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Chapter 430 Soul Power Surges! Stage Zero!
Chapter 430 Soul Power Surges! Stage Zero!
Sterl reflexively tried to dodge, but it was too late!
A soul rushed into his body!
Immediately, Sterl felt a slight increase in his soul level…
It brought him a strange sense of comfort and satisfaction.
Then came…
The second shadow of a soul.
The third shadow of a soul…
Countless souls surged toward Sterl like an endless stream of water.
Sterl had a general idea of where these souls came from; they were the countless individuals who had perished tragically without clearing the Inquire Within instance.
Their consciousness erased, the souls had become the sustenance accumulated within this instance.
All of it was poured into the final challenger!
Sterl felt an extremely pleasant sensation, as if he were floating on a cloud.
His soul level was rapidly soaring.
Eventually, he felt a sort of fullness on a spiritual level, yet there were still a vast number of souls rushing into his body.
Sterl looked at the panel, and his soul level seemed to jump almost every second!
Just a moment ago, he had reached level 30, then it was thirty-two, thirty-five, and forty-one…
Then…
Forty-two, forty-three, forty-four…
Finally, his level settled at over forty-nine!
The massive experience bar from level 49 to 50 was filled to four-fifths!
At this moment, Sterl sensed something; level 50 appeared to be a special level, likely offering significant enhancements!
Without hesitation, he took out the Fire of Ten Thousand Souls and absorbed it, leaving just a flicker of flame.
The results of his absorption made Sterl extremely satisfied.
He felt his soul stirring, transforming from an initially formless and insubstantial body into something solid.
[Your soul level has been raised to level 50.]
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[Your soul power system has officially unlocked, current status: Stage Zero!]
In an instant, Sterl felt as though an explosion had occurred in his mind!
Everything became chaotic and disorganized.
He clutched his forehead and slowly collapsed to the ground.
Various jumbled messages danced in his mental realm.
Sterl felt…
His body move, and astonishingly…
He detached from his physical form!
He found himself floating at the entrance of the Abyss of No Return, with Mephistopheles's body half-kneeling on the ground below.
"Is this soul departure?"
Sterl was somewhat astonished.
At this moment, he felt that the entire world seemed more transparent.
Sterl quickly caught sight of some lingering spatial fluctuations—traces left behind by members of the Felix Guild who had activated their teleportation abilities early and fled.
He hurriedly manipulated his soul form to reattach to his body.
Then, he opened his eyes again, and a flurry of messages filled his vision.
[You have unlocked the soul panel.]
[You have entered Soul Stage Zero, and you have experienced a soul surge!]
[You have gained the ability: soul shell.]
[You have acquired a Soul Treasure Vault.]
...
The various messages were all about the newly appeared soul panel.
Sterl chose to ignore these notifications and instead opened the panel to observe.
[True Soul Name: Sterl]
[Soul Level: lv 50]
[Soul Treasure——Active Slots: One, Available Slots: One]
[Soul Transformation: Not yet reached the specific level (0/100)]
[Soul Abilities: soul shell, soul departure, soul imprint]
Sterl examined the panel and quickly processed the information.
The panel provided quite a bit of insight.
Firstly, reaching soul level 50 marked the true manifestation of soul power at Stage Zero!
The benefits it brought included—
First, Sterl sensed an enhancement in his abilities; he noticed that using all his skills felt much smoother and more effortless.
To put it simply, it was like his smartphone before transmigration; various skills and talents were like apps. Sterl had always been able to use these "apps," but they tended to lag while running.
After the soul enhancement, Sterl's phone was now fully upgraded, allowing for extremely smooth operation of all apps.
This was no small boost in combat power.
At level 50, his soul level surpassed many divine-level entities.
In other words, Sterl's speed and reaction time were now unmatched in the lower realm!
Second, reaching Soul Stage Zero granted him an additional empty slot in the Soul Treasure.
"But what is a Soul Treasure??"
This was something Sterl had never heard of before. He was no longer a naïve rookie just entering the Hall of Valor; he had studied extensive materials collected by Sosia and Sonis.
His knowledge was already quite profound.
Yet, "Soul Treasure" was completely absent from the records of the Hall of Valor.
"According to the panel, there is more than one slot for Soul Treasure, and additional slots can be unlocked."
"If filled, it should provide significant bonuses."
"But if there's no relevant information in the lower realm, I'll have to seek it out in the upper realms."
Sterl pondered.
Next was the section on soul transformation.
Sterl was unaware that the two figures from the upper realms in the Blood Red Fortress had previously mentioned this term, so he didn't pay it much attention.
