Chapter 292: The Choice of the Nine Spiritual Soul Rings

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Su Yu rarely used the God-Slaying Sword.

To him, the God-Slaying Sword was a protective weapon on his path. With its sword form, the ever-advancing 'sword' rune refinement, and his ability to integrate all his techniques into the sword, he could unleash his greatest power.

Of course, as his cultivation deepened, Su Yu's ultimate techniques continued to evolve.

Now, he was no longer bound by form and could express his power in any manifestation he desired.

Still, there was no doubt that the God-Slaying Sword remained one of Su Yu's most powerful trump cards.

Especially since his swordsmanship had never been weak.

His fourth soul ring had now been raised to the 800,000-year level. At the same time, the God-Slaying Sword had been imbued with a significant portion of his spiritual essence, nurtured over many years—even longer than the battle armor currently on his body.

The refinement of the sword rune was also Su Yu's way of expressing his understanding of swordsmanship, using the God-Slaying Sword as the foundational model.

Thus, the fusion of the God-Slaying Sword with the sword rune brought the two together as one, elevating the weapon to the level of a divine artifact.

A subtle ripple spread across the heavens and earth, forming a mysterious connection with the God-Slaying Sword.

"As expected, sword-type laws really do exist." Su Yu clearly understood the ripple—it was the fluctuation of rules.

Now that the God-Slaying Sword had fully become a divine artifact, every move he made with it would carry the power of law.

Sword in hand, Su Yu looked toward the battlefield.

He hesitated for a moment and didn't act.

"My strength is still far from enough. Charging in now would be suicide," Su Yu decided to remain cautious.

Under the aura of Asura Sword Qi, the Golden Dragon King's injuries grew increasingly severe.

Gu Yuena had already approached the battlefield, holding her Silver Dragon Spear as divine power surged from her.

Sensing the presence of the Silver Dragon King, the Golden Dragon King grew more frenzied. But as the Dragon God's Heart was stimulated, his madness gradually became restrained.

Yet, the Golden Dragon King had not regained his sanity.

He never had rationality to begin with—he was a being of pure madness.

Even as the madness subdued, his mind did not become clear.

Boom!

Destruction and Life joined forces, and a terrifying wave of energy swept forth.

"So this is the Power of Creation?"

Su Yu sensed the energy born from the fusion of the two Divine Kings' powers. His eyes flickered as he fully focused on perceiving it.

The Power of Creation—

It was a bug-level force.

Even the Divine Kings of Destruction and Life could only barely wield it when combined.

Su Yu naturally commanded the power of Life, and had even completed the cycle of life and death. As for Destruction and Creation, he had gained insights into them as well.

Under the demonstration of the Divine Kings of Destruction and Life, Su Yu found the convergence point among four forces.

Especially the fusion of Destruction and Life—it directly allowed Su Yu to link the four types of energy together.

He had already established connections between Destruction and Creation, Life and Death.

However, his comprehension of Destruction and Creation wasn't deep enough yet—not even sufficient to form runes.

Life and Death remained his core foundation.

Now, the fusion of the four insights was still centered around Life and Death.

The Life and Death runes were further refined, while destructive waves and creative energy began to emerge.

The fusion of all four powers created a unified fluctuation, closely resembling the Power of Creation unleashed by the two Divine Kings.

At the same time, within Su Yu's sea of consciousness, two new runes—'Destruction' and 'Creation'—began to take form.

The 'Destruction' rune's patterns extended rapidly, closely resembling those in 'Thunder' and 'Tribulation,' and developed at incredible speed.

Though the 'Creation' rune progressed more slowly, it remained in steady refinement.

Su Yu had even created life before—his understanding of Creation was not shallow.

As the three Divine Kings clashed with the Golden Dragon King, Su Yu continued observing from the sidelines, gaining great insight.

In the heart of the battle, the Golden Dragon King was struck by the Power of Creation. His strength began to crumble.

He let out a furious roar, and a dense aura of evil surged from his body, flooding the battlefield with terrifying power.

Yet it was this very surge of evil that gave the Silver Dragon King her opportunity.

She activated the Dragon God's Heart, instantly teleporting to the center of the battlefield. The Dragon God's Heart radiated a nine-colored glow.

Under the brilliance of the nine-colored light, the evil aura melted like snow in fire, vanishing rapidly.

The Golden Dragon King raised his head and roared into the sky—but his dragon roar was tinged with weakness.

As the glow of the Dragon God's Heart bathed the battlefield, the dragon roar gradually weakened.

Seizing the moment, Gu Yuena thrust her Silver Dragon Spear into the Golden Dragon King's body.

The Dragon God's Heart burst into radiant light, engulfing both her and the Golden Dragon King.

The three Divine Kings surrounded the glowing area, watching intently as the changes unfolded.

Gu Yuena's aura steadily grew stronger, while the Golden Dragon King's aura gradually faded.

