Condensing nine Spirit Apertures required condensing the first Spirit Core.
Condensing forty-nine Spirit Apertures made condensing the second Spirit Core imperative.
Electrolux didn't condense this second Spirit Core easily either.
Like Su Ming, he chose co-resonance, rather than the stronger but unnecessary yin and yang complementation.
Thus, it was another three months before Electrolux began condensing Spirit Apertures again.
Four months had passed since Su Ming had created the small planar channel.
The full-scale war between Douluo Star and the Abyss had also been raging for four months.
Every day, Spirit Masters fell, and Spirit Masters revived.
Through repeated tempering, the Spirit Masters' strength had not only not decreased but had actually increased.
Their overall Spirit Power level had dropped by ten levels, but their actual strength had increased by the equivalent of ten levels.
Those who dared to fight and struggle had, over these four months, accumulated enough Spirit Metal to craft Battle Armor and enough Contribution Points to have it custom-made.
Four months of battle had also allowed them to hone their Battle Armor and complete the replication of the spiritual formations. True Battle Armor Masters emerged one after another.
This era was truly beginning to be dominated by Battle Armor Masters.
Beyond the changes on the front line, the entire continent was also changing.
Su Ming, in cooperation with the Spirit Transmission Pagoda, was conducting Martial Soul awakenings across the entire continent.
He bypassed the Sun Moon Imperial Family.
Xu Tianran was naturally dissatisfied about this move. He also wanted to demand why Su Ming wouldn't let the War God Hall handle this task.
Unfortunately, he didn't dare ask.
He simply lacked the confidence.
Since the previous Soul Fighting Tournament had ended, Su Ming's prestige had already broken through a critical point. Xu Tianran dared not provoke him carelessly.
Since the planar war had begun, this prestige had only continued to accumulate.
The Spirit Master world had long regarded Su Ming as a deity.
Universal awakening was achieved once more, and the Spirit Master world expanded further.
Of course, newly awakened Spirit Masters couldn't join the battlefield yet.
That would be at least ten years away, if at all possible.
Even Su Ming wasn't sure if they would get that chance.
Devouring the Abyss was a long and arduous task, impossible overnight. But equally, ten years was a long time for Su Ming. He might not be able to wait that long.
"Two Spirit Cores resonate, strength greatly increased, and already beginning to influence space."
Electrolux felt that the resonance of the two Spirit Cores could actually extend to his Spirit Apertures.
Each Spirit Aperture was, in reality, an aperture formed by expanding a meridian node using spatial power.
"Spirit Apertures circulate, driving the Spirit Cores to operate. The existence of the Spirit Cores, in turn, stabilizes the existence of the Spirit Apertures."
Electrolux continued to condense Spirit Apertures.
Over these three months, he had completed deducing the positions. Now, he needed to condense these Spirit Apertures.
Su Ming glanced at the spatial interlayer where Electrolux was.
"Elder has been in seclusion for so long. I wonder how much progress he's made. I can't fall behind."
Over these three months, Su Ming certainly hadn't been standing still.
First was digesting the spiritual domain.
Keeping his spiritual domain covering the battlefield, amplifying the Spirit Masters, and weakening the Abyssal creatures meant Su Ming's progress in developing his spiritual domain far exceeded ordinary people.
He could maintain this for so long thanks to the subsidiary body of the Tree of Life. Through this subsidiary body, Douluo Star's planar power could spread into the area. Electrolux hadn't expelled it either, allowing Su Ming to easily achieve the spiritual domain's effects with planar power, consuming very little of his own spiritual power.
Second, Su Ming had finally determined his eighth Spirit Ring.
Indeed, determining his eighth Spirit Ring was a major progress for him.
"For my eighth Spirit Ring, I choose this world. Anchor this world!"
"The Past Self anchors the illusory history of the past. The Future Self anchors the true future of the future. The Present Self is responsible for anchoring this world in the present."
"A Spirit Ring of the World... the External World is far from enough. Even just the Douluo plane isn't enough. What I want is this entire universe!"
Choosing this for the eighth Spirit Ring naturally meant an even greater ambition for the ninth. For his ninth Spirit Ring, he would take the River of Time itself.
At that point, the past, present, and future would all be in his grasp!
"Transcendent metal is the opportunity for me to obtain a Spirit Ring of the World in the present."
Su Ming pondered.
He looked toward Electrolux's direction, not lacking anticipation.
He truly needed a helper.
He needed someone to share the pressure from the God Realm.
Once he stirred the Universe's Will, even the many deities in the God Realm who supported him might try to stop him.
Not only that, but the Universe's Will wouldn't allow its power to be controlled by someone else. It would definitely act against Su Ming, not simply audit and approve Transcendent metal.
This could even lead to the future of forging being directly interrupted.
Transcendent metal would become impossible from then on. The Universe's Will would no longer favor Transcendent metal, and there would be no such thing as 'transcendence'.
"You have to give up something to get something. How can you obtain the corresponding benefits without paying any price?"
"What I need to do now is prepare. Prepare before seizing the universe's power."
Thinking of his past disdain for Tang Hao, Su Ming now feels a bit uncertain about himself.
Tang Hao had seized control of the Douluo plane. After ten thousand years, he was still asleep, and he only controlled thirty percent of the plane's power.
How long would it take him to seize the universe's power?
He hadn't expected that, in the end, he would also follow Tang Hao's path, possibly having to grind away at seizing the universe's power over time.
"If I succeed, perhaps I will become the Lord of the Universe?"
This thought flashed through Su Ming's mind.
"First, integrate into the plane. Feel the shock of the plane's surging power on my consciousness. Only after adapting to this feeling can I attempt to seize the universe's power."
Su Ming certainly wouldn't gorge himself in one go, then sleep for ten thousand years.
He would use his old tricks: seize a portion of the power through special means, grasp its essence, elevate his status, then keep a measured distance, slowly partitioning the universe's power.
"This kind of thing is easier to test with the Past Self and Future Self."
[Douluo 1]
Su Ming opened his eyes.
His perspective rose, overlooking the River of Time, looking at this upstream section where he was located.
The original history flowed normally. But superimposed on this original history was a layer of illusory history that had emerged because of him.
The unreal history had originally only covered Douluo Star.
Then it expanded to the God Realm's territory.
Now, the Abyss was also included within it.
"This should be the limit of what I can currently control. Any more would be dangerous."
"The illusory history will also temporarily stop extending toward Douluo 2. After I condense the Spirit Ring, I'll expand it bit by bit."
Su Ming didn't hesitate. He took action.
He stepped forward, arriving before the Abyssal channel.
Little Gold was sleeping on the forging platform.
He had been exhausted lately.
Around him were piles of various Spirit Metals.
Most of them were at the Soul Refinement level.
Of course, most were damaged and scrapped, the results of Little Gold's failed attempts at Heaven Refinement.
But there were also seven pieces of metal, beating like true life. Even with Little Gold's hand pressing on them, they still emitted an indescribable vitality.
Su Ming's movement woke Little Gold. He turned to look at Su Ming, a puzzled expression on his face.
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