Chapter 157

The sunlight gradually set in the west, and Luo En walked out of the laboratory to the training ground in the backyard of the workshop.

Daier was already waiting there, her silver hair shimmering with a dazzling light under the setting sun.

In these days, the little sea siren's growth rate had been astonishing.

Now she had the body size of a ten-year-old human child, and her control over water elements was becoming increasingly proficient.

"Master!" Seeing Luo En, Daier waved happily, "Look at my new skill!"

She drew a graceful arc in the air with both hands, and the water elements condensed into an exquisite crystal ball, shimmering with seven-colored light under the setting sun.

"Not bad." Luo En nodded with a smile:

"Controlled very stably."

"There's an even more powerful one!" Daier announced proudly, then took a deep breath, a hint of focus flashing in her eyes.

The crystal ball suddenly split into dozens of small balls, rotating around her like planets around a star, forming a flowing protective barrier.

Each small ball maintained a perfect orbit, running precisely along the preset path, showing the little sea siren's fine control over water elements.

"I thought of this myself yesterday!" The little sea siren said proudly, "Sister Li Li said this can be used to protect myself."

Luo En walked around Daier, carefully observing the movement trajectory and energy composition of the water balls.

This skill seemed simple, but it actually contained exquisite elemental control and spatial planning, far exceeding the abilities of ordinary sea sirens of the same age.

The extraordinary growth rate brought by the "Big Eater" talent was gradually showing astonishing effects.

"Indeed very creative." Luo En praised, while taking out a small bottle:

"I brought you new 'food' today; this will make you more powerful."

Daier looked curiously at the red-glowing liquid in the bottle, expectation flickering in her eyes.

Ever since discovering that she could grow by devouring substances containing extraordinary energy, Luo En had been preparing various special "foods" for her.

Today's bottle was the Red Blood Strengthening Fluid he had spent three days carefully preparing, containing a small amount of Red Blood Flying Dragon bloodline essence extracted from himself.

After multiple purifications and stable processing, it was specifically adapted to the sea siren's special constitution.

"Drink it, but taste it slowly and feel the flow of energy."

Luo En instructed: "Try to understand every different feeling; this will help you better absorb and convert energy."

Daier took the bottle, took a small sip carefully, and then her eyes lit up.

"So warm!" She said in surprise, "Feels like little flames dancing in my belly!"

Luo En watched her enjoy this special "food" in small sips with a smile, while carefully observing her changes.

As the Red Blood Strengthening Fluid was absorbed, tiny changes began to appear on Daier's skin.

Some almost invisible scale patterns faintly appeared on her arms, then quickly disappeared, merging into her original sea siren form.

This was exactly the effect Luo En expected; by providing Daier with different types of extraordinary energy, he guided her bloodline to develop in a more diversified direction.

Of course, the strong aggression of the dragon bloodline had already been removed by him during the preparation.

The current bottle of strengthening fluid was just pure high-energy food, which might be able to supplement Daier's fire element affinity, but that was all.

As for whether to consider integrating dragon factors into the other party's sea siren bloodline later, that was a conclusion that could only be reached after careful experimentation.

"Daier, how do you feel about participating in the Gladiator Tournament?"

Luo En asked suddenly: "There will be many powerful opponents there, and there will also be rich rewards."

The little sea siren's eyes lit up immediately, and she nodded excitedly: "I want to participate! I will let everyone see how powerful Master's Daier is!"

Luo En touched her head with a chuckle:

"I believe you will do very well. However, before that, we still need more training to let you fully master these new abilities."

………………

In the time that followed, Luo En's research entered a more focused stage.

He decided to temporarily concentrate all his energy on soul steel, because only by truly mastering the characteristics of this mysterious metal could the feasibility of subsequent plans be determined.

Soul steel is an extremely rare material, possessing plasticity and magic conductivity far exceeding conventional metals, making it an ideal choice for forging high-level magic items.

Luo En spent several hours every day "talking" to the soul steel, letting this metal gradually adapt to his energy characteristics through continuous input of spiritual power.

This was a slow and energy-consuming process, but the results were significant:

Subtle changes gradually appeared on the surface of the soul steel; the texture of the metal became softer and smoother, and its response to Luo En's spiritual power commands became more sensitive.

"The core characteristic of soul steel lies in its special internal crystal lattice structure."

Luo En recorded in his notebook:

"This structure can 'remember' the user's spiritual power fluctuation pattern and adjust its own energy flow according to this pattern. Theoretically, after a sufficiently long period of adaptation, soul steel can form a resonance state that perfectly matches the user's spiritual power."

At this stage, Luo En began trying to let the soul steel undergo preliminary morphological changes.

He concentrated his spiritual power, first tentatively imagining the shape of the simplest short sword, and then slowly and firmly transmitted this image to the metal.

At first, the soul steel had almost no reaction.

But as Luo En kept trying, adjusting the input method and intensity of his spiritual power.

The metal finally began to show a faint reaction on the fourth day—the edges became slightly sharper, and the overall outline began to develop toward the shape of a sword.

【Alchemy (Proficient) Experience +1】

"Progress is slow but steady." Luo En recorded in the consciousness library:

"Soul steel needs time to adapt to new forms. Forcibly accelerating this process could lead to internal energy structure instability, affecting the quality of the final product."

Just at this time, when the soul steel showed key changes, the profession panel suddenly provided a key piece of information:

【New Profession Advancement Method Confirmed:

Special Talent "Dual Soul" + "Activated" Magic Sword + Thousand-Change Phantom (Glorious Legacy) + Substitute Puppet (Rare Antique)

→ Dark Wizard (Three-Star)

Effect: After implementation, the magic sword will possess the dark wizard's erosion characteristics, while the main body remains unaffected by pollution】

This information made Luo En's eyes light up.

