Cultivation Within and Without
She sighed softly, picked up her teacup again, only to find the water had gone cold.
Zhang Lexuan didn't change to a hot one; she just took a small sip to moisten her throat.
She reminded herself that if she ever had the chance to learn about the Sea God Pavilion's distribution of cultivation resources, she should think things through more carefully.
A single decision can potentially limit a person's potential forever.
Without the Dragon Core, Bei Bei's future path will be much more complicated and winding.
If you can get around it, that's fine; if you can't, it'll be a lifelong regret.
She suddenly understood why Lin Ye had pulled Bei Bei out of the conversation with He Caitou.
One of them was born into a privileged background but always fell short of expectations, while the other was born into a poor background but managed to live a life true to himself.
When viewed together, the irony is undeniable.
Let's take a closer look at the details.
Bei Bei's first Seven-Ring have a total lifespan of about 50,000 years, and he still has two Soul Ring left.
A Soul Master must have all nine Soul Rings to complete all the accumulation required before becoming Titled Douluo.
Assuming Bei Bei can get 100,000 years in the last two rings, that adds up to 200,000 years, instantly raising the total years to 250,000.
This configuration is certainly luxurious; breaking through to the Ultimate Douluo is not impossible.
But reality wasn't so rosy. Given his circumstances at the time, obtaining the last two rings for 100,000 years would be extremely difficult.
Encountering Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast or Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Spirit is not something one can do at will, especially for someone like him whose resources are gradually dwindling in the later stages. Getting a 70,000- or 80,000-year-old Soul Ring is already considered extremely lucky.
There's a high probability that his last two rings are both around 10,000 years, so the total lifespan of all nine rings would be around 100,000 to 200,000 years.
This number is considered normal among ordinary Titled Douluo, but it's far from enough to break through to the Ultimate Douluo.
What does Ultimate Douluo mean? It's the threshold of level ninety-nine, the final wall between humans and gods.
To reach that wall, the Soul Ring Configuration is one of the key requirements.
Without Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring and a sufficiently deep accumulation of total Soul Ring years, you can't even touch the threshold.
Why is Xu Sanshi so strong? Because he possesses three Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring.
Why does Tang Ya have such strong staying power? It's because she has two Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring supporting her.
What does Bei Bei have? A Seven-Ring that's over 20,000 years old, and the previous Six-Ring combined are over 30,000 years old.
No matter how hard he tries in the next two rings, the door to Ultimate Douluo won't open a crack just because of the word "effort".
That's how cruel Soul Ring are.
The effort saved in the early stages will be recouped later with interest; Bei Bei is the one who will be found.
Ning Tian and Wu Feng sat together in the small garden of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's residence. Ning Tian was flipping through a briefing sent by the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's management personnel.
Wu Feng turned to the side, propping his chin up, his mind completely absorbed in the diary.
She looked at Bei Bei's analysis of the Soul Ring and clicked her tongue twice.
Ning Tian looked up at her and asked, "What is it now?"
Wu Feng recounted Bei Bei's Soul Ring Configuration from the diary, then gestured with his hand. "Tell me, with Bei Bei's background, how can he be so stingy with his Soul Ring? The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan isn't short of money, and Mu En is his great-grandson's backer. Is it really that hard to get him a few high-age Soul Beast?"
Ning Tian put down the briefing, thought for a moment, and then said, "Theoretically it's not difficult, but in practice it's not as simple as you think. High-age Soul Beast aren't readily available; you have to send people to find them, have the skill to hunt them, and ensure that the Soul Ring match."
The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan suffered heavy losses back then, and many of its resources have not yet recovered.
Although Mu En holds a high position at Shrek Academy, he doesn't have complete control over the resources of the Sea God Pavilion.
Bei Bei, standing in the middle, didn't seem as comfortable as Huo Yuhao, who was barefoot.
Wu Feng curled his lip upon hearing this. "That's still frustrating. They're both from the Seven Monsters, but Huo Yuhao got the Dragon Core and tamed Ferocious Beast, while Bei Bei hasn't even lasted 100,000 years."
Ning Tian didn't reply, but the word "resources" went over in his mind several times.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect is also a resource-based sect, so when she needs to choose her Soul Ring in the future, she'll need to prepare several options in advance.
Relying on that meager family fortune, they'll eventually become the next Bei Bei.
One theory suggests that Bei Bei eventually cultivated to the Ultimate Douluo.
I've read the original text several times, and I can say with certainty that this claim has no basis whatsoever.
The original novel ends with all members of the Tang Sect reaching the Titled Douluo realm. Note that it's Titled Douluo, not Ultimate Douluo.
The original text does not provide specific numbers for each person's rank; all the circulating ranking systems are fabrications by later generations and should not be treated as factual information from the original work.
My own speculation is that Bei Bei eventually stopped at the Super Douluo stage, around level 97 or 98, and the maximum level would not exceed Level 98.
Why? Because his Soul Ring Configuration is insufficient to support the status of Ultimate Douluo.
The Ultimate Douluo is the final stage of the Soul Master cultivation system; it's not something you can force your way into simply through diligent practice.
Every step you take so far will eventually show up in your next level.
Bei Bei lacks the Dragon Core, and his Soul Ring are generally of low quality. What will he use to reach the Ultimate Douluo? His Seven-Ring, which is over 20,000 years old? Or his two Soul Ring, which are likely less than 100,000 years old?
It's not that Bei Bei doesn't try, but there are some things that she can't fill even with effort.
Talent and hard work can make you run faster than others, but resources and opportunities determine how far you can ultimately go.
Bei Bei has enough talent and hard work, but she always falls short of resources and opportunities.
This is the difference between Super Douluo and Ultimate Douluo.
"Ultimate Douluo..."
Ju Zi repeated the word softly.
A beautifully bound encyclopedia of Soul Tool lay before her, but her gaze was clearly unfocused.
She didn't know much about Bei Bei; she had only occasionally seen a few names of the geniuses from Shrek Academy in the academy's announcements.
But Lin Ye's argument about "Soul Ring determining the upper limit" made her think about many other things.
The Sun Moon Empire's Soul Tool system is prevalent, and many Soul Engineer do not value Soul Ring as much as traditional Soul Master do. However, Ju Zi knows that the essential meaning of Soul Ring to Soul Master has never changed.
Soul Tool are external objects, while Soul Ring are internal cultivation methods.
External things can be replaced, but once you fall behind in internal cultivation, it's a vicious cycle that leads to further setbacks.
Her own cultivation talent wasn't particularly outstanding, so she put a lot of effort into developing her Soul Tool.
But after seeing what happened to Bei Bei, she became even more certain of one thing.
If her internal cultivation doesn't keep up, even if she perfects her Soul Tool in the future, the ceiling she can reach won't be very high.
Despite having the support of the entire Shrek and Tang Sect, Bei Bei was ultimately blocked from entering the Ultimate Douluo Gate due to his Soul Ring Configuration.
If she wants to reach that point in the future, she must firmly grasp both inner cultivation and external resources.
People came and went in the library, and no one noticed the girl sitting in the corner, lost in thought.
Ju Zi gently closed the illustrated guide in front of her, got up, and walked towards the bookshelf in the room.