Douluo Continent: On Becoming a God Through Science

Chapter 154 Sea Dragon Douluo's Report, You Chen's Rest

"A 100,000-year-old soul skill, Annihilation of the Stardust Mirror, Capture of the Stardust Demon. Self-created soul ring and soul skill successfully completed."

On a small island, atop the carcass of a two-hundred-meter-long orca, You Chen slowly rose to his feet.

In the original story, Tang San also obtained these two skills, only the prefixes of the skill names were slightly different, but the effects were the same.

One method involves using mental energy to condense a red crystal mirror for both defense and attack. Defense involves maintaining the mirror's surface, while attack involves either directly shattering the mirror or binding the enemy before shattering it.

This soul skill can be said to be one of the most suitable functional soul skills for You Chen.

It consumes very little soul power, mainly mental energy. If it weren't for the vibration feedback from the soul ring, You Chen could use this soul skill almost indefinitely.

Another soul skill, Stardust Demon's Capture, is different from the other kind of "intimidation." The word "capture" indicates that its attack is primarily based on energy impact, rather than mental attack. It can ignore almost all defensive effects and forcibly stun the opponent for up to 3 seconds.

Unlike Stardust Mirror's Annihilation, this skill cannot be used freely. Just like Emperor's Golden Body, this kind of powerful skill often has certain limitations.

However, this restriction actually resulted in relatively smaller losses for You Chen...

Although he had mentally prepared himself before absorbing the spirit ring and actively discarded conflicting parts during the absorption process, You Chen still felt the effects of the attribute conflict.

If the evil aura of the Demon Orca King clashed head-on with You Chen's Stardust Power, the evil aura of the Demon Orca King would definitely be at a disadvantage.

However, absorbing a spirit ring is equivalent to actively incorporating this foreign object into the body, which often results in greater internal damage and harm.

You Chen could clearly feel that a tiny bit of pitch black had appeared in the originally pure white and clean martial soul origin.

Fortunately, You Chen's control over the power of his martial soul's origin had improved to the late stage of the Spirit Realm in the past six months by digesting almost all the remaining "Illumination of the Origin" attempts. Coupled with the domineering power of the Stardust, purifying and eliminating this foreign substance would only be a matter of a few days.

However, during this power struggle, You Chen could feel his control over the power of stardust, especially the part that leaned towards divine power, which had been significantly improved.

In a sense, it can be considered a blessing in disguise.

On the other hand, You Chen could not truly use the power of his martial soul to activate the Stardust Demon's Capture skill; he could only use the energy pre-converted within his soul ring to perform it.

This is the additional limitation caused by attribute conflicts.

Based on the speed at which the soul rings naturally absorb and store energy from heaven and earth, this soul skill, "Wandering Dust," can probably only be used once a day.

Normally, a soul skill that doesn't possess a corresponding attribute is impossible to use, but soul rings are such a peculiar existence.

Many Soul Masters are able to use skills that are completely inherited from their Soul Beasts without developing their Martial Soul abilities.

Even in cases like You Chen's where there are attribute conflicts, the world rules will adapt on their own and provide a usable solution.

Even the spirit ring of the Demonic Orca, a spirit beast with only a partial evil attribute, caused You Chen some trouble, let alone the extremely evil Dark Demonic God Tiger.

Once absorbed, it may cause irreversible damage to the martial soul, such as... directly evolving into the Sin Stardust Dragon through darkness.

This completely validated You Chen's previous deduction and extinguished his last remaining hope.

A 100,000-year-old soul beast will always drop a regular soul bone on a soul master that has not yet been replaced.

You Chen's current regular soul bones are: Blue Silver Emperor's right leg bone, Wind Dragon's left leg bone, and Archaeopteryx's right arm bone.

The locations of the bones are the skull, trunk bones, and left arm bones.

This time, the Demon Orca King dropped a 100,000-year-old torso bone.

But You Chen had no intention of absorbing it.

Because he had already predetermined the location of the most crucial torso bones.

