Douluo Dalu - The Story of Sheng Feilong

For the whole day, Song Weihan and She Meixiao had Huang Jialong undergo a myriad of tests. The latter had been having trouble with cultivating and even She Meixiao couldn't come up with a solution, thus they resorted to asking Song Weihan for his opinion.

Song Weihan also couldn't make out any anomalies with Huang Jialong and asked the two of them to run a complete test on Huang Jialong; He was equal parts a Titled Douluo and a scientist, after all.

Hours later, Song Wiehan, She Meixiao and Huang Jialong sat together in Song Weihan's office, going over the stacks of documents. After everything was checked, Song Weihan frowned and looked at Huang Jialong with a puzzled expression. "Everything seems perfectly fine..? Your body is already much stronger than a peak Soul Emperor or even Soul Saint was supposed to be, there's no hidden injuries or problems with your meridians and even your Spirit Power is pretty high; You're close to the Spirit Abyss Realm, actually."

"Then... why can't I form a Soul Core, Senior..?" Huang Jialong's expression was a mix of urgency and doubt. He had been stranded at the peak of rank 69 for a while now, and while Sheng Feilong and Yuanen Yehui made rapid progress, he was simply unable to form his Soul Core, no matter what he tried.

"Can you explain what it's like when you're cultivating, again?" Song Weihan also frowned; The situation puzzled him as someone as talented as Huang Jialong normally shouldn't have any problems during the Soul Saint boundary. In fact, this is the point where the talented really start to stand out from the rest.

Huang Jialong nodded his head and thought back to when he last tried to form a Soul Core. "The Soul Vortex is flowing perfectly well and I can manipulate my own Soul Power without a problem. But every time I try to condense it to form a Soul Core, the amassed energy simply dissolves, leaving me in pain before quietly reforming a vortex within minutes. I can't even get tot he point where I would need to fuse my Spirit Essence into it..."

"I've also seen him cultivate and try to condense a Soul Core. Everything is going perfectly fine, but at some point, his body would shake slightly, after which his Soul Power will fall into disarray for a while. It's not a major backlash, but it is always enough to break ones concentration." She Meixiao crossed her arms in front of her chest, adding her opinion of what happens for Song Weihan to know.

The latter remained silent for a long while and came up with an idea a few moments later. "...Follow me to the training halls. I want you to try something, Jialong." Being caught off guard by this, Huang jialong looked at Song Weihan with a questioning gaze, causing the latter to explin himself. "There's more than one way to condense your Soul Core, actually, though the one you used until now is the most common way. I want you to try one of the others to see what will happen. Don't worry, it won't be dangerous for you. She Meixiao and I will monitor every moment of it."

Some minutes later, the three of them stood inside of She Meixiao training area where Huang Jialong had been cultivating this whole time. Just to be sure, Song Weihan spread his Spirit power through the whole hall, probing the origin energy in the surroundings, nodding upon not finding any anomaly. He then asked Huang Jialong to sit down and explained the method to condense a Soul Core to him.

In essence, it was identical to the usual way Huang Jialong had been trying, with a few differences, and one major difference; Instead of forming the Soul Core and then adding the Spirit Essence's power to it, Huang Jialong is supposed to form the Soul Core around his Spirit Essence.

Huang Jialong did as he was asked of and first created a manifestation of his Spirit Essence that he let roam around inside his Dantian. He positioned it at the foot of the Soul Power vortex and slowly began coiling the Soul Power from the vortex around it in a spherical form. Everything worked out perfectly for a while, but when he was about to form the Soul Core completely, the miniature Five-Headed Black Hydra suddenly thrashed about, sending Huang Jialong's Soul Power vortex into disarray.

Huang Jialong's concentration was broken and his Soul Power started running amok. She Meixiao and Song Weihan instantly helped him stabilize his Soul Power, and his Soul Power vortex was restored within a short period of time. The manifestation of his Spirit Essence inside his Dantian had been destroyed, though, with the energy returning to his real Spirit Essence.

