Chapter 22: Developing Techniques on My Own?

Thank you to our new Patrons: Foolie, Resid Kuliyev, Bodybags87, Jaden Henderson, spiritwolf86, Kyle Bates, Macabre Threener, Jakob Harris, Koner !!, Elan Jones, NaasH NS, Shon Ducusin, Kai Zambrano, mty and BenDover110! Your support means the world to me <3 We are up to Chapter 50: A New Era for the Body Sect on Patreon!

There's something for free patrons too! Free Patrons receive 1 chapter in advance :)

---------------------------------------------------------------------

The bottleneck in spiritual power wasn't due to a lack of aptitude for spiritual power—it was because his spiritual strength had nearly outgrown the constraints of his physical body.

At this moment, Xu Yuan roughly understood why Gu Yue's spiritual power, though monstrous, seemed somewhat comprehensible in the early stages of the original story.

If the body wasn't fully developed, having excessively powerful spiritual power could lead to unforeseen consequences.

In the end, she chose to undergo re-cultivation. Though vastly different from the typical re-cultivation process of ten-thousand-year soul beasts, her human body was still infused with the bloodline of the Silver Dragon King.

The Silver Dragon King wasn't known for its physical prowess, so her early stages didn't showcase an overwhelmingly powerful physique. However, her physical capabilities were still extraordinarily exaggerated.

"If not for the limitations of my physical body, my spiritual power shouldn't just be at 210 points after a year—300 might not even be the limit."

Xu Yuan's spiritual power skyrocketed during his initial awakening. Within a month at the Forging Master Association in Tiandou City, it surged from 81 points to 99 points, only stalling due to a minor bottleneck in the Lingtong Realm.

Although this rapid growth might have been a temporary boost from awakening his martial soul, as his body developed and his spiritual power advanced, the numerical increase shouldn't have slowed down.

The later stages of spiritual power advancement became increasingly difficult—not because a ten-point increase in the Lingyuan Realm would become impossible in the Lingtong Realm, but because a ten-point increase in the Lingtong Realm would seem negligible. Even a twenty- or thirty-point increase in the same cultivation stage would still feel insignificant.

"Physical fitness is still critically important." Xu Yuan knew that enhancing his physical condition would be his top priority in the coming years of training.

Though normal cultivation would keep his spiritual power at the forefront among his peers, in this era of Legend of The Dragon King, his exceptional spiritual power was his only standout achievement.

"At the very least, I need to reach Gu Yue's level at the same age to compete with them in the end," Xu Yuan reasoned.

Moreover, when he referred to being the "same age," he meant the middle-to-late stages of their development.

"Before I turn thirteen, my spiritual power must surpass Gu Yue's at the same stage!"

---

Back to the Main Topic

Xu Yuan's goal for entering the Spirit Ascension Platform this time was clear: to ascend spiritually and upgrade his Five-Element Spear Spirit to a thousand-year spirit soul.

In terms of cost-effectiveness, enhancing the first spirit soul during the one-ring stage was the optimal choice. At this point, the essence absorbed from killing soul beasts in the Spirit Ascension Platform was entirely channeled into a single soul ring without being distributed.

However, upgrading a spirit soul to a thousand-year level during the Soul Master stage meant that the second ring would also include a thousand-year soul ring from this spirit soul.

Carrying two thousand-year soul rings at level twenty placed far greater demands on the body than carrying just one before level twenty. In fact, the difficulty increased exponentially.

No, it wasn't just a small step up—it was multiple levels harder.

Even if one trained to the peak of physical fitness at level nineteen, they might barely handle the pressure of a single thousand-year soul ring. But just one level higher, upon breaking through to level twenty, immediately obtaining a second thousand-year soul ring would be hellishly difficult.

Of course, if one let their imagination run wild, there might be a compromise. For instance, after reaching level twenty, one could control the first spirit soul not to attach a soul ring, then fuse with a second spirit soul—a hundred-year spirit soul—and keep the second ring at the hundred-year level.

