One year later.
The morning mist had yet to dissipate when the sound of metal clashing echoed from the back mountains of Shrek Academy.
Gu La stood bare-chested in an artificial lake, using telekinesis to control a specially made soft-rubber mallet to slam against his back. Water droplets ran down the broad carapace along his spine.
"Attempt number two hundred thirty-one failed. The external soul bone reshaping plan has failed."
Rotom's mechanical voice rang out as it hovered in midair. A large red X appeared over the meridian diagram on its screen. "Based on damage calculations, for the trainer to fuse external soul bones with the meridians, an extremely high healing efficiency is required. Otherwise, the meridians will erode and become damaged."
Gu La's injuries had healed six months ago, and his martial soul had successfully evolved into ultimate fire. Since then, he had been practicing the new cultivation technique while continuing to refine it based on the nature of ultimate fire.
During this time, Xiao Wu occasionally provided additional details about her transformation process, and Rotom used them to simulate and successfully deduce methods for meridian reconstruction.
However, perhaps due to the unique dual-ultimate attributes, the simulated cultivation technique never reached its theoretically maximum efficiency.
Gu La thought of utilizing external soul bones. After all, when he had fused the Red Orb, the external soul bones had evolved to the power of a hundred-thousand-years. Over the past year, digesting magma energy further enhanced their power.
Both in quality and quantity, they were sufficient to cover the entire meridian system.
Unfortunately, the meridian system was too complex, and other tasks occupied much of Rotom's computational power, leading to repeated failures in simulation.
Most importantly, Gu La's cultivation level limited his healing capacity, delaying the meridian reconstruction plan.
Gu La stopped his training, tossing the mallet onto the shore with telekinesis, creating two deep craters. "Forget it. Leave the task running in the background—I'll focus on evolving my martial soul first."
In the peaceful year and a half that followed, Gu La published detailed explanations of the eighteen visualization diagrams. As he expected, cultivation techniques involving spiritual power had a significant impact on the soul master community. Each explanation earned him at least one Legendary Exchange Coupon and various points rewards.
By today, Gu La had accumulated enough exchange coupons for evolution. Taking advantage of the clear weather, he left Shrek Academy, switched to his Celebi martial soul, and continuously teleported until he arrived at a dormant volcano in the western part of the continent.
The western region of Douluo Continent was sparsely populated, with low forest coverage and more wilderness, mountains, and hills.
Several days later, under the bright moonlight, Gu La landed on the summit of the volcano. The Red Orb seamlessly informing him about the dormant volcano's condition.
"This is the largest volcano recorded in Douluo Continent history. It hasn't erupted for hundreds of years, only occasionally releasing black smoke. Martial soul evolution requires energy, and the magma beneath this volcano can provide ample energy."
Satisfied, Gu La called out to his clone. "Are you ready?"
In another world, Groudon opened its eyes. "Let's begin. I've been waiting long enough."
Its expression was impatient. Recently, there had been an inexplicable pull—someone seemed to be searching for him with the Red Orb, making him want to cause chaos. However, fearing the consequences of Rayquaza's ruthless intervention, Groudon held back.
"All right, let's begin."
Gu La used the exchange coupons to acquire fragments for his and his clone's Mega Evolution. As the crimson fragments melted and entered their bodies, both unleashed earth-shaking roars.
(T/N: I know it's Primal Reversion but raw says Mega Evolution and technically Primal Reversion is just Mega Evolution for Legendaries)
The Groudon martial soul emitted dazzling red light, and the temperature of ultimate fire surged even higher, causing the air to boil and churn violently.
A deep rumble echoed from the earth's core, drawing the attention of soul masters within a thousand-mile radius.
They saw a towering pillar of intertwined golden-yellow and crimson light pierce through the heavens, with rolling black smoke filling the clouds. A terrifying roar resonated across a thousand miles, shaking the land.
Gu La stood at the mouth of the volcano, gazing at the boiling magma. The Red Orb at his heart projected the towering phantom of Groudon.
"If I fuse now…" He felt the vibrations emanating from deep within the earth. "The entire western continent will sense the fluctuations of Primal Reversion."
But with no other choice, Gu La decided to proceed.
Behind him, his martial soul began to expand rapidly. Fiery magma erupted from the cracks in the dark red carapace.
Three hundred miles away, villagers in an unnamed town drying their clothes looked up in terror as black smoke spread across the horizon.
When the lava patterns on Groudon's back reached its heels, the dormant volcano erupted, spewing a kilometer-high column of fire.
Gu La ascended into the air atop the magma, a dark golden emblem representing the Authority of the Earth appearing on his forehead. He saw his shadow cast upon the clouds, seemingly overlapping with his distant clone in another timeline.
When the pillar of light faded, Gu La's martial soul underwent a transformation. Already fearsome and majestic, the Groudon martial soul now remained in its primal state. Molten lava filled the gaps between the red plates, and its golden eyes radiated the majesty of a divine beast.
The torrent of magma beneath him suddenly condensed around Gu La but did not harm him in the slightest. Soul masters within a thousand miles heard a heaven-piercing roar, as if the earth itself proclaimed the return of its king.
Gu La suppressed the volcanic eruption to avoid harming the surrounding flora. With a thought, he teleported away, leaving behind a pair of crystallized footprints at the edge of the crater.
The next moment, the volcano continued to erupt, though the height of the magma was less terrifying than before, splashing outward in all directions.
At the instant the dormant volcano roared, the night sky above the core region of the Star Dou Forest was abruptly torn apart. Dead silence shattered as a heaven-shaking dragon roar erupted.
Soul beasts near the Lake of Life curled up in fear, even Er Ming the Titan Ape trembled under the moonlight. The Sky Azure Bull Python coiled at the lake's center suddenly stiffened, its emerald scales rippling across the surface of the Lake of Life.
The vein of life-giving gold connected to the earth quaked, awakening the slumbering Silver Dragon King. Startled awake, she inadvertently released a trace of her overwhelming presence.
Deep within the underwater sanctuary, a dragon body forged of silver slowly unfurled. Each scale refracted the illusion of fractured spacetime.
The Silver Dragon King pressed her elongated claws onto the bubbling vein of life-giving gold. The crimson mist enveloping her during her slumber was being filtered by threads of golden faith power.
As her dragon eyes scanned the void, awakened by the vein's disturbance, the entire Star Dou Forest froze for half a breath.
"The aura of our Lord..."
Di Tian, guarding the entrance to the sanctuary, suddenly knelt on one knee, his vertical golden pupils blazing with fervor. His astonished expression morphed into a smile, making the other ferocious beasts think they were seeing a mirage.
Seeing the bewildered expressions of the kneeling beasts, Di Tian was in high spirits and explained voluntarily: "The overwhelming aura our Lord naturally exudes is so potent that Asura's remaining divine power is no longer a concern. Our day of vengeance approaches, and the soul beasts shall ascend to supremacy!"
Ferocious beasts like Xiong Jun knew the Lord's plan. Over the past year, they had concealed their identities, transforming into humans to spread the concept of the Dragon God Visualization Diagram among human society or soul beast groups.
Some even cultivated this technique themselves, known as the Visualization Diagram. Unlike conventional cultivation techniques, it had no restrictions related to meridians. As long as one could sense spiritual power, they could practice it.
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