Douluo 2 Era.
"Grandfather, you were looking for me?"
Su Ming was surprised to find an unfamiliar middle-aged, robust man in the room and looked questioningly at his grandfather, Su Can.
The middle-aged man looked Su Ming up and down before giving his evaluation.
"Not bad."
Su Can said to Su Ming, "Didn't you want to join the Body Sect? I found a Body Sect Elder for you."
Su Ming's eyes widened.
"Grandfather, you really agree to let me join the Body Sect?"
The Body Sect was considered a foreign force within the Sun Moon Empire; being discovered could lead to persecution.
Su Can gave a bitter smile. "There's no other way. The Empire's situation isn't very good right now. Our Su family must make plans early."
Although the struggle between the princes was still intense, after Xu Tianran's lower body was paralyzed, the two princes most likely to seize his crown prince position died in quick succession, and the situation gradually became clearer.
Those who thought the situation was still uncertain were simply deeply involved and gambling.
Xu Tianran clearly possessed a powerful hidden force, and this force was likely composed of Evil Soul Masters.
Su also wanted to find a backer for the Su family, but aside from Xu Tianran, the other princes obviously had no hope. Yet, he couldn't lead the Su family into jumping into Xu Tianran's fire pit either.
Cooperating with Evil Soul Masters was no different than making a pact with a tiger.
Coincidentally, Su Ming's Martial Soul could potentially be classified as part of the body, albeit a rather special part. So, he had been quite diligent over the past two years, using smuggling channels between the Sun Moon Empire and the three Douluo nations to contact people from the Body Sect.
It was just that the Body Sect operated too covertly. It took him a full two and a half years to finally get in touch with someone from the Body Sect.
The Body Sect was also very interested in Su Ming, as described by Su Can.
A Spirit Power Martial Soul—compared to an ordinary human body, it certainly couldn't be considered part of the body. But what about compared to a Spirit Master? Spirit Power is also part of a Spirit Master. So, if the Martial Soul is Spirit Power, it could be considered part of the Spirit Master.
This was a type of Body Soul the Body Sect had never encountered before, so they sent an Elder at the Titled Douluo level to verify.
Lei Zhen looked at Su Ming and said, "Let me feel your Spirit Power."
Su Ming didn't hesitate and released his Spirit Power.
A sharp light flashed in Lei Zhen's eyes.
He stared at Su Ming's Spirit Power, his pupils contracting.
"Your Spirit Power quality is incredibly high!"
Was this quality something a Spirit Master could truly possess?
Yes, a Spirit Master.
Su Ming was still a Spirit Master!
The Su Ming of the Douluo 2 era had innate full Spirit Power and good configurations, but he was arguably the hardest-working of the three Su Mings. He had to study and cultivate Spirit Tools, learning the Su family's legacy of Spirit Tool knowledge, which encompassed nearly all the content required for a complete Spirit Engineer, basically including the four subsidiary professions from the Douluo 3 era. This was because even in the Douluo 2 era, Spirit Engineers generally had to know how to forge metal themselves. On top of this, he also had to delve deeply into the contents of Mecha manufacturing. Consequently, even though more than two and a half years had passed since he awakened his Martial Soul, he had not yet become a Grand Spirit Master.
His Spirit Power quality was too high. While the Spirit Power of other Spirit Masters at his level was still thin like water, his Spirit Power was already viscous like mercury, nearly solidifying!
This was also a reason affecting his cultivation speed.
"In your condition, if the quality of your Spirit Power continues to increase, it will truly solidify," Lei Zhen said.
Su Ming gave a wry smile. "Yes. That's why I haven't obtained my second Spirit Ring. I feel that if I continue, my Spirit Power will simply solidify directly."
Is solidification good?
It might seem like the correct path of cultivation, but in the Spirit Master world, when Spirit Power approaches a solid state, the best choice is to condense a Spirit Core, using highly compressed liquid Spirit Power in a high-speed rotating form to replace solid Spirit Power. This not only achieves higher density than the solid state but is also more conducive for Spirit Masters to mobilize their Spirit Power.
Before he was confident in guiding his Spirit Power to condense a Spirit Core, he truly didn't dare to break through, afraid his Spirit Power would solidify on its own.
