**Chapter 82: The Aptitude of a God King!**
2023-04-04 Author: Fu Hejun
At this moment, the Soul Core had already formed.
Zhu Zhuqing inwardly observed the gray bead in her dantian, surrounded by a black vortex. She found that with this gray bead at its center, the rotating vortex continuously attracted Soul Power from all directions, integrating it within itself...
This Soul Core was like an eternally insatiable black hole; no matter how much Soul Power was absorbed into it, it would completely devour it all.
Furthermore, the changes weren't limited to this.
She could feel that as the Soul Core's vortex rotated in her dantian, it formed a special attractive force. The ubiquitous energy of the world ceaselessly flowed through her pores and into her body, finally converging into the central gray Soul Core within the vortex...
All of this seemed instinctual. Even though Zhu Zhuqing hadn't actively cultivated, the Soul Core in her dantian spontaneously began to absorb energy from the outside world, without her needing to worry at all.
"It's really just as Teacher said..."
Feeling the profound effects of the Soul Core in her dantian, Zhu Zhuqing couldn't help but find it incredible, even though she had known about it for a long time. This was especially true when she began to actively stimulate the Soul Core, causing the once gently rotating vortex to accelerate at her command.
Instantly, endless energy from the world surged in!
This energy absorption efficiency was several times greater than when the Soul Core operated automatically.
Zhu Zhuqing silently compared her current cultivation efficiency to what it was before. She found that now that she possessed a Soul Core, her cultivation speed when she actively trained was a shocking eight times faster than before!
What a terrifying difference! With such incredible speed, it was no wonder her teacher could become a Titled Douluo at only twenty-six years old.
As Zhu Zhuqing felt the improvements the Soul Core brought, she no longer had any doubts about Ye Cheng becoming a Titled Douluo at such a young age. At the same time, her admiration for the teacher who created such a peerless and profound method grew immense. She now regarded him as her lifelong idol!
"Are you awake?"
A clear voice sounded by her ear. Zhu Zhuqing slowly opened her eyes. Seeing Ye Cheng, she broke into a bright smile and said with delight, "Teacher, I succeeded!"
Looking at Zhu Zhuqing, who was brimming with a girlish aura, Ye Cheng's gaze grew distant. He only now realized that no matter how cold and detached she usually acted, or how mature she appeared, the girl before him was still just a twelve-year-old.
Twelve years old... In his previous life, that was the age of a quintessential loli!
One could only say that the Douluo Continent truly lived up to its otherworldly nature. People developed so quickly here; you couldn't apply the common sense of Earth to the people of this world..
"It's good that you succeeded." Snapping out of his chaotic thoughts, Ye Cheng smiled and nodded. "Now, with the help of the Soul Core, your future cultivation will be a smooth road. Your future achievements will certainly not be inferior to mine."
*Yes, what he meant was that Zhu Zhuqing could, at the very least, become a Limit Douluo—his current level. As for anything beyond that... well, Ye Mou used cheats. One should never compare future achievements with him, because he could just invent a new character trait for himself and have it.*
For the next while, Zhu Zhuqing was immersed in exploring the mysteries of the Soul Core every day. She discovered that the Soul Core she had condensed was not merely a simple aggregation of Soul Power. It also contained some characteristics of her own Martial Soul. In particular, the ultimate evil attribute inherited from the Dark Devilgod Tiger was perfectly manifested in this Soul Core.
Every condensed Soul Core is different.
Some are strong, some are weak, all influenced by the Soul Master themselves.
If Zhu Zhuqing's Martial Soul were still the Netherworld Civet, the Soul Core she condensed now would be nowhere near this powerful. Even if she eventually succeeded in condensing three Soul Cores, she would, at best, barely reach the Soul Douluo rank. As for becoming a Titled Douluo, she could forget it.
Because in this world, there is such a thing as aptitude. One's innate talent and aptitude had long since determined their limits. It dictated that she could only ever reach the rank of Soul Douluo.
Even with a Soul Core to aid her cultivation, it could only help her accelerate the accumulation of Soul Power; it couldn't change her inherent aptitude. Her originally ordinary Martial Soul had already locked her upper limit, like a bottle with a fixed capacity. It can only hold so much water. If you insisted on pouring more in, there would only be two outcomes.
One: the accumulated Soul Power, unable to break through the container's limit, would simply overflow from the bottle's mouth and be wasted.
Two: her own capacity would reach its limit, and the container would explode! This meant the person would be blown apart by the endlessly surging Soul Power, dying completely.
A Soul Master's cultivation places great emphasis on aptitude.
In fact, this isn't limited to this world. No matter which world you are in or what you do, aptitude matters. It's true for learning, and it's true for cultivation.
This was precisely why, after accepting Zhu Zhuqing as his disciple, Ye Cheng had immediately taken her to devour the Dark Devilgod Tiger's inner core to completely change her aptitude. Only then did he formally teach her the method of condensing a Soul Core. Only in this way could she have a truly limitless future!
Now, with her aptitude transformed by the Dark Devilgod Tiger's inner core, Zhu Zhuqing was already at the peak of the Douluo Continent, in no way inferior to someone with a Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul. And on top of that, she had also condensed a Soul Core... Ye Cheng now dared to tell anyone he met, "My disciple, Zhuqing, has the aptitude of a God King!"
...
A month quickly passed.
During this time, the Heaven Dou Auction House vigorously promoted the upcoming auction of three ten-thousand-year soul bones, ensuring it was known by practically everyone. News even reached the Star Luo Empire that precious soul bones were to be auctioned. In addition, the auction house also sent invitations to prominent major factions.
In truth, if the goal was simply to sell the soul bones at a high price, there would be no need to advertise across the entire continent. The auction house would only need to send invitations to the powerful factions and clans with the means to purchase them, set a time, and the soul bones could be sold off quickly.
But now, the reason the auction house was advertising across the continent was mainly to build its reputation. The importance of fame goes without saying. Besides, this wasn't the only auction house on the Douluo Continent; there were others in other places. For example, the auction house within the Star Luo Empire was jointly established by its imperial family and several other clans. The auction house here in Heaven Dou, on the other hand, was primarily a joint venture between the Heaven Dou Imperial Family and other factions.
As the saying goes, competitors are enemies. How could the Heaven Dou Auction House miss such a good opportunity to suppress the reputation of other auction houses?
Once their auction house successfully auctioned off ten-thousand-year soul bones, it would become the undisputed number one auction house on the continent. All other auction houses would have to step aside. What, you're not convinced? If you've got the guts, go get some precious soul bones to auction yourself. If you can't, you're just a junior.
It was a win-win transaction.
Ye Cheng obtained a large amount of gold soul coins, while the auction house gained fame.
*There is only one chapter today. The rest will be made up for tomorrow.*
(end of chapter)