Although the connection between Chen Ming and the dragon core was faint, even the slightest link made a world of difference.
After entering meditation, Chen Ming could feel the dragon core in his arms functioning like an external dantian.
For now, he couldn't use the dragon core to directly absorb soul power from the surrounding world, but he could infuse his soul power into it and retrieve it whenever needed.
And what was the dragon core's capacity?
From Chen Ming's perception, if his total soul power was equivalent to 10 units, then the dragon core had a capacity of at least 10,000 units. Moreover, as the core continued to awaken, its capacity was likely to increase even further.
Additionally, due to its unique properties, combining extreme life energy with the mystical metal known as Life Gold, the dragon core possessed a special feature.
The soul power Chen Ming infused into the core was quickly consumed, refined, and converted into pure life energy. This life energy then flowed back into Chen Ming's body through the connection between them.
Chen Ming, who had felt weak due to blood loss, rapidly recovered under the influence of this life energy. His previously pale complexion regained its rosy hue, and his entire body experienced a wave of comfort, as though a heavy burden had been lifted.
Although he didn't examine himself in detail, Chen Ming could sense that the impurities accumulated from long-term use of various medicinal substances were gradually being expelled from his body. Even the hidden injuries caused by years of intense training were slowly healing.
"This effect is truly miraculous. It's like having an excellent healing-type soul master by my side at all times."
Chen Ming opened his eyes and stretched contentedly. Although his spiritual and soul power reserves were still heavily depleted, the physical relief put him in a surprisingly good mood.
But after his moment of delight, Chen Ming glanced at the dragon core, which seemed to have grown subtly rounder, and a trace of doubt lingered in his mind.
"This life energy is of incredibly high quality. But why do I feel that it's still slightly inferior to the Nine Hearts Begonia?"
In terms of raw quantity, the life energy he had just converted far exceeded what Ye Lingling had displayed with her Nine Hearts Begonia. Yet, even so, Chen Ming couldn't sense the op-healing effect that the Begonia was known for.
The gap lay in the mechanism, not the raw numbers.
It was like Tang Chen's Clear Sky Hammer, capable of smashing mountains and delivering god-tier blows when detonating soul rings. Yet no matter how powerful Tang Chen's hammer was, it could never produce something as bizarre as a sausage.
Previously, Chen Ming thought it was simply due to his lack of knowledge—that some unique martial souls came with inherent mechanism-based abilities. But after witnessing the life of the Celestial Emerald Dragon, he began to believe that the anomaly lay in the Nine Hearts Begonia itself.
It seemed as though the Nine Hearts Begonia's mechanism operated on a fundamentally different system, as though it belonged to a higher version of the Douluo Continent's framework.
"When I get the chance, I should spend more time with Ye Lingling to observe the Nine Hearts Begonia closely."
"Come to think of it, the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda might also be worth investigating. A fixed percentage boost regardless of level difference, and soul skills that remain unchanged no matter what soul beast's ring is added—could it also be a mechanism-based martial soul?"
Chen Ming rubbed his chin, his thoughts spiraling.
"What about the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon? The Clear Sky Hammer? The Blue Silver Emperor? Or the Seraphim?"
"Are these legendary martial souls purely number-based, mechanism-based, or perhaps even a mix of both?"
"Could the martial souls of those Titled Douluos hold some unique, hidden traits? What about the Sea God's inherited martial soul on Sea God Island and the Seraphim of Spirit Hall? Do they have their special secrets?"
"The Angel Domain, Sea God's Domain, Deathgod Domain, Polarity Stillness Domain..."
"Invincible Golden Body, Teleportation, Martial Soul Fusion Techniques..."
As these thoughts raced through his mind, Chen Ming slapped his thigh, feeling as if he had caught a spark of inspiration for his future development.
"Although the Jade Phosphor Snake martial soul doesn't seem to possess mechanisms or overwhelming stats, Dugu Bo's Jade Phosphor Snake Emperor represents the pinnacle of this martial soul. It should be significantly different from Dugu Yan's Jade Phosphor Snake. Perhaps I could find an opportunity to observe it closely…"
"Wait, now that I think about it, does Dugu Bo's ability to poison himself count as a kind of unique mechanism? Even though it's a negative mechanism, it's still a mechanism of sorts, isn't it?"
"If we further hypothesize, martial souls that inherently possess domains might represent a manifestation of such mechanisms. If one could artificially create a mechanism or mimic one through the characteristics of a martial soul, would it be possible to acquire a domain?"
"The Ice Dragon King and Fire Dragon King's burial site turned into the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. Could I use that to glimpse the essence of the two Dragon Kings?"
"And now that I think about it, could immortal herbs also have mechanisms of their own?"
"Perhaps it is precisely these mechanisms, which surpass simple attribute stacking, that give rise to phenomena like immortal herbs, domains, and god-level martial souls."
A sudden epiphany surpassed ten years of arduous cultivation. Chen Ming's mind grew increasingly frenetic as he seemed to enter a unique state of enlightenment.
Unbeknownst to him, he found himself in a strange, otherworldly space, where two fissures appeared before him.
Through these fissures, Chen Ming sensed the embodiment of various laws. If he wished, he could extend his consciousness through the fissures and peek into the realm of rules and mechanisms.
As he stepped into the first fissure, its nature became clear to him.
It represented his first soul ring, derived from the 500-year-old Jade Phosphorous Flower of the Seven Absolutes.
If absorbing a soul ring typically resembled opening a blind box of pre-packaged meals, Chen Ming's approach was more akin to choosing specific pre-packaged meals. While more precise than blindly opening boxes, it still operated within the constraints of pre-defined options.
But now, by entering this fissure, it was as if Chen Ming had sneaked into the kitchen of a high-end restaurant.
While no prepared meals awaited him, he now stood amidst a wealth of cooking tools and raw ingredients. Whether he chose to follow a recipe or mix things up randomly, the decision was entirely in his hands.
Of course, since he was essentially trespassing, his freedom was not without limits.
Neither the tools, the raw materials, nor the finished dishes could leave the kitchen. Even if he consumed something, it would vanish once he left the kitchen, as these things fundamentally didn't belong to him.
And if he exceeded a certain boundary and gave in to unlimited greed, Chen Ming, the intruder, could very well become part of the kitchen—transformed into one of its tools or ingredients.
Still, compared to the potential benefits, these risks seemed utterly trivial.