Douluo: Lord of Arms

Chapter 162 Progress
"Boom!"

With a loud explosion, the Crimson Fire Ape at the very center of the explosion, whose cultivation had reached nearly seven thousand years, instantly fell silent.

Its three-meter-tall body shattered violently, then transformed into a pure purple light.

Aya quickly flew over and absorbed the purple light into her body.

"ah!"

He couldn't help but let out a sound of pleasure.

The surrounding environment was in complete disarray, with large trees that required several people to encircle lying on the ground.

The ground looked as if it had been ravaged by soul-guided cannonballs, with large craters scattered irregularly all around.

As the battle ended, the flames burning on the surrounding trees seemed to be stopped by some rule, losing their source of fire.

It quickly went out.

The rules within the Spirit Ascension Platform activated, and the aftershocks of the battle with the soul beasts could destroy the surrounding trees.

When the battle ends, the surrounding environment becomes indestructible again.

"ah!"

After absorbing the spiritual power left behind by the Crimson Fire Ape, Aya flew to Lin Xingyu's side.

The trajectory it traces during flight is like dancing in the air.

Finally, it floated in front of Lin Xingyu, looking like it wanted praise.

"well done!"

Lin Xingyu couldn't help but laugh, praising her while gently stroking Aya with his hand.

"ah!"

As Lin Xingyu stroked her, Aya felt as if she had received a great reward and couldn't help but make cute noises. At the same time, her emerald green eyes narrowed.

Meanwhile, the Thunderous Hell Vine on his other side swung its vines forcefully, and thunderous roars echoed in the air.

"Okay, okay, you're great too."

If we were to give the Thunderous Hell Vine a name, we couldn't just name it by its species name simply because it always takes on a plant form.

Souls that have reached the ten-thousand-year level have developed their own intelligence and are not much inferior to humans.

"The speed is still a bit slow."

After experiencing the results, Lin Xingyu couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

The soul beasts in the intermediate-level Spirit Ascension Platform are mostly thousand-year-old soul beasts, and ten-thousand-year-old soul beasts are quite rare.

Based on a 10:1 ratio, a seven-thousand-year-old soul beast can provide Lin Xingyu with seven hundred years of spiritual power.

Lin Xingyu has five spirit rings, and on average, each spirit ring can provide an improvement of more than a hundred years.

In reality, the improvement that Lin Xingyu received from his own spirit rings was far less than this number.

Just as a soul needs enlightenment to break through ten thousand years, there is a clear difference between the spiritual power provided by a thousand-year-old soul beast and the spiritual power provided by a ten-thousand-year-old soul beast.

Lin Xingyu's spirit rings have all reached the ten-thousand-year level. When he uses the spiritual power he obtains from hunting thousand-year-old spirit beasts to upgrade his ten-thousand-year spirit rings, he often reduces the amount by half, basically cutting it in half.

Sometimes it can be even lower.

“Soul beasts generally experience a significant increase in intelligence after ten thousand years. The spiritual power provided by a thousand-year-old soul beast is likely lacking in some aspects compared to that provided by a ten-thousand-year-old soul beast.”

After observing repeatedly, Lin Xingyu seemed to have something on his mind.

"Willpower? Mind? Or soul? The sample size is still too small."

He shook his head, deciding to observe the process more closely.

He continued his hunt.

Lin Xingyu's goal this time is to push himself to his limits as much as possible.

His current physical attributes, along with his supernatural abilities and soul bones, are not much different from those of an average titled Douluo.

Even considering the typical situation of a Title Douluo, there are certain requirements regarding the total number of years a Title Douluo can withstand for their spirit rings.

Lin Xingyu remembered that 20,000 years ago, some Soul Masters with twin Martial Souls exploded when they tried to add a Soul Ring to their second Martial Soul.

In this case, it's not that the lifespan of a single spirit ring exceeds the body's capacity; rather, it's that the body also has a certain limit to the total lifespan of spirit rings.

According to general standards, the total lifespan of a typical Title Douluo is at least two to three hundred thousand years.

Lin Xingyu's short-term goal is to upgrade all his spirit rings to 50,000 years, and then see his own limits as he goes higher.

Since he possesses supernatural powers, he won't die even if he exceeds a certain standard.

After briefly calculating the number of soul beasts he needed, Lin Xingyu fell silent for a moment.

His current soul rings are all 20,000 years old. This is the result of the past few years, plus the time he has spent nourishing his soul with his blood and qi.

