44 Chapter 44: Soul Core and Spirit Soul Evolution

Xiu Ye let out a huge sigh of relief, now safely on his dad's workshop building rooftop, sitting cross-legged on the floor with the winds breeze flowing around his face and the sun's heat shining on him. Though there was a reason why he was here.

That situation was intense though! Thankfully Hua Wei didn't push on with his recruitment for him, otherwise he'll use one of his trump cards to escape the Spirit Pagoda. Which was one of the last things he wanted to do...

He was only in the Spirit Pagoda for an hour at least, so the time was still before twelve o'clock for lunch. Xiu Ye wanted to use this time to elevate his spirit soul and breakthrough to the soul grandmaster realm.

Touching his storage ring, still attached with his necklace because it was much safer around his neck than in any of his fingers. What if something or someone slices his fingers, or hand, or worse his arm? He'll lose his storage ring.

Appearing in Xiu Ye's hand was a bottle of water. What? He was thirsty. Just because he has heat and fire resistance doesn't mean he doesn't get dehydrated.

Tossing the plastic bottle to the side, Xiu Ye closes his eyes and rested his hands on his knees; now entering a meditative position. He cleared his mind from everything that'll distract him.

He slightly opened his mouth, and said. "I am the bone of my sword..." In an instant, his whole body was covered in cyan-blue circuit lines that all shimmered with soul power channeling throughout his entire body.

He circulated the Soul God Cultivation Method in his body.

A yellow light glow appeared and the yellow hundred year old soul ring of Xiu Ye appeared around his body. Tints of purple had now appeared around the soul ring and was almost about to completely changed it.

It was at that moment, as the clouds in the sky slowly dispersed and then showed the magnificent big sun to the planet, the warm yellow sun gave all living things their much needed vitamin D, almost all appreciating it. Especially the plants in the world, for the sun increases their life vitality.

Suddenly, a huge beam of the sun's light dawned on the figure of Xiu Ye.

Orange red flames covered the body of Xiu Ye, making him look like he was on fire, yet there was no real heat to them. White dots started to appear around the shroud around him, like small little stars.

The flames surrounding him were just an aura shroud taken form from the numerous energies that came from the sun and being absorbed by Xiu Ye.

Xiu Ye took slow and deep breaths, he channeled these energies around his meridians, strengthening them, and circulated it ninety-nine times; converting the energies into pure and refined soul power into his dantian and spread some around his entire bloodline, muscles, bones, meridians and etcetera.

This was how Ryūjin Jakka had always cultivated Xiu Ye's body. Although he wasn't taught by him on how to use the Soul God Cultivation Method, his body's muscle memory seem to have kicked in.

Suddenly, green, blue, yellow, white and black colored energy in the surrounding started to gather in a circular motion on top of the workshop and converged down towards Xiu Ye's body. Bathing him in numerous colors of a rainbow.

But Xiu Ye didn't know all these colorful energies surrounded his body, and that the silver cross with the seven colored gem around his neck started glowing intensely. His consciousness was already somewhere else.

Xiu Ye opens his eyes to see himself back into his inner world, standing on the hill of weapons and looking down around his world normally, only, there was some changes done to it. Just a minor one.

There was a thunderstorm going around and the Thunder Hammer was the cause of it all; floating in midair with blue-white lightning bolts striking everywhere wildly and a purple colored energy covered the spirit soul.

Dark clouds covered the skies, blue-white lightning bolts coursing through, the giant rusted gears all running with electricity around each one of them. Bolts of lightning from either the Thunder Hammer or from the sky struck the ground ruthlessly enough that it can create deep trenches and ravines.

Yet the situation didn't play out like that. The ground remained intact and numerous swords and other weapons still stuck in.

The other thing that remained unchanged by this whole thunderstorm was the ever glowing ball of yellow flames that lit up the world, as contrast to the dark clouds covering around the entire sky except the area around the big bright star.

Looking at that big shining yellow sun at the sky, whilst ignoring the strikes and whips of lightning rampaging around, Xiu Ye let out a sigh of relief to himself.

"Even after three years and breaking through the Soul Grandmaster rank, this spiritual soul core of mine isn't getting any bigger. Thank god, or I would have died."

Yes, a spiritual soul core. The big yellow shimmering sun in his inner world was a spiritual soul core, a storage unit for his spiritual power. He discovered this little shocking discovery just two months after Yu Fei left and reading through the books in his storage ring.

There he read about soul cores.

A soul core is a metaphysical condensed energy crystallization of spirit power or bloodline essence indicating the advancement of one's martial soul comprehension or one's bloodline's evolution to a higher life stage as well as cultivation foundation.

Depending on the source from when a soul core is condensed, the possessor's potential is permanently amplified on the path of that source and the affinity is increased to that source. A soul core functions as a storage collecting unit, allowing the possessor to lessen the rate of loss: recovery of its source. Soul cores can also be voluntarily controlled by their possessors. The soul core can be condensed within living beings by their own cultivation progress. However, there are different types of soul cores, depending on the method used to condense it.

A soul core was a synonym for a high level soul master. In general, the solidification would only succeed when one reaches the realm of seven soul rings. As the core of one's soul power, it would get rid of the old to bring in the new and it would allow the soul master's combat strength to increase substantially.

The formation of a soul core requires great spiritual power and a high physique level to successful execute. With a higher Spiritual Realm and a Titled Douluo level body that can handle the process's strain, a cultivator can condense the first soul core at the equivalent human Rank 70+.

Hence, if the first soul core still not formed before one turned 40, the soul master will never have the soul core in his or her lifetime.

A standard soul core is a condensed solidification of soul power (depending on internal source) through high enough spiritual power. The soul core, depending on the location of condensation, can be spiritual or elemental type. These are usually located in the possessor's chest.