However, the prerequisite for such an approach was having spiritual power strong enough to support absorbing both a thousand-year spirit soul and a hundred-year spirit soul simultaneously. This was beyond the capabilities of the Lingtong Realm—it required the Linghai (Spirit Sea) Realm. And once one reached the Linghai Realm, their physical fitness would generally be sufficient to handle two thousand-year soul rings.

So, while such ideas could exist theoretically, they might prove impractical upon testing.

Numerical analysis could always validate or refute hypotheses about what was feasible.

This was mathematics.

"My body can handle a thousand-year soul ring without issue, and even two thousand-year soul rings should be manageable."

After all, Xu Yuan was the disciple of the Body Sect's leader, and over the past year, he had consumed no shortage of heavenly treasures to enhance his physical fitness.

Mu Ye had only forbidden him from using heavenly treasures to boost soul power—not from using them to improve his physical condition.

Most heavenly treasures that enhanced physical fitness also promoted soul power growth. In such cases, Mu Ye employed the Body Sect's secret techniques, allowing Xu Yuan to absorb the essence of the treasures while almost completely preventing the energy from leaking into soul power enhancement.

With his spiritual power unleashed, Xu Yuan felt an unprecedented sense of ease.

"Inside the Spirit Ascension Platform, my spiritual power seems unrestricted."

Due to the limitations of his physical body, Xu Yuan's spiritual power had been constrained in quantity, forcing him to compress it as much as possible. Naturally, this made his spiritual power appear extraordinarily potent in element control.

Xu Yuan speculated that Gu Yue's exceptional element control might also stem from this reason.

Now, within the Spirit Ascension Platform, freed from his body's constraints, Xu Yuan's high-quality spiritual power began to spread.

Without the container of his body, his previously compressed spiritual power started to dissipate and dilute freely.

"After returning, my spiritual power will likely condense again. Experiencing these two processes repeatedly might help me develop a method for training and refining spiritual power."

Because his martial soul was the brain, Xu Yuan had a natural talent for research and harbored ambitions of developing his own cultivation techniques. Among these, spiritual power and physical refinement were his primary focuses.

Now, he had gained inspiration for developing techniques to cultivate spiritual power.

As Xu Yuan pondered, his expression suddenly changed.

He quickly leaped into the air, holding the Tianyuan Brush and turning to look behind him.

Three massive fireballs exploded where he had just stood, sending flames and shockwaves sweeping outward. The ground was scorched black with three connected craters.

Through his spiritual perception, Xu Yuan could vaguely "see" that behind the fiery inferno created by the explosions, three Flame Lions had already begun to encircle him.

Suddenly, the three Flame Lions pounced, leaping over the wall of flames and charging directly at Xu Yuan.

Having sensed the three Flame Lions well in advance with his spiritual power, Xu Yuan remained calm and composed in his response.

The three Flame Lions consisted of two large ones and one smaller one. Even the smallest one appeared to have at least two hundred years of cultivation, while the larger ones were roughly six hundred and five hundred years old, respectively.

Outside, Xu Shengqun's expression shifted slightly. He hadn't expected Xu Yuan to encounter such a formidable ambush so soon after entering the Spirit Ascension Platform.

However, recalling Xu Yuan's training achievements over the past year, he relaxed slightly.

Still, he couldn't help but remain a bit worried.

After all, training was one thing—applying what he had learned in actual combat was another matter entirely.

Fortunately, watching through the screen, Xu Yuan remained calm and responded promptly. His subsequent actions earned Xu Shengqun's applause.

Holding the Tianyuan Brush, Xu Yuan didn't transform it into the Tianyuan Spear form but instead wielded the brush itself.

Water!

The Tianyuan Brush sketched in the air, gathering water elemental forces to form a massive torrent.

In Xu Yuan's hands, under the strokes of the Tianyuan Brush, streams of water snaked out from various angles, completely blocking the paths of the three Flame Lions.

------------------------------------------------------

Support my writing journey: patreon.com/EphemeralShadow