As time passed, the Golden Dragon King's aura completely vanished. His frenzied evil was entirely purified, and only then did the three Divine Kings breathe a sigh of relief.

However, Gu Yuena's aura now contained a trace of violent rage.

"This is bad. Could she be suffering backlash from the Golden Dragon King?"

Tang San was about to intervene, but the Divine Kings of Destruction and Life stopped him.

"She's holding the Dragon God's Core. It should be able to suppress the violent aura."

Fusion had only just begun—there was no way to perfectly assimilate everything from the opponent right away.

The process had to be slow and gradual, absorbing the energy bit by bit, while either expelling or completely purifying the violent force.

And that… would take time.

The Dragon God's Heart provided Gu Yuena with a prolonged buffer against the corrosive madness and murderous aura carried by the Golden Dragon King's bloodline.

Su Yu took out the Golden Dragon Spear.

Ever since it had come into his possession, he had been studying it.

However, he had never managed to use the Golden Dragon Spear to devour the life force of abyssal creatures—something he considered a regret, if not a failure.

That said, Su Yu had still managed to extract insights into the power of Devouring from the spear, which greatly enhanced the function of his 'Devour' rune at the spatial rift.

Now, he was returning the Golden Dragon Spear to Gu Yuena.

The spear tore through space and shot straight into the radiant orb of light.

A golden beam of light fused into Gu Yuena's body, merging with a silver light already within her.

"At this rate, the devouring process should go smoothly."

Su Yu had no intention of lingering.

He had gained much from observing this battle, and Gu Yuena had clearly entered a digestion phase—something that would take time.

But Su Yu could no longer afford to delay.

This was the Divine Realm.

Every moment spent here translated to a long stretch of time in the lower world.

While gaining insight had been worthwhile, now his time spent here would only become increasingly inefficient.

"I'll return to Douluo Continent first."

Su Yu exchanged a few words with the Divine Kings of Destruction and Life, then departed from the Divine Realm's dimension.

Douluo Continent

Upon returning, he found that a whole month had passed.

"Two hours…"

While observing the Asura Sword Qi and that fleeting glimpse of the Power of Creation, the time consumed wasn't actually that much.

But digesting those insights, refining his understanding within the Divine Realm's environment, had taken time nonetheless.

During Gu Yuena's initial devouring of the Golden Dragon King, Su Yu had also been focused on internalizing what he had perceived.

Once Gu Yuena's devouring process entered a stable phase, Su Yu finally left the Divine Realm and returned to the continent.

"There's still one month left before I go to the Elven Star to bring back the elven god-level experts. After that, the final battle begins."

Su Yu checked the divine mark from the God of Life's Trial, where the seventh trial's objective flowed clearly through his mind.

"Seventh Trial: Break through to Level 99; elevate all soul rings to the million-year level.

Reward: Insight into the Source of the Divine Realm."

Su Yu couldn't help but covet this insight into the Divine Realm's Source.

Even understanding the source of a single world could greatly accelerate his growth—let alone that of an entire Divine Realm.

The Divine Realm existed in a dimension far closer to the laws of reality.

The source birthed from such a realm held far more profound connections and mysteries than any life-bearing planet in the regular dimensional plane of the universe.

"I've already formed my third Soul Core, and I've broken through to Level 99 in soul power. The only thing left is getting all my soul rings to the million-year level."

At this point, Su Yu couldn't help but complain a little: the two Divine Kings were being far too stingy.

If that was the requirement, why hadn't any of the previous trials included rewards that increased the age of his soul rings?

What he didn't realize was that raising every soul ring to the million-year mark was an immense cost—even for two Divine Kings.

Even becoming a god didn't require such a standard.

On the Douluo Continent, soul masters who ascended to godhood usually increased their soul ring ages little by little after becoming gods, using their own accumulated divine faith power.

Upgrading one's own rings was vastly different from having others elevate them—both in process and in energy expenditure.

The Dragon God's Heart granted Gu Yuena prolonged protection against the corrosive madness and murderous aura embedded in the Golden Dragon King's bloodline.

Su Yu withdrew the Golden Dragon Spear.

Since it came into his hands, he had studied it extensively.

Yet he'd never managed to harness it to devour the life force of abyssal creatures—a shortcoming he viewed as a lapse.

Still, the Devouring insight he extracted from the spear greatly amplified his 'Devour' rune's power at the spatial rift.

Now, he intended to return the Golden Dragon Spear to Gu Yuena.

The spear tore through the void and plunged into the orb of light.

A golden beam fused into Gu Yuena's form, interweaving with the silver radiance within her.

"At this point, the devouring process should proceed without issue."

Su Yu had no desire to overstay.

He'd gleaned much from this battle, and Gu Yuena had entered the digestion phase—one that required time.

But Su Yu could no longer delay.

This was the Divine Realm, where each moment equated to ages in the lower world. Insight had its merits, but lingering further would only erode his efficiency.

