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Xu Yuan allowed the nine Dragon Kings to leave, and he himself exited the small world of the Dragon Valley.
The Dragon Valley's small world was an excellent place for secluded cultivation, but for now, he didn't plan to stay there long-term.
The greatest benefit of the Dragon Valley for Xu Yuan was practicing the Seven Forbidden Techniques.
This was an independent small world with relatively complete laws, capable of even drifting independently within spatial rifts.
Practicing here allowed Xu Yuan to clearly perceive the heavens and earth, even with his soul power sealed. His mastery over the natural forces progressed smoothly.
However, Xu Yuan didn't plan to stay in the Dragon Valley long-term to practice the Seven Forbidden Techniques.
Power was the foundation.
Xu Yuan had gradually come to realize this recently.
To be precise, he had always known it.
Soul power level was the fundamental basis for a soul master.
Even if one used various methods to elevate their strength beyond their current soul power level, it was still built on the foundation of that soul power.
Multiplicative increases became harder to achieve as one advanced, but base value improvements remained constant.
For Xu Yuan, advancing to Level 60 was far easier than refining the Seven Forbidden Techniques further.
His soul core had already condensed, and his soul power flowed unimpeded. Why waste time abandoning soul power cultivation to focus solely on the Seven Forbidden Techniques?
Of course, it wasn't that he couldn't practice the Seven Forbidden Techniques at all.
It was just that he couldn't practice them in the Dragon Valley.
Even though the efficiency was higher, practicing in the Dragon Valley meant giving up soul power advancement.
Although the nine Dragon Kings' dragon souls could shield him from the valley's rejection of soul power fluctuations, he still couldn't actively cultivate his soul power.
The shielding only worked under relatively static soul power conditions.
After the nine Dragon Kings' dragon souls departed, Xu Yuan didn't seal his soul power. Following the valley's rejection, he returned to Hai Shen Island.
Seeing Xu Yuan's return, Yun Ming checked his condition.
When Xu Yuan had entered earlier, he was surrounded by nine streams of dragon qi—qi of such high quality that even Yun Ming was astonished.
Now, seeing Xu Yuan, he couldn't help but ask about the situation.
"Why do you possess such high-quality dragon qi?"
Xu Yuan didn't intend to hide anything.
"Teacher, this is something I wanted to tell you. Those nine streams of dragon qi are actually nine dragon souls. I brought them out from the Dragon Valley last time. Strictly speaking, they were all Dragon Kings in life."
Hearing this, Yun Ming's expression changed.
Dragon Kings in life!
That single sentence revealed the true nature of those nine dragon souls.
The weight of being a Dragon King was immense.
In the current Douluo Star, only a few dared to call themselves Dragon Kings. One was the Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King, Di Tian; another was the source of Tang Wulin's bloodline, the Golden Dragon King; and the third was Long Yue's Mountain Dragon King martial soul.
Other Dragon Kings existed only in legends, like the Light Dragon King and the Dark Dragon King. Even Long Yeyue, who possessed twin martial souls and had reached the pinnacle in terms of bloodline, was merely a Holy Light Dragon and Holy Darkness Dragon—far from reaching the Dragon King level.
From this perspective, Dragon King-level bloodlines were essentially god-level.
If these dragon souls were Dragon Kings in life, and considering the Dragon Valley's existence dated back countless years—even possibly to the era of the Dragon God—their status as Dragon Kings must have been significant.
"Are those nine dragon souls god-level?"
Although Yun Ming had already guessed, he still needed to confirm.
There was no avoiding it. The major hurdle before him now was reaching Level 100. He needed every bit of information related to godhood.
"Yes, although their consciousness was incomplete when they were still residual souls, after recovering over time, their souls stabilized and revived in soul entity form. They've regained a considerable portion of their memories, including much information related to godhood."
Xu Yuan shared all the intelligence he had gathered in the Dragon Valley with Yun Ming.
He knew that Yun Ming was the one who had to take the lead now, and the best support he could offer was sharing this information.
Yun Ming's eyes flickered as he listened to the various details about godhood Xu Yuan had learned from the Light and Dark Dragon Kings. His heart surged with emotion.
"So Elder Tree was right."
Yun Ming took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.
It had been a long time since he had felt such emotional turmoil.
Ever since achieving the title of the continent's strongest, he had always maintained a calm and composed demeanor.
But now, faced with so much information about godhood, he couldn't suppress his excitement.
"Without the god realm, one cannot walk the path of gods. Divine positions rely on the foundation of the god realm to form. Without the god realm, divine positions cannot be formed out of thin air, nor can one directly create a new god realm."
Upon hearing Xu Yuan explain the classification of normal god-level beings in the universe, Yun Ming confirmed one thing: at least the God King level could be reached through cultivation.
Divine positions, gods, and even creating a god realm might only be considerations once one reaches or approaches the God King level.
"So, I've taken so many steps forward."
No wonder progress felt so slow—it was frustrating.
Yun Ming reorganized his cultivation path, now full of confidence.
Though he hadn't yet become a god, he had made significant progress in forming a divine position, even halfway through the process. Yun Ming suspected that if the god realm still existed, he might have already fully solidified it.
Such innate talent gave Yun Ming confidence that even following the normal path to godhood in the universe, he had at least the potential to reach the God King level.
After all, attempting to form a divine position from nothing was something only those at the Main God level—or at least Half-Step God King level—could attempt.
Xu Yuan didn't know how his teacher's mindset had shifted instantly upon learning about the vastness of the universe and the long road ahead.
The once mature and composed Yun Ming suddenly seemed to have reverted to his younger self, becoming that fiercely determined youth again.
At the same time, he carried a unique style of his own.
"Teacher, are you planning to pave the way for soul masters?" Xu Yuan asked.
Yun Ming didn't hide anything from Xu Yuan and admitted directly.
"I have some ideas," said Xu Yuan.
Yun Ming's eyes flickered, but he said nothing, adopting a listening posture.
Though Xu Yuan's level was low, his cultivation talent was undeniable. Perhaps he had unique insights into expanding the path of soul masters.
"In fact, my idea is based on your theory from before, Teacher."
"Oh?" Yun Ming looked at Xu Yuan curiously, waiting for him to continue.
"After Level 95 is the harvest phase, where soul masters must expand and gradually integrate their martial souls as a true part of themselves."
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Author's Note: Ya Li is Level 98 and a Three-Character Battle Armor Master.
In the original work, she broke through to this level after Shrek Academy was destroyed and she arrived in the Star Luo Continent, where Tang Wulin recognized her as his mother. It was explicitly stated that the Four-Character Battle Armor she wore was custom-made for her by Tang Wulin.
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