Song Weihan frowned when Huang Jialong opened his eyes again. The method he used to create his Soul Core was different, yet the result was the same. From his perspective, he could also only see what She Meixiao had told him before; Everything was working out fine before Huang Jialong's body suddenly shook and his Soul Power was cast into disarray.

Unlike Song Weihan, Huang Jialong's expression showed more confusion than anything else and he looked at the two Titled Douluo's for answers. She Meixiao and Song Weihan noticed this, of course, the former of the two asking Huang Jialong what was wrong.

"I did everything as Senior Song asked of me and everyhting worked fine, but.. the little manifestation of my Spirit Essence inside my Dantian suddenly started thrashing around, intentionally destroying the nearly formed Soul Core..." His voice was just as confused as his expression; Huang Jialong couldn't understand why his own Spirit Essence would refuse to let him become stronger.

Song Weihan's frown deepened and he glanced at She Meixiao; She was the expert when it came to Huang Jialong's Spirit Essence, after all. However, She Meixiao also only shook her lead lightly with a solemn expression, causing Song Weihan to look back at Huang Jialong. "Jialong, can you explain everything? In as much detail as possible, please."

Nodding slightly, Huang Jialong narrated everything that he did and how his Soul Power and the Spirit essence reacted to the best of his ability. After he was done, Song Weihan's frown had deepened and he remained quiet for a few moments again. "Has anything in regards to your Spirit Essence changed lately? Maybe its colouration, or do have the feeling that your Soul Skills have become stronger, or even weaker? Anything that's different at all?"

Huang Jialong thought about it for a while, confused why Song Weihan would ask this now, while She Meixiao seemingly understood his concern. "...You think his Spirit Essence is mutating?" Despite Huang Jialong's suddenly shocked expression, Song Weihan only nodded lightly. "Given the circumstances, I can only think of two possible reasons; Either his Spirit Essence is going through a change at the moment, thus refusing to let him advance to become a Soul Saint until everything is finished..."

He paused for a moment, looking at Huang Jialong with a light frown again. "...Or, and I'm really thinking far fetched here, Jialong is unable to properly control the Spirit Essence. This could be it, but it doesn't really make much sense as he's able to use it during combat perfectly well."

Huang Jialong frowned as well, more tense than before, still slightly panicked as he didn't understand his own Spirit Essence's reaction at all. She Meixiao and Song Weihan were more composed than him, but still frowning, the former speaking after a few moments. "Let's assume its the first reason, for now. What should we do?"

Both, Huang Jialong and She Meixiao, now focused their attention on Song Weihan, who once again lost himself in his thoughts. "...If it's really a mutation, then we need to stabilize it. It's hard to tell what the Spirit Essence needs in this case, anyways."

He turned his head to Huang Jialong, looking at the latter and once again asking whether there were any changes to his Spirit Essence lately. Huang Jialong thought about it for a while before replying with a doubtful look. "....I think my Spirit Essence has been more active lately? Like, I got the impression that it was... impatient?"

"That does sound unusual, to say the least." Song Weihan nodded his head, then looked over to She Meixiao. "Your Spirit Essences are similar, no? I'd like for you to try and nurture Jialong's with your Soul Power."

She Meixiao was taken aback by the sudden prompt, but quickly frowned. "Our Spirit Essences are somewhat similar, yes, but not so much that I could nurture his just like that..." Again, Song Weihan only nodded his head, then looked at her with a meaningful look, to which She Meixiao frowned again. She remained silent for a long time before eventually sighing in defeat. "...I'll only try this once."

She walked behind Huang Jialong, telling the latter to sit down again and circulate his Soul Power. Not questioning his Master's orders, Huang Jialong did as he was told despite not knowing what She Meixiao was planning.

She Meixiao took a deep breath and then began drawing out her own Soul Power, concentrating to not make any mistake as she carefully infused it into Huang Jialong. Song Weihan stood by their side, monitoring everything that happened and prying deep into Huang Jialong's body, focusing his attention on the latter's Spirit Essence.