Chapter 34: Level Breakthrough

Chapter 34: Level Breakthrough

In the blink of an eye, three years had passed.

Within that time, a few notable events had taken place, both minor and major.

First was a Youth Soul Master Tournament hosted by the Spirit Hall.

Surprisingly, the champion of that tournament was neither from the Spirit Hall nor the Star Luo Empire, but from the Heaven Dou Empire—a turn of events that left everyone bewildered.

The turning point for the Heaven Dou Empire was equally baffling to all the factions: it was all due to an auxiliary Soul Master.

During the tournament, a Spirit Hall agility-attack Soul Master had made a mistake in their usual process of cutting off the auxiliary Soul Master's support. Their combo failed to take out the auxiliary Soul Master.

The Heaven Dou contestant seized this opportunity and used the agility-attack Soul Master as a breakthrough point, dismantling the formation of the Spirit Hall team.

It was only later that they learned that the auxiliary Soul Master from the Heaven Dou Empire had been practicing a bone-refining cultivation method, resulting in physical strength superior to that of other auxiliary Soul Masters.

This outcome instantly drew attention to the terrifying power of that cultivation technique.

In almost an instant, that cultivation method became a standard for all top auxiliary Soul Masters. After all, without the ability to protect oneself, how could one be considered a top auxiliary Soul Master?

During this time, the biggest victim was undoubtedly the Star Luo Empire.

While their Title Douluo and Soul Douluo were still researching the feasibility of the cultivation technique, the Heaven Dou Empire and the Spirit Hall had already started teaching it to their younger generation.

To prevent their young Soul Masters from falling behind, the high-ranking officials of the Star Luo Empire engaged in three days of discussions, ultimately reaching a conclusion: they would directly instruct the Title Douluo and Soul Douluo to impart the cultivation technique to their younger generation.

As the Star Luo Empire scrambled to catch up, the Heaven Dou Empire wasn't idle either.

Since the Spirit Hall had intervened to prevent frequent conflicts between the two empires, the Heaven Dou Empire, with its relatively weak military power, held a favorable view of the Spirit Hall.

Through negotiations between the two factions, it was agreed that the Spirit Hall would send a batch of students to Heaven Dou City each year for "bone refining."

In reality, this arrangement held more symbolic significance than practical value, as the Spirit Hall had also mastered the bone-refining technique by this time.

Moreover, not many people knew that the refinement technique mastered by the Spirit Hall was even more intricate and comprehensive than the one used by the Heaven Dou Empire.

This tacit agreement between the Heaven Dou Empire and the Spirit Hall seemed to send a message to the Star Luo Empire: don't cause trouble in the coming years. If the Star Luo Empire dared to stir up trouble, the Spirit Hall could seize the opportunity to repay their debt and take action.

Following this, a minor incident occurred within the Heaven Dou Empire.

The first son of the Emperor of Heaven Dou, Xue Qinghe, had successfully gained the favor of the only Title Douluo in the Heaven Dou Royal Family.

Without even needing to cultivate relationships or curry favor, Xue Qinghe secured a firm footing for his future position as the "Crown Prince" solely through the support of the Poison Douluo.

As for how the first prince, Xue Qinghe, gained the backing of the Poison Douluo, there were many speculations.

Initially, some claimed that it was because the "Wang Si," who was by Xue Qinghe's side, had formed a relationship with the granddaughter of the Poison Douluo.

However, the spreader of this information soon disappeared without a trace.

Obviously, this was not a case of the grandfather standing up for his granddaughter's husband, as one might find in a fictional story.

Subsequently, other rumors emerged. Some said that "Wang Si" had earned the recognition of the Poison Douluo, which led the latter to support Xue Qinghe.

Others speculated that it was because of a favor the Poison Douluo owed someone, and he was repaying it by helping Xue Qinghe.

There were also those who believed that the Poison Douluo simply favored Xue Qinghe and chose to support him.

The most recent event, and one that had caught many of the continent's high-level forces off guard, involved the Spirit Hall as the protagonist and the Star Luo Empire as the jester.

It began when a Title Douluo from the Spirit Hall ventured into the Star Dou Great Forest and returned with serious injuries. However, while cultivating the bone-refining technique, an accident occurred.

Fortunately, the Title Douluo's injuries didn't worsen, but he discovered a significant drawback to the cultivation technique: regardless of the attribute, all soul power would be used for bone refining, even soul power that didn't belong to the user.

Everyone's first reaction was: "Isn't that a good thing?"

But the Title Douluo quickly slapped down their assumptions by explaining that this included soul power unintentionally injected into one's body by others.

If the attributes were the same, it wouldn't be a problem. However, if the attributes differed, using that soul power for bone refining was like suddenly throwing a large stone into the middle of a road you were paving. Once the road was complete, the stone would be embedded in it. While you could remove the stone, it would damage the road's foundation.

