Gao Wu: Become stronger by grinding Erlang Shen's talents

Chapter 667 Breakthrough—Condensing the Soul Core! (Seeking monthly votes)

Lin Qi looked at Valentina on the stage; her illusions were extremely terrifying.

And she also has a nickname—Phantom Princess!
The opponent's illusion magic is only more powerful than that of the Zerg Queen in the Blazing Sun Mountain.

His mental strength has not yet broken through to the second realm of the universe, and he is not confident of victory if he faces Huanji Valentina.

"I must break through my mental strength as soon as possible!"

Lin Qi made his decision, then told the others and logged off.

……

A moment later, in the living room of house number 5.

Lin Zhen, the burly father, laughed heartily and said, "Xiao Qi, congratulations on your successful advancement!"

Lin Qi laughed and said, "It's just defeating one opponent."

"10000 geniuses, to determine the top 10, will need to go through 10 rounds, and this is just the beginning."

"The first round consists of 5000 matches, which will last for 11 days. I plan to go into seclusion to train during this time!"

Lin Zhen nodded seriously and said, "Don't worry about going into seclusion, we won't disturb you."

Lin Qi nodded, then turned and went upstairs back to the familiar martial arts room.

"drop!"

Lin Qi took out his phone, looked down, and saw a notification that money had been deposited.

The reward of 500 million Deep Space Coins has been credited to my account.

With the original 500 million Deep Space Coins, he now has 1000 million Deep Space Coins.

That's enough to buy 10 Source Energy Crystals.

"From now on, each round will reward you with Source Energy Crystals. If I make it to the top 10, I might get 5000 million Deep Space Coins as a reward."

Thinking of this, Lin Qi couldn't help but feel excited. After adjusting his mood, he sat cross-legged and took out a metal box from his spatial bracelet.

There's only one bottle of Soul Essence left.

He took it out and drank it all in one gulp.

Then he took out a silver-covered manual called "Divine Sense Thousand Threads".

He then began to peruse it again.

"Divine Thought Thousand Threads" is both a method for controlling mental power and a secret manual.

The first part describes how to cultivate and differentiate spiritual power.

The final part involves refining mental energy using a special method after reaching the Ten Thousand Threads Domain stage. This process highly compresses the mental energy, condensing it into a solid state, also known as the Soul Core.

"Whoo~"

Lin Qi put down the manual and reviewed the entire process once more. He now had a clear understanding of the process, and the next step was to prepare for his breakthrough.

With that thought in mind, he closed his arms tightly and began to circulate the "Thousand Threads of Divine Thought."

A wave of coolness washed over my brain, and my mind became calm and undisturbed.

Within the consciousness space, mental energy further differentiated, rapidly splitting into strands of mental energy: 1000, 5000, 9000, 9999...

After a short while, with the help of the soul essence, the last strand of 9999 strands of spiritual energy successfully separated.

It reaches the point of having countless strands of spiritual power, which are then mobilized and woven into a net, even transforming into a domain that spreads outwards.

The entire martial arts room appeared in my consciousness like a 3D projection.

As he reached the final stage of "Divine Thoughts in a Thousand Threads", his perception ability was also enhanced.

The next step is the final one: compressing mental energy.

Lin Qi mobilized the lake in his consciousness space, which was the first time he had ever done so.

"Whoosh!!"

Ripples spread across the calm lake surface, each drop of water seemingly containing a mysterious power.

Then, under Lin Qi's control, the lake surface began to boil violently.

The lake began to spin uncontrollably, its speed increasing rapidly, quickly forming whirlpools.

The water rippled like a dragon or snake, emitting a low hum.

Following the instructions in the manual, the lake water was brought to life, flowing in whirlpools and constantly compressing and condensing.

Lynch was completely focused and absorbed in the process, which took quite a while.

There can be no mistakes, otherwise all our efforts will be in vain.

As time passed, the lake began to undergo a wondrous change, and its surface began to shimmer with a crystalline sheen.

Just like a thin layer of ice freezing on the surface of a lake, this ice shell keeps getting thicker.

Layers of water enveloped the lake, and under Lynch's step-by-step manipulation, the liquid lake water formed a large water sphere, which eventually began to collapse.

The water sphere transformed into a solid, transparent sphere.

"boom!!"

