fifteen thousand years? Spiritual Erosion is complete. But now comes the most important part. Brother Sky Dream, I'll leave it to you.

Huo Yuhao withdrew his Spiritual Power back into his Spiritual Sea, no longer resisting or guiding the process, while the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's Spiritual Power took over the Soul Ring.

Then the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm began sealing the Soul Ring's age for Huo Yuhao with practiced ease.

Fourteen thousand years.

Thirteen thousand years.

Twelve thousand years.

The Soul Ring's age continuously declined until it finally returned to fifteen hundred years.

Yuhao, I can't do it anymore. I can't suppress it any further. I feel that if I keep suppressing it, the Soul Ring structure you set up earlier will no longer be able to hold, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm said with some difficulty.

Then this is enough. Compressing it to this extent is about right. Huo Yuhao nodded and opened his eyes.

After all, this was exactly the effect he wanted. Looking at the purple Soul Ring beneath his feet and the patterns within it, now far more ornate and complex than at the beginning, Huo Yuhao was exceedingly satisfied.

Although it had been compressed, the Soul Ring's overall structure remained intact. It merely required considerably more Soul Power and Spiritual Power than the original Spiritual Suggestion, but when Huo Yuhao truly needed to use it, he would not lack that little bit of Soul Power and Spiritual Power.