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Early the next morning, the soul ring outside Xiao Huo's body completely settled outside her existing four rings—two yellow and two purple—rhythmically moving in unison.
She opened her eyes, looked at Xiao Zhan, and revealed a smile, saying excitedly, "Father, I succeeded!"
As soon as she said this, Su Wen, Gu Rong, and the others, who were already curious about her soul skill, became even more intrigued.
This was because her phrasing of "succeeded" implied that there had been a specific objective from the start.
"It's good that you succeeded." Xiao Zhan also felt a sense of relief.
"Sister Huo'er, what's the situation? What is your fifth soul skill?" Su Wen asked curiously.
Xiao Huo said with a smile, "My fifth soul skill is the Jade Spirit Fire Seed."
Jade Spirit Fire Seed?
Su Wen frowned, stating uncertainly, "Could it be that you can't just use the Jade Spirit Fire of that Jade Fire Spirit Beast, but you can also condense it into a Fire Seed?"
"Exactly, that is roughly the effect." Xiao Huo nodded, acknowledging Su Wen's explanation.
Su Wen looked toward Xiao Zhan.
Xiao Zhan nodded and said, "This involves the development of another secret technique of mine. Previously, I had basically given up hope of breaking through to become a Soul Douluo, so the actual practice of this secret technique has been carried out by Huo'er."
"Oh?"
At the mention of a secret technique, Su Wen and the others pricked up their ears.
However, they didn't expect Xiao Zhan to fully explain the principles behind it; after all, secret techniques were very private matters, belonging to the fundamental secrets of a Spirit Master.
Xiao Zhan, however, did not keep it entirely hidden and began to explain.
"Regarding soul skills, Xiao Wen has made summaries before." He looked at Su Wen and said, "I find myself agreeing quite a bit with Xiao Wen's classification."
Being called out, Su Wen felt inexplicably helpless.
He had conducted a lot of research and summarized many conclusions, and as his understanding and depth of research grew, these conclusions were constantly updated and refined.
For instance, regarding soul skills, back when he was still in Notting City, he understood the power of a soul skill as a power inherent to the Martial Soul itself, merely guided out with the help of a soul ring.
In truth, there was nothing wrong with that; even if many abilities clearly came from the soul ring, the Martial Soul itself possessed the potential in those areas, and the 'hidden power' was excavated by the soul ring.
But in the end, that was somewhat of a sophistry.
It was more that Su Wen's ability to summarize wasn't quite there yet; that was how he thought back then, but the theory he summarized didn't clearly encapsulate everything.
Later, with more research and after obtaining several soul rings himself, Su Wen refined this theory and had discussed it with Xiao Zhan.
"According to Xiao Wen's classification, the source of a soul skill is divided into two aspects: one comes from the soul ring, and the other comes from the Martial Soul," Xiao Zhan said. "When a Martial Soul itself matches a certain soul skill of the obtained soul beast, it can derive a similar ability. Under the transformation of the soul ring, there is hope of inheriting that soul skill from the soul beast; this is a soul skill derived from the soul ring. On the other hand, for a Martial Soul like the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, no matter what kind of soul beast's ring is obtained, it will always produce the same seven soul skills—as well as the Martial Soul Avatar that all Spirit Masters obtain at the seventh ring. These belong to soul skills derived from the Martial Soul, belonging to the Martial Soul's inherent abilities, while the soul ring in turn fits this ability. Under the guidance of the soul ring, a corresponding soul skill is formed."
"One comes from the soul ring, and the Martial Soul happens to cooperate with the soul ring to possess this skill under its transformation; the other comes from the Martial Soul itself, and the soul ring serves as a specific channel, using its guidance to turn this inherent ability of the Martial Soul into a soul skill."
Everyone nodded, seemingly understanding.
"So, Uncle Zhan, are you trying to guide the Martial Soul's ability to turn into a soul skill?"
Xiao Zhan nodded and then shook his head.
"You could say I'm referencing that direction, but this is an attempt to turn my own development of the Martial Soul into a soul skill."
In fact, it was also the Martial Soul's own ability, developed by the Spirit Master and formed into a soul skill in a specific form.
"So, for the upcoming Flame Overlord soul ring, Uncle Zhan, are you also going to find a way to make your eighth soul skill a similar ability to condense a fire seed?" Su Wen seemed to understand Xiao Zhan's idea.
While the others were still processing Xiao Zhan's previous classification of soul skills, Su Wen had already begun thinking about Xiao Zhan's goal and the direction of the secret technique.
Looking at Su Wen, Xiao Zhan smiled helplessly and said, "It seems Xiao Wen, you already know the direction I want to develop."
Su Wen nodded and did not ask further.
He would wait until Xiao Zhan successfully developed it.
"Let's go hunt that Flame Overlord first," Xiao Zhan said.
Deep within the Flame Mountain Range.
This was a valley surrounded by mountains on three sides, shrouded in never-extinguishing flames.
The scorching fire reflected a bright red across the entire valley.
On the surrounding rock walls, streaks of red lava flowed down.
In the center of the valley, a massive beast, seemingly composed of lava and wrapped in flames, lay prone. It rose and fell rhythmically, with gusts of hot air erupting from its body, creating a terrifying air pressure.
The beast stood up, its lava-like body reaching a full ten meters in height. Its build was burly, like a lava giant.
Those crimson eyes stared at the exit of the valley.
There, the figures of Su Wen and his party emerged.
Toward the human Spirit Masters who dared to disturb its rest, the Flame Overlord immediately let out a roar like a volcanic eruption, and soaring flames began to rise with it as the center.
The entire valley was in upheaval; the flames burned more fiercely, and the lava flowing on the rock walls seemed to grow even hotter.
"Yan'er, Rongrong, you two stay here with Xiao Huo and Xiao Wen. Do not act on your own." Dugu Bo's expression was solemn; he felt the pressure.
An 80,000-year Flame Overlord was something even he had to deal with cautiously.
Gu Rong also wore a grave expression at this moment.
He discovered that this Flame Overlord was vastly different from the Flame Lords in his memory; he could clearly sense it from the oppressive aura it emitted.
"Its strength is likely comparable to some 100,000-year soul beasts," Gu Rong said solemnly.
At the valley entrance, Su Wen watched the distant Flame Overlord and held his breath.
"What a terrifying aura; no wonder it can be called an Overlord."
Gu Rong, Dugu Bo, plus Xiao Zhan—with Ning Rongrong standing at a distance to provide them with boosts in strength, speed, and soul power.
The three combined their forces and fought a fierce battle against the Flame Overlord, taking quite some effort before they finally killed it completely.
Even though it was dead, its corpse still exuded a sense of pressure.
Su Wen and the other three arrived at the center of the valley.
"Absorb it directly here. With the deterrence of the Flame Overlord, no soul beasts will dare to approach the surrounding area."
Even after such a violent battle, no soul beast would dare to come near this valley for a short while.
Xiao Zhan suppressed his internal excitement, took a deep breath, and stepped forward to sit cross-legged in front of the Flame Overlord's corpse.
Seven soul rings—two yellow, two purple, three black—were released, and a Fire Demon Book, filled with a domineering aura of flame and constructed entirely of fire, hovered above Xiao Zhan's head.
The Flame Overlord's soul ring was drawn by him, settling around the Fire Demon Book.
(End of Chapter)