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Beneath the do of the Spirit Hall's library, Gui i stood holding a yellowed scroll made of sheepskin. It was crumpled with fine wrinkles from being tightly gripped.
Two years had passed, and he had nearly combed through all the martial soul research texts on the continent, yet he still couldn't find even a trace of 'Oak's' true identity.
The moonlight slanted through the stained-glass windows, casting eerie shadows on his pale face.
"Your Eminence, here is the latest intelligence from Tian Dou City." As the black-clad steward handed over the confidential letter, the spectral fla flickering at Gui i's fingertips burned the thirty-seventh forged manuscript on martial soul evolution theory to ashes. This marked the end of yet another imposter who would descend into hell under the tornt of the Thousand Ghosts Devouring Heart technique.
Hundreds of miles away, at Nuoding Junior Academy.
Gu La lounged in a hammock woven from Blue Silver Grass, shielded by a transparent psychic barrier that blocked all prying eyes.
Between his fingers, he toyed with a dark golden soul-guided device containing fragnts of the blueprint for the ga Evolution device—traded for three ten-thousand-year soul bones by the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect.
"It's ti to send it out."
The young man adjusted his lensless glasses, his gaze profound, as if he could see through the trajectory of the future.
No one could have imagined that the author of the revolutionary martial soul evolution theory and the inventor of the ga Evolution device, Oak, was actually a student still attending a junior academy.
Over the past two years, Gu La had progressively released papers, unveiling the principles behind the ga Evolution device and gradually distributing the devices themselves in exchange for transactions with various factions.
With ti-travel techniques at his disposal, Gu La remained cautious. Any danger unable to transcend ti and space posed no real threat to him.
During this period, he relied on his ever-improving psychic powers to hypnotize and evade scrutiny from Tian Dou Empire inspectors, Spirit Hall spies, Star Luo Empire agents, and sect informants alike…
The small town of Nuoding concealed a master manipulator pulling the strings behind the scenes, watching the winds of change sweep across the land, quietly observing as the world transford.
In the midst of writing nurous papers, Gu La hadn't neglected his continued research on the ga Evolution device. After thoroughly studying Tang San's Hao Tian Hamr martial soul, he finally developed a ga Evolution device for weapon-type martial souls.
The principle remained the sa: using soul bones and high-purity elental energy to stimulate the soul master's bloodline. However, weapon martial soul users had an additional requirent—they needed to comprehend the concept of 'intent'.
Recalling the plot of Legend of the Dragon King, Gu La divided the mastery of weapon martial souls into four stages, using the sword as an example.
Sword Intent, Spear Soul, Spear Spirit/God, and One with the Heavens.
While the first stage might seem straightforward, it was far from simple. In Gu La's estimation, even Chen Xin, whose title was derived from the sword, was only at the second stage, not yet reaching the third.
After all, compared to the understanding of martial souls twenty thousand years later, the current state of knowledge on Douluo Continent could be described as worlds apart.
Especially for weapon martial souls, which lacked the physical enhancents provided by beast martial souls, they seed inherently weaker and required more secret techniques and innate talent to compensate.
Returning to the topic at hand, only by comprehending 'intent' could a martial soul harness the bloodline power within the soul bone. Under the catalysis of ga Evolution energy, this would lead to the elevation of the martial soul.
Otherwise, the soul master would be drained of soul power by the rampant bloodline force, resulting in backlash from the martial soul and potentially fatal injuries.
As for auxiliary soul masters…
Gu La reluctantly set them aside for now. The differences between martial soul types were akin to the distinctions between species. Even with his god-level breeding knowledge, he couldn't figure out how auxiliary soul masters could grasp intent.
From the training grounds ca the sound of repeated thuds, tinged with impatience.
Two years had passed since the garden was turned into a fully equipped training field, funded by Gu La himself. It was a small gesture of gratitude to Nuoding Academy.
