Over the next five days, Chen Junting sat in meditation beside the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. Under the guardianship of the four great soul spirits and the watchful eye of Electrolux, Chen Junting continuously polished his divine skill prototypes, while also attempting to thoroughly consolidate his cultivation from the past ten months.
Qi and blood permeated the air, and the phantom of his martial soul flickered behind him... Surrounding patterns spread out like chains of the Great Dao, all radiating brilliant light. Some constantly wore away, yet new ones emerged.
At the same time, his first and second soul rings seemed to have been washed pure, transforming into two transparent rings. As for the yellow representing the hundred-year soul ring and the purple representing the thousand-year soul ring, they had long since dissipated into nothingness, becoming a negligible portion of Chen Junting's nourishment.
This scene made the four great soul spirits sigh with emotion.
"When he wakes up again, he'll probably be even stronger."
The Snow Empress looked at Chen Junting, her gaze akin to looking at a monster. As the second strongest in cultivation among the four great soul spirits in her past life, and as the existence who created the Snow Empress's Three Ultimates, the Snow Empress understood better than anyone just how powerful a unique skill created by oneself and perfectly suited to oneself could be!
Humans, up to this point, she had seen quite a few. But someone like Chen Junting...
"There's probably only one per era of ten thousand years."
The Snow Empress lamented, yet felt joyful about it. After all, the stronger Chen Junting was now, the greater his chances of becoming a god in the future. She had wagered everything she had on Chen Junting!
"Actually, he's already broken Qian Lingyun's record."
Tyrant spoke up at this moment.
Regarding other deities, Tyrant was unaware. But for his "old rival" Qian Lingyun—having possessed nearly a million years of cultivation in the past, and with his remnant soul still lingering—he found knowing some of her famous past to be no difficult feat.
Just think about it. Sealed in the alternate dimension of the Heaven Sword Mountain, his remnant soul and obsessions were once unable to sleep due to soaring grief and indignation. Then, someone, to commemorate Qian Lingyun, the Angel God, would constantly offer sacrifices on the Heaven Sword Mountain over a century, muttering and chanting endlessly...
His recitations could have bored his obsession to death!
Want to know? That was easily accomplished.
Anyway, in Tyrant's memory, this Qian Lingyun who became a deity was twenty-five years old when she became a Title Douluo. This matter was constantly preached by those who offered sacrifices to her.
Yet the current Chen Junting was only twenty years old, and he was already a Super Douluo with Limit Douluo combat power. He had even stepped onto the path to godhood and forged an actual route.
This truly was—comparing humans can enrage beasts!
At this moment, he had an indescribably complex feeling. Hmm... how to put it?
It was probably—I couldn't beat you in life nor become a god, Qian Lingyun, but tens of thousands of years after my death, I can directly get carried to a win by someone whose talent far surpasses yours!
That was roughly his mindset.
As for the Evil Emperor and the Mad King... These two lowest-ranking soul spirits exchanged a glance, roughly understanding what the other wanted to say but didn't—Forgive our shallow experience, we don't know many fancy words, but... Boss is awesome!
As time passed, within these five days, Chen Junting was like a seated divine statue or Buddha, solemn and motionless, without the slightest change during the process.
Even on the fifth day, when Xiao Bai returned.
"I'm back."
At this moment, having reverted to his human form, the moment he stepped into the treasure land of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, he was instantly stunned by the scene before him.
The heaven and earth origin energy split into two, funneling like a funnel, pouring entirely into the two transparent soul rings. At the same time, Chen Junting's third eye was wide open, with emerald life force constantly overflowing from it, making the Heavenly Eye look like an emerald gem, stimulating the vigorous vitality of the many herbs in the treasure land. Besides that, uncountable patterns coiled around the two transparent soul rings, causing constant transformations.
Yet even so, Chen Junting showed no sign of waking up...
"How long has it been?"
The Snow Empress asked directly without blinking.
For a moment, no one responded. Only the Evil Emperor roughly pondered and said, "One month."
"One month... hasn't woken up once..."
Hearing this, the Snow Empress and the others frowned slightly. The current situation didn't look like deep meditation.
So they all looked at Electrolux, but what they received was a reassuring glance from him telling them not to worry.
Until another month passed...
At this exact moment, Chen Junting suddenly opened his eyes, like two sharp swords piercing the Bullfight constellation and slaying the stars. At the same time, as Chen Junting stretched his arms, his aura surged violently, and an incredibly terrifying fluctuation of qi and blood gushed out from his body.
