Mysterious Heaven Skill and Purple Demon Eye
A month passed in the blink of an eye. Both of them had been extremely busy during that time, but their days had been fulfilling.
After Xiang Yang joined the Tang Sect at Tang San's request that day, they decided to address each other as senior and junior brother from then on. Of course, in everyday life, they still acted as they always had.
In any case, from then on, Tang San began teaching Xiang Yang how to cultivate the Mysterious Heaven Skill every day. It was something he had to learn first; only after building a certain foundation in the Mysterious Heaven Skill could he cultivate the other ultimate techniques.
But a cultivation method passed down through generations of a sect wasn't something one could learn with a casual glance. It contained a great many Daoist terms, along with obstacles of all sizes throughout the cultivation process. Without someone to guide him, failing to master it would be the better outcome, costing him only some time. The worst possibility was going astray and suffering Qi deviation; even if it didn't kill him, it would leave him half-dead.
Xiang Yang spent more than half a month memorizing most of it before he could finally begin in earnest. He owed his quick start to the fact that he already had Soul Power he could control, so he didn't have to go through sensing Qi, drawing in Qi, and the like. With Tang San, who had mastered the Mysterious Heaven Skill in his previous life, guiding him as well, he was able to start cultivating so quickly. Otherwise, even with the method right in front of him, he might not have been able to get started in a year or two.
But he had always had one question. According to Tang San's backstory, he had clearly mastered the Mysterious Heaven Skill in his previous life, yet in many ways, he seemed much stronger at the same realm in Douluo than he had been in his previous life. In theory, the nine layers of the Mysterious Heaven Skill corresponded to the nine realms in Douluo. Even if there was a difference, it shouldn't have been that great.
But many things showed that this was indeed the case. Take Hidden Weapons, for example: they were constantly described as killing with a single strike, sealing the throat at the first drop of blood, possessing tremendous power, and so on. In particular, there was that supposedly number-one Buddha's Fury Tang Lotus, said to be the deadliest weapon at the top of the rankings. Yet it had only killed a few Soul Saints, who corresponded to the seventh layer of the Mysterious Heaven Skill. If that was all it could do, its reputation was a little inflated, though its principle was much like that of a hand grenade.
As for this, Xiang Yang figured that since he had already joined the Tang Sect, there was no reason not to ask.
Tang San's answer was that he had never thought about it either.
Xiang Yang realized that Tang San was only at the second layer now and had yet to see high-level Soul Masters fight. Up to this point, he had simply thought it normal for things in another world, including Martial Souls, to be different from those in his previous life.
After all, Tang San was different from Xiang Yang. But when Xiang Yang asked, he explained what some of the famous, peerless figures of the martial world in his previous life had been like.
After the two compared notes, Xiang Yang put together a conclusion: the environment in Tang San's previous life probably hadn't had such abundant primordial Qi of heaven and earth available as Douluo did. As a result, what people cultivated was internal force closer to that of traditional wuxia. It couldn't let people defy common sense by flying, nor could it extend their lives. At most, they could master advanced lightness techniques, such as flying over rooftops and running up walls or crossing a river on a single reed, or keep their bodies in good condition into old age.
Tang San also gained a rough understanding of the combat strength of high-level Soul Masters on the Douluo Continent from Xiang Yang. He wondered how Xiang Yang knew, given that Xiang Yang's level was clearly lower than his. Xiang Yang told him outright that he paid too little attention to what went on in the outside world. Anyone who cared to ask around could find these things out; it had little to do with one's level.
Aside from asking people—which wasn't very efficient—Xiang Yang got his information from books devoted to history, newspapers, and storybooks similar to biographies. Such books were rarely seen in the outside world, because they were mostly collected by long-established powers like Spirit Hall, kingdoms and empires, or Soul Master families and sects. They recorded quite a few legends, most of which Xiang Yang believed had actually happened.
Tang San and Xiao Wu had never made an extra trip to Spirit Hall apart from collecting their monthly Gold Soul Coins, so of course they wouldn't know.
He wasn't like them: aside from attending classes and cultivating, one spent all day forging iron, while the other knew only how to eat, drink, and have fun. