Douluo Continent: Long Live the Spirit Hall

Chapter 344 Condensing the Soul Core

In the Sunset Forest, within the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well Valley, as Yan successfully refined his seventh soul ring, his aura and cultivation underwent a tremendous change.

His soul power cultivation reached level 72 in an instant, and it continued to climb. The powerful soul power fluctuations even caused ripples to appear in the surrounding space.

"What's going on? Three 100,000-year spirit rings?"

The many figures who had been watching Yan were startled by the three blood-red spirit rings. A 100,000-year spirit ring—this was something every spirit master dreamed of. Generally, only the most elite Title Douluo with their ninth spirit ring could obtain a spirit ring of this level.

And what they saw now was astonishing: Yan not only possessed 100,000-year spirit rings, but he had obtained three of them! This was truly unbelievable. The 10,000-year black spirit rings transformed before their very eyes into 100,000-year red spirit rings—a scene that was utterly breathtaking.

"How can his soul power be so immense, and with such obvious energy fluctuations, what is he planning to do?"

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion, having cooperated with Yan in completing the experiment, naturally kept a close eye on his condition. At this moment, it sensed that the increasingly powerful soul force within Yan's body seemed to be becoming more volatile, as if it were about to erupt.

"He is compressing his soul power to form a condensed soul core. I didn't expect that he would have reached this level at the Soul Saint stage."

At this moment, Xiao Wu's mother, the Soft Bone Rabbit Queen, noticed something amiss. After all, she had already broken through to the Title Douluo level and was once a 100,000-year-old soul beast, so she had a considerable understanding of soul cores. Yan had previously inquired about the process of soul core condensation from her, which naturally led her to speculate.

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion asked with some surprise, "Soul core condensation? Shouldn't that be something only a Title Douluo can achieve?"

The Soft Bone Rabbit King shook his head. "Under normal circumstances, that is indeed the case, but in reality, the key to condensing a soul core lies in the accumulation of soul power. Only with a sufficiently strong foundation of soul power can the basic conditions for condensing a soul core be met. Generally, soul masters cannot do this before becoming Title Douluo."

But His Highness the Holy Son is different. His foundation is extremely profound, and he has just acquired a 100,000-year soul ring. The soul power accumulated within him is comparable to that of a Title Douluo, naturally meeting the basic requirements for condensing a soul core.

"So, does that mean I might be able to condense a soul core first?"

After hearing her words, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion seemed to be deep in thought, but did not make any further moves. After pondering for a moment, she continued to look at Yan, who was cultivating.

Beside the spring of the Yin-Yang Well of Ice and Fire, Yan sat cross-legged and floated in mid-air. At this moment, he entered a magical state, as if he were one with the heavens and man, and the process of meditating and circulating his soul power was exceptionally smooth.

He first calmed his mind and adjusted his mental state, then closed his eyes, circulating and internalizing his spiritual power, while his soul power began to be drawn out. A faint golden layer appeared on his body, and Yan slowly raised his right hand, from which a faint light of soul power flowed.

After Yan broke through to the Soul Saint realm, the soul power within his body had become a trickle of liquid. As he lifted his palm, a strange liquid appeared outside his body.

The soul power gradually increased and began to float from Yan's palm, slowly rotating. Although he closed his eyes, he still controlled the circulation and regular changes of the soul power.

Soon, the rotation speed of the soul power began to increase, and at the same time, it began to compress slowly. During the compression process, Yan gradually increased the amount of soul power injected.

He drew out strands of soul power from his dantian. As the soul power increased, the liquid soul power gradually became more and more viscous, and its rotation speed was continuously increased under deliberate control.

Everyone could see that there was a faint golden layer surrounding the liquid soul power. It was this golden layer that ensured that the liquid soul power would not dissipate.

For a typical seven-ring Soul Master, releasing their Soul Power in this way would directly result in the liquid Soul Power rapidly vaporizing and dissipating into the air. In fact, most Soul Saints haven't even fully completed the liquid transformation of their Soul Power; only a small portion can release it in this state.

Yan's strength and foundation far surpass that of ordinary people. Although he is also a seven-ring titled Soul Master, he possesses three hundred-thousand-year Soul Rings, making him far more powerful than ordinary Soul Masters.

As Yan gradually infused energy, the liquid slowly solidified, and his expression grew increasingly serious. He maintained a solemn composure, but under his control, the soul energy remained perfectly still, continuing its rotation without the slightest deviation.

