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Xuan Ziwen didn't hesitate. He went ahead and gave Su Yu the Star Scepter as well.
Su Yu's unique rune techniques had left Xuan Ziwen pondering how to repay him, so he wasn't going to be stingy. Besides, the scepter was a failed creation anyway.
As for Su Yu, even if he could find a way to make something out of a failed item, Xuan Ziwen would actually be pleased.
With the Star Scepter and its blueprint safely stored in his soul-guided storage device, Su Yu felt content.
After bidding farewell to Xuan Ziwen, Su Yu returned to his dormitory and took out the Star Scepter.
"The power of the stars…"
The power of the stars has a wide array of applications.
Su Yu's first soul skill uses star power, converting it into vitality to restore both soul power and physical strength.
Star power can also enhance soul techniques and can even temper the body during cultivation.
One function of the Star Scepter is to channel star power, and it also contains several core arrays that interact with star power, providing it with two derived abilities:
*Star Shining Art*: An all-encompassing ability that boosts a soul master's attributes.
*Star Guard*: Forms a protective barrier using star power.
These two abilities essentially emulate the effects of support-type soul techniques.
Su Yu took out the blueprint containing the core rune array.
This was a Level 7 soul tool, incorporating advanced layering techniques in its core array. Su Yu couldn't replicate this complexity yet, so he focused on extracting the essential rune patterns within the scepter to suit his current needs.
"Star!"
After three days, he finished sketching the rune pattern for "Star."
"Star power is merely one type of energy; both soul power and vitality can serve as substitutes, especially for defensive techniques."
Su Yu then added the rune traces from Star Guard onto his "Guard" rune.
He'd previously made rough classifications for rune levels.
Recently, as his rune collection grew, Su Yu refined his system for easier reference.
Since he was a bit lazy with naming, he classified rune effects using soul ring age categories: white, yellow, purple, black, and red.
A rune sketched solely with mental power belongs to the white level.
With the addition of purple energy or vitality, the rune's level immediately advances to yellow.
Completing the rune's design further enhances its effect.
Su Yu's "Condense" and "Gather" runes are complex enough to reach purple level individually. When reinforced by purple energy and vitality, their effects are on par with a five-thousand-year-old soul ring technique.
The "Sword" rune also achieves purple level when boosted by purple energy and vitality.
The "Life" rune is Su Yu's specialty—his understanding of life force is extensive. Even though it's a recent creation, it still reaches purple level.
As for some of his other runes, they are roughly yellow level, equivalent to around six or seven hundred years.
After merging Star Guard's array traces into the "Guard" rune, its effect increased by at least two hundred years.
However, Su Yu hasn't fully grasped Star Guard's pattern yet, nor has he completely integrated its effects.
For now, there's no concern that the "Guard" rune will lack references before it reaches purple level.
While formalizing rune classifications, Su Yu had to confront another issue:
Soul ring ages.
As soul power increases, the effectiveness of most soul techniques also improves.
The deeper a soul master's understanding and development of their soul ring technique, the more formidable it becomes, potentially even impacting a Titled Douluo.
However, improving these abilities is extremely challenging—it requires continuous practice and refinement, pushing the soul ring technique to its limits with the soul master's own skills.
In the end, apart from the soul ring serving as a foundation for the technique, everything else comes from the soul master's innovation.
Su Yu suddenly questioned the necessity of increasing soul ring ages.
What's the point of higher ages if I can develop the technique myself?
As long as my technique's effectiveness keeps pace, why struggle to extend the soul ring's age?
"I thought it would be much later before you'd notice this issue," Elder Yi remarked, appearing as Su Yu pondered.
He studied the martial soul system closely, naturally noticing the relationship between soul ring age and the effectiveness of soul techniques.
"A soul ring is integrated into the martial soul; it's an ability like an instinct, something you can always activate directly.
When your level is high enough—after you reach the Seven-Ring Soul Sage stage, as your teacher mentioned—you'll have fully absorbed the soul ring's essence. At that point, integrating the soul ring completely into yourself will become your foundation.
Insights need to be recorded.
Just like with your understanding of 'Condense' and 'Gather,' only by turning these insights into tangible patterns and recording them as runes will they have a lasting effect.
Otherwise, it's just empty talk.
Perhaps, in battle, you could leverage your understanding to manipulate your soul power to create certain effects.
But that's a technique, not a level."
Technique and level.
Elder Yi highlighted the fundamental difference between the two.
If you've mastered an ability but haven't found a vessel to embody that insight, it's just a technique.
But if you fully integrate it into a vessel that's part of you, that's when it becomes a level.
"Is a soul master's power level just a matter of how much soul power they have?
Not at all.
It's simply that the characteristics of soul power can reflect a soul master's rank.
A soul master's rank fundamentally depends on the body's capacity to contain soul power.
For instance, even if a Titled Douluo drains all their soul power, their regeneration rate and capacity will always surpass those of lower-level soul masters.
This is because their body has accumulated the experience and gains from their soul power cultivation."
Su Yu began to understand.
"What you mean is that while self-created soul techniques may achieve similar effects, they're like roots adrift without anchorage.
Only by engraving my self-created techniques into my soul ring can I consider them a true level, absorbing them fully."
Elder Yi nodded and said, "That's right. And the age of a soul ring signifies the maximum level of understanding you can permanently record."
"So there is value in increasing the age of a soul ring after all."
Su Yu didn't mention his thoughts about recording his self-created techniques entirely in rune form.
Through Elder Yi's explanations, he had already implicitly identified three possible ways to anchor them:
Martial soul, mental power, and the body.
Pick one?
No, I'll master all three!
After a quick study of the Star Scepter, Su Yu began researching the technique of sealing soul power within milk bottles.
"So that's how it works—by incorporating arrays for resonance, convergence, and absorption, and modifying the bottle's internal structure."
Su Yu quickly uncovered the core principles behind the sealed milk bottle technique.
It's not simply about keeping the soul power inside in constant circulation and storage; it also uses resonance to preserve the soul power's properties.
It gathers energy to replenish any loss within the soul power.
Soul power, in essence, can be viewed as vitality imprinted by soul power. During infusion, the core array inside the bottle blurs this imprint before storing it.
Thus, any soul master using it, even if they didn't charge the bottle themselves, can quickly refine the stored soul power.
(End of Chapter)