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The conversion of the nine Dragon Kings into spirit souls wasn't difficult.
In fact, it only required the most basic spirit soul transformation array, along with their cooperation, to achieve.
However, the other dragon souls within the Dragon Valley were a different matter.
They were in a state of disintegration, and even Xu Yuan's dreamscape struggled to reassemble their consciousness. Restoring their awareness, intelligence, and ability to communicate autonomously was completely out of the question.
What they referred to as "spirit soul conversion" essentially meant passing down their power and bloodline inheritance.
In this state, their faint traces of sentience would be integrated, and by using fragments of their skeletal remains—analyzing the bloodlines contained within—the process would resemble the creation of artificial spirit souls.
Or rather, this was artificial spirit soul creation.
It simply utilized a genetic database and bloodline to manufacture spirit souls.
With the integration of dragon souls, the emergence of sentience would be somewhat easier, simplifying the artificial spirit soul process slightly.
But ultimately, this was still artificial spirit soul technology.
And artificial spirit soul technology was far from perfect.
At least, so far, artificial spirit soul production was operating at a loss. Take Xu Yuan's paper spirit soul, for example—it consumed an enormous amount of spiritual energy, relying entirely on sheer spiritual power to force the transformation.
Converting tens of thousands of dragon souls into spirit souls? The cost would be astronomical—something Xu Yuan couldn't afford.
Even the entire Spirit Pagoda couldn't bear such expenses.
Thus, technological innovation was absolutely necessary.
But Xu Yuan didn't want to waste time on this.
Therefore, he had no choice but to trouble the nine noble Dragon Kings.
The nine Dragon Kings found Xu Yuan's reasoning sound.
In their past lives, they had all been deities, giving them a far deeper understanding of natural laws.
Compared to Xu Yuan, they could refine and perfect this artificial spirit soul technology much faster.
In fact, only they had the potential to make significant breakthroughs in a short time, something that the Spirit Pagoda had failed to achieve despite investing vast amounts of time and effort.
"This is the foundational theory of spirit souls," Xu Yuan said, pulling out a set of spirit soul data.
He had obtained this from Xu Shengqun. It contained only the basic theory of spirit souls and some fundamental arrays for spirit soul conversion.
This wasn't considered aiding the enemy.
To be honest, many factions on the continent already possessed spirit soul conversion technology. The arrays had long since leaked out, though most were used merely to convert soul beasts into spirit souls. Some organizations, like Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect, even had methods to pass down spirit souls.
Moreover, beyond humans, soul beasts also possessed spirit soul conversion technology. This knowledge had been shared during the period before the Spirit Pagoda's rift with soul beasts, when they had cooperated to build a genetic database before the mass slaughter began.
"Fascinating. Based on martial soul rings and the spiritual sea of soul masters, they've managed to transform the existence of soul beasts into this form."
The nine Dragon Kings studied the materials Xu Yuan provided, gaining an understanding of the principles behind spirit souls. They found it increasingly intriguing.
The person who initially developed spirit soul technology was truly a genius.
"Further research into spirit souls is also critical."
The earliest spirit souls were fundamentally different from those of today.
Back then, spirit souls were entirely dependent on soul masters, with no preservation techniques available. Upon conversion, they relied completely on the corresponding soul master's soul rings and spiritual sea.
It was through generations of research by the Spirit Pagoda that spirit soul technology had been refined to its current state, effectively developing another form of existence for soul beasts.
The form of spirit souls!
If the technology for conversion and preservation could be further perfected, and if some exceptional spirit souls emerged—those capable of independently discovering methods to cultivate and increase their own lifespans—then spirit souls could truly become another form of existence or cultivation path for soul beasts.
The perspective of the nine Dragon Kings was clearly different from that of the soul beast race, which had endured the Spirit Pagoda's massacres.
"With these materials, we should be able to achieve artificial spirit soul technology within five years. However, I can't guarantee its applicability. To complete the conversion of the dragon souls within the Dragon Valley, we may still need your dreamscape," one of the nine Dragon Kings spoke.
This was the Light Dragon King. Though not of the original generation, he must have been formidable in life. The other eight Dragon Kings in Xu Yuan's dreamscape subtly regarded him as their leader.
After speaking, he added a clarification.
"Of course, if you can create a new space between illusion and reality, we can use that instead, without occupying your dreamscape."
Xu Yuan was momentarily astonished by the Light Dragon King's words.
"Your Majesty, are you saying that the difficulty lies in complexity, rather than excessive resource consumption?"
The Light Dragon King frowned.
"Resource consumption? What resources?"
He scanned the materials again, carefully rereading them. There was no mention of any resources required to ensure the conversion of spirit souls.
Xu Yuan took a deep breath.
No wonder he was a Dragon King.
Now, he could confirm that these Dragon Kings had indeed been deities in their past lives—and likely of no small stature.
At the same time, he reaffirmed his decision to share the Dragon God's dragon soul energy with these nine Dragon Kings.
This investment was absolutely worthwhile.
The degree of recovery among the nine Dragon Kings was significant. In some areas, they had already regained the level of deities.
Their confidence in developing artificial spirit soul technology within five years after just a glance at the materials spoke volumes—
"Of course, I must clarify beforehand: the time acceleration in your dreamscape needs to remain active at all times. A ratio of about ten days in the dreamscape to one day in the outside world will suffice."
Maintaining a constant tenfold difference in the flow of time.
Xu Yuan thought for a moment, then nodded.
With this clarification, he felt relieved.
So, it wasn't five years to perfect the technology—it was fifty years.
Still, that was already quite impressive.
"Your Majesty, I can maintain an even higher time flow difference."
"No." The Light Dragon King interrupted Xu Yuan.
Seeing Xu Yuan's puzzled expression, he explained.
"You must understand that the difference in time flow here stems from the disparity between illusion and reality, allowing you to manipulate the passage of time. However, the greater the disparity, the more the fundamental laws and rules of this place deviate from reality, becoming distorted and blurred."
"I've tested it myself. A tenfold difference in time flow is acceptable, with minimal impact on our development of this technology."
"By the way, you shouldn't maintain too high a time flow difference for your own cultivation either."
The Light Dragon King's words jolted Xu Yuan into realization.
The effects of time flow changes were this profound?
Suddenly, a flash of insight struck him.
"So, the reason my dreamscape has yet to transition from illusion to reality—could it be because of this?"
Xu Yuan took a deep breath and solemnly bowed to the Light Dragon King.
"Thank you for the warning, Your Majesty."
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