Douluo: When the piano sounds, the hidden weapon returns to the factory

After months of arduous training and deepening his understanding amidst the raging waves, Feng Yao's comprehension of "understanding, becoming, and transcending" had reached a state of perfection. Wherever his thoughts led, the hundred-zhang-wide sea around him, though still turbulent, seemed to become an extension of his will. The violent waves could be subtly guided, dissolved, and even transformed into his own power. That "Heart of the Vast Ocean" was now completely solidified.

On this day, he felt something in his heart, and stood on the Silver Pillar. He no longer tried to control anything, but gently integrated his vast and all-encompassing will, which also carried a hint of dominance, into the entire Raging Waves Abyss.

A strange thing happened. The roar of the entire desolate place seemed to suddenly decrease in intensity. The waves still crashed, but there was less malice directed at him, and more of a natural... submission and acceptance.

It wasn't that he forcibly suppressed the ocean, but rather that the ocean truly recognized him as a "soulmate" and "guide."

At that very moment, the enormous golden trident rune reappeared in the sky, even more dazzling than the first time! A golden beam of light, thicker and purer than when he passed the first test, crashed down, completely enveloping Feng Yao!

Vast divine power surged into his body, nourishing not only his soul power, physique, and spirit, but also giving rise to an indescribable, wondrous feeling as if he had established a deep connection with the entire ocean.

At the same time, a clear divine decree resounded in his mind: "The second test of the Sea God, 'Heart of the Vast Ocean,' has been exceeded. The deadline has been brought forward by six months."

"Rewards: All Soul Rings will increase in cultivation level by 1,000 years, Sea God affinity will increase by 10%, and a God-given Soul Ring will be awarded."

As the light slowly faded, Feng Yao felt a tremendous change within his body. His soul power steadily increased, reaching the peak of level ninety-two. The colors of all of Fuxi's soul rings became deeper and more dazzling, especially the 100,000-year soul ring of Xiao Wu, whose red patterns on the edges seemed to have deepened even further.

What surprised Feng Yao the most was that he never expected that after passing this second test, the Sea God would bestow another divine soul ring upon him.

"Could it be that fewer people are participating in the assessment, making the Sea God seem a bit 'generous'?" he couldn't help but wonder to himself.

Feng Yao never believed that the deities possessed unfathomable depths. In his view, so-called gods were merely beings at a higher level of existence; and so-called rewards were simply resources bestowed upon them through some extraordinary means. As resources, they must have limits; how could they truly be inexhaustible?

Only after Feng Yao possessed the "Heart of the Vast Ocean" did he realize that his greatest gain was the "Sea God's Affinity"! He felt an incredibly close connection between himself and the ocean beneath his feet, and with the mysterious power of the Sea God. He could feel the rhythm of the ocean with every breath, and mobilizing the power of the Vast Ocean became as easy as using his own arms, several times smoother!
Just then, Poseidon's figure reappeared silently before him. She looked at Feng Yao, and a rare hint of amazement and emotion flickered in her deep, ocean-like eyes.

“Your comprehension far exceeds my expectations.” Poseidon’s voice remained calm, but with a slight fluctuation of warmth than usual. “In just half a year, you have not only fully understood the true meaning of ‘Han Hai’, but also used it to perfection, completing the assessment half a year ahead of schedule. Even I was far inferior to you back then.”

She slowly raised her hand, and in her palm, a divinely bestowed soul ring, flowing with golden light, quietly appeared, like a miniature star, hovering in front of Feng Yao, radiating gentle yet powerful energy fluctuations.

She gently presented the orb of light to Feng Yao, her voice calm and solemn: "This is a gift from the Sea God. Very few can receive this favor repeatedly. I hope you will make good use of this opportunity, live up to your own talent, and not disappoint the Sea God's expectations."

Feng Yao solemnly accepted the radiant soul ring. The moment his fingertips touched it, he could sense the vast divine power contained within and the unyielding expectation it held. He bowed deeply, his tone firm: "Thank you for your guidance, senior. Feng Yao will certainly live up to your expectations."

Poseidon nodded slightly, giving Feng Yao another deep look, as if trying to imprint his current appearance into her mind. A subtle, complex emotion flashed in her eyes before she slowly faded away, leaving behind a lingering admonition: "The road ahead is long, take care."

Feng Yao sat cross-legged on the heavy silver pillar, his mind sinking into his body, guiding the vast soul power to the ever-mysterious and unpredictable innate Bagua plate.