"I'll return to Douluo Continent now."

He exchanged farewells with the Divine Kings of Destruction and Life, then departed the Divine Realm's dimension.

Douluo Continent

A month had passed since his departure.

"Just two hours…"

While observing Asura Sword Qi and that fleeting glimpse of the Power of Creation, the actual combat time was brief.

Yet integrating those insights and refining his abilities in the Divine Realm's environment had consumed real time.

During Gu Yuena's initial devouring, Su Yu likewise immersed himself in internalizing his revelations.

Once her devouring stabilized, he left the Divine Realm and returned to the continent.

"One month remains before I journey to Elven Star to enlist the elven god-level champions. Then the final battle will begin."

Su Yu felt the mark of the God of Life's Trial pulse with the seventh trial's requirements:

Seventh Trial: Break through to Level 99; elevate all soul rings to the million-year tier.

Reward: Insight into the Source of the Divine Realm.

He coveted that Divine Realm Source—a boon from any plane could accelerate his growth, let alone one from a dimension nearer to cosmic laws.

"I've formed my third Soul Core and reached Level 99 in soul power. All that remains is upgrading my soul rings to a million years."

He couldn't help but chide the two Divine Kings for their stinginess: if they required million-year rings, why hadn't earlier trials awarded even a single ring's age?

But raising every ring to the million-year tier was a monumental cost—even for Divine Kings.

Even gods on the Douluo Continent typically increased their ring ages gradually after ascension, using their own faith power. Self-enhancement and external elevation demanded vastly different energies.

"While I'm en route, I'll use the travel time to elevate my soul rings," Su Yu decided. His research into ring-age enhancement had deepened considerably.

He even nourished his rings with his own source essence—an efficiency none could match.

Most importantly, he planned to fuse all his soul rings through this process.

"Spiritual rings, vitality rings, even soul-power rings—they all must merge."

For his spiritual soul rings, he'd chosen the existing runes 'Life,' 'Spirit,' and 'Void' as the first three. Then he used 'Condense' and 'Gather' to amplify a newly sketched 'Primordial' rune—the source of all energy—forming a four-rune structure that served as his fourth spiritual ring.

For the fifth ring, he etched 'Force,' uniting every power, including the 'Sword' rune in his spiritual sea, into a composite structure.

The sixth ring bore the 'Time' rune he mastered after controlling temporal power.

His seventh ring embodied the cycle of life and death.

He had yet to decide on the eighth and ninth spiritual rings—until insights from the Divine Realm offered two paths: Destruction and Creation.

Yet since his core remained the cycle of life and death, forcibly adding Destruction and Creation now would disrupt his system's harmony.

"I already possess elements of Destruction and Creation within other runes," he mused. "I can evolve those powers organically when fusing, making them intrinsic."

"Thus, my eighth and ninth spiritual rings shall be…"

Devour!

His eighth spiritual ring choice.

Wisdom!

He regarded the hazy orb in his spiritual sea as the ninth rune—his Authority of Wisdom, condensed from his faith power. Too complex for specific patterns, it existed solely as a glowing sphere.

His insights remained intact; even without the physical runes, he could re-summon these spiritual rings at will.

Aboard the captured starship, Su Yu resumed cultivation as it accelerated toward the Elven Star System.

Elven Star.

It bore no resemblance to his first visit.

Not only had the planet itself evolved, but its entire star system—and even nearby systems—had shifted.

The breakthrough of a single life-bearing world had altered the system's core mechanics, with Elven Star at its heart.

He couldn't locate it by its old coordinates; only the starship's navigational system, sensing residual spatial markers he'd left behind, guided him home.

Seven months had passed since his departure—one month beyond the six-month deadline.

Su Yu felt no guilt; he blamed the star's upheaval. Searching the cosmos for a shifted planet had cost him time.

Besides, this was only a rough timeline—the elves held no grievance.

They'd known he might take longer; capturing and stabilizing an abyssal plane was no simple task.

Even the most meticulous plans could require years—decades, even.

For inter-dimensional wars, a decade was but a fleeting moment.

The elves weren't isolated like the Douluo Continent's soul masters; they interacted with civilizations across the universe and lived far longer, so their sense of time differed greatly.

"You're all stable in your realms now?" Su Yu inquired.

"Both I and the Life-Elf Dragon have fully consolidated our power. We'll travel to Douluo Continent together, along with three other god-level elders."

This represented half—if not two-thirds—of Elven Star's top-tier strength, plus the queen herself.

"Thank you, Elven kin," Su Yu said. "The devouring of the Abyss and the planet's evolution will benefit you as well. May you gain much."

Since they chose to aid Douluo Continent, they would not return empty-handed.

"Let's go."

And so they embarked on another long voyage across the cosmos.

Within the starship, Su Yu continued fusing his three classes of soul rings.

(End of Chapter)