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Although Xiao Bai didn't think she could solve a difficult problem that even Lord Scholar Wen found confusing, she felt that what the Scholar needed right now was to clear his mind—he needed someone he could confide in.
This was the role she had always played in the past when she followed Lord Sea God.
It was a pity that back then, before Lord Sea God had ascended to godhood, she hadn't yet grown to the hundred-thousand-year level. Her mind wasn't very sharp, so most of the time she could only act as a listener.
It was also under Lord Sea God's subtle influence that she learned that when ordinary human spirit masters encountered difficult problems, what they needed most was someone to talk to, rather than someone who could necessarily solve the problem for them.
Su Wen didn't know what Xiao Bai was thinking beneath him. Hearing her question, he simply voiced the problem he had been agonizing over.
"Ah? Lord Scholar Wen, why are you so conflicted about condensing your own spirit ring? Are God-Bestowed Spirit Rings not good enough?"
Su Wen patted Xiao Bai's head and asked, "Xiao Bai, tell me, if you were to take human form and become a spirit master, would you condense your first seven spirit rings yourself, or absorb the spirit rings of other spirit beasts?"
"I would condense them myself, of course," Xiao Bai answered naturally. She then corrected the flaw in Su Wen's analogy: "Lord Scholar Wen, that's not really a fair question. I would condense them myself because I wouldn't want to hurt my own kind."
"Then let's add some conditions. Setting aside the concept of being fellow spirit beasts, would you choose the spirit ring of another spirit beast, or condense it yourself?"
Xiao Bai remained silent for a long time before answering, "If it were suitable, and I happened to encounter a spirit beast possessing a spirit ability I hadn't mastered before taking human form, and the age limit was also a perfect match, I might choose that spirit ring."
"Exactly," Su Wen nodded. "You also missed one reason, or perhaps it's a reason you don't need to consider but cannot ignore: the bloodline quality of the hunted spirit beast might be extremely high—far higher than your own. After absorbing its spirit ring, your martial soul, which is your original body before taking human form, could even evolve to a higher level."
Today, super spirit beasts and divine-level spirit beasts had vanished from the continent, but it was undeniable that they truly existed.
Xiao Bai fell silent, accepting Su Wen's explanation.
Indeed, if one could further evolve, who would be unwilling?
Su Wen continued to ask, "Then what if these two reasons were also restricted? That is to say, the spirit ability you'd obtain is one you could condense yourself, or let's just say it's for the seventh spirit ring, where the guaranteed ability is the Martial Soul Avatar. Furthermore, what if the spirit ring itself couldn't bring about any qualitative transformation to your martial soul's grade?"
Xiao Bai felt a bit dizzy, feeling there were far too many restricting conditions to juggle.
However, after reviewing the question over and over, understanding its core meaning and the options, she made her choice.
"I'd condense it myself."
"Exactly, you'd condense it yourself," Su Wen sighed with emotion.
He didn't even bother explaining to Xiao Bai the profound significance of self-condensing a spirit ring.
"Even if it's purely instinct, one would choose to condense the spirit ring themselves."
As they sailed along, Xiao Bai slowly nodded her head, causing Su Wen to bob up and down on the ocean surface a few times.
She understood Su Wen's feelings.
Even if it were merely an instinctive choice, one would opt to self-condense the spirit ring, let alone considering the other hidden benefits.
"But, Lord Scholar Wen, you are not a spirit beast. Can you also condense a spirit ring on your own?" Xiao Bai pinpointed the very root of Su Wen's dilemma.
This was precisely why Su Wen was so conflicted.
He hadn't yet developed the method for a human to self-condense a spirit ring. Even if he was confident he could develop it eventually, the time it would take was completely unpredictable.
Was he really going to stay stuck at the seventieth rank for several years?
That was absolutely out of the question.
At rank ten, Su Wen could afford to halt his progress for two years to accumulate his foundation and seek the optimal solution. Back then, he had nothing and could only fight desperately for a sliver of an opportunity just to qualify to enter the game.
But now, there was no need for him to waste time like that.
He had already leaped out of that restrictive framework. What he needed to consider now was the cost-benefit ratio.
Between the two methods, which one was more cost-effective?
"Lord Scholar Wen, do you absolutely have to research a method for spirit masters to condense their own spirit rings?" Xiao Bai asked.
"Yes, this is a crucial problem that must be solved for the future development of the spirit master world." It was also a major source for Su Wen to harvest belief and faith; he simply had to develop it.
Xiao Bai looked thoughtful.
"Since it has to be developed anyway, wouldn't it be great for Lord Scholar Wen to pioneer this path yourself? It will put pressure on you, improving your efficiency, and allow you to genuinely experience the process firsthand, which will be incredibly beneficial for developing the technique."
What Xiao Bai said made a lot of sense.
Su Wen had harbored similar thoughts to convince himself.
It was just that he was too plagued by thoughts of personal gain and loss.
Originally sitting cross-legged on Xiao Bai's head, he slowly lay back, his gaze turning absentminded as he stared into the sky.
After a long time, a sea breeze swept past. Su Wen snapped back to reality, his eyes shining with newfound determination.
"Let's do it!"
Worrying endlessly about gains and losses was never Su Wen's style.
Besides, this was a necessary transition for him.
His numerous theoretical achievements had gradually begun to lock him within a single, narrow domain.
In the Academy, Su Wen's achievements regarding spirit power circulation routes and his research on the distribution of meridians within a spirit master's body were unprecedented and historically unmatched. They were the strongest driving force behind the development of all the Academy's projects.
However, only Su Wen knew that his own research was also being trapped by this very project.
In the very beginning, he had sought power with knowledge as his foundation. He comprehended the martial soul space, proposed the concept of Origin Spirit Power, and personally verified it, forging a path that still benefited him to this day.
But subsequently, his research had slowly become confined to spirit power circulation routes.
True, his talent in this area gave him an unparalleled advantage, but he couldn't remain trapped within this single domain forever.
"The path I walk is the exploration of knowledge, not the dry, tedious permutation and combination of spirit power circulation."
Spirit power circulation routes were merely tools for theoretical practice, not true knowledge or profound theory itself.
Therefore, Su Wen needed to transition.
He could no longer let himself be bogged down by spirit power circulation routes.
This pure research into martial souls and spirit rings was his first step out of his comfort zone.
As Su Wen's will solidified, a majestic wave of spiritual power spontaneously flooded the surrounding heaven and earth.
Rumble!
It was as if heaven and earth had been flipped upside down.
Wherever Su Wen's spiritual power reached, it seemed to forge an entirely separate space, another world.
This world was strikingly similar to the world within Su Wen's book.
No, or rather, this world was the direct manifestation of the world in Su Wen's book; it was the visualized heaven and earth of his spiritual sea seamlessly descending into reality.
Su Wen felt his spiritual power become unprecedentedly condensed, as if it had found its core pillar. His originally scattered spiritual power now possessed a guiding principle, achieving an unprecedented state of unity.
His spiritual power had broken through.
Now, his spiritual power was sufficient to influence the outside world. He no longer needed specific techniques to stimulate it to affect reality. Merely pressing it down like an overwhelming canopy exerted a suppressive force identical in nature to spirit power—in fact, the sense of oppression was even more palpable and real than that of spirit power.
Of course, this was only the surface.
This breakthrough in spiritual power allowed Su Wen's overall strength to be enhanced in every possible aspect.
He had become even stronger!
(End of chapter)