Compression, and more compression, rotation, and more rotation—gradually, the solidified soul power took shape completely, and a small energy funnel appeared between Yan's hands.

The moment this vortex appeared, its absorption rate of external spiritual energy was incredibly strong. A terrifying suction force spread outwards. Yan could sense that the energy increase rate of this small solid vortex was at least several times faster than in his previous two experiments.

Around the solidified soul power, the distorted light patterns became increasingly pronounced. The intense suction not only drew in the elemental energy of heaven and earth but also absorbed Yan's own soul power. During this absorption process, Yan continuously injected his soul power, causing the solidified soul power to continuously strengthen.

Under a state of seemingly perfect harmony with nature, Yan deliberately controlled his soul power to solidify. His soul power grew steadily and continuously, and the speed at which the primordial energy of heaven and earth surged also increased. Obvious phenomena also appeared on Yan's body.

Time passed second by second, and more than half of Yan's soul power energy was integrated into this solidified soul power. He increasingly felt that he could not stop it from continuing to spin.

The terrifying fluctuations in soul power continued to increase, and Yan began to struggle. When the soul power in his body started to be less than the total amount of solid soul power, the vortex's ability to absorb energy became significantly stronger.

Five percent, six percent, seven percent... Yan's soul power was continuously absorbed by the vortex, and at this moment, Yan could no longer control the leakage of his soul power.

What he couldn't see was that the entire Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Eye was shrouded in an extremely dense layer of soul power light waves. Above the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Eye, the primordial energy of heaven and earth had actually formed a faint cloud of primordial energy, and a vast amount of primordial energy was constantly converging in this direction.

The rotation speed of the solidified soul power vortex continued to increase, and the almost materialized solidified soul power had begun to gradually change from pale gold to gold. In addition to the enormous soul power fluctuations, there were also considerable mental fluctuations.

Fine beads of sweat appeared on Yan's forehead, and the meridians in his body were throbbing with pain. However, having cultivated to such a level, he couldn't simply give up. In this situation, he could only grit his teeth and persevere to avoid a backlash that would seriously injure him.

The gold color grew increasingly intense, yet Yan's body felt utterly empty, as if not a single drop remained. His body trembled slightly, as if he might collapse at any moment.

"Buzz..."

After an unknown amount of time, the solidified soul power vortex seemed to have absorbed enough energy and was finally transforming into the next stage. A low, muffled sound emanated from around the funnel-shaped solidified soul power, and the space itself appeared to be torn open with fine cracks.

These cracks were also golden, yet within that gold, the black of spatial rifts was faintly visible. Yan suddenly felt as if he had gained some strength, the rate at which his soul power was draining gradually slowed down, and the energy vortex became increasingly mysterious.

The spatial rifts gradually intensified, and the distortion and fluctuation of space, along with that strange feeling, were deeply imprinted in Yan's mind.

He already had a deep understanding of the Dao of Time and Space, and at this moment he understood that the key to the condensation of the Soul Core lay in the stability of the energy of time and space.

This is extremely difficult for ordinary people. It is not easy to sense spatial fluctuations on a normal day. Even if a spatial rift can be created through a powerful attack, the rift will only last for a moment before disappearing, and there is no time to sense it.

But Yan was no ordinary person. He had experience with time travel multiple times, and his understanding of the Dao of Time and Space was far beyond that of ordinary Soul Masters. Therefore, the key difficulty in condensing the Soul Core, stabilizing the power of time and space, was actually the easiest step for him.

As his spiritual power continued to overflow, the space around the compressed, solidified soul power continued to fluctuate subtly, steadily condensing this soul core.

After an unknown amount of time, the spatial cracks on the surface of the solid soul power had become as fine as a net. Black cracks kept appearing and being devoured and absorbed by the solid soul power. The rotation speed of the solid soul power had also approached its limit, and the surrounding space was completely distorted.

Before Yan now lay a strange ball of light, a fusion of gold, rose gold, and black, containing an immense and terrifying amount of soul power. This was the rudimentary form of the soul core, but to transform it into a soul core black hole, one final step was required.

Yan took a few deep breaths to adjust his mental state, preparing himself to attempt the next steps with the best possible spirit.

He shouted in his heart, transforming his last remaining spiritual energy into a soul impact, which he then poured entirely into the solidified soul power.

"Boom!"

