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Su Wen's mouth twitched.
These book pages weren't just simple pages; they were meant to be the foundation for constructing a "Mountain of Books and Sea of Learning" in every branch.
The Mountain of Books and Sea of Learning wouldn't be a tiny ball of light like the one Su Wen had shown Xiao Zhan; it had to support the usage of every single member of an entire branch.
Just thinking about the scale of this project made Su Wen's scalp tingle.
Good grief. He had only just preliminarily solved the issue of his Replication soul skill, and now another massive soul power consumer had appeared.
No, this might be more than just a "massive consumer."
Compared to this project, the burden of the Replication soul skill was nothing.
Once this project launched, it was on track to squeeze Su Wen bone-dry!
"I'm afraid even squeezing me dry wouldn't be enough..."
Su Wen fell silent.
However, when faced with a problem, one had to find a solution.
Particularly because Su Wen seemed to have the capacity to achieve the technical requirements for this idea.
Furthermore, once successful, the entire Academy would be built upon the foundation of his Martial Soul, making it convenient for him to collect Power of Faith in the future.
If he could create a virtual world based on his thousands of book pages, it would be another major source of faith.
Su Wen was certain that if he collected faith through this channel, his speed might even surpass that of the Sea God.
After all, even if the first-generation Sea God collected the faith of the entire ocean, the sea was so vast that Su Wen suspected the Sea God spent at least five or six hundred of his eight hundred years just conquering the ocean and spreading his faith across it.
However, Su Wen was definitely not satisfied with that kind of speed.
Becoming a god in three hundred years?
No, no, that's too slow.
Su Wen cut off his long-term daydreaming and began to ponder the problem currently at hand.
"Since I cannot bear this consumption myself, I'll let others bear it. For example, my pages only need me to condense them and open the Mountain of Books and Sea of Learning, but the daily maintenance will be handled by the respective Academy branches. For me, this simplifies the task to just fixing my pages in place and giving them the ability to absorb external energy to maintain their existence."
Thinking of this, Su Wen felt a sense of familiarity.
Fixing the Mountain of Books and Sea of Learning, fixing the summoned pages, and enabling them to absorb external energy to exist for a long time...
He seemed to have seen a similar ability recently.
"Fire Seed?"
Xiao Zhan's fire-seed-type soul skill!
Su Wen remembered.
By condensing flames into a "Fire Seed," they could exist for a long period.
From another perspective, this was a way to compress soul power—separating it from oneself without hindering the recovery of the soul power spent on condensing the seed. It was an alternative method of storing soul power and flames.
In fact, Xiao Zhan likely had similar thoughts: storing fire seeds during normal times so that he could use them directly in battle, unleashing powerful combat strength instantly.
Once a fire seed was condensed, it should be able to last indefinitely as long as energy was periodically replenished...
"Uncle Zhan, I'm afraid I can't wait for you to fully develop your secret technique; I need your technique right now." Su Wen left the domain of the Three Illusion Mountains—the three peaks surrounding the Academy—and returned to Heaven Dou Imperial Academy.
"Xiao Wen?" Xiao Zhan was surprised that Su Wen had come looking for him so soon.
He had clearly stated not long ago that it would be a while before he returned.
"Aren't you supposed to be supervising the construction?"
Su Wen gave a helpless smile and explained his purpose.
"My fire seed condensing technique?"
Upon hearing Su Wen's request, Xiao Zhan wore an expression of speechlessness. "You brat, I only just mentioned my new secret technique development, and you're already eyeing it?"
"It's not that I'm interested in your secret technique, Uncle Zhan—wait, that's not right, I am interested in your secret technique, but not for its own sake right now." Su Wen explained, "It's just that my current development of the Mountain of Books and Sea of Learning requires the use of your fire seed condensing technique."
Xiao Zhan frowned.
"My fire seed condensing technique isn't the key. The condensation of the seed still relies on a soul skill. Although I had been groping around with the technique for a long time, I never succeeded. In the end, I only completed that step by using my eighth soul ring which granted me this specific soul skill."
In other words, if one only learned the technique, this self-created soul skill could not be mastered.
A fire-seed-type skill... could it not be self-created?
Su Wen thought about it carefully; it seemed to be the case.
If Xiao Zhan could have developed it himself, there would have been no need to waste an eighth soul skill slot on it.
However, just because Xiao Zhan couldn't develop it didn't mean—
"It's definitely not a problem on my end. I've been exploring this area for over a decade. With my experience in self-creating soul skills, it's impossible for me to be mistaken even about this." Xiao Zhan said indifferently, glancing at Su Wen.
He seemed to have seen right through Su Wen's thoughts.
Su Wen wasn't embarrassed and quickly thought of a new solution.
Xiao Zhan's fire-seed-type skill was his eighth soul skill, and Su Wen certainly couldn't replicate it yet—he would have to wait until he reached the eight-ring rank to unlock it. So, he couldn't replicate Xiao Zhan's.
However, Xiao Huo was only at the five-ring rank...
"Ahem, Uncle Zhan, could you let me replicate Huo'er-jie's Martial Soul?" Su Wen asked, watching Xiao Zhan's expression.
After some thought, he decided to tell Xiao Zhan about the replication capability of his fourth soul skill.
Xiao Zhan could be trusted.
Glancing at Su Wen, Xiao Zhan remained silent for a long time, neither agreeing nor refusing.
Finally, he spoke.
"Xiao Wen, it's best if as few people as possible know about your replication soul skill."
Even though it had flaws—only being able to replicate 70% of the target's Martial Soul and soul skill effects.
Regardless, it was still a way to pry into the effects of someone else's soul skills.
For many Soul Masters, a soul skill was an extremely important trump card.
Most Soul Masters wandering the continent kept a hidden hand as their ultimate move, but if their soul skills were known in advance, many of those hidden cards would be exposed.
The vast majority of Soul Masters wouldn't care if Su Wen's replication was limited or flawed; they would only feel wary of a replication-type soul skill.
Of course, if it truly were exposed, it wouldn't be the end of the world.
Firstly, because of the limitations, many Soul Masters would be wary but then conclude it was actually acceptable.
Secondly, and most importantly, this soul skill didn't pose much of a threat to high-level Soul Masters.
The combat power of low-level Soul Masters relied entirely on their soul skills, with very little personal development.
But after reaching the Soul Saint level, the application of soul skills became the most important factor.
Especially for outstanding individuals like Xiao Zhan and Huo Tianyang; having their original soul skills replicated wouldn't make them vulnerable to being countered.
Genius Soul Masters were the same; most would train their control over soul skills and have a degree of personal development.
The people truly wary of a replication skill would only be the mediocre ones among low-level Soul Masters.
Specifically, those with "mass-market" soul skills that worked as soon as they were replicated.
This was why Su Wen didn't treat his replication skill like a precious treasure to be completely sealed off and never shared.
Of course, it was still better not to expose it to the outside world if possible; it would save a lot of trouble.
"Don't worry, Uncle Zhan, I know the weight of the matter."
"Mhm. Once you reach the Soul Saint level yourself, it won't really matter whether you're exposed or not." Xiao Zhan nodded.
Strength was the foundation.
He was also subtly reminding Su Wen not to get too distracted by other matters.
"As for Huo'er, if she doesn't mind, it doesn't matter if you replicate her soul."
(End of Chapter)