Douluo Continent: On Becoming a God Through Science

Chapter 9: The Gap Widens Between Them and the Former Genius

You Chen completely ignored his old classmate who was questioning his life, and stroked his chin, looking thoughtful.

He discovered that his output was completely excessive for Jiang Liu.

If he hadn't held back a bit, Jiang Liu would probably have been knocked out of bed for half a month by that Starlight Avatar explosion.

If it were to operate at full power, its strength would likely be no less than the maximum output of a typical offensive Soul King.

It doesn't mean that You Chen's soul power level is Soul King level just because it reaches level 50.

Before he acquired his fifth spirit ring, his spirit power remained at the Spirit Master level.

Below the Title Douluo level, the difference in soul power strength among soul masters of the same rank is not significant.

For example, Jiang Liu is level 43. His soul power is indeed not as strong as You Chen's, but it's hard to say whether the difference is even 10%. The difference is more in the total amount of soul power.

You Chen is more inclined to be an agility-based Soul Master, while Jiang Liu is more inclined to be a defense-based Soul Master.

This difference in soul power is clearly insufficient to achieve a crushing defeat.

This is the difference resulting from a combination of factors including soul power level, soul power manipulation ability, soul skills, soul skill application, and the age of the soul ring.

At the Soul Master stage, You Chen's raw strength was already comparable to that of the most top-tier Martial Soul Masters.

Even compared to other Soul Masters across the entire continent, he belongs to the top 1%, a truly exceptional level. He has already far surpassed his former genius classmates.

"Hey you, you've gotten even more freakish in a while now. How did you cultivate like that...? Weren't you a researcher?"

While You Chen was deep in thought, Jiang Liu finally recovered, sat up with a disheveled look on his face, and looked at You Chen speechlessly.

You Chen said calmly, "It's nothing. It's just a slight advantage at this stage. Having an extra ten-thousand-year soul ring at the Soul Master stage is indeed a bit of a bluff at level 40. But once you reach the Soul Emperor or Soul Saint stages, a ten-thousand-year soul ring that's a little over ten thousand years old? It won't be much of an advantage anymore. Anyway, I definitely can't kill you instantly."

Unlike Ye Han, You Chen didn't trust Jiang Liu much and didn't plan to tell him about his martial soul's further evolution, so he used the ten-thousand-year soul ring as an excuse.

Bibi Dong's control over the Spirit Hall is increasing, making it difficult to guarantee that these students haven't become her spies.

"Really? No, it's still a ten-thousand-year soul ring! How come it's become some kind of trash in your mouth... And what do you mean by saying that Soul Emperors and Soul Saints have no advantages anymore? Do you know that there are only a handful of Soul Saints recorded in our Spirit Hall? Ah, never mind. Why bother talking to a big shot like you about this."

Jiang Liu complained, his tone becoming somewhat dejected.

You Chen was not surprised.

No matter what, Jiang Liu was once regarded as a genius by his classmates, while You Chen was just an unworthy person in the eyes of most of his classmates.

Now, the balance of power between the two sides has been completely reversed.

In a sense, You Chen was not lying.

You Chen's martial soul rating system is such that the higher the score, the greater the difference between each point in the later stages.

This is indeed a manifestation of the difference between martial souls of different grades in reality.

At the Soul Master and Great Soul Master stages, low-level Martial Soul Masters often manage to defeat high-level Martial Soul Masters by relying on their Soul Skills, combat techniques, and counter-attacks.

Advanced martial souls can also show off their superiority over top-tier martial souls in terms of advantages.

A super martial soul completely crushes a weaker top-tier martial soul.

The difference in pure combat power among those of the same rank is not even that important.

The difference in martial spirit grade lies more in the breakthrough of realm.

To break through to the Soul Saint level, one's Martial Soul quality must at least reach the high level.

To break through to the Title Douluo level, one cannot succeed without a top-tier martial soul.

These are all clearly recorded in the Spirit Hall's archives.

