"I have made a fool of myself."
After restoring his original appearance, Ye Han said, "I'm still not very skilled at this, and can only manage to this extent. The duration is also very short."
"The principle is actually simple: relying on the Body Martial Soul and the precise control of the physical body allows one to complete this kind of transformation."
After seeing the demonstration with his own eyes and listening to Ye Han's explanation, Dugu Bo roughly grasped the function and foundation of this new ability."
"Good skill," Dugu Bo praised sincerely. "This trick is simply an excellent trump card for going out and acting covertly."
With this kind of hard-to-detect disguise ability, Ye Han could completely change his appearance to walk outside in the future, without worrying about being recognized by people watching him from the shadows.
Having lain low for over a year, coupled with the fact that he had never shown his face outside during this period, the continent's discussions about this genius teenager had long since faded quite a bit.
However, while one must not harbor intentions of harming others, one must be on guard against others, and acting cautiously was never wrong.
Dugu Yan, who was at the side, grew interested instead. She raised her eyes to look at Ye Han and asked curiously, "Can any part of the body be changed?"
Her eyes were bright and sparkling, carrying a trace of mischievous smiles.
Ye Han froze for a split second, immediately reacted, and glared fiercely at Dugu Yan.
"You girl, what are you letting your imagination run wild for!" Ye Han said in annoyance. "With so many people around, you dare to casually say whatever comes to your mouth."
Dugu Yan stuck out her tongue, hurriedly hiding behind Ye Lingling and ceasing her chatter.
Ye Lingling pressed her lips together and chuckled softly, raising a hand to gently pat the back of Dugu Yan's hand, also amused by the two people's banter.
Dugu Bo shook his head helplessly, truly getting a headache from this unruly and wayward granddaughter of his.
A moment later, he raised his eyes to look at Ye Han and shifted to the main topic: "What do you plan to do next?"
Now that Ye Han's strength had advanced once more, coupled with this disguise ability, his self-preservation capability had increased immensely.
With the standard he displayed, it would be more than enough even if he traveled across the entire continent alone.
Alas, his talent was far too outstanding, and the opponents eyeing him possessed strengths that were unfathomable, so he still could not lower his guard in anything.
Meeting Dugu Bo's gaze, Ye Han slowly spoke the intentions in his heart: "Senior, my cultivation has currently encountered a bottleneck, and I have several difficult problems in cultivation that I would like to ask senior for guidance on."
Hearing this, Dugu Bo immediately burst into loud laughter.
"You brat are finally willing to take the initiative to ask the old man about cultivation matters! If you have any questions, just speak!"
This was also the matter that had constantly weighed on Dugu Bo's mind.
As a Titled Douluo, he had stayed with Ye Han for a long time, yet Ye Han rarely asked him for guidance on cultivation issues, and this was the very first time he took the initiative to seek instruction.
Dugu Bo's mood at the moment was exceptionally good.
"Senior, what I want to ask about this time is your experience from back then when you condensed your natal Pill Pearl," Ye Han stated bluntly. "I hope to gain some experience from senior."
As soon as these words came out, Dugu Bo froze on the spot.
The teacup in his hand stopped in mid-air, a pair of emerald pupils staring fixedly at Ye Han for a long time before he slowly put down the teacup.
"Pill Pearl?" Dugu Bo's tone was full of surprise. "Why did you suddenly ask about this?"
He had completely not anticipated that Ye Han would bring up the Pill Pearl.
That was a unique product of the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor Martial Soul, tightly linked to his own cultivation foundation, and ordinary Soul Masters could not touch this domain at all.
Ye Han's expression was solemn as he nodded lightly. "That's right. I want to understand the complete process and realization senior experienced when condensing the Pill Pearl."
Dugu Bo was silent for a moment, his brows furrowing slightly.
"Brat, the old man's Pill Pearl was only condensed after the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Soul evolved into the Serpent Emperor." His expression was serious. "Without exaggeration, at least half the power of my entire cultivation is pinned on this Pill Pearl."
Pausing slightly, he continued, "Moreover, this path can be considered the old man's unique cultivation method. Having lived for so many years, I have never seen a second person capable of condensing something of the same kind."
"This path is not entirely impossible to replicate, but looking across the world, I'm afraid only Yanyan has a sliver of a chance to try in the future, as her martial soul shares the same origin as mine."
"Your Twin Martial Souls, the Fire Qilin and the Body Martial Soul, judging from their characteristics, are neither suitable for condensing a Pill Pearl."
Hearing this, Ye Han shook his head gently.
"Senior has misunderstood," he explained. "I do not plan to condense a Pill Pearl, nor an object similar to a Pill Pearl."
"I merely wish to draw upon senior's insights when condensing the Pill Pearl, to draw inferences about other things and use it to attempt a cultivation method I have conceived for a long time-the Soul Core Method."
The Soul Core Method.
This was the cultivation path Ye Han had chosen for himself, and it was also his unique advantage as a transmigrator.
He knew clearer than any Soul Master of this era that ten thousand years later, the cultivation system of Soul Masters would usher in a heaven-shaking and earth-shattering revolution, and the soul core was the most core link among them.
Under the premise of similar cultivation and martial soul quality, the Titled Douluos of ten thousand years later far surpassed the Titled Douluos of the current era, regardless of whether it was actual combat explosive force or sustained combat capability.
The root lay in the birth of the soul core.
According to the knowledge in Ye Han's memories, during the Peerless Tang Sect era, Soul Masters needed to condense a soul core at the bottleneck of level 89 in order to break through to level 90 and step into the Titled Douluo realm.
