Chapter 115: Spirit Gathering Array Diagram
In the real world study, Ling Yi opened his eyes, feeling the complete restoration of his vital energies. With a thought, he severed the inexhaustible life force surging from beneath his feet.
In Ling Yi's courtyard, aside from the various soul-powered plants arranged according to the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams, a massive soul-guiding array was set up underground.
This array was derived from a series of seemingly useless soul tools from the warehouse combined with Ling Yi's intimate familiarity with his 'First Soul Skill: Flourishing Vitality.' After countless trial-and-error adjustments, he finally found a viable arrangement.
Effect: Within the scope of the array, all "Blue Silver Grass" can absorb the life force of each plant, gather it at the array’s nodes, and allow it to be directed by the master.
As the life force circulates, the external elemental energies are drawn in by an invisible attraction, akin to the 'wind tunnel effect,' aggregating at the array's location.
The materials for laying out the array patterns were a special alloy dubbed "Vitality Gold" by Ling Yi.
"Vitality Gold: Stage I" is a spiritual metal alloy primarily composed of refined iron, with added pure silver, purple copper, and small amounts of refined gold and soul beast bone powder, crafted using spring water mixed with "Blue Silver Grass" juice for quenching.
The concept was inspired by a rare treasure mentioned in a few Douluo fanfictions, surpassing even the celestial grass, known as "Gold of Life."
Four years ago, back in the cold camp in the north of the [Shuimu Principality], Ling Yi had begun to ponder deeply on how to accelerate his progress step by step.
At that time, Ling Yi identified a series of aspects he needed to address.
Innate soul power, martial soul quality, meridian width, mental strength, physical condition, external environment…
Through the absorption of two soul rings, Ling Yi's martial soul evolved from the once truly useless "Blue Silver Grass" to its current baron-grade version, comparable to a thirteen hundred-year-old plant, with his innate soul power aptitude rising to tier three and above!
Indeed, thirteen hundred years—a remarkable increase of several decades compared to the initial twelve hundred years when he first ascended to the level of Great Soul Master.
And in the future, as his strength continues to grow, with soul rings incrementally adorned, and as time passes, Ling Yi's martial soul will naturally mature. One day, the quality of his martial soul will reach the regal status of ten thousand years, possibly ascending to the emperor class of a hundred thousand years!
His innate soul power aptitude will also rise steadily, eventually achieving the level of innate full soul power!
Aspects such as the breadth of his meridians, the strength of his spirit, and the condition of his physique—whether through the "Beast Martial Soul: Xingyi Quan Frame," "Crystal Meditation Method 4.0," or the "Nine-Word Incantation Hand Seal—Lin Seal 1.0"—continue to be cultivated systematically.
Yet, the external environment has long been restricted by his own strength and the accessible external forces. What Ling Yi could accomplish thus far was merely to employ various overt and covert means to cultivate an environment teeming with "Blue Silver Grass," allowing himself to be constantly immersed in the "Blue Silver Mimicry Cultivation Environment."
However, this is far from adequate!
Can ordinary villages compare to soul beast forests?
Can a regular soul beast forest compare to the spiritual, picturesque lands occupied by significant powers?
Can the bases of major powers match the "Star Dou Forest"?
Can the outskirts of the "Star Dou Forest" rival the core area around "Lake of Life"?
And what about the "Spirit City" at the center of the Douluo Continent, "Sea God's Island" in the Western Sea, or the heart area of the "Extreme North" where "Millennium Mysterious Ice Marrow" can be found?
To catch up with the footsteps of the likes of Tang Hao, Qian Xunji, and Bibi Dong, the illustrious figures gifted by the heavens, Ling Yi must strive to align himself with their conditions in every aspect.
As for the original protagonist, Tang San?
That type who has mysterious forces from another world aiding him with cheats, possesses little comparative value.
He's like a puppet on strings, with his entire life pre-arranged, and even his thoughts manipulated by those enigmatic powers. It's pitiable yet pathetic.
Of course, he doesn't deserve sympathy; after all, he's a successful figure, far beyond the reach of someone like Ling Yi, who is still at the bottom rung, to pity.
It's similar to people earning less than 3K a month sympathizing with those glamorous individuals who earn fortunes every day—it's somewhat delusional.
I digress.
