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Since there was currently something far more captivating than meeting an Elder of the Sun Moon Imperial Cult, Su Wen immediately initiated a new round of seclusion within his room at the Radiant City Grand Hotel.
"It's time for a revolution—starting from High-Level Soul Tools, or perhaps, even Mid-Level ones."
Based on the classification system from his memories of ten thousand years in the future, Soul Tools could be categorized from Rank 1 to Rank 9.
The three tiers of Low-Level Soul Tools would correspond to Ranks 1 through 3. Standard Mid-Level Soul Tools would correspond to Rank 4. Those crafted using a "Stroke of Divine Genius" to complete a Thousand-Year formation—which could essentially be viewed as a foundational Ten-Thousand-Year formation—would be classified as Rank 5 Soul Tools.
Following that, Soul Tools crafted using stacking and other advanced techniques would be Rank 6.
As for Rank 7 Soul Tools...
"When everything is stacked purely for the sake of stacking, the power might keep up, but it loses its trajectory. The ceiling becomes predictable and, frankly, despairing."
A Rank 7 Soul Tool could indeed be achieved using the current methods prevalent on the Sun Moon Continent—alternating between stacking and simplifying formations. The same applied to Rank 8 and Rank 9.
However, if one followed that path, Rank 9 would remain the absolute limit. The barrier between mortals and gods would remain impenetrable. One might raise the limit of Soul Tools from the Super Douluo level to the Limit Douluo level, but that final chasm would never be crossed.
Unless... one stayed on a rational trajectory, developing Soul Tools "reasonably" up to the peak of Rank 9, and only then applied the stacking method. Perhaps then, there would be hope of creating a God-class Soul Tool!
"So, what should be the direction for Rank 7?"
He had to leave room for growth toward Rank 8 and Rank 9. By his own internal metrics, Su Wen estimated he had reached the level of a Rank 6 Soul Tool engineer. Therefore, determining the direction for Rank 7 was a matter of extreme urgency.
"Rank 7..."
Since the unit structures of Soul Tool cores were modeled after the age of Soul Rings, could the overall structure of Soul Tool development be modeled after the cultivation of Soul Masters?
As it happened, while Soul Master cultivation prior to Rank 70 was relatively straightforward, a distinct characteristic emerged once a Soul Sage obtained their seventh ring.
The Martial Soul True Body.
"Martial Soul True Body..." Su Wen recalled that he had intended to study this before, but his focus had been pulled in too many directions. The lack of immediate urgency at the time had caused the research to fall by the wayside.
"I'll be breaking through Rank 70 once I condense my Soul Core. Since I have to condense my own seventh ring anyway, it's highly necessary to investigate the Martial Soul True Body beforehand."
With these two motives combined, Su Wen felt a surge of inspiration regarding the breakthrough toward Rank 7 Soul Tools.
In the blink of an eye, half a month passed.
"My previous theory regarding the 'stacking path' versus the 'correct trajectory' was flawed," Su Wen sighed.
After two weeks of constant modeling and verification, he realized he had been wrong from the start. Stacking and having a clear direction were never mutually exclusive.
"The reason the seventh ring is so vital for a Soul Master is that at Rank 70, their abilities begin to converge into their own essence. If the first six rings expand the Martial Soul's capabilities, the appearance of the True Body provides a 'vessel' that unifies all previous powers into the self, resulting in a qualitative transformation."
Because of the seventh ring, the subsequent eighth and ninth rings directly amplify the Soul Master's entire being. This is why a Title Douluo's eighth and ninth soul skills are always their ultimate trump cards—not just because of the ring age, but because the underlying mechanism of the skills has changed.
"Rank 7 Soul Tools can also follow this mechanism, achieving a unification of multiple core formation abilities!"
Since a Soul Master's first four skills rarely reach the Ten-Thousand-Year level, a typical Rank 7 True Body usually unifies at most two Ten-Thousand-Year rings and four sub-Ten-Thousand-Year rings. Su Wen set the standard for a Rank 7 Soul Tool as the unification of three Ten-Thousand-Year level core formations.
To unify two would make one a "Half-Step Rank 7" engineer. To unify three was to be a true Rank 7 engineer. This category would then extend all the way up to the unification of seven formations.
"Sigh, that means Rank 8 will require finding yet another direction for evolution," Su Wen lamented, though he felt this path was the most sound.
The Sacred Mountain.
Sun Moon Imperial Cult, Temple of the Blazing Sun.
Elder Yang—Lin Tian's teacher—was currently feeling quite irritable.
"It's been a month. That Su Wen has definitely arrived in Radiant City."
Elder Yang looked helpless. He knew Su Wen was likely giving him the "cold shoulder" to gain the upper hand in their future negotiations.
"The Temple Master has already begun pressuring me. I must find Su Wen immediately."
Elder Yang now felt a twinge of regret. He had been too quick to report the news of Su Wen's meditation techniques and his ability to consistently achieve "Strokes of Divine Genius" to the Temple Master.
"Su Wen, Su Wen... just what are you planning?"
Recalling the intelligence he had just received, Elder Yang's expression grew worried.
Half a month ago, the Pavilion of Ten Thousand Treasures had acquired a batch of "Divine Genius" Mid-Level Soul Tools. Their power rivaled High-Level tools, yet they could be used by Soul Kings—allowing the latter to exert their full potential.
Some of these tools had already been used as rewards. One had gone to the Royal Soul Tool Corps as a prize for a major internal selection, igniting a fire of enthusiasm among the members. Others had been snatched up by the Sun Moon Army's grand tournament and the Soul Tool Research Institute.
These developments had only come to light in the last two days; the Pavilion hadn't distributed them immediately upon receiving them. The fact that the Cult knew about it so quickly was a testament to how deeply they had infiltrated the Imperial Family's institutions.
Actually, "infiltration" wasn't quite the right word. It was simply that the Cult's historical influence was so vast that even in a state of open opposition, they could still find "cracks" in any of the Imperial Family's walls.
"These 'Divine Genius' tools were almost certainly circulated to the Pavilion by Su Wen," Elder Yang thought, his head throbbing.
The Imperial Family would surely place immense value on someone capable of producing such tools. Elder Yang wasn't sure how Su Wen had handed them over, but he was certain the Imperial Family would be hunting for him with everything they had.
If he waited any longer, the Imperial Family might find Su Wen first.
A guest of the Sun Moon Pavilion? Responsible for the Imperial Family losing control of Ninghai City? Faced with Su Wen's potential value, the Imperial Family wouldn't care about any of that. If they offered Su Wen better terms and recruited him first, the Cult's loss would be catastrophic.
We saw him first!
Elder Yang was panicking.
(End of Chapter)