The solid soul power trembled slightly. In that instant, Yan had a strange feeling. The solid soul power that had been spinning rapidly suddenly stopped, going from extreme motion to extreme stillness. This abrupt feeling made him feel so uncomfortable that he wanted to vomit blood.

In the next instant, Yan felt everything around him become blurry. He felt as if he were in the starry sky, surrounded by strange and gentle spatial power.

In an instant, space collapsed, and everything seemed to crumble around his body. The terrifying spatial force instantly tore his body to shreds. But in the next instant after being torn apart, his body reformed and his consciousness returned.

Yan looked up again and stared ahead. The solid soul power in his vision had completely collapsed and become a black hole vortex.

He only glanced at it, but he felt as if his soul was being sucked in. The black hole vortex contained endless darkness and endless unknowns, and he couldn't sense at all what kind of soul power was stored inside.

A bridge-like connection existed between him and the black hole vortex. This was the soul core black hole he had created; his efforts had finally paid off.

Chapter 345 Ten Thousand Years of External Soul Bone

"This feeling is truly wondrous." Yan gazed at the soul core black hole before him. Around the black hole, fine golden ripples rippled continuously, and strands of heaven and earth energy were constantly being absorbed and compressed into it, increasing the energy within every moment.

Once the Soul Core Black Hole is successfully condensed, as long as it is incorporated into the body and refined and fused with one's own Martial Soul, one can enjoy the comfortable feeling of passively increasing strength every moment. This is the greatest function of the Soul Core.

Whether human or soul beast, once they successfully condense the prototype of a soul core, their cultivation speed will increase many times over, and there will be no bottlenecks before breaking through to the Title Douluo level or the 100,000-year-old soul beast level.

Yan is in the same situation now. As long as he takes this soul core into his body, his cultivation speed will increase exponentially, allowing him to break through to the Title Douluo level at the fastest speed.

Then, as long as he cultivates another soul core with another martial soul, he can form a dual soul core resonance, and breaking through to level 99 will no longer be a dream.

Yan was contemplating the future, but instead of immediately merging with his soul core black hole, he closed his eyes to rest and adjust his mental state.

Time passed second by second, and Yan's soul power and mental strength recovered at an astonishing speed. In less than half an hour, when he opened his eyes again, he was full of energy and vitality.

He turned his gaze back to the soul core, and just as before, it seemed to contain an endless, terrifying existence capable of devouring everything.

When Yan stared at him, he could feel a powerful suction force, as if it wanted to pull his soul out.

"Ding ding ding ding ding ding..." With seven crisp sounds, Yan completed the Martial Soul Possession. The phantom of the Flame Emperor Martial Soul appeared behind him, and he himself also took on the strange form of the Supreme of Ten Thousand Fires. The seven soul rings around his body pulsed continuously, radiating an extremely powerful aura.

On the forehead of the Flame Emperor Martial Soul, in the Niwan Palace ancestral aperture between the eyebrows, there was once a soul bead that had been fused with Yan's first soul ring, the Flaming Demon Lion. At this moment, with a thought from Yan, a surge of soul power pulled the black hole soul core toward him.

As the Black Hole Soul Core flew, the surrounding pale golden light patterns contracted, and even its own body did so.

When it flew several meters away and arrived in front of Yan, it shrank to about the same size as the red dot between Yan's eyebrows.

Golden light patterns slowly rose up, like a brand, approaching his ancestral aperture between his eyebrows and disappearing into it.

After a Soul Master breaks through to the Title Douluo level and forms a Soul Core, they generally choose the Dantian as the location to refine the Soul Core, because this location is relatively the safest.

However, Yan made a different choice. He actually chose the ancestral aperture between his eyebrows, the most dangerous and closest location to his martial soul.

His choice was made after careful consideration. As a transmigrator who understood the history of cultivation in Douluo Continent, he knew better than anyone the key elements of soul core condensation and dual soul core complementarity.

Although his action of integrating the soul core into his spiritual sea of ​​consciousness was somewhat dangerous, it was not impulsive and made it easier for his martial soul to undergo further transformation.

The golden light merged, and the soul core was integrated. Yan's body trembled violently, and in an instant, two golden beams shot out from his eyes, flying hundreds of feet away like two solid sword beams, directly piercing through the distant mountain wall.

Layers of golden patterns lit up and spread outwards, from his forehead to his brow. It seemed to be growing, and soon it spread to his entire forehead. Yan stood suspended in mid-air, his fiery red hair fluttering and dancing like a magnificent flame without wind.