Flawless blood qi erupted entirely at this moment, and the two transparent soul rings seemed to be dyed in pure crimson blood!
Red, Red, Red, Red, Red, Red—
Orange, Rose Gold, Gold-Red!
Nine extremely horrifying soul rings slowly rose!
"It's done."
The Snow Empress spoke, breaking the silence.
Tyrant's words closely followed.
"Not only that, he also broke through to Level 97!"
Buzz—
As soon as the words fell, Chen Junting moved.
With a raise of his hand and a step of his foot, four sword intents erupted and dissipated, circulating a series of auras uniquely belonging to the Seven Kill Sword. Just doing this made his entire being seem merged as one with the Seven Kill Sword; a flick of his finger turned into sword qi, making the air wail and space tear.
"He is!?"
The Evil Emperor focused his gaze, his perception profound. In his perception, the person before him was not only a human but also a sword, and even his spirit was sword intent, capable of obliterating his mental power and churning it into nothingness.
In just five days, Chen Junting's rather significant changes left Xiao Bai confused, and even the four great soul spirits only had a half-understanding.
Only Electrolux completely saw through the clue, and an expression of joy at his disciple's success appeared on his face. "He succeeded."
Regarding the four great soul spirits' doubts, he just said, "Do you remember the method he planned to use for cultivation at the Super Douluo level?"
As soon as these words were spoken, the four great soul spirits suddenly realized.
"The current result is the success of that method."
Electrolux smiled and said, "He combined the soul core cultivation method of this era and the martial soul comprehension method of the past era, advancing side by side. Although the soul power accumulation required for each breakthrough is several times that of a single method, the combination of the two methods makes the foundation more solid and the combat power stronger."
Did Chen Junting lack soul power?
Of course not.
Whether it was the Qiankun Creation Pill, the arrays arranged in the sect, or the naturally formed treasure land of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well... all could provide him with massive amounts of heaven and earth origin energy without worry.
Since resources were not a problem and time was not a problem, what Chen Junting pursued now was only the enhancement of combat power.
"I am the martial soul, the martial soul is me!"
Ten words spat out from his mouth. The Seven Kill Sword had yet to manifest, but the sound of sword chimes was already constant, seemingly filling all directions.
Immediately after—
Hum—
The gathered heaven and earth origin energy seemed to be severed by a single sword!
The terrifying and sharp aura also abruptly dissipated into nothingness.
Chen Junting stood tall like a pine tree, motionless.
The next moment, "Phew—"
A mouthful of turbid air was exhaled, and all sharpness was completely retracted.
"Still a bit short."
Right now, Chen Junting could clearly feel that he was only one step away from Level 98. But don't be fooled by how he had just become one with the Seven Kill Sword; in reality, the fusion of his martial soul and himself was far from perfect.
Approximately...
78%.
This number was his fusion degree with his martial soul.
But through this process, he had roughly figured out how the martial soul should be stripped from his body.
One of the methods was somewhat not worth the loss.
It required "sacrificing" everything except one's soul, thereby transforming the martial soul from virtual to real.
This method would probably appear ten thousand years later in the original timeline, such as with the Sky-supporting Douluo Yun Ming and the Sky-leaping Douluo Guan Yue.
As for the second method, it could reference the first generation Sea God, Poseidon.
In Chen Junting's view, to successfully strip the martial soul and transform it from virtual to real, the necessary step was "giving."
For example, "sacrifice," or like the martial soul comprehension method.
One was sacrificing everything one had;
The other was slowly combining everything one was.
Both of these belonged to giving.
It was just that compared to the "forging ahead without hesitation" and irreversibility of the first method, the second method made oneself and the martial soul completely become "you in me, me in you." Put another way: only after the martial soul completely understood "you" could it complete its detachment.
Therefore, to successfully strip the martial soul, the first step was to achieve a one-hundred-percent degree of fusion between oneself and the martial soul.
This point was the key!
Putting it this way...
"I can consider this year quite rewarding."
"Junting (Big Dad)."
At this time, the Snow Empress and the others all gathered around, expressing their congratulations on Chen Junting's further advancement in cultivation. After exchanging pleasantries with everyone and his teacher, Chen Junting checked his body's condition and the two engraved soul skills.
As for the result?
Anyway, Chen Junting was very satisfied!
"Not bad, not bad."
