"Wait, you mentioned devouring Abyssal energy?"
"Oh, that's not quite accurate. The most precise term would be isolating a portion of the Abyssal energy and using its natural tendency to return to generate force, much like hydroelectric power generation."
Just as water naturally flows downward, blocking part of the flow allows the accumulated water to drive turbines, generating electricity.
"I think I have a preliminary understanding," Blood Three said after pondering for a while, nodding slowly.
She looked at Xu Yuan and asked, "Is this just an idea? It must not be easy to achieve, right? If you want to continue researching, what support do you need from us?"
Xu Yuan shook his head.
"It's more than just an idea. I've already achieved initial results—though the technology is still immature and inefficient, it's sufficient to yield benefits. That's why I came here to report."
Upon hearing Xu Yuan's words, Blood Seven immediately perked up, no longer appearing lazy.
He focused intently on Xu Yuan and asked, "You said you used Abyssal energy to obtain easily absorbable stellar energy?"
Xu Yuan nodded.
"That's correct. The Abyss invades us, and we're powerless against their energy—we can't devour it or retain it. Naturally, we can't just let it go unchecked. If the Abyss wants to reclaim its energy, it should pay a corresponding price, such as granting us other forms of energy, like stellar energy."
"What do you mean by 'easily absorbable' stellar energy? How did you achieve that?" Blood Seven asked.
Xu Yuan explained truthfully, "The Abyssal energy collides with raw stellar energy, grinding away its violent elements. Ultimately, the essence returns to its source, but the Abyssal energy is consumed in the process. It's like how a soul master's soul power level doesn't change, but their soul power is expended and no longer at peak condition, requiring them to absorb external energy to recover."
"And I've leveraged this recovery process to make the entire system more efficient, obtaining more stellar energy."
Obtaining more stellar energy, then using Abyssal energy to refine it further.
This cycle repeated itself, forming a closed loop.
The five Blood Gods stared at Xu Yuan.
So, was this making the Abyss plane work for them?
"This is the result I obtained from taking my completed soul-guided weapon into the Abyss," Xu Yuan said, pointing to the soul-guided shield he had just handed over.
Blood Seven rushed to Blood Three's side, rubbing his hands together. "Sister Three, can I take a feel?"
Blood Three frowned but didn't refuse, handing the shield to Blood Seven.
Blood Seven infused his soul power into the array of the soul-guided device, then connected his spiritual power to the space within.
"Hiss~"
This stellar energy was already quite gentle. Though it wasn't as mild as ambient primal energy, it was even easier to absorb than the fiery elemental energy deep within volcanoes. What mattered was that it was stellar energy.
The quality of stellar energy was exceptionally high, ranking among the upper-tier energies of Douluo Star.
The source of power for most planes across the universe was also the stellar energy emitted by stars.
As for where stellar energy originated, that was beyond the realm of what soul masters on Douluo Star could study.
However, there was no doubt that aside from advanced energies like life force derived from normal primal energy, stellar energy was far superior to all basic energies on Douluo Star.
This meant absorbing stellar energy brought greater benefits.
Ordinary soul masters, particularly those below Level 30, found it extremely difficult to absorb stellar energy. The violent nature of stellar energy could even damage their meridians.
However, soul masters at the Soul Elder, Soul Ancestor, or Soul King levels and above could attempt to refine stellar energy for cultivation.
The efficiency of refining stellar energy was low, and raw stellar energy that hadn't been filtered by the Douluo plane was difficult to obtain, making this method hard to implement.
"To directly harness unfiltered stellar energy from Douluo Star shouldn't be this easy. Within the plane, such raw-level energy would naturally dissipate and decompose. Your…" Blood Seven took a deep breath, suppressing his shock.
Xu Yuan shrugged. "It might be due to the Abyssal passage. Although both the Abyss and Douluo Star are complete planes, the spatial passage strictly belongs to neither. It's a channel connecting us to the Abyss, constructed with Abyssal power, so the Abyss's laws dominate within, suppressing us."
In reality, Xu Yuan knew the key to achieving this lay in the dream space.
The dream space existed between reality and illusion, and the presence of the Abyssal passage allowed Xu Yuan's dream space to touch the boundary of the plane more easily, almost directly accessing raw stellar energy from outside.
Otherwise, to achieve this step, Xu Yuan would have needed to travel aboard a spaceship into space, leaving the range of Douluo Star's influence, to directly access raw stellar energy.
Only then could his entire program have been completed so effortlessly.
By accessing raw stellar energy, all that was needed was a driving force to bring this energy into the dream space.
If he couldn't directly access raw stellar energy, Xu Yuan would have had to establish resonance between the dream space and the stars outside the plane, wasting more resources.
In that case, there would hardly be any profit.
Unless Xu Yuan used the return of Abyssal energy to drive forces that his dream space could directly access, such as ambient primal energy.
But gathering ambient primal energy held little significance.