In response to this revelation, someone from within the Spirit Hall immediately issued a statement: "To cultivate this technique, the first step is to clear away any impurities. If you've cleared your own channels, that's good. But if someone else has cleared them for you, the first step is to retract your soul power or have someone help push it back."

After that, it was necessary to clear away impurities before each cultivation session: this wasn't explicitly mentioned in the technique, but it was a conclusion one could draw by observing the young Soul Masters who had undergone bone refinement.

But, the Star Luo Empire was furious!

Fck! Our Title Douluo also suspected that there might be a problem with the cultivation method, and he pondered over it for a long time.

And now you pull this stunt? The first step was wrong; there's no point in continuing.

To enhance the young generation's soul power, many of them had their young disciples intensely feel the soul power of stronger soul masters when helping them unblock their bones.

Moreover, the Star Luo Empire was a belligerent country, and it was common for their youth to engage in frequent battles. Inevitably, their bodies would come into contact with the soul power of others during these fights.

Some even went as far as to crazily absorb the soul power of others, deeming this behavior cool, and this was further encouraged by a Title Douluo who promoted this practice.

Damn it! All these young people from the Star Luo Empire are ruined!

With an entire generation of the Star Luo Empire's youth affected, how could they possibly let the culprit off the hook!

......

In the Crown Prince's mansion, within the mimicry cultivation field.

Along with a 'ka' sound, Wang Si broke through the nineteenth level, and his soul power reached the twentieth level.

"Congratulations, congratulations, you've finally broken through."

Qin Renxue, who was flipping through the intelligence sent by She Mao Douluo, glanced at Wang Si and perfunctorily congratulated him before continuing to read the report.

Wang Si got up, stretched his limbs, and then came to Qin Renxue's side. He hugged her from behind and rested his chin on her shoulder, reading the intelligence report together with her.

Girls mature faster, and even though Qin Renxue was only eleven years old at the moment, she already had the charm and demeanor of a fifteen or sixteen-year-old young lady.

As for Wang Si, due to his denser bone structure than average and the generally slower development of boys, he still looked like he was eight or nine years old.

The image of an eight or nine-year-old boy hugging a fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl was bizarre, to say the least, but Qin Renxue had long gotten used to it.

However, precisely because she matured so quickly, her height would soon surpass that of Xue Qinghe, which was problematic.

Therefore, the assassination plan had to be carried out ahead of schedule, and the ruckus created by the Spirit Hall was intended to incite the fury of the Star Luo Empire.

And now, Wang Si had "coincidentally" broken through to the twentieth level and needed to obtain his second soul ring.

For the Star Luo Empire, this was the perfect opportunity.

However, it also meant that Qin Renxue would have to leave the campus, leave Tang Yuehua, and maintain a distance from Wang Si.

Although they had anticipated that such a day would come, it was still difficult to accept when it finally arrived.

Well... to be precise, it was difficult for Qin Renxue to accept.

Resting his chin on Qin Renxue's shoulder, Wang Si slowly closed his eyes, cherishing this rare moment of intimacy.

Before closing his eyes, he glanced at his attribute panel: the year limit of his first soul ring had reached three thousand years.

As for the color and aura of the soul ring, the system could disguise them.

Being able to withstand a three-thousand-year soul ring at only the twentieth level was originally impossible for Wang Si.

However, after absorbing the soul bone, things changed.

To increase the limit of the soul bone, he needed to cultivate continuously, and in the process, his body would be constantly strengthened, which would, in turn, increase the upper limit of his soul ring's year limit.

He pushed his soul power to the limit with each level, maximizing the potential of his first soul ring and both soul bones before choosing to upgrade his soul power.

That's right, Wang Si had absorbed both soul bones and enhanced them to the limit of what his body could withstand—three thousand years.

However, on the outside, Wang Si always used the soul bone skill "Shockwave."

Previously, Qin Ming had mentioned that Wang Si had a robust body but lacked an offensive skill. With the acquisition of "Shockwave," Wang Si had met Qin Ming's expectations.

He had even exceeded Qin Ming's expectations, as the limit of three thousand years for his soul ring was indicative of the body strength of an ordinary Soul Honored.

Yet, this level of strength had manifested in a child who was only at the twentieth level and not even a Soul Ancestor yet.

Nevertheless, everyone kept this information under wraps because Wang Si was the founder of the 《Hundred Refining Bones》 technique.

Almost all forces tacitly acknowledged one thing: Wang Si's limit was the pinnacle that young cultivators of the 《Hundred Refining Bones》 technique would strive for.

Although no one had yet reached Wang Si's level of strength at this stage, others attributed this exceptionality to his first soul skill.

Since the 《Hundred Refining Bones》 technique was derived from the first soul skill, it seemed reasonable that the effect of the first soul skill would be even more remarkable.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end