The morning light refracted through the glassware in the laboratory as Gu La's slender fingers lightly tapped on the inkstone desk.
Faint cheers from the Soul Masters Tournant drifted in from outside, but they seed to belong to another world. His gaze swept over the list of competitors being sold at the Great Spirit Arena, pausing briefly on nas like "Huyan Shan" and "Mo Wuhen," before he lost interest and closed the scroll.
"In the end, these are all just conventional beast-type martial souls. Tool-type soul masters are already rare, let alone practitioners who've cultivated 'intent' or even touched upon 'montum.'"
"It seems I overestimated them due to a lack of proper education, leading to ignorance."
Gu La lifted his celadon teacup, the rising steam blurring the worry between his brows.
On the desk lay an improved formula for the Bone-Fortifying ointnt that he had been refining for three years. The yellowed parchnt was densely covered with notes detailing the proportions of seventeen dicinal ingredients.
"Almost three years—it's ti to release the perfected formula for the Bone-Fortifying ointnt. However, I haven't yet found a starting point for the next phase of research."
Gu La no longer lacked money or resources, nor did he need to hoard goods. The resources traded by the major powers were more than enough to sustain his cultivation up to the level of a Title Douluo.
With that in mind, he polished the paper slightly, left a shadow clone to mislead any watchers, and sent the manuscript out.
Upon returning, Gu La sat back down at the lab table, fiddling with a piece of deep-sea mithril in his hands.
"What should I research next? Healing dicine, special tools, or perhaps soul-guiding devices?"
Gu La felt dissatisfied with all these options—they lacked that sense of awe-inspiring innovation.
"Previously, I appraised treasures traded by the major powers—mostly ores and parts of spirit beasts. Rare dicinal herbs were few and far between, indicating they knew their value. Unfortunately, such herbs would yield the greatest benefits only if they were in my hands…"
"Bloodline power isn't suitable for all soul masters, and cultivating spiritual power is too advanced. Introducing a system of realms wouldn't make much difference, though I could ntion it casually."
Gu La looked up at the sky—a vast expanse of blue with the sun high above.
His thoughts began to drift, and suddenly, a flash of inspiration illuminated his mind.
"I've got it—soul cores."
Gu La's eyes lit up. "Soul cores are techniques that only beca widespread among soul masters ten thousand years later. By compressing soul power to its extre and collapsing it into a solid core, soul masters can double their endurance. Even Title Douluos could fight continuously for a day and night without exhausting their soul power."
"My fourth soul ring will likely be a high-quality fire-attribute one. When the ti cos, the divine beast exchange vouchers I've accumulated will surely allow the Groudon martial soul to evolve, maintaining its Primal Reversion state."
"With dual Ultimate attributes, my soul power will be compressed to the extre. At the Soul King or Soul Emperor stage, I can consider condensing my first soul core. Preparing now will save a lot of trouble."
Gu La lowered his gaze in deep thought. On this continent, Di Tian had researched the Yin Yang Complentary dual soul core technique, but he certainly wouldn't share it with Gu La. Gu La would have to figure it out himself.
"Condensing a soul core requires exceptional physical strength and soul power—only Title Douluos typically qualify."
A flicker of realization crossed Gu La's face. "I rember Dugu Bo has a poison pill that contains all the toxins in his body."
"That's a good experintal subject."
Gu La pondered silently, wondering how to connect with Dugu Bo and persuade him to willingly risk his life to help test the soul core.
"The toxins in his body could be a starting point, but it's still risky. Dugu Bo is unpredictable—I don't want to entrust my safety to soone else's hands."
"My strength is still insufficient. Many advanced theories require cultivation to validate."
Gu La sighed. If possible, he preferred not to take risks.
Ultimately, he decided to use the old thod—throwing out so preliminary theories to bait the Spirit Hall into providing information.
However, this approach might expose the fact that Oak couldn't reach Title Douluo-level soul masters. While others still wouldn't find him, Oak's aura of mystery and authority would undoubtedly diminish.
"Less reverence ans less faith energy. I need to find a way to mitigate this."
Gu La spread out a fresh piece of parchnt and wrote a new title for his paper:
"Twelve Possible Outcos of Solidifying Soul Power"
Gu La's ability to fabricate theories was exceptional. Drawing from concepts like beast cores, inner elixirs, inner spaces, and multiple dantians found in novels, he wrote extensively.
Of course, he also included so valuable content as bait.
"The efficiency of conventional soul power circulation is too low. If we apply the principle of a hurricane's eye to circulate soul power, the rate of flow could increase threefold. Naturally, this imposes higher demands on physical strength."
Gu La paused, considering that on the Douluo Continent, there was no concept of ridians. Soul power circulated directly within the body.
Thus, the speed of soul power circulation depended solely on physical strength. Compared to the mysterious and difficult-to-enhance ridians, improving physical strength was clearly simpler.
"Pros and cons go hand in hand. Practicing Xuantian Gong utilizes ridians, which increases the difficulty of condensing soul cores. However, once successful, the upper limit and recovery speed of soul power would surpass those of ordinary soul masters."
Gu La felt fortunate to have developed the Bone-Fortifying ointnt and made the formula public.
Otherwise, given the current state of the Douluo Continent—where even Title Douluos couldn't defeat hundred-thousand-year spirit beasts—it was uncertain whether condensing a soul core would be possible.
"Condensing a soul core requires precise control over details using spiritual power—another threshold."
Gu La tossed the pen down in frustration, spilling ink onto the desk like scattered flowers.
"Am I their nanny now? I have to worry about everything for them, almost like feeding them spoon by spoon."
After venting, life went on, and so did the writing of the paper.
"Sigh."
Gu La switched to a new sheet of paper, recalling the cultivation thods for Psychic-type Pokémon, and began drafting another paper.
"Thoughts on Spiritual ditation and Visualization Techniques (Part 1)"
Gu La switched his martial soul, activating his spiritual power.
"The top-tier ditation techniques provided in God-level Breeder skills can allow Psychic-type Pokémon to reach the level of third-tier gods while still being effective."
"But for true Legendaries, the effects of ditation pale in comparison to natural growth."
"Especially for Celebi, the forest deity granted by the system, who possesses the authority of the forest. Conventional ditation can only accelerate the developnt of inherent potential, much like the Purple Extre Demon Eye."
"Practicing with purple qi is too slow. Could I combine the two and visualize a purple sun illuminating the primordial spirit?"
Gu La paused, exchanging for a portion of pure Ghost-type energy. Carefully, he used his Psychic abilities to sense the fluctuations of the ghostly energy.
"Ghost-type Pokémon can be seen as cultivating the soul, absorbing life energy to sustain themselves. This suggests the possibility of converting life force into spiritual power."
"Humans lack the innate talent of Ghost-type Pokémon, so a seed is needed—the key to forming a visualization image."
"Visualization is rely the surface. The essence lies in transforming life force into spiritual power and nurturing the soul."
Gu La's eyes glead with excitent as he eagerly prepared to explore the mysteries of the soul.
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