If it were just a difference between a 100,000-year-old soul bone and a ferocious beast soul bone, You Chen wouldn't care much. But if it were a million-year-old soul bone, then the meaning would be different.

A million years... He felt that he probably wouldn't be able to accumulate enough soul bone age-upgrade cards even if he did.

Therefore, this crucial part should naturally be reserved for the strongest million-year-old soul bone, and for the drop of that million-year-old deep-sea demon whale king...

Having hunted so many demonic tiger whales, You Chen is not lacking in soul bones; he could even complete his skull and left arm bone. However, he still has to hunt more than one hundred-thousand-year soul beast or even a ferocious beast, so there is no need to rush.

This trip was indeed very fruitful.

With so many ten-thousand-year-old whale-like spirit beasts, and even a hundred-thousand-year-old whale king, the whale glue they produce is enough to make even powerful forces like the Spirit Hall envious.

Although there were some flaws in absorbing the spirit ring, it was within You Chen's expectations.

Moreover, aside from needing several days to deplete the alien energy of the martial soul's origin, the Demonic Tiger Whale King's soul ring is of extremely high quality. Not to mention the Holy Spirit Bird soul ring, even the Emperor Golden Lion Beast's soul ring is not as good as it.

There are also differences between soul beasts. Although the age limit has been forcibly increased, You Chen's soul ring age limit card will not improve the bloodline quality of the soul beast.

Before its birth, it had not broken through 100,000 years. After experiencing that bloodline transformation of leaping over the dragon gate, its strength would naturally be somewhat weaker than that of 100,000-year-old soul beasts of the same race.

The Demon Orca King is the best among all the Demon Orca Kings in history, and its strength ranks among the top of all super soul beasts. Its bloodline strength is naturally outstanding, and some ferocious beasts are probably no match for it.

If You Chen hadn't used poison beforehand, greatly weakening the Demon Orca King's strength, it might not have been so easy to defeat it.

If You Chen's previous normal combat strength could be considered at the peak of level 96, then now it is definitely at the level of level 97.

Not only did the spirit ring provide various attribute bonuses, but his spirit power level also jumped to level 89. After absorbing the next target's ferocious beast spirit ring, his true spirit power level would probably be at least level 93.

In the original work, there were instances of soul power levels soaring and soul power becoming unstable. This is one of the reasons why some soul masters are unable to break through their bottlenecks. However, You Chen does not face this risk at all.

The strength of Stardust Power is comparable to that of ultimate attribute power, but more importantly, You Chen's control over his soul power had already reached the Great Perfection level long ago.

Even a Title Douluo's control over soul power is limited to this level; a Soul Douluo-level soul power can naturally be refined and controlled in an instant.

After collecting the demonic orca king's soul bones and corpse, You Chen quickly flew away from the island.

He dragged the corpse of the Demon Orca King here to absorb its soul rings; the stench of blood was overwhelming and pungent.

Before fully restoring his martial soul to its peak condition, You Chen didn't intend to attract unnecessary attention.

Moreover, the Martial Soul True Body also has a considerable period of weakness, so it's a good time to find a secluded and safe place to recover properly before starting the next Soul Ring hunt.

About a day after You Chen left, a strong, muscular man with an ancient and dignified face flew to this place.

Sensing the lingering aura of the Demon Orca King on the island, along with the numerous bloodstains, the man, the Sea Dragon Douluo, revealed a distinctly solemn expression.

After hearing the report from his capable subordinate Shurano, he realized that this matter was unusual.

The Soul Masters on Seagod Island are generally of high quality. Shurano was able to pass the Purple-level assessment and was also highly valued by the strongest of the Seven Sacred Pillar Douluos, the Sea Dragon Douluo. His quality is naturally extraordinary.

Sea Dragon Douluo was confident that even with his mental strength, it was impossible for him to make Shurano enter that kind of illusion.

On the entire Poseidon Island, perhaps only the Grand Priest, who is second only to the Poseidon and above all others, can achieve this.

So he immediately chose to meet with the high priest Poseidon and report the matter.

