Other soul masters relied on seated meditation to absorb soul power.
Some people with ancient legacies might have cultivation methods passed down through the generations.
They could absorb soul power a little faster than ordinary people.
But Zhang Lan was different.
He had no cultivation method. He could simply use a gravitational field to drag the surrounding soul power into his dantian.
Compared with everyone else, he was in a completely different league.
After cultivating this way, the changes in Zhang Lan's dantian were the most obvious.
What had once been a thin cloud of soul power had now begun to rotate.
It had formed the hazy beginnings of a vortex.
The vortex was still very weak, and its rotation was unsteady.
But Zhang Lan could feel the nature of his soul power changing.
From gas to liquid, then from liquid toward a condensed, solid state.
The emergence of a soul power vortex meant he was moving beyond simply accumulating soul power and entering the stage of compressing and condensing it.
That was the first step toward a soul core.
The extraordinary sight drew clicks of wonder from the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm:
"Little Lan, your dantian is naturally a size larger than those of soul masters at the same level, so you already store more soul power. Add the Star of Eden's gravitational compression to that..."
"The soul power stored in your body now is almost on par with a Soul King's."
"A level twenty with a Soul King's soul power reserves-who would believe it?"
"My soul power reserves may be large, but I'm still lacking ways to attack."
Zhang Lan had a clear understanding of himself.
"I still have a long way to go in combat experience and using soul skills."
"It's also time to get your second soul ring."
Tian Meng said,
"We've already obtained the ten-thousand-year profound ice marrow. It's time we left this place."
"Find a suitable soul beast and secure your second soul ring without taking unnecessary risks."
Zhang Lan nodded.
He planned to speak with the Ice Empress and the Snow Empress over the next few days, then leave Dragon City and head north.
While hunting for his soul ring, he could also return to the Far North along the way.
With the ten-thousand-year profound ice marrow in hand, there was hope of solving the Snow Empress's soul core problem. There was no need to remain in the Heaven Dou Empire.
But before he could bring it up, Nan Shuishui came to see him.
That evening, Zhang Lan had just finished a round of cultivation and was stretching in the courtyard.
Someone gently knocked on the courtyard gate three times, neither too loudly nor too softly, with a deliberate courtesy.
Zhang Lan opened the gate and saw Nan Shuishui standing outside, with a girl of seven or eight behind her.
The girl wore a simple blue-green tunic, with a slender silver chain around her waist. Its pendant was an ice-blue crystal shaped like a drop of water.
Her features bore a strong resemblance to Nan Shuishui's, but her expression lacked Nan Shuishui's sharpness and held a little more softness. She stood there quietly, like a lake whose surface the wind had yet to touch.
"Zhang Lan."
Nan Shuishui came straight to the point.
"I heard you're preparing to leave Dragon City."
She certainly gets news quickly.
Zhang Lan stepped aside to clear the doorway.
"Come in and talk."
Nan Shuishui brought the girl into the courtyard and sat down beside the stone table.
The girl sat beside her, her hands resting on her knees. She studied Zhang Lan curiously but said nothing.
"This is my daughter, Nan Qiuqiu."
Nan Shuishui said,
"Her martial soul is also the Rouge Dragon. She's seven this year and has just broken through to level ten."
Zhang Lan glanced at Nan Qiuqiu.
Seven years old, level ten.
That pace was quite good among ordinary soul masters, but it could not compare with a monster like Zhang Lan, who had reached level twenty at seven.
Still, Nan Shuishui had brought her here specifically. This was surely more than a simple introduction.
"Her martial soul is the Rouge Dragon, with an affinity leaning toward water, but a mutation gave it a trace of annihilation."
Nan Shuishui tapped the stone table lightly with a fingertip.
"That trace of annihilation is faint, but if we can find a suitable soul beast and draw it out, the quality of her martial soul could rise another notch."
Zhang Lan understood what she was getting at.
The annihilation attribute bore some resemblance to his Star of Eden.
The Star of Eden's core was gravity, and one of gravity's most extreme manifestations was a black hole.
A black hole devoured everything, which was, in essence, also a form of annihilation.
Although the two were not the same thing, there might be some overlap in the soul beasts suited to them.
"You want to ask whether there are any soul beasts nearby that would suit her?"
Zhang Lan asked directly.
Nan Shuishui nodded.
"There aren't any suitable ones near Dragon City."
"If we head north, there are some ice-type soul beasts on the outskirts of the Far North, but ice doesn't fully align with annihilation."
"I've thought it over, and most soul beasts with any connection to annihilation live farther north, or in certain unusual regions."
"You have two titled eminences at your side. Their knowledge is broader than mine."
"So I wanted to ask whether you had any leads."
Zhang Lan considered it for a moment.
While reading at the Academy, he had indeed come across some records of soul beasts with the annihilation attribute.
Such soul beasts were exceedingly rare. Most soul masters would never encounter even one in their entire lives.
Zhang Lan considered it for a moment.
While reading at the Academy, he had indeed come across some records of soul beasts with the annihilation attribute.
Such soul beasts were exceedingly rare. Most soul masters would never encounter even one in their entire lives.
But an extreme environment like the Far North might actually give rise to similar mutated soul beasts.
"There's a rift valley about a hundred li north of Northreach Pass."
Zhang Lan said,
"I saw it mentioned in an old notebook at the Academy. That rift valley was carved out by a great battle between soul beasts in ancient times. The terrain is warped, and the magnetic field is chaotic. Ordinary people can't even tell which direction they're heading once they go in."
"There's a kind of ice moth in there called the Voidmark Moth."
"They range from ten to a hundred years old, with affinities leaning toward darkness and ice. They're good at disrupting an opponent's perception of soul power. A flap of their wings can create a distorted force field around them."
"That force field is a little like gravity, but it isn't quite the same."
"I can't promise its soul ring will be useful for my martial soul, but there's some overlap in their attributes."
"As for your daughter..."
He looked at Nan Qiuqiu.
"The erosion caused by a Voidmark Moth's force field isn't the same as annihilation, but both fall under the broad category of 'disruption.'"
"If her martial soul already has an annihilation mutation, a Voidmark Moth's soul ring might stimulate that trace of mutation and make it manifest more strongly."
"I can't guarantee whether it will work."
After hearing him out, Nan Shuishui did not respond immediately. She lowered her head and thought for a while, unconsciously tracing a circle on the stone table with her finger.
"You said the magnetic field in that rift valley is chaotic?"
She asked.
"That's what the notebook said."
"I haven't been there, so I don't know exactly how chaotic it is."
"If the magnetic field is chaotic, will Qiuqiu's martial soul still function normally once she goes in?"
"I can't guarantee that."
Zhang Lan answered honestly.
"That's why I wouldn't let her go in alone."
"Once we get there, we'll scout the way first. We'll confirm that the environment's effects on her are manageable before deciding whether to make a move."
Nan Shuishui fell silent for a few moments, as though weighing something in her mind.
Then she raised her head and looked at Zhang Lan.
"If you're heading north, and you plan to go to the Far North after hunting your soul ring, then Qiuqiu would be traveling with you for at least two or three months on the round trip."
"It would be her first time traveling far from home. I wouldn't feel at ease."
Before you continue