Lu Ye checked his soul body, originally intending to find a method to counter the eruption of those soul skills, but unexpectedly found an unexpected surprise.

It’s not so much an unexpected surprise, considering the imprint of the Ghost Ship has always been here, though he had forgotten it for a long time.

Considering the gains and losses, Lu Ye made a decision.

Indeed, choosing the Ghost Ship’s imprint as the foundation for his Soul Suppressing Secret Technique would make future cultivation extremely difficult, even more so than choosing the Fire Phoenix, due to the greater complexity of the Ghost Ship compared to the Fire Phoenix. However, if he succeeds in cultivation, this Soul Suppressing Secret Technique would undoubtedly be among the most top-tier.

Compared to the final reward, what does the early investment amount to?

With a decision made, Lu Ye brushed away his previous confusion and indecision, his mood clear andbright.

He swiftly landed on a stone pillar, then activated his soul power and infused it into the imprint of the Ghost Ship.

Since obtaining this imprint, he had activated it several times. The process required him to do not much else but supply ample soul power to the imprint.

As the soul body gently quivered, soul power continuously drained away, causing the imprint inside the soul body to mildly vibrate, conjuring a phantom before Lu Ye.

It appeared to be the phantom of a large ship, not like those starboats among the stellar space, but a real ship cutting through waves on the ocean.

The main body of the ship appeared first, followed by many details. In just moments, the Ghost Ship reappeared before Lu Ye.

But it was not over yet.

With the continuous flow of Lu Ye’s soul power, silhouettes gradually appeared on the empty deck, clearly the crew members of the Ghost Ship.

First Mate Qin Zong, Second Mate Xiao Jianming, Array Master Zhou Xing, Ship Doctor Xu Qingwei, and so on...

The number was small, amounting to just around a dozen.

They were not living beings, nor even soul bodies, merely part of the Ghost Ship, as when Lu Ye obtained the Ghost Ship imprint years ago, these crew members also left their own imprints within it.

In the process of Lu Ye re-manifesting the Ghost Ship, they also reappeared; all of this was condensed by Lu Ye’s soul power.

The crew members each performed their duties, the Ghost Ship was fully ready to embark, prepared to set sail at any time. Even if ahead lay the Dragon Pond and Tiger’s Den, one command from Lu Ye and they would charge unhesitatingly.

Seeing the not-so-large Ghost Ship in front of him, Lu Ye reviewed his consumption of soul power and nodded to himself. Although the consumption was considerable, it was still within acceptable limits.

Furthermore, he keenly noticed one fact: With his Sun Blaze cultivation today, the Ghost Ship he re-manifested was undoubtedly more solid than when he was in Constellation, clearly related to his own realm.

Though he could activate this soul skill with the Ghost Ship imprint during Constellation, the final result was entirely different.

However...still not enough!

Because it was clear to him, although the soul skill was indeed cast, everywhere it appeared coarse, much like a child’s random doodle. For ordinary soul skills, this level was sufficient, whether for offense or defense it had good effects, but as a Soul Suppressing Secret Technique, it had many deficiencies.

It was expected, as the cultivation process of the Soul Suppressing Secret Technique involves constant refining.

The next step is to transform the Ghost Ship into his own Soul Suppressing Secret Technique.

Lu Ye slowly closed his eyes, shortly thereafter showing a pained expression on his face, his soul body began to tremble violently.

Moments later, a speck of radiance suddenly appeared on his forehead, which soon flew out from within, resembling a firefly.

Soul Spirit!

This is the essence only Sun Blaze cultivators can condense from their soul bodies. If a soul spirit is lost, the cultivator would immediately suffer immense damage and may even turn into an idiot.

At this moment, Lu Ye suddenly opened his eyes. Upon a slight mental command, the firefly-like soul spirit plummeted onto the Ghost Ship, akin to a snowflake landing on earth, its radiance integrated into it.

Combining this speck of soul spirit with the soul skill marks the selection process of the Soul Suppressing Secret Technique!

Once selected, it becomes difficult to alter it.

With the integration of his own soul spirit, Lu Ye clearly sensed a more intimate connection between the Ghost Ship before him and himself; his control over the soul skill was also more adept, and even the faces of the mindless crew members gained a touch of vitality.

This step completed the establishment of the tone for the Soul Suppressing Secret Technique.

What follows is the continuous cultivation and refinement.

No matter which Sun Blaze cultivator selects what soul skill as the basis for their Soul Suppressing Secret Technique, initially it’s just a framework; Sun Blaze cultivators need to continuously enhance this framework over long years, filling it with richer, fuller content, thus allowing the Soul Suppressing Secret Technique to grow stronger.

This is one of the most important cultivation processes accompanying the entire realm of Sun Blaze, because it’s much like painting, hence it’s also called "soul painting."

Take the Ghost Ship for example, for cultivators below Sun Blaze to observe it here, they would certainly find this soul skill remarkably realistic, yet in Lu Ye’s eyes, it’s immensely coarse; the deck is only rudimentary, lacking textures, the mast is merely a shape, hollow inside, and even each crew member has only a shell.

