Chapter 247 – The Ninth Ring

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Su Yu learned that the true descent of the Abyss onto the Douluo Continent was still two months away, and the burden on his heart finally eased.

Alright, that's manageable. What the will of the plane said earlier nearly made Su Yu think the Abyss was descending immediately—if he hadn't broken through in time, it might've been too late.

Two months—just enough to condense one soul ring. How hard could that be?

Still, two months was a bit tight.

"What about the Sun Moon Empire? And the Snow Empress—have they noticed anything unusual?"

"The Snow Empress sensed spatial fluctuations and has already notified Huo Yuhao and the others."

Su Yu was increasingly amazed—the will of the plane was becoming more and more sentient. Conversing with it now felt just like speaking to a living being.

He had always harbored one question: for such a will born from the entire plane itself, wasn't it essentially the consciousness of the world? If so, wouldn't it be able to perfectly manipulate the plane's power and fully grasp the laws within it?

But, for now, there was no way to answer that question.

"At the very least, it shouldn't be capable of acting with complete freedom."

The will of the plane, after all, was still just that—a will. Much like how a human Soul Master, despite possessing intelligence, couldn't necessarily wield their power flawlessly.

Two Soul Masters of the same level, with the same martial soul, even with perfectly matched soul rings—could still exhibit vastly different levels of power.

Likewise, Soul Masters often had near-zero understanding of their own bodily structure, meridians, spiritual power, blood energy, and even cells.

Aside from performing basic bodily functions, everything else had to be learned and mastered step by step.

The will of the plane may have a higher starting point, but that only meant mastering its own power was even more difficult.

As for its understanding of the laws within the plane, Su Yu didn't think it had any sort of inherent advantage.

Still, being the will born from a world, maybe it could just rely on instinct. Even without comprehension, as long as it could feel its way through, it might be able to forcefully activate those powers.

Pulling his thoughts back, Su Yu began to form his final soul ring in this space of will.

The Will Space was essentially a mirrored reflection of the Douluo Plane in another dimension. In this space, the resonance Su Yu could achieve with the world while condensing a soul ring would reach its peak.

Although Su Yu hadn't fully mastered the bloodline power of the Golden Ancient Tree, he had spent a full year cultivating within it. After deciding to pursue his ninth soul ring, he had absorbed a great amount of the natural energy surrounding the Golden Ancient Tree and did his best to attune himself to its fluctuations.

Now, using a branch obtained from the Golden Ancient Tree, Su Yu was ready to forge his ninth soul ring.

"This branch is too small. It doesn't contain enough energy from the Golden Ancient Tree."

Su Yu ignored the reminder from the will of the plane.

Of course I know this branch is too small. But that's exactly why, after initiating the soul ring formation using it, I'll be able to break free from the ring's dependency on the Golden Ancient Tree.

Su Yu wasn't trying to create a soul ring based on the Golden Ancient Tree.

What he wanted was a soul ring that granted authority akin to the Golden Ancient Tree's role in the Douluo Continent—a kind of symbolic dominion.

In other words, he aimed to use the Golden Ancient Tree's power to transform and evolve his martial soul, allowing it to advance into the form of the "World Tree."

Su Yu firmly believed that even if his own strength couldn't fully construct the soul ring, the will of the plane would step in to assist. That was precisely why he chose to condense the ring within the Will Space.

Dragon Valley.

Su Yu sat cross-legged. The eight soul rings around him pulsed in sequence, orbiting his body and radiating lights of various colors.

At present, the age of Su Yu's eight soul rings had reached an utterly monstrous level.

Upon entering the Will Space, although Su Yu couldn't absorb the spiritual essence within it on a large scale, he was still able to gain a much deeper understanding of its properties. At the same time, his spiritual body was thoroughly nourished in that environment, and this enhancement of his spiritual nature led to an increase in the age of his soul rings.

All of his soul rings had surpassed the hundred-thousand-year mark!

In the absence of a twin martial soul, Su Yu had, through his own cultivation, achieved a complete set of hundred-thousand-year soul rings—an unprecedented feat in history.

Around Su Yu's body, beyond the eight existing soul rings, dense energy had begun to condense, forming the outline of a new halo.

The halo shone with a golden hue—pure, untainted gold.

A slightly ethereal golden light.

The halo gradually took shape, no longer appearing as vague or illusory. However, its color remained that subtle, translucent gold—conveying both a sense of nobility and an inclusive, restrained grandeur.

"So many laws…"

Su Yu could feel it—such a vivid resonance of natural laws stirred even his usually steady heart.

"To think that condensing a World Soul Ring could trigger this level of rule-based resonance?"

The intensity of these fluctuations was already comparable to Su Yu's perception of the two major laws of life and death through the Life-Death Runes.

