Chapter 222: The First Soul Core, Successful Refinement
The heavy stone door groaned as it slowly swung open beneath Du Busi's broad palm.
Inside the secret room, the lighting was incredibly dim. The Soul Tool lamps mounted along the stone walls flickered erratically, their arrays disrupted by the violent surges of spirit power flooding the enclosed space.
Liu Yuan sat cross-legged on a woven prayer mat. His eyes were clamped shut, his brow furrowed deeply, and a sheen of fine sweat coated his forehead.
The aura radiating from his figure was dangerously unstable. One moment, his spirit power would violently overflow, causing the very air in the room to emit a low, grating buzz. The next moment, it would violently contract inward, making his physical body appear to slightly cave in under the immense pressure.
Elder Chen's white eyebrows slammed together the second he crossed the threshold.
His sharp senses immediately caught the erratic rhythm of the spirit power circulating within Liu Yuan's body. It had completely lost its natural flow. The energy surging through the young man's meridians was an absolute mess, clashing and colliding with itself. Worse still, clear signs of violent backflow were already manifesting in several critical pathways.
Drawing upon decades of grueling cultivation experience, Elder Chen recognized the symptoms instantly. This was the absolute precursor to Qi Deviation.
"This is bad." Elder Chen's boots slammed against the stone floor as he closed the distance. Though thick bandages still wrapped his left hand, his right hand was already raised. A soft, emerald glow of pure spirit power rapidly condensed within his palm, ready to strike.
"His aura is far too chaotic. If we don't interrupt him right this second, something catastrophic is going to happen."
He braced his stance, fully prepared to forcibly shock the young man out of his meditative trance.
Before his hand could descend, a heavy palm clamped down onto his shoulder, locking him in place like a mountain.
"Sect Master, we can't afford to wait!" Elder Chen's voice spiked in anxiety, his composure cracking.
"Look at the trajectory of his spirit power! Backflow has already breached several major meridians. If this continues for even another breath, he'll suffer permanently crippled meridians at best, or a complete spirit power detonation at worst!"
Elder Chen's chest heaved. "He's only Rank Sixty-Two! I don't care how impossibly solid his foundation is, flesh and blood cannot withstand this kind of internal tearing!"
Du Busi did not release his iron grip.
The towering Sect Master stood perfectly still. His piercing gaze swept over Liu Yuan's trembling form, mapping the energy from the crown of his head, down through his chest, and finally locking onto his dantian.
Du Busi's perception pierced far deeper than Elder Chen's frantic assessment. He wasn't merely looking at the violent surface ripples of the spirit power; he was probing the absolute essence driving the chaos within the boy's body.
A heavy second ticked by. The tight lines around Du Busi's eyes relaxed slightly, but the overall solemnity of his expression deepened into something far more deep.
"It is not Qi Deviation," Du Busi stated, his voice a low rumble.
Elder Chen froze, utterly stunned.
"Not Qi Deviation? Sect Master, look closer! His spirit power is actively tearing backward through his pathways, and his aura is a complete disaster. This is clearly—"
"He is condensing a soul core," Du Busi cut him off, his tone leaving no room for argument.
Dead silence crashed down upon the secret room.
Elder Chen's raised hand hovered awkwardly in mid-air. The emerald spirit power gathered in his palm slowly fizzled out, scattering into sparks. He stared at Du Busi, then slowly turned his head back to Liu Yuan. The frantic anxiety on the elder's face melted into blank incomprehension, which rapidly twisted into sheer, unadulterated disbelief.
"A... soul core?" Elder Chen's voice cracked, losing its usual dignified timber. "Sect Master, surely you are mistaken? He is only Rank Sixty-Two! How could he possibly possess the capacity to condense a soul core? That is a domain strictly reserved for Titled Douluo!"
"I know." Du Busi's tone remained eerily calm, yet Elder Chen could hear the tectonic shift of emotion being ruthlessly suppressed beneath that stoic facade. "I did not believe it either. But I have scanned his dantian three times now. There is a solid core actively forming in the absolute center of his sea of spirit power, and all of his energy is converging toward that singular point. If that is not a soul core, then tell me, what is it?"
Elder Chen opened his mouth to argue, but his throat went dry. He couldn't form a single logical rebuttal.
Swallowing hard, he extended his spiritual perception toward Liu Yuan once more, this time pushing past the chaotic outer layers and probing with surgical precision.
He saw it.
Deep within the abyss of Liu Yuan's dantian, suspended right in the center of a churning pool of liquefied spirit power, an infinitesimally small solid mass was slowly rotating. With every agonizing rotation, it violently ripped a portion of the surrounding liquid energy into itself, growing a fraction of a millimeter larger.
