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**
Thus, one could see just how precious this realm was.
At this moment, under the immense pressure of Ling Xiao's Profound Sky Axe Martial Soul, Huyan Li had actually entered this realm by a stroke of luck.
Though it remained uncertain how long he could maintain it, or whether he could truly master it afterward, it was still exceptionally rare. Most of the low-to-mid-tier Elephant Armored Sect disciples and Spirit Hall members on the field probably could not tell what was happening.
However, those experts who had reached the Soul Saint realm could discern many details from it, and they could not help but sigh inwardly at how incredibly fortunate this lad was.
On the most prominent high platform of the plaza, the high management of the Elephant Armored Sect, headed by Huyan Zhen, recognized everything happening to Huyan Li at a single glance. Instantly, the joy on their faces became impossible to conceal, leaving them absolutely thrilled.
It had to be said that this was truly an unexpected pleasant surprise.
They originally thought that this challenge initiated by Spirit Hall would merely allow the sect disciples to gain some experience, add a bit of pressure, and help Huyan Li make some progress, which would already be quite good.
They never expected that Huyan Li could actually catch a preliminary glimpse of this realm mid-battle. With this experience, there was a massive probability he could truly master this realm before becoming a Soul Saint in the future.
While they could instruct Huyan Li on learning soul skills and mastering his Martial Soul, they were completely powerless when it came to deepening his connection with his Martial Soul and enhancing his degree of fusion.
Although one would bound to reach this level of fusion by relying on the Martial Soul Avatar after reaching the Soul Saint realm—and with Huyan Li's Martial Soul aptitude, barring any accidents, becoming a Soul Saint was a certainty—attaining it through a Martial Soul Avatar was distinctly different from achieving it on one's own.
The earlier one comprehended it, the more beneficial it would be for their mastery and comprehension of the Martial Soul, which carried a significant impact.
Out on the plaza, Huyan Li—whose degree of fusion with his Martial Soul had spiked drastically as if they had integrated into one—displayed his transformation at this very instant.
Right as the elephant trumpet rang out, responding to that impassioned roar, a yellow soul ring released from within his body. Simultaneous with the release of the soul ring, both of his hands suddenly radiated a brilliant, diamond-like luster.
It was precisely the Diamond Force unique to the Diamond Mammoth Martial Soul.
This was Huyan Li's first soul skill, Impregnable Fortress.
Although this first soul ring merely originated from a Scaled Beast with a cultivation level of just over four hundred years, with Huyan Li's current Rank 37 high-tier Soul Elder cultivation, stimulating his first soul ring basically yielded no extra strength amplification.
After all, his own Martial Soul's power already far exceeded the source power contained within the first soul ring.
However, stimulating the first soul ring with a Soul Elder's cultivation meant that although he could no longer obtain the soul ring's power to strengthen himself, the soul skill attached to the first soul ring could still be used.
The first soul skill could still unleash the current power within the Martial Soul; it was just that the extra amplification from the soul ring's power could basically be ignored.
This also implied that once Huyan Li advanced to the Soul Ancestor realm, his first soul ring would completely lose its utility—it would not be able to amplify any strength, nor would it be able to combine with enough Martial Soul power to display the Martial Soul's true might.
Of course, Huyan Li's first soul ring still retained a certain level of practical value. The prerequisite for this was that the soul skill attached to his first soul ring was not an amplification type, but rather a non-amplification category like attack or defense.
If it were a purely amplification-type skill like Ling Xiao's second soul skill, Dragon Elephant Tremendous Strength, or his own second soul skill, Mammoth Strength, it would not work. At the Soul Elder realm, an amplification-type first soul skill already had no meaning in being used.
This was because compared to other categories of soul ring skills, amplification-type soul skills relied far more heavily on the strength of the soul ring itself.
Once the soul ring's power appeared exceptionally weak relative to the soul master's Martial Soul, its amplification effect would become negligible.
Unlike other non-amplification soul ring skills that could combine with the Martial Soul's own power to be executed and thus still retain a certain level of utility, it would face obsolescence much faster—roughly one ring, or one full cultivation realm, ahead of schedule.
However, this kind of amplification-type soul skill was not entirely without merit. Its greatest advantage lay in its ability to enhance a soul master's foundational strength, which was not limited to physical conditioning but could also include elemental or attribute power.
The varieties were exceptionally diverse, and they could act continuously over a certain period rather than being a simple, one-time explosive release. Furthermore, the amplification effect was potent enough to rival the support amplification soul skills of support-system soul masters.
By relying on this category of soul rings, even without a support-system soul master by their side, a battle soul master could still rely on their soul ring to grant themselves a layer of amplification power.
Thus, the two categories of soul ring skills each had their own merits and drawbacks.
It was precisely due to this characteristic—where amplification-type soul ring skills relied heavily on the strength of the soul ring itself—that shattered the fantastical, far-fetched ideas of certain soul masters in the soul master world.
A small faction of soul masters in the soul master world had always believed that if all of a soul master's soul rings were amplification-type skills that purely boosted physical conditioning, they would hold a massive advantage, crushing all opposition with raw power to become nearly invincible.
Some even believed that one should choose amplification-type skills for the first few soul rings and attack-type skills for the later ones; that way, not only would their physical conditioning be amplified to an extremely powerful state, but they would also possess potent offensive power without wasting any soul rings, making it absolutely perfect.
Clearly, the aforementioned ideas were purely fantastical pipe dreams and utter nonsense.
A soul ring's power ultimately had its limits.
How could a soul ring that granted a highly high percentage of strength amplification when you were at a low tier still grant that same high percentage when you unleashed that exact same soul ring skill after your cultivation had advanced several tiers?
A soul ring's power would not increase out of thin air.
Moreover, if all one had were amplification-type soul rings—because amplification-type skills relied too heavily on the soul ring's own power and barely involved combining with the Martial Soul's power—it would be highly difficult for a soul master to gradually learn how to control and utilize their own Martial Soul's power through such soul ring skills.
The role of the soul ring as a reference textbook would also be drastically reduced.
Doing so strayed from the correct path of a soul master's cultivation, failing to treat the Martial Soul as the core of cultivation and instead obsessing over the strength of the soul ring itself, relying on soul rings to fight.
No matter how strong such a person became, they would be nothing more than a waste who relied on soul rings, completely unworthy of mention.
At this moment, as Huyan Li triggered his soul ring to unleash his first soul skill, Impregnable Fortress, and actively drove his source diamond power, the diamond brilliance on his hands grew increasingly dazzling.
He brought his hands slightly together, and instantly, the diamond power erupted and expanded violently. The radiant light gradually softened, condensing in the blink of an eye into a massive, translucent shield.
It was a distinct rectangle, roughly over a meter wide and more than two meters tall; though it looked to be condensed from translucent diamond crystals, it gave off an exceptionally heavy, ancient, and majestic impression.
Clearly, this massive diamond shield was the manifestation of Huyan Li unleashing his first soul skill, condensed entirely from the Diamond Force. Its defensive power was bound to be exceptionally terrifying.
It was only somewhat puzzling why it was named Impregnable Fortress, leaving people rather perplexed.
**
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