Chapter 112: The Great Life Form

"There are a few particularly special beings who have condensed two demonic runes," Gune said.

"Oh! Yes, two demonic runes, hehe... I'm getting old, my memory isn't as good as you young folks!" The old wizard sighed softly.

"According to the accounts of these transcendent masters who condensed two demonic runes,"

"First, the conversion efficiency is greatly improved, about two to three times what it was before."

"Although the efficiency is still not high, the actual practical results are said to be quite satisfactory."

"At the same time, more importantly, they also discovered a significant aspect."

The old wizard paused.

"That is, the damage to the soul, the impact on one's own soul, has begun to diminish."

Gune fell into contemplation at the old wizard's words.

"Soul damage, the impact on the soul has diminished?"

"This... does it mean the soul's capacity to withstand damage has increased?" Gune looked at the old wizard.

"Yes!" The old wizard nodded with a smile.

The soul's "defensive ability" and "capacity to withstand damage" are two different concepts.

In Gune's understanding, colloquially speaking, they are the soul's "defense" and "HP bar."

Take, for example, a soul entity like a "demon."

Many weak soul attacks are ineffective against demons; they can ignore such ordinary soul attack methods.

Even if a powerful attack damages the demon's soul,

losing ten percent of its soul, the demon can still maintain peak combat power.

Even losing fifty percent of its soul, the demon can still maintain extremely high combat power.

But the human soul is different.

A slight "soul fissure" can cause humans excruciating headaches, making life worse than death, and they almost lose the ability to cast spells.

But for demons, such a slight soul fissure is like a scratch, neither painful nor itchy.

Losing five percent of the soul can basically be judged as human death.

But for demons, it can recover after a period of rest.

Demonic beings have an extremely strong capacity to withstand soul damage.

But humans have a negligible capacity to withstand soul damage.

Many transcendents believe in this principle:

that the soul must remain intact and not be injured, otherwise it will leave lingering problems.

One must not allow irreparable damage to the soul.

Ultimately, it is because the human soul's capacity to withstand damage is too weak, and its recovery ability is too weak.

Once injured, minor damage can slowly recover on its own.

But slightly heavier damage usually results in instant death.

That is why those transcendent predecessors repeatedly emphasized that the soul should not be injured.

Previously, the condensation of one demonic rune solved the problem of the soul's recovery ability.

Now, with two demonic runes, there is evidently an improvement in the soul's capacity to withstand damage.

"What is the specific tolerance range?" Gune looked at the old wizard.

"Still five percent."

"Still five percent? That... hasn't changed, has it?" Gune was startled.

"No, there is still a change," the old wizard said softly.

"Previously, losing about one or two percent of soul power was basically considered a severe soul injury."

"Losing about three or four percent of soul power basically meant certain death."

"A five percent loss of the soul is the theoretical survival limit. But in practice, even a one or two percent loss results in many casualties, and among those losing three or four percent, not one in a thousand survives."

"After condensing two demonic runes,"

"as long as the amount of soul loss does not exceed five percent, you can completely ignore these soul losses and damages and still maintain a high combat capability."

This immediately stirred a slight tremor in Gune's heart.

"That is to say, once two demonic runes are condensed... the previous situations—where a slight soul fissure made life worse than death, a one or two percent soul loss completely deprived one of spellcasting ability, and a three or four percent soul loss caused permanent coma—will no longer exist."

"Before the soul loss reaches five percent, one maintains extremely high combat power, and only after exceeding five percent does soul death occur?"

"Yes," the old wizard nodded.

"The soul's capacity to withstand damage is greatly enhanced. Although the theoretical limit hasn't changed, the actual effect is vastly different, even a qualitative change," Gune said.

"Right."

"Two demonic runes, this effect is indeed quite astonishing." Gune, rubbing his palms under his black cloak, pondered inwardly.

"And what about the effect of three demonic runes?" Gune looked at the old wizard.

Since the effect of two demonic runes was so remarkable, Gune naturally wanted to know the powerful effects of more demonic runes.

"If you had condensed three demonic runes, would you readily tell others the effects of those three demonic runes?" The old wizard smiled and looked at him.

This made Gune pause.

That... was true.

Condensing two was already extremely difficult; condensing three was probably not something a transcendent master could achieve.

Then, a being who had condensed three would naturally not reveal it easily.

At the same time, no one would dare to coerce them into revealing it.

"Although I haven't heard anyone say it, based on the characteristics of demonic runes, we can still deduce some things,"

the old wizard slowly elaborated.

"Essentially, demonic runes are a form of trinity conversion of the body, soul, and source power. At the same time, they enhance the capacity to withstand damage."

"Although the efficiency is somewhat low, as the number increases, the conversion efficiency greatly improves, and the soul and body's capacity to withstand damage also greatly improves."

"We can perfectly extrapolate this to the extreme. At that point, it is not difficult to deduce the subsequent effects."

"Extreme enhancement?"

Gune quickly let his imagination run wild.

"If that is the case, then the ultimate consequence of the soul's capacity to withstand damage is that even if the soul is completely annihilated, 100% destroyed, the life framework still does not collapse, meaning I still do not die."

"After all, the soul is not a necessary condition for the life framework."

"And energy can be quickly converted into the soul."

"If the soul dies, it can be converted back again."

"Similarly, it can be extrapolated that even if the body is completely destroyed, the independent, self-contained demonic source pool will not be destroyed along with it, and then energy flows back, and the body is formed out of nothing."

"The body and soul are not necessary conditions for the life framework."

"If both the soul and body are completely destroyed, but as long as the self-contained energy core is not destroyed, one can still be resurrected."

"To kill, one must destroy all energy containing the life framework's power, including the body, soul, and even all energy in the demonic source pool, completely annihilating it, to achieve a permanent kill."

"This... isn't that what calamity beings are like?" Gune's mind trembled slightly.

"No... even calamity beings are not that powerful. This is probably more terrifying than calamity beings."

"Even gods, if their divine fire is extinguished and their divine crown shattered, can die."

"But the runes manifested by borrowing the power shown by the Great Dominator allow one's body, energy, and soul to reach an unprecedented and peculiar level of life."

"This is entirely another form of life."

"Is this the power of the great life system, Cthulhu and the like?"

"And this is just one dominator; above are the Elder Gods and the Ancient Gods, such supreme beings."

The more Gune understood the terror and horror of this life form, the more he felt his own insignificance.

After a long while, Gune slowly reined in his soaring imagination.

"The chasm between great life forms and us is truly enough to make one's mind tremble," Gune said softly.

"Therefore, we must always hold reverence for such great life forms."

The old wizard nodded gently.

"But... soon!"

Deep within Gune's heart, a smile quietly formed.

"I will possess this new 'Cthulhu-system' life form that approaches the Cthulhu life form."