Chapter 430: The Essence of Martial Spirits

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Somewhere in the valley.

All the wind within a hundred meters seemed to gather in one place.

As the wind flowed, the closer it got to the center, the faster the speed became.

In the center, all the winds converged, forming a white spherical shape, like a cocoon woven by the wind.

Not only the wind, but even the spiritual energy floating in the heavens and the earth gathered towards the wind cocoon and merged into it.

Some spirit beasts had sensed the strangeness of this place and felt that some kind of spiritual existence was about to be born. They instinctively followed the flow of the wind and arrived there.

However, before reaching the center, they were frightened and escaped from the powerful oppressive spirit power that emanated.

Time passed unknowingly.

Thump~

A faint heartbeat sounded from within the wind cocoon.

Thump thump thump~

The heartbeat became more regular, as if a life was about to be born from it.

Gradually, the heartbeat became increasingly rapid and agitated.

Thump thump thump~

Just by listening to this frantic heartbeat, the mood became tense and worried.

It seemed that the wind cocoon was about to explode at any moment.

The surrounding spirit power became turbulent, and the wind flow became irregular. The white wind cocoon started twisting, shrinking, and finally expanding!

Bang~

In that instant, the white wind cocoon burst open.

Surging spirit power rapidly spread with the chaotic wind flow, like a terrifying spirit power storm, unleashing a strong force that shattered the surrounding trees, blew away the grass, and revealed fresh soil.

This scene was like a tornado ravaging, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.

~Cough Cough !~

Amidst the rising dust, painful coughing sounds could be heard.

The smoke dissipated with the wind, revealing the figure of a person — it was Zeng Yi!

At this moment, he looked extremely disheveled, his clothes torn and tattered, blood oozing from his skin. The rope that tied his long hair had also snapped, allowing his hair to fall messily.

His pale cheeks had white lips, blood trickling from the corners of his mouth, and his breathing was labored.

"I failed? Is this method not working?"

Zeng Yi murmured to himself, feeling the current state of his body, which was in a complete mess. He couldn't help but laugh bitterly, knowing that this result was already anticipated when he made that decision.

To walk a unique path of cultivation, how could it be so simple?

Only through countless failures, continuous learning, and constant improvement could one possibly succeed.

While it was true that this could be said, he couldn't afford to experience failure several more times. His own body was used to experiment on!

With each failure, his body would be severely injured, and the more dangerous consequence would be that his life could be at risk.

Zeng Yi struggled to stand up from the ground, his steps unsteady. Slowly, he walked to a large tree, sat on the ground, swallowed a few pills to restore his vital energy, and began to regulate his internal energy.

This place was the Star Dou Forest, where he could encounter spirit beasts at any time. Therefore, he had to maintain a clear state of mind.

Although Zeng Yi had previously checked and found no spirit beasts within a radius of ten miles that could threaten him, in his current condition, if he didn't recover quickly, even a thousand-year-old spirit beast could pose a fatal threat.

Knowing that Star Dou Forest was dangerous, why did Zeng Yi choose to cultivate here? Naturally, he had his reasons.

Deep within the Star Dou Forest, although spirit beasts' attacks were always possible, the spiritual energy here was dense, making it an ideal place for cultivation.

Zeng Yi wanted to break through his limits and carve out his own unique path of cultivation. Such a place with abundant spiritual energy was essential.

It would allow him to cultivate at a faster rate.

Therefore, Zeng Yi willingly stayed in the dangerous forest of spirit beasts for cultivation, as long as he avoided spirit beasts that could endanger him.

The violent spirit power gradually calmed down, and the spiritual energy in the world began to gather towards Zeng Yi's body. The invisible wind flow revolved around his body, and his long hair gently fluttered in the breeze.

Slowly, the sky darkened.

And within the dense forest, it grew even darker.

However, due to Zeng Yi's cultivation, the explosion of energy had created a clearing, and the moonlight shone down.

The gentle wind that had been blowing suddenly stopped, and Zeng Yi, sitting cross-legged under the tree, slowly opened his eyes. Looking at the ground before him, which had been dyed silver by the moonlight.

"Is it already night?"

Looking at the devastated area caused by his cultivation, Zeng Yi couldn't help but sigh helplessly.

He had been staying in the Star Dou Forest for nearly a year.

Yes, it had been almost a year since he entered the Star Dou Forest. And in that time, his spirit power remained at Rank 50.

There was no breakthrough in his spirit power level.

However, his overall strength had improved significantly.