Arrays like the Gathering Energy Array or Spirit Gathering Array were already common in various factions. The Blood God Legion also had meditation rooms with denser ambient primal energy, so if Xu Yuan merely gathered primal energy, it wouldn't mean much.
To some extent, Xu Yuan's ability to gather raw stellar energy truly depended on the unique characteristics of the Abyssal passage itself.
Moreover, his newly constructed primitive dream space was more attuned to raw stellar energy, minimizing energy loss during the process of transforming physical energy into virtual energy.
"In that sense, we really didn't think of it before. The spatial passage exists in the interdimensional layer, belonging neither to Douluo Star nor the Abyss. By breaking through the spatial barriers of the passage, the outside is pure cosmic space." Blood Three's expression showed sudden realization.
She looked at Xu Yuan, admiration evident.
He had exploited a major loophole.
Starting from the spatial passage, it was indeed easier to access raw stellar energy.
Not only that, Xu Yuan had ingeniously devised a way to use Abyssal energy to draw in raw stellar energy and use the violent elements of stellar energy to consume Abyssal energy itself.
In this way, the isolated Abyssal energy was consumed and gone, but the Abyss's essence returned normally. Consuming Abyssal energy to obtain purer stellar energy was effectively equivalent to devouring Abyssal energy.
"So, you're reporting to us now to propose mass production of these soul-guided weapons?"
"Yes, but directly absorbing energy through soul-guided weapons is too inefficient. My idea is to build training rooms, assign long-term missions, collect this stellar energy, and concentrate it in the training rooms."
Xu Yuan didn't need to elaborate on the finer details.
Just mentioning the construction of training rooms made the five Blood Gods understand his intent.
Concentrating stellar energy to create an environment saturated with it would nourish a soul master's cultivation.
Not necessarily multiple soul masters supporting one soul master.
It could also be understood as multiple adventures supporting one session of self-cultivation.
"The specifics of how soldiers will exchange merit points for access to the training rooms and how to upgrade the soul-guided weapons they currently possess are tasks for you. I'm here today simply to submit the proposal." Xu Yuan continued, "Applying for the training room is only part of my task today. Beyond that, I also need more research resources. This technology has already shown initial profitability, allowing us to gain more benefits with less effort, but the profit margin is still too low. I need to improve the soul-guided arrays further to obtain more stellar energy."
"No problem. I'll convene a meeting with Blood One and Blood Two upon their return regarding the proposal for the training rooms. As for your research requirements, the legion will fully support you. Once the training rooms are built, you'll permanently have access to one." Blood Three assured Xu Yuan.
Xu Yuan nodded. "These aren't the main points. The focus is on implementation—not the construction of the training rooms, but the collection of stellar energy."
"Collection?" Blood Three furrowed her brow.
She took the shield back from Blood Seven and carefully sensed the cluster of stellar energy within.
"How long did it take you to collect this amount of stellar energy?" She carefully assessed the volume of the stellar energy and asked Xu Yuan.
"The amount of stellar energy collected doesn't depend on time but on the number of Abyssal creatures hunted," Xu Yuan replied. "Although Abyssal energy also permeates the passage, isolating these stray energies yields returns, but it takes a long time, the harvest is low, and the cost of isolation is significant. It's more practical to hunt Abyssal creatures."
Blood Three's lips twitched.
Hunting Abyssal creatures?
You must not know how difficult it is to hunt Abyssal creatures.
Perhaps recalling Xu Yuan's recent evaluation process, she couldn't help but sigh.
From Xu Yuan's perspective, hunting Abyssal creatures was indeed more efficient.
"But you need to understand that our soldiers in the Abyssal passage mostly can't use their soul power or martial souls. They aren't like you, able to freely wield their powers. To fight Abyssal creatures, they rely on the Abyssal energy stored in their soul-guided weapons. Yet, your research converts the energy obtained from hunting Abyssal creatures into stellar energy."
It wasn't that there wouldn't be any energy left to power the soul-guided weapons.
But for higher returns, soldiers clearly wouldn't use their weapons at maximum power anymore.
Previously, they worried that the Abyssal energy gained from hunting would dissipate quickly if unused, leading them to always operate their soul-guided weapons at full or even overloaded capacity. Even so, hunting Abyssal creatures remained extremely difficult and risky.
However, the emergence of Xu Yuan's soul-guided weapons would make soldiers hesitate when using them. For greater rewards, they'd likely become greedy, and greed could lead to danger.
"I understand your concerns, but withholding this technology or abandoning its widespread use out of fear would only keep us trapped by the Abyss," Xu Yuan said calmly. "Development and becoming stronger are always the ultimate priorities."
Blood Seven gave Xu Yuan a thumbs-up.
"That's right. Becoming stronger is the ultimate priority."
"Under the Abyss's watchful eye, we must not only resist their attacks but also leverage this to surpass them. Otherwise, we'll remain trapped here, drained by the Abyss until our foundations are exhausted, and we face inevitable destruction."
Necessary sacrifices would still exist.
However, these sacrifices could be minimized through human intervention, stemming from greed.
