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--- Chapter 393 ---
Unknowingly, a month passed just like that. Han Yuan and his companions remained on the Samsara Isle of Paradise to complete their Phoenix God trials. They also continued to send updates to their friends in case of any emergencies.
Xiao Wu and Xiao Rou were preparing to condense and refine a 100,000-year-old spirit ring and break through.
Ah Yin had already spread blue silver grass throughout the secret realm to establish the authority of the Plant King.
Meanwhile, Bi Ji was learning the powers of the Azure Phoenix under the guidance of the Storm Phoenix Lord.
As for Han Yuan, he was busy with something other than the Phoenix God Trials. He thought his first trial was easier than those of his companions, but he still needed ample preparations.
He had completely absorbed the [Empyrean Plume of Divine Phoenix] and the [Phoenix-Crested Divine Eye] spirit bones. These fit him perfectly like gloves and even enhanced many of his existing powers.
Han Yuan had a third eye created from Life Gold, which reacted with the [Phoenix-Crested Divine Eye], leading to their accidental merging and mutual evolution.
Though the process was not yet complete, Han Yuan speculated that the [Phoenix-Crested Divine Eye] might evolve into something akin to Huo Yuhao's [Eye of Destiny], or something a little worse.
However, since this evolution was already in progress, Han Yuan couldn't stop it.
At the same time, Han Yuan also discovered that the [Eyes of Truth] had improved significantly after absorbing the [Phoenix-Crested Divine Eye] and its 1st Spirit Skill's effect.
The [Truth-Seeking Elemental Sight] spirit skill from the [Phoenix-Crested Divine Eye] bone not only complements the [Eyes of Truth] perfectly but also increases their range significantly, clarity of observation, and speed of computation. Additionally, it added a demolishing effect on anything he gazed upon.
Simply put, Han Yuan no longer needed to execute many complex and arduous operations to perform [Atomic Dismantling]. Everything had become faster, stronger, and overall better!
Mastering the spirit skills granted by Lady Fenghuang now seemed quite easy for him.
There was also the matter of obtaining a seventh spirit ring and forming a Spirit Core. Nevertheless, Han Yuan was not in a hurry.
The levels of 30, 50, 70, and 90 defined major hurdles in the cultivation path of spirit masters, and the seventh spirit ring was perhaps the most important of them all.
Why? Because the seventh ring does not grant a spirit skill. Yes, rather, it signifies an innate ability for every spirit master — the manifestation or triggering of the Martial Soul True Body (Avatar)!
For a spirit master with a beast spirit, the Martial Soul Avatar allows them to transform into their martial soul and inherit its beastly ferocity.
For a spirit master with a tool martial soul, it meant manifesting a stronger, more perfected version of their martial soul, greatly enhancing its characteristics.
For a spirit master with a body martial soul, the Martial Soul Avatar freed their full potential, which was so immense that no one of the same level could compete with them.
Therefore, the Martial Soul Avatar serves as the absolute first trump card for a spirit master.
It not only provides an extreme boost in power but also often enhances all their spirit skills' effects while halving their consumption, depending on the type of spirit rings absorbed. The older the ring, the better.
Han Yuan was obviously not satisfied with simply acquiring a 100,000-year-old spirit ring as his seventh.
If possible, he wanted a 1,000,000-year-old spirit ring. With such a ring, he believed that the Purple Silver Grass would not only fully awaken but also undergo a profound, qualitative transformation!
Han Yuan couldn't help but wonder about the boost he could get. Would it be 300%? 400%? 1000%?
The thought of such power was terrifying.
By then, Han Yuan envisioned the Purple Silver Grass as the Purple Silver Emperor, or rather, the Purple Silver Monarch!
Even then, Han Yuan's aims extended beyond merely getting a powerful Martial Soul Avatar. He sought to create his first Spirit Core through an extraordinary method.
Han Yuan understood that his body was an enormous energy-consuming machine, requiring a better fuel to function.
Even during the exciting battle against the Nine Phoenix Lords, Han Yuan could only dominate by continuously absorbing the energy of heaven and earth, which were ultimately external sources of power. A 'normal' Spirit Core wouldn't be sufficient for him.
Thus, Han Yuan planned to harness the impact of absorbing a 1,000,000-year-old seventh spirit ring to form a super-compressed Spirit Core.
With no room for error in creating the first Spirit Core or completing other tasks in his first god trials, Han Yuan chose to focus on relaxing by doing another endeavor — Divine Forging!
Yup, you heard that right. After absorbing two godly external spirit bones, Han Yuan practiced with them for a while before focusing all his attention on forging Divine Artifacts.
Moreover, Han Yuan didn't lack materials for forging. The Phoenix Clan had accumulated treasures and resources over millions of years, which the Nine Phoenix Lords freely handed to him.
Although Han Yuan initially found Divine Forging awkward, the experience from his other self helped him overcome this challenge, despite failing to create Divine Artifacts a few times.
It didn't take long for Han Yuan to become familiar with Beta's mastery and knowledge, as they are essentially one person.
The first successful Divine Artifact he created was an adjusted version of the Mysterious Demon Puppet, whose strength rivaled that of a Level 99 Limit Douluo.
Unfortunately, this Mysterious Demon Puppet lacked the ability of Beta's version, which could grow by absorbing the natural energy of heaven and earth.
The lack of natural energy in the Douluo Plane was quite annoying, and Thirteen couldn't be upset about it, knowing how much the plane had declined over the past twenty thousand years.
While the materials and subordinate soul weren't an issue for Han Yuan, this limitation wasn't something he could resolve quickly.
However, according to the standards for Mysterious Demon Puppets, the ones Han Yuan designed had reached Heartgold Grade, and he now had twelve in his arsenal.
He could deploy three Mysterious Demon Puppets to briefly fight a 3rd Class God and all twelve to defend against a 2nd Class God.
This estimation was based on the testimonies from the Nine Phoenix Lords when they tested the combat power of the Mysterious Demon Puppets.
Also, fighting and defending didn't mean the Mysterious Demon Puppets could defeat the gods.
Ultimately, the Mysterious Demon Puppet is just a more durable punching bag.
But that's just the Mysterious Demon Puppet.
What if the puppet were armed with Divine Artifacts, too?
While Han Yuan couldn't create an overpowered Divine Artifact, each of his Mysterious Demon Puppets got equipped with one defensive and one offensive Divine Artifact. In total, he refined thirty-six Divine Artifacts for the Mysterious Demon Puppets.
Anyway, these were merely amateur creations and not really Han Yuan's masterpieces.
So far, Han Yuan has also forged Divine Artifacts for Ah Yin, Xiao Wu, Xiao Rou, Bi Ji, Na'er, and himself.
These Divine Artifacts utilized Beta's refinement methods from the Dou Qi Plane, making them more powerful than ordinary artifacts in the Douluo Plane.
After all, the techniques used by Divine Experts to refine Divine Artifacts in the Douluo Plane (Universe) are still quite crude and rough.
While Han Yuan couldn't create Ultra Divine Tools or Quasi-Ultra Divine Tools, making a True Divine Tool was well within his capabilities, and the quality of these tools left the Nine Phoenix Lords in disbelief.
Since each attempt of Divine Forging triggered a Heavenly Tribulation—this being a rule of the process—Han Yuan also had been tempering his body and absorbing the Heavenly Lightning to enhance his strength.
With a few more new Divine Artifacts forged, Han Yuan was confident that he could achieve his goals and complete the first trial of the Phoenix God's Trials!