At that moment, Mu En was leisurely basking in the sun in the dormitory district. As he watched the freshmen crying and laughing over the Freshman Assessment, each with their own joys and sorrows, he seemed to see his younger self again. In the blink of an eye, more than two hundred years had passed.
As he watched the people coming and going in the distance, a familiar aura suddenly entered Mu En's senses.
Ah, that little fellow was here!
"Lu Yuan, Lu Yuan, come! Keep this old man company while I bask in the sun!"
The familiar voice by his ear made Lu Yuan instinctively look toward a familiar spot beside the dormitory buildings. Sure enough, a familiar hunched old man was enjoying the bright sunshine.
"Coming, coming!"
After bidding farewell to his companions, Lu Yuan skillfully slipped into the dormitory supervisor's area, rummaged around, and dragged out a reclining chair similar to Mu En's. He pulled it over beside Mu En and lay down contentedly.
Because of his Martial Soul, Lu Yuan also enjoyed basking in the sun. Of course, moonbathing was fine too, but nighttime was usually when he cultivated.
Ever since they had watched Wang Dong and Huo Yuhao's dormitory war together at the start of the school term, the old man and the young man would occasionally sit down for a chat or discuss cultivation matters—though Mu En was usually the one guiding Lu Yuan.
Before long, the two had become a sunbathing pair in the Outer Court dormitory district.
As they enjoyed the pleasant sunlight, they chatted about recent trivialities and amusing incidents. Before long, Mu En brought up the Freshman Assessment.
"Lu Yuan, this old man heard that you used a very powerful Self-Created Soul Skill in the recent elimination rounds. Would you let this old man have a look?"
"Strictly speaking, it isn't a Self-Created Soul Skill. It's a semi-self-created skill based on my second soul skill," Lu Yuan explained.
He was not surprised that Mu En knew about it. Whether Mu En had watched the matches remotely with his spiritual power or received reports from his subordinates, he could have learned of it either way.
"I can demonstrate it, but won't it affect other people?" Lu Yuan gestured toward the Outer Court students passing by from time to time.
"Haha, you don't need to worry about that!" Mu En replied cheerfully. Without seeming to make any movement, an invisible ripple spread from his body. For a moment, Lu Yuan felt as if he had entered another world, but when he came back to himself, he found that he was still in the same place.
"They can't notice us now." Mu En winked playfully at Lu Yuan.
A domain-type soul skill? Or some kind of spiritual domain?
Despite retaining memories from his previous life, Mu En's methods still gave Lu Yuan a tangible glimpse of the terrifying strength possessed by powerful Soul Masters.
After a brief moment of thought, he stopped dwelling on it and began demonstrating the Eight-Part Light Wheel before Mu En.
"Old man, this is my second soul skill. I call it Blade of Light, and it is also the foundation of my self-created skill."
Lu Yuan raised his hand, and a light blade as thin as a cicada's wing appeared in his palm.
"Oh? It looks like a soul skill derived from a Light Butterfly soul beast. Among Soul Rings of the same age, it provides a mid-to-long-range skill with both strong cutting power and considerable range." Mu En narrowed his clouded eyes and observed it for a while before commenting, "A very good soul skill."
Mu En then gestured for Lu Yuan to continue.
Lu Yuan continued his demonstration.
Exquisite, translucent light blades appeared one after another in Lu Yuan's palm. Under his deliberate control of Soul Power, the blades began to float and spin. Spiritual power then attached itself to them, compressing and consolidating them. At last, a magnificent light wheel filled with deadly killing intent appeared in Lu Yuan's hand.
"Eleven years old, thirty-eighth rank cultivation, an Ultimate Attribute, and capable of comprehending a Self-Created Soul Skill as well. Young people these days are truly remarkable."
"Haha, old man, I'm nothing special." Hearing Mu En's praise, Lu Yuan waved dismissively, pretending not to care. However, the uncontrollable curve of his lips told Mu En exactly how he truly felt.
Just as expected, he was still this kind of child.
Watching Lu Yuan's expression, Mu En could not help recalling several decades ago, when he had discovered Yan Shaozhe in the Outer Court, using the Radiant Phoenix Martial Soul. However, Yan Shaozhe had already been deeply calculating at a young age, always scheming over many things. As a result, he had never been as relaxed and carefree around Mu En as Lu Yuan was now.
"Using Soul Power to make it rotate, then using spiritual power to compress it and exert further control over it." As Mu En carefully observed the light wheel in Lu Yuan's hand, a glint flashed through his clouded eyes. "A very ingenious concept. You have combined spiritual power with a soul skill. In the future, as your Soul Power and spiritual power increase, the strength of this skill will increase as well. Its might will not be limited solely by the age of your Soul Ring!"
A heaven-sent genius! That was Mu En's current thought. As someone who possessed the self-created spiritual combat technique Sovereign Over All, Mu En naturally understood just how astonishing Lu Yuan's achievement was. Although this self-created soul skill still appeared somewhat rough in many areas, it was already extraordinarily impressive for a child who had not even reached the Soul Ancestor level.
"However, Lu Yuan, have you ever considered using spiritual power as the core to drive the surrounding Soul Power into compression and rotation?"
As he looked at the light wheel in Lu Yuan's hand, Mu En seemed to think of something and smiled as he offered a suggestion.
"Using spiritual power as the core?" Lu Yuan seemed to faintly grasp something.
"That's right, using spiritual power as the core!" Mu En continued explaining. "Right now, you are doing two things at once. You control the rotation of your Soul Power while controlling your spiritual power to form a shell around the light wheel and maintain its stability. So why not change your approach? Directly use spiritual power as the core to drive and control the rotation and compression of Soul Power. The demands on your spiritual power will be higher, but I believe that with your abilities, you can achieve it!"
With the insight of a Limit Douluo, the moment Mu En saw this soul skill with his own eyes, he recognized its greatest value—not in its offensive power, but in the process Lu Yuan used to form it.
A Soul Core!
The instant Lu Yuan began manipulating Soul Power to rotate and compress, Mu En immediately made that connection. Although Lu Yuan's spiritual power was still far from being able to form a Soul Core, and a true Soul Core was condensed inside a Soul Master's body, Lu Yuan's soul skill undoubtedly possessed the prototype of a Soul Core!
However, it was still far too early to tell Lu Yuan about the existence of Soul Cores. Thus, Mu En did not directly tell him about Soul Cores or how to condense one. Instead, he tried to guide Lu Yuan's thoughts in that direction.
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