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After Su Wen completed the Tempering of the Body with Divine Power, the Third Trial did not manifest immediately.
Su Wen found nothing unusual about this. During the process of divine tempering, he had gained numerous insights and spent a significant amount of time in deep contemplation. Just as he finished his reflections, the information regarding the Third Trial surfaced in his mind.
"Divine Nine Trials - Third Trial: Replace the rings of soul beasts of the same species and fuse them to create at least one 100,000-year soul ring. Reward: Affinity with the Power of Faith."
Su Wen's eyes flickered.
His focus at this moment was not on the content of the trial itself, but rather on the reward.
Affinity with the Power of Faith.
Previously, Su Wen had been preoccupied with the cultivation planning for his Body Martial Soul, but he had run into a bottleneck: the practical application of the Power of Faith.
Through the process of condensing divine power, he had gained an understanding of the principles behind it. However, even knowing the techniques and theory, he lacked the ability to execute them because he couldn't even perform the basic step of gathering faith into a tangible force.
Su Wen believed that he currently carried a massive amount of faith, but it remained unconsolidated. This was a persistent problem. Hearing the reward for the Sea God's Third Trial allowed him to breathe a sigh of relief. He had suspected that utilizing faith required certain hard prerequisites, and now, this reward seemed designed to provide exactly that.
Eager for the reward, he decided to complete the trial as quickly as possible. However, the specific constraints made him frown.
Replacing soul rings.
This was Su Wen's secret technique—the method he used to elevate the years of his first three soul rings. Over time, he had refined it to the point where he didn't even need to "replace" them, but merely fuse the essence of the rings. With his growing understanding of the Power of Devouring, he was confident he could eventually evolve the technique to absorb rings from different species to increase his ring years.
Yet, this trial imposed a strict limitation: it must be soul rings from the same species of soul beast.
The reason Su Wen had been working to remove the species restriction was that some of his soul rings came from extremely rare beasts. For instance, his fourth soul ring came from a Mirror Image Beast. There were likely only a handful left on the entire continent; he estimated he would have to hunt the species to extinction just to push that ring to the 100,000-year level.
As for his fifth ring, he was even more at a loss. While he might use the Scholar's Realm to cast a wide net for Mirror Image Beasts, finding a Void Silver Moon Tapir would be nearly impossible.
His first ring came from a Starfruit Tree, which was easy enough to find, but gathering enough to fuse a 100,000-year ring would be tedious. His second ring was from a Three-Eyed Phantom Fox, and according to the Sea God's rules, he would likely need foxes with the exact same mutation for them to count.
Looking at his options, the most efficient target was his third ring.
The Stone Monster. While rare, there was a known population of Stone Monsters in the Sunset Forest. There were definitely enough of them there for Su Wen to reach the 100,000-year mark.
The target was clear.
"Hai Da, I am returning to the mainland first. You all stay here and continue your cultivation."
"Teacher Wen, you're going alone?" Hai Da looked at Su Wen with concern.
"Don't worry, Xiao Bai will escort me. It will be fast and safe."
Hearing this, Hai Da relaxed. Their mission was to escort Su Wen across the sea, but as they were currently undergoing their own trials on Sea God Island, leaving now would be a significant loss. Knowing that the 100,000-year Demon Spirit Great White Shark was providing transport—a method far more stable than their own sailing—Hai Da was at peace.
"I'm leaving."
Su Wen bid farewell to the sailors and then sought out Zhan Tian Douluo.
"Brother Zhan Tian, I'm heading back to the mainland. Are you staying or coming with me?"
Zhan Tian Douluo waved his hand. "My second trial is a bit special; I need to cultivate here on the island. I won't be heading back yet."
"Understood."
This suited Su Wen; traveling alone allowed for more flexible planning.
"Xiao Bai, let's go!"
Only four months after arriving at Sea God Island—three of which were spent on missions at sea—Su Wen was already heading back. On the return journey, he had Xiao Bai stop at various inhabited islands so he could establish Academies and expand the Scholar's Realm to every corner of the ocean where sea soul masters resided.
Three months later.
Tianhai City.
"Teacher Wen, you've returned alone? Where are Hai Da and the others?" Xu Jiawei was surprised to see Su Wen back after only half a year.
Su Wen didn't hide the truth, explaining that Hai Da and the crew remained on Sea God Island.
"Sea God Island!" Xu Jiawei marveled. He hadn't expected them to find the legendary island. While he was envious of their fortune, his family members were not sea soul masters, so the allure wasn't overwhelming. Since Su Wen didn't mention the specifics of the Divine Trials, Xu Jiawei remained relatively calm.
Su Wen rested for one night at the Tianhai Academy before departing.
Three days later.
Heaven Dou City.
Since his goal was hunting Stone Monsters in the Sunset Forest, Su Wen naturally stopped in Heaven Dou City to visit friends. He met with Xiao Zhan, who, over the past six months, had reached the absolute peak of Rank 89. He was now at the final stage before condensing a second soul core and impacting Rank 90.
While cultivating, Xiao Zhan had continued his research. Like Su Wen, he possessed a Book Martial Soul and was a scholar at heart, though he was more famously known by his moniker: The Fire Demon.
(End of Chapter)