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"Brother Wen, did you need something?"
Within the Academic Realm, Ning Rongrong went online at light speed the moment she received Su Wen's message.
"I encountered something good during this voyage that happens to suit you perfectly. I just wanted to let you know."
"Something good?" Ning Rongrong's eyes sparkled with anticipation as she looked at Su Wen. Since her martial soul was the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Tower, she had a natural affinity for precious treasures.
An illusory image appeared in Su Wen's hand, taking the form of the clam pearl. Looking at the head-sized orb, Ning Rongrong was stunned, her small mouth forming a perfect "O" of surprise.
What a massive pearl!
The Star-God Clam possessed a star attribute, and this pearl was condensed by compressing and refining stellar energy. It wasn't pure white; instead, it was a deep, midnight starry blue, with flecks of starlight shimmering within.
"This is a pearl taken from a Star-God Clam. I'll give it to you once I return to Heaven Dou City. The stellar energy inside is incredibly pure and can assist your cultivation. Furthermore, there is the Star-God Clam itself that produced it."
At this point, Su Wen's expression turned serious.
"Rongrong, the Star-God Clam is a rare and excellent soul ring choice. I plan to help you hunt this fifty-thousand-year Star-God Clam when it's time for your sixth soul ring."
Su Wen then explained the characteristics and abilities of the Star-God Clam to her.
"A support-type soul beast that prays for the power of stars to bless its companions?" Ning Rongrong was amazed; it was her first time hearing of such a pure support-system soul beast.
The Star-God Clam was an extreme specialist. Aside from its inherent defensive capabilities for self-preservation, it possessed no combat-oriented spirit abilities. Consequently, its supportive effects were staggeringly powerful.
For instance, the fifty-thousand-year specimen Su Wen encountered provided an amplification magnitude comparable to a Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Tower at the Spirit Saint stage. Most impressively, its consumption was minimal, as it functioned by channeling stellar energy through its own soul power.
The more targets it buffed, the higher the cost-effectiveness of the channeling. While the magnitude of the buff remained the same, the soul power cost per person actually decreased as the number of allies increased.
If that fifty-thousand-year clam had buffed the merfolk of the Sea Princess Clan at that time, it would have been enough to double the combat power of those dozen or so merfolk with minimal consumption, lasting for several hours. This was its true terror.
Su Wen intended for Ning Rongrong's sixth spirit ability to come from the Star-God Clam, naturally hoping she would acquire this trait to further reduce the soul power drain of her abilities.
"Mhm! Brother Wen, I understand. I'll cultivate to that level as quickly as possible," Ning Rongrong said, sticking out her tongue and assuming Su Wen was nudging her to work harder.
"It's not just about the soul ring. The main reason I'm contacting you is to teach you some early preparations. When the time comes to absorb the Star-God Clam, we want to maximize the chance of simultaneously obtaining its soul bone."
Ning Rongrong's beautiful eyes widened in shock. Can you actually increase the drop rate of a soul bone?
"I will teach you a specific cultivation technique. Just practice it well. Later, by using the Star-God Clam's pearl to cultivate for a period of time, you should be able to maximize the effectiveness of this technique."
Ning Rongrong's mouth hung open again. "Brother Wen, you've developed another technique that's going to shock the Spirit Master world!"
Su Wen chuckled and shook his head.
"Not quite. This technique isn't fully perfected yet, and its function isn't as grand as you're imagining. It's a result of my recent research—it wasn't specifically designed to increase soul bone drops, but it happens to fit your current situation perfectly and can be utilized for that purpose."
Ning Rongrong tilted her head, not quite understanding the mechanics, but she knew it was impressive. As expected of the developer of these techniques; he could apply them so flexibly.
Su Wen patted her head. "Alright, remember to cultivate well. By the time I return from this trip, I should be able to take you to hunt for your fifth soul ring. I'll have more good things for you then."
"Mhm!"
The technique Su Wen gave Ning Rongrong wasn't actually for "farming" soul bones, nor did it have a direct statistical link to drop rates. However, because it related to certain traits of clam-type soul beasts like the Star-God Clam, it could be used toward that end.
Ever since he failed to obtain a soul bone after absorbing the Mirror Image Beast's ring, Su Wen knew that whether a soul beast dropped a bone was truly random—it wasn't as if a bone was always physically present inside the beast waiting to be looted. This implied that the "drop" could be influenced by external factors.
For example, the Spirit Master world already knew that stimulating a soul beast's emotions before death—either making them extremely hateful and vengeful, or making them completely voluntary and peaceful—affected the outcome. These two states pointed to the most significant factor in soul bone formation: the soul beast's emotion. Or rather, their obsession and will.
If Su Wen chose to research this area, he would undoubtedly achieve great results, but he didn't personally need to. Starting from his seventh soul ring, Su Wen would no longer need to gamble on probabilities; he would be hunting soul beasts at the hundred-thousand-year level or higher, where a soul bone was a guaranteed drop.
Therefore, he had delegated this research to the scholars of the Academy. Unfortunately, while the project had been established and many scholars were involved, progress remained somewhat slow. Of course, "slow" was only relative to Su Wen's own research speed. In reality, the project was proceeding smoothly. If all went well, there would be preliminary results within three years, and a complete theory and methodology within ten.
"Sigh, the soul beasts of the Star Dou Great Forest are rioting again." Su Wen's eyes betrayed a hint of worry as he withdrew from the Academic Realm.
He hadn't expected the conflict between soul beasts and Spirit Masters to manifest so quickly, just as the Great Development of the Spirit Master world was beginning.
"I wonder if the Titan Giant Ape and the Sky Azure Bull Python are stirring things up, or if the soul beasts have truly sensed something?" Su Wen thought of the many Great Beasts hidden in the deepest parts of the forest and narrowed his eyes.
After a long moment, he exhaled slowly, refusing to let the news distract him.
"Soul rings are indeed a critical bottleneck for the current Spirit Master world. I should find a way to research them, but before that, I need to experience the effects of a God-Bestowed Soul Ring myself."
Su Wen was familiar with the concept of "Spirit Souls," but frankly, that direction wouldn't change the fact that soul beasts were gradually headed toward decline. Without the "cheating" destiny of someone like Huo Yuhao, Su Wen couldn't be certain that leaders like Di Tian would cooperate with him even if he developed the Spirit Soul method.
The probability was low. Di Tian and the others weren't fools. Wasn't a Spirit Soul just a way to avoid the Spirit Master having to kill the beast themselves? In the end, it still required a soul beast's life to be exchanged for a Spirit Master's ring.
Su Wen wasn't necessarily worried for the soul beasts, but if he couldn't get the approval of leaders like Di Tian, a Spirit Soul method would be practically useless and impossible to implement on a large scale.
Unless... he directly developed more advanced artificial Spirit Soul technology. But then again, if one could develop artificial Spirit Souls, why not just develop artificial soul rings?
(End of Chapter)