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In truth, the Mirror Image Beast wasn't the only one with a replication-type skill; there was also another spirit beast called the Silvergleam Beast.
However, Su Wen didn't think he had the ability to find a Silvergleam Beast.
Besides, purely from an effects standpoint, the Silvergleam Beast only replicated spirit skills, whereas the Mirror Image Beast's replication seemed broader, and it could also use the opponent's skills.
Its only flaw was that it couldn't unleash the skill's true effect.
But this was nothing to Su Wen. He was already adept at development. If he truly replicated some powerful spirit skills and wanted to pursue that path, he could just "engrave" it onto his spirit and develop it himself, compensating for the replicated skill's shortcomings.
Compared to planning for replication skills, Su Wen was now preparing to put another research item on his agenda.
"A spirit ring's age is still very important."
Even as a two-ring Grand Spirit Master, Su Wen could already feel the benefits brought by the age of his spirit rings.
"A thousand-year ring is much easier to develop than a hundred-year one. And the assistance and mobilization from the ring itself are on a higher level."
The change in color was a qualitative leap.
One hundred-year, one thousand-year... he couldn't just jump to a ten-thousand-year ring for his third one.
In other words—
"I will have to 'waste' at least three spirit ring slots."
Just from experiencing a thousand-year ring, and knowing that absorbing a ten-thousand-year ring added the trial of 'soul shock', Su Wen could imagine how powerful a ten-thousand-year ring must be.
In fact, it was probably not just "powerful."
It was possible that only ten-thousand-year spirit rings could be considered truly powerful spirit skills.
"I can't bet on the 'god's trial'..."
Not all gods' trials give benefits...
In fact, Su Wen suspected that the trials weren't meant to give benefits; it was just that the Sea God had ascended relatively recently and hadn't "given out" much, so he still had a deep foundation...
The Sea God was not a good fit for Su Wen.
"But... if there's wool to be fleeced, I must fleece it."
Although Su Wen had the idea of using the Sea God's trial to increase his spirit ring ages, he wasn't planning to bet on it.
"Just getting to Sea God Island is a huge problem in itself."
By the time he had the opportunity to go there, who knows what stage of the story it would be.
"If I can find a way to increase my spirit ring ages myself, then I'll do it myself. That way, I can fleece even more wool during the god's trial."
For example, would the reward be the same for a configuration of "one yellow, two purple, three black" as it would be for "six black" or "five black, one red"?
Sea God, would you really be willing to fob me off with just a few hundred years like a beggar?
Of course, Su Wen also had to pick his moment. It would be best if he was the only one undergoing the trial at that time, or at least the only one undergoing a trial of his level.
Ending his fantasy, Su Wen's thoughts returned to the present.
"In the original story, Tang San sacrificed his first four spirit rings, and then directly absorbed ten-thousand-year rings of the same type, all of them over 50,000 years."
Regardless of whether he had the Sea God's power assisting him, it proved one thing: this method of replacing spirit rings was feasible!
"If I had a 'formation' type spirit skill to regulate the process, perhaps it could minimize the damage from shattering the rings, allowing me to withstand the injury."
The "Spirit Ring Detonation" technique was also very important.
He couldn't delay.
Therefore...
Su Wen's gaze turned in a certain direction—the direction of his hometown.
"If nothing unexpected happens, I should be able to make it to that nodal point."
He was already level twenty-six. He set a small goal: reach level thirty within half a year.
Then... reach level forty two years after that...
To achieve this goal, Su Wen had to get his 'Source Spirit Power' cultivation method up and running.
"After trying for so long, I've only just barely managed to accumulate a tiny sliver of Source Spirit Power. But now that I have this tiny surplus, it seems... it's much faster to continue accumulating it."
The 'spirit space' was just Su Wen's definition. It was never an enclosed space, just a concept created for the sake of easy understanding.
"Using a circulation method similar to my spirit power's seems to be working well."
This was a point of relief for Su Wen.
At least he didn't have to grope in the dark, exploring a circulation pathway from scratch.
One must know, within the "spirit space," there were no "meridians" to restrict the flow of Source Spirit Power. It could flow however he wanted. To find a pathway that was beneficial for its cultivation would have taken an unknown amount of effort.
However, this was also a major advantage of the "spirit space."
It was not bound by the path of meridians!
"Using my spirit power's circulation pathway as the initial template, I have a 'guaranteed minimum' pathway. On this foundation, I can explore circulation structures that I couldn't try with my internal technique, and bit by bit, develop a cultivation method more suited for Source Spirit Power."
...
Time passed.
Su Wen's rhythm was extremely steady.
He was cultivating both the Spirit Fusion Method and the Spirit Ring Fusion Method.
Besides those, there was his own development of his spirit, his development of his spirit skills, and his conventional spirit power cultivation.
Once his Source Spirit Power began to accumulate, and he started circulating it within his spirit space, Su Wen was advancing at the absolute peak of his spirit's current aptitude, at almost every single moment.
The medicinal bath packets from Ning Fengzhi and the nutritional supplements from the academy allowed his cultivation to reach its absolute optimal state.
...
Half a year later.
Tian Dou Royal Academy.
The spirit power in Su Wen's body surged. A wave of spirit power fluctuated and spread out, creating a ripple of airflow that expanded from his body.
He opened his eyes, feeling the spirit power surging within him.
"I've finally broken through to level thirty!"
Twelve and a half years old, level thirty.
"Little Wen, do you... want to get your body checked?" Xiao Zhan asked, his face a picture of worry.
Four levels in half a year?
What kind of ridiculous process is this?
Even after convincing himself that Su Wen was just prematurely enjoying the conditions of a high-level Spirit Master, he still felt this was too absurd.
You have to remember, this included the major threshold from level twenty-nine to level thirty!
"Uncle Zhan, no need to be so dramatic. You're overreacting." Su Wen smiled faintly.
"My fusion degree with my spirit is just too high. Even the bottlenecks in cultivation are greatly weakened as a result."
In terms of fusion degree alone, Su Wen was already higher than an average Spirit Saint. A mere level-thirty bottleneck was a tiny obstacle for him.
"Spirit power cultivation has major bottlenecks and minor bottlenecks. The ones before every 'ten' rank are major, requiring a great deal of time and energy to break through, and can even become a threshold a Spirit Master never crosses in their life.
Besides those, every single level of spirit power breakthrough also has a 'minor' bottleneck.
If you divide cultivation into stages, every level has a 'spirit power accumulation' phase and a 'bottleneck-grinding' phase.
And it just so happens that I am not troubled by bottlenecks.
Normally, even for a genius, the time spent in the 'bottleneck-grinding' phase is no less than the 'accumulation' phase.
Uncle Zhan, you can just see it as me skipping half my cultivation time. My speed can actually be considered 'four levels a year'."
Su Wen attempted to make Xiao Zhan understand his cultivation speed.
"Doesn't 'four levels a year' sound much more normal?"
Normal, my ass!
Xiao Zhan's eyes widened, and he nearly shouted it out loud.
(End of this chapter)