Douluo Continent: The Eye of Truth

Chapter 30 Soul Skill Modification: Mental Devouring

After absorbing the second spirit ring, Huo Yuhao led the Soul Hunting Team back to Shrek Academy. There were no new surprises on the way back to the city.

The trip took a total of fourteen days, and there are still sixteen days left in the holiday.

During this time, Huo Yuhao did not plan to go out, since he had almost finished preparing everything and there was nothing else to do.

He now basically lives in his dormitory, occasionally going out for a meal or some exercise. Most of the time in the dormitory, Huo Yuhao is testing and trying to modify his newly acquired second soul skill, Mental Suggestion, in his mental sea.

"The test results are similar to what I expected when I first obtained this soul skill. It can bypass soul power protection and mental power perception to affect others through a specific mental power frequency, but the effect is too weak, probably due to the age of the soul ring."

"The mutated three-eyed demonic ape probably influenced the others by using this mental suggestion combined with another strong control-type mental soul skill, but its mental power and level are still too low compared to Elder Yi and Brother Tianmeng in my sea of ​​spirit."

"So it doesn't have any obvious effect on me. Compared to simply using mental suggestion, it's better to combine it with other mental attribute attacks or mental attribute influence soul skills in actual combat."

Then, in Huo Yuhao's hands, with the gathering and outlining of spiritual power, an enlarged spirit ring appeared directly in front of Huo Yuhao. Its color and shape were Huo Yuhao's second spirit ring.

Immediately afterwards, Huo Yuhao began to modify the original structure, keeping the influence and composition of the spirit ring on the main body unchanged, and began to add, cover and stack new structures and patterns to the spirit ring.

Ultimately, in Huo Yuhao's design, a pure black spirit ring took shape in his sea of ​​spirit.

"Mental suggestion, strong mental control, and mental interference should be enough to maximize the advantages of mental suggestion, thereby destroying and circumventing the opponent's defense composed of soul power and mental power, while being difficult to detect, and paving the way for other mental attribute methods."

"Once this soul skill is actually completed, let's call it Mental Collapse." Huo Yuhao's brows relaxed, and he looked at a corner of his sea of ​​consciousness, at the small gray sphere that had floated up and was hovering around him, observing him: "Elder Yi, what do you think?"

The aged voice responded, "Your soul power circulation system, created based on so-called soul skills and soul rings, is rather interesting."

"Many of them are similar to some of the magic circles and magic structures guided by mental power that I used in my previous world."

"They are quite different in their foundation, but I can see that your eyes are not simple, little guy. Even I need to put in some effort to fully understand the working logic of a soul skill or magic."

"For you now, it's just a matter of taking a second look. But we'll get there by the same means. I've been looking into your spiritual sea for so long, and I've figured out some of the tricks of the trade."

"These soul skills and soul power circulation systems you've constructed are all imitations of the existing power structure of this world, based on so-called soul power. Now, take a look at these two spells I've constructed."

A faint gray aura emerged from the gray sphere and immediately wrapped around the mental energy mimicry soul ring structure that Huo Yuhao had previously constructed.

As the gray current entered, the originally constructed mental energy mimicry soul ring structure instantly collapsed, and the mental energy that symbolized soul power was restored back to mental energy.

Then, driven by the gray airflow, this spiritual energy transformed into lines, which then quickly pieced together two simple shapes.

"Little guy, can you tell what these two structures are?"

After activating his Eye of Truth, Huo Yuhao carefully observed the two figures in front of him while continuously scouring the knowledge stored in his Sea of ​​Spirit.

He frowned and asked, "Could it be the Thunder Dragon Claw? No, this structure also seems to contain wind blades, and the other one is the mental collapse we just experienced?"

"Wait, why are there other runes surrounding this mental breakdown? Are these absorption runes, or are there other runes as well?"

Indeed, after repeated comparisons, Huo Yuhao discovered that these two incredibly simple structures, consisting only of skeletons, shared many similarities with several soul skills he had recorded, but the details were not entirely the same.

