Xu Shengqun was truly astonished.
Condensing a soul core only required one week of seclusion?
Even though he was well aware of Xu Yuan's cultivation progress and his extraordinary comprehension, Xu Shengqun still couldn't wrap his head around it at first.
What kind of speed was this?
After his initial surprise, Xu Shengqun speculated that there must have been some kind of opportunity involved.
Just eight months of accumulation to break through the Level 60 bottleneck, condense a soul core, and even complete the entire process within a week—no matter what, Xu Shengqun refused to believe that this wasn't due to some extraordinary opportunity.
"Uncle, is there something you need?"
Xu Yuan was curious why his uncle had immediately called him using soul-guided communication.
Normally, even if he saw the message right away, his uncle would send a text. It was rare for him to call directly.
"Oh, nothing much. I'm about to break through, so when you have time, come back and witness it. It'll give you some experience," Xu Shengqun said in a casual tone, but there was a hint of pride in his voice.
Breakthrough?
Xu Yuan was taken aback.
Uncle should be at Level 98 by now, right?
"Uncle, are you breaking through to Level 99?"
"Mm, more or less. Not long ago, I successfully reached the Spirit Domain Realm, and I've already prepared to break through to Level 99. Since you've already broken through, come back when you have time."
"Alright."
Xu Yuan ended the call and looked at Yun Ming.
"Your uncle's martial soul has an exceptionally strong mutation direction. It's not surprising that he can break through to the Limit." Although Yun Ming spoke casually, having overheard the conversation between Xu Shengqun and Xu Yuan, he was inwardly surprised.
Even though the mutation strength was sufficient, achieving the Limit wasn't something that could be taken for granted.
To put it bluntly, although martial souls like Xu Shengqun's—originally ordinary but absurdly powerful due to their mutation—could theoretically support a soul master up to Level 99, out of ten people on the continent, maybe not even one could succeed.
Not even one might reach the Super Douluo level.
Xu Shengqun's current achievements were largely due to the solid foundation laid by Xu Zhi, Xu Yuan's father, for Xu Shengqun years ago.
"Since your uncle is breaking through, you should go home. His situation is quite rare—a natural breakthrough without external stimulation. Observing this process will provide valuable insights for your own future breakthrough."
Many Limit Douluo breakthroughs were contingent on chance. After their spiritual power broke through to the Spirit Domain Realm, they naturally entered the realm of the Limit.
However, Xu Shengqun's spiritual power quietly broke through without any external triggers.
This kind of breakthrough lacked a chain reaction and didn't immediately promote the condensation of his third soul core, giving him time to prepare.
Without the interference of intense spiritual fluctuations from breaking into the Spirit Domain Realm, the changes in ambient energy caused by breaking through to the Limit would also be the clearest.
Observing the entire breakthrough process at this time would undoubtedly yield significant gains.
Xu Yuan nodded slightly.
He understood in his heart that this was his uncle waiting for him to condense his soul core.
The breakthrough could have been done long ago.
But to give him this opportunity, his uncle had deliberately delayed it for a long time.
"Teacher, I'll head home for now."
Though it was sudden, Xu Yuan didn't actually have any particularly urgent tasks at the moment.
Having received the notification, it was better to return to Tianhai City as soon as possible so Xu Shengqun could break through.
After all, if he waited too long, it might become difficult to proceed.
A flash of light shimmered, and Xu Yuan transformed into a massive mech, swiftly flying away from Shrek City.
Yun Ming watched as Xu Yuan's mech disappeared, taking a deep breath.
---
Mechs
These days, he had been struggling with a decision.
The entire Sea God Pavilion was grappling with one issue:
Was it necessary to revive the development of mechs?
Xu Yuan had pushed the upper limit of mechs to an unprecedented height.
Although he hadn't yet explored the heights of god-level mechs, he had already raised the upper limits of yellow-grade and purple-grade mechs to levels far surpassing those of one-word and two-word battle armors of the same tier.
Moreover, the armor-stacking techniques Xu Yuan demonstrated in the Demon Plane had directly opened up a practical path for increasing the upper limits of mechs.
Even if materials and craftsmanship couldn't reach perfection, they could still follow Xu Yuan's example by fusing mechs with battle armor.
With a mech's capacity and load-bearing ability for energy, it could significantly enhance the amplification of soul power provided by battle armor.
Of course, incorporating this armor-stacking technology into mechs would inevitably raise the requirements for materials, making it impossible to maintain the previous low standards.
While they didn't need Xu Yuan's top-tier configuration, it was undeniable that most current mechs couldn't reach this level.
Yun Ming withdrew his gaze and turned toward the Demon Gate.
In truth, he already had an answer in his heart.
They needed to revive its development.
If this path could lead to greater strength, why shouldn't Shrek allow it to exist?
Even if only a few people could achieve it, it was still worth pursuing.
Because this represented the future upper limit of soul masters.
"The development of mechs is still urgent. During the exploration of the Demon Plane, mechs played an unexpectedly crucial role."
If a single Demon Plane could yield such results, what about the vast universe?
The future of the Federation would undoubtedly involve exploration among the stars.
This trend had already been evident for some time.
"The environment of outer space is indeed unsuitable for soul masters to explore. In the past, we almost abandoned this field, leaving the exploration to the Federation, Tang Sect, and the Spirit Pagoda—forces with research institutions."
"But now it's different. Mechs themselves are excellent tools."
Not just vehicles.
But tools.
Tools in every sense of the word.
Just as battle armor could become part of a soul master's martial soul.
Mechs were tools that soul masters could use for any purpose!
They could be used to expand the functions of battle armor, protect soul masters, or provide a survivable environment.
---
Xu Yuan set the flight route for the mech and focused his attention inward, sensing his soul core.
Lower dantian.
A rapidly spinning vortex of soul power emitted strong waves of fluctuation.
"It cannot truly enter a solid state."
This was the key to the soul core. If the soul core were to fully solidify, the soul master's soul power would no longer flow within their body, making both control and cultivation inconvenient.
During the process of condensing the soul core, Xu Yuan naturally first triggered the solidification of the core point, causing the soul power vortex in the dantian to collapse and quickly compress the soul power.
However, he then ignited the solidified soul power at the very core.
Solid state?
It didn't exist.
The rotation of the soul core compressed the soul power inward, and under immense pressure, the soul power at the core would solidify before being ignited, causing an explosion.
The force generated by the explosion would then return to the soul core, driving its rotation and maintaining the immense gravitational pull from the outside inward.
This made the soul core more stable.
At the same time, it allowed for faster mobilization and recovery of soul power.
Similarly, the amplification effect on soul power cultivation was more pronounced.
This structure also increased the upper limit of the soul core's capacity.
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