In other words, Su Yu's current ability to perceive all natural laws was now on par with his perception of the life and death laws.

Throughout this process, the laws themselves seemed to naturally converge, as if they were actively assisting Su Yu in the formation of this soul ring.

However, Su Yu also felt an unprecedented resistance.

"This soul ring… is really not easy to form," he remarked with some awe.

There was no fixed bottleneck—just an overwhelming degree of difficulty in the act of condensation itself.

"What it's missing is a vessel."

A World Soul Ring… by its very nature, it should have a world to bear it!

"The human body is a small universe in itself, but that concept is too abstract. I need a tangible vessel right now."

Su Yu pondered, trying to determine what form this vessel should take.

"What about opening a space within the martial soul itself?"

He had confidence in his ability to open a space, but doing so within the martial soul… Su Yu wasn't certain he could succeed.

"Or maybe… could it be sustained through a domain?"

Then he thought of his domain.

Creating a space on the spot—regardless of whether he could succeed—wasn't the main issue. The real question was whether he had the time to do it.

So in the end, it would be better to use his domain as the vessel.

In Su Yu's long-term vision, his domain was destined to evolve into a small world of its own.

With that in mind, Su Yu immediately released his domain.

"He's even using his domain now?"

Sensing the distinct ripple of natural laws surrounding Su Yu's body, Electrolux was astonished. And now, seeing him activate his domain only deepened his curiosity.

He observed silently for a while, then realized Su Yu's intent.

"As expected, Xiao Yu's ambitions are immense."

He truly sought to create and control a world of his own.

In fact, Electrolux had already realized this might happen back when Su Yu first asked him about how to create an undead sub-plane and spent some time researching it. He just hadn't expected it to happen so soon.

He hadn't even become a god yet, and he was already beginning to plan such a monumental step.

"I just wonder whether this small world will be like my undead sub-plane, only useful for storage and auxiliary functions… or whether it can truly be wielded in battle like a domain."

According to Su Yu's vision, it was certainly the latter.

However, in all of Electrolux's experience, he had never seen such a case. Even after opening his own undead sub-plane, it existed as a completely real and separate plane—one that couldn't be freely used in combat.

"But these law fluctuations… they're incredibly intense." Electrolux's expression shifted slightly, because he could feel the resonance growing stronger.

As time passed, in just three short days, a wave of law-based fluctuations began radiating outward with Su Yu at the center, extending across a hundred-meter radius.

Eventually, the very laws of Dragon Valley itself began to stir.

It was as if the entire world had been activated, watching intently as Su Yu forged his soul ring.

Suddenly, Electrolux turned toward the depths of the Dragon Grave, his eyes filled with deep shock.

"What a terrifying surge of energy!"

The resonance of laws seemed to have awakened something hidden deep within Dragon Valley, as an overwhelming energy wave emanated from the innermost region of the Dragon Grave.

"There's definitely a tremendous secret buried deep within this Dragon Grave."

Electrolux was certain now—a peerless expert had perished there. An expert so powerful that even in his own lifetime, Electrolux had never reached such a realm.

Although his state had improved significantly since joining Su Yu—gaining insight after insight and even achieving a breakthrough—not to mention that, even now, he had regained strength on par with a divine being of the Douluo Continent… he was, after all, only a fragment of divine sense. His foundation was weaker than in his prime.

While the current Electrolux was still far from his former peak, he was confident that his power now rivaled that of a god on this plane.

Yet within this Dragon Grave, there had once existed a dragon whose might exceeded even his own from when he was alive.

"As I suspected… this Dragon Valley must have been artificially created—most likely by that supreme expert."

Su Yu, unaware that Elder Yi had uncovered such a shocking truth, remained completely immersed in the process of condensing his soul ring.

When he used his domain as the vessel for his World Soul Ring, the ripple of natural laws began to invade the domain itself. Su Yu could feel that his domain was constantly being refined.

Although a domain is something cultivated and perfected postnatally, the moment it becomes a domain, it also becomes an innate aspect of the martial soul.

The World Soul Ring was meant to be a direct enhancement of the Blue Silver Grass martial soul—it acted directly upon the martial soul itself. The domain was simply the most immediate vessel to carry that power.

As the laws flowed into the domain, they simultaneously transformed Su Yu's martial soul and refined the domain.

At this point, Su Yu couldn't even tell what was cause and what was effect.

The ninth halo outside his body gradually took shape, the golden soul ring settling around the outermost layer of the existing eight.

The nine soul rings pulsed rhythmically up and down, releasing a terrifying aura of soul power from Su Yu's body.

But he didn't rush to exit seclusion. Taking advantage of the lingering law resonance and the recent refinement of his domain, Su Yu stayed focused on digesting everything he had gained.