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*****
With her precise control over soul power, Huo Wu dispersed the Sun Fire Lotus and then condensed another lotus.
Compared to the previous lotus, this one had petals without golden flames and was more crystal clear, emitting a faint white light.
"This is the second skill of my sixth soul ring: Sun Space."
Huo Wu threw the lotus towards the Flame Cloud Smoke Bird. As it hovered above the bird, thirty-six petals spread out, enveloping it and connecting with beams of light, drawing closer together.
Soon, the entire Flame Cloud Smoke Bird, along with the Sun Crystal Pillar, was wrapped in the thirty-six petals, shrinking until it became a palm-sized lotus bud.
"The effect is just that: it can seal soul beasts or even people inside it. The sealing effect is very strong; as long as the lotus bud isn't broken, the seal remains."
"More importantly, I can transform this Sun Space Lotus into a Sun Fire Lotus, causing whatever is sealed inside to explode."
After finishing, Huo Wu withdrew from her martial soul state, with the Sun Goddess returning to her body. A bead of sweat appeared on her forehead. "Whew~ Using two hundred-thousand-year soul skills consumes a lot of energy."
After Tang San restored her soul power, he took the lotus bud, squeezed it lightly, and found it quite hard. He asked, "If you don't break the seal violently, how do you open it?"
"I just need to inject soul power." Huo Wu extended her hand over the lotus bud and injected a bit of soul power, causing it to open quickly. The Flame Cloud Smoke Bird flew out, returning to its original size.
"Squawk!"
The Flame Cloud Smoke Bird, back to its original size, shook its neck and cawed like a crow at Huo Wu.
Not far away, the Titan Flame Ape also showed a look of fear, lying on the ground and pretending to be dead, hoping to avoid the torment of these two terrifying upright apes.
Seeing the lotus bud dissipate in his hand, Tang San realized that the soul skill's seal was one-time use. Once the seal was broken, the sealing medium disappeared, requiring Huo Wu to perform the Sun Space soul skill again.
"Does this soul skill have any limitations?" Tang San asked.
"Yes, I can only use it thirty-six times a day. After that, even with enough soul power, it can't be used until thirty-six hours have passed."
Huo Wu sensed the soul power flow of the second soul skill in her hundred-thousand-year soul ring. Although it was not very clear, she observed thirty-six nodes with her spiritual power, one of which had already broken but was slowly recovering, taking about an hour.
This recovery couldn't be accelerated by soul power but relied on the soul ring's inherent power to regenerate.
"That's pretty good." Tang San nodded. "Especially since your martial soul has evolved. It can possess you or exist independently, becoming your avatar."
"As for gravity—"
Before he could finish, Huo Wu interrupted with a triumphant "hmph~" and said, "After absorbing the Crystal Lotus, my control over gravity has also improved."
"Really?" Tang San pondered for a moment and shared his thoughts, "Maybe it's because the Crystal Lotus originally grew in magma, closer to the planet's core, thus influenced by gravity. Or perhaps because it could move up and down in the mantle, it inherently controlled a gravity-like ability?"
The exact reason was unclear to Tang San, but he was happy for Huo Wu.
"There's more!"
Huo Wu said proudly, "After absorbing the entire Crystal Lotus, its vast energy is now within my martial soul. For my seventh, eighth, and ninth soul rings, I won't need to hunt soul beasts. As long as I reach the appropriate level, I can condense them with my martial soul's help."
"The Crystal Lotus's cultivation age isn't just the hundred thousand years you guessed; it's nearly a million years!"
Hearing this, Tang San was also shocked. He then smiled and said, "That's great! This way, you won't need to hunt soul beasts and can focus on cultivation or delve into secondary professions."
Speaking of secondary professions, besides studying physics, Huo Wu also engaged in forging.
However, unlike typical blacksmiths who used forging hammers, Huo Wu melted metals with flames and used her gravity research to compress the molten metal continuously.
This method was far more efficient than traditional forging masters, allowing her to forge nearly half a ton of hundred-forged iron at once.
To most blacksmiths in Soul Guidance Technology City, though, this was considered cheating. The hundred-forged iron produced this way was deemed soulless!
"Indeed, I might become a master forger." Huo Wu said, placing one hand on her hip and looking at the Titan Flame Ape and the Flame Cloud Smoke Bird, she asked, "What should we do with these two soul beasts?"
"Let them go," Tang San said, glancing at them slowly.
The Titan Flame Ape secretly opened one eye.
The Flame Cloud Smoke Bird also looked at Tang San.