At this mont, Tang San's Hao Tian Hamr left afterimages in the twilight, perfectly combining ghostly phantom-like footwork with the overwhelming power characteristic of the Hao Tian Hamr.
The surfaces of four ironwood stakes were covered in spiderweb-like cracks, but over ti, these cracks began to heal, as if the stakes possessed mory.
Xiao Wu sat cross-legged on the wall, pausing mid-bite of her carrot: "Xiao San, your hamr is crying. Big Brother said you're too stubborn and impatient, but the comprehension of artistic conception cannot be rushed."
(T/N: Tbh, 'artistic conception' is the Google translated version. I'm not sure how to phrase it. It's like when you watch a master at work, they just have a certain smooth, almost hypnotic quality to it. Iykyk.)
Tang San abruptly halted his movents, sweat dripping from his chin onto the handle of the Hao Tian Hamr.
Ever since his failed attempt at ga Evolution three months ago, the Hao Tian Hamr had been shrouded in a crimson mist.
This mist represented the killing intent buried deep within him. However, unlike the overwhelmingly tyrannical "essence" of the Hao Tian Hamr, Tang San's killing intent lacked a certain dominance, preventing him from truly resonating with the Hao Tian Hamr.
He had already grasped 'hamr intent', but perhaps due to differences in fighting style, six months had passed, and he still hadn't gained any insight into 'artistic conception'.
He recalled Gu La's latest paper: when a weapon martial soul emitted a mournful wail, it signified a crack in the resonance between the soul master and their martial soul.
A flicker of confusion crossed Tang San's eyes. "Could it be that I'm just not suited for using the hamr? Is that why my ga Evolution also failed?"
A once-in-a-century martial arts prodigy of the Tang Sect now found himself lost in deep thought.
"Do you want to demonstrate the Soft Boned Rabbit's 'Moon Intent?'
Xiao Wu landed lightly, pink soul power coalescing behind her into a two-ter-tall giant rabbit silhouette.
This was a new ability she had gained after completing her ga Evolution last month. By binding moonlight with her psychic power, she ford silken ribbons of moonlight, achieving sothing akin to the 'intent' of weapon martial souls.
By skillfully wielding these moonlight ribbons, she could replicate control abilities similar to those of Blue Silver Grass, aiding her in battle by disrupting opponents—a capability reminiscent of control-type soul masters.
The downside was that using moonlight ribbons required drawing on moonlight energy, aning Xiao Wu couldn't use her second soul skill simultaneously.
Only on nights with abundant moonlight could she freely utilize both abilities without fear of depletion.
To improve this limitation, Xiao Wu needed to continue fusing soul rings related to moonlight, fully evolving her martial soul.
Tang San shook his head with a bitter smile. Weapon martial souls and beast martial souls were fundantally different, let alone the Hao Tian Hamr, which lacked other forms of energy.
For instance, though he could sense the sleeping torrent of violent power deep within the Hao Tian Hamr, he couldn't find the key to awaken it.
After all, in his previous life, he was accustod to assassination. Suddenly forcing himself to change his habits—and even his personality—to engage in direct combat would take years of training and Great Spirit Arena battles.
"Earlier, I was too impatient. Let calm down for a while."
Tang San took a deep breath, steadying his emotions. He touched the ga Evolution device on his wrist, which had two buttons—one for Blue Silver Grass and one for the Hao Tian Hamr.
ga evolving Blue Silver Grass posed no difficulty for him. He even had a premonition that after attempting ga Evolution, upon breaking through Level 30 and obtaining a soul ring, he would fully awaken as the Blue Silver Emperor. At that point, ga Evolution would rely be icing on the cake.
As for the Hao Tian Hamr, perhaps driven by reluctance, Tang San refused to admit that he needed to change his personality for the sake of his martial soul, leading to a prolonged stalemate.
After calming his mind, Tang San ditated to restore his soul power. He decided to take things one step at a ti, trusting that Big Brother Gu La would surely find a way to resolve the problem trapping him.
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