Over the past six months—
Relying on the insight gained during the final of the Continental Advanced Spirit Master Academy Elite Tournament, from the Martial Soul Fusion Skill—Charm Demon Body.
By observing how a Spirit Master's Spirit Power and life force could fuse with their Martial Soul, allowing it to temporarily take on tangible form during a fusion technique, and then comparing it with Luo Sanpao, whose Martial Soul had permanently materialized and gained complete intelligence.
—
Ye Yu had been tirelessly researching.
And now, after half a year of refinement and testing—
He had finally found a method to accelerate the materialization of his Blue Silver Jade Tree Martial Soul, and enable it to develop true intelligence!
"I found it! I finally found it!"
Inside a quiet courtyard in the Slaughter City, Ye Yu sat cross-legged on the floor, his eyes flashing open—twin irises glowing blue-silver. A broad grin spread across his handsome face as he burst into laughter.
By deriving the pattern of Martial Soul materialization from the Charm Demon Body—
And through countless iterations of adjusting the ratio of Spirit Power, life force, and spiritual power, combining them and fusing them into his Blue Silver Jade Tree Martial Soul—
This time, Ye Yu had succeeded.
Martial Soul Materialization—
—was, in essence, the result of a perfect blend of a Spirit Master's Spirit Power, life force, and spiritual power, fused into the Martial Soul in the correct proportions!
But achieving this wasn't simple.
First, one had to know how to combine those three fundamental forces.
Second, one needed a method to fuse the combined energy into the Martial Soul.
And lastly, one had to discover the precise ratio necessary to achieve materialization.
Ye Yu had only managed this due to his creation of Dominating Heaven, which taught him how to integrate Spirit Power and life force. After all, blood essence energy was a form of life force.
With that foundation in place, he had gone on to develop Monarch's Descent, a technique fusing spiritual and Spirit Power.
Finally, by leveraging the Threefold Unity of his Inner Core Technique, Ye Yu discovered how to fully integrate Spirit Power, life force, and spiritual power.
From his earlier study of the fused body born from the Charm Demon Body, he had also figured out the method of integrating this tri-force blend into his Martial Soul, enabling materialization.
Meeting all these conditions—
Ye Yu was able to fine-tune the ratio and successfully merge the trinity of energies into the Blue Silver Jade Tree Martial Soul.
A feat far from easy!
In comparison, the Charm Demon Bod, a fusion of Hu Liena and Xie Yue's Martial Souls, was based on the Spirit-type Fox Martial Soul.
Therefore, in their case, spiritual power held a greater proportion in the energy blend.
But Ye Yu's Blue Silver Jade Tree Martial Soul was fundamentally aligned with the life attribute.
Thus, to materialize it, the energy blend needed to prioritize life force above all.
Specifically:
Life Force: 50%+
Spirit Power: ~35%
Spiritual Power: ~15%
Now that he had discovered how to accelerate the materialization and sentience of the Blue Silver Jade Tree Martial Soul, Ye Yu was elated.
After draining the life force stored within the External Spirit Bone: Undying Laurel Heart, he fused it—along with his own Spirit Power and spiritual power—into his Martial Soul.
Then, he stepped out of his courtyard.
He arrived before Hu Liena's courtyard and knocked on the door.
"Nana, I'm heading to the Hell Slaughter Arena tonight for a life-or-death duel. Want to join me?"
Ye Yu asked.
After all, he had already depleted the life force from the Undying Laurel Heart and spent considerable spiritual energy—
So he now planned to replenish both by using External Spirit Bone: Demon Willow Fluff in live combat.
"Sure," Hu Liena nodded in agreement.
In the Hell Slaughter Arena, higher win streaks led to stronger opponents, based on its match-making system.
And within Slaughter City, your win record directly reflected your strength.
This didn't trouble Ye Yu.
Even if he only used his Thunderous Hell Prison Spear and self-created Spirit Abilities during duels, few opponents could even scratch him.
And any injuries he did receive were minor.
His natural recovery rate was already so high that he didn't even need the regenerative effect of his Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone's First Spirit Ability: Wildfire Burns Endlessly, Spring Wind Revives Again.
He could fully recover within an hour.
Hu Liena, however, was another matter.
Each battle demanded her full effort—and when injured, her recovery took several days before she could fight again.
Fortunately, her injuries from the last match had fully healed.
That night—
A blood moon hung high in the sky.
Its crimson light bathed the ground in a scarlet hue.
Outside Slaughter City, inside a shadowy castle—
In a dimly lit chamber, a tall figure clad in blood-red armor reclined on a throne. His long silver-white hair cascaded past his shoulders. Two small blood-colored horns jutted from his head.
His face, hidden beneath sinister blood patterns, was unreadable.
This was the Slaughter King.
One hand supported his head lazily, while the other slowly swirled a tall wine glass filled with Blood Mary. From time to time, he took small sips, gazing out through the window at Slaughter City—as if admiring his domain.
He exuded pride and leisure.
Suddenly—
"Reporting to the great King!"
A black-robed figure strode in and knelt respectfully.
"The Hell Emissary and the Doombringer have reached eighty-nine consecutive victories!"
"What are your orders, my King?"
At these words, the Slaughter King's expression instantly darkened.
CRACK!
The wine glass in his hand shattered.
Scarlet liquid splashed onto the floor.
"Eighty-nine wins, is it?"
"Seems our Slaughter City might soon birth two more Slaughter Gods."
After a moment of brooding, the King sneered.
"My Lord, shall we attempt to recruit them?" the black-robed man asked.
"And if they refuse—should we eliminate them?"
The Slaughter King tapped his fingers on the throne.
He paused.
Then coldly replied:
"Don't approach the Hell Emissary yet. She has a Slaughter God backing her."
"I don't fear her—but I'd rather avoid unnecessary conflict."
"As for the Doombringer, he has no such protector."
"Send someone to invite him to my castle—say the King summons him."
"If he refuses… offer recruitment."
"And if he still declines…"
A chilling gleam flared in the Slaughter King's blood-red eyes. His voice dropped to a low growl:
"Then find the right moment… and eliminate him!"