By the time Dai Chengfeng returned to the Spirit Hall, it was deep into the night.
All was silent; stars hung low in the sky.
The towering structures of the Spirit Hall cast long shadows under the moonlight. Without alerting anyone, he glided past layers of guards like a falling leaf, slipping soundlessly into his room.
The door closed behind him without a sound.
Dai Chengfeng raised his right hand. An invisible barrier of soul power expanded outward, sealing the entire room.
He needed absolute silence—no interruptions.
He didn't light a lamp, letting moonlight spill through the window, painting the floor in silver.
He sat cross-legged on the bed—but didn't begin cultivating immediately.
Instead, he closed his eyes.
In his mind, every detail of Tang Hao's Ring Detonation demonstration replayed in slow motion—the violent energy, the shattering rings, the fleeting yet earth-shattering surge of power.
Each frame was captured, dissected, and reconstructed by his razor-sharp perception.
The ring's structure. Energy flow. Ignition points. Conversion methods…
Dai Chengfeng already understood Ring Detonation deeply. He'd even attempted it once before—less effective than Tang Hao's, but potent enough. Now, having witnessed the original technique firsthand…
"Ring Detonation…" Dai Chengfeng murmured to himself.
Soon, he opened his eyes. In the moonlight, his heterochromatic gold-and-blue pupils gleamed with strange brilliance.
"There are three key challenges."
He raised three fingers. "First: how to safely 'ignite' the soul ring without damaging the martial soul's core."
"Soul rings are deeply bound to the martial soul. Forcibly disrupting their structure will inevitably backlash onto the martial soul itself."
"In Tang Hao's demonstration, the ring vanished temporarily after detonation, yet his martial soul remained unharmed. This means the Hao Tian Sect found a way to create a 'buffer' or 'isolation layer' between ring and martial soul."
"Second: controlling the explosion's power and direction."
"The energy from Ring Detonation is wildly chaotic. Without precise guidance, you'll harm yourself before the enemy. That's where I failed before…"
"Tang Hao channeled all explosive energy into the Hao Tian Hammer, converting it purely into offensive power. This requires micro-level soul power control."
"Third: shortening the ring's recovery time."
"According to Tang Hao, detonated rings vanish temporarily, needing time to re-coalesce."
"The duration of this cooldown determines how often—and at what cost—you can use Ring Detonation."
Having analyzed this, Dai Chengfeng took a deep breath.
He knew no theory, however refined, could replace practice.
He extended his right hand. With a thought, six soul rings rose from his feet—yellow, purple, purple, black, rose-gold, black—rotating slowly around him, radiating layered light.
His gaze settled on the first yellow ring.
The weakest ring. The lowest-cost option for trial. Even if he failed, the damage would be manageable.
He didn't rush. Closing his eyes, he gently extended his spiritual sense into the ring's interior.
His Three-Eyed Golden Lion martial soul granted not just insight, but spiritual power far exceeding peers of his rank.
His consciousness became delicate tendrils, cautiously touching the ring's surface.
At first, perception was blurred—the ring felt like a smooth barrier, resisting deeper probing.
But Dai Chengfeng remained patient. He tuned his spiritual frequency to resonate with the ring's own. Gradually, the barrier "melted."
Now, the ring wasn't just a halo—it was a complex weave of countless rule-threads.
Even a century ring's internal structure was astonishingly intricate.
Each thread's path, each node's connection, followed an ineffable harmony.
He "saw" the ring's anchor points to his martial soul—dozens of thick threads rooted deep into the White Tiger phantom in his right hand.
"So that's it… The key to Ring Detonation lies in these connecting threads."
Dai Chengfeng grasped the insight.
"If you destroy the ring's main structure directly, the explosion becomes uncontrollable—guaranteed to wound the martial soul."
"But if you temporarily 'sever' or 'weaken' the ring-martial soul connection before detonation, release the energy, then channel it back through a specific pathway…"
He recalled Tang Hao's demonstration—the ring shattered from the outside in, its fragments drawn like moths to the Hao Tian Hammer.
"Tang Hao first 'detached' the ring from the martial soul's surface, then detonated it, finally letting the martial soul 'absorb' the explosive energy."
"This way, the martial soul avoids the blast's impact, receiving only the converted energy."
Understanding this, Dai Chengfeng's martial soul surged.
He carefully split off a hair-thin strand of soul power…
Buzz—
Instantly, the ring trembled faintly, its glow flickering.
Dai Chengfeng halted immediately, sweat beading on his brow.
"In that instant, the entire ring destabilized. Too crude. The connecting threads are part of the ring's structure—forcing them triggers chain reactions."
He withdrew his soul power, sinking into thought.
Outside, night deepened—the darkest hour before dawn.
Yet he remained oblivious, lost in the ring's mysteries.
After a long while, he shifted tactics.
"No brute force. Must guide… If it's an energy structure, energy should influence it."
"Tang Hao used the Hao Tian Hammer's unique traits to forcibly 'peel' the ring away. But my White Tiger lacks that trait. I need another path."
He thought of his Three-Eyed Golden Lion martial soul.
Fate Force—ethereal, yet capable of altering reality.
What if he used Fate Force…?
His mind stirred. His third eye warmed faintly.
Though unopened, a thread of golden Fate Force seeped out, merging with his spiritual sense.
This time, his perception transformed.
With Fate Force's aid, he "saw" more—countless tiny "nodes" shimmering along the connecting threads.
"Found it."
Dai Chengfeng's eyes flashed with insight.
He stopped trying to break the threads. Instead, he shaped his soul power into gentle streams, flowing slowly into the ring, tracing the rule-threads.
Guided by Fate Force, the streams targeted fragile nodes precisely.
One node was enveloped in soul power—then gently vibrated.
The vibration matched the node's natural frequency—resonance.
Vvvvmm…
The node glowed; surrounding threads brightened.
But this wasn't unstable trembling—it was harmonious resonance.
Through resonance, the node's structure "loosened," its bonds to neighboring threads turning… "elastic."
Dai Chengfeng didn't stop. He repeated the process on other critical nodes.
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