The panel's confirmation also meant that his research direction was basically correct, and he only needed to continue perfecting the details.

What surprised him even more was that the panel continued to display more information:

【Additional Conception: Transfer to Demon Hunter via Substitute Puppet, perform monster organ suturing

This substitute shares ability gains with the main body but does not share negative effects

Effect: After implementation, the main body will gain the abilities of a Demon Hunter】

This additional conception perfectly matched his own assumptions!

He had indeed been considering how to obtain the powerful abilities of the Demon Hunter route without the risk of distortion that might come with it.

The substitute puppet was clearly the perfect solution to this problem: let the substitute bear the risks, while the main body only enjoys the benefits.

Luo En took a deep breath, suppressing the excitement in his heart.

This confirmation information gave him great confidence, but he remained vigilant.

"Every link needs precise control; there is no room for the slightest negligence."

The key points are:

1. Safe splitting and transfer of soul fragments

2. Advancement of the Skin of the Shapeshifter

3. Acquisition and correct activation of the substitute puppet

4. Perfect forging of the activated magic sword

This time, he returned to the school library and, using the permissions of a probationary wizard sequence member, consulted a large number of ancient books on soul theory.

From ancient soul theories to modern spiritual power research, from soul divination theory to the exploration of the essence of life, Luo En carefully read almost all the relevant materials he could find.

These studies helped him build a more complete theoretical framework:

The soul has a certain degree of divisibility, but splitting must follow specific rules and limitations.

Excessive splitting will lead to insufficient energy in the soul fragments, making them unable to maintain their own stability;

While improper splitting methods may lead to damage to the overall structure of the soul, affecting the practitioner's mind and personality.

"Safe soul splitting requires meeting three conditions."

"First, splitting must be performed along the 'natural texture' of the soul, just as cutting a diamond must follow the crystal structure;

Second, the split fragments must be immediately placed in a suitable carrier to prevent energy dissipation;

Finally, a stable connection must be established between the original body and the fragments, but at the same time, sufficient isolation must be maintained to prevent mutual interference."

This is exactly why the advancement of the Skin of the Shapeshifter is so important; only the isolation capability at the "Glorious Legacy" level can ensure safe isolation between soul fragments and the main body.

And the substitute puppet is the perfect solution to the carrier problem.

According to legend, this mysterious item from the Great Abyss can replicate the user's consciousness and abilities, creating a near-perfect "copy."

If the split soul fragments can be placed in the substitute puppet, theoretically, the risk of energy dissipation and structural collapse can be avoided.

In a long-dusty ancient book, "The Apostle's Path: The Awakening and Transcendence of Dark Wizards," Luo En found records of successful cases.

This book was sealed with heavy restrictions; even with his permissions, he could only read a small part of the content.

"Thirteen Supreme Apostles, Masters of Pollution..."

The ancient book described them thus:

"The most powerful among them was 'Void Spider' Ma Genusi, who was once just an ordinary Morning Star wizard with the 'Soul Weaving' talent. After passing a unique soul-splitting method, he successfully placed his soul fragments into countless specially made crystal balls, each maintaining a wonderful connection with him."

The book roughly recorded how Ma Genusi used this splitting to handle spiritual pollution, conducting it into crystal balls, and then converting it into pure power through special rituals.

Because of this power, before he became an apostle, he instantly killed three Moon-level wizards in one battle and was even able to return the full-force strike of a Dark Sun-level wizard.

Another case was "Transmutation Daughter" Yi Sha Bella, who possessed the "Empathy" talent and could perceive and imitate others' emotional states.

She used a special mask as a carrier, successfully splitting her soul fragments while retaining complete consciousness control.

This allowed her to exist in multiple different locations simultaneously and even be reborn through the mask after her main body was "killed."

However, the ancient book also clearly warned of the danger of those without special talents attempting this technology:

"Experimenters without corresponding talents will die in the ritual eight or nine times out of ten.

The collapse of the soul structure is more painful than physical death, and those who luckily survive often fall into a state of permanent madness due to soul fragmentation.

During the darkest period of the numerous sects in the Abyss in the Second Era, more than twenty ancient wizards attempted to imitate 'Void Spider's' method.

But in the end, only two survived, and these two, without exception, became mindless walking corpses, forced into permanent imprisonment in the 'Garden'."

Luo En closed the book and fell into deep thought.

The risks of soul splitting are obvious, but the potential rewards are equally tempting.

Almost all successful cases possessed some kind of special talent, which made him wonder if his "Dual Soul" could provide some kind of guarantee in this process.

"There is more I need to know."

He whispered to himself, his gaze cast toward the deeper parts of the bookshelf:

"But the starting point for all of this is still the Bloody Gladiator Tournament."

He must obtain that "substitute puppet," which is one of the key links in the entire plan.

At the same time, he also needed to find more specific operation methods for soul splitting, as well as possible risk prevention measures.

Luo En turned to the window, looking at the changing clouds above the Black Mist Jungle.

The Bloody Gladiator Tournament was postponed, but it would be held eventually.

And before that, he still had a lot of preparation work to do.

"Be careful and cautious, step by step." He reminded himself:

"Since it is a path pursuing eternity, naturally one cannot be too hasty. The more advanced content can wait until I reach the critical point before becoming a formal wizard to attempt."

(End of chapter)