"Of course, to minimize these losses as much as possible, I'll also research ways to counteract the Abyss's suppression. If we can restore our ability to mobilize soul power, I believe survival rates will skyrocket."
Xu Yuan thought of his ability to resist Abyssal suppression by extending the power of the Golden Ancient Tree.
The power of the Golden Ancient Tree was limited—it couldn't be shared with everyone.
Nor could the Seven Forbidden Techniques be permanently applied to every individual.
But he could apply the power of the Seven Forbidden Techniques to the primitive dream space.
How to implement this, Xu Yuan hadn't yet begun researching. He could only promise to try his best and achieve the desired results as soon as possible.
"We understand. The Research Institute will cooperate with you to complete these studies."
Xu Yuan shook his head. "No, this research must be done by me alone. These techniques rely on my soul skills. However, improving the soul-guided weapons is something others can assist with."
"Alright," Blood Three sighed reluctantly.
Though she sighed, she was inwardly relieved and slightly delighted.
Xu Yuan's words subtly revealed a message: he had already verified that his soul skills could help others resist Abyssal suppression. Now, he was working on generalizing this effect.
Blood Three suddenly recalled something and hesitantly asked Xu Yuan, "Will this affect your own cultivation?"
"No, it will actually train my soul skills. It's beneficial to me with no drawbacks."
"That's good."
Xu Yuan submitted the array design of his preliminary soul-guided weapon to the Blood Gods for review. Once approved, it would be handed over to the Research Institute to expedite improvements to the array and enhance the energy conversion efficiency of the soul-guided weapons.
After completing this, he left the Blood God Camp.
"How did it go?" Jiang Wuyue had been waiting not far from the Blood God Camp.
Seeing Xu Yuan emerge, he hurriedly approached to ask.
"All went smoothly. After all, this proposal benefits the entire legion."
"What about the energy conversion array? Was that approved?" Jiang Wuyue asked.
Xu Yuan shook his head directly.
"I didn't mention it."
Jiang Wuyue's eyes widened, displeased. "That matter is important. How could you not bring it up? Time is running out. Constructing such an array is already challenging. If you don't propose it now and delay further, what if we can't complete the array before the Abyssal Tide arrives? We might miss this opportunity entirely."
"No rush. The construction of the array still requires urgent research by the institute. Before that, they must first study the array in my soul-guided weapon since the principles are interconnected. Besides, bringing it up now would still require waiting for Blood One's return to reach a conclusion."
With Blood One absent, proposing it now would still involve waiting.
Even if proposed now, Blood One's return would allow a decision to proceed promptly. But Xu Yuan chose to wait until Blood One summoned him to present the proposal.
He wanted to meet Blood One and engage in a discussion.
Cao Dezhi, the Hall Master of the Tang Sect's Douluo Hall.
However, in a certain sense, he wasn't truly part of the Tang Sect.
He served as the Hall Master only because he was strong—one of the strongest soul masters in the Tang Sect.
In reality, Cao Dezhi had already dedicated sixty years to the Blood God Legion, witnessing the endless disasters the Abyss brought to Douluo Star.
To some extent, there was hope for turning Cao Dezhi.
Tang Wulin had yet to arrive at the Blood God Legion—or perhaps he might not even come into contact with the legion before the final battle. This was Xu Yuan's best chance to approach Cao Dezhi, observe him, and attempt to persuade him.
That night, Xu Yuan's Blood God Ring vibrated, and he received a summons from the Blood God Camp to attend a meeting.
Returning to the Blood God Camp.
At this moment, not only were the five Blood Gods from earlier present, but Blood One, Blood Two, Blood Four, and Blood Nine were also in attendance.
All nine Blood Gods were gathered.
Aside from the nine Blood Gods, the director of the Research Institute, an elderly man wearing glasses, was also present. However, Xu Yuan sensed a powerful fluctuation of soul power from him. Based on his estimation, this elder's soul power level was no less than 95, meaning he was a Super Douluo. In the Blood God Legion, Super Douluos were undoubtedly three-word Battle Armor Masters.
Additionally, the commander of the Blood God Legion, Zhang Huanyun, along with two vice-commanders and two division leaders, were present.
They were all three-word Battle Armor Masters. Zhang Huanyun's soul power level was as high as 98, stuck at this bottleneck for many years, needing only a breakthrough to achieve Limit Douluo status.
All top-tier combat power was present. This meeting was undoubtedly the highest-level gathering in the Blood God Legion.
"Greetings, Commanders." Xu Yuan saluted.
The meeting wasn't led by Cao Dezhi but by Zhang Huanyun.
Strictly speaking, Cao Dezhi leaned more toward martial prowess, and his management abilities weren't as strong as Zhang Huanyun's. Therefore, decisions were typically led by Zhang Huanyun.
Zhang Huanyun examined Xu Yuan, revealing a satisfied smile.
"Only a month since joining our legion, and you've already achieved such significant results. I can only say—you truly live up to being his son."
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