Sanctuary Paradise

Chapter 875 Techniques and Foundations

This is... the realm reached by intermediate-level soul studies.

On the training field, as the surging soul energy fluctuations on her body gradually subsided, Xin Lailai felt the peculiar spell structure within her soul space, which was somewhat similar to, yet not quite the same as, the spell model. For a moment, she even felt a sense of confidence that she could instantly kill non-soul-type fourth-tier overlord-level units with just Soul Extinction Gaze.

The cornerstone of spiritual studies.

This is the biggest difference between intermediate and advanced soul studies.

As extraordinary knowledge, whether it is the study of the soul or alchemy, if it is to be put to use, it is essential to involve things such as the construction of spells, the manipulation of extraordinary energy, and so on.

What many contractors refer to as the intelligence attribute providing a certain percentage of benefit to secondary professions such as Pharmacology and Sealing, is actually this process.

Strictly speaking, the so-called intelligence attribute bonus ratio is actually a misnomer. What truly produces the bonus effect should be one's own mental energy. However, for most non-magical contractors, mental energy is a hidden attribute whose precise value cannot be seen. Therefore, the intelligence attribute, which is more closely related to mental energy, is used to describe it.

As for the principle of how mental power enhances spells, there's not much to say about it. The higher the intensity of mental power, the higher the intensity of the spells that can be created. This is the same principle as their spell casting.

Since the formation of techniques based on extraordinary knowledge is affected by the strength of one's mental power, theoretically, as the strength of their mental power changes, the effects of their soul science and alchemy should continuously increase.

However, if one reviews their experiences during the early stages of spiritual studies, it will be found that there was no indication that the strength of their spiritual products changed with the increase of their spiritual power during that period.

This is certainly not because their understanding of souls is flawed or they have misconceptions; rather, it is a threshold intentionally set up by generations of powerful soul-system practitioners.

As a knowledge system that leans more towards the extraordinary itself, Soul Science can significantly enhance one's strength compared to knowledge systems like Alchemy. However, its risks are also much greater than those of knowledge systems like Alchemy Biology and Sealing Science, which are more focused on pure knowledge.

Therefore, in order to ensure that beginners do not act recklessly, generations of powerful soul cultivators, after continuous deduction and improvement, finally came up with the method of 'universal soul science foundation'.

Incidentally, regarding the concept of 'foundation of soul studies', although the first three words 'soul studies' are unique to the soul system, the second two words 'foundation' are not exclusive to the soul system.

More precisely, any system involving the composition of techniques inevitably revolves around the concept of 'technique foundation'.

As for what it is specifically, if I had to describe it, it would be roughly equivalent to using one's own spiritual energy, combined with the relevant knowledge of the corresponding system, to construct a universal model in the spiritual or soul space that can be applied to all techniques of the current system.

At the same time, since the composition of techniques varies greatly between different systems, the degree of enhancement that mental strength brings to the overall system also varies.

Taking their spell system as an example, as a system that perfectly matches the nature of spiritual energy, every point of improvement in their spiritual strength is 100% reflected in their 'spell foundation'. Simply put, for every point of improvement in spiritual strength, the strength of their 'spell foundation' will also increase by 1 point.

Conversely, their 'alchemical biological foundation' is less affected by the strength of mental power because many of the techniques involved cannot be constructed using pure mental energy.

In numerical terms, for every 1 point increase in their mental strength, their 'Alchemy Biology Foundation' strength will only increase by 0.4 points.

Incidentally, the so-called 'spell power' in their Spellmaster passive actually refers to their 'spell foundation power'. As for its relationship with the damage caused by their spells, calculating it is actually quite complicated.

In other words, increasing spell power doesn't directly change their spell damage, but it allows them to create spells with higher damage.

To put it in a more understandable way, if we compare constructing a spell model to building a structure, then the spell power is like the strength of the materials that can be used in that building, while the spell's effect is like the overall height, weight, width, comfort, and other results of that building.

It might be too absolute to say that a building cannot be built to a certain height without sufficiently high-strength materials, but high-strength materials certainly have a significant positive impact on the height that a building can reach.

Just like with the Fireball spell, when the spell power is 10, they might only be able to construct a Fireball model that deals a maximum of 1000 damage. However, when the spell power is 1000, they can construct a Fireball model that can easily withstand the load of 10000 damage without changing any spell structure.

