A Secret Order

Zhou Qiubai withdrew his hand, and that wisp of Soul Power quietly dissipated from his fingertips. "But when I condensed my seventh soul ring, a question suddenly occurred to me. The Swordback Dragon had willingly sacrificed itself. There wasn't a trace of violent resentment throughout the process, and it actively merged into the circulation of my Soul Power. But since it merged voluntarily, the core of the soul ring was no longer a Spirit Beast's resentment, but the way power itself circulated. A Spirit Beast's Soul Power can form a soul ring not because it wants to, but because its power resonates with the hunter's Soul Power. And that resonance is essentially a passive, uncontrollable transfer of energy."

Xie Ru listened in silence without interrupting.

"Then I thought, if resonance itself is the key, could we skip the step of hunting Spirit Beasts and directly use our own strength to simulate that frequency of resonance?" Zhou Qiubai's gaze sharpened. "There would be no need for a Spirit Beast's Soul Power imprint, nor a sacrifice. Instead, I would use my own power to complete an entire reorganization of the energy cycle within my body. In short, I would use my Soul Power to create a soul ring."

The corners of Xie Ru's lips lifted slightly, revealing a pleased yet profound smile. "You have found the path. What comes next is to proceed step by step. This is not something to rush. No Soul Master has accomplished it in thousands of years. If it could be done overnight, that would be what was strange." The corners of Xie Ru's lips lifted slightly, revealing a pleased yet profound smile. "But since you have found the path, you have already gone farther than the vast majority of Soul Masters."

Zhou Qiubai nodded, his heart