"That's good." Hu Liena withdrew her hand. "By the time I get back, I might have caught up to you."
"Not necessarily." Gui Yuan chuckled. "I improve pretty fast."
Hu Liena rolled her eyes at him, then turned and walked back to the group.
Bibi Dong glanced at Gui Yuan. "Go back and cultivate diligently."
"Yes, Teacher."
Bibi Dong said no more and led Hu Liena and Xie Yue toward the Star Dou Great Forest.
Gui Yuan stood at the mountain gate, watching the three figures recede into the distance.
He had not asked to join Hu Liena and the others in hunting Soul Beasts.
The round trip would take at least a month or so. With that much time, he would be better off staying at Spirit Hall.
With his teacher personally taking action, they would certainly be able to hunt down a satisfactory Soul Beast.
Besides, while Bibi Dong was away, there was something he wanted to have a proper talk about with his first dad and second dad.
If it worked, even leaving Yue Guan aside, Gui Mei would most likely be able to break straight through to Level 96.
That was-the soul core.
Gui Yuan found Yue Guan and Gui Mei.
The two were in Yue Guan's bedchamber.
Yue Guan sat in a chair, holding a teacup with his little finger delicately raised. When he saw Gui Yuan enter, he beckoned to him.
"Xiao Yuan, why aren't you cultivating today?"
Gui Yuan walked over and sat down before them, then chuckled. "First Dad, Second Dad, I have an idea I'd like to discuss with you."
Yue Guan raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What idea?"
Gui Yuan said earnestly, "I've been studying martial soul theory for a while now, and an idea suddenly came to me these past few days."
"What idea?" Gui Mei asked, looking at him.
Gui Yuan said, "There's something I'm puzzled about. Why is it that Titled Douluo often can't overcome an empire's million-strong army?"
Yue Guan paused. "Who told you that?"
"Teacher Wang," Gui Yuan said. "He said a Titled Douluo's strength was indeed above an army's, and they could even slaughter soldiers at will."
"But because Soul Skills with high age ratings consume vast amounts of Soul Power, a Titled Douluo on the battlefield couldn't defeat a million-strong army and would be surrounded and beaten to death."
Gui Mei nodded. "In a certain sense, Teacher Wang wasn't wrong."
Yue Guan also set down his teacup in agreement. "Titled Douluo running short of Soul Power is indeed a problem."
"That's why a Titled Douluo's ninth Soul Skill is generally kept as a trump card and isn't used unless absolutely necessary. It consumes too much Soul Power."
"However," he said, changing tack, "that's only under theoretical conditions."
"In reality, a Titled Douluo indeed couldn't kill a million-strong army in one go, but once their Soul Power ran out, they could pull back for a while and resume killing after recovering."
"Besides, once they'd killed enough to frighten the enemy, the enemy would surrender without them having to kill everyone."
Gui Yuan put on a look of "sudden realization." "So that's how it is. I understand now."
"I was wondering whether there might be a way to improve a Titled Douluo's staying power."
Yue Guan chuckled and raised a hand to tap Gui Yuan on the head. "You little brat, how long have you even been studying theory, and you're already worrying about this?"
"Do you know how many theoretical grandmasters in Spirit Hall are researching this?"
"After all these years, they still haven't come up with a concrete solution."
Gui Yuan blinked his "innocent" eyes. "I think my method could work."
Yue Guan couldn't help laughing. "Then tell us. The two of us will help you assess it."
The corners of Gui Mei's mouth also lifted slightly. Clearly, he was somewhat curious about what outlandish idea Gui Yuan would come up with.
Gui Yuan sat up straight and organized his thoughts.
"I heard Teacher mention Slaughter City before. The exotic beasts there have something called an 'inner core' inside their bodies."
"Exotic beasts rely on their inner cores to supply power, making them something like a continuous power source."
Yue Guan's and Gui Mei's expressions both grew slightly more serious.
Gui Yuan continued, "So I wondered, could Soul Masters condense something similar inside their bodies?"
"Hmm... since it's condensed from Soul Power, I'll call it a soul core."
Yue Guan and Gui Mei exchanged a glance.
Gui Yuan continued without pausing. "The soul core could be located in a Soul Master's lower dantian."
"They would gather the Soul Power in their body there, forming a vortex of Soul Power."
"Then they would compress it into an extremely dense 'solid mass.'"
"That way, Soul Masters could draw Soul Power continuously from their soul cores during battle, greatly improving their staying power."
The more Yue Guan listened, the more startled he became. The smile gradually vanished from his face, and he frowned, staring at Gui Yuan for a long moment.
"Where did you get these ideas?"
Gui Yuan said, "I thought of them myself. After Teacher mentioned the exotic beasts in Slaughter City, I went to the library to look through the books myself."
Bibi Dong had indeed mentioned Slaughter City to him, because explaining domains required examples from that place.
In the future, Bibi Dong also hoped he could go there to obtain a Divine Slaughter's Domain of his own.
Yue Guan and Gui Mei exchanged a glance, a flicker of understanding passing through both their eyes.
Yue Guan rubbed his chin and sank into thought.
"But... this concept of a soul core does seem like something we could actually try?"
Gui Mei was also slightly moved. "If we really could condense something like that inside our bodies, perhaps it really could solve the problem of staying power."
Both were Titled Douluo and had firsthand experience with the consumption and recovery of Soul Power.
If soul cores really could be realized, their significance to the two of them would be immeasurable.
Yue Guan asked patiently, "Then do you have any ideas that would let us condense soul cores?"
Gui Yuan shook his head instead. "Not at the moment, but you and Second Dad could give it a try first."
"Just gather the Soul Power in your body at your lower dantian, form a vortex of Soul Power, then condense it into a solid mass."
"But before telling you about it, I actually tried it outside my body myself."
"It's very difficult for me to condense my Soul Power into a highly dense solid."
Gui Yuan raised his right hand and condensed a wisp of Soul Power at his fingertip.
The Soul Power spun and compressed in his hand, but it never managed to change from a gas into a solid, eventually dissipating into the air.
Watching the wisp of Soul Power disperse, Yue Guan looked thoughtful. "Isn't your Netherworld Needle solid too?"
Gui Yuan shook his head. "Although they're both solid, I feel they're somewhat different. The Netherworld Needle is a threadlike solid, while a soul core needs to be a continuously stable power core."
"And it needs to be condensed inside the body. The difficulty isn't on the same level."
Both fell silent for a long time.
After a while, Yue Guan raised his head, a trace of seriousness in his eyes.
"Although it sounds outrageous... I suddenly feel like it makes some sense."
Gui Mei also said, "If it really works, it would overturn the Soul Master World."
Looking at the two of them, Gui Yuan secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
The first step had succeeded.
He only needed to toss out the concept and leave the rest for Yue Guan and Gui Mei to explore themselves.
After all, with their cultivation and experience, once they had the right direction, they would progress much faster than he could, and he would have something to draw on later too.
Yue Guan rose and patted Gui Yuan on the head. "Good lad, that brain of yours really does work well. I'll keep this in mind. Your second dad and I will give it a try over the next couple of days."