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**
There was no doubt that soul bones could grow stronger. Take sects like the Clear Sky Sect and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect, for example.
Their sect masters possessed many inherited soul bones. After being absorbed and nurtured by each successive generation of sect masters, these inherited soul bones would eventually evolve.
In the end, they would become highly compatible with successors who shared the same inherited martial soul, and the abilities of the soul bones themselves would also become slightly more powerful.
This was the method of constant dripping wearing away a stone—slowly nurturing the soul bone over time. No matter how hard a soul bone was, when faced with overwhelming strength, it would still be forced to evolve just a little bit.
It was precisely because of this that Xiao Lin even suspected divine power wasn't actually completely omnipotent.
It was just that divine power wasn't as extreme or destructively violent as the soul power of the Ice and Fire Dragon Kings, which allowed it to strengthen the vast majority of soul bones.
At the end of the day, the Sea God was merely a much more powerful Soul Master.
Under such a massive gap in existence, it was perfectly normal for certain ten-thousand-year soul bones to be forced into an accelerated state of strengthening by a God.
However, Xiao Lin currently lacked those conditions, so he could only choose to nurture his soul bones slowly. Yet, Xiao Lin felt that this rate of strengthening was far too slow.
The point of his research was to accelerate this exact process, and to do so through a pseudo-absorption of the soul bone.
To state the conclusion first: the natural benefit of this method was that the soul bone could be removed at any time without causing any negative impact on the Soul Master themselves.
Furthermore, the accelerated speed would only be slightly slower than using divine power. As for exactly how much slower, Xiao Lin hadn't begun experimenting yet, so he wasn't entirely sure.
Nevertheless, he felt he could still succeed.
His hypothesis went like this:
If the soul power within a soul bone was treated as ordinary water, then the Sea God's divine power would be seawater. What happens when an ordinary person drinks seawater? They naturally become dehydrated.
Having too much salt in the body increases the osmotic pressure of bodily fluids, causing the cells to dehydrate.
When a soul bone was depleted of its soul power in this manner, it would naturally choose to absorb the Soul Master's own soul power to replenish itself.
The Soul Master's soul power could then be replenished by the Sea God's power. After receiving the Sea God's reward, the quality of their soul power would become even higher, making them even stronger.
Did Xiao Lin possess the conditions required to complete the aforementioned steps? The answer, of course, was yes.
Xiao Lin surmised that the principle behind how the Ice and Fire Dragon Kings strengthened ice and fire-attribute soul bones was largely the same.
In fact, the principle behind tempering soul rings was likely identical. It was just that the Ice and Fire Dragon Kings could condense soul rings themselves, making it much simpler for them.
Once a soul ring was elevated to the hundred-thousand-year level, they could greatly enhance the soul skill, or even grant an additional soul skill. Transforming it into a true hundred-thousand-year soul skill.
Now that he had the theory for strengthening soul bones down, the next step was the principle behind pseudo-absorbing a soul bone. However, this part would likely require the assistance of Tang San's expertise as a Soul Engineer.
He would need to create an exoskeleton arm or something similar out of a soul tool. It would have to function seamlessly with the body's limbs, allowing it to house a soul bone.
Ideally, this soul tool exoskeleton armor would connect directly with the human body's natural meridians, allowing for perfect control.
Of course, if that didn't work, Xiao Lin's only alternative would be to specifically chop off someone's arms and legs and then reattach them. But thinking about that made Xiao Lin feel it was far too evil.
Because this theory was simply too mind-boggling and still required the assistance of the Ice and Fire Dragon Kings, Xiao Lin hadn't mentioned it to Tang San and the others yet.
Besides, crafting soul tool exoskeleton armor would consume far too much time. He couldn't allow Tang San to waste an excessive amount of time just to contribute to his own research.
It would be much simpler to just have Tang San engrave ice and fire-attribute soul power formations onto two arm bones, and then directly let the two great Dragon Kings strengthen them.
In short, Xiao Lin could only put a temporary pause on this line of research for now.
Unless, of course, Xiao Lin could discover the principle of how external soul bones upgraded and grew stronger alongside a Soul Master. Or if Xiao Lin's own body possessed an immense amount of soul power that was of a sufficiently high quality.
Finally, Xiao Lin handed the Chasing Wind Left Arm Bone in his hand over to Tang San. Once Tang San finished engraving the soul power formation, they would see whether his hypothesis was truly viable.
...
While Xiao Lin and the others were cultivating and conducting research near the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
The high-ranking members of several factions had no choice but to temporarily abandon their missions after hearing that the group was protected by Dugu Bo and another hidden Titled Douluo.