By the Legend of the Dragon King era, Soul Masters increasingly valued spiritual power cultivation, and the techniques were continuously improved, allowing them to forge their first soul core during the Soul Saint stage.
Condensing a soul core had two core conditions: powerful spiritual power, and meticulous control over soul power down to the finest detail.
Ye Han already possessed both of these points.
Condensing a soul core tested a Soul Master's control over power to the utmost limit, and once a deviation occurred during the process, the semi-finished soul core was extremely likely to shatter directly. If the soul core went out of control and exploded, the consequences would be unimaginable.
The reason Ye Han asked Dugu Bo for guidance on the experience of the Pill Pearl was precisely to draw inferences about other things through the other party's realizations.
In the current era, if one were to say whose cultivation method was closest to the later generations' soul core method, it was only Dugu Bo, who had condensed the Pill Pearl.
The Pill Pearl and the soul core were not identical in essence, but between the two, there existed quite a few commonalities.
Hearing the three words "Soul Core Method," the doubt in Dugu Bo's eyes grew even heavier.
"Soul Core Method?" He repeated in a low voice, his emerald eyes narrowing slightly. "What kind of technique is this? The old man has never heard of it."
Ye Han smiled.
Naturally, he would not say that this was a cultivation method from ten thousand years later.
Pondering for a moment, he said, "Senior, the martial soul itself can help Soul Masters store an additional portion of soul power. The stronger the martial soul grade, the more soul power it can bear and store."
"As a Twin Martial Souls Soul Master, my total amount of soul power is higher than Soul Masters of the same rank, and this is also one of the reasons."
Dugu Bo nodded slightly; he naturally understood this point.
Ye Han continued downward: "The soul core I speak of is fully called the Soul Power Core. The train of thought has similarities with martial souls storing soul power, but it walks another path."
"Simply speaking, first highly compress the liquid soul power inside the body, transforming it into a solid state."
"Then, using this mass of solid soul power as the core, build a soul power vortex capable of self-rotation and continuously absorbing external soul power to supply for its own use."
"Continue compressing and stabilizing the vortex, and when it is completely stabilized, it becomes a soul core."
Ye Han's voice was steady, and every sentence clearly entered Dugu Bo's ears.
Dugu Bo listened quietly, the expression on his face slowly shifting from doubt to solemnity.
"Liquid soul power compressed into a solid... constructing a soul power vortex..." Dugu Bo muttered to himself, the light at the bottom of his eyes constantly flickering.
He abruptly raised his eyes to look at Ye Han. "Brat, this idea of yours is very interesting."
Relying on the accumulation of his many years of studying martial souls, coupled with the vision of a Titled Douluo, he could see that Ye Han's hypothesis was not wishful thinking and theoretically possessed the possibility of being feasible.
It was just that from the description alone, one could judge that the soul core method's demand for soul power control was rigorous to the extreme.
If one could truly forge a soul core that operated on its own and endlessly absorbed the soul power of heaven and earth, a Soul Master's cultivation speed and actual combat capability would both obtain a tremendous amplification.
It did not stop there.
Once the soul core took shape, a true power core would appear within the Soul Master's body, the total amount of soul power would rise substantially, and the soul power recovery speed and purity would all welcome a qualitative leap.
It was equivalent to abruptly carving out an entirely new branch outside of the existing soul power cultivation system!
The further down he thought, the brighter Dugu Bo's gaze became, and he slammed his hand heavily onto the stone table. "Good lad!"
The excitement could not be concealed within his tone: "If the soul core method can truly be cultivated successfully, you will be the generational grandmaster who initiates a new system of Soul Master cultivation!"
"Those so-called masters, who idle away talking about vague and ambiguous theories, compared with this solid new path of yours, are nothing more than people fishing for fame and compliments!"
After the excitement subsided, Dugu Bo looked at Ye Han, a few parts of curiosity added to his eyes.
"However, the old man is curious," he spoke up to ask. "How did you think up this kind of method in your head? Relying solely on talent, one cannot ponder this sort of thing out."
Ye Han had long expected him to ask this, his expression not fluctuating in the slightest as he calmly replied, "Read ten thousand books, travel ten thousand miles."
"Senior, I soaked in the library of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy for a very long time, and in my early years at the junior and intermediate academies, I would plunge straight into the archives room whenever I had free time. Quite a few Soul Masters would record their cultivation realizations into volumes and leave them in the library, and there were many related conjectures inside them. Most were incomplete and scattered, and some even had only a few sparse sentences, but they were enough to give me inspiration."
Ye Han's tone was natural: "I merely stood atop the ideas left behind by predecessors, combined with the realizations of my own cultivation, drew inferences about other things, and deduced and integrated this set of trains of thought."
"When all is said and done, an idea is ultimately just an idea. Whether the soul core method can land on its feet still depends on the results of actual attempts."
"That is why I wished to ask senior for guidance on the experience of condensing the Pill Pearl. Senior's successful realizations back then might perhaps help me take fewer detours and avoid lurking risks."
Listening to this, Dugu Bo slowly nodded.
Ye Han's explanation was reasonable and sound.
"So that's how it is." Dugu Bo raised a hand to stroke his chin. "Standing on the shoulders of predecessors... these words are well spoken."
He gazed at Ye Han, his emerald eyes brimming with appreciation.
Neither arrogant nor impetuous, possessing both wildly imaginative conceptions while being steadfast and grounded in his actions.
This child's future achievements would probably be immeasurable, and the more he looked, the more suitable he felt he was.
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