Indeed, losing ten levels wasn't without benefit.
Losing a Spirit Ring meant being able to attach a new Spirit Ring!
Soon, some Spirit Masters realized this and felt it wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
Because they discovered that after revival, although their Spirit Power had regressed, their Martial Soul strength and physical constitution were both close to their peak in life!
Didn't that mean they could absorb higher age Spirit Rings?
Soon, some among the revived Spirit Masters shattered this illusion for them.
"I was level eighty before, hadn't obtained my eighth Spirit Ring yet. Now I've regressed directly to level seventy. I can't use my seventh Spirit Skill anymore, but I can sense that my seventh Spirit Ring is still there."
"What? The Spirit Ring is still there, the Spirit Skill can't be used, and your cultivation is stuck at level seventy?"
"It seems so."
The revived Spirit Masters' hearts sank halfway.
Then, someone discovered a technique, rekindling the fire in their chilled hearts.
"After killing Abyssal creatures, these unusable Spirit Rings have a devouring urge. They can be used to make up for the Spirit Rings."
"Have you tried it?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"I just don't dare. I can't digest Abyssal energy."
"Fair enough. Killing Abyssal creatures gives that feeling. Killing Spirit Beasts probably does too. Maybe new Spirit Rings can make up for the original ones."
"Then how would the age be calculated after absorbing a new Spirit Ring?"
"..."
After reviving, these Spirit Masters fumbled for a long time before finally understanding their own conditions.
During this time, more Spirit Masters died, and Electrolux was responsible for reviving them.
Some Spirit Masters were unlucky, dying again after revival, directly dropping twenty Spirit Power levels.
Su Ming glanced over and noticed that the young spearman who had fused a ninefold Soul Refined Alloy had also died. He revived after death, then died in battle again, revived again.
He gradually became the one with the most revivals.
Each time he revived, he wasn't intentionally seeking death, but fighting Abyssal creatures desperately, challenging those above his level time and again, trading his life for theirs.
Su Ming frowned at the sight.
The youth's name was Yun Che, and his spear was called the Sky-Propping Spear.
Each time he died, his Spirit Power regressed by ten levels upon revival, but his combat strength didn't decrease proportionally.
After dying four times in a row, his Spirit Power had regressed by forty levels, but his strength had only dropped by about twenty levels.
"He's found some kind of loophole."
Su Ming knew Yun Che was probably gambling. Gambling that after absorbing new Spirit Rings, the new ones would be the sum of the original Spirit Ring's years plus the new one's.
This was a trick often used by the Douluo 1 Su Ming after dying and reviving.
Su Ming chuckled inwardly.
"He'll be in for a rude awakening when it's time to activate the Spirit Rings."
Not just anyone could reconcile conflicts between Spirit Rings.
Activating a Spirit Ring requires a Spirit Ring from the same type of Spirit Beast. With a deity's power assisting, it could be expanded to Spirit Rings from the same species.
But Yun Che didn't have a divine trial.
Supplementing four Spirit Rings with the corresponding Spirit Beasts' Spirit Rings was no small task.
In the past, it would have taken nearly a year of hunting to find satisfactory high-year Spirit Rings from four designated Spirit Beasts.
Now, with the Spirit Transmission Pagoda and Beast God Di Tian helping with the search, time could be saved, but it would cost a considerable number of Contribution Points. Also, the Spirit Rings couldn't be activated immediately because Di Tian didn't allow Spirit Masters to directly kill Spirit Beasts for their rings. You had to wait for them to die in battle before being allowed to absorb the rings.
Of course, there was another activation method available immediately: infusing pure life energy.
The proportion of revived Spirit Masters was large, and there would be many needing to activate Spirit Rings. Su Ming would later open a service for exchanging life energy at the Spirit Transmission Pagoda.
Exchanging life energy directly—just the concept itself implies its exchange price.
Su Ming counted. The Contribution Points Yun Che had earned from killing Abyssal creatures in this war would at most be enough to exchange for the life energy to activate one Spirit Ring.
While offering silent condolences to the youth, Su Ming also knew that if Yun Che could tough it out, his future would certainly be something entirely new.
The war never ceased.
This war seemed destined to become the norm.
After lasting three days and three nights, the conflict on the front line finally eased.
By this time, the area of engagement between the two sides had reached the central axis of the small plane.
Meaning, Douluo Star and the Abyss each occupied half of the small plane.
With the war easing, Su Ming immediately arranged for manpower to establish a military camp in the rear.
First was a rest and accommodation area, then a dining area, and then a training area.
Along with the completion of these three areas, the Blacksmith Association, the Battle Armor Association, the Mecha Association, the War God Hall, and the Spirit Transmission Pagoda also established branches here.
Among them, the Blacksmith Association was the busiest.
Su Ming had conscripted almost all blacksmiths on the continent who possessed Spirit Infusion techniques. They were all working overtime forging.
He himself also released large quantities of Spirit Refined and Soul Refined metal for Spirit Masters to exchange with Contribution Points.
Alongside the endless fatigue and numbness brought by a prolonged war came gratifying gains.
"Only four."
Huo Yuhao, looking dejected, returned to the camp. He didn't go to exchange for Spirit Metal first but went to the Battle Armor Association.
He used a large number of Contribution Points to hire Xuan Ziwen to design the core formations for his Two-Word Battle Armor.
He abandoned his original Battle Armor components.
He exchanged a new batch of Spirit Refined metal, at least fivefold Spirit Alloys.
Using this Spirit Refined metal, he refabricated his Two-Word Battle Armor—Winter Dream.
A group of Super Douluos, including Yan Shaozhe, now possessed complete sets of quasi-Three-Word Battle Armor.
Only the step of replicating all the spiritual formations remained.
The revived Spirit Masters, generally ten levels lower, hadn't actually lost combat strength and were each equipped with a set of Battle Armor to themselves.
Rest, fight.
This cycle became the daily routine of the Spirit Masters present for the next three months.
A considerable portion of the first wave of revived Spirit Masters had reached the stage where they needed to activate their Spirit Rings.
When they learned that the Spirit Transmission Pagoda had added a service to exchange life energy for Spirit Ring activation, they were stunned.
Especially the youth named Yun Che. He felt the world go black and nearly collapsed.
Fortunately, the Sky-Propping Spear supported his body.
"Your name is Yun Che, right?"
Just as Yun Che was worrying about the huge Contribution Points needed to activate his Spirit Rings, Yan Shaozhe came to find him with some people.
"Elder Yan, is something the matter?"
Yun Che recognized Yan Shaozhe and asked politely.
Even as he asked, he remained on guard.
"Exchanging for life energy requires a significant amount of Contribution Points. Many Spirit Masters find it very difficult to gather them. But Contribution Points that are hard for you to gather are much easier for Titled Douluos to obtain."
Yun Che understood. He knew Yan Shaozhe's purpose now.
Loans!
Just like when high-level Spirit Masters helped lower-level ones earn Contribution Points in advance to exchange for Battle Armor.
Now, these people had their sights set on the revived Spirit Masters.
Yan Shaozhe said, "You've revived a total of four times. The Contribution Points needed to activate all your Spirit Rings are no small amount. Under normal circumstances, no organization would lend to you."
***
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