Forging the Foundation of Godhood

The next instant, an immense torrent of information surged into his mind like floodwaters bursting through a dam. It was feedback transmitted to him by the Treasure-Dropping Coin—about the origins of this azure soul ring, the Treasure-Dropping Coin's true abilities, and everything that had happened during his cultivation.

Zhao Ming closed his eyes and spent a full quarter of an hour digesting that massive influx of information. When he opened them again, the shock in his eyes had been replaced by understanding.

The Blue Silver Emperor was the sovereign of the Blue Silver Grass Clan, favored by the fortune of the entire Blue Silver lineage.

Using its Fortune-Gathering Domain, the Treasure-Dropping Coin had extracted all the fortune from the Blue Silver Emperor and the Blue Silver Emperor Soul Bone. Because of the Blue Silver Emperor's special status, it had also drawn away half the fortune of the entire Blue Silver Grass Clan.

This azure soul ring had condensed from that immense fortune.

During this process, Zhao Ming finally understood the Treasure-Dropping Coin's true soul ring mechanism. It did not need to kill soul beasts to absorb soul rings; it could condense soul rings on its own by extracting fortune.

For every soul ring it condensed, the Treasure-Dropping Coin would gain control of an authority related to wealth.

There were nine authorities in total, corresponding to nine soul rings.

The authority granted to him by the first soul ring was called "Luck."

As the name implied, this authority could influence a person's fortune.

Anyone whose soul power rank was equal to or lower than Zhao Ming's would be affected by this authority.

In battle, an opponent might inexplicably slip, distort their move, or fail to unleash a soul skill.

In everyday life, Zhao Ming himself would become more "lucky." He might find money while walking, encounter discounts while shopping, or happen to enter a state of enlightenment while cultivating—things like that.

What delighted Zhao Ming even more was that, because this soul ring had absorbed the fortune of the Blue Silver Grass Clan, the Blue Silver Emperor's Blue Silver Domain abilities had also been integrated into the Fortune-Gathering Domain.

The current Fortune-Gathering Domain had gained two entirely new abilities on top of its original functions: disguise and healing.

Disguise meant that he could use the Fortune-Gathering Domain to alter his own aura, appearance, and even the color of his soul rings. He could completely deceive others and pass falsehood off as truth.

Healing meant that while gathering fortune, the Fortune-Gathering Domain could also slowly absorb the life force of nearby plants, especially Blue Silver Grass, to heal the injuries of himself and his teammates within the domain's range. Though the effect might not match that of specialized healing-type soul skills, it was enough to save lives at critical moments.

Zhao Ming recalled the Treasure-Dropping Coin into the center of his brow. Looking down at the grayish-white piece of useless bone in his hand and the azure seed lying on the grass, he fell into thought.

He had failed to absorb the hundred-thousand-year soul bone, and his soul power rank had not reached level 30. His peak level 28 soul power was because the Treasure-Dropping Coin had gained its first soul ring.

Zhao Ming was now desperate to know whether he could not absorb soul bones because he cultivated Nine-Breath Qi Absorption, or because the Treasure-Dropping Coin had happened to require the fortune of the Blue Silver Grass Clan.

Zhao Ming tried asking the Treasure-Dropping Coin. Divine artifacts possessed spirits; since the Treasure-Dropping Coin could absorb the fortune of the Blue Silver Grass Clan by itself, it should be able to communicate, right?

Sure enough, the Treasure-Dropping Coin responded the very next instant.

Zhao Ming did not need to absorb soul bones. What he needed was to temper his five viscera through Nine-Breath Qi Absorption and attain a state of perfect balance among the five elements.

The liver belonged to wood, the heart to fire, the spleen to earth, the lungs to metal, and the kidneys to water.

Just now, the Treasure-Dropping Coin had condensed the fortune of the Blue Silver Emperor Soul Bone into a soul ring, while all the wood-attributed life energy had fused into Zhao Ming's body and tempered his liver.

According to the principles of mutual generation and restraint among the five elements, wood generated fire, fire generated earth, earth generated metal, metal generated water, and water generated wood.

The next organ Zhao Ming needed to temper was his heart. He needed a heavenly treasure of the fire attribute, or at least a hundred-thousand-year soul bone, to absorb the fire-attributed energy within it and use Nine-Breath Qi Absorption to temper his heart.

Once he completed the tempering of his five viscera and achieved the basic cycle of mutual generation and restraint among the five elements, Nine-Breath Qi Absorption would be considered proficient. By then, there would be no further obstacle to becoming a god of this world. It would also mean he had forged the foundation for godhood.

Nine-Breath Qi Absorption had five cultivation stages: beginner, proficient, minor success, major success, and perfection.

In the Douluo Universe, reaching minor success was essentially the upper limit.

Afterward, Zhao Ming examined his body internally and immediately noticed that his liver had undergone preliminary tempering. Its wood-attributed life energy was incredibly abundant, and with every breath, it subtly strengthened his physique.

It seemed he would not need whale glue anymore. As long as he circulated Nine-Breath Qi Absorption every day and cultivated through breathing exercises, his physical strength would increase at an astonishing pace. When he broke through level 30, he would naturally be able to absorb a ten-thousand-year soul ring.

This was an absolute steal. Soul power could be cultivated at any time, and though a hundred-thousand-year soul bone was precious, it was ultimately an external object.

The Treasure-Dropping Coin's soul ring and authority, as well as the tempering of his body, were all growth that belonged to Zhao Ming himself—power that was truly his own.

Moreover, the effect of the "Luck" authority was practically heaven-defying. An ability that influenced fortune could often produce unexpected results in battle.

As for what consequences the Blue Silver Grass Clan would suffer after having half its fortune extracted, Zhao Ming did not know for the time being.

But presumably, it would amount to nothing more than a decline in the Blue Silver Grass Clan's overall fortune and slower growth.

Perhaps the number of soul masters who awakened Blue Silver Grass martial souls would decrease as well.

To be fair, the Blue Silver Grass Clan had helped him this time. Zhao Ming decided that when he had the chance, he would return the Blue Silver Emperor's seed to the Blue Silver Forest. All the spirituality within this seed had been drained dry by the Fortune-Gathering Domain. In other words, Ah Yin's soul had dissipated on its own. The new Blue Silver Emperor that grew from this seed would have nothing to do with Ah Yin; it would only become the new sovereign of the Blue Silver Emperor lineage.

With this new Blue Silver Emperor, there was no need to worry about Tang San awakening the Blue Silver Emperor bloodline.

Thinking of this, Zhao Ming picked up the azure seed from the grass.

The seed felt warm and smooth in his hand. He could faintly sense a trace of weak life within it, like a sleeping child waiting for the right moment to awaken.

Zhao Ming casually planted the seed inside the Mustard Seed Space, then began studying the gray soul bone.

With the Fortune-Gathering Domain, Zhao Ming could sense the state of this soul bone.

This soul bone was half ruined. The essence within had all been drained away. It was equivalent to a soul bone that had already been fused by many people—it would no longer provide an increase in soul power or improve the physique of the person who fused with it.

However, the soul bone's two soul skills—Flight and "Wildfire Cannot Burn It All Away; Spring Breeze Brings It Back to Life"—remained.

That was why Zhao Ming said the soul bone was only half ruined. No matter what, it still had two usable soul skills, and both were quite practical.

Besides, most soul masters presumably fused soul bones for their soul skills anyway. From that perspective, this Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone still held some value.