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In the heart of the Capital City, deep within the Hall of Worship, stood one of the most advanced laboratories ever built. Kong Mingan stepped out from a swirling spatial doorway and immediately felt the heavy atmosphere of the room.
To his left and right, he could sense the pressure of two powerful barriers. One felt sacred and very quiet, while the other felt incredibly hot and vast.
To his left was the private room of Elder Yi. The elder was currently busy researching a way to make spirit rings last longer by using a method called spirit ring fusion. To his right was the laboratory where his grandfather, Kong Deming, worked.
Kong Deming was leading a group of Rank 9 Soul Engineers. They were working on a difficult project to connect natal spirit tools with the bodies of Body Cultivators. This laboratory in the middle had the highest security possible. Kong Mingan knew his grandfather and Elder Yi had arranged this special place just for him.
Feeling a bit more relaxed, Kong Mingan reached into his storage and took out a sealed beast platform. This was the device Ju Zi had given him earlier. He placed it carefully on the metal experimental table.
He looked down and saw the Spirit Beast trapped inside the seal. It looked terrifying. The creature had a mean face with sharp fangs showing. Its body looked a bit like a dog, but its legs were much thicker. It was covered in silver-white scales that shimmered with a strange spirit power.
It's a Silver Eagle Beast, just as I thought, Kong Mingan said to himself. It was easy to identify the creature. Based on its size and energy, he guessed its cultivation was around 35,000 years. This was likely the same beast from the stories he knew. Without waiting, he broke the seal on the platform. The beast looked confused for a second as it woke up, but Kong Mingan didn't give it a chance to move. He moved quickly and ended the life of the Silver Eagle Beast.
As the beast died, a deep black spirit ring began to float above its body. Kong Mingan took out a tool called a Soul Catcher. This tool was designed to wipe away any leftover souls from spirit rings. He used it to carefully pull the lingering soul of the Silver Eagle Beast out of the ring. Once the ring was clear of the beast's spirit, he sat down on the floor with his legs crossed. He began the process of absorbing the spirit ring into his own body.
Everything went very smoothly. There were no problems or sudden pains during the absorption. After a few hours, Kong Mingan finished the process. He didn't leave the room yet. Instead, he entered a deep state of focus called seclusion. He needed to clean the spirit ring. Most spirit rings come with a lot of useless memories from the animal they came from. He wanted to get rid of all that junk and keep only the most important part, which was the Imprint Soul Skill Module.
Most Spirit Beasts have many different skill modules mixed with millions of messy memories. Cleaning those usually takes a long time. However, the Silver Eagle Beast was different. Its entire life was mostly focused on its Imprint ability. This meant there was only one main skill to save. He just had to clear out the rest of the garbage in the ring's energy. It took him a full day of hard work, but he finally finished. The new spirit ring was now pure, containing only the perfect Imprint Soul Skill Module.
After he finished cleaning the ring, Kong Mingan took a deep breath. He took out a different spirit ring that was yellow, meaning it was only a century-old ring. This specific ring was special because it had been made by the Snow Empress. It was engraved with a skill called Snowfall. He pushed his spirit power into the yellow ring. Since it was a one-time use item, it shattered as it activated the Snowfall skill.
Suddenly, the room changed. The air became freezing cold. This wasn't normal cold; it was the ultimate ice power that belonged to the Snow Empress. The temperature in the lab dropped so fast that frost formed on the walls.
Beautiful white snowflakes began to float in the air, falling gently around him. Right at that moment, the black spirit ring around Kong Mingan glowed brightly. He used his Imprint skill on the falling snow. A second later, the skill flashed, and the imprint was a success.
The first part of his plan worked perfectly. Kong Mingan didn't stop there. He pointed his finger toward the wall and activated the skill he just copied. The room shook with a burst of freezing energy again. The temperature, which had started to rise, crashed back down to sub-zero levels. A cold blue light appeared at the tip of his finger. This was the power of ultimate ice. Even though this power usually only belonged to the Snow Empress, Kong Mingan could now use it himself.
It really worked, he said with a bright smile. He had a theory that he could use the Imprint skill to copy the powers of other elements. By doing this, he could watch how the energy moved and learn how to control those elements himself. The way the Imprint skill works is by analyzing the frequency and structure of an energy and then copying it. It's like a student learning a lesson and then writing it down perfectly in a book.
In the stories he had read, a character named Huo Gua once used an Imprint to copy a skill called Xuanming Displacement. That skill used spatial power. If the Imprint skill didn't copy the element itself, the move wouldn't have worked. Kong Mingan had believed this was possible, but he wasn't sure until he tried it. Now, he had proof.
He didn't waste any time. He took out more spirit rings from his storage. For the next hour, the laboratory looked like a light show. Different colors flashed everywhere as he activated various skills and imprinted them one by one. Soon, he had used up all the rings he brought. He held out his hand and concentrated.
Suddenly, sparks of lightning, small flames, a ball of water, a blade of wind, and a swirl of dust all appeared at once in his palm. They spun around each other in a perfect circle. They didn't clash or explode. Instead, they moved together in harmony. He had mastered all the basic elements.
Kong Mingan's lips curled into a small smile. He spent some time practicing how to turn his own body into these elements, a process called Elementalization. After practicing for a while, he felt tired. He stopped the energy, let his body return to normal, and sat down in a chair to think.
Mastering different types of energy is great, but the Imprint skill can do so much more, he thought. Learning the elements is actually just a side effect. When I use Imprint, the skill module actually analyzes how the ability works. This helps me learn how to create my own skills much faster than anyone else. But this is just for me. What if I could put this Imprint power into a soul tool for others to use?
His eyes widened as he thought about the possibilities. Currently, the Hall of Worship had great technology for cleaning spirit rings. They could wash away the old souls and memories, leaving a blank ring. Usually, they did this to rings from Soft Bones Rabbits to use them as empty containers for other skills. But this same technology could be used on human Spirit Masters.
Imagine if a Spirit Master used this technology to wipe their own spirit rings clean. They could turn their old, weak skills into blank spots. Then, they could use an imprinting soul tool to put any skill they wanted into those rings.
This would let people edit their own spirit rings like they were editing a book. People could pick the best combination of skills for their fighting style. Even if someone made a mistake and picked a bad skill when they were young, they could just restart and pick a better one later.
Since the ring is totally blank, it has plenty of room, Kong Mingan realized. A person could probably fit many different skill modules into just one ring. This would make a Spirit Master look more like a Spell Cultivator, who can use many different spells. This would be a way to create a powerful type of Spell Cultivator that almost anyone could become.