What Xiu Ye has however, is a spiritual and elemental type soul core.

A Spiritual Soul Core is a soul core condensed in the spiritual sea of the possessor, hence its name. It cements one's spiritual realm as completely reaching the Spirit Domain realm. As one of the most dangerous locations during soul core condensation, if the process fails, the possessor most likely will become a vegetable.

However, a Elemental Soul Core is condensed from the possessor's affinity and comprehension of the universal elemental laws. The Elemental Core is common among spirit masters and spirit beasts with element related martial souls or law comprehension.

With his spiritual core having a elemental affinity, most likely to fire, his every spiritual power attacks would have added fire attribute. Burning his opponent's mental spirit and soul.

And yet, here's the thing, Xiu Ye has no control over the thing. Though, even though he has no control over it, the spiritual soul core still provides him with the basic function of recovering his spiritual power at a fast speed.

Although he has no control over it, yet, Xiu Ye is calm about it. Why? Because the soul core had two requirements.

First being that he has to have a spiritual power level of the Spirit Sea Realm to form a soul core, but having a spiritual type soul core means having a Spirit Domain rank of spiritual power, which he's certain that he hadn't reached this level yet. But the second part is where it becomes tricky: having the physical body strength equivalent to a Titled Douluo.

Now he certainly knows he does not have that level of strength, even with reinforcement.

Unless he has a strong body, Xiu Ye would not try anything with his spiritual core and decide to leave it be for the moment.

The question is, how in the hell did he condensed a soul core? The answer? He didn't. It was already there the day he was born and was revealed the moment of his martial soul awakening.

"The Thunder Hammer's about to finish its evolution and you're about to breakthrough to the next stage. What are you going to do next, kid?" Ryūjin Jakka said as he stepped besides Xiu Ye, his form being a genderless orange colored human.

"I'm going to head towards the Blacksmith Association today to get my badge. For the entire week or so however, I'll try to defeat you with my new strength and get a deeper comprehension of my inner world." Xiu Ye said simply.

Ryūjin Jakka hummed in response. "Don't forget to relax once in a while, or you'll mentally tire yourself out. How much progress do you currently have with your inner world?"

Xiu Ye let out a frustrated sigh and scratched his head. "Don't worry, I'll be relaxing most of my time in the kitchen or in my dorm room. Also, I currently have five incantations down but it's still changing. I think that I can't fully utilize my inner world's abilities until I'm either grown up for my soul, thus inner world, to be completed or something else is missing. I'm guessing that it's the former, as this place seems incomplete that it's still changing."

"Looks like you have to wait until you're older and stronger." Ryūjin Jakka says as he watches the Thunder Hammer be fully engulfed with a purple mist.

The Thunder Hammer still had lightning bolts coursing around it while striking out with thunder wildly, like it was a rampaging soul beast out for blood.

However, as the purple mist completely covered it, it calmed down and changes started to appear on it.

The hammer's handle grew several inches, making it as long as a human male adult's forearm, its head had slightly widened in both width and length by two inches and both its faces each had a mark of a flame with lightning dancing around it.

Xiu Ye could feel something in his inner world moving for a moment before going back to normal. He didn't have to turn his head around to see two divine weapons had started shaking in their places, divine lightning sparked and coiled around them like snakes for a moment before they gone back to normal.

Xiu Ye smiled at this, as he looked upon the spirit soul slowly floating down towards him.

As the hammer stopped and floated in front of him, Xiu Ye raised his right hand towards it and grasped its handle, simultaneously, purple mist surrounded his body, it circled around his body and then slowly formed into a pair of purple perfectly circular rings.

Breakthrough achieved! Rank 21 with 2 thousand year old soul rings!

Xiu Ye smiled. "I think it's fitting to give you a name. Mjonir, the divine hammer weapon of the Norse God of Thunder; Thor. I hope you become as strong as that, or even more! Surpass the original!" In response to his words, the hammer in his hand glowed brightly in a blue-white color.

In Xiu Ye's mind, he could feel another response from his inner world. It came from another hammer, one that looked almost exactly like his but it was more powerful. It was the original hammer of Thor, Mjonir.

Instead of being offended or threatened that he had named his hammer after it, it was instead, happy? Relieved even. Xiu Ye wanted to understand it more but Mjonir became quiet soon after his spirit soul quite down.

Xiu Ye narrowed his eyes, holding Mjonir by his side, he walked towards the original.

On the dusty dirt ground of the inner world of unlimited blades, lay a divine hammer, Mjonir. Its head embedded itself on the ground by a few inches, a spider-web crack around it.

Xiu Ye looked at it for a moment and grabbed its handle with his left hand, lightning sparked between his fingers as he held it but it didn't hurt him, instead, he could feel it giving him strength and power beyond any mortal.

He lifted the hammer from the ground and looked at it for a moment, which he didn't notice anything wrong just by looking at it. So he used structural analysis to figure out what was going on.

"I see... So that's why." Xiu Ye smiled and put the hammer back on the ground.

Mjonir, it–

Xiu Ye's eyes widened, he just felt something enter his inner world.

"WHAT?!"

Without any hesitation, he controlled all the weapons in his world to rise and be ready to fire at the enemy–

"Hold it there trigger happy. It's not an enemy." Ryūjin Jakka's voice made Xiu Ye paused, he turned to see the former old man standing besides him with complete calmness.

"What the hell is going on old man? Do you know who entered my inner world?" Xiu Ye asked in worry, holding his weapons back in place but all was ready to fire at any moment.

"Not who, look." Ryūjin Jakka pointed his right index finger towards the sky, specifically the sun.

Xiu Ye turned towards where he pointed and gasped in shock.

"W-What in the..."

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