Yu Xiaogang's Lack of Progress

Su Mo repeatedly replayed every detail of Xiao Wu's Teleportation in his mind.

The system's assistance function broke everything down into the tiniest fragments of perception, reconstructing and analyzing them over and over in his mind.

"Xiao Wu, keep using Teleportation. Keep going until your Soul Power is depleted..."

Su Mo opened his eyes and immediately said to Xiao Wu.

"Okay!"

Xiao Wu did not say anything more and immediately used her Teleportation Soul Skill again.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~~~

Xiao Wu then continuously used Teleportation across the clearing.

Su Mo watched without pause, light shifting through his eyes while storms raged in his mind.

[ Ding~ The host's analysis of the Teleportation Soul Skill continues to improve... ]

[ Ding~ Analysis has broken through the critical point. Congratulations to the host for successfully creating the Teleportation Soul Skill! ]

At last, building on the insights he had accumulated earlier and after witnessing Xiao Wu use Teleportation so many more times, Su Mo finally comprehended this Soul Skill.

Self-Created Soul Skill!

Whoosh~

Before the afterimage at his original position had even faded, Su Mo had already appeared three meters away.

There was no trace of movement and no process of acceleration.

He simply vanished into thin air, then appeared out of thin air somewhere else.

"Success!"

The corners of Su Mo's lips slowly rose.

Teleportation!

True Teleportation!

Although its range was only three meters, it was undeniably a genuine spatial jump!

"Su Mo? You really succeeded?"

Xiao Wu stopped as well. Her eyes widened, her mouth fell open, and she froze in place as though she had been struck by lightning.

She knew Su Mo was trying to comprehend Teleportation, but she had not expected him to grasp it so quickly.

"Ha ha ha!"

"Isn't this something anyone with hands can do?"

Su Mo was delighted too, but he spread his hands as if it were nothing.

Xiao Wu: "..."

She glared at Su Mo for a long while before finally squeezing out one sentence. "Freak."

Su Mo laughed.

"How far can you go? How many times can you use it?" Xiao Wu pressed, a hint of unwillingness in her eyes.

"There isn't a limit on the number of times, but for now, I can only teleport within three meters."

"Only three meters?" Xiao Wu immediately puffed out her chest and raised her chin high. "Hmph, mine is five meters! I'm still better than you!"

"Yes, yes, Sister Xiao Wu is the best." Su Mo smiled and went along with her.

After comprehending Teleportation, Su Mo temporarily stopped going to the Great Soul Arena in Suotuo City and instead focused entirely on cultivating and accumulating Soul Power.

He had to condense his second Soul Ring as soon as possible.

Spirit City, Soul Master Creation Institute.

Unlike the passionate atmosphere when Yu Xiaogang had joined a year ago, the Creation Institute was now so oppressive that it was almost hard to breathe.

Experimental records from the past several months lay scattered across the workbench in the center of the hall.

Every page was filled with deduction formulas, and every sketch was marked with densely packed revision notes.

Dozens of scholars sat in their respective places without speaking.

Some lowered their heads and silently flipped through materials they had already read countless times. Some stared blankly at the wall ahead. Others lay motionless on their desks, whether asleep or having already given up thinking entirely.

A full year had passed since the Creation Institute was established.

Yu Xiaogang's original idea of "condense the Soul Ring first and do not consider the Soul Skill" had indeed pointed their research toward a more efficient direction.

But while they had a direction, the road ahead was impassable.

They had tried dozens of methods for constructing Soul Rings.

Yet all of them had ultimately failed.

Some paths had even seemed promising for a time, but the moment they entered the practical experimental stage, all kinds of problems emerged.

The biggest issue still appeared at the first step: they could not construct a stable Soul Ring structure.

They had managed to figure out a little about the form of Soul Rings.

But they were either too fragile, shattering at the slightest touch, or violently unstable, exploding outright.

The entire Creation Institute fell into a stifling despair.

Progress was far too slow—or rather, there had been no progress at all.

Yu Xiaogang sat beside the workbench, with far more white hair than he had possessed a year ago.

His eye sockets were deeply sunken, his cheekbones sharply protruding, and a faded robe hung loosely from his body. He had lost far more than a little weight.

Only his eyes still shone with stubborn determination.

Spread out before him was a notebook with frayed edges from being flipped through too often, densely recording every failure from the past year.

Behind every entry was a glaring red cross.

"Elder Yun Shuo." Yu Xiaogang suddenly spoke, his voice hoarse like sandpaper scraping across wood. "Over this past year, we have walked every road available to us."

Elder Yun Shuo silently nodded.

"Material assistance, failed. Formation assistance, failed. Soul Tool compression, failed. Multi-attribute balancing, failed." Yu Xiaogang counted them one by one. With every item, the bloodshot veins in his eyes seemed to deepen. "We have tried every external method."

"It seems we need the help of some powerful experts."

Elder Yun Shuo looked at him.

"Those who truly stand at the pinnacle of Soul Masters." Yu Xiaogang spoke slowly. "Titled Douluo. Every Titled Douluo is among the continent's strongest experts. They each possess their own understanding of Martial Souls, and their control over Soul Rings is even more refined!"

"Perhaps we can gain a deeper understanding of Martial Souls from them!"

A glimmer of light flashed in Elder Yun Shuo's eyes. "That's right, Titled Douluo, those peak experts!"

"But how many Titled Douluo can we invite?"

"Spirit Hall has quite a few experts of that level. Can we bring them here?"

His concern was not without reason. Although Spirit Hall had provided the Creation Institute with all kinds of resources, Titled Douluo were not among them.

Moreover, Titled Douluo belonged to the Worship Hall and the Elder Hall. They were not under the Pope's command, and even the Pope could not casually order them around.

"Elder Yun Shuo." Yu Xiaogang stood up and spoke solemnly. "Help me draft a formal request to submit to Her Holiness the Pope."

"In the name of the Creation Institute, I want to send invitations to every Titled Douluo across the continent."

"Invite them to Spirit City to join this great undertaking and find a path forward for all Soul Masters."

Elder Yun Shuo abruptly raised his head, his aged face filled with shock. "This... how is that possible? Most of those Titled Douluo belong to the major sects and powers. Why would they be willing to come to Spirit Hall?"

"They will." Yu Xiaogang's voice was calm, but his eyes held an almost fanatical confidence. "Because the Soul Beasts have gone extinct. Everyone knows that if we do not find a replacement for Soul Rings, the Soul Master world is finished. Their sects, their disciples, and their legacies will all be cut off."

"At a time like this, no one can remain untouched."

He turned and looked at Elder Yun Shuo. "Tell Her Holiness the Pope that Yu Xiaogang said this: if she can make it happen, I will not fail her trust."

Elder Yun Shuo looked deeply at him before finally nodding slowly.

"This old man will see to it at once."