Trust is forged through trials. And with Tang San around, everything seemed to flow smoothly as they went through these trials. He became an excellent facilitator, always appearing where he was most needed and helping unite everyone into a cohesive force.
In his previous life, Tang San, during his youthful days, was the control system soul master[1] and the soul of his team. In this life, although his ability to control wasn't as great as before, his combat experience made leading Wu Bingji and the others an easy task. He could enable everyone to perform at 120% of their capabilities with him there.
Wu Bingji felt this the most deeply. As the one with the highest cultivation in the team, he could always unleash his power to the fullest in battle, experiencing a thrilling sense of combat. He even felt as though his strength had improved. But he understood it wasn't an actual increase in his power; rather, he was able to use his power more effectively under Tang San's coordination, which was all the more valuable.
The five found a higher ground to rest as night fell on the second day. Right after dinner, Gu Li approached.
"Little Tang, heh heh~" Gu Li nudged him, winking and grinning meaningfully.
After spending two days together, Tang San realized that Gu Li's personality was actually lively, even though he usually appeared more grounded. Once he was out of the teachers' sight, his true nature gradually emerged.
Both Gu Li and Du Bai had the burden of great expectations placed upon them by their teachers. Under this pressure, Du Bai found it particularly challenging to improve. At the same time, Gu Li had at least cultivated his Chrono Croc Transformation to the fourth order, thus facing even greater pressure from the teachers.
Tang San smiled. "What are you doing, Brother Gu?"
"You know. Didn't we agree on it last night?" Gu Li chuckled.
Tang San, of course, knew what he wanted. Wu Bingji had also come over. Although Tang San was to offer advice to Gu Li, the benefits Wu Bingji had received from Tang San were also substantial. Just like Gu Li had drawn some insights from Tang San’s advice to his eldest senior brother, the latter could also gain some ideas from the advice Gu Li received.Cheng Zicheng, who was on the treetop, and Du Bai, who hadn't climbed up yet, also joined them.
During the day's battle, Wu Bingji had already started using the Flicking Dart technique to launch icicles. The penetrating power of the icicles had at least doubled. Combined with the compression of ice elemental energy, the power and range had both significantly increased. This was still considering he wasn’t all that proficient yet. Wu Bingji was confident that if he could compress the icicles into ice needles in the future, it would be an incredibly lethal technique. Seeing Tang San's formidable use of wind blades, he was very confident that this Flicking Dart technique was the way to go.
Du Bai and Cheng Zicheng had also found out about what had happened the night before. Seeing Tang San about to guide Gu Li today, they were naturally interested and prepared to listen.
Cheng Zicheng had also received a few pointers from Tang San, but those were about practical combat experience unrelated to cultivation. At this moment, he looked curiously at the youngest among them, surrounded by his senior brothers, wondering how Tang San would advise Gu Li.
Tang San told Gu Li, "Brother Gu, your Chrono Croc Transformation ability is powerful. It’s practically absolute, considering that you can even influence those whose cultivation is higher than yours. The strength of your bloodline influences the power of the Chrono Croc Transformation. The inherited bloodline strength... I think there's more than just one way to enhance it. Increasing the bloodline concentration would definitely work, but for such a rare Demonic God Transformation as yours, it has to be difficult. But there's another method I think you could try…"
Gu Li was startled; he had thought Tang San would teach him some techniques to deal with Zhang Zebin, but he didn't expect Tang San to advise him on cultivating Chrono Croc Transformation. The teachers didn't have any suitable methods, and they could only advise him to continually stimulate his bloodline and enhance it by absorbing spiritual energy. What other suitable methods could he have? Therefore, after hearing Tang San's words, a hint of disappointment flickered in his eyes.
Tang San, seemingly oblivious to the change in his expression, continued, "...besides increasing bloodline concentration. Generally, our Demonic God Transformation cultivation involves stimulating the bloodline. This makes sense, of course, but the thing is, do we really know exactly how to stimulate the bloodline to the maximum? Brother Gu, I think I know where you should start.
"You know that when you control the Chrono Croc Transformation, you must use spiritual power to stimulate the bloodline power. Compared to other Demonic God Transformations, your Chrono Croc Transformation demands more spiritual energy. Time is a mysterious thing, it’s always there but it’s hard to grasp. They say that no one can take a pill for regret, because what’s done can’t be undone. For now, your ability may not reverse time, but it can at least freeze it. In the future, when you grow stronger, you might even become able to make time flow backward. I think that's the ultimate strength of the Chrono Croc Transformation!
"With that in mind, you must focus on improving your spiritual power. The easiest way to train it is to use it until it’s drained, even overdrawn. When it recovers, it will improve. You should still cultivate by stimulating your bloodline, but at the same time, you should concentrate more on your spiritual power. When your spiritual energy is strong enough, you will also find it easier to stimulate your bloodline energy. Basically, I believe the key part of the Chrono Croc Transformation is actually the mental part, not the bloodline part. If you focus on this, you might be able to push your cultivation all the way up to the peak of the sixth order."[/ref]The raws here say “peak of the ninth order,” but due to reasons explained in a later chapter, this has been changed to “sixth.”[/ref]
Tang San truly valued the Chrono Croc Transformation. Without any teachers around, he didn't care if others wondered about his numerous ideas; he still wanted to share the proper way of cultivation with Gu Li.
Enhancing the Chrono Croc Transformation wasn't just about stimulating bloodline energy or merely increasing bloodline power. It required continuous mental stimulation to transform the sea of consciousness.
To master the essence of time control, nothing was more important than possessing strong spiritual energy or even divine consciousness. Thus, the more powerful the spiritual energy, the more frequently the Chrono Croc Transformation could be used. The bloodline would also undergo a transformative change when stimulated by this powerful spiritual energy.
Upon hearing this, the disappointment in Gu Li's eyes turned to surprise, "Is it possible to enhance spiritual power just by abusing it?"
Tang San replied, "It's kind of a barbaric method, but it’s simple and it works. You might want to try it. This way of cultivating spiritual energy applies to anyone. Du Bai, you could give it a try as well. Strong spiritual power will probably be good for your Celestial Fox Vision as well. Of course, we shouldn't try this while we’re on a mission. Once you completely empty your spiritual energy storage, it’ll take you a long time to recover."
Tang San didn't mention that this rudimentary cultivation method was only really usable in places with abundant energy, like the Daemon Continent. Here, the energy of heaven and earth was incredibly dense. After overexerting oneself in such a rich environment, cultivators would automatically absorb energy from the air to replenish themselves, and this was not limited to bloodline energy or physical energy, but also included spiritual energy.
Before his previous life's Douluo Planet evolved, this cultivation method would have been somewhat feasible but nowhere near as good as in this world.
"Once we return, I'll try it too," Wu Bingji said without hesitation.
1. Just a reminder that in previous SL installments, soul masters were split into several categories based on their role in a combat team—attack system, defense system, control system etc. This “control” refers to using long-range and AoE abilities to control the pace of the battle, and it’s different from elemental control. ☜
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