The task before Lu Ye was to continuously supplement the various details of the Ghost Ship. Only when this Ghost Ship, under his enhancement, became akin to a real vessel, flawless both externally and in the slightest internal details, would this Soul Suppressing Secret Technique truly achieve Perfection.

This is likely related to the refinement of the Divine Flower.

Undoubtedly, this is an endeavor that greatly tests patience and perseverance. Therefore, every Sun Blaze Realm’s cultivation of the Soul Suppressing Secret Technique is a painstaking effort.

The initial choice also impacts the ease of future cultivation.

The primary reason Lu Ye wanted to choose the spirit runes from the Talent Tree earlier was because they were easy for him to execute and could significantly enhance cultivation efficiency.

Now having chosen the Ghost Ship, it’s not a bad choice either, as the presence of the mark makes the execution of this soul skill less difficult.

Calming his mind, Lu Ye began to hone his Soul Suppressing Secret Technique.

Such a secret technique, merely maintaining it, consumes a considerable amount of Soul Power, let alone filling in the details.

If not for being in the Hero Souls Forest, Lu Ye would definitely not be able to persist for long.

But in this place, the Hero Souls Forest’s Soul Power is incredibly rich, and the pervasive Mist is the condensation of pure Soul Power, which Lu Ye can fully absorb to replenish himself.

Therefore, even if the consumption and recovery couldn’t maintain a balanced state, Lu Ye just needed to take breaks occasionally to continue training.

Such a unique training environment also made Lu Ye’s cultivation efficiency far surpass that of regular Sun Blaze cultivators. Even though other Sun Blaze might use elixir pills to replenish their Soul Power consumption, it would never be as convenient and swift.

Day after day...

This kind of cultivation was tedious and dull, even more so than when Lu Ye increased his realm under the All Phenomena Ocean, but he found pleasure in it.

On the path to becoming stronger, if one can’t endure this bit of loneliness, how can one stand above all souls?

Two years later.

In the Hero Souls Forest, Lu Ye navigated his Ghost Ship through the Mist. Compared to two years ago, the external appearance of the Ghost Ship had not changed much, but only Lu Ye knew the transformation within.

Two years of almost non-stop cultivation finally brought some qualitative change to his Soul Suppressing Secret Technique. Now the Ghost Ship far surpasses its state from two years ago in terms of details, which, according to Xuyuan’s previous explanations, signifies the Secret Technique has reached Final Achievement.

A regular Sun Blaze would typically reach this level by the mid-stage of Sun Blaze.

After Final Achievement comes Perfection, which corresponds to Sun Blaze Late Stage and Peak Sun Blaze!

Progress in the Sun Blaze Realm requires not only Mana but also spiritual advancement. Only when both are met is there a breakthrough in the realm.

Some Sun Blaze are called Peak because their Soul Suppressing Secret Technique has reached Perfection, while those who haven’t reached the standard, even if their Mana cultivation is extreme, remain in the Late Stage.

Reaching Perfection in the Soul Suppressing Secret Technique is very challenging, which depends on the initial choice.

Some Sun Blaze chose weaker Soul Suppressing Secret Techniques, making early-stage cultivation simpler, but ultimately, no matter how they cultivate, they can’t reach the Peak Sun Blaze.

This is essentially a trade-off. Every Sun Blaze who makes a choice is aware of the pros and cons in advance. However, some may feel regret after realizing there’s no progress in the later stages, but by then, it’s usually too late.

Thus, across the entire stellar space, any cultivator who ascends to Sun Blaze, given enough time, can generally elevate their cultivation to the Sun Blaze Late Stage. Being able to ascend to Sun Blaze indicates decent talent, but reaching Peak Sun Blaze isn’t easy.

Having achieved Final Achievement, Lu Ye was naturally eager to test the power of this secret technique.

At this moment, within a chaotic storm, the Ghost Ship was tossing and turning, with Lu Ye’s soul body standing on it, moving up and down with the ship.

The violent storm was an eruption of a soul skill, extremely formidable.

If it were Lu Ye from two years ago, first arriving here, he would certainly have been spun around, not knowing which way was which. But now, under the protection of the Ghost Ship, although there was turbulence, he was unharmed.

Outside the Ghost Ship, a light shield enveloped it — clearly the ship’s protective array. Crewmembers scurried about, busy continuously, as if they were truly navigating the wide, mighty ocean... 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

After one incense stick’s time, Lu Ye maneuvered the Ghost Ship out of the storm’s center.

He couldn’t stay any longer, as his Soul Power was severely depleted. Staying any longer would surely lead to exhaustion.

Finding a stone pillar to recover himself, Lu Ye, once fully recuperated, ventured back into the Hero Souls Forest.

After several tries, Lu Ye roughly assessed the standard of his Soul Suppressing Secret Technique and was satisfied, knowing this would prevent him from being at a disadvantage when facing veteran Sun Blaze cultivators. Provided he could avoid spiritual disturbances, in combat, he could unleash his full power.

With the power of the sword gourd in his hand, just one strike of Sword Qi could eliminate any enemies in the Sun Blaze realm unless their strength was extraordinarily formidable. Who couldn’t he kill?

This journey of cultivation truly compensated for his greatest current shortcoming.