Lin Qi shuddered, his whole body began to tremble involuntarily, and a throbbing pain shot through his brain.

It made his head feel like it was about to explode.

"Buzz!"

A strange mental fluctuation was released from the consciousness space.

Lin Qi endured the pain, knowing that the crucial moment was about to begin, and continued to compress the sphere in his consciousness space.

At the same time, a cool sensation surged into my brain, and the 60% pure soul essence was still taking effect.

The sphere in the consciousness space had completely solidified, with fine lines constantly moving across its surface, shimmering with a faint light.

Meanwhile, the sphere continued to compress, originally resembling a yoga ball, gradually solidifying and becoming increasingly dazzling.

"Buzz!!"

After an unknown amount of time, when the silver sphere compressed to the size of a fist, it released a dazzling light.

The soul core has been successfully condensed!

A strong mental fluctuation was released from the consciousness space, and Lin Qi felt that the world had become clearer.

An invisible spiritual net, centered on itself, spreads outwards.

In the martial arts room, the bedroom, and the living room of residence number 5, he could "see" his younger siblings, Lin Xiao and Lin Zhaoyue, watching television without using his eyes.

The Star Devouring Beast Xiaotian was sleeping on the ground when he suddenly opened his eyes, his expression turning serious, as if he sensed someone watching him.

Then he looked up at the direction of the martial arts room and relaxed again.

"Xiaotian's perception is truly sharp."

Lin Qi smiled inwardly; the Star Devouring Beast's talent was indeed extraordinary.

"Buzz!"

He then continued to release his spiritual perception, spreading outwards from House No. 5 as the center.

Outside the Yujing Haoting residential complex lies a bustling street, where it was rush hour at this time of day.

Countless vehicles came and went, shops were bustling with activity, and many students were heading home after school.

The place was packed with people, but Lin Qi, sitting in the martial arts room, could clearly see everything happening on the street.

It can even roughly judge the strength of a person based on their life's magnetic field.

1公里、2公里、3公里、5公里、10公里！

Lin Qi was overjoyed; with this breakthrough, his perception range could actually reach 10 kilometers.

Centered on one's own body, a circle with a radius of 10 kilometers is formed.

This is a vast area; the closer you are, the clearer the perception becomes.

The farther away it is, the blurrier it becomes, but it's still amazing enough.

This method of spiritual perception is increasingly resembling the methods of deities.

The higher the realm, the stronger the perception. Powerful beings in other universes at the third or even fourth realm may be able to scan a planet in an instant.

The mental strength section on the panel has changed.

[You have consumed 60% pure Soul Essence, breaking through the final realm of "Thousands of Threads of Divine Thought," where countless threads form a domain. You have successfully condensed a Soul Core, achieving a breakthrough in your spiritual power realm. Your spiritual power has increased by 1000.]

[Your spiritual realm has achieved a significant breakthrough; template integration rate +0.5%]

[Mental Strength: 99999 → 10.1 (Universe Realm II)!]

[Template: Erlang Shen - Yang Jian]

[Integration rate: 49% → 49.5%]

……

Lin Qi looked at the information and nodded to himself, feeling a significant breakthrough in his mental strength.

He directly broke through a major realm, advancing from the first realm of the universe to the second realm of the universe.

This improved the template integration by 0.5%.
As long as there is a major breakthrough in his realm, his template integration level will be greatly improved.

In the space of consciousness, a soul core, resembling a silver planet, floated in the center, its entire body crystal clear.

Like a star containing the mysteries of the universe, it exudes a mysterious and powerful aura.

Strands of spiritual energy flowed across the surface of the sphere.

This is the soul core that Lin Qi has condensed, which also means that his spiritual power has reached the second realm of the universe.

Perception has been greatly enhanced.

"Buzz!"

Lin Qi slowly opened his eyes, his deep gaze radiating a sharp light that illuminated the entire martial arts room, casting an even more dazzling glow.

"It is said that spiritual masters, due to their spiritual power, can condense soul cores that are different from those of martial artists, and are also more difficult to create."

Lin Qi felt that his perception had improved a lot compared to before.

He is a martial artist, not a spiritualist.

The function of mental power is generally perception, unlike mentalists who can control mental weapons to activate them.

"And there's the Tower of Starfire. Now that I've reached the second level of the Cosmic Realm, I can cultivate the second level of the Tower of Starfire."