To reach an average of 50,000 years, each soul needs to grow by 30,000 years.

He would need to kill at least five hundred soul beasts that are around seven thousand years old, and even if he were to hunt ten thousand-year-old soul beasts here, he would still need to hunt one hundred and fifty.

In the intermediate-level Spirit Ascension Platform, ten-thousand-year-old soul beasts are extremely precious, and there are usually only a handful.

Although there are many thousand-year-old soul beasts, there aren't that many. All the soul beasts inside the entire intermediate spirit ascension platform combined aren't enough for him.

In addition, the space inside the intermediate spirit-ascension platform is large enough, and there are often territories allocated among the spirit beasts.

One large area belongs to one type of spirit beast, and another large area belongs to another type of spirit beast.

He also needs to search across regions.

This process can be described as a huge waste of time.

Moreover, he can't just kill indiscriminately here. Even if he bought a ticket to the Spirit Ascension Platform, if he really kills all the ten-thousand-year-old soul beasts that guard the platform, the Spirit Ascension Platform will be under various repairs for a period of time, not to mention the trouble that will be caused.

He'll suffer just from being out of work for a while.

Back in Eastsea City, killing the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear that was the town's guardian caused quite a bit of trouble.

"Forget it! Leave those ten-thousand-year-old soul beasts in the very center, and kill all the ones we encounter on the outskirts, no matter what age they are, to accumulate spiritual power as much as possible. It's just a pity that it's not the Spirit Ascension Platform riot period, when accumulating spiritual power is really fast."

Having made up his mind, Lin Xingyu stopped thinking about those messy things.

He decided to begin his killing spree at the Ascension Platform.

All I know is that I'm about to go on a killing spree!

The magnetic field here is turned up to the maximum, combined with his spiritual power at the Spirit Abyss Realm, plus the Unity of Heaven and Man mode.

He amplified his senses to the maximum and charged forward along the planned optimal route.

Whether it was a thousand-year-old soul beast, a hundred-year-old soul beast, or even the occasional ten-year-old soul beast group, Lin Xingyu killed them all.

……

Seven days later.

"Is that all?"

Looking at the desolate scene before him, Lin Xingyu sighed in disappointment.

For seven consecutive days, Lin Xingyu entered the Spirit Ascension Platform and, apart from a few ten-thousand-year-old soul beasts at the very center, basically cleansed the entire intermediate Spirit Ascension Platform.

From the beginning to six or seven thousand years, then to three or four thousand years, and finally to catching and killing thousand-year-old soul beasts.

He completely wiped out the intermediate-level Spirit Ascension Platform in Tiandou City.

Even if some escaped, their numbers wouldn't be too large.

After hesitating for a moment, Lin Xingyu decided to spare the few ten-thousand-year-old soul beasts in the middle. With them as the center, the intermediate-level Holy Spirit Platform could recover quickly, but without them, it would take a considerable amount of time to recover.

The spiritual energy inside a Spirit Ascension Platform in a city has a certain limit, so it's unrealistic to expect to raise one's soul ring to its limit in a short period of time using a Spirit Ascension Platform.

"It's time to move to a different place!"

Lin Xingyu and Mu Ye were naturally prepared for this situation.

Move on to the Spirit Ascension Platforms in other cities, and experience them all, treating it as a learning journey across the continent.

However, he did not go too far here.

The Ascension Platform will be easier to restore, and the staff won't have to worry about him or cause him any trouble.

After he completes his rounds, the spirit-ascension platforms he initially used will likely have recovered, allowing him to use them again.

At most, the staff whose workload has increased as a result will just take notes.

Just do it.

After bidding farewell to Zhenhua and Muye, Lin Xingyu began his journey to the Spirit Ascension Platform.

……

Time is like water.

Two months passed by in the blink of an eye.

After checking his current schedule, Lin Xingyu asked Wu Changkong for another day off.

Lin Xingyu quickly hung up the communication device, not waiting for Wu Changkong to recover. He secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

This kind of continuous leave-taking behavior is indeed a bit unethical, but his time is very tight and he doesn't have much time to play with a group of children in baby cups.

As for how Wu Changkong explains it to the academy, that's his business.

After all, everyone is trying to live.

Lin Xingyu traveled to nine cities over the past two months.

Each of their spirit rings has been upgraded to nearly 40,000 years old, a tremendous achievement.

During these two months, his soul power increased by more than one level.

