Spirit Sea / The Struggle for Power

Su Luoheng thought his Second Soul Skill was quite interesting.

"Teacher, if I project at full power, I can probably project five Level 4 Soul Tools."

"You can't use that many Soul Tools by yourself. It's not like you can take them out and sell them, right?" Ran Yuming joked.

"Hahaha!"

Hearing that, Su Luoheng laughed along.

But thinking about it, maybe... selling Soul Tools wasn't such a bad idea?

Although the Soul Tools he projected were a level lower, they were still genuine Soul Tools. And since they were made from Soul Power, he didn't need to consider production costs when setting a price. Even if he sold them for half the market price, he'd still make a tidy profit.

At this thought, Su Luoheng's eyes gradually lit up.

This really was a good idea!

Selling Soul Tools with no production costs—he'd found a business opportunity that was guaranteed to turn a profit.

His teacher's offhand joke had pointed him in the right direction.

When he had time, he could give it a try at the market. There were plenty of stalls selling Soul Tools on the streets of Ming Capital. Whether he sold them to vendors or customers, as long as he could sell them, any amount of money would be pure profit for Su Luoheng, who had no expenses to cover.

"..."

After testing his Soul Skill, Su Luoheng returned to his dormitory.

Ran Yuming was very considerate toward his disciple.

In the Jingyang Mountain Range, they had to stay alert every moment. They couldn't let their guard down even when eating or sleeping. No one could endure being wound so tight for long, especially someone as young as Su Luoheng. So after recording the details of his Soul Skill, Ran Yuming gave him a day off to rest and recover.

As for that day's classes at the academy, he'd already missed half a month. One more day wouldn't make a difference.

And that was exactly what happened.

Once the excitement of studying his Soul Skill wore off, all the exhaustion and sleepiness that had built up over the past few days came crashing down at once. Su Luoheng could barely keep his eyes open, so he lay on his bed and fell asleep.

Chapter 68: Spirit Sea

The room was utterly silent.

Only Su Luoheng's faint breathing could be heard.

Everything around him was peaceful, warm, and serene, leaving him feeling utterly comfortable and relaxed.

Before long, completely at ease, Su Luoheng had fallen into a deep sleep. His consciousness drifted in and out before somehow sinking into an even deeper state.

"..."

He slept on for a long time.

In a daze, Su Luoheng felt himself surrounded and squeezed by something dense, like the sensation of sinking deeper and deeper into the sea.

Su Luoheng's breathing grew ragged, and his brows furrowed!

He desperately wanted to open his eyes.

His brows knotted as he struggled again and again. At last, he managed to open his eyes.

Yet the scene before him left him stunned. This wasn't the familiar student dormitory. Instead, he found himself in a world of flawless white.

Countless points of light filled this space, stretching beyond the horizon.

And he was standing amid this billowing sea of white clouds.

Where was this place?

Su Luoheng was still bewildered.

Strangely, when he gazed into the distance, nothing obstructed his vision. Wherever he wanted to look, his sight could reach every corner of this space, every single place. As long as he wanted to see it, he could.

Everywhere he looked, the world was as white as ever.

And yet... this place felt familiar.

Just as he drew his gaze back, he suddenly spotted a gray bead floating in midair.

This was Electrolux's slumbering divine consciousness.

"This is my Sea of Spirit..."

At last, Su Luoheng's gaze cleared, and a look of realization appeared in his eyes. This was the place he hadn't been able to reach while awake: his Sea of Spirit.

The moment he saw the Gray Bead, he remembered.

The Sea of Spirit was where Soul Masters stored their consciousness and spiritual power. It was of particular importance to them!

Under normal circumstances, Su Luoheng shouldn't have been able to enter this place of his own accord.

A Soul Master of his current level couldn't normally condense a spiritual body by himself. When absorbing a Soul Ring, the assault of resentful remnants triggered the Sea of Spirit's self-protection mechanism, which briefly formed a spiritual body he could control and use to fight. Once the Soul Ring was fully absorbed, that body would disappear on its own.

Without some special opportunity, an ordinary Soul Master would have to reach Soul Ancestor before managing it.

And even a Soul Master with a Mental Attribute like him would only have a chance of doing so at the Soul Elder level.

This time, however, was an exception.

Su Luoheng's mental state had been shifting from tension to relaxation. The intense spiritual fluctuation in that instant had allowed him to enter his Sea of Spirit ahead of time.

"How did I end up here?"

Su Luoheng murmured, curiously looking around.

This was his first time appearing here as a spiritual body of his own accord, outside of absorbing a Soul Ring.

At the same time, spiritual particles drifted through the air and gathered around him.

Su Luoheng sensed something.

Then he closed his eyes and carefully felt the spiritual particles.

He quickly got the hang of it. At his active guidance, the spiritual particles floating all around rapidly converged on him!