He actually reached level 20 precisely after cultivating for two and a half years and had been stuck at level 20 for four months now.
"Tsk, holding it in like this isn't a solution either. After absorbing a Spirit Ring, the results of your cultivation during this period will manifest. You absolutely must not obtain your second Spirit Ring before mastering the method to condense a Spirit Core," Lei Zhen said.
Su Ming also nodded. "Right."
Lei Zhen said, "You passed the test."
Both Su Ming and Su Can were confused by his words.
What did he mean by 'passed the test'?
Lei Zhen explained, "The biggest characteristic of a Body Soul is the unlimited positive feedback between the Martial Soul and the Spirit Master until they quickly reach a certain upper limit. This is why a Secondary Awakening of the Martial Soul is needed to break through this limit."
Actually, ordinary Martial Souls also have this upper limit, but reaching it might require a very high realm, like level 99.
A Body Soul, however, can reach this limit around level 60 thanks to its excellent feedback mechanism.
"The feedback Su Ming's Spirit Power Martial Soul receives is very obvious. It's about to solidify even at level 20. It is undoubtedly a Body Soul."
Moreover, Lei Zhen felt that as long as Su Ming absorbed his second Spirit Ring and successfully condensed a Spirit Core, he could undergo a Secondary Awakening, becoming the earliest Spirit Master in the Body Sect's history to achieve a Secondary Awakening.
"Congratulations, you are now a member of the Body Sect," Lei Zhen said with a smile. "Level 20 is your hurdle. Don't be discouraged because your Spirit Power cannot increase; this is a hurdle all Body Soul Spirit Masters must experience. It's just that other Body Soul Spirit Masters experience it around level 60, while you are experiencing it now."
He stepped forward and patted Su Ming's shoulder seriously. "The Sect has extensive experience in condensing Spirit Cores. You don't need to worry about that."
"The Sun Moon Empire is still unfriendly towards us. I need to take Su Ming and leave quickly. The Body Sect acknowledges the Su family's goodwill and knows there are our scattered family members within the Sun Moon Empire. We hope the Su family can continue to help us find family members with Body Souls," Lei Zhen said respectfully.
"Can't you stay a few more days?" Su Can asked, somewhat reluctant.
Lei Zhen shook his head.
Due to trust issues, he had actually come fully prepared this time, just in case Su Can was setting a trap. If he didn't return today, the family members stationed at the border would cause a major uproar in the Sun Moon Empire.
Lei Zhen acted swiftly and decisively. He quickly took Su Ming to the border, crossed mountains and ridges, and returned to the Heaven Soul Empire.
Douluo 1 Era.
Savage Beast Mountain Range.
The small Dark Gold Bear was no match for Zhu Jiuyang. It had already collapsed on the ground, powerless to resist.
At this moment, Su Ming was continuously carving something resembling an array formation around the fallen Dark Gold Bear.
Seeing this, Zhu Jiuyang couldn't help but frown.
"Xiao Ming, what are you doing?"
Su Ming said, "I learned this from that book. This kind of formation has a contract effect, which can make my connection to the Spirit Ring tighter. It also has multiple effects like Spirit Gathering and Soul Gathering, greatly increasing the chance of a Spirit Bone dropping."
Surprise also flashed in Zhu Jiuyang's eyes.
Could the system developed from the Core Formations within Spirit Tools be used like this?
He couldn't help but marvel, "In that case, that continent's civilization should possess quite a few Spirit Bones."
"Teacher, what did you say?" Su Ming asked, turning back in surprise.
"Nothing, continue carving," Zhu Jiuyang said, his expression neutral, as if he had said nothing.
(To prevent some people from misinterpreting, an explanation is provided directly at the end of the chapter: The Douluo 2 Su Ming did not suppress his level. From level 11 after awakening his Martial Soul and obtaining his first Spirit Skill to level 20, it took two and a half years. Thirty months for nine levels, with half a year used from level 19 to 20, and three months per level for the others. This process also involved Spirit Power compression, making his improvement speed faster than the vast majority of geniuses.
Furthermore, this can be considered suffering first to condense a Spirit Core, then enjoying the cultivation speed bonus brought by the Spirit Core.)
(End of Chapter)