Chapter 2045: Two Years

Lu Ye examined his soul body primarily to find a way to counter the outbursts of those soul arts, but unexpectedly found a pleasant surprise.

It wasn't truly unexpected, as the Ghost Ship's imprint had always been there; he had simply forgotten about it for a long time.

After considering the pros and cons, Lu Ye made a decision.

Admittedly, choosing the Ghost Ship's imprint as the foundation for his Soul-Stabilizing Secret Art would make future cultivation exceptionally difficult, far more so than choosing the Fire Phoenix. This was because the Ghost Ship was intrinsically much more complex than the Fire Phoenix. However, if he succeeded in cultivating it, this Soul-Stabilizing Secret Art would undoubtedly be of the highest caliber.

Compared to the ultimate reward, what were the initial efforts?

With his decision made, Lu Ye's previous confusion and indecisiveness vanished, and his mood brightened considerably.

He flashed onto a stone pillar and stood firm, then immediately channeled his soul power into the Ghost Ship's imprint.

Since acquiring this imprint, he had activated it a few times. The process didn't require him to do much; he simply needed to supply enough soul power to the imprint.

His soul body trembled slightly as soul power continuously drained away. With a gentle tremor from the imprint within his soul, a phantom image appeared out of thin air before Lu Ye.

It was unmistakably the phantom of a large ship, not resembling the star-skiffs seen in space, but a true vessel capable of cutting through waves on the open sea.

First, the main body of the large ship materialized, followed by numerous details. In just a short while, the Ghost Ship reappeared before Lu Ye.

But it wasn't over yet.

As Lu Ye's soul power continued to flow, figures gradually appeared on the empty deck; they were unmistakably the crew members of the Ghost Ship.

First Mate Qin Zong, Second Mate Xiao Jianming, Formation Master Zhou Xing, Ship Doctor Xu Qingwei, and others...

There weren't many of them, only about a dozen in total.

They were not living beings, nor even true soul bodies; they were merely parts of the Ghost Ship itself. This was because when Lu Ye had first acquired the Ghost Ship's imprint years ago, these crew members had also left their own traces within the imprint.

Lu Ye's process of recreating the Ghost Ship simultaneously brought them back into existence. All of this was coalesced from Lu Ye's soul power.

The crew members took up their respective positions, and the Ghost Ship was fully prepared, as if ready to set sail at any moment. Even if a dragon's den or tiger's lair lay ahead, they would charge forward without hesitation at Lu Ye's command.

Gazing at the not-so-large Ghost Ship before him, Lu Ye checked his soul power consumption and nodded subtly. Although the expenditure was significant, it was still within an acceptable range.

Furthermore, he acutely noticed that the Ghost Ship, recreated with his current Sun-Shining Realm cultivation, was undoubtedly much more solid than when he was in the Star Host Realm. This was clearly related to his cultivation realm.

While he could indeed activate this soul art using the Ghost Ship imprint during his Star Host days, the final result was completely different.

However... it was still not enough!

He realized that although the soul art had been successfully manifested, it appeared crude in many aspects, like a child's casual scribble. For a general soul art, this level might suffice, offering decent effects for both offense and defense. However, as a Soul-Stabilizing Secret Art, it had many deficiencies.

This was expected, as the cultivation process for a Soul-Stabilizing Secret Art involved continuous refinement.

The next step was to transform the Ghost Ship into his personal Soul-Stabilizing Secret Art.

Lu Ye slowly closed his eyes. Moments later, a look of pain appeared on his face, and his soul body began to tremble violently.

After another moment, a speck of light suddenly emerged on his forehead, and then that light actually flew out of his body, resembling a firefly.

This was his Soul Essence!

This was the essence that only Sun-Shining Realm cultivators could condense from their soul bodies. If this Soul Essence were to be lost, the cultivator would instantly suffer severe damage, potentially even becoming an imbecile.

At that moment, Lu Ye abruptly opened his eyes. With a slight thought, the firefly-like Soul Essence suddenly landed on the Ghost Ship, like a snowflake falling onto the earth, its light merging into the vessel.

Combining this Soul Essence with the soul art was the process of selecting a Soul-Stabilizing Secret Art!

Once chosen, it would be extremely difficult to change.

With the integration of his own Soul Essence, Lu Ye clearly felt that the connection between the Ghost Ship before him and himself became much tighter. He could also wield this soul art with much greater ease and proficiency. Even the seemingly inanimate crew members gained a hint of liveliness in their expressions.

Completing this step effectively set the foundation for the Soul-Stabilizing Secret Art.

What he needed to do next was to continuously cultivate and refine it.

Regardless of which soul art a Sun-Shining Realm cultivator chose as the foundation for their Soul-Stabilizing Secret Art, it began merely as a framework. Sun-Shining cultivators needed to constantly refine this framework over long periods, filling it with richer and more substantial content to make their Soul-Stabilizing Secret Art progressively stronger.

This was one of the most crucial cultivation processes accompanying Sun-Shining cultivators throughout their entire realm. Because this process greatly resembled painting, it was also known as "Soul Painting."

Taking the Ghost Ship as an example: if a cultivator below the Sun-Shining Realm were to observe it, they would undoubtedly find this soul art incredibly lifelike. However, in Lu Ye's eyes, it was exceedingly crude. The deck was merely a rudimentary shape, lacking texture; the mast had form but was hollow internally; and even the crew members were just superficial shells.

Therefore, what Lu Ye needed to do next was to continuously fill in the various details of the Ghost Ship. Only when, through his efforts, the Ghost Ship could become like a truly magnificent vessel, possessing not only its external form but also every minute internal detail without any flaw, would this Soul-Stabilizing Secret Art reach the realm of perfection.

