The God of Destruction was frustrated.
Su Ming's purpose in opening the Abyssal channel was certainly multifaceted. Achieving God King status and supplementing his energy were certainly one aspect.
Now it seemed that using the laws of different planes for Heaven Refinement was also a goal.
He had established the Abyssal channel, gathering the laws of two planes. How had Su Ming managed to hold back, waiting until he had gathered the laws of three planes to directly perform triple Heaven Refinement?
The God of Destruction couldn't understand.
"How could he be certain that Heaven Refinement with three planes' laws would attract the attention of the Universe's Will, be recognized by it, and draw in universal energy?"
The reason it was called 'Half-Step Transcendent' was precisely because the three tribulations incorporated universal energy, to a certain extent tinged with universal characteristics.
Once this characteristic expanded to the level of laws—that is, when the law imprints of the three planes were replaced by the law imprints of the universe—the metal would completely transcend.
At that point, such metal would be a true treasure.
But equally, forging such metal would be an absolute disaster for Douluo Star.
No, it should be said it would be a disaster for the Douluo God Realm, which controlled Douluo Star.
The birth of Transcendent Metal would be achieved directly on the foundation of Douluo's laws.
How great an impact would this have on Douluo's laws!
Moreover, Douluo Star itself was on the verge of breakthrough. Stimulated by this, it would inevitably break through on its own.
The other two planes might also advance as a result.
The Abyss was one thing; it had a Lord of the Plane and was an energy plane. The Lord of the Plane controlled things too tightly, perhaps preventing it from breaking on its own.
Douluo Star and the Demon Plane were different.
Even with Su Ming's influence over Douluo Star, his influence was limited.
The biggest difference between a material plane and an energy plane was that the matter within a material plane was also part of the plane—mountains, rocks, plants—these were things Su Ming, as Lord of the Plane, could not control.
Of course, he could influence a single stone if he targeted it specifically.
But if it expanded to the entire plane, that wouldn't work.
The God of Destruction wanted to stop it.
To have Su Ming immediately cease this kind of Heaven Refinement.
However, Su Ming, despite his warnings, continued forging twice more.
The God of Destruction was furious.
Tang San also watched with a wince.
He certainly didn't want Douluo Star to advance to a divine-level plane now. The reality was that his people were far from the divine level.
If breakthrough in cultivation became truly feasible, the factions with more Limit Douluos would certainly benefit.
Su Ming forged a total of seven pieces of Half-Step Transcendent Heaven Refined Alloy.
One for each of his four Spirit Souls.
Among them, the Blue Silver Emperor Spirit Soul and Little Chaos were instructed by Su Ming to use their Gold Force cultivation to enhance the second and third Martial Souls.
The Blue Silver Emperor Spirit Soul corresponded to Su Ming's fifth Spirit Ring, but Su Ming didn't have it enhance that.
Compared to a single fifth Spirit Ring, enhancing the second Martial Soul was more important.
After all, Su Ming hadn't yet developed A Yin in this era. When he did, the fifth Spirit Ring's cultivation wouldn't be lacking.
Four pieces were distributed to the Spirit Souls. Su Ming kept three for himself.
Although Gold Force could fuse all power, he still fused the three pieces of Half-Step Transcendent Heaven Refined Alloy with each of his three Spirit Cores.
The three Spirit Cores each corresponded to a strand of Gold Force cultivation.
Having solved the Gold Force issue, he wanted to build the External World directly. But now a new problem presented itself.
"I've broken through to level eighty."
After combing the three Spirit Cores, killing one Monarch, undergoing seven consecutive triple Heaven Refinement lightning tribulations, and fusing three pieces of Half-Step Transcendent Heaven Refined Alloy, his Spirit Power had quietly reached level eighty.
Going from level seventy-eight to level eighty—this pace was quite exaggerated.
The Douluo 3 Su Ming had killed six peak Monarchs and withstood a strike from the Abyssal Sage King, yet had only increased about three levels.
Of course, self-destruction incurred loss.
The Douluo 2 Su Ming was purely devouring. The Douluo 3 Su Ming had exploded his principal, only realizing gains after using devoured energy to make up for the loss.
"The most important thing was the universal energy. This is a higher-level power than planar power. I hadn't noticed it before, but now I understand: cultivating my Spirit Power Martial Soul, devouring this kind of power can actually increase my level faster."
Upon careful thought, this wasn't hard to understand.
The quality of his Spirit Power had long surpassed the Heaven and Earth Vital Energy of various places on Douluo Star. The process of absorbing Heaven and Earth Vital Energy and converting it into Spirit Power still required compression. In contrast, the higher-level universal energy reduced the need for compression, and even seemed to assist in condensing his Spirit Power during normal advancement.
"All three bodies are at level eighty now. I can't put off the issue of the eighth Spirit Ring any longer."
Su Ming revealed a wry smile.
He looked downward, various thoughts flashing through his mind.
"What am I still lacking?"
"A source of Destruction? That seems somewhat redundant. After all, my Energy Control can continue to evolve in the future, allowing me to control destructive force and all other powers."
"The Pioneer's Will? A Spirit Ring of Faith?"
Su Ming was thoughtful.
Then, he dismissed this idea.
Faith was not as substantial as a divine status. Under the Trinity, Su Ming's own status was already solid enough; he didn't need to rely on a Spirit Ring to stabilize it.
"Strengthening the connection between the three bodies..."
Previously, Su Ming had dismissed this idea.
Now, while seriously considering the options for his eighth Spirit Ring, this thought resurfaced in his mind. His perspective on it had changed.
Not that he was negative his earlier decision.
Rather, the concept itself presented him with a diametrically opposite line of thinking.
"Strengthening the Trinity's connection would make it easier for me to eventually integrate my Past Self and Future Self, unifying the three. But unification doesn't necessarily seem beneficial to me."
"Being able to borrow power from each other is sufficient. If the three bodies truly merged into one, my Trinity would actually be weakened."
Su Ming smiled, realizing he had been overlooking a factor.
A very crucial factor.
"If they truly unified, how would I separate them again?"
How would I send the Past Self and Future Self back to the past and future?
"The present is the most important; it's the foundation. But the past and future are equally indispensable to me. Because I have the Trinity, I possess this perspective beyond the River of Time, with unparalleled advantages in seizing and controlling divine status. Yet all my previous efforts have been directed at guiding the past and fishing the future. It seems I was undermining the stability of the Trinity."
If the bodies scattered across three nodes unified, could a single point still support my perspective overlooking the River of Time?
"Therefore, for the subsequent Spirit Rings, the Douluo 1 side needs to stabilize its position in the past. The Douluo 3 side should do the same."
"Anchoring the past and future—this is what the next two Spirit Rings need to accomplish."
Of course, this referred to the Spirit Ring choices for the Douluo 1 and Douluo 3 bodies.
"What about me? What about my own?"
The Douluo 2 Su Ming fell into contemplation.
For himself, situated in the present, how should he choose his eighth Spirit Ring?
"The Past Self anchors the past. The Future Self anchors the future. For me, positioned at the present node, I should establish myself firmly in the present."
How does one establish oneself firmly in the present?
***
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