"Great Elder, according to my subordinate Shurano's report, there is a 90% probability that he is a foreign Soul Master from the mainland, a powerful Title Douluo who has come to the sea. That person did not show himself, but he used his mental pressure to make Shurano lose his composure. His mental power is far superior to mine. His stated purpose seems to be to hunt down that cunning Demon Orca King."

After listening to the report from Sea Dragon Douluo, Poseidon, still facing the Sea God statue, simply said, "That person was willing to let Shurano and the others return to inform you, so even if they aren't friendly, they're definitely not enemies. His deliberate hunting of the Demonic Tiger Whale King might be for someone else to obtain a 100,000-year spirit ring. You should investigate that person's situation. If he leaves, then there's no need to worry. Otherwise, I will personally intervene. What you need to be more careful about is that he didn't kill the Demonic Tiger Whale King cleanly. If this evil spirit beast goes berserk, it will cause enormous damage to the surrounding seas and islands. I will order the other Saint Pillar Douluos to take preventative measures in this regard."

"Yes, sir." Sea Dragon Douluo took his leave as instructed.

Just as You Chen had guessed, Poseidon was not concerned about the safety of the Demon Orca King.

Although this guy was the target of one of the nine trials of the Sea God in the original work, the content of the nine trials of the Sea God was not fixed. Given the vastness of the sea, it would not be difficult to create other test content.

Moreover, at this moment, Tang San has absolutely no connection with the Sea God.

The story of whoever passes the nine trials of the Sea God will become the new Sea God is a mythical tale from countless years ago...

All of this meant that by the time Sea Dragon Douluo found the last remaining trace of the Demonic Tiger Whale King, it was already a day later.

It's hard to say whether this situation is good or bad; in any case, the death of the Demon Orca King is probably a fait accompli.

"Even the High Priest underestimated that person's strength."

As the Sea Dragon Douluo recalled the traces he had seen along the way, including the seabed landscape damaged by the aftershocks of yesterday's battle, he let out a long sigh, his expression extremely solemn.

It seems that the High Priest Poseidon only regarded the Title Douluo that Shurano had come into contact with as a strong person who was only outstanding in terms of mental strength. He never thought that the Demon Orca King, whom they had tried to kill many times but failed to kill, would die in the other party's hunt.

However, reality dealt Poseidon a severe blow.

The Demon Orca King was so powerful that even the seven Holy Pillars working together could only barely contend with it. To be able to kill such a monster so easily in one night...

Sea Dragon Douluo felt a chill run down his spine: 'Perhaps, the opponent is truly a powerhouse no less than a Grand Elder, a... Peerless Douluo!'

The thought that he was now being ordered to track down such a powerful figure made even the Sea Dragon Douluo tremble with fear.

This feeling was even more intense than when Benboerba was ordered by the Nine-Headed Insect to eliminate Tang Sanzang and his disciples.

After all, Benboerba only needed to poison the White Dragon Horse later on, not confront Sun Wukong directly.

Fortunately, his unwavering faith and loyalty ultimately solidified his belief, allowing him to continue his pursuit.

However... he took a slight detour and went around informing the plainclothes Sea Soul Master, the Demon Orca King, of the nearby Seagod Island, that he was dead, and handed over his token, asking him to quickly pass it on to the nearest Holy Pillar Douluo.

However, it's quite a distance from here to Poseidon Island. At this pace, it will probably take this yellow-clad sea spirit master several days to reach Poseidon Island...

The thought of this made Sea Dragon Douluo unable to feel at ease, and he even slowed down his pursuit without realizing it.

Then... Sea Dragon Douluo searched for a whole week, but found no trace of it.

It was as if this mysterious powerful figure had never appeared at all...

I don't know if they left, or if they still remain in the sea; it's as if they simply vanished into thin air at some point.

Sea Dragon Douluo was in a dilemma.

……

"Um?"

You Chen, however, sensed the energy fluctuations of the Sea Dragon Douluo rushing across the sea surface, and his mental energy swept over the Sea Dragon Douluo at an extremely fast speed.