And this likely related to the condensation of the Divine Flower.

This was undoubtedly an extreme test of patience and perseverance. Thus, the cultivation of the Soul-Stabilizing Secret Art for every Sun-Shining Realm master was a gradual, painstaking process.

The initial choice also determined the difficulty of future cultivation.

This was primarily why Lu Ye had previously intended to choose the spirit runes from the Talent Tree: they were simple for him to use, which would greatly enhance cultivation efficiency.

Now that he had chosen the Ghost Ship, it wasn't a bad choice either, because with the imprint's presence, manifesting this soul art wasn't particularly difficult.

Calming his mind, Lu Ye began to refine his Soul-Stabilizing Secret Art.

Such a secret art, just to maintain it, required a significant amount of soul power, not to mention the need to fill in various details.

If this hadn't been the Forest of Heroic Souls, Lu Ye definitely wouldn't have been able to persevere for long.

However, the soul power in the Forest of Heroic Souls was exceedingly dense. The omnipresent mist was precisely the condensation of pure soul power, which Lu Ye could fully absorb to replenish himself.

This way, even if his consumption and recovery didn't perfectly balance, Lu Ye only needed to rest periodically before resuming cultivation.

Such a uniquely advantageous cultivation environment made Lu Ye's cultivation efficiency incomparable to that of ordinary Sun-Shining cultivators. Other Sun-Shining cultivators, even if they could replenish soul power consumption by taking spiritual pills, could never achieve such convenience and speed.

Day after day...

This kind of cultivation was tedious and dull, even more so than Lu Ye's realm advancement under the Myriad Manifestation Sea, yet he savored every moment of it.

If one could not endure this degree of solitude on the path to becoming stronger, how could they ever transcend all other beings?

Two years later.

In the Forest of Heroic Souls, Lu Ye navigated his Ghost Ship through the mist. Compared to two years prior, the Ghost Ship's outward appearance hadn't changed significantly, but only Lu Ye knew that the true transformation lay within.

Two years of almost non-stop cultivation had finally brought about a qualitative change in his Soul-Stabilizing Secret Art. The current Ghost Ship was vastly superior in various details compared to two years ago. According to Xu Yuan's previous explanations to him, this indicated that his Soul-Stabilizing Secret Art had reached the "Minor Attainment" stage.

Most Sun-Shining cultivators would only reach this level in the middle stage of the Sun-Shining Realm.

After Minor Attainment came "Major Attainment," and after Major Attainment was "Perfection."

These stages corresponded to the late and peak stages of the Sun-Shining Realm, respectively!

Advancement in the Sun-Shining Realm wasn't solely about meeting requirements for magical power; it also involved the divine soul. Only when both met the standards could one be considered to have advanced in realm.

Some Sun-Shining cultivators were referred to as "peak" because their Soul-Stabilizing Secret Art had reached perfection. Those whose Soul-Stabilizing Secret Art did not meet the standards, even if their cultivation of magical power had reached its extreme, were still only considered late-stage.

It was very difficult for a Soul-Stabilizing Secret Art to reach perfection; this was directly related to the initial choice.

Some Sun-Shining cultivators chose Soul-Stabilizing Secret Arts that were not inherently powerful enough. While this made early cultivation simpler, later on, no matter how they cultivated, they would never reach the peak of the Sun-Shining Realm.

This was essentially a trade-off. Every Sun-Shining cultivator who made such a choice understood the pros and cons beforehand. Of course, it wasn't unheard of for some late-stage Sun-Shining cultivators to feel regret after realizing they could progress no further, but by then, it was usually too late.

Therefore, looking across the entire starry sky, cultivators who could advance to the Sun-Shining Realm could generally elevate their cultivation to the late stage of the Sun-Shining Realm if given enough time; after all, reaching the Sun-Shining Realm indicated decent innate talent. However, reaching the peak of the Sun-Shining Realm was not so easy.

With his Soul-Stabilizing Secret Art reaching Minor Attainment, Lu Ye naturally intended to test its power.

At this very moment, within a violent storm, the Ghost Ship swayed and surged. Lu Ye's soul body stood on deck, moving up and down with the ship.

That furious storm was the manifestation of a soul art, possessing extremely formidable power.

Had it been two years ago when Lu Ye first arrived here, he would undoubtedly have been swept away and disoriented, losing all sense of direction. But now, protected by the Ghost Ship, although there was turbulence, he was unharmed.

A layer of light enveloped the entire Ghost Ship; it was clearly the ship's protective formation. The crew members bustled about, constantly busy, as if truly sailing on a majestic, vast ocean...

An incense stick's time later, Lu Ye steered the Ghost Ship out of the storm's center.

He couldn't stay any longer; his soul power was severely depleted. If he continued, he would surely be exhausted.

He found a stone pillar to recover, and once fully restored, he ventured back into the Forest of Heroic Souls.

After several such attempts, Lu Ye had a clear idea of the caliber of his Soul-Stabilizing Secret Art. He was satisfied; now, when confronting veteran Sun-Shining cultivators, he would no longer suffer casual disadvantages as before. As long as he could avoid troubles with his divine soul, he could fully unleash his power in battle and slaughter his enemies.

With the might of the Sword Gourd in his hand, a single sword qi strike would, at the Sun-Shining level, kill anyone, provided the enemy's strength wasn't excessively extraordinary.

It could be said that this period of cultivation had truly compensated for his greatest current weakness.