This surprised him somewhat.

The Soul King and Soul Emperor stages are quite grueling.

Even a Soul King with full innate soul power would need three to four months to advance one level at this stage, even in a top-tier simulated training ground.

He advanced one level in just two months, or rather, less than two months.

The speed can be described as quite fast.

But upon closer examination, it makes quite a bit of sense.

Firstly, his domain is essentially a simulated training ground. After condensing his soul core, it spontaneously draws in the primordial energy of heaven and earth. His own stellar attributes continuously draw in stellar power, constantly refining his essence, energy, and spirit, as well as the demonic power he obtained for free from the demon plane.

He had long ago opened up all the meridians in his body, his soul power circulated quickly, and his mental strength was also high.

Such speed is indeed surprising.

As for his mental strength, it had also improved considerably. Lin Xingyu carefully sensed it and found that it had reached nearly 14,000 points.

In two months, the score increased by more than a thousand points. Even considering the rapid improvement period after condensing the soul core, it was still quite fast.

Two months later.

After having toured most of the intermediate spirit-ascension platforms of the eighteen branch towers of the Spirit Transmission Tower, Lin Xingyu returned to his starting point, Tiandou City.

Blacksmiths Guild.

Looking at Lin Xingyu, whose face was beaming with joy, Mu Ye couldn't help but ask:

How rewarding was the trip?

Lin Xingyu's smile became even brighter.

"Things went very smoothly, with virtually no problems along the way, and we don't need to go to the Spirit Pagoda to refresh the Spirit Ascension Platform a second time."

"It looks like a really good harvest."

"It's really good, but the staff inside the Ascension Platform probably don't want to see me a second time anytime soon."

Hearing Lin Xingyu say that, Mu Ye couldn't help but laugh.

After the two finished their conversation, Makino suddenly spoke with a serious expression.

"Don't go back to school yet. You and Zhenhua come with me for a while. I have something for you to see."

When he said this, Mu Ye's expression was a mixture of trepidation and solemnity, just like a pregnant woman who had been carrying her child for ten months and was waiting for the child to be born.

Seeing the complex expression that suddenly appeared on Mu Ye's face, Lin Xingyu had a sudden thought and immediately made a guess.

Over the years, Lin Xingyu and Mu Ye have come to know each other quite well.

There are only a few things that can make him show this expression.

"Could it be..."

"Not bad, I think I'm about to completely refine Little Red."

Makino continued, saying that Little Red was his Red-level mecha, which was also the reason why he kept his soul power at level 94.

"Congratulations, teacher!"

Waving his hand, Makino said, "It's nothing to be happy about, nothing to congratulate."

Xiao Hong is Mu Ye's last soul spirit and also his own red-level mecha.

He dedicated his life to researching mechs, driven not only by his love for them but also by his desire to prove the limits of soul-guided technology.

However, through the secret method of Qi and Blood, he has now embarked on a path that combines his own abilities with technology.

Makino said solemnly.

"Next, you should prepare to observe carefully. This time, refining the mecha into your body will not only give you some new ideas, but should also bring you a lot of gains."

"Over the years, although my soul power has remained at level 94, I have not stopped developing my martial soul much. The reason why my soul power cannot be improved is simply because I lost a soul spirit and a barrier has been created between me and my martial soul."

"This time, by completely refining the mecha, I can not only complete my own soul, but also eliminate the barrier and increase my soul power. In addition, the feedback from refining the mecha should significantly improve my strength."

“If you observe this process carefully, you should gain a lot from it.”

"Yes!"

Lin Xingyu nodded in agreement, while also feeling a bit of anticipation about how much Mu Ye could improve this time.

Mu Ye's talent was exceptional. Although he hadn't mastered the innate secret technique, he was still quite skilled. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to become the sect leader of the Body Sect. After all, even a starved camel is bigger than a horse, and a rotten ship still has three pounds of nails.

No matter how down on its luck it is, the Body Sect was once a sect that dominated the continent.

I don't know how strong Makino will be after this, but he'll definitely be at the peak of his power.

The limits are divided into quasi-demigod, demigod, and quasi-god.

The near-god-tier one should be a bit lacking.

I wonder if I can reach the level of a demigod.

Makino already possessed a four-word battle armor, and after this, it's as if he's wearing two battle armors, resulting in an absolutely terrifying boost.

Even if you break through several levels of soul power, you still haven't reached your limit; you're still a bit short.

(End of this chapter)