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Gu Yue still wore her calm expression, showing no hint of embarrassment even under the gaze of so many classmates.
She slowly shook her head.
Even after transforming into a human soul master to cultivate, she was wary of developing human emotions and being bound by them.
She was well aware of the ultimate fates of past ten-thousand-year soul beasts who had undergone transformation.
Without exception, they all ended up sacrificing themselves for others.
The Silver Dragon King's transformation was not to seek divinity but to escape the constraints of her injuries and enter human society to understand it. Her goal was to find a way out for soul beasts through humanity's soul-guiding technology, not to pursue the path to godhood.
Thus, as the main body, Gu Yue did not need to experience human emotions. Her true essence remained rooted in the beastly nature of the Silver Dragon King. Any human emotions that arose from her transformation were entirely separated and given to Na'er.
Na'er was the part of her that experienced human emotions, helping her avoid being dominated by them while also serving as a backup plan for herself.
Soul beasts were not devoid of emotion—they had basic feelings—but these were not as refined as those of humans. They lacked the impulsiveness and reckless abandon of humans, with survival instinct being their primary driving force.
Xu Yuan felt a pang of regret.
He didn't know what the Silver Dragon King's true form was thinking—this was just a simple battle, after all. Exchanging blows could have been mutually beneficial, couldn't it?
With the hope of learning more techniques to control elemental forces from Gu Yue, Xu Yuan had repeatedly challenged her. Unfortunately, he was too strong, and Gu Yue outright refused to fight.
"Being too outstanding is also a sin."
However, this was something Xu Yuan found intriguing.
He secretly hoped that Gu Yue would continue to reject him in the future. That would mean he was always ahead of her.
"My spiritual power is now at 7,600. With some effort, I might break 10,000 within a year."
As his spirit souls fused, Xu Yuan could feel his spiritual power growing faster and faster.
This was the principle of carrying a heavy load. Spirit souls required spiritual power to sustain them, naturally becoming a burden on his mind. This burden acted as resistance training during a soul master's developmental years, significantly accelerating the growth of spiritual power compared to the era before spirit souls existed.
Even Xu Yuan, who already possessed a spiritual attribute, benefited greatly.
Additionally, the growth of the spirit souls themselves fed back into his spiritual power.
Each time they ascended, the spirit souls absorbed most of the spiritual energy for their own growth, with the remainder nurturing Xu Yuan's spiritual power.
Therefore, if one's spiritual power had not yet reached its limit and progress wouldn't be hindered by maxing out spirit souls, it was a good choice to fully fuse spirit souls early on to maximize spiritual power growth.
"Uncle still hasn't sent any news. I'll wait a little longer—half a year. If there's still no word after two and a half years, I'll have to choose a spirit soul for the Tianyuan Brush to absorb. I can't delay the development of the Tianyuan Brush martial soul any further."
Xu Yuan was well aware that his Tianyuan Brush martial soul was currently weak.
Though his efforts to develop it ensured absolute dominance in battles against opponents of the same level, it performed poorly in battles against higher-level opponents.
Perhaps if he continued to develop it at this pace, as Xu Yuan reached the pinnacle of strength on the continent, the Tianyuan Brush might become an important tool for him.
But development without feedback was dull and unfulfilling. Xu Yuan wasn't sure he could keep dedicating the same amount of time daily to its cultivation when it offered no help during his all-out battles.
In truth, even if it didn't contribute much in combat, Xu Yuan didn't care.
His Tianyuan Five Elements Spear was already a powerful offensive martial soul. He didn't lack strong attack methods or ultimate techniques.
As for his brain-type martial soul, it played a supportive role in battle—illusions, mental control, and psychological suppression were all useful. Of course, the greatest benefit of his brain-type martial soul was in cultivation.
The brain-type martial soul provided Xu Yuan with immense learning ability. His first soul skill cleared obstacles for his secondary professions, his second soul skill gave him more time for research and study, and his third soul skill aided in cultivating the integration of essence, energy, and spirit into the Forbidden Seven Techniques.
Even if his brain-type martial soul had limited use in battle for now, Xu Yuan didn't consider it useless.
On the other hand, the Tianyuan Brush's current utility was far too minimal.
Evolution!
The evolution of the Tianyuan Brush martial soul could not be delayed any longer.
Gu Yue withdrew on her own.
Ye Xinglan and Xu Lizhi exchanged glances and followed suit.
At this point, only Xu Yuan remained in the space.
He felt a surge of energy envelop him.
His essence, energy, and spirit merged with the surrounding space, causing a strong wave of dizziness to wash over his mind.
Yet, at this moment, he perceived everything with crystal clarity.
Illusion and reality…
Xu Yuan emerged from the simulation pod, and the surrounding classmates gazed at him with eyes full of awe.
The strong were respected everywhere.
The gazes of Wu Siduo and the other four were the most complex. Apart from Wu Siduo, the other four felt a deep sense of defeat, though they seemed to recover quickly. In a short while, they appeared to grow somewhat accustomed to it.
Wu Siduo, however, remained trapped in this sense of defeat.
She looked at Xu Yuan with a strange expression, unable to deny the reality of her inferiority. Her previous confidence was shaken, and she was filled with curiosity and confusion about how Xu Yuan cultivated.
Possessing three martial souls was one thing, but how had he managed to simultaneously cultivate all three to such heights? Even she, with her self-fusion martial soul technique at the same level, couldn't match him.
And he was also cultivating multiple secondary professions at the same time.
Terrifying.
Far too terrifying.
How could someone cultivate so many things simultaneously without feeling overwhelmed?
In fact, after most of the classmates left, she stepped forward and posed this very question.
"Overwhelmed? Chaotic?"
Xu Yuan was taken aback—it had been a long time since anyone had described his cultivation path in such terms.
To be honest, he himself didn't feel this way.
In his view, cultivating essence, energy, and spirit simultaneously was the most orthodox and optimal method of cultivation. If one's talent allowed it, pursuing all three paths simultaneously was inevitable.
As for secondary professions, they were simply the roles of a soul engineer and a blacksmith. To accommodate the learning abilities of most soul masters, the soul engineering field had been divided into three parts.
Wu Siduo fell silent for a long time after hearing Xu Yuan's explanation.
A soul engineer?
What an ancient term.
With the development of the times, the scope of soul engineering had expanded immensely. Even the technology used in battle armor alone had been split into three separate secondary professions. Only a select few elites could truly excel in mastering these fragmented fields.
The complete system of soul engineering?
It had been far too long since anyone had chosen that path.
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(Author's Note: Here's an explanation of the protagonist's cultivation system. It should be clear, right? There are always comments saying the protagonist is jumping around doing everything, but the logic here is actually straightforward. Cultivating essence, energy, and spirit is the core concept.
Stellar forces and similar elements are derivatives of soul power cultivation. My unique take here is the research-oriented aspect. While it may seem like the protagonist is dabbling in everything, it's actually no different from normal novels. Which protagonist in other novels doesn't end up with a wide array of abilities?)
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