It was minuscule, almost microscopic. But it was undeniably solid.
Elder Chen fell dead silent.
He had dedicated the vast majority of his life to the martial path. He had personally trained countless peerless geniuses and memorized ancient texts that most sects didn't even know existed.
Yet, in all his years, he had never once heard of a soul master attempting to condense a soul core at Rank Sixty-Two. It defied the very laws of heaven and earth.
"How is this even possible..." he muttered, the words slipping out as a breathless whisper.
Du Busi did not offer an answer.
His own mind was racing, trying to comprehend the sheer absurdity of the situation.
Liu Yuan. This particular disciple had been shattering common sense and trampling over established conventions since the very day he stepped foot into the Body Sect.
And now, he had added one more preposterous achievement to his terrifying resume.
Condensing a soul core at Rank Sixty-Two.
Du Busi drew in a long, slow breath, his massive chest expanding.
He wasn't entirely sure if this was a miraculous blessing or a fatal curse, but one fact remained absolute: condensing a soul core was not a game. If the process was interrupted halfway, not only would all of the boy's painstaking efforts be reduced to ash, but the resulting backlash would inflict irreversible, catastrophic damage to Liu Yuan's foundation.
"We cannot interrupt him," Du Busi declared, his decision final.
Elder Chen's anxiety flared back to life. He whipped his head toward the Sect Master, the raw worry in his eyes practically spilling over. "Sect Master, do you even hear what you are saying?"
"He is Rank Sixty-Two! The total volume of spirit power contained within his body is simply insufficient to support the complete formation of a soul core!"
"If he forces this condensation and his internal energy supply dries up, the incomplete soul core will trigger a massive backlash. It will violently drain every last drop of vitality in his body. Forget his cultivation—he will be lucky to keep his life!"
"I know," Du Busi replied, his voice dropping an octave. "But do you honestly believe interrupting him right now will yield a better result? His dantian has already locked into the condensation state. If we forcefully shatter that momentum and cause his spirit power to violently reverse, his dantian will detonate on the spot. That would be a far more tragic end than a simple backlash."
Elder Chen's jaw parted, but no words came out.
He knew the horrific consequences of an external interruption just as well as Du Busi did. It was precisely this knowledge that had him trapped in a suffocating dilemma.
Do nothing, and Liu Yuan might be sucked dry by a backlash. Intervene, and his dantian would explode like a bomb.
Both paths carried apocalyptic risks. For a long, agonizing moment, the seasoned elder was entirely at a loss.
"Then... what do we do?" Elder Chen asked, his throat parched. "In all my decades of life, I have never encountered a crisis like this."
Du Busi did not answer immediately.
He stood like a monolith, his eyes locked onto Liu Yuan's face, noting the way the boy's features were slightly distorted by immense, tearing pain.
He could see the crushing pressure Liu Yuan was enduring.
The spirit power was circulating far too rapidly. His meridians were swelling to the point of bursting, and the gravitational pull of the condensing core had completely spiraled out of control. Liu Yuan was no longer driving the process; he was merely a passenger, desperately clinging on as the energy dragged him toward the abyss.
This could not continue.
Du Busi's mind worked at lightning speed.
When he had condensed his own soul core all those years ago, the process had been grueling, yes. But it had also been a natural, logical progression, fully supported by the great depths of his Rank 90+ spirit power reserves.
Liu Yuan, however, was only Rank Sixty-Two. His total energy pool was a mere puddle compared to an ocean. Relying on sheer, brute force to crush the energy into a solid state was a guaranteed death sentence.
He needed guidance.
Not a violent interruption, but the correct methodology to allow Liu Yuan to seize the reins and command the process himself.
Du Busi took a heavy step forward, closing the distance to the prayer mat. He crouched down, bringing his gaze perfectly level with the space between Liu Yuan's tightly shut eyes. He did not extend a hand to touch the boy. He simply spoke. His voice was not loud, but it carried a piercing, resonant clarity that cut straight through the chaotic buzzing of the room.
"Liu Yuan. Can you hear me?"
Liu Yuan's eyelids fluttered faintly, though they remained sealed. His body continued to tremble under the strain, and the violent fluctuations of his spirit power did not cease.
"You are currently condensing a soul core," Du Busi continued. He spoke slowly, deliberately enunciating every single syllable so it would penetrate the boy's strained consciousness.
"This is not a bad thing. However, your current methodology is entirely wrong. You are relying on brute force, attempting to violently crush all of your liquid spirit power into that central core. That will not work. Your total spirit power reserves are insufficient. Forcing it will only push your meridians past their breaking point."
