Chapter 349: Enlightenment
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Yun Ming's pupils contracted.
Old Tree clearly knew all of his thoughts like the back of his hand.
It wasn't that Yun Ming feared Old Tree.
At this moment, his full attention was on the key phrases Old Tree had spoken.
Below the god level!
Absolutely impossible to succeed!
These two absolute negations conveyed everything.
Only with the existence of the god realm could there be god positions that relied on it, and only then could powerful deities emerge. At that point, perhaps a deity could retain their strength after leaving the god realm and recreate a new one.
However, without the god realm, it was absolutely impossible to create something out of nothing by relying on a god position that inherently depended on the god realm.
Yun Ming's train of thought was cleared.
"So, what you're saying is… I should attempt to break through to the god level?"
The god level, not a deity.
A single character made all the difference.
Both soul masters broke through to become gods after reaching Level 100, yet the disparity between them was unimaginably vast.
Old Tree nodded, then shook his head, gazing at Yun Ming as he slowly spoke.
"Bound by the plane, you cannot break through, but you can continue to deepen your foundation."
He couldn't break through now, but he had to ensure that when the time came, he could swiftly reach an inconceivable level upon breaking through.
This was Old Tree's meaning.
Yun Ming understood perfectly.
But why was this necessary?
Yun Ming's mind stirred.
Could it be that there was a crisis requiring not just god-level strength, but an exceptionally powerful god-level force to deal with?
Crisis?
Thinking of crises, the first thing Yun Ming associated with was the Godslayer Missiles.
But now, Shrek Academy had already made numerous preparations, which Old Tree must have been aware of.
Fixed-installation soul-guided missiles were ultimately inanimate objects. When used with awareness, they couldn't unleash their maximum effect, let alone under targeted countermeasures.
So, what crisis was Old Tree referring to?
Seeing that Old Tree showed no intention of elaborating, Yun Ming didn't press further.
He was someone who listened to advice.
Since Old Tree said so, there must be a reason.
However, this wasn't the fundamental reason for Yun Ming's compliance.
What truly caught Yun Ming's attention was the hidden implication behind Old Tree's warning.
"The Douluo Plane, within my lifetime, has the potential to accommodate a god-level soul master!"
Of course, this was based on the premise that Old Tree's suggestion wasn't meant to send him to his death, but rather to prepare him as a decisive trump card.
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Demon Plane
Xu Yuan and Na'er were training in Nalundo's royal city.
As time passed, Shrek Academy's exploration of the Demon Plane gradually entered a steady rhythm.
There had already been three rounds of entries and exits.
In other words, many inner court students had returned to the inner court, while others prepared to re-enter the Demon Plane. Some even returned multiple times, preparing anew before entering again.
During this process, Shrek's exploration of the Demon Plane gradually matured.
Especially the issue of the plane's energy eroding the body's meridians had been perfectly resolved.
Food-based soul masters?
They remained a crucial group.
However, Shrek's primary solution to the energy erosion problem was no longer food-based recovery products created by food soul masters, but energy storage devices.
Energy storage devices were essentially what had been known as "milk bottles" ten thousand years ago, used to restore soul power.
Over the past ten millennia, whether due to the maturation of battle armor technology—boosting not only a soul master's explosive power but also their recovery capabilities—or because milk bottle technology was incompatible with battle armor yet perfectly compatible with mech suits, milk bottles had gradually faded from the sight of soul masters.
In truth, another important reason was that the continent had experienced relative "peace" over the past ten thousand years. Aside from specialized industries and mech suits, the demand for milk bottles had significantly decreased compared to ancient times.
Shrek's inner court students drew inspiration from a student who used a mech suit as a personal transport device to explore the Demon Plane. They recalled the concept of energy storage devices.
Through trial and error, they identified the most suitable tool currently available: the energy storage devices inside mechs.
Yes, their energy storage devices were all taken from mechs within Shrek's Mech Association.
This caused many outer court mech courses to grind to a halt.
The mech instructors were utterly infuriated.
Fortunately, Yun Ming personally intervened, explaining to the Mech Association that the academy would increase its support for them in the future.
This gave the Mech Association a whiff of something unusual.
A group of mech engineers began sharpening their tools, clearing their schedules, and preparing for possible upcoming tasks assigned to the Mech Association.
With energy storage devices in hand, many inner court students greatly accelerated their exploration progress around the base.
Thanks to the terrain maps provided by Xu Yuan for the western and northern regions, exploration proceeded swiftly.
Additionally, Xu Yuan's two consecutive operations severely crippled four dominant powers in the west, making it the most actively explored region by senior students.
Nalundo's royal city, as one of the three fallen cities located centrally and farther from other dominant forces, offered a safe distance for retreat and became a popular choice.
In just two months, Nalundo's royal city had become half a base for Shrek, serving as an important transit point for further exploration to the west.
To acknowledge Xu Yuan's contributions, the city was renamed Yuan City by Shrek.
Yes, it was officially renamed.
All the demonic creatures originally in Yuan City had been subdued by Shrek through various means and were now fully under their control.
Between Yuan City and Shrek City (formerly Alba's imperial city), numerous communication soul-guided device stations were established to facilitate information exchange between the two cities.
Xu Yuan had been peacefully cultivating in Yuan City for over a month.
"The tempering effect of the Demon Plane's ambient energy is beyond imagination. The results of my battles with Nalundo and Lamo were also quite satisfactory."
At this moment, in Xu Yuan's dantian, the viscous soul power had nearly solidified.
It seemed that adding even a tiny bit more soul power or applying external pressure would cause it to solidify completely.
However, solidified soul power couldn't flow smoothly within the body, rendering it impractical.
The soul core—a vortex of soul power—was the form surpassing liquid-state soul power that titled Douluos had developed over generations.
The soul core achieved greater density and fluidity through a coexistence of solid and liquid states, marking a pivotal development in the soul master system.
From the history of the soul master world, it was clear that after the concept of the soul core emerged, the number of titled Douluos skyrocketed.
"My first soul core doesn't need to differentiate its placement; I'll directly condense it in the lower dantian."
Xu Yuan had also come to terms with this. He had no intention of separating it.
Whether it was spiritual attributes, blood energy, or other forces, they could all be mixed together.
"Soul power ultimately exists through the martial soul. My martial soul encompasses the three systems of essence, energy, and spirit, so naturally, my soul power nurtures all three attributes."
Three of the most unique attributes.
Spirit.
Blood essence.
Heaven and Earth!
These three special concepts were contained in Xu Yuan's soul power in the forms of essence, energy, and spirit.
They provided the foundation for him to condense three pure soul cores representing essence, energy, and spirit.
"Senior Brother, are you really going to condense your soul core here in Yuan City?" Na'er asked curiously.
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