Chapter 975: Soul Pearl (First update, requesting everything)

After the successful fusion, the Original Light began to shimmer with brilliant colors, faintly resonating with this world and sending ripples through the void.

Vaguely, Li Zhangsheng seemed to hear the sound of bells and drums ringing in unison, a celebration from this world.

Hearing this sound, Li Zhangsheng let his guard down; only by increasing its rank would such a phenomenon occur.

Li Zhangsheng looked at the Original Light; the nine apertures that had previously opened had closed again, and its appearance was roughly the same as before, still resembling a crystal ball.

However, due to the addition of the Mysterious Yellow Merit Qi, the Original Light was covered in streaks of mysterious yellow stripes, giving it a touch of mystery.

From the feedback of his Mental Power, the Original Light had officially reached the rank of a Mid-grade World Wonder, and it was even more brilliant than the Qiankun Immeasurable Bell, the Eight-Rank Star Palace Lotus Platform, and the Imitation Demon Refining Pot, not far from being a Purple Mansion Rare Treasure.

This was an unexpected joy for Li Zhangsheng; he had originally thought the Original Light had only just entered the Mid-grade World Wonder rank, but judging by its brightness, it had likely leaped into the mid-to-late stage.

"Let's test its abilities first!"

Li Zhangsheng reached out and beckoned; the Original Light turned into a beam of radiance, drilled into Li Zhangsheng's acupoint between his eyebrows, and disappeared.

In his Consciousness Sea, as Li Zhangsheng moved his mind, the Original Light suddenly expanded, immediately wrapping around Li Zhangsheng's soul crystal at the center.

This was the ability of the Original Light after its upgrade, capable of protecting the soul in all directions, so that there would be no more loopholes to exploit as before.

Li Zhangsheng made a rough estimate and found that the Original Light's defensive capability for the soul was more than a level stronger than the Soul Barrier Secret Technique, which was a significant improvement over the past.

Besides this, the Original Light's ability to nourish the soul had also improved significantly.

Most importantly, it had gained another ability: it could produce one Soul Pearl every year.

Li Zhangsheng had heard of Soul Pearls; they were a type of Heaven and Earth Rare Treasure with extremely harsh birth conditions that could increase a Monster Tamer's soul strength.

Once soul strength is increased, it not only enhances attacks and curses directed at the soul but also improves cultivation efficiency, and to a greater or lesser extent, increases lifespan.

Monster Tamers usually only see a certain increase in soul strength after leveling up, and any treasure capable of increasing soul strength is exceptionally rare.

Li Zhangsheng had seen the Private Treasury of the Qingmu King and there wasn't a single such treasure; of course, this didn't mean the Qingmu King had never obtained such a treasure, but rather that once such a treasure is obtained, one usually chooses to use it personally.

"I wonder how effective it is for Kings?"

Kings have condensed soul crystals, so their soul strength is naturally far superior to non-Kings; logically speaking, the effect should be far less than for non-Kings.

However, he would have to wait and see after trying it.

After determining the various abilities of the Original Light, Li Zhangsheng directly released the Myriad Phenomenon Spirit-Devouring Rat to level out the uneven backyard.

Li Zhangsheng returned to his bedroom and began his routine cultivation.

Since becoming a King, Li Zhangsheng discovered that to bring his Mental Power to perfection at his current cultivation speed, it would take about four or five years, and this was a conclusion reached after using conventional auxiliary items.

In fact, this was already considered very short, as the lifespan of a King is easily over two hundred years.

If it were an ordinary King, it would likely take ten years; they were different from Li Zhangsheng, as their biggest worry wasn't Mental Power, but whether they had enough Saint Grade Spirit Pets...

To quickly increase his Mental Power, Li Zhangsheng thought of three methods.

First, obtain Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasures similar to the Great Zhou Heavenly Star Fruit.

Second, possess a significant quantity of Top-Grade Soul Crystals to assist in cultivation.

Third, continue researching the Time Dragon Scale to extract the time energy contained within the Dragon Scale to assist in cultivation.

Among these three methods, the first two require a certain amount of serendipity and are not things Li Zhangsheng can get just because he wants them; only researching the Time Dragon Scale best fits Li Zhangsheng's requirements, as he had already completed preliminary research and could guide the time energy out of the Time Dragon Scale.

The next step was to create a Restriction or Forbidden Array that could effectively utilize the time energy to slow down the passage of time within the Restriction, thereby improving cultivation efficiency.

Although each cultivation session could only be maintained for an hour or two, as long as there was enough rest time, he could continue to invest in cultivation.

Li Zhangsheng was currently organizing and summarizing the principles of various Restrictions and Forbidden Arrays, deciding to base his work on the knowledge of the Treasure King and the first Principal, supplemented by the knowledge of the Spirit King and the Flame King, to create a Restriction that could slow down the passage of time.

If all went well, results would appear before long.

The next morning, Li Zhangsheng did not stay long in the Natural Fortress and rode on Aixi toward the Hurricane Fortress.

The Abyss Gate in the Natural Fortress had been open for too short a time, and not enough Abyss Consciousness had escaped, far from reaching the purification speed of the Gate of Light and Darkness.

For the sake of more World Power and Mysterious Yellow Merit Qi, Li Zhangsheng had to head to the Hurricane Fortress.

It was not just for himself; doing so was also beneficial to the Hurricane Fortress.

The Abyss Gate suppressed by the Hurricane Fortress had been born for over a hundred years and naturally contained rich Abyss Consciousness; once the Abyss Consciousness became rich to a certain degree, the Abyss Gate would evolve and be able to transport more powerful demons and larger demon armies.

As long as Li Zhangsheng continuously purified the Abyss Consciousness, the Abyss Gate of the Hurricane Fortress would likely never have the possibility of evolving, and as the Abyss Consciousness became sparse or even disappeared, it would be easier to eliminate the demons.

When a King travels, there must be omens!

Although it wasn't as exaggerated as "Purple Qi coming from the east for three thousand miles," there were golden clouds filling the sky and celestial sounds echoing in the air.

This kind of omen can be restrained, but in a place like the Dai Kingdom, Li Zhangsheng had absolutely no need to restrain it.

Due to the omen, before stepping into the Hurricane Fortress, the Bitter King Zhao Yuanqing had sensed it and took the initiative to come and welcome him, showing none of the airs of a veteran King.

After just a few days of not seeing him, the wrinkles on Zhao Yuanqing's face seemed to have increased by a few lines; his entire face looked like the bark on an old tree trunk, no longer having the air of a transcendent being.

Seeing Zhao Yuanqing's appearance, Li Zhangsheng's heart sank; he knew very well that his lifespan was nearing its limit.

Li Zhangsheng had originally thought Zhao Yuanqing could hold on for another year, but judging by his state, whether he could last half a year was an unknown.

Although if Zhao Yuanqing fell, Li Zhangsheng could seemingly hold the Dai Kingdom alone and enjoy the resources of a country, this also meant the Dai Kingdom would lose a veteran King, not to mention that Zhao Yuanqing's character was quite to Li Zhangsheng's liking.

However, after meeting Zhao Yuanqing, Li Zhangsheng still followed his plan and made an uninvited request to him.

(End of chapter)