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On the first day without his master, he missed him.
On the second day without his master, he missed him.
On the first month without his master, it was liberating.
On the third month without his master, it was smooth sailing.
By the fifth month without his master, they felt like they could ascend to the heavens.
Ye Wen's eight disciples, lacking their master's supervision, gradually began to slack off despite the tasks Ye Wen had left for them to complete under the guidance of other teachers.
Huo Quan had recently become obsessed with spirit battles.
Due to the influence of Tian Xing Academy, the two cities closest to it—Hanhai City and Canglan City—had grown increasingly bustling.
The spirit battle arenas, which were once exclusive to sea soul masters, now attracted a variety of different soul masters. As a result, the arena received numerous suggestions and introduced multiple formats, no longer limited to just sea spirit battles.
Because of the unique nature of his Body Martial Soul, few soul masters could counter him. With his refined self-created soul skills and exceptional body control techniques, Huo Quan had already reached the Gold Spirit Battle level.
Moreover, at just 15 years old, Huo Quan's soul power cultivation had reached level 49. He was on the verge of breaking through the 50-level barrier and ascending to the rank of Soul King.
Today's opponent was a young Soul Elder who had dominated the Silver Spirit Battles and advanced to the Gold Spirit Battles. Unable to find opponents of equal strength, the arena had arranged for Huo Quan—a perennial victor—to face him.
However, the idea of a near-Soul King fighting a Soul Elder whose cultivation might barely reach the Soul Ancestor level felt awkward.
The reason for such an absurd matchup seemed to be that this commoner-born soul master had caused significant losses to nobles who had placed heavy bets on him. In response, the arena adjusted the odds, leaving those nobles bankrupt.
Today's match was clearly rigged as a lesson for the arrogant youngster, who had boasted that there were no worthy opponents at his level and only Soul Ancestors could satisfy him.
With so obvious a gap in cultivation, there wasn't much to bet on. Out of tradition, however, the arena gave the commoner Soul Elder odds of 1:0.01, the same as Huo Quan.
The audience simply wanted to see the young commoner Soul Elder get beaten into submission.
"Boring as hell. Master was right—these nobles are all trash. They can't stand seeing commoner soul masters succeed," Huo Quan thought indignantly.
He decided to go easy on the young man when defeating him. Losing was out of the question, though—one loss would cost him precious points he'd worked tirelessly to accumulate.
The spirit battle stage they fought on was the standard arena, not one of the various specialized arenas.
Huo Quan wasn't wearing the combat suit Ye Wen had designed for him. Instead, he wore a form-fitting black silk shirt and matching shorts that accentuated his chiseled physique.
When Huo Quan appeared, the noblewomen in the stands cheered and screamed, their eyes practically drooling over his physique.
His opponent—the commoner Soul Elder—slowly walked onto the stage.
His clothes were ragged, full of holes, making him look more like a beggar than a soul master.
But that wasn't the focus.
His entire body was covered in scars from countless battles, with the most striking being a deep gash running from his right temple to the bottom of his left cheek.
His gaze was as calm as stagnant water, his dead-fish eyes fixed intently on Huo Quan.
"Prepare!" the referee shouted.
Instinctively, Huo Quan entered the state of martial soul attachment but didn't summon his soul rings.
If he needed to use his soul skills against someone a whole realm weaker, Huo Quan felt he might as well commit seppuku to apologize for disgracing Ye Wen's teachings.
"Tian Xing Academy's second senior brother, Huo Quan, 49th-level strong attack system battle Soul Ancestor, Body Martial Soul," the commoner calmly recited Huo Quan's information.
Huo Quan frowned, unsure what the man was up to. This information was already widely known.
"I hope you're worth a swing!"
The commoner suddenly grinned ferociously, his excitement palpable as he stared at Huo Quan.
Martial Soul Manifestation—Scarred Blade!!!
Yellow—Yellow—Purple.
From the moment his opponent stepped onto the stage, Huo Quan sensed something off. When the man summoned his martial soul, Huo Quan finally understood the source of this unease.
The opponent's registered name was "Scar," his real name unknown. He was a 38th-level strong attack system battle Soul Elder with a plain, nicked blade as his martial soul. Recently, he had gained fame in the spirit battles, dominating all comers among Soul Elders. Now, he too was a Gold Spirit Battle participant. If there were stronger opponents at his level, he wouldn't have challenged higher-ranked Soul Ancestors.
But none of this mattered. What truly stood out was something Ye Wen had once taught about the quality enhancement of weapon-type martial souls. There were actually two paths to advancement, though the version of the theory currently circulating on the continent was incomplete. Including the second path could invite assassination attempts from the Clear Sky Sect.
Ordinary weapon-type martial souls could evolve into high-tier or even top-tier martial souls by selectively absorbing specific types of spirit beasts. However, this path had its limits unless one hunted a 100,000-year super spirit beast soul ring—only then could it ascend to the level of a super martial soul.
Currently, the only known examples of such special weapon martial souls were the Coiling Dragon Staff brothers among the Spirit Hall's honored elders.
The Douluo Continent's top offensive weapon martial souls were the Clear Sky Hammer, Seven Kill Sword, and Soul-Piercing Spear. None of these became super martial souls through elemental bloodline enhancements.
Ancient records were unclear about the first soul masters to possess these martial souls, but every wielder of these weapons followed the second path:
Willpower—Soul Refinement.
Through unwavering belief and daily refinement of their techniques and resolve, they eventually ascended to the pinnacle of soul mastery—the Title Douluo level. At this point, they comprehended domains, fusing their willpower into their martial souls and passing it down through their bloodlines.
The Clear Sky Hammer's "Battle Heaven and Earth—Supreme Domination."
The Seven Kill Sword's "Six Swords, Seven Kills—Unrivaled Killing Intent."
The Soul-Piercing Spear's "Charge Forward—Irresistible Momentum."
These top-tier weapon martial souls all contained some form of special inheritance.
However, knowledge of this cultivation method had long been lost—or perhaps jealously guarded. Even Ye Wen could only pretend ignorance and omit it.
If this knowledge were to spread, while the Spirit Hall might remain unscathed, Ye Wen himself could face mortal danger. Thus, he sternly warned his disciples never to reveal it.
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