Standing off to the side, Elder Chen held his breath, not daring to make even the slightest sound.
"The true essence of a soul core is not compression," Du Busi's voice rang out, steady and imbued with absolute authority. "It is solidification. What you must do is not crush the liquid into a solid, but rather allow the spirit power to naturally deposit itself upon the core. Think of water freezing into ice. When the ambient temperature is correct, it will naturally solidify on its own. If you apply violent pressure to force it to solidify, you will only shatter the ice."
Liu Yuan's ragged breathing seemed to catch, then steady by a fraction.
Du Busi pressed on, "Shift your focus away from the core itself. Stop trying to control its rotation. Let it spin on its own."
"What you need to do is circulate your spirit power throughout your entire body, strictly following the circulation path of the Body Secret Method. Allow the energy to naturally wash over that core every time it passes through your dantian. If one cycle is not enough, complete two. If two are not enough, complete three."
"With every single pass, a tiny fraction of your spirit power will naturally adhere to the core. When the time is right, it will naturally reach completion."
The secret room fell silent once more, save for the faint, electrical hum of the Soul Tool lamps and the heavy, rhythmic sound of Liu Yuan's breathing.
Du Busi did not speak another word. He slowly stood up and took two deliberate steps backward, his sharp gaze remaining absolutely locked onto his disciple.
Elder Chen stood rigidly by his side. Neither man made a sound.
Time crawled by, minute by agonizing minute.
Initially, the violent spirit power fluctuations surrounding Liu Yuan showed no signs of changing. They remained chaotic, aggressive, and dangerous.
Elder Chen's brow knitted tighter and tighter. Several times, his mouth opened to voice his concerns, but a single, chilling glance from Du Busi silenced him instantly.
And then, a shift occurred.
First, the wildly overflowing spirit power began to retract inward. It was no longer the violent, forced contraction from before. Instead, it moved like a receding tide, naturally and smoothly flowing back into Liu Yuan's body. Following that, the erratic frequency of the energy fluctuations began to drop. The violent surges smoothed out into gentle waves, and those gentle waves eventually settled into a deep stability.
Elder Chen's eyes widened fraction by fraction.
His spiritual senses confirmed it. The spirit power within Liu Yuan's body was now circulating exactly as Du Busi had instructed.
It was no longer a chaotic mess of internal collisions. It had formed a perfect, unbroken cycle. The energy flowed out from the dantian, coursed through his entire body along the complex pathways of the Body Secret Method, and returned to the dantian. As it washed over the forming core, it deposited a minute trace of energy before setting out on the next cycle.
One cycle. Two cycles. Three cycles.
That minuscule core was slowly, steadily growing larger.
It wasn't being violently compressed. It was accumulating, layer by delicate layer, like snow silently falling upon the earth. Every passing cycle left behind a microscopic film of solid energy. Though each layer was impossibly thin, the sheer number of repetitions allowed it to build up rapidly.
Elder Chen subconsciously clenched his fists, his nails biting into his palms.
He didn't dare breathe too loudly, terrified of breaking Liu Yuan's concentration.
But his eyes were entirely consumed by shock.
Because he was witnessing the impossible. Liu Yuan was truly, successfully condensing a soul core.
At this steady pace, barring any unforeseen disasters, success was only a matter of time.
Du Busi sensed the shift as well.
His rugged face revealed little emotion, but the knuckles of his right hand, which rested heavily against his side, had turned stark white from tension.
Another fifteen minutes bled away.
The spirit power fluctuations surrounding Liu Yuan completely stabilized.
This new stability was entirely different from a mere calm. It carried a heavy, introverted sense of absolute mass. It was like the dark undercurrents beneath a placid lake—nothing could be seen on the surface, but an unfathomable, terrifying energy lurked just below.
Du Busi gave a faint, almost imperceptible nod.
Elder Chen finally couldn't contain himself. "Sect Master," he whispered, his voice barely a breath. "Is he... about to succeed?"
Du Busi did not answer. His eyes never left Liu Yuan.
Right at that moment, Liu Yuan's body gave a sudden, violent jolt.
It wasn't the erratic trembling of losing control. It was a deep, resonant vibration that echoed from the inside out, as if a massive vault door within his very being had finally slammed shut, completing its seal.
Immediately after, an incredibly dense, terrifying wave of spirit power erupted from his dantian. It instantly swept through the entire secret room, heavy and suffocating, before rapidly retracting back into his body, vanishing as completely as if it had never existed.
The secret room returned to absolute silence.
Slowly, Liu Yuan opened his eyes.
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