The situation at the Abyssal battlefield stabilized.
The Abyssal Sage King was stealthily condensing his own faith, attempting to condense an Abyssal Godhood.
On Su Ming's side, he was also using the great array to gather power, supplying his own cultivation.
"Next phase objective: prepare to condense the third Spirit Core for the Douluo 2 main body."
The condensation of Spirit Cores had always proceeded smoothly for him; Su Ming didn't consider it a bottleneck.
However, he wouldn't underestimate the difficulty of condensing a Spirit Core because of this.
"For me, condensing the third Spirit Core is just the beginning. The difficulty of condensing this core isn't the key point; the key is the future cultivation direction for my Douluo 2-era main body."
Coincidentally, there were many Limit Douluos on the battlefield now. Su Ming sought advice from them one by one, asking about their experiences condensing their third Spirit Cores.
Although puzzled as to why Su Ming, at only Level 70, was already considering condensing a third Spirit Core, everyone still enthusiastically shared their experiences—except for a certain someone surnamed Qian Gu.
From the condensation experiences of these Limit Douluos, Su Ming also understood one point—the Spirit Domain Realm was key.
"No wonder there's a saying that Limit Douluos need Spirit Domain Realm spiritual power as a prerequisite."
Of course, in the Douluo 1 era, there were no such condition thresholds; everyone just relied on talent.
In the Douluo 2 era, it was dual Spirit Cores, but most dual Spirit Core formations didn't involve condensing a core in the Sea of Consciousness. Aside from the Spirit Power core, the other basically relied on physical constitution to shore it up.
In the Douluo 3 era, Limit Douluos all had three Spirit Cores, which necessarily involved condensing a spiritual core. Hence, the Spirit Domain Realm became the threshold!
Without the Spirit Domain Realm, one simply couldn't condense the spiritual core required for tri-core resonance.
It wasn't that a spiritual core couldn't be condensed, but that three cores couldn't be.
Even if one struggled to condense a spiritual core as the first core, without breaking through to the Spirit Domain Realm, a third core couldn't be condensed because the most critical step in condensing three cores was fine-tuning.
Resonance between two cores only requires adjusting either the new core or the old one. But the condensation process for three-core resonance inevitably involves adjusting at least two parties and usually requires sorting of attributes.
Each Spirit Core inherits one of the Spirit Master's attributes, operates independently yet interconnected, achieving highly efficient operation.
In his contemplation, time passed.
In the blink of an eye, three months went by.
Over these three months, Su Ming leveled up once more. With the offerings of the elemental great array, his cultivation faced no bottlenecks, maintaining a steady pace of one level every three months.
Without any special opportunities, this was all he could do—four levels a year. Perhaps in six years, he'd reach the Level 99 limit.
Around twenty-three or twenty-four years old—not too fast, not too slow.
Su Ming leisurely performed his duties, stationed at the Abyssal battlefield daily while also optimizing the great array.
Three months passed. The Douluo 1 main body had already completed the second trial for all seven Elemental God assessments. Zhu Jiuyang had also been sent by Su Ming to the Phoenix Small World to undergo baptism by the Phoenix God's Nirvana Flame. While he couldn't inherit the Phoenix Godhood, he could at least reap some benefits.
On the Spirit Communication device, Yun Ming sent him a message.
"Yun Ming?"
Su Ming looked at the communication; Yun Ming was requesting leave.
Leave?
Su Ming knew Yun Ming's heart wasn't here; he would frequently return to Shrek. He just didn't expect him to be this urgent.
The great array had only been stable for three months; the frontline still relied on him to hold. Yet he was still thinking of returning to Shrek.
Su Ming found the other Quasi-Gods to discuss the situation.
"Hmph, it's better if he leaves. It's not like we can't hold the line," Qian Gu Dieding said coldly.
Chen Xinjie and Cao Dezhi looked at him and each took a step back.
He must be getting cocky after absorbing Abyssal energy for three months.
"Fine. I'll have Yun Ming withdraw, and you all will take his place," Su Ming didn't dwell on it either.
Yun Ming was the only one who could hold the very front alone, but that didn't mean he was the only one who could.
After completing the handover, Qian Gu Dieding, Chen Xinjie, and Cao Dezhi jointly replaced Yun Ming's position, bearing the pressure at the frontline.
Yun Ming then left the battlefield.
Shrek Academy.
"Finally back."
Tang Wulin opened his arms, embracing the Shrek Academy before him.
At this moment, he finally felt like he was home.
He entered the academy and found Wu Kong and the others.
"You finally made it back."
Wu Kong breathed a sigh of relief.
He had reported to the Sea God Pavilion the moment he established contact with Tang Wulin.
"Put other matters aside for now. First, go to the Sea God Pavilion. Their attention on news about you these past few years hasn't been insignificant."
Tang Wulin showed a look of surprise.
The Sea God Pavilion was paying special attention to him?
Why?
With a heart full of doubt, he arrived at the Inner Court.
Sea God Pavilion.
Yun Ming had already rushed back and convened a Sea God Pavilion meeting.
At this moment, all the Pavilion Elders were seated, yet no one had spoken.
Until Tang Wulin arrived.
Tang Wulin was also startled by this posture.
"Pavilion Master, Holy Spirit Douluo, Elder Cai, Elder Feng, you all..."
His scalp went numb. Being stared at by the Pavilion Elders one after another made him feel somewhat guilty.
"Tang Wulin, is your Martial Soul the Blue Silver Emperor?" Yun Ming asked.
"Ah?"
Hearing this, Tang Wulin was somewhat puzzled.
His Martial Soul information should be public, right?
"My Blue Silver Grass is connected to my bloodline—"
Before he could finish his defense, Yun Ming interrupted him.
"We are asking you in all seriousness. The outcome guided by your answer will be vastly different."
"Tell them," Old Tang's voice sounded in Tang Wulin's mind.
Tang Wulin took a deep breath and immediately changed his tune.
"My Martial Soul indeed might be the Blue Silver Emperor, but I've always considered it a mutation stimulated by my Golden Dragon King bloodline."
His statement made the many Pavilion Elders sigh in relief.
"Blue Silver Emperor..."
Yun Ming's gaze burning, fixed on Tang Wulin as he spoke word by word, "Do you know? Your body carries the aura of Sea God faith."
Stared at by Yun Ming, Tang Wulin felt as if all his secrets were exposed.
"Pavilion Master, what... what does this mean?"
He truly didn't understand.
Why were so many Pavilion Elders waiting for him, then asking about his Martial Soul as soon as he arrived, with Yun Ming even pointing out his Sea God faith?
Wait, how do I have Sea God faith?
Tang Wulin was dumbfounded.
Old Tang's expression was also grave at this moment.
During Tang Wulin's journey across the ocean, he had absorbed some Sea God faith to restore his own power.
Was Yun Ming's perception of Sea God faith this keen?
Recalling the Golden Ancient Tree's blessing before heading to the Star Luo Continent, Old Tang felt a faint unease.
Even then, he had sensed signs of his own faith erupting within the Sea God Pavilion, and they had even used God Descent!
Could it be that the Sea God Pavilion was truly stealing his Sea God faith?
Was it this Yun Ming?
"Don't be nervous."
Seeing Tang Wulin's unease, Yali spoke up to comfort him. "It's just that the continental situation is somewhat tense now. Your... conditions are very important to Shrek."
She paused, looking up towards the ceiling.
"The Golden Ancient Tree has awakened multiple times, each time inquiring about your whereabouts. Now that you're back, you can try to contact it. It should give you answers."
***
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