Soul Power Manipulation

"Sure enough, it was just as I thought. Absorbing the Cockscomb Phoenix Sunflower turned my attributes into Ultimate Fire and Ultimate Light, and even my original soul skills were strengthened quite a bit. Especially First Soul Skill: Morning Light—its effect increased by at least twenty percent."

Xu Yang was wild with joy. Having Ultimate Attributes meant he had already taken the first step toward becoming a Titled Douluo. All that remained was to cultivate and accumulate Soul Power.

After taking several deep breaths, Xu Yang worked hard to calm himself down, then closed his eyes and began meditating. Taking an Immortal Herb would not make one's foundation unstable, nor would it create a feeling of emptiness or floating, but a sudden increase would still make Soul Power manipulation less smooth.

What he had to do now was eliminate that sluggishness and make the Soul Power in his body obey him as naturally as his own limbs. And to improve control, the only way was through meditation and repeated cultivation.

Xu Yang had always placed great importance on Soul Power manipulation. He often wondered why the moves in martial arts worlds displayed far greater force than the soul skills of this world. Later, he figured it out. The most important reason was energy manipulation.

Many martial arts worlds shared one characteristic regarding internal force: when a martial artist's internal force was shallow, it was very difficult for them to beat someone who had practiced external martial arts for years. But once their internal force became powerful later on, the situation was reversed.

The best representative of shallow internal force was Linghu Chong, while the representatives after internal force became powerful were people like Duan Yu.

Soul Power was the same. The difference lay in control.

Because of this, Xu Yang temporarily divided Soul Power manipulation into four levels: Enhancement, Burst, Compression, and Micro Control.

So-called Enhancement was similar to ordinary moves in martial arts worlds, using Soul Power manipulation to strengthen one's martial soul, weapons, fists, and feet, thereby increasing one's attack, defense, and speed.

Burst was a more profound level of martial arts. The top-tier martial arts in martial arts worlds were basically at this stage, where every move could erupt with power several times, or even dozens of times, beyond one's own.

As for Compression, it was not simply compressing Soul Power. Simple Soul Power compression was something any soul master could do if they prepared for it. The compression Xu Yang had in mind was more refined manipulation of Soul Power, making the quality of his own Soul Power higher and his control faster.

As for Micro Control, that meant taking Soul Power manipulation from the macro level down to the micro level.

The latter two realms required one's spirit, will, and realm to rise to a certain degree before they could be used freely. Compression required at least reaching Soul Ancestor, and Micro Control was even harder; without reaching Soul Saint, it probably could not be done.

Among the first five soul skills Xu Yang planned, aside from "Morning Light," the rest were all functional and would help with Soul Power manipulation. In particular, the soul skill Shaping brought by the upcoming Sun Sacred Beetle contained both Enhancement and Compression Soul Power manipulation techniques.

With cultivation every day without holding anything back, Xu Yang still spent three days before finally eliminating that sluggish feeling. He reached the state he had been in before eating the Immortal Herb and completely consolidated his cultivation.

After finishing his consolidation, Xu Yang immediately went to find Madam Ning and asked her to help him hunt for his third ring. Ning Fengzhi had already consolidated his cultivation a day earlier and had set off for the Star Dou Great Forest with Ning Haiyan and Sword Douluo Chen Xin.

"Teacher's wife, I've consolidated my cultivation. Let's go hunt a soul ring!"

His voice arrived before he did. Xu Yang was not the type to easily suppress his own level to cultivate. After all, the gap between cultivating as a Soul Elder and cultivating as a Soul Grandmaster was right there; advancing earlier could widen the distance by quite a bit.

"Then Uncle Bone, Rongrong is in your hands!" Hearing the voice, Madam Ning smiled helplessly. She walked over to Gu Rong, who was drinking tea off to the side, and handed Ning Rongrong in her arms to him.

"Don't worry! Leave Rongrong to me. Hurry up and take that brat to hunt for his soul ring. I think he can't wait anymore!" Gu Rong accepted Ning Rongrong with a chuckle and waved his hand as though shooing them away.

Madam Ning helplessly rolled her eyes, rose, and walked outside.

"Yang Er, let's go!"

Madam Ning wasted no words. She took Xu Yang's hand and headed out of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. Over these three days, Ning Fengzhi and the others had also used Soul Power pressure to determine the absorption limit for Xu Yang's Third Soul Ring.

Anything below ten thousand years could be absorbed at will!

The Extreme Yang Extreme Strength medicinal power of the Cockscomb Phoenix Sunflower had not only evolved his Sun Martial Soul into an Ultimate Martial Soul, but had also strengthened his entire body from the inside out. Its effects were even more astonishing than Ten Thousand Year Whale Rubber, bringing Xu Yang's endurance to an astounding level.

If not for the fear that he could not withstand the Mental Shock of a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring, Ning Fengzhi would have arranged for Xu Yang to absorb a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring.

Great sects generally would not let their true disciples take risks. Besides, Xu Yang's age and Soul Power were right there; he was simply not suited to a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring. Xu Yang himself agreed with this point too.

He did not want to cripple himself through recklessness. If that happened, the loss would far outweigh the gain.

However, his Fourth Soul Ring would have to be a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring. Otherwise, it would be unworthy of this soul ring configuration, would it not?!

Sunset Forest was not far from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. With a Soul Douluo's traveling speed, it did not take long at all. It only took five hours. If not for taking Xu Yang into consideration, Madam Ning could have shortened that time by more than half.

"Yang Er, you remember the location of the Sun Flower Field, right?!" Walking through the forest, Madam Ning asked casually.

"I remember!"

"Then lead the way up front!"

Xu Yang nodded and took the lead, rushing toward the Sun Flower Field. He had already come twice, so he knew the route well. As for the Spirit Beasts in the forest, with Madam Ning, a Soul Douluo, present, they did not dare approach at all.

As soon as Xu Yang approached the vicinity of the Sun Flower Field, the entire Sun Flower Field began to sway. The Sun Flower King at the center instantly burrowed underground, followed immediately by hundreds upon thousands of Spirit Beasts that cultivated with the help of the sun flowers fleeing in every direction.

The sun flowers had already grown familiar with Xu Yang's aura. Being forcibly plucked twice had given them a stress reaction.

"This..." Seeing this scene, Xu Yang was somewhat dumbfounded too.

Fortunately, their target was only the Sun Sacred Beetle. They merely had to keep an eye on the few sacred beetles flying in the air. And as a Soul Douluo expert, Madam Ning had long since no longer needed to judge a Spirit Beast's age through its characteristics; she judged it through Soul Power pressure.

With just a sweep of her gaze, Madam Ning discovered a Sun Sacred Beetle whose body had reached two meters in size, with horns on its head like sharp swords. Under her perception, this Spirit Beast's Soul Power was already purple with black seeping through it, infinitely close to a Ten Thousand Year Spirit Beast.

"You're the one!"

Madam Ning smiled. A slender Rapier with a blue gemstone embedded in the hilt appeared in her hand. The Rapier was less than a finger wide, and eight soul rings—yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black—flickered beneath her feet. As her third soul ring lit up, she instantly vanished from where she stood.

"So fast!"

Xu Yang could not see how Madam Ning disappeared at all. He only felt his vision blur, and Madam Ning appeared above that Sun Sacred Beetle. Her long, beautiful leg kicked out, stomping directly onto the Sun Sacred Beetle's hard shell.