Thinking of this, Lin Qi sat cross-legged again.

"Buzz!"

With the soul core activated, a vast spiritual force was unleashed, and in the next moment, a crimson tower was formed—the Starfire Tower.

This secret technique is specifically designed to defend against mental attacks.

Now that his mental strength has broken through, he can re-condense the Starfire Tower, greatly enhance his defense, and even counterattack.

The crimson tower vanished and was then rebuilt. Several hours later, a brand new Starfire Tower was constructed.

Compared to the previous giant tower, the current Starfire Tower has a much heavier and more solid aura, and has undergone tremendous changes from the inside out.

The tower's structure acts like a shield, capable of defending against any attack.

Lin Qi nodded inwardly. With the new Starfire Tower, he no longer needed to be afraid of Valentina.

Mental strength is no longer his weakness.

Lin Qi stood up, looked at the time, and saw that it was already 8 p.m.

He went downstairs to the living room.

In the living room, only his parents were watching the live stream. Lin Zhen's eyes lit up when he saw Lin Qi, and he asked, "Xiao Qi, are you finished cultivating?"

Lin Qi laughed and said, "It's over. We've made a small breakthrough!"

Watching the live stream, Lin Qi asked curiously, "Where are we in the first game?"

Mother Fang Huiyi explained:

"Xiao Qi, you've made a breakthrough just in time. Today is the last day of the first game."

"16 matches left, the first game is over!"

"The second game starts tomorrow!"

Lin Qi nodded. His breakthrough came at just the right time. If he hadn't broken through by the second game, he would have been in an awkward situation.

……

The next day

Universe Virtual Network, Player Plaza
Lin Qi appeared out of thin air on the smart chair.

"Brother Qi, you've been in seclusion for ten days, that's quite a long time."

Beside him, Jiang Tao, with his dark skin, greeted him with a smile.

Lin Qi asked, "Now that the first round is over, how many people from our Blue Star have advanced to the second round?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Tao immediately revealed a smug smile and said:
"All nine of our Blue Star players have advanced to the second round!"

Lin Qi nodded: "That's good!"

The more games you play, the more Deep Space Coins you earn; it's a win-win situation.

"Dear contestants and audience, after 11 days of fierce competition, let's congratulate the 5000 contestants who have successfully entered the second round, second game of the second stage of the Ten Directions Blood Arena!"

"If a player can advance to the third game, they will receive an additional 500 million Deep Space Coins as a reward."

"Starting from the first game, the prize money will increase by 500 million for each subsequent game until the 10th game determines the top 10 players."

"You can win up to 5000 million Deep Space Coins!"

"And so, our second game officially begins!"

The stunningly beautiful host, Sang Qing, floated in the air, projecting a giant blue screen displaying 5000 names.

Meanwhile, the 5000 names changed positions and were combined to form a brand new battle table!
"Clap!!"

The audience erupted in cheers, eager to see who their favorite player would face next!

In the player's area, everyone quickly found their opponents.

Lynch is the same!

[Match 11: Lynch (Triangulum Galaxy) vs. Valentina (Tita Galaxy)]

……

Lin Qi raised an eyebrow upon seeing his opponent, quite surprised.

What a coincidence! He had just broken through in his mental strength, and then he was matched with Valentina in the second game.

"Brother Qi, your opponent is Valentina from the Thai Star Tower. Be very careful of her illusions!"

Jiang Tao spoke with concern.

At this moment, the black-robed war god laughed and said, "You don't need to worry about Lin Qi, his mental strength has already broken through!"

"Valentina's illusions are no longer very effective against him."

Upon hearing this, Sun Sheng exclaimed in surprise, "You broke through in mental strength so quickly?"

"Isn't there a bottleneck?"

Lin Qi laughed and said, "Senior War God has the sharpest eyes!"

The God of War had already reached his peak strength, and his mental power had also broken through to a higher level. He soon discovered that his mental power had also broken through to a higher level.

Jiang Tao laughed and said, "Now it's a sure thing that Brother Qi will enter the third round."

"I must say, the Deep Space Institute is quite generous; for each round of advancement, they award an additional 500 million Deep Space Coins!"

"I can buy 5 more Source Energy Crystals!"

The others nodded in agreement, all wanting to persevere for a few more rounds.

Because the rewards were indeed generous, they borrowed a lot of money, but they still had to pay it back.