For a high-level spirit master like Jiang Liu, there's not much need to consider the age of spirit rings or the choice of spirit beasts. As long as he absorbs some spirit rings of similar quality and ensures that his spirit power level doesn't fall behind, becoming a spirit emperor is not difficult, and becoming a spirit saint is not a big problem as long as he has the resources.

For someone like You Chen, whose martial soul is of intermediate or even low quality, there are many more considerations.

Sometimes, even with sufficient cultivation resources, it's still impossible to break through.

The advantage of a spirit's quality far outweighs the advantage of its spirit ring's age.

You Chen did not deceive Jiang Liu, but the problem is... his martial soul is already a high-level martial soul.

"Is he an important person?"

Jiang Liu's teasing met with a subtle smile from You Chen: "I heard you're going to Soto City soon to become the deputy temple master, right? After a few years, once you become a Soul King, you'll probably be promoted to temple master and purple-robed bishop. You're the real big shot. Me? Just a nobody. How can I be considered a big shot?"

If the yellow-robed deacons are considered to be at the lower level, then the bishops, even if they are only in purple robes, are already figures of real power.

"The purple-robed cardinal?"

Jiang Liu shook his head and chuckled self-deprecatingly, "With your true abilities, You Chen, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say your status is comparable to that of a cardinal. What are my achievements compared to that?"

"Alright, it's been so long since we last met, let's stop talking about these unpleasant things. I've made plans with Ye Han to have dinner together in Wuhun City tonight; that newly opened restaurant there is really delicious."

You Chen still has some humanity; he wouldn't just discard someone after using them.

After the dinner party, we returned to our residence.

Although it's called a residence, it's actually comparable to a small villa area.

After publishing "Don't Use Whale Glue" at the age of 15, You Chen has never lacked money again, making him a financially independent Soul Master.

While he may not be as wealthy as some large families, he is far superior to Flander and comparable to a titled Douluo.

You Chen was not married. Besides himself, there were a dozen or so slaves he bought from the market to handle chores and household chores. They were considered maids and servants.

"Master, you're back. All the invitations you instructed me to send out have been dispatched."

When You Chen arrived at the lattice gate at the main entrance, a tall woman dressed in a Western-style maid outfit, who was half a head taller than You Chen, had been waiting for a long time.

Needless to say, this maid was beautiful and had a graceful figure. After all, she was specially selected by You Chen to be his head maid and the face of his household.

Most importantly, with her fox ears and white hair, she's a quintessential white fox-eared girl, possessing a unique charm.

Ning Fengzhi roughly realized what had happened when he took the picture of the catwoman. This maid had also undergone a malignant mutation when her martial soul awakened, making her unable to become a soul master, but she still maintained the animalistic characteristics of a martial soul possessing a body.

"Grace, well done."

You Chen nodded slightly and offered a brief compliment.

"I wouldn't dare. It's my duty."

Even though You Chen's expression remained unchanged when he praised her, Grace blushed slightly and bowed her head humbly as if she had received an excessive amount of favor.

The deep reverence hidden in her eyes was as if the being before her was a majestic deity in her heart.

There was no other reason than that after purchasing Grace, You Chen spent a little effort to solve the problem of her inability to cultivate.

Grace is now a level 33 Soul Master.

Such power was comparable to that of a god for Grace, who was originally a slave.

However, in reality, You Chen's method of solving Grace's problem is not applicable and is merely a non-general-purpose approach that consumes excessive resources.

With so many resources, it would be enough to cultivate a Soul Master or even a Soul King. It's fair to say that the gains are completely outweighed by the losses.

However, this is just a simple numerical calculation, and reality is not so equivalent.

Because if You Chen invests zero money to raise a Soul Master to Soul King, at most he will gain the Soul Master's gratitude, but whether he can gain loyalty is not guaranteed.

However, the situation is different for Grace. For Grace, who sees herself as a deity to worship, there is no reason for betrayal.

You Chen has secretly trained no fewer than a hundred similar assassins.

Because they are all mutated beast spirits, they are collectively known as – Soul Fighting Beasts.

(End of this chapter)