Of course, this is just an analogy to make it easier to understand. In reality, due to a series of factors that bring about the increase in spell power, the spell power that many spell models can withstand has a limit range.

Taking the third-tier large spells they possess as an example, even if they reach the fifth or sixth tier in the future, and their spell strength reaches several thousand or even tens of thousands of points, they still cannot make these third-tier large spells unleash power comparable to that of seventh or eighth-tier large spells.

Because its spell model is designed to withstand a maximum of a few hundred points of spell power, if you insist on using higher spell power to construct it, the result will be the same as replacing the cells of a flea with metal cells that are tens or hundreds of times denser. The final result will only be that the flea will be crushed by the pressure because its body structure cannot withstand the pressure, instead of jumping higher.

This is why they have to spend a lot of time adjusting the spell models they created every now and then. If they don't do this, as the power of their spells increases, the original spell structure will inevitably have all sorts of problems because it cannot match the high spell power.

As for why they created their own spells instead of the large-scale magic learned from books?

As I said before, spells that are recorded in textbooks have long been perfected by our predecessors to the point where they cannot be improved any further. The difficulty of performing these spells is probably about the same as the difficulty of performing formulas in textbooks.

If you feel your life is too good to pass up, you can give it a try. Otherwise, just stick to what you've already done. After all, they've already perfected everything you need. For example, if you think the spell model of the fourth-tier 'Blazing Annihilation' can't withstand higher spell intensity, then just follow the instructions of your predecessors and replace it with the fifth-tier 'Blazing Flame Annihilation' or the sixth-tier 'Blazing Blaze Sky'.

As for those who insist on refusing to believe in superstition? Well, we can only pray that they possess wisdom sufficient to rival the achievements of the astral magic system accumulated over several eras.

Of course, this is a bit of a digression. Let's get back to the main topic of 'Spell Foundation'. Once we understand the specific concept of 'Spell Foundation', then the so-called 'Universal Soul Science Foundation' for powerful soul cultivators becomes much easier to understand.

Simply put, after careful consideration, the powerful soul cultivators of the past realized that it was too dangerous for beginners to master the true 'Soul Science Foundation' too early, as it would change with the strength of their mental and soul power. Therefore, they jointly developed a 'Universal Soul Science Foundation' that could be effective for the entire soul system, with strong expandability and versatility, and a fixed base strength of 50 points.

This is why they didn't feel any direct benefit from the strength of their mental energy to their soul studies during the initial stages of their studies. They weren't using their own 'foundation for soul studies' at the time, but rather the 'teaching version foundation' that Kagus had built for them.

This is also why Kagus described intermediate-level soul studies as "entering the inner sanctum." From this stage onward, they no longer use the fixed 50-point teaching version of the past, but rather a foundation built from their own spiritual and soul energy, which they need to gradually fill and perfect themselves—a true "cornerstone of soul studies" that belongs to them in the real sense. As for its specific effects…

……

[Basic Soul Rune Arts: LV.30]

Proficiency: 3/3000
1.储魂符文：可消耗100~1000点魂能进行刻画，制作耐久度为300~3000「（灵魂学基石强度）×（2~20）」点的储魂符文，为灵魂结晶赋予吸收游离魂能的效果，吸收效率为300~3000点/小时「（灵魂学基石强度）×（2~20）」。

2.固魂符文：可消耗1000~10000点魂能进行刻画，制作耐久度为3000~30000「（灵魂学基石强度）×（20~200）」点的固魂符文，使用后使自身的「斩魂抗性」增加0.3点「（灵魂学基石强度）×0.002」，持续至符文耐久度耗尽。

*Note: This rune can only be attached to the surface of a soul, and the maximum number that can be active is 1.

3.断魂符文：可以1000~10000点魂能进行刻画，制作耐久度为3000~30000「（灵魂学基石强度）×（20~200）」点的断魂符文，使用后使当前近战攻击造成的「斩魂强度」增加0.3点「（灵魂学基石强度）×0.002」，持续至符文耐久度耗尽。

*Note: This rune can only be attached to the surface of inanimate objects, and the maximum number that can be active is 1.