"Bzz—bzz—"

The spiritual particles enveloped Su Luoheng like a blooming lotus.

Just as he was marveling at the sight, he suddenly realized that his spiritual body was quietly changing. These strange spiritual particles were actually helping him cultivate!

A short while later, Su Luoheng dispersed the spiritual particles and opened his eyes.

He finally understood why even high-level Soul Masters without a Mental Attribute had such strong spiritual power. Cultivating a spiritual body in the Sea of Spirit actually had such benefits.

After calming himself a little,

Su Luoheng moved to another spot and continued drawing in the spiritual particles.

A short while later, he dispersed them again, changed places, and continued.

He repeated the process of drawing them in and dispersing them...

Each time, he changed places only a few seconds after drawing them in.

Su Luoheng wasn't changing locations at random. He was testing whether the number of spiritual particles drawn in varied from one area of the Sea of Spirit to another.

"..."

A short while later, Su Luoheng got up again.

This time, however, he didn't change locations. Instead, he walked straight over to the Gray Bead that Electrolux had become.

"Just as I thought~"

Su Luoheng's eyes shifted slightly as he murmured.

Just as he'd guessed, the spiritual particles weren't evenly distributed.

After careful comparison, he discovered that the closer he got to the Gray Bead, the more spiritual particles he drew in.

But the increase had a limit. The range was roughly five meters. Once he went beyond that distance, the number of spiritual particles he'd drawn in dropped sharply.

There was no doubt that this was because of Electrolux.

But Su Luoheng wasn't surprised. He'd already suspected as much.

The moment Electrolux entered his Sea of Spirit, that fragment of his divine consciousness had become bound to him. To recover, it would naturally need to absorb the spiritual particles here. That was why there were more spiritual particles the closer he got to the Gray Bead. The five-meter range was where Electrolux began absorbing them.

Su Luoheng had spent the past few days wondering about Electrolux.

According to Elder Yi's explanation to Huo Gua in the original story, he should have arrived on Douluo Continent long ago. But he'd been drifting around as a fragment of divine consciousness, so his location hadn't been fixed. At this point in time, Huo Gua was still at the Duke's Mansion, so it made sense that Elder Yi had appeared in the Jingyang Mountain Range.

As for why he'd chosen him... Su Luoheng didn't know.

But he knew that gaining Elder Yi as a trump card would absolutely help him grow!

Looking at the Gray Bead in front of him,

Su Luoheng suddenly had an idea and tried to make contact with it using his spiritual power. But the moment his spiritual power entered the bead's range, it was like a mud ox sinking into the sea, and he lost all sense of it.

Though the Gray Bead was in his Sea of Spirit, the two didn't interfere with each other.

Even if Elder Yi was only a fragment of divine consciousness now, he was still beyond Su Luoheng's ability to probe.

After trying for a while, Su Luoheng found a spot rich in spiritual particles, sat cross-legged, and began cultivating to strengthen his spiritual power.

He had no idea when he'd next be able to enter.

He had to seize the opportunity before leaving and strengthen his spiritual power as much as possible.

As for Elder Yi in his Sea of Spirit, Su Luoheng looked forward to his awakening. The Holy Necromancer had far too many treasures: Light Magic, Necromancy Magic, the Undead Plane, and all the knowledge of a world like the Holy Demon Continent. Any one of those would be a tremendous help.

Whether he could achieve his little goal depended on Elder Yi!

To be fair, Su Luoheng deeply admired Electrolux. Neither his character nor his strength could be faulted.

Being favored by him was Su Luoheng's good fortune.

Chapter 69: The Struggle for Power

After returning to the academy, Su Luoheng fell back into his usual routine, shuttling between three places.

In the laboratory, he continued making Level 2 Soul Tools every day, though he made a different kind each time.

As Ran Yuming put it, this was about building a foundation. Once he could skillfully use Soul Tool inscriptions, making Level 3 Soul Tools would come naturally.

In the central district of Ming Capital, at Heng Prince Mansion.

The empty hall was silent all around, as though it were brewing a storm.

At the far end of the hall, Xu Jinyu sat upright in a chair in the middle. His hands were clasped together, fingers interlocked. His eyes were slightly closed, and the faint furrow between his brows revealed a trace of weariness.

His face was somewhat pale. His injuries from the Jingyang Mountain Range still hadn't healed.

"..."

Suddenly, the sound of a guard reporting something came from outside the door.

"Your Highness."

"What is it?"

Hearing this, Xu Jinyu raised his eyes slightly, his gaze cold as ice.

Outside, the guard knelt on one knee and reported, "Steward Chen has returned."

Xu Jinyu said calmly, "Let him in."

"Yes."

"..."

"Tap-tap—tap-tap—"

Soon, the hurried sound of footsteps drew nearer. An elderly man in a blue robe, apparently in his fifties but with a head of white hair and a gaunt frame, walked in.

"Your Highness."