"Did I really make this?" Yu Xiaogang stared in astonishment at the canyon, now a wasteland littered with sparks, his eyes wide.
Yu Xiaogang possessed only half a level of innate soul power and a cultivation level of only twenty-nine, yet he unleashed an effect comparable to a Soul King's ten-thousand-year-old soul skill.
Admittedly, such an attack had many limitations, but what did that matter? He had done it, and Yu Xiaogang didn't care.
"As expected of a master, I only gave you a hint and you could achieve this. Just as rumored, the master's theories are invincible."
Wang Qi flattered Yu Xiaogang briefly, then said to the two Soul Venerable guards, "My lords, the Ghost Fire Moth has been stunned by the explosion. We'll need you two to finish it off."
With that, Wang Qi completed his Martial Soul Possession, a flame mark between his brows instantly igniting, a crimson glow enveloping him, his height and build instantly increasing to even surpass Xiao Chenyu's.
Sliding down the burning bushes destroyed by the explosion, he reached the valley floor. After slaying several will-o'-the-wisps stunned by the blast, he finally arrived at the mutated flame vine. A
mutated flame vine, a soul beast, 415 years old, with a 100% absorption success rate (close to the limit), an 87% compatibility rate, and a moderate boost to cultivation talent.
After repeatedly observing and confirming that this was the mutated flame vine he had been searching for, Wang Qi didn't hesitate any longer. With a swift stroke, he hacked at the root of the vine with all his might.
The sound of metal clashing rang out. Wang Qi's near-powerful strike only penetrated halfway into the vine. He wasn't annoyed; in fact, he thought it was normal. After all, there were only four such roots in the entire mutated flame vine.
As a transmigrator, Wang Qi knew the dangers of hesitating halfway through, understanding that hesitation would only lead to defeat. That's why he acted so decisively.
Seeing Wang Qi begin hunting soul beasts, the others gradually regained their composure and entered the valley to kill the unconscious will-o'-the-wisps.
Although some of the older will-o'-the-wisps awoke from their stupor, they were quickly killed under the combined attack of two Soul Masters.
Time passed slowly. As Wang Qi severed the last root of the mutated Flame Vine, clusters of yellow light mist emerged from its corpse, eventually condensing into a yellow Soul Ring at the main trunk.
"A moderate increase in cultivation speed. I'm curious, after absorbing this Soul Ring, how many levels of innate Soul Power will my cultivation speed be comparable to?"
Ignoring the slightly hot ground, Wang Qi immediately sat cross-legged, drawing the Soul Ring generated by the mutated Flame Vine to merge with himself.
An extremely domineering energy poured into his meridians. Wang Qi felt his meridians rapidly expanding, as if they were being inflated into balloons.
Pain? Torture? Wang Qi, who could enter a meditative state in the noisy blacksmith shop, already possessed control over his body far exceeding that of Soul Masters of the same level.
His meridians were widening at a visible speed, his Soul Power was circulating rapidly, and Wang Qi, completely absorbed in his own cultivation, forgot about time.
At this moment, Wang Qi understood the relationship between innate soul power level and cultivation speed, as well as the relationship between the number of years of soul ring absorption and meridians.
Innate soul power level is roughly equivalent to the width of the meridians; the wider the meridians, the faster the soul power circulates. As for combat power and soul power quality?
The level of innate soul power significantly affects cultivation speed; there are almost no situations where two people are at the same level. Even with an age difference, if their combat experience and physical attributes are similar, the one with full innate soul power will ultimately win.
When a soul master cultivates soul power, they can strengthen and amplify their meridians. When the meridian strength reaches its limit, it's time to absorb soul rings. This is why support-type soul masters can absorb hundred-year, thousand-year, and ten-thousand-year soul rings, just like battle-type soul masters.
Full innate soul power is a talent, a talent innate from birth. Although the soul power hasn't awakened yet, the innate soul power that has reached its limit continuously nourishes the meridians. This is why a full innate soul power can absorb near-limit soul rings after the martial soul awakens.