"The soul power fluctuations are close to those of a Super Douluo... So it really is that Sea Dragon Douluo."

Seeing that only Hailong Douluo was there, You Chen silently withdrew his spiritual power.

As long as Poseidon doesn't come out of seclusion directly, he wouldn't be afraid at all, even if it were the Holy Pillar Douluo plus that Demon Soul Great White Shark King.

Over the past few days, You Chen has fully recovered from the weakness he experienced after taking the Martial Soul True Form.

The trace of evil energy from the Demon Orca King within the Martial Soul's origin was also completely removed.

However, during this process, he gained some insights into the power of his martial soul's origin, which is why he stayed longer to cultivate in seclusion.

Today, the effect of seeing one's true nature is not as obvious as it was at the beginning, which makes it all the more important for Youchen to cultivate and gain his own insights.

Over the past six months, You Chen has used "Seeing the Source" more than once.

He hoped to encounter a higher form of the Stardust Dragon during the process of illuminating his origin, just as he had encountered the Stardust Dragon when his martial soul was still the Starbone Dragon.

Unfortunately, his expectations were not met.

He encountered the same flawless Stardust Dragon as before.

Unable to gain guidance for the future by illuminating the origin, he only gained insights from the blurred boundaries between humans and martial spirits when illuminating the origin.

After mastering the power of one's martial soul origin to the so-called late stage of the Spirit Realm, the side effects of the Spirit Realm eruption are greatly reduced.

Unlike the Martial Soul True Body, which weakens the body for a week, it can recover in just one day.

The reason for not using the Spirit Realm Burst when hunting the Demon Orca King is simply because the consumption of both the Martial Soul True Body and the Spirit Realm Burst is still enormous. Compared to a giant enemy like the Demon Orca King, it is more appropriate to use only the Martial Soul True Body.

If You Chen is currently comparable to a level 97 Super Douluo in his normal state, and can possess level 98 combat power by using his Martial Soul True Body or Spirit Realm Burst alone, then combining the two might actually allow him to briefly rival a Limit Douluo.

Well, it's just a show of force, not a real confrontation.

Compared to Title Douluo, Limit Douluo represents another level of spiritual elevation, the pinnacle of mortal beings below the gods in this era.

Those who can advance to the ultimate level have no weaknesses in spirit, body, or soul power; they simply have a particular strength in one or more of these areas.

Any one of these three abilities alone would be enough to rival a level 98 Super Douluo. When combined, they form an insurmountable barrier that shuts out all beings below the limit, as if they were not even on the same level.

Even if You Chen's mental power breaks through again and surpasses the limit level, it is impossible for him to crush a Limit Douluo with just his mental power.

The physical body is the outer shell of the spirit and soul, and soul power can also be regarded as a protective membrane. With these two layers of barriers, even a Limit Douluo whose spiritual power is not outstanding will not be directly defeated by the spiritual power of the Divine Origin Realm.

You Chen has already cultivated the Spirit Realm to the later stage.

This realm is unlike any cultivation realm, where there is a concept of perfection in the later stages.

Or rather, You Chen could sense that once the spiritual realm was perfected, he would naturally break through to the next stage.

Therefore, the so-called level of perfection does not exist.

Just as he had become aware of the existence of the Spirit Realm when he entered the Microscopic Realm, You Chen also vaguely sensed what changes the next level would bring after using the Illumination of the Origin in the later stage of the Spirit Realm.

That's... the perfect level.

You Chen now has a deeper understanding of the Spirit Realm Outburst, which is actually a state of excessive soul eruption. By stimulating a deep resonance between the soul and the martial spirit, the potential of the martial spirit is unleashed, temporarily displaying strength far exceeding that of an ordinary state. However, because the soul is excessively stimulated, it also affects the martial spirit, leading to a considerable period of weakness afterward.

As one's control over the spiritual realm gradually increases, such unnecessary and excessive stimulation becomes less and less, thus shortening the duration of the weakened state.

