180: Chapter 180 Speculation on the Soul Realm, Cultivation Authorization

Shengyuan Holy Land, Shengyuan Star.

Su Fan's Android stepped out of the room, which was located not far from Jiang Zibo's residence.

Looking up after exiting the room, he saw that sure enough, Jiang Zibo was sitting cross-legged on a large rock at the peak, cultivating.

Su Fan made his way to the summit.

Sensing someone's arrival, Jiang Zibo slowly brought his cultivation to a halt.

"Su Fan, you've come!"

"Yes. Holy Lord Jiang, your daily persistence in cultivation is truly a fine habit," Su Fan said with a smile.

"I've grown used to it. A thousand years have passed like a single day. My talent isn't great; I owe this level of cultivation entirely to my persistence in daily practice," Jiang Zibo said, stroking his snow-white beard with a smile.

"A thousand years like a single day... few could manage that," Su Fan remarked with feeling. "Holy Lord Jiang, you are impressive!"

"Stop with the praise and tell me what's on your mind," Jiang Zibo said, though the corners of his mouth curled up irrepressibly. Clearly, he quite enjoyed Su Fan's compliments.

"Then I'll get straight to the point." Su Fan's expression gradually turned serious.

"During our Xia Clan's cosmic exploration, we discovered a space rift in a certain location!"

"We sent some personnel through the rift to explore the other side, only to discover a shocking fact!"

At this point, Su Fan paused.

Jiang Zibo's curiosity was piqued, and he asked instinctively, "What kind of shocking fact?"

"The other side of the space rift might not be a planet, but a flat continent!" Su Fan's expression was grave.

He actually knew it was a small world, but he needed evidence to make others believe this fact.

"A flat continent?" Jiang Zibo was puzzled. "Isn't everything in the universe a planet? How can there be a flat continent?"

"That's what puzzles me too. Based on high-altitude footage taken by our personnel and calculations by the Xia Clan's artificial intelligence, we've concluded that the curvature of this continent—or this world—is 0 degrees," Su Fan said solemnly.

"No matter how large a planet is, the surface curvature cannot be 0 degrees. Even if a sphere is massive and the area you measure is tiny, the curvature will only ever infinitely approach 0 degrees."

"It wouldn't be a true 0 degrees!"

"In that case, the other side of the space rift might be a world with a different form of existence?" Jiang Zibo mused.

"I think so, but a concrete conclusion requires further exploration," Su Fan said seriously. "Furthermore, our exploration team discovered another shocking fact in that world."

"Go on, go on—shocking things every day!" Jiang Zibo waved his hand dismissively.

"There is a stone tablet in that world, and the script on it is actually the language of our two clans!" Su Fan's tone was heavy.

"What!" Jiang Zibo's eyes widened. "What does it say?"

"Soul Realm, rich in soul crystals, can strengthen the spirit!" Su Fan spoke slowly and clearly, his eyes fixed on Jiang Zibo.

"Soul Realm? soul crystals?" Jiang Zibo was stunned for a moment, then frowned as he fell into deep thought.

Su Fan did not disturb him, waiting quietly instead.

"I remember now!" After a while, Jiang Zibo suddenly slapped his forehead.

Su Fan immediately perked up his ears to listen intently.

"I haven't heard of the Soul Realm, but I know a bit about soul crystals." Jiang Zibo frowned, as if digging hard through long-buried memories.

"Over a thousand years ago, when I was still young, I once obtained a fragmented book from the Ancient Calendar Era while exploring Shengyuan Star."

"That fragmented book mentioned soul crystals."

"What did the book say?" Su Fan asked hurriedly.

"Let me think, it's been too long." Jiang Zibo frowned and rubbed his temples.

"I can't recall the exact text, but the general meaning was: if absorbed alongside spirit stones, they can significantly enhance the strength of one's Mental Energy."

Su Fan rubbed his beardless chin with his right hand.

"Absorbed with crystals? It seems once the spaceship returns to Blue Star, I'll need to give it a try."

"You've obtained soul crystals?" Jiang Zibo was astonished.

"The warriors who entered the Soul Realm killed a specter and obtained an octahedral white crystal. I suspect there's a high probability it's a soul crystal," Su Fan explained.

"Specter?" Jiang Zibo was taken aback. "What specter?"

"Oh, I forgot to tell you." Su Fan smiled sheepishly.

"Specters are lifeforms in the Soul Realm; they look similar to ghosts." Su Fan briefly described the form of the specters.

Finally, he projected an image directly from the Android's arm, letting Jiang Zibo see the scenery of the Soul Realm, the text on the stone tablet, and the appearance of the soul crystal with his own eyes.

"So this is the Soul Realm? It certainly is gloomy enough!" Jiang Zibo remarked. "The name 'Soul Realm' is very fitting."

"It is indeed very fitting," Su Fan agreed with a nod.

"Since there are records of soul crystals in books from the Ancient Calendar Era of Shengyuan Star, is it possible that the stone tablet in the Soul Realm was actually erected by an ancestor from that era?" Su Fan analyzed.

"It's possible," Jiang Zibo nodded.

"However, there's another possibility. In the even more distant Blue Star era—that is, before we migrated away from Blue Star—some ancestor discovered the Soul Realm, developed it, and then erected this tablet."

"That makes sense!" Su Fan stroked his chin. "Besides asking you about soul crystals and the Soul Realm, I came here for one more thing."

"Oh? What is it?" Jiang Zibo stroked his snow-white beard.

"To get more soul crystals, we need to kill more specters." Su Fan's tone was serious. "And to kill specters, we either need to use sheer numbers and sacrifice lives, or we need a Soul Attack Secret Method!"

Hearing this, how could Jiang Zibo not understand Su Fan's meaning?

"I know that in your Xia Clan, every adult has now reached God-Forging Level 1."

"I envy that very much."

"However, teaching the Soul Attack Secret Method to everyone... that's a bit unrealistic."

Jiang Zibo looked somewhat troubled.

"Setting aside whether I'm willing or not, there simply aren't enough thought stones to go around!"

A smile appeared on Su Fan's face; he could hear the evasiveness in Jiang Zibo's words.

If one truly wanted to popularize the Soul Attack Secret Method, there were plenty of ways, but he couldn't say that, let alone do it.

"There's no need for universal popularization. The Soul Attack Secret Method is like firearms during the peaceful era of our Xia country; it's a killing technique and shouldn't be made common."

"My meaning is, could you authorize a few more slots for my Xia Clan? We will select some soldiers with high ideological awareness from the military to learn it."

"Then we'll dispatch them to the Soul Realm to hunt specters and obtain soul crystals." Su Fan maintained his smile while watching Jiang Zibo's reaction.

Jiang Zibo's brow furrowed. "I can grant authorization, but as for the number of people..."

"One thousand," Su Fan said, holding up a finger.

"One thousand!" Jiang Zibo's pupils constricted. After thinking it over, he finally gritted his teeth and said, "I can authorize one thousand people to learn it!"

"However, I have one condition!"

...