The rewards from the Deep Space Genius Competition do not need to be repaid at all.

Just use it directly!

While everyone was discussing, the 16 contestants were teleported to the 8 arenas.

The second round of competition has begun!

The 5000 players who made it to the second round are naturally extremely strong.

With such formidable combat power, ending the battle in a short time is impossible.

It wasn't until 20 minutes later that three matches ended!
[Please prepare to enter, Lynch!]

After hearing the voice notification, Lin Qi immediately stood up.

His body was enveloped in a blue beam of light and shot into the sky.

Meanwhile, in the arena of the Titan system.

"Valentina, your opponent is the Blue Star civilization. Don't be careless!"

A woman dressed in purple with a stunning figure smiled and said:
"Don't worry, my illusion magic is the best counter to these brutes."

Hobbs, sitting in the smart chair in the distance, also witnessed this scene.

He shook his head inwardly. In two years, he had successfully fought his way out of the revival competition.

He wasn't optimistic about Valentina's chances of winning.

In the Blazing Sun Mountain, one must face the illusions and mental attacks of the Insect Queen.

Lin Qi was able to break through to the sixth level in the Qi Refining Realm, so his mental strength could not be weak, and he could not be a brute.

"Lynch..."

Hobbs looked at Lynch on the ring, also curious about just how strong his opponent was now.

……

"boom!"

Two blue beams of light descended upon the enormous arena.

Lin Qi was still wearing his black and gold combat gear, his gaze fixed on his opponent.

Valentina appeared, her features exquisitely beautiful, perfectly matching the aesthetic standards of Earthlings. Every smile and frown, clad in tight-fitting purple armor, accentuated her alluring figure.

Wielding a sharp sword, every movement of her body was accompanied by bright and alluring eyes.

Looking at him, one's desires are involuntarily aroused.

Lin Qi was secretly shocked. The battle hadn't even started yet, and it already had such a powerful charm effect?!
"Lin Qi from the Blue Star Civilization, do you think I'm pretty?"

Valentina smiled and asked.

Lin Qi, his eyes clear and his face stern, replied:
"You're not good-looking!"

"I don't like ugly people!"

"Ok?"

Valentina's face immediately darkened.

Then she laughed again: "Lying won't work. In your eyes, I'm very beautiful!"

[Countdown: ... 3, 2, 1]

[The 11th match has officially begun!]

Just as the two were exchanging words, an intelligent voice announced the official start of the battle from above the arena.

"Buzz!"

At the very beginning, Lynch didn't look into Valentina's eyes, because he knew that many illusions were released from the eyes.

He only released his mental perception to lock onto Valentina's location.

But he soon realized something was wrong; a strange aura was swirling around his body.

The surrounding environment changed instantly, transforming from the arena into a spacious room.

He saw countless beautiful women appear, all of whom were the celebrity teachers he had fantasized about in his previous life.

……

At the same time, on the arena, Valentina's eyes shone brightly, and strong mental fluctuations were released from her soul core.

Seeing Lin Qi's blank stare, she immediately smiled.

"Nothing more than that!"

"You fell for my illusion instantly!"

With that thought in mind, she rushed out instantly, thrusting her sword out like a venomous snake, aiming for Lin Qi's neck.

In the first or second round, every opponent who fell into her illusion was killed by her without any warning.

Those who are weak can use illusions to strangle the opponent's consciousness.

"Hoohoo!"

A cyan aura emanated from her body, and her sword danced as it thrust out at top speed, a flash of cold light passing by.

……

Within the illusion.

"wrong!"

Lin Qi realized instantly that he had unknowingly fallen into an illusion.

"Break it for me!"

"boom!!"

Lynch heard the towering roar in his ears, and everything around him shattered as if it were glass.

"Hoohoo!!"

As the surrounding scenery changed, he returned to reality once again.

A sudden surge of intense danger welled up in my heart, and a cold glint flashed before my eyes.

"Om!!"

In an instant, Lin Qi mobilized all his strength, releasing a dazzling sharpness, just as the sword was about to pierce through.

His head turned to the side!

"call out!"

As the sword tip pierced the air, Lin Qi dodged it, his body instantly falling backward.

"what?!"

Valentina looked at Lynch, whose eyes were clear, and was shocked. Her illusion had been broken.

……

(End of this chapter)