"Impossible!"
At that moment, it was no longer just the Soul Master World of Douluo I that was shaken.
Even the Soul Master World of Douluo Dalu III: The Legend of the Dragon King, despite its advantage from being a later version, had fallen into chaos.
Countless scrolling comments even obscured the images projected by the Heavenly Screen.
They were all expressions of astonishment and disbelief.
"How did he do it in an age without the Spirit Ascension Platform?"
"Never mind whether there was a Spirit Ascension Platform. Even with one, how many Soul Masters in our era can really have nothing but Hundred Thousand Year Soul Rings?"
"Relying on spirit ascension to raise all your Soul Rings to the hundred-thousand-year level is practically impossible."
Countless people discussed it among themselves.
On the top floor of the Spirit Pagoda Headquarters, in the pagoda master's office.
Qiangu Dongfeng stared fixedly at the images on the Heavenly Screen.
The sight even made his heart tremble!
What the Spirit Ascension Platform could not accomplish, Lin Yi had done.
At that moment, Qiangu Dongfeng's attitude changed completely. He no longer regarded the images playing on the Heavenly Screen as a game.
He had previously confirmed that Lin Yi was not a real historical figure. In other words, the images playing on the Heavenly Screen amounted to a simulation game.
A Soul Master had entered the world at a point ten thousand years in the past.
Even though he had obtained a thousand-year second ring and a ten-thousand-year fourth ring, and even had several sudden insights that allowed him to cultivate his Martial Soul like a Body Martial Soul and complete a Body Martial Soul's Second Awakening.
None of that was worth being shocked over.
In theory, with the advantage of the current Soul Master World's knowledge, it was possible to accomplish that much, provided every step was taken to perfection, to the very limit.
But the moment Lin Yi finished raising all his Soul Rings to the hundred-thousand-year level, Qiangu Dongfeng knew there was something extraordinary about the images on the Heavenly Screen!
"As expected of a Soul Master who could bring about a strange phenomenon like this Heavenly Screen through something resembling a simulation."
Qiangu Dongfeng still regarded the images on the Heavenly Screen as a simulation.
As for the Heavenly Screen itself, he regarded it as a strange phenomenon. Unable to understand it, he could only accept its existence for the time being.
"His method must be thoroughly studied, and my Spirit Pagoda must be the first to master it. Otherwise, the Spirit Ascension Platform's advantage will vanish without a trace."
Once another major faction gained control of this spirit ascension method, the Spirit Ascension Platform would become a mere decoration.
Across the Federation, the people in power in countless major factions were all gazing at the scene on the Heavenly Screen.
Yun Ming, Chen Xinjie, Cao Dezhi, and even Gu Yue, who had only just completed her split, were staring solemnly at the images on the Heavenly Screen.
The difference was that Yun Ming, Chen Xinjie, Cao Dezhi, and the others could glean no useful information at all.
Instead, it was Gu Yue, whose Soul Power Level was not high at present, who caught a hint of what was happening.
"Incredible! There's actually such a huge loophole in the Soul Master cultivation system!"
Gu Yue's eyes widened, her pupils contracting slightly. At that moment, it was as if she had seen something utterly terrifying.
"Why can't Soul Beasts become gods through cultivation? Why do Soul Masters have so many mechanisms instead?"
Being able to directly master Soul Skills through Soul Rings was one thing.
But why was there such a huge loophole as well?
Gu Yue's heart shook.
"The moment he absorbed his Seventh Soul Ring and gained his Martial Soul Avatar, this Lin Yi actually reversed his human form and cultivated himself into a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast!"
Gu Yue had seen through Lin Yi's method because she had noticed a detail: the Heavenly Screen's projection had not cut away this time.
The Heavenly Screen was selecting clips of Lin Yi's achievements.
It played the parts of Lin Yi's life that were worthy of applause.
Yet there had been no cut between Lin Yi obtaining his Seventh Soul Ring and raising his Soul Rings until he had nothing but Hundred Thousand Year Soul Rings.
Lin Yi had merely taken one step, and space had shifted. From sitting cross-legged to absorb a Soul Ring, he had appeared high in the sky!
"Why is there a loophole that lets human Soul Masters briefly cultivate as Soul Beasts, while my Soul Beast Clan cannot-"
At that thought, Gu Yue fell silent again.
No, the Soul Beast Clan could also become Soul Masters and cultivate.
One could even say that after a Soul Beast attained a hundred thousand years of cultivation and chose to transform, the crucial point at which it became fully human was also the Seven-Ring Soul Sage stage.
The same point.
A Soul Beast became a human Soul Master completely.
A human Soul Master likewise had the chance to experience the process of cultivating as a Soul Beast!
Lin Yi had discovered this secret!
Gu Yue fell silent.
At that moment, there was a trace of bewilderment in her eyes.
After realizing that the two races and their two cultivation systems could be transformed into each other, Gu Yue's distinction between the races became a little blurred.
She was bewildered.
So were Soul Beasts and human Soul Masters really two different races?
Gu Yue understood the core principle behind Lin Yi's spirit ascension, but Yun Ming and the others had learned nothing.
They went over the Heavenly Screen's contents again and again, but all they saw was Lin Yi suddenly possessing nothing but Hundred Thousand Year Soul Rings.
How had he done it in between? It had not been shown at all.
No one knew what had happened inside Lin Yi's body, either.
Even though Gu Yue knew the core principle and knew that Lin Yi had experienced a Soul Beast's entire life in that instant, she did not know how he had completed that experience in an instant, or how he had used it to raise his first five Soul Rings.
She did not need to know.
After all, she had no need for it.
Douluo I.
The Soul Master World here was even more bewildered.
Qian Daoliu could not help flying into the air, seemingly hoping to observe Lin Yi's transformation from closer up.
Bibi Dong gazed at the images on the Heavenly Screen, her eyes fixed on the figure surrounded by seven Hundred Thousand Year Soul Rings.
On Sea God Island, Bo Saixi stood at the entrance to the temple, looking at the images in the sky with a grave expression.
Such a method was no different from a divine miracle.
In the little city of Nuoding, Tang Hao was dumbstruck.
Yu Xiaogang went mad.
After settling into his dormitory early, Tang San was also watching the scene from the training ground.
As Lin Yi absorbed one Soul Ring after another, Tang San had already begun to form a vague idea of Soul Master cultivation.
He now knew how he should cultivate in the future.
Likewise, the different colors of the Soul Rings Lin Yi obtained made Tang San aware of the concept of Soul Ring age.
But just as Tang San had established an order for obtaining Soul Rings, progressing step by step from weak to strong, from yellow to purple, black, and red, this all-red Soul Ring configuration brought the system he had just built in his mind crashing down.
Lin Yi was observing Xiao Hongchen.
He was considering whether to step in and interfere with these people's fates.
Or, more precisely, to what extent should he interfere?
Should he defy heaven and change their fates, or cause a slight ripple?
Should he merely keep Xiao Hongchen, Meng Hongchen, and the others from suffering defeat after defeat in the Soul Master Tournament as they had in the original story, or should he completely change their future achievements and help them unlock all their potential?
While he was pondering, a strange fluctuation suddenly appeared in his perception.
Lin Yi's gaze changed in an instant.
A look of disbelief flashed in his eyes.
He looked up at the sky.
In his eyes, as brilliant as the starry sky, a chessboard seemed to be reflected.
In his eyes, heaven and earth were this game of chess.