If they wanted to take Xiao Lin away, they would have to bide their time and wait for an opportunity when he was alone. Consequently, a multitude of secret scouts went into hiding within Heaven Dou City, waiting for their chance.
Heaven Dou City, Xue Qinghe's estate.
Qian Renxue stood with her hands clasped behind her back, her back turned toward Ci Xue. Her expression was deeply solemn.
"Are you saying that even you wouldn't be able to achieve such a feat?"
"Yes, Your Highness."
Ci Xue had already informed Qian Renxue about the hidden Titled Douluo five days ago. He had even mentioned Yue Guan's appearance and how he had successfully lured him away.
However, the intelligence Ci Xue received afterward was truly shocking.
The reports claimed that the hidden Titled Douluo had unleashed a brutal slaughter, effortlessly killing the secret scouts tracking Xiao Lin's group without even unleashing his martial soul.
How could Ci Xue not be stunned by this?
In this world, the disparity between using soul skills and not using them was astronomical.
Even for a battle-type Soul Master with outstanding combat capabilities, if they didn't use their soul skills, they wouldn't be much stronger than an auxiliary-type Soul Master.
It was precisely for this reason that Ci Xue felt a lingering sense of relief. Fortunately, he hadn't made a move back then and had chosen to flee instead.
"Your Highness, I inspected the corpses of those Soul Masters, and there was no shortage of Soul Saints among them. Furthermore, many of the bodies belonged to a single faction."
"Judging by the state of their corpses, it can be inferred that they attacked together as a coordinated group."
Ci Xue's words caused even Qian Renxue's heart to skip a beat.
When Soul Masters cooperated seamlessly, fighting opponents above their own rank was incredibly easy. Under such circumstances, that Titled Douluo expert still didn't use his martial soul?
Aside from having absolute confidence in his own strength, could there be some other unspeakable reason?
Qian Renxue admired the expert's power, but with her sharp intuition, she felt as though she had uncovered something.
"Very well. Since Xiao Lin has the protection of two Titled Douluos, you no longer need to seek him out. From here on, I will invite Xiao Lin personally."
As she spoke, the corners of Qian Renxue's lips curved upward into a flawless arc.
"Understood."
Ci Xue complied without hesitation. Within moments, he concealed his presence and vanished from Qian Renxue's side.
"Bibi Dong, I will absolutely never let you get your hands on Xiao Lin."
Qian Renxue swore silently to herself.
She refused to believe that with her geographical advantage and her current identity, she could still fail to claim Xiao Lin.
On the other side, inside the Pope's Hall of Spirit City.
Bibi Dong was currently reviewing ancient texts regarding self-condensing soul rings and soul tools. These documents were records from Spirit Hall dating back several thousands, and even over ten thousand years ago.
Suddenly, Bibi Dong let out a soft exclamation of surprise as she noticed a particular detail. The texts recorded that the Sea God had achieved godhood by gathering the faith of the common people and the soul beasts living around Sea God Island.
However, the texts also mentioned that the Sea God had once been a master of crafting soul tools. It was because of this detail that Bibi Dong became even more certain that Xiao Yan was the successor of a certain God.
He had obtained a God's inheritance and gained a God's knowledge.
Bibi Dong had good reason to suspect that Xiao Yan might be connected to the Sea God. However, comparing the thesis Xiao Yan had published at the very beginning to his current thesis, the gap between the two was simply too massive.
Furthermore, Xiao Yan's very first thesis had originated from the Spirit Hall in Nouding City, within the Fasinuo Province.
What exactly was going on here?
Anxious about what the future might hold, Bibi Dong could not help but feel deeply worried.
"Your Holiness."
Suddenly, the voice of Yue Guan echoed into the Pope's Hall.
"Come in."
Following Bibi Dong's permission, Yue Guan instantly flew into the palace and said respectfully, "Your Holiness, disaster has struck! Grandmaster Xiao Yan has joined Qian Renxue's faction."
"What!?"
Martial Soul Panel:
Profile Member: Xiao Wu
Martial Soul: Soft Bone Rabbit
Destructive Power: A (Incredible offensive power generated by sheer speed)
Speed: A+ (Absolute speed, possessing the ability to easily instant-kill backline auxiliary Soul Masters; also possesses sufficient suppression against other agility-attack type Soul Masters)
Range: B
Durability: A- (The compatibility of her soul rings is excellent; the higher their cultivation age, the lower the soul power consumption becomes instead)
Precision: A
Growth Potential: A
Special Energy: A+ (Lightning)
**
Hello everyone,
Thank you for your support! If you enjoy my work, you can check out my Patreon—there are 100+ early access and exclusive content. I update 5 advanced chapter from Monday-Saturday
www.patreon.com/c/FanficTranslator
I truly appreciate it!