However, it is difficult to be certain because the composition of these graphic structures is too simple. Even with Huo Yuhao's own mental strength, he could probably easily complete one of them within three breaths. With more practice, it would not be difficult to complete it instantly in battle.

"That's right, this is the Thunder Dragon Claw, but to be precise, it should be the Swift Wind Dragon Claw, because it is made of wind elements. The other one is the mental collapse you just created, but I have added an additional structure for absorption on the original basis."

"This first magic array structure is not easy to try in this sea of ​​spirit. Little one, you'll know once you go outside and try it. Leave the matter of concealing the fluctuations of aura to me." Electrox sounded quite pleased with himself.

As Huo Yuhao's consciousness left the Sea of ​​Spirit and he regained control of his body, he imitated the mental energy structure that Electrolux had previously demonstrated, sketching it in the air in front of him.

Along these mental energy structures forming a framework, a miniature dragon claw composed of closely arranged wind-attribute elements appeared in the air. As Huo Yuhao withdrew his mental energy, this swift wind dragon claw immediately dissipated.

Huo Yuhao blinked, and asked Ilex in his mind, "Is this... the elemental molecules in the air spontaneously filling the remaining part of this soul skill?"

Electrolux's aged voice responded: "Indeed, that's exactly right. All the soul power circuits and soul skills you previously constructed were designed to solidify their structure, hence the addition of numerous redundant components at the foundation."

"There are advantages to doing things this way. By using soul power to construct and stabilize the energy, you can reduce the output of mental energy while allowing these soul skills and soul power circulation to persist for a long time."

"However, as a spirit-attribute soul master, your greatest strength compared to other soul masters lies in your spiritual power, not your soul power."

"The biggest drawback of doing this is the slow process; the mobilization and integration of soul power and mental power involve many complex steps."

"This also means you have almost no time to slowly build up your defenses during battle, so after borrowing magical concepts from my world, I've made some slight modifications for you."

"It eliminates the need for a combined approach of mental and soul power; instead, it allows the use of pure mental power to draw upon external elemental forces to complete the structure of a soul skill. However, its power depends on the amount of mental power invested and the concentration of external elemental forces."

"The final power of a soul skill is directly proportional to these two factors. Of course, the most important factor is mental strength, which determines the upper limit of its power, while the concentration of elemental power determines its lower limit."

"At the same time, you should know that the affinity of the human body and energy for elements affects the nature of spiritual power; spiritual power tends to align with the human body and the energy within it."

"Currently, your spiritual power is actually the purest, attribute-less spiritual power. At most, due to the influence of the giant insect, it has gained some ice attribute properties, but since the martial soul it bestowed upon you has not yet taken shape, it is not very noticeable."

"This is why your mental energy isn't strong enough to attract various elements, making it difficult to attract more elements and exert a stronger effect in environments with average elemental concentrations."

Huo Yuhao nodded thoughtfully: "I understand what you mean, Elder Yi."

"I've actually been thinking about elemental affinity for a while now. I know a place with many rare and exotic herbs that can greatly improve one's aptitude and affinity for various attributes."

"What is the meaning of the second graphic structure that Elder Yi showed you?" Huo Yuhao asked again, puzzled.

"Mental strength doesn't arise from nothing; in fact, it's directly linked to soul strength, which in turn requires a physical body as a vessel."

Otherwise, no matter how powerful one's divine sense or soul is, it will ultimately be nothing more than a rootless duckweed.

"Without your spiritual sea as a vessel, my divine consciousness would also dissipate."

"Your previous idea was correct. By using specific mental frequencies of suggestion, combined with strong mental control and interference, a barely perceptible crack can be torn open beyond the mental boundaries of another person."

"However, if you encounter someone with a higher level of spiritual power than you, and that person's spiritual power is simply vast in quantity, it will be very difficult for you to succeed."

"The effect of this absorption structure is to convert the opponent's mental energy into a source of power for your Mental Collapse Soul Skill."