Rank 50 in spirit power had already reached a bottleneck. Only by absorbing a spirit ring and breaking through this bottleneck could he greatly increase his level.

Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang had once said that even without a spirit ring, one could continue to cultivate spirit power. Once a spirit ring was obtained, the previously cultivated spirit power would feedback and rapidly increase the level.

For example, if someone had a Rank 20 spirit power that reached a bottleneck due to the lack of a spirit ring, they could continue to cultivate their spirit power, storing it until they obtained a spirit ring. At that moment, their spirit power level would instantly increase to Rank 22 or 23.

However, through Zeng Yi's practice, he found this explanation flawed.

According to this, if his Rank 50 spirit power could continue to be cultivated, even without a spirit ring, couldn't he reach the same level of spirit power as those powerful Titled Douluo above Rank 90?

Continuous cultivation of spirit power without storing it would only make one's spirit power purer and stronger.

For example, a Spirit Master who had been stuck at Rank 29 for ten years would likely have stronger spirit power than another who had just reached Rank 29.

That was what it meant.

The human body had its limits. The amount of spirit power it could accommodate was also limited.

When spirit power reached its peak, it could no longer absorb more.

Otherwise, the result would be self-destruction!

Just like a balloon.

But why could a spirit master continue to cultivate spirit power after obtaining a spirit ring?

Zeng Yi had a conjecture.

From his perspective, in this world, everyone possessed Martial Spirits, which were akin to the spirit of a human being.

What convinced Zeng Yi of this idea was that he found that when a Martial Spirit of a spirit master suffered an injury, the spirit master themselves would be affected.

Of course, this manifestation had only been witnessed in Weapon Martial Spirit masters.

Moreover, when a spirit master attached a spirit ring to their Martial Spirit, the different spirit rings would give the Martial Spirit various attributes and grant the spirit master a new skill.

Such manifestations had been seen in Tang San as well.

The spirit rings from different spirit beasts had fundamentally changed his Blue Silver Grass.

The spirit ring from a snake spirit beast made his Blue Silver Grass as flexible as a snake's body, and the spirit ring from a spider spirit beast gave it a poisonous attribute.

It didn't even resemble Blue Silver Grass anymore; it was more like Thorny Ivy.

With this in mind, Zeng Yi's speculation was affirmed.

A Martial Spirit was a spirit master's spirit, and if the Martial Spirit changed, it meant that the spirit master's spirit had changed or, more accurately, evolved.

Thus, each spirit ring made the spirit master's spirit more resilient and powerful, and the body accepted the refinement of spirit power, enabling it to accommodate more spirit power.

Therefore, a spirit master's cultivation was about constantly evolving towards a higher life form!

For individuals like Xiao Wu, who had transformed into a spirit beast, they had already changed their spirits through cultivation, so they could continue to cultivate. It was because their spirits were strong enough.

Those spirit rings she accumulated were actually insignificant because she was originally a high-level creature. The reason she condensed spirit rings was only because she lived in the human world and did it for the sake of human spirit masters.

For someone like Xiao Wu, she had only regained her previous strength.

At this moment, Zeng Yi suddenly became enlightened.

Thinking about his cultivation over the past year, it was nothing more than constantly absorbing the essence of heaven and earth, cultivating spirit power, and compressing and refining it within his body to make his spirit power purer.

Until he could no longer continue, Zeng Yi would then condense the stored spirit power, attempting to create a self-made spirit ring.

Now thinking about it, it seemed somewhat ridiculous.

To make his body and spirit stronger, was it really that simple? It required time, opportunities, and talent!

"Now that I think about it, why can spirit beasts cultivate to such a powerful level? Isn't it because of their long lifespan? And humans, although they have high intelligence, how can they surpass spirit beasts, which are born with extremely long lifespans?"

Zeng Yi finally understood why spirit masters needed spirit rings from spirit beasts to enhance their strength and constantly evolve, rather than relying on their own talents.

It was simply more convenient and straightforward.

Looking at the sword in his hand, [Ronin Sword], Zeng Yi couldn't help but shake his head and feel lost about his own choices.

"Ah, my friend, aren't you quite intelligent? Can't you think of your own solutions?" Zeng Yi looked at his Martial Spirit, [Ronin Sword], and couldn't help but recall its various performances before.

At this moment, a thought emerged from his heart.

Could it be that his own spirit was also an auxiliary system left by the system?

Thinking of this, Zeng Yi laughed at himself.

What on earth was he thinking?

It was just a strong and sharp sword, nothing more.