Gazing at the wisps of silvery mist slowly circulating within his mind, dotted with countless points of light that glittered like a captivating galaxy, Shi Feng couldn't suppress the surge of astonishment and disbelief washing over him.
Most magic arrays in the Divine Realm were composed purely of magical elements, but some arrays weren't made up of magical elements alone—other substances could be incorporated into them as well.
And the magic array before him had exactly that: a soul woven into its structure.
"So the rumored Soul Magic Array actually exists!" Shi Feng studied the silvery mist churning inside his brain, a rare glint of excitement surfacing in his eyes.
He had only ever heard of Soul Magic Arrays. He had never actually seen one.
According to rumor, this type of magic array could transform a player. Others claimed it could devour a player's soul. The stories were varied and contradictory.
But one thing was certain.
It could elevate a player's soul—much the way an NPC's soul could be improved.
Under normal circumstances, such a thing should be absolutely impossible for a player, yet the Soul Magic Array had turned that impossibility into reality, enabling players of mediocre talent to grow into giants of the Divine Realm, some even falling just a hair short of ascending to the Tier 6 God rank.
Of course, the outside world dismissed these accounts as the giants being modest. People said they would have become powerhouses regardless of any Soul Magic Array, and so most players in the Divine Realm treated the whole thing as little more than a joke.
And yet here he was, actually witnessing one with his own eyes.
That said, unless a player had reached the level of an Advanced magic array master, it would be nearly impossible to recognize this as a magic array at all. Most would mistake it for nothing more than a peculiar soul imprint.
"Just as well I discovered it early. If I'd gone a few more days without noticing, this opportunity would have slipped away for good." Shi Feng exhaled in deep relief as he watched the silvery mist gradually thinning within the Soul Magic Array.
The array before him drew its energy from both the soul and magical elements, continuously consuming both. Magical elements could be replenished easily enough, but the soul was far harder to absorb and restore, which meant the Soul Magic Array's duration was inherently limited.
On the other hand, as long as the array remained active, those Holy Sculpture monsters would continue to be able to sense his presence—a blessing and a curse intertwined within the same opportunity.
With that thought, Shi Feng wasted no time and began studying the Soul Magic Array in his mind with focused urgency.
The Soul Magic Array had merely been imprinted into his brain. The array itself had not yet been activated. To unleash its true effect, he had to activate it—otherwise it would do nothing more than grant him a few extra streams of thought, doing absolutely nothing to elevate his soul.
"This Soul Magic Array is far from simple. From what I can perceive right now, there are over forty Master-rank magic arrays alone, not to mention more than a dozen High Master-rank arrays and three that stand a single step away from the Grandmaster rank. And to activate this Soul Magic Array, I must use my own mental willpower to guide the process. The slightest misstep and my own soul will be devoured—no wonder people call it an array that devours players." After observing the array for over half an hour, Shi Feng silently clicked his tongue in amazement.
The soul was an ethereal, intangible thing beyond the power of words to describe, let alone something that could be increased or decreased. Yet this galaxy-like magic array could accomplish exactly that with ease. It was simply inconceivable.
But that alone wasn't the worst of it.
The truly daunting part was the cost of activating the array—it was truly a choice between heaven and hell with a single step.
For an ordinary expert player, this likely wouldn't require much hesitation at all. They would simply go ahead and attempt it, because the potential loss paled in comparison to the gain. At worst, they'd still be a Tier 3 Class user—things couldn't get much worse than that. But at his level, the calculus of risk and reward was entirely different.
With his current capabilities, ascending to Tier 5 wouldn't be a problem as long as he didn't tackle an absurdly difficult challenge. But if his soul suffered permanent damage, reaching Tier 5 would become a genuine problem. The higher one climbed in rank, the more secondary weapons, equipment, and bloodlines became—personal strength was always paramount.
"Should I give up?" Shi Feng hesitated as he watched the Soul Magic Array in his mind continuously dissipating.
Activating a Soul Magic Array was nothing like activating an ordinary magic array. This array acted directly upon his soul. There would be only one chance at activation—fail, and it would devour his soul; succeed, and it would elevate it. It wasn't as simple as learning or drawing an array on paper.
"No—there might still be a way!"
After a moment of deliberation, a possibility suddenly struck him, and he retrieved the damaged Heart of August from his inventory.
An opportunity to elevate a player's soul was extraordinarily rare. If he succeeded, not only would tackling the more difficult Tier 4 job advancement quests become far easier, but the benefits would extend to all future promotions as well—potentially even surpassing the help offered by Legendary-tier equipment. Missing out on this would be far too great a waste.
There were two methods that could dramatically increase the success rate of activating the Soul Magic Array.
The first was to thoroughly understand each of the magic arrays involved. But the Soul Magic Array was far too complex—forget a few days, even ten-plus days might not be enough to fully comprehend it.