The immense energy, like rivers flowing into the sea, was entirely absorbed by the Bagua plate. On the plate, the Kun trigram, representing "earth," suddenly lit up, radiating a heavy, stable, and nurturing earthy yellow light, its brilliance even temporarily overshadowing the previously lit Qian trigram.

However, the energy contained in this divinely bestowed soul ring far exceeded his expectations, its vastness even more terrifying than when he absorbed the first one! The pure and violent divine power surged into his meridians and dantian like a flood bursting its banks, almost bursting him apart!
Intense pain swept through his body, but Feng Yao kept his mind clear, knowing he must not panic at this moment. He frantically circulated his Xuan Tian Gong, trying to guide and compress this enormous energy, but he still felt powerless to do so.

At this critical moment, he had a sudden inspiration and made a bold decision—to seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to obtain the Soul Master's Soul Core!

He no longer tried to completely control all the energy, but instead used his powerful mental strength as a guide and the inclusive and carrying characteristics of the power of the vast ocean as a foundation to frantically compress and guide the excess energy that surged into his body to a point deep in his dantian!

This process is far more dangerous than absorbing the spirit ring itself, requiring an extremely precise and delicate control over energy. The slightest mistake could result in uncontrolled energy loss and death from the body exploding!
However, Feng Yao's understanding of power was no longer what it used to be; his control over energy had reached an astonishing level. Under his strenuous compression and guidance, deep within his dantian, an extremely small vortex, yet radiating terrifying suction and energy fluctuations, began to gradually form!

This is the prototype of the Soul Core! With the appearance of the prototype of the Soul Core, the speed of energy absorption suddenly increased. The huge energy finally found a core for release and storage, and began to flow into the vortex in an orderly manner, making it continuously solidify and grow stronger!
Just as the soul core began to take shape, another anomaly occurred!
Within Feng Yao's body, the elixir that had been dormant in his dantian and was obtained from that unknown vine seemed to be drawn and resonated with by the energy of the soul core, and it actually floated up on its own, slowly approaching the newly formed soul core vortex!
The pearl emitted a pure, plant-like energy, which began to merge and resonate with the pure and vast energy in the soul core and Feng Yao's own soul power! The three energy attributes were originally different, but at this moment, under the harmonization of the newly formed "core" of the soul core, they began to slowly transform into each other and enhance each other!
This process further accelerated the stabilization of the soul core and also caused subtle changes in the nature of Feng Yao's soul power.

As the soul power circulated continuously within his body, Feng Yao looked inward and suddenly discovered that the newly formed strange soul core was slowly merging with the dan pearl within his body under the constant interweaving and resonance of energy, and finally completely combining into a whole!
It is neither a traditional single soul core nor two independent soul cores, but rather a brand-new energy core that is dominated by the soul core and perfectly absorbs and harmonizes all the characteristics of the inner core.

Feng Yao recalled the ultimate theories about dual-soul cores and even multiple-soul cores in later generations of Douluo Continent, and then sensed the unique existence within his body. For a moment, he was stunned and did not know how to define it.

"Should this be considered a special soul core, or another form of 'dual core'?"

After an unknown amount of time, when the last bit of energy was completely absorbed by the soul core, the soul core in Feng Yao's dantian had been completely stabilized.

It was a strange crystal, about the size of a thumb-sized goose egg, with a deep cyan color throughout, and specks of golden light and subtle blue light flowing endlessly inside! It slowly rotated, absorbing the primordial energy of heaven and earth and Feng Yao's own soul power, constantly strengthening his foundation and recovery speed!

Regardless, Feng Yao's first soul core is complete! Moreover, it is a unique soul core that combines the essence of the pill pearl with Feng Yao's understanding of the power of the vast ocean!
Feng Yao slowly opened his eyes, exhaling a long breath of turbid air, the breath carrying a strange sense of vastness and complexity. He felt the soul core within his body, which operated on its own and provided a continuous source of power, and the wondrous connection established with the soul core, his heart filled with joy and awe.

The gains from absorbing the divinely bestowed soul ring this time far exceeded his expectations! Not only did he obtain the powerful Kun Gua soul skill, but he also used it to condense a soul core, laying a solid foundation for future power fusion.

His soul power level also naturally broke through to level ninety-four during this process!

After a long while, the soul rings were fully absorbed, and a deep, blood-red soul ring with an earthy yellow halo rose from beneath Feng Yao's feet, shining brightly alongside the other soul rings. He also gained a clear understanding of the information regarding the second soul skill.

Feng Yao opened his eyes, his mind stirred slightly, and the innate Bagua plate appeared in front of him, with the Kun trigram position radiating light.