"By using the opponent's spiritual power to power your spiritual collapse, you can overcome any opponent with a higher level of spiritual power, as long as their spiritual power cultivation does not exceed your own."

"Although it's slower, it's still faster than simple mental suggestion. It can wear down a stone with persistent dripping, breaking through its mental defenses. I call this mental erosion."

While sleeping peacefully in the sea of ​​consciousness, Tianmeng Bingcan suddenly felt as if she had been looked down upon again from some unknown source, but she didn't care and turned over to continue sleeping.

Upon hearing this, Huo Yuhao's eyes lit up. This was indeed something he hadn't expected. The idea of ​​using someone else's strength against them was truly brilliant.

"I understand, Elder Yi. My next plan is to continue my research focusing on soul power circulation and mental spellcasting. Developing both simultaneously will ensure a well-rounded approach without any weaknesses."

"However, Elder Yi, the number of spell samples you provided me is still a bit small, perhaps..."

"Alright, little one, don't bite off more than you can chew. You should digest this properly first. I'm going to repair my spiritual consciousness."

Feeling the mental connection severed by Electrolux, Huo Yuhao shook his head helplessly: "Is it true that you can't bite off more than you can chew? But I still feel like I don't have enough right now."

Watching his spiritual energy constantly shift and swirl in his hands, Huo Yuhao felt as if a sharp sword named Tang San was hanging over his head.

After all, the main storyline will be coming soon, and I need to take this opportunity to get in touch with the Body Sect, since we don't have much of a clue about how to modify martial souls yet.

Before the main storyline, there was the old bastard Xuanzi who logged in with a string of N characters and sent away the main Shrek team. Although Huo Yuhao was confident in his ability to protect himself, the deterrent power of Xuanzi, a second-level Douluo, was still too great. To be on the safe side, he had to be wary.

Sitting cross-legged, Huo Yuhao summoned his martial spirit and awakened the sleeping Tianmeng Ice Silkworm through mental sharing. "Brother Tianmeng, get up and get to work. Keep an eye on things for me."

"Huh? Oh, oh, I understand!"

As the spiritual power of the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm was slowly injected, Huo Yuhao's second soul ring began to change, its color deepening continuously.

However, the patterns on the soul ring, which should have naturally grown and enhanced the original soul skills based on the soul ring itself, changed under Huo Yuhao's control.

It began to evolve into the soul skill that Huo Yuhao needed, for one thousand years, two thousand years, and three thousand years.

Besides nourishing this soul ring, the spiritual essence of the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm also stabilizes and protects Huo Yuhao's physical body, while isolating it from any external influences to prevent anyone from discovering it.

As the age of his spirit rings gradually increased, Huo Yuhao finally completed a series of guidance procedures when the age of his spirit rings reached ten thousand years.

"Fifteen thousand years? The spiritual erosion is complete, but the most important part is yet to come. Brother Tianmeng, it's all up to you."

Huo Yuhao's spiritual power returned to his spiritual sea, ceasing its resistance and guidance. At the same time, the spiritual power of the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm also took over the soul ring.

Immediately afterwards, Tianmeng Ice Silkworm began to skillfully seal the lifespan of Huo Yuhao's soul ring.

Fourteen thousand years.

Thirteen thousand years.

Twelve thousand years.

The lifespan of the spirit rings continued to decrease, eventually returning to 1,500 years.

"Yuhao, this won't do. We can't suppress it any longer. I feel that if we suppress it any further, the spirit ring structure you set up before won't be able to be maintained anymore," Tianmeng Ice Silkworm said with some difficulty.

"That's settled then. This level of compression is about right." Huo Yuhao nodded and opened his eyes.

After all, this was the effect he needed. Looking at the purple soul ring under his feet, Huo Yuhao was very satisfied with the patterns, which were much more gorgeous and intricate than the original.

Although compressed, the basic structure of the spirit ring remains intact. However, the amount of spirit power and mental energy it requires is much higher than the initial mental suggestion. But when Huo Yuhao really needs to use it, he won't lack that little bit of spirit power and mental energy.

(End of this chapter)