Saying this, the corners of Chen Junting's mouth slightly raised.
Afterward, he looked at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well with a firm gaze. With a wave of his hand, four sword intents hung upon the array once more.
Since it wasn't bad, then continue cultivating!
He wanted to step by step ascend to his exclusive divine throne.
As for the Rakshasa God mark left by the God of Destruction... Forget it, just ignore it! How long has it been? Except for transmitting information and misleading Tang San a bit, it has been utterly useless. It doesn't even put on a pretense of giving him divine trials.
Boring!
Thus, another ten months passed like this...
At this very moment, in the Divine Realm.
In the main hall of the Divine Realm Committee, countless scenes flickered and flashed. Light screens representing different planets in the mortal realm flickered; one world, one scene, all under surveillance.
And by the round table right now, a woman wearing a water-green dress exuding an aura of life was sitting alone. A faint smile always graced her face, which was shrouded in a pale golden glow. That vibrant breath of life was not only unforgettable but also made one feel exceptionally close.
Clearly, the person on duty here had changed. After the God of Destruction, it was naturally this Goddess of Life.
But now, her shift was also over.
Outside the palace of the Divine Realm Committee at this moment, two figures respectively wearing black and white robes appeared. The one wearing the black robe was a young man; his short black hair looked quite spirited, but in his eyes, there seemed to be flames dancing, and at the corners of his mouth, he wore a somewhat wicked smile.
As for the one wearing the white robe, it was a woman; her fiery red long hair was casually draped behind her back, her face stunningly beautiful and gentle, possessing an unparalleled sense of purity.
Looking at the intimate appearance of this man and woman at the moment... Clearly, they were a married couple.
Just as they stepped into the Divine Realm Committee, the Goddess of Life turned her gaze toward this loving young couple.
"God of Evil, Goddess of Kindness, you've come."
Speaking with a smile, she slowly stood up.
"I'll leave the next two days to you."
"No problem, leave it to us." The God of Evil, Ji Dong, nodded slightly, and the Goddess of Kindness also signaled the Goddess of Life to rest assured.
So the Goddess of Life transformed into a green stream of light and drifted away. Her direction was obviously the Destruction Castle of the God of Destruction.
Watching the hurriedly departing back of the Goddess of Life, the beautiful Goddess of Kindness, Lie Yan, gently leaned on the shoulder of the God of Evil, Ji Dong, and asked, "Have you felt that recently, the conflict between the God of Destruction and the Sea God has become more and more obvious?"
"Of course."
The God of Evil sighed softly and said, "But we are no longer the two great God Kings of the past. Moreover, the current conflict is still considered small and hasn't been brought into the open yet, so let's just wait and see how things develop."
The Goddess of Kindness nodded, "True."
...
In a corner of the Divine Realm, dark clouds densely covered the sky above a pitch-black castle. Occasionally, a bolt of purple lightning would descend from the sky, striking the castle and dyeing it with a deep purple halo.
Here, even if any deity came, they would feel an obvious sense of oppression. Because this place was the territory of the God of Destruction, a place where numerous deities avoided—the Castle of Destruction.
Even the God of Destruction's wife, the Goddess of Life, wouldn't come here easily, because this place was everywhere filled with immense destructive thoughts. These destructive thoughts came from the destructive impulses of various creatures in the lower realms. Only the God of Destruction could absorb and transform them into his own power. Therefore, whenever he was cultivating, the God of Destruction would stay here.
As for when was the cultivating time... It was when the Goddess of Life was on duty.
In the dimly lit hall, destructive thoughts swirled around the God of Destruction's entire body, puffing out his purple robe to flutter recklessly.
Just at this time, "Little Purple, you were looking for me earlier?"
As a gentle voice rang out in the castle, the Goddess of Life had somehow arrived at the hall of the Destruction Castle.
In an instant, the God of Destruction suddenly opened his eyes!
After a flash of red light passed, tenderness had already taken its place.
"Why did you come here?"
The God of Destruction flashed his figure, hurriedly came to the Goddess of Life's side, and took her hand to quickly leave the Destruction Castle.
As they walked, the Goddess of Life smiled and said:
"Didn't you say you wanted to see me earlier?"
A trace of helplessness flashed through the God of Destruction's tender eyes, "Couldn't I have just come to the Forest of Life to find you?"
Hearing this, the Goddess of Life smiled and didn't respond.
Instead, she changed the topic, "What did you want to see me about?"
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