……

4.生机符文：可以1500~15000点灵魂能量进行刻画，制作耐久度为3000~30000「（灵魂学基石强度）×（20~200）」点的生机符文，与肉身融合后可以灵魂能量滋养肉体，身体再生力阶位+1.5「（灵魂学基石强度）×0.01」，且生命值受损时将每秒消耗50点耐久度并恢复自身3%「（灵魂学基石强度）×0.02%」最大生命值（上限1500点），此治疗具备深度损伤修复判定，持续至符文耐久度耗尽。

*Note: This rune can only be applied to units with a life check, and the maximum number that can be applied is 1.

...

5.庇护符文：可以1500~15000点灵魂能量进行刻画，制作耐久度为3000~30000「（灵魂学基石强度）×（20~200）」点的庇护符文，与肉身融合后可以灵魂能量滋养肉体，肉体潜力上限阶位+3「（灵魂学基石强度）×0.02」，身体防御值+300「（灵魂学基石强度）×2」，生命值上限+3000点（灵魂学基石强度）×20」；且护体能量遭到消耗时，每秒将消耗50点耐久度并使护体能量恢复速度提升150%「（灵魂学基石强度）×1%」。

*Note: The maximum bonus to the "Sanctuary Rune" for Protective Energy Durability Regeneration is 3000 points/second "(Soul Science Keystone Strength) × 20 points/second".

*Note: This rune can only be applied to units with a life check, and the maximum number that can be applied is 1.

……

6.净灵符文：可消耗10000~50000点魂能进行刻画，制作耐久度为3000~15000点「（灵魂学基石强度）×（20~100）」的净灵符文，该符文生效期间，自身可豁免五阶及以内的灵魂、心灵、梦魇、精神系诅咒与负面效果。

*Note: This rune can only be applied to units with a life check, and the maximum number that can be applied is 1.

……

7. Invincible Rune: Can be inscribed with 20000~100000 Soul Energy to create an Invincible Rune with a durability of 6000~30000 points of "(Soul Science Foundation Strength) × (40~200)". This rune needs to be actively activated. After activation, it consumes 10 points of durability per second and gains a permanent 3-layer "(Soul Science Foundation Strength) × 0.02 layers" Tier 5 "Invincible" effect. In addition, the user's "Strong Invincible" effect can gain an additional "Energy Damage Reduction" effect equivalent to "Physical Damage Reduction", and the damage reduction cap brought by the user's "Strong Invincible" is increased by an additional 25%.

*Note: After the "Unbreakable" effect reaches 3 layers, it will be strengthened into the "Strong Unbreakable" effect.

*Note: Under normal circumstances, "Strong Body" can provide up to 50% physical damage reduction.

*Note: This rune can only be applied to units with a life check, and the maximum number that can be applied is 1.

……

An undeniable qualitative change.

After mastering their own foundational knowledge of soul science, the descriptions of their three soul science abilities underwent significant changes. They went from being able to create soul science products with fixed values ​​to being able to create soul-based items with effects that they could control. This meant that from now on, their understanding of their own soul science had reached a new level.

As for the two newly unlocked soul runes, these were naturally the result of their careful selection.

Level 30 Soul Rune Arts, like the other two Soul Arts, already falls into the category of fifth-tier Soul Arts.

In this situation, mastering offensive soul runes will likely result in a significant reduction in effectiveness, similar to soul arcane arts, due to insufficient soul strength or physical attributes. On the other hand, purely supportive runes like purification runes and invincibility runes, which impose minimal burdens, do not suffer from the problem of being unable to exert their full potential.

Of course, the most important thing is actually the numerical improvement brought about by the change in the Soul Science foundation itself.

It's important to know that the basic strength of the general-purpose soul science foundation stone they used in the past was only 50 points. Even with the 0.6 times soul strength coefficient from soul inscription, it was only about 80 points. However, after advancing to intermediate-level soul science, thanks to their high mental strength, the strength of their soul science foundation stone directly jumped to 150 points. This 87.5% increase can be said to be the most important improvement this time.

However, considering that replacing all the old soul runes, soul inscriptions, and even the spells of soul arcane arts is a considerable task, the numerical changes brought about by their soul foundations will probably be difficult to experience directly for the time being.

Moreover, for them now, there is something more important to try than replacing the soul runes:
[Prompt: Do you want to activate access to the advanced special facility (second floor) and proceed to the designated advanced facility in the park?]

—That is, how exactly should they allocate their 10 high-level special facility experience cards!

……

(End of this chapter)