Qi & Soul Power

As a disciple of the Mystic Sect in his previous life, Zhou You naturally knew a great deal about Qi.

The Qi in the world of "The Outcast" closely resembled that of real-world Daoist theory, though its application to cultivation could be summarized simply.

Qi could be broadly divided into two kinds: Innate Qi and Acquired Qi.

Innate Qi, also called Innate One Qi, was what a Qi Refiner pursued throughout his life. It was also the "one" in the Three-One Sect's Return to Three, Return to One.

It was the source of human life, inherited from one's parents, the original "seed" of life.

If one traced it further back to its ultimate origin, Innate Qi could be understood as a differentiation of the universe's original primordial Qi, as well as a manifestation of the Dao.

Of course, Innate Qi was a fairly advanced concept, something studied by members of the Mystic Sect who aspired to become immortals and founding patriarchs. The Qi ordinary Otherworldly Beings spoke of generally referred to Acquired Qi.

What, then, was Acquired Qi? It was life energy formed when a person drew in the pure Qi of heaven and earth through breathing and absorbed the Essence of Food and Grain through eating and digestion, which the Zangfu then processed and transformed.

It was invisible to the naked eye, but Otherworldly Beings could sense and use it. It could be continually strengthened and refined through cultivation, and, of course, used to perform Arts, fight, and kill.

Acquired Qi served as a kind of "fuel" for life. Unlike Innate Qi, its total amount was not fixed, and it was not gone for good once used up.

As long as one mastered the correct method, Acquired Qi could be refined and replenished endlessly as the body's vital activities continued.

What Zhou You had previously been tested as having—Innate Full Soul Power—was actually this. He had also always assumed that Soul Power was Acquired Qi.

But now, looking inward, he discovered he had been wrong. Although Soul Power was formed in a manner similar to Acquired Qi, the two were actually entirely different things.

If the processing plant for Acquired Qi was the body's Zangfu and Meridian System, then the processing plant for Soul Power was the Martial Soul. It was an energy produced by the Martial Soul refining Heaven and Earth Vital Energy.

When it came to Qi, Zhou You would not dare claim to know everything, but he would venture to say that he understood it quite deeply.

But when it came to Soul Power and Martial Souls, he was like a toddling child at this moment. He could only say he knew nothing.

"So that's how it is. No matter the realm, the world is so vast, so abundant, so boundless that human strength cannot fathom its depths." Zhou You looked around, feeling as though he had opened his eyes to the world for the first time.

"I truly know nothing."

With the lens of "fantasy-world floor tile" cast aside, the real world revealed itself before Zhou You.

As a seeker of the Dao, the first lesson he had to learn on the path of cultivation was sincerity of heart: sincerity toward himself and toward the Dao.

The Dao was both within and without. One had to face both one's own heart and the world squarely. Zhou You had always thought he had done so, but only now did he discover how shallow he was.

He had underestimated this realm, allowing his own prejudices to blind him, until he received a blow to the head.

With a thought, Zhou You summoned the Heaven- and Earth-Harmonizing Umbrella of his own accord for the first time, but this time, he firmly suppressed the Qi in his body.

He wanted to test a conjecture.

Sure enough, the next moment, the Heaven- and Earth-Harmonizing Umbrella still took shape and appeared in his palm.

Zhou You stroked the umbrella's canopy, feeling its unmistakably real texture. For the first time, he began to ponder the question: What exactly is a Martial Soul?

He recalled the plot of the original Douluo I, but found no specific explanation.

Of course, there might have been one, but he had forgotten it.

There was nothing he could do about that. He would have to study it himself.

Zhou You focused his mind and entered a meditative state once more. Bit by bit, he cleared away the distracting thoughts of his acquired Consciousness Spirit, allowing his Primordial Spirit to project a portion of its power so that his mind could observe the outside world through the windows of his eyes.

In his previous life, while traveling the world, Zhou You had obtained a method of "observation" at the White Cloud Temple in Beiping. Among its teachings was the Qi-Observing Technique.

Now he used the Qi-Observing Technique to examine his Martial Soul. A spiritual light flickered in his pupils, and he focused so intently that it was as if only he and the Heaven- and Earth-Harmonizing Umbrella in his hand remained between heaven and earth.

In his vision, the black exterior of the Heaven- and Earth-Harmonizing Umbrella gradually dissolved until nothing remained.

Had it disappeared?

Of course not. Zhou You could no longer see the umbrella, but he could still clearly feel it in his hand.

This could only prove one thing: a Martial Soul was indeed a product formed by the aggregation of the energy called Soul Power, but what manifested was only a "shell." The source of the Martial Soul had not emerged along with the shell; it remained within the Soul Master's body.

But Zhou You knew that this manifestation of his Martial Soul was different from the one at the awakening ceremony. The Qi in his body had not been called upon.

Therefore, the Soul Power forming the Martial Soul did not come from Zhou You himself. Rather, the Martial Soul had automatically gathered Heaven and Earth Vital Energy and shaped itself.

This process did not require the Soul Master's participation. The only part the Soul Master played was giving the Martial Soul a command.

No wonder even ordinary people without Soul Power could summon their Martial Souls. The process of manifestation could bypass the host and be completed independently by the Martial Soul itself.

It was like a layperson typing a prompt into the chat box of an AI program. He did not need to know what was happening inside the computer, nor did he need to know how the AI worked.

He only needed to know that when he pressed enter, an image and text meeting his requirements would be generated on the computer interface.

The entire process of generating the image and text was a self-contained, fixed program that required no human participation.

People often unconsciously overlooked things they took for granted and never looked into them.

This was entirely different from an Otherworldly Being Using Spirit to Control Qi.

Whereas Qi was completely controlled by an Otherworldly Being's mind, Soul Power remained at arm's length, not quite as easy to command as one's own limbs.

Zhou You recalled a detail from the original story: at lower ranks, Soul Masters could not release Soul Power from their bodies through their own abilities. They had to release it through their Martial Souls in the form of Soul Skills.

This was the exact opposite of Zhou You's own experience. He could easily release Qi beyond the surface of his body; that was merely a basic part of Circulating Qi and required neither a Martial Soul nor any other tool.

Thus, a Soul Master's cultivation was counterintuitive.

When Soul Masters cultivated, they actively meditated to draw in Heaven and Earth Vital Energy, taking it into their bodies without the slightest hindrance. Why, then, did it have to pass through their Martial Souls when they released it?

The only explanation was that what Soul Masters had been cultivating all along was actually the Martial Soul, this "implement," rather than themselves. The Martial Soul was the core of the entire cultivation process; strengthening the Soul Master was merely incidental.

Tang San's Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon could also be explained, because it was not performed through a Martial Soul. It was driven by Tang San's Internal Force and did not need the Martial Soul as a "middleman."

For other Soul Masters, however, Soul Power's first allegiance was always to the Martial Soul. Only because the Martial Soul obeyed the Soul Master did they have the illusion that they had absolute control over Soul Power.

Then what would happen if he used Qi rather than Soul Power to construct a Martial Soul?