"The Primordial Eight Trigrams Plate, Second Soul Skill: Kun Trigram - Earthly Support!"

The Kun hexagram signifies the earth's support and the revival of its energy channels!

He let out a low shout, and a soft, warm, earthy-yellow halo instantly spread out from the Bagua compass, covering a vast area. Within the light domain, it was as if invisible earth vein energy was being activated, emanating a reassuring aura.

Feng Yao, who was in the field of light, immediately felt a pure and gentle energy flow into his body from his feet. The soul power he had just used to protect Feng Yao was rapidly recovering, and even the slight mental fatigue was swept away, as if Mother Earth was gently comforting and nourishing her child. This recovery effect was extremely wide and continuous!
The Kun hexagram signifies Earth's support and restraint.

As Feng Yao's thoughts shifted again, the nature of the originally warm and gentle earthy yellow light field suddenly changed! It became heavy, viscous, and filled with endless binding force!
If an enemy steps into this area of ​​light, they will instantly feel a terrifying gravity as if the weight of the entire earth is pressing down on them! Their mobility will be completely suppressed, their speed will be drastically reduced, as if they are trapped in an endless swamp, unable to move an inch! This is not a simple slowdown, but a near-absolute confinement domain!
It combines offense and defense, nourishes all things, and carries the weight of the earth! This is the earth-bearing power of the Kun hexagram!
Feng Yao gazed with satisfaction at the interplay of the Qian and Kun trigrams on the Bagua plate, gaining a deeper understanding of the power of this martial soul. Each additional soul ring seemed to unlock a completely new power within a trigram, its potential seemingly limitless.

After the initial surprise of the fusion of the Soul Core and Inner Elixir, Feng Yao's attention returned to the Innate Eight Trigrams Plate. The Heavenly Punishment of the Qian Trigram and the Earthly Binding of the Kun Trigram—one supremely Yang, governing attack and judgment; the other supremely Yin, governing nourishment and confinement. Seemingly opposite, they were like the two poles of Yin and Yang, subtly echoing each other.

A bold idea sprouted in his mind: what kind of changes would occur if the power of the Qian and Kun trigrams were combined?
He wasn't in a hurry to achieve results. Instead, he silently summoned the Innate Bagua Plate and pondered the surging, extremely yang and powerful intent of heavenly thunder and the circulating, extremely thick and deep energy of the earth's veins. Simply superimposing the two might trigger a violent energy conflict.

“No…it’s not a simple superposition.” Feng Yao fell into deep thought. “Heaven and Earth are not opposites, but coexist, complement each other, and are in harmony…”

He thought of the realm of "Heart of the Vast Ocean," and the all-encompassing nature of the sea. Perhaps the key to integration is not the fusion of powers, but the harmonization of rules?
He slowly infused his soul power. Using the "Earth's Bearing" domain of the Kun hexagram as a foundation, and leveraging its powerful bearing and stability, he constructed a solid "domain." Then, he activated the "Heaven's Movement" power of the Qian hexagram, subtly "planting" the intent of supremely Yang and powerful heavenly thunder into this earthly domain, like sowing seeds!

With the vastness of the Kun domain, it receives the might of heavenly thunder!
A miraculous thing happened! On the stable foundation built by the power of the Kun hexagram, the heavenly thunder power of the Qian hexagram was not weakened or rejected, but instead became more concentrated and more controllable! It was no longer a violent and scattered thunder, but like a dragon vein lurking beneath the earth, ready to be guided at any time and unleash a precise and destructive strike!

"So that's how it's used."

He even vaguely grasped a deeper application—perhaps by using the power of the Kun hexagram to alter the gravity of the area, slowing the enemy's movements as if they were trapped in a quagmire, and then precisely striking the bound target with the heavenly thunder of the Qian hexagram! Although the two did not merge their energies, they achieved perfect coordination and amplification in terms of rules and timing!
Although the Qian and Kun hexagrams did not directly merge to create entirely new hybrid soul skills, the deduction based on the wind hexagram has given rise to several highly strategic combination techniques and application strategies! Their power and flexibility far exceed the use of a single hexagram!
Feng Yao slowly opened his eyes, a gleam of excitement in them. The power of the Innate Eight Trigrams Plate was far more than just a single trigram's soul skill; its true potential lay in the interplay, mutual generation, and mutual restraint among the eight trigram laws!
Exploring the union of Heaven and Earth, though not yielding the anticipated fusion technique, opened a door to infinite possibilities for him. He was filled with even greater anticipation for the subsequent divination results. (End of Chapter)