While at the Cold Wind Camp, Ling Yi pondered whether it would be possible to replicate a 'Gathering Spirit Array' from the cultivation world in the Douluo Continent's setting.
Consider that in most cultivation worlds, you can use spirit stones to create a 'Gathering Spirit Array' and even inscribe array patterns onto implements or flags to form an array disk or banner.
The most crucial element here is the array pattern!
These are patterns capable of channeling spiritual and magical energy, thus attracting the world's external spiritual aura.
It's not that no one has studied the patterns on these soul devices, but unfortunately, the Douluo Continent still predominantly values martial spirits.
Talented soul masters focus on diligently cultivating their soul power, seeking soul beasts with higher age, hoping to acquire better soul rings and powerful soul skills...
In the realm of soul devices, research is predominantly the pursuit of either certain hobbyists or those within powerful sects who assign individuals with limited potential in their martial spirits to this work.
Given the inherent value of soul devices coupled with the demands on the researchers' own capabilities, only top-tier powers like the Spirit Hall, with their profound resources, can achieve measurable success.
Independent enthusiasts rarely make significant breakthroughs.
After all, without the ability to externally project one’s spiritual power, relying merely on the repetitive input of soul power to sense and discern the array patterns within a soul device is excessively challenging!
Only those who can extend their spiritual power externally—besides certain spirit-system martial spirits—can do so after obtaining a seventh soul ring and becoming a Soul Saint, experiencing the first qualitative leap in spiritual power.
Even Ling Yi has not undergone such a qualitative transformation in his spiritual power.
His ability to project his spiritual power externally is actually due to his innately strong spiritual power paired with techniques and methods like the "Crystal Meditation Technique" and the "Nine-Word Hand Seal—Lin Seal" that he has developed bit by bit, which allows him to mimic the capabilities of those spirit-type soul masters.
Observing the opening act of this inaugural era on the Douluo Continent, soul masters with spirit-type martial spirits are exceedingly rare.
Those who have truly developed the use of spiritual power are even more of a rarity.
In Ling Yi's memory, notable figures include 'Canmeng,' who ranks just after Dugu Bo as the treasure-bearing child, and Hu Liena, the fox-eared maiden who was given as a gift. As for others trained by Shinian, such as the extras from Canghui Academy who were rendered imbeciles by the protagonist Tang San's spiritual backlash, none are of noteworthy standing.
Having addressed issues concerning researchers, the next formidable challenge in soul device research is the materials.
These are materials capable of accommodating and facilitating the inscription and operation of soul arrays!
From Ling Yi’s investigations, as of now on the Douluo Continent, only the Spirit Hall has successfully recreated the production of "Soul Measuring Crystals."
The raw material for the 'Soul Testing Crystal' is a type of natural crystal that allows the flow of spiritual power with minimal resistance.
Its quality is quite ordinary, breaking easily with just a little force.
While such a crystal is not suitable for weapon crafting, it is perfect as the raw material for auxiliary 'Soul Testing Crystals'.
The Wuhun Hall itself pays little attention to these 'Soul Testing Crystals', and the selling price is not high for even moderately influential forces. Because of this, the craftsmanship involved in making these 'Soul Testing Crystals' remains within a select few in the Wuhun Hall and has not spread outside.
Whether this craft will be preserved after a possible future downfall of the Wuhun Hall is unknown.
Regardless, Ling Yi, through the Blacksmith Association's Shuimu Principality branch, purchased a batch of 'Soul Essence Crystals', discovering that these raw materials are abundant, only having a low demand leads to a smaller production.
After learning this, Ling Yi decided to control the production of 'Soul Storage Crystals' and only release the initial version to the public, the 'Level 10 Soul Master Edition'.
In the current Douluo Continent, besides obtaining soul devices from ancient relics, almost no new soul devices are being developed.
After all, soul masters focus on developing their martial souls, while blacksmiths are concerned with the hardness, toughness, sharpness, extensibility, weight, and corrosion resistance of various metals. Only a few master blacksmiths and divine craftsmen consider profound topics like spiritual power conductivity and energy resistance.
However, soul devices remain a niche field.
Only someone as forward-thinking as Ling Yi would invest part of his effort, finances, and resources into such an undervalued project while still in a relatively weak position.
The result is promising—a large-scale soul power gathering array named "Vibrant Life"!
(End of Chapter)