If one can achieve perfect control over the power of the spiritual realm, ensuring that the martial soul unleashes its power without wasting a single bit, one will naturally reach the next level...

Perfect layering!

By then, the Spirit Realm will likely be able to be switched on and off at will, without any concern about the so-called weakened state.

even……

You Chen had a hunch that perhaps the weakened state of the Martial Soul True Body could also be eliminated through this perfect control.

At the same time, the method of simultaneously unleashing the Martial Soul True Body and the Spirit Realm Burst can also become a regular occurrence.

You Chen believed that he could now call himself a great god of the Spirit Realm. In this era, apart from himself, there probably wasn't even a Soul Master who had stepped into the Spirit Realm. The only one who might have touched the Spirit Realm was probably the former Haotian Douluo Tang Chen, who had already fallen into madness, but this guy posed no threat to him at all.

If one masters the perfect realm, this would be an absolute trump card capable of threatening even the Limit Douluo!

No need for anything else, once he breaks through to the Title Douluo level, his physical strength and soul power will rise to another level, and with the perfect realm of his martial soul's origin power, there will be no one in the mortal world who can rival him!

As the core power of the Stardust Dragon, the enhancement of Stardust Power and the degree of control over the Martial Soul Origin can be said to complement each other.

After half a year of secluded training, learning the application of divine power from the Holy Spirit Bird, battling against powerful opponents of the same level, and experiencing the struggle between stardust power and evil energy after absorbing the soul ring... You Chen felt that his control over stardust power had finally improved from the initial beginner level to a minor mastery level where he could exercise some fine control.

"The Star Soul Technique can finally be officially put into use."

You Chen possesses top-tier talent in mental power. After perfecting the Soul-Sealing Technique, he quickly began to try to integrate the power of stardust, incorporating the mental cultivation techniques and martial arts skills he had received from the system over the years. The result was the "Star Soul Technique".

Derived from the original "Soul-Slaying Technique", the "Star Wheel" fully embodies the phenomenon of crushing power after the integration of stardust power into the simple mental intimidation. It is a move that directly crushes the enemy's mental power into dust!

In addition, the split mental power can unleash a mental attack called "Phantom God Thrust" that is detached from the mental sea and will not cause backlash even if it encounters an enemy with stronger mental power. After being integrated with the power of stardust, it becomes the even more powerful move "Star God Thrust"!

On the defensive end, it incorporates the "Void Tower," which constructs a spiritual tower in the spiritual sea, forming the even more powerful "Star Tower," which can be described as an absolute spiritual defense!

The last item is a combination of Conqueror's Haki and Stardust Power for a group mental attack: Stardust Aura! Not only can it unleash a wide-range mental attack, but it can also link allies through the Stardust Aura to help them share the mental pressure from the enemy!

Of these four moves, You Chen, who had mastered the "Wheel of Stars" technique from the very beginning, was the most proficient and could use it directly.

The other three, apart from the Star Tower which can be constructed in advance, were skills that could not be used in actual combat before.

But now, with You Chen's increased control over the power of stardust, he is able to put it into actual combat.

The automatic defensive mental defense skill "Star Tower"! The group mental attack and group support defense skill "Stardust Aura"! The single-target depletion and probing mental attack "Star God's Thorn"! And the strongest single-target mental attack "Wheel of Stars"!

This was the prototype of Youchen's mental techniques, and from this prototype, one could already see the perfect, hexagonal shape that would follow.

This is the case with mental skills.

You Chen's skills in the physical and energy aspects haven't been as smooth. After all, his talent in these areas is indeed somewhat inferior to the world's number one talent in mental power, and he will probably need a considerable amount of time to hone and perfect them.

After studying and stabilizing his condition for two more days, You Chen finally decided to get up and leave.

He opened the nautical chart, his index finger moving quickly across it, comparing it to his current location, and soon found his target.

On that map was an icon resembling a palace.

This was You Chen's last hunting target on this trip: the underwater structure where the Sea Princess resided—the Crystal Palace.

(End of this chapter)