Douluo: Brains Over Bloodline

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Xu Yuan's current martial soul configuration only had two vacant soul ring slots.

Although he possessed three martial souls, in his cultivation, he had never prioritized one over the others. His primary focus on the brain martial soul was because it had always been fully equipped with soul rings, not because he exclusively trained that martial soul.

It was only in this era of soul spirits, where soul ring years could be artificially enhanced and his spiritual power and physical condition kept pace, that he was able to cultivate in such a manner.

Lan Muzi's assessment was still somewhat conservative.

He believed Xu Yuan could aim for a ten-thousand-year soul ring but didn't know that Xu Yuan already possessed one.

After returning from the Star Luo Continent, Xu Yuan used the essence of the five elements from the Five Elements Pearl given to him by Tong Yu to reconstruct the foundation of the first soul ring of his Heavenly Origin Brush martial soul, elevating it to the ten-thousand-year level. This also gave rise to the Five Elements Runes.

"At present, I have three martial souls and sixteen soul rings, with two vacancies remaining. Although I haven't yet figured out what the sixth soul ring for my Heavenly Origin Five Elements Spear will be, it certainly won't come from fusing a new soul spirit. Therefore, the only open slot is for the sixth soul ring of my Heavenly Origin Brush."

Now, Xu Yuan's brain martial soul had two soul spirits providing six black soul rings, while his Heavenly Origin Five Elements Spear had five black soul rings. The sixth soul ring would also revolve around Jue (the spear spirit), leaving only the Heavenly Origin Brush martial soul with five soul rings and one vacancy.

The Heavenly Origin Brush: one red ring and four black rings.

Xu Yuan sat cross-legged on his bed, summoning the Heavenly Origin Brush and placing it across his lap.

Surrounding his body were five disproportionately strong soul rings.

Gazing at his five soul rings, Xu Yuan's mind raced with countless thoughts.

His brain worked furiously, calculating which sixth soul ring would maximize his benefits under his current configuration.

The first soul skill, Five Elements Mastery, was the foundation of his Heavenly Origin Brush martial soul. The second, third, and fourth soul skills, though seemingly focused on broad knowledge acquisition, were actually supplements to the first soul skill.

Whether through recording or materializing replicas, these skills allowed him to gather insights from various martial souls, laying the groundwork for his understanding of other soul skills.

Understanding other soul skills helped him further develop and refine his own Five Elements techniques.

The fifth soul skill, the Seal Rune, was a product of his cultivation of the Seven Forbidden Techniques but could also synergize with his Five Elements techniques.

"Though I've been somewhat confused in the past, the overall direction has always been consistent," Xu Yuan muttered quietly.

Two martial souls represented two developmental paths for the Five Elements.

The Heavenly Origin Brush embodied the concept of the Five Elements transforming into all things, while the Heavenly Origin Five Elements Spear took the opposite approach—absorbing everything into the Five Elements, turning it into its own strength, and enhancing itself.

One path harmonized with the laws of heaven and earth, drawing on external forces to create myriad techniques; the other nurtured the self, using all things to nourish the body, transforming them into the Five Elements, and integrating them into the human form.

Looking back at the final few soul spirits listed in the document, Xu Yuan arrived at his decision.

"These Five Spirits encompass all Five Elements, but they wouldn't help me much. On the other hand, this Void Beast possesses spatial power, which can further enhance the capabilities of my Heavenly Origin Brush."

Xu Yuan narrowed his eyes slightly.

It wasn't that his development of the Five Elements absolutely required a spatial component.

In fact, evolving space through the Five Elements was less natural than generating spatial attributes through the evolution of all things, or even through the elements of earth, fire, water, and wind.

However, the presence of spatial power could greatly assist in developing many Five Elements techniques. Moreover, exploring spatial powers would help Xu Yuan further refine his dreamscape.

Among his three martial souls, the one most attuned to elemental forces was undoubtedly the Heavenly Origin Brush.

The Heavenly Origin Brush naturally followed the path of mastering heaven and earth. Since the Five Elements could transform into all things, Xu Yuan had always used them to construct his Heavenly Origin Brush system.

Now, spatial power could not only aid in the development of more Five Elements techniques but also prepare him for the final step of truly transforming his dreamscape from illusion to reality.

"The Void Beast, favored by space, dwells within spatial fissures, exists between dimensions, traverses different layers of space, and grows by devouring spatial energy."

This Void Beast became a soul spirit because it developed an interest in soul masters, appearing on the Douluo Continent and being discovered by a soul master of that time, who then made it their soul spirit.

The document didn't elaborate on how that soul master "convinced" the Void Beast, but Xu Yuan was certain the Void Beast must have been thoroughly manipulated. Otherwise, something capable of roaming between spatial layers could easily escape if it wanted to—no one could catch it.

"If I pursue the path of space, aside from the Void Beast, there are a few other options as well."

Xu Yuan glanced back at a few of the soul spirits listed above, some of which possessed spatial attributes along with various other complex traits.

After comparing them, he eliminated the earlier options.

While his path emphasized broad learning, it didn't mean his soul spirits had to follow the same route.

The Heavenly Origin Brush was inherently compatible with various natural forces, so it needed soul spirits to provide foundational abilities for controlling different elements.

In this case, the purer the granted ability, the better.

The purity of the Void Beast's spatial attribute was among the best on the entire continent.

"The only issue now is that I already have four soul spirits. With my Spirit Abyss-level spiritual power, I can fuse up to five soul spirits, including one at the hundred-thousand-year or even beast calamity level. But I only have one slot left."

Xu Yuan broke through the 10,000-point spiritual power barrier two and a half years ago.

In the two and a half years since, his spiritual power had increased by several hundred points each month. Now, nearing the second minor bottleneck within the Spirit Abyss realm, his progress had slowed, but he was close to 15,000 points.

However, gaining only 5,000 points in two and a half years showed just how far he was from the Spirit Domain Realm. Not only was there a gap of 5,000 points, but also two bottlenecks—one major and one minor.

Breaking through to the Spirit Domain Realm within three years would already be considered extraordinary luck for Xu Yuan.

Under these circumstances, fusing a hundred-thousand-year soul spirit now would mean committing to cultivating the corresponding martial soul moving forward.

This was a drawback of Xu Yuan's cultivation method.

Fortunately, his arrangement hadn't hindered his potential. Even if he couldn't fuse additional soul spirits, his existing ones could still provide enough soul rings for him to continue advancing. For example, fusing the Heavenly Origin Brush with a hundred-thousand-year soul spirit would ensure no issues for the next four soul rings, all the way up to the ninth ring.

Xu Yuan frowned.

This required careful consideration.

Switching between martial souls for cultivation wouldn't significantly impact him.

He didn't rely heavily on any single martial soul.

As long as one martial soul could provide soul rings to meet the requirements of leveling up his soul power every ten levels, that would suffice.

However, if his brain martial soul stopped receiving soul rings and lost the feedback it provided, achieving the Spirit Domain Realm would become even more difficult.

Moreover, Xu Yuan wasn't ready for the Void Beast to provide all four of the remaining soul rings for the Heavenly Origin Brush.

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