It had been about ten days since he obtained his fourth Spirit Ring. Every day, Su Ming set aside time to condense as much of the Blood Source Power as he could.
Now, after ten days, he was finally about to see the results.
"The Blood Source Power condensed over these ten days has roughly increased my Qi and Blood power by ten percent," Su Ming concluded.
Was ten percent a small amount?
One must understand that Qi and Blood power is based on physical fitness. For Su Ming's Qi and Blood power to directly increase by ten percent now due to the Blood Source Power, if converted into the effort required for physical training, it might have taken him half a year to a year of hard work.
"Based on a normal intensity of combat, if this Blood Source Power is used in battle, it can guarantee me ten minutes of fighting without injury. If I only consider using it to repair partial injuries, ensuring my combat effectiveness isn't affected, this duration could be extended to about an hour."
One hour of intense combat at his level without his performance being affected by injuries – the value of this safeguard in battle was obvious.
Dugu Bo nodded, fairly satisfied with this data.
"This speed isn't fast, but it's not slow either," Dugu Bo said. "The obvious drawback for you is that if you engage in high-frequency combat within a short period, the Blood Source Power will inevitably be unable to supply your needs sufficiently."
"There's no need to worry about that," Su Ming replied. "The condensation speed of this Blood Source Power can be accelerated by me consuming more Spirit Power. Treating it as a daily practice without affecting other training disciplines naturally makes the accumulation slow. But if I focus entirely on condensing Blood Source Power for a day – no forging, no body tempering, no meditation, no Spirit Skill development, using all my Spirit Power to exchange for Blood Source Power – I could condense in one day the equivalent of these past ten days' worth."
Hearing this, Dugu Bo breathed a sigh of relief.
That was good.
"This Blood Source Power also significantly enhances my body tempering efficiency. Even though it's only about ten percent higher than my normal Qi and Blood level, my current body tempering efficiency has increased by roughly five percent."
If he continued to accumulate it, and the Blood Source Power could double his Qi and Blood power, perhaps it could increase his body tempering efficiency by fifty percent?
Dugu Bo clicked his tongue in admiration.
Was it difficult for the Blood Source Power to double his Qi and Blood?
For Su Ming, if he maintained this practice of condensing Blood Source Power during his normal cultivation for a hundred days, and didn't use the Blood Source Power in combat, he could achieve it.
Moreover, he could potentially stack even more in the future.
Of course, as Su Ming's physical fitness improved, the base level of his Qi and Blood would also rise, so the time required to accumulate Blood Source Power equivalent to his Qi and Blood power might be extended a bit.
Furthermore, an absolute linear relationship probably didn't exist; the ratio between the amplification of Qi and Blood by the Blood Source Power and the improvement in body tempering efficiency was unlikely to maintain this relationship indefinitely.
Even so, it was an extremely substantial improvement.
After gaining a deeper understanding of Su Ming's fourth Spirit Skill, Dugu Bo became even more engrossed in his research on the method Su Ming used to absorb his fourth Spirit Ring.
"This old man needs to focus on organizing some things here. Don't disturb me."
Dugu Bo walked to the area opposite the Ice Fire Two Eyes spring and found a spot to sit down.
"The soul and the body... two levels of the Spirit Ring..."
"Without a doubt, I now have all nine Spirit Rings. It's impossible for me to go back and absorb the remnant soul from the soul shock back then. But perhaps I can find a way to compensate for the lack in the remnant soul?"
"Before that, I must analyze the function of the Spirit Ring in these two domains."
"..."
After a series of rigorous deductions, Dugu Bo reached a conclusion.
"The physical part is the main body, containing the Spirit Skill, but it's too simplistic. The execution of the Spirit Skill lacks intelligence; it's missing the soul."
"The soul... So the part corresponding to the soul is the flexibility of the Spirit Skill? Su Ming's Blood Source Power is undoubtedly maximally flexible. Without any development, it already possesses more intelligence than the Spirit Skills many Spirit Masters cultivate their entire lives."
"But similarly, a Spirit Master can enrich a Spirit Skill, making it intelligent, through repeated use and practice."
"That is to say, a Spirit Master's development of a Spirit Skill is compensating for the soul part of the Spirit Ring."
"What's the significance?"
Returning to the initial question, Dugu Bo pondered: what was the purpose of all this reasoning he had done?
What benefit would compensating for the soul part of his Spirit Rings bring him?
"There must be a benefit. There definitely is..." Dugu Bo muttered a few times.
What seemed like a brief evolution of thought had actually taken Dugu Bo half a month to figure out.
Because he was so engrossed, he had even forgotten to channel the Ice and Fire energies to suppress the poison in his body.
Suddenly, a needle-like pain began to pierce the top of his head and the soles of his feet.
"Damn it, I forgot to suppress the poison."
Although annoyed, Dugu Bo didn't immediately set about suppressing the toxins within his body. Instead, his emerald-like pupils shone with a brilliant light.
That's it!
"The Spirit... the Spirit Ring lacks the 'soul', so it has no intelligence. My body contains residual toxins from when my Martial Spirit executes Spirit Skills. But what if the Spirit Rings had a 'soul'?"
"Just like how Su Ming's Blood Source Power can be re-extracted even after merging with his Qi and Blood power, why can't my poison be cured?"
Dugu Bo laughed heartily.
Then, it stopped abruptly.
His body began to convulse, wracked with spasms.
The pain in his head and feet forced a muffled groan from him.
Seeing this from across the spring, Su Ming immediately stopped his cultivation.
He didn't rashly approach Dugu Bo, mainly worried that the Titled Douluo might silence him to keep his secret safe.
Then he realized he was overthinking it.
Dugu Bo had no mind to pay him any attention; the agony wracking his body was already unbearable.
"This is pretty bad."
It was the first time Su Ming had seen Dugu Bo have an attack.
"I can't offer much help. I can only cast a Soul Control Technique on him."
The Soul Control Technique, as the name implied, was used to control an enemy's soul. However, Su Ming's proficiency was clearly insufficient to control Dugu Bo. He was using it purely to help Dugu Bo detach from the physical pain, allowing him to think clearly, so that Dugu Bo could find his own solution.
The mental entity within Su Ming's Sea of Consciousness began to chant, pointing a finger towards Dugu Bo.
Control!
Dugu Bo immediately felt the pain in his body lessen.
No, it wasn't that the pain was lessening, but rather that his soul was being partially detached.
Shocked, he looked at Su Ming.
Did this kid also have a Spirit Bone with a mental-type Spirit Skill?
Shaking his head, Dugu Bo dismissed these extraneous thoughts and focused on the current situation.
"Rely on the kid's Spirit Skill to get through this attack?"
"No, that's meaningless for me. I just avoid suffering the pain, but the degree of erosion from the toxins in my body is still deepening."
"Since this kid can partially detach the soul, perhaps I can try to meditate. If I can find the vacant Spirit Ring slot on the soul level while meditating in this state, I might even be able to directly attempt to supplement the soul part of my Spirit Rings."
Su Ming watched as Dugu Bo, his body still convulsing, entered a meditative state. For a moment, he was dumbfounded.
What was Dugu Bo doing?
After waiting for about three hours, by which time Dugu Bo's body had stopped convulsing, Su Ming finally dispelled the Soul Control Technique.
Dugu Bo opened his eyes, his face filled with excitement.
"Kid, I owe you thanks this time."
In his excitement, he jumped up, grabbed Su Ming, and tossed him towards the other side.
"You continue your normal cultivation. I need to go into seclusion first."
***
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(Chapter End)