In the Douluo Continent, surpassing the limit in absorbing spirit rings is extremely difficult. At least for now, aside from immortal herbs and whale glue, Wang Qi truly doesn't know how to surpass the limit in absorbing spirit rings.
Furthermore, after reaching a bottleneck in spirit power, cultivating spirit power helps one's aptitude, that is, one's innate spirit power. Spirit power doesn't decrease with cultivation; it simply increases in quantity.
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After reaching a bottleneck, one's soul power can only increase from 1 to 1.9 at most, never breaking through to 2. This is the advantage of bottleneck cultivation: quantitative change is possible, but qualitative change is impossible.
Wang Qi, who was researching the relationship between soul power and innate soul power, was also nearing the end of his soul ring absorption. The soul ring had completely integrated into his Blazing Human Body Martial Soul, and his soul power level, which had broken through the bottleneck, was rapidly increasing.
Level 10, level 11, level 12, mid-level 12, late-level 12, until his soul power level approached level 13, at which point he stopped breaking through.
At the same time, information about his first soul skill appeared in Wang Qi's mind. Opening his eyes, he saw Xiao Chenyu's worried face.
"Wang Qi, you're finally awake! Do you know how long it took you to absorb your first spirit ring? A whole night! It was already dawn."
"Wang Qi, how's the spirit skill? Since you chose to absorb a plant-type spirit beast, I'm sure you had your reasons."
"It's getting late. We still need to go out and report the situation here to the Soul Hunting Forest Guard."
The four talked amongst themselves. Xiao Chenyu was concerned about Wang Qi's condition, Yu Xiaogang was focused on Wang Qi's spirit skill and martial soul changes, and the two Soul Master guards were concerned about the mission rewards.
"I'm fine. I successfully absorbed it, and I gained a lot of benefits."
Wang Qi looked at the large tree not far away, burned down to its trunk, as thick as an adult's waist. A bright yellow spirit ring shone beneath it, and his Flame Human Body martial soul's arms condensed into a pattern entirely black with crimson patterns resembling lava. As Wang Qi waved towards the tree,
the wristbands instantly transformed into bandages emitting a scorching heat, wrapping around the tree. The tree was instantly ignited by flames, and with a powerful pull from Wang Qi, the tree snapped in two.
"Master, isn't my soul skill quite effective?" Wang Qi asked with a barely perceptible glint in his eyes as he looked at Yu Xiaogang.
"Not bad. Your soul skill is top-tier. Both the soul ring's duration and the skill type are exceptional. Whether you choose a power-attack or agility-attack path in the future, this soul skill will never be obsolete; on the contrary, it will compensate for any shortcomings in your abilities." Yu Xiaogang gave a standard evaluation, assuming Wang Qi was showing off.
Little did he know that immediately after Wang Qi absorbed the soul ring, a light screen resembling that of a soul beast suddenly appeared around Yu Xiaogang's body. Although it quickly disappeared, Wang Qi still remembered its contents:
Soul Master: Yu Xiaogang.
Bloodline: Golden Sacred Dragon (Rare) .
Extraction Success Rate: 30% (Soul 2 is 60% damaged, unable to extract bloodline.)
Matching Soul 1: 99% match, breaking talent limitations, 100% completion of Soul mutation.
In Wang Qi's eyes, Yu Xiaogang was no longer a human, but a rare treasure.
If Wang Qi were to extract and absorb Yu Xiaogang's bloodline, its value would be no less than absorbing a divine herb.
At the same time, Wang Qi also noticed changes on his attribute panel.
Innate Soul Power: Level 5.9.
Soul Power: Level 12.
Soul Ring: Blazing Body Binding, Effect 1: Binds oneself, strengthening the defensive and destructive power of the arms; Effect 2: Binds others, binding and burning them.
Soul Bone: None
(End of Chapter)