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Chapter 11: Whale Rubber for the Body, a New Idea for Lightning-Tempered Spirits
🕑 Added 2025-07-14 22:53:08 +0000 UTCThree hours later, Ignaz was the first to wake up on the medical room’s bed.
“Dean, Director Lu, how’s Haibai doing?”
“You pushed your soul power too far before. You need rest. But don’t worry—his body’s been cleared of the rust poison. He’s out of danger.”
Dean Shui looked at Ignaz, who was sitting up halfway and shared the good news. Smiling, he added,
“You’ve shown me the strength of a true sea-type artifact soul master. Rest up and aim for level 20 soon. Once you reach it, I’ll help you get your second soul ring.”
With that, Director Lu added a few words of encouragement before leaving with the dean—they still had to deal with the fallout from the Hai brothers’ challenge.
At the same time, Haibai and Haigui also stirred from their coma. The moment they turned their heads, they saw Ignaz sitting cross-legged, already deep in meditation. Haibai murmured,
“If the dean hadn’t stepped in, one of us would be dead and the other crippled. We lost—fair and square. Everything we promised you—we’ll deliver. No exceptions.”
Though they accepted defeat, a stubborn fire still burned in their bones. If they’d been just a little more practiced with their spirit fusion skill, Ignaz wouldn’t have stood a chance.
Three days later, all three had recovered from their injuries, and soul power drained. Ignaz paid a visit to the dean’s office. He had planned to graduate early, but Dean Shui talked him out of it, insisting that he complete the full six-year curriculum.
After digging around a bit, Ignaz found out that, unlike inland academies, Vast Sea City’s Primary Soul Master Academy required all students to study for six full years, even after acquiring their first soul ring. It was a hard rule—put in place to keep new ocean-type soul masters safe. After all, in the boundless and perilous ocean, a one-ring soul master was still a sitting duck.
Thinking it through, Ignaz realized the dean’s stubborn insistence came from a good place. One soul ring wasn’t nearly enough to survive the vast continent, let alone the ocean.
As the semester drew to a close, Ignaz returned to his village and was met with a hero’s welcome. The celebration stretched from the east end of the village to the west—long tables lined with food, a festive atmosphere in full swing.
“Little Iggy! You’ve been gone a long time. Our hoes keep breaking—we need you to forge at least a few dozen new iron tools for the village!”
“To our future Soul Exalt—we raise our cups!”
With the village chief’s shout, the villagers all raised their glasses, officially celebrating Ignaz’s becoming a soul master.
That night, Ignaz finally made it home. He unpacked the blood Scaled Dragon’s body and the forty pounds of hundred-year whale gelatin he’d won from the Hai brothers. The original plan had included twenty pounds of thousand-year whale gel too, but since those whales were nearly impossible to catch, he had to settle for ten pounds.
Ignaz immediately summoned his Blood Spear. Pricking his finger, he let a drop of blood fall onto the weapon. Gripping the spear tightly, he drove it straight into the blood Scaled Dragon’s body.
The six-meter-long Scaled Dragon began to wither visibly, its blood and energy being sucked rapidly into the spear. Ignaz’s eyes turned red, and his soul power surged to double its usual speed.
In under three minutes, the Scaled Dragon was reduced to nothing but a tough layer of scales. The soul power conversion from beast blood wasn’t exactly efficient, but it was enough to push Ignaz up by a full level.
“As expected, mutated soul beast blood packs a punch. It’s only been two months since I got my first ring, and I’ve already gone up a level.”
Now that his spirit had undergone positive evolution, and paired with the Blood Sacrifice Devour technique, Ignaz’s soul power cultivation speed had reached the equivalent of innate rank 6.5. One level in two months—pretty impressive.
After storing the Scaled Dragon’s scales, he weighed the hundred-year and thousand-year whale gelatin. He decided to start with the hundred-year kind.
He tossed three pounds into a pot, added water and some herbs to remove impurities, and set it to boil on a high flame.
“Even without help from a fire-element soul master, regular fire should still get the job done.”
Due to the limitations of ordinary fire, three pounds of gel only yielded two medium bowls’ worth of extract.
“Without extreme flame, a lot of the medicinal power’s going to waste.”
Still, he had no choice. Ignaz picked up both bowls and drank them down in one go. The warmth spread instantly—gentle and comforting. As he slipped into meditation, the medicinal power flowed with his soul energy, spreading through his limbs and bones.
Within moments, his whole body was burning up—triggering certain... very male physiological reactions.
“Damn... this stuff is the ultimate aphrodisiac. If the hundred-year gel hits this hard, what would thousand-year or ten-thousand-year gel even do...?”
Without hesitation, Ignaz plunged into a cold-water tub he’d prepared in advance. But even that couldn’t contain the heat—the water began to boil within minutes, and the effects still hadn’t worn off.
He sat cross-legged in the tub, focused his mind, and guided his soul power throughout his body to help it absorb the whale gel’s energy more efficiently.
As the medicine continued to take effect, his physical strength began to climb—his muscles thickened and his body grew noticeably stronger.
By dawn, with the sun still not yet risen, Ignaz’s face remained flushed red. There was still plenty of medicinal power left in him. So, he threw on some clothes and burned off the excess with a mix of running, forging iron, and spear training. He didn’t stop until he was drenched in sweat and completely spent.
“Whale rubber’s amazing stuff—but I overdid it.”
After calming his overly fired-up nerves, Ignaz looked up at the sudden rumble of thunder overhead and drifted into deeper thought.
His Blood Spear had already escaped the realm of useless martial spirits thanks to soul-force tempering and absorption of its first ring. But if he wanted it to truly become an Emperor-Slaying War Spear, outside force alone wouldn’t cut it.
“What if... I could temper my martial spirit with lightning?”
He figured that if he could fuse lightning into his spear, it might become tougher, more deadly, and gain enhanced properties. But the idea was risky—lightning was the most violent and destructive of all elements. If something went wrong during the lightning-forging process, the spear might shatter. Worse, he might end up crippled... or even dead.
Still, as Ignaz stared blankly at the sky, where low thunder rolled again and again, his conviction grew. A plan was starting to take shape in his mind.
Without wasting another moment, he packed a few essentials and headed toward the coastline.
Eventually, he reached a shallow coastal bay.
Climbing onto a large boulder for a better view, he saw that the tide was out. A narrow strip of land—barely two meters wide—separated the bay from the open sea. The deepest point inside the bay was probably around fifteen meters.
“This place... it’s perfect for tempering my body.”
Yes—if he wanted to use lightning to temper his martial spirit, the first and most important step was toughening his body to withstand the process. Only by building up his tolerance and eventually obtaining a lightning-type soul ring would he be able to fully control the element—especially heavenly lightning.
Staring into the crystal-clear waters, Ignaz saw all kinds of fish trapped in the bay—some even mid-level soul beasts, 20–30 years old. His heart beat faster with excitement.
Without hesitation, he dove in headfirst. As soon as he spotted his target—a tuna—he lunged and grabbed its dorsal fin.
The tuna instantly realized something heavy had latched onto its back and thrashed wildly in protest.
Its tail kicked like a rocket, shooting it forward at incredible speed. The water pressure warped Ignaz’s face and nearly tore his mouth open.
BOOM—
He didn’t last long. The water pressure finally flung him off like a slingshot.
“Damn—that was insane!” he shouted, half-laughing, half-gasping.
It hurt. It was dangerous. But it felt amazing.