"Let them go? These two soul beasts are rare types. One has a cultivation of fifty thousand years, and the other sixty thousand years. Their chances of dropping soul bones are much higher than other fifty-thousand-year soul beasts," Huo Wu said with a smile, finding the two soul beasts' human-like expressions of fear quite amusing.
"Alright, stop scaring them," Tang San shook his head. "We don't need their soul rings. There's no need for unnecessary killing. After all, the number of ten-thousand-year soul beasts on the continent is limited. Killing one means one less."
Under the watchful eyes of the Titan Flame Ape and the Flame Cloud Smoke Bird, Tang San and Huo Wu left through the original entrance. The two beasts looked at each other and breathed a sigh of relief, seemingly relaxing their guard. But soon, they started roaring and squawking, fighting over the territory. They eventually divided the area, with the original Crystal Lotus growth spot as the boundary, and began gnawing on the island made of Sun Crystal stones.
"If those two soul beasts eat up the island where the Crystal Lotus grew, their cultivation should rapidly improve, right?" Huo Wu, still thinking about the soul bones of those two beasts, licked her lips. "Should we kill them for their bones once they reach a hundred thousand years?"
"Soul bones are special materials, but they're not that important right now," Tang San replied. "Martial souls and soul rings are enough for a soul master to focus on for a lifetime. By understanding the principles of soul ring skills, we can develop soul tools."
"Soul bones are rare and can't be mass-produced, and soul beasts are precious resources. We shouldn't slaughter them for soul bones."
"Besides, Xiao Wu is a hundred-thousand-year soul beast transformed into human form. Even though transformed soul beasts are considered traitors to their kind, she still has an affinity for soul beasts."
"Therefore, we should avoid unnecessary killing."
"Additionally, we must consider Gu Yuena's feelings. In the future, I hope humans can free themselves from relying on soul beast soul rings and even live peacefully with soul beasts... Though that seems unrealistic, at least there should be mutual respect, not just exploitation for personal gain."
"Moreover—"
"Why would you need soul bones when I've taught you the Jade Bone and Golden Muscle Divine Treasure technique?" Tang San asked, puzzled. "For someone with Jade Bones, soul bones are like impurities. However, it seems your Jade Bones don't reject external soul bones. Could it be because external soul bones can also evolve? It's something worth considering."
"Alright, we'll discuss this later. Right now, I want to have a thrilling fight with you!" Huo Wu suddenly leaped in front of Tang San in the spiral passage of the volcano's inner wall, pressing him against the wall. She released the Sun Goddess, who pinned him against the wall and began exploring his body.
"Here?"
Tang San was shocked. He didn't expect Huo Wu to be so bold, wanting to engage in such an intimate act in this place, and even releasing her martial soul... What was she up to?
"I want to see if you can handle fighting against both of us," Huo Wu smiled and then said seriously, "And help me test if this martial soul body is identical to a real person."
"How dare you challenge me with just two of you? Even ten wouldn't be enough to take me down!" Tang San responded arrogantly, engaging in a prolonged and intense battle with Huo Wu.
...
In Spirit City.
At Soul Martial Manor.
Gu Yuena was learning about soul tools with Guang Ling.
As the co-ruler of soul beasts, she had realized that humanity's strength lay in their intelligence, with soul tools being the pinnacle of that wisdom. By mastering this knowledge, she hoped to lead the soul beasts to rise.
Unfortunately, Gu Yuena's thinking was too naive in this regard.
Leaving aside the intelligence of soul beasts, for them to rise, they would first need to abandon the hierarchical food chain, stop preying on each other, and turn vegetarian, not even eating plant soul beasts.
Otherwise, even if humans categorized plants and animals with soul power as soul beasts, soul beasts would not be a united group. They encompassed diverse species like Blue Silver Grass, Soft Boned Rabbits, Lone Wolves, White Tigers, Phoenix Birds, Man-Faced Demon Spiders, and more. Among them, the only relationship was that of predator and prey.
Even a hundred-thousand-year soul beast, despite having human-like intelligence, would remain unchanged if it didn't transform and leave its original habitat, leading to stagnation over time.
At this point, Gu Yuena hadn't realized this yet, but even she might feel uncomfortable returning to the Star Dou Forest one day.
"Guang Ling, aren't you worried that Tang San might take Huo Wu as a partner too?" Gu Yuena suddenly asked while studying soul tool patterns. "You and Xiao Wu might have another sister."
Guang Ling glanced at Gu Yuena and replied matter-of-factly, "It's normal for an outstanding man to attract girls."
"I, Xiao Wu, and Rongrong aren't jealous. Besides, we're close to Huo Wu and know she likes Tang San."
"Besides, Tang San is very strong~"
"We'll all be happy."
Gu Yuena: "???"
"You're not normal!"
(End of this chapter)