He felt as if an indescribable, terrifying power had been injected into his sea of ​​consciousness. This power was like a sharp cone, as if it wanted to tear his head apart or drain his sea of ​​consciousness dry.

It was a very uncomfortable feeling, but it wasn't life-threatening, so I could barely bear it.

The golden lines continued to spread, and at this moment, the terrifying suction force reappeared, twice as strong as before.

The primordial energy in the air instantly converged towards Yan at an astonishing speed. His body was covered with golden light patterns, giving him an ancient and mysterious aura.

Behind Yan, behind the phantom of the Flame Emperor, a fiery red vortex resembling a black hole appeared, terrifyingly devouring everything in the air and taking in all the gathered spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

Time passed second by second, and Yan's eyes regained their brilliance. The golden light patterns receded like a tide, disappearing just as quickly as they had appeared.

At this moment, he gave the impression of having undergone a sublimation and transformation from a snake to a dragon. The vortex formed by the soul core black hole shrank continuously on Yan's forehead, eventually disappearing completely, and his forehead became smooth again.

The moment the black vortex completely disappeared, Yan's aura became stable, deep, and restrained. He was no longer so sharp and aggressive; instead, he seemed to have returned to simplicity, making him unfathomable.

He hovered in mid-air, like a rock or a clear spring, yet he had no trace of his original self.

His entire being became ethereal, as if he had merged with heaven and earth. The Soft-Boned Rabbit King looked at the motionless, floating Yan, a hint of fear flickering deep in its eyes.

"Flying through the air—that's an ability only Title Douluo possesses. He actually managed to do that after breaking through to Soul Saint." Although she had already broken through to Title Douluo, at this moment, the Soft Bone Rabbit Queen, a 100,000-year-old soul beast in human form, felt a strange sense of unease facing Yan now, as if the latter could take her life at any moment, making her feel very insecure.

"This feeling of full power is really reassuring." Yan, who was floating in the air, clenched his fist, as if he could grasp and squeeze energy from the air, and felt that his whole body was full of power.

After obtaining the Soul Core, he entered a completely different world. Once the Soul Core is condensed, the Martial Soul itself can draw power from the space, instead of just absorbing the elemental energy of heaven and earth from the real world. The power of the space is almost inexhaustible, and how much can be drawn depends entirely on the Soul Master himself.

All his fear stemmed from insufficient firepower. His previous fears of this and that were simply due to his own lack of strength.

Now that he has condensed his soul core, although he is only a seven-ring Soul Saint, he is a super Soul Saint with three 100,000-year soul rings. He can easily defeat ordinary Title Douluos.

"What an intoxicating power! But... I can become even stronger." After immersing himself in feeling his own power, Yan landed back on the ground. He walked to the Fire Demon Tyrant, who was already dead, and prepared to take out the soul bone that the 100,000-year-old soul beast had given him.

Although the Fiery Tyrant was used by Yan as a sacrifice to enlighten the soul of the fiery apricot blossom, the latter was ultimately just an experimental subject for Yan's first attempt.

There was probably a small problem with the experiment. Although the soul of the fiery apricot blossom was successfully contracted by Yan to obtain a 100,000-year soul ring, it did not bring her a 100,000-year soul bone.

This result made Yan somewhat unhappy, but he wasn't entirely concerned, because he knew he couldn't escape the 100,000-year soul bone. If Liehuo Xingjiao couldn't give it to him, there was still Huoxie Tyrant, who was also a 100,000-year soul beast and would definitely produce a soul bone after his death.

The Fiery Tyrant, a 100,000-year-old soul beast from the Demon Forest, lay on the ground with one dim eye, its once ferocious sixteen tentacles now limp and bent over, having lost all its former power.

A golden light appeared in Yan's palm. His hand slashed horizontally and vertically, and a cross-shaped soul power light blade pierced through the corpse of the Fire Evil Tyrant, cutting through its body to reveal its internal condition.

A silver crystal emitting a faint red glow appeared in his sight. This was the crystal core of the Fire Evil Tyrant, containing spiritual energy. It could enhance a Soul Master's spiritual power through special methods of refinement, but it was not Yan's target.

"The Evil Eye, a soul beast, is skilled in spiritual power, so it should produce skulls!" Yan could sense a strange soul power fluctuation behind the crystal. He knew that it should be a soul bone. When he reached out to pick up the silver crystal, he was also somewhat expectant, secretly pondering that his 100,000-year-old soul bone should be an extremely precious skull.