Chapter 9: Widening the Gap with Former Geniuses

You Chen completely ignored his old classmate, who was questioning his life, and touched his chin, looking thoughtful.

He realized his output had completely exceeded Jiang Liu's capacity.

If he hadn't held back, Jiang Liu might have been bedridden for half a month from the explosion of the Starlight Avatar.

At full power, the attack's strength might rival that of an ordinary assault-type Soul King's maximum output.

This wasn't because You Chen's soul power reached level 50, making it Soul King-level in strength.

Without acquiring the fifth ring, his soul power remained at the Soul Ancestor level.

Below Titled Douluo, the soul power strength within the same rank doesn't vary significantly.

For instance, Jiang Liu at level 43 has slightly less soul power strength than You Chen, but the difference may not even reach 10%. It's more about the total soul power.

You Chen leans towards being an agility-type spirit master, while Jiang Liu leans towards defense.

This small soul power difference is clearly insufficient for domination.

It's the combination of soul power level, control ability, skill usage, and ring age that makes the difference.

At the Soul Ancestor stage, You Chen's raw power already matched the best top-tier martial spirit masters.

Even among Soul Ancestors across the continent, he was in the top 1%, having far surpassed his former genius classmates.

"You bastard, I haven't seen you for a while, and you've become even more monstrous. How on earth are you training... Aren't you supposed to be a researcher?"

While You Chen was deep in thought, Jiang Liu finally recovered, sitting up with a face full of disbelief.

You Chen replied calmly, "Not much. Just taking advantage of the current stage. Having an extra ten-thousand-year ring as a Soul Ancestor does make it easier in the 40s stage. But by the Soul Emperor and Soul Sage stages, a ten-thousand-year ring of just over ten thousand years won't be much of an advantage. I definitely can't take you down in one move."

Unlike with Ye Han, You Chen didn't fully trust Jiang Liu and didn't plan to tell him about his martial spirit's second evolution, using the ten-thousand-year ring as a cover.

With Bibi Dong's increasing control over the Spirit Hall, it was hard to ensure whether these classmates were her informants.

"Really? Still, a ten-thousand-year ring is a ten-thousand-year ring! How can you downplay it like it's trash... And what do you mean by having no advantage after becoming a Soul Emperor or Soul Sage? Do you know how many Soul Sages we have recorded in the Spirit Hall? Ah, never mind. Why am I talking to someone like you about this?"

Jiang Liu's tone turned somewhat melancholic.

You Chen wasn't surprised.

Jiang Liu was once considered a genius by their classmates, while You Chen was seen by most as unworthy of the title.

Now, their positions and power had completely reversed.

In some sense, You Chen wasn't lying.

In You Chen's martial spirit scoring system, the higher the score, the larger the gap between each point in the later stages.

This accurately reflects the real-world disparities between different martial spirit grades.

At the spirit master and grandmaster stages, even a low-level martial spirit master could defeat a high-level one using skills, battle techniques, and counters.

High-level martial spirits might still display pride in their advantageous aspects against top-tier martial spirits.

Super martial spirits completely crush weaker top-tier ones.

The gap in pure combat power within the same rank isn't as significant.

The disparity in martial spirit grades is more evident in realm breakthroughs.

To break through to Soul Sage, a martial spirit must at least be high-level.

To reach Titled Douluo, a top-tier martial spirit is necessary.

These are clearly recorded in the Spirit Hall's archives.

Spirit masters like Jiang Liu with high-level martial spirits don't need to worry much about ring ages and spirit beast choices. As long as they absorb decent rings and maintain their soul power level, becoming a Soul Emperor is easy, and reaching Soul Sage isn't too difficult if they have resources.

For You Chen, with a martial spirit of intermediate or even low quality, there was much more to consider.

Sometimes, even with sufficient resources, breaking through was impossible.

The advantage of martial spirit quality far outweighs that of ring age.

You Chen hadn't deceived Jiang Liu, but the fact was... his martial spirit had already become high-level.

"A big shot, huh?"

You Chen responded to Jiang Liu's teasing with a subtle smile, "I heard you're about to become the deputy hall master of Soto City? In a few years, when you become a Soul King, you might be promoted to hall master and purple-clad bishop. That makes you the big shot. Me? I'm just a freeloader, not worthy of being called a big shot."

While a yellow-clad deacon is considered grassroots, a bishop, even a purple one, is already a person of real power.

"Purple-clad bishop, huh?"

Jiang Liu shook his head, laughing self-deprecatingly, "With your true capabilities, even a rank comparable to a red-clad bishop wouldn't be too much. What do my achievements mean?"

"Alright, we haven't seen each other for so long, let's not talk about these depressing things. I've arranged with Ye Han for us to have dinner in Spirit City tonight. The food at that new restaurant is really quite good."

You Chen still had some humanity left, not just discarding his tool after use.

After the dinner, he returned to his residence.

Though called a residence, it was actually a luxurious home akin to a small villa.

Since publishing "Whale Glue Usage" at 15, You Chen hadn't lacked money, achieving financial freedom among spirit masters.

In terms of wealth, he couldn't match the great families, but he easily surpassed Flender and was comparable to a Titled Douluo.

You Chen wasn't married; aside from himself, his home was managed by a dozen slaves bought from the market, handling chores and housekeeping, essentially maids and servants.

"Master, you're back. I have sent out all the invitations you instructed."

As You Chen approached the wrought iron gate at the main entrance, a tall woman in a Western maid outfit, towering half a head above You Chen, had been waiting for a while.

This maid was not only attractive and well-built, as You Chen had carefully selected her to be his maid leader and housekeeper, but most importantly, she had fox ears and white hair, a white fox beast-eared girl with a special charm.

Recalling Ning Fengzhi's reaction to purchasing a cat girl, You Chen remembered that this maid had undergone a malignant mutation during her martial spirit awakening, preventing her from becoming a spirit master but allowing her to retain beast-like features from martial spirit possession.

"Grace, well done."

You Chen nodded slightly, offering a faint compliment.

"I dare not. This is my duty as your servant."

Even though You Chen's praise was expressionless, Grace blushed as if overwhelmed with favor, bowing respectfully with a humble demeanor.

The deep-seated reverence in her eyes made it seem as if the person before her was a deity she revered.

After purchasing Grace, You Chen had spent some effort to solve her inability to cultivate.

Now, Grace was a level 33 Spirit Elder.

For Grace, originally a slave, such an ability was akin to divine intervention.

However, You Chen's solution to Grace's problem wasn't broadly applicable, being a resource-intensive, non-general method.

The resources used could cultivate a Spirit Ancestor or even a Spirit King, making it an inefficient investment.

Yet, this was purely numerical; reality doesn't equate so simply.

Investing from zero to Spirit King might earn gratitude, but loyalty wasn't guaranteed.

In Grace's case, seeing You Chen as a deity meant betrayal wasn't an option.

You Chen had secretly nurtured over a hundred similar loyal followers.

Since they all had mutated beast martial spirits, they were collectively known as — Soul Battle Beasts.