He searched his mind and found that the materials from the Hall of Valor also did not mention this term.
"You need to reach level 100 to touch the threshold of transformation."
"There's no rush to understand it now."
He thought to himself.
Finally, there were the three abilities he had gained.
[soul shell]
[Category: Special Ability]
[Description: After the soul has undergone transformation to its initial stage, it possesses certain characteristics of reality creation, granting it a degree of protective capability.]
[Effect: You cannot have your soul shattered by attacks specifically targeting anything other than the soul. Only entities with a soul level higher than yours can harm your soul.]
Hmm?
Sterl looked at the skill's effect and found it somewhat convoluted.
But soon, he understood.
With his soul level reaching Stage Zero and having acquired soul shell, ordinary means could no longer harm him. For example, the Inquire Within instance, which targeted players who failed to clear it by erasing their souls.
If Sterl were to fail the challenge, the power of the Inquire Within instance to erase souls would be below the level of 50.
In that case, Sterl would be immune to the punishment.
Additionally—
In divine-level battles, deities could inflict damage upon souls. However, with soul shell, ordinary methods couldn't extinguish his soul unless the divine-level entity that killed Sterl had a soul level exceeding his.
Otherwise, Sterl could reliably trigger his resurrection skills.
"Nice! This skill is impressive!"
Sterl was quite pleased.
In divine-level battles, once the physical body was destroyed, the soul couldn't escape either, meaning that the casualty rate in battles between divine beings was even higher than that between demigods!
When facing a god, a heap of resurrection abilities would be rendered ineffective.
But now, under the protection of soul shell, Sterl's resurrection abilities could be activated once again in divine-level combat!
The second ability was soul departure.
This was easy to understand, as Sterl had passively tested it just moments earlier.
He looked at the detailed information about the skill—
[soul departure]
[Category: Special Skill]
[Description: Mastering powerful soul energy is a cornerstone of being a strong individual. With overwhelming soul power, you can easily separate your soul from your body. In the event of your physical annihilation, you can prolong your life through soul departure.
You can also possess others and take over their bodies, but upon doing so, you will lose all non-soul-bound abilities, including all talents and class skills.]
"Hmm?"
After reading the information, Sterl found it somewhat lackluster.
He thought that since he could already resist soul attacks with soul shell and activate his resurrection abilities, did he really need to possess someone else?
Soul departure didn't seem to offer much utility for resurrection…
Wait! It wasn't useless!
Sterl suddenly recalled something. Taking the earlier example of the Blood of Contamination, that thing couldn't corrupt the soul but could devour the body, causing all resurrection abilities to fail.
Under normal circumstances, even a god would surely die. However, if he had the ability to possess, there would still be a chance for rescue.
Although he had to give up everything and start anew, Sterl's ability to allocate points was tied to his soul. As long as he was alive, there would always be a chance for a comeback.
At present, the function of soul departure allowed Sterl to separate his soul and observe the outside world, making it an extremely effective method for gathering intelligence.
Sterl tried once more to let his soul float out of his body.
He sensed it, and indeed, soul departure was distinctly different from having one's soul forcibly manifest after the physical body was destroyed.
When a divine-level entity forced a soul to manifest, they could easily sense it.
However, in a state of soul departure, unless the soul level was higher than Sterl's, it would be impossible to detect the existence of his soul.
The final ability on the soul panel was—
[soul imprint]
[Category: Special Ability]
[Description: Only after the soul has transformed to its most basic state can it carry extraordinary power; otherwise, you are merely a temporary possessor of that power, and the original wielder can reclaim it at any time.]
[Effect: After your death, abilities below divine level (Iridescent-Level) cannot be stripped from you.]
Huh?
Sterl was taken aback!
He had originally thought that soul departure was not very practical, but now it seemed that this skill was truly useless!
Sterl couldn't help but chuckle; what good was a passive ability that protected part of his power after death?
The only significance of this skill was that it finally made Sterl understand something.
The soul was the source of all power. In Tanscendence, when a player died, all of their power was stripped away because the enhancements to the soul from leveling up, becoming stronger, and even achieving divinity were minimal.
If the soul could not carry the power acquired, then naturally, when the "player's body" was destroyed, they would revert to being an ordinary person.
"In other words, as long as the soul level is high enough, it doesn't matter whether players in Tanscendence die or not."
"If I can preserve divine-level abilities when I'm at Stage Zero, then once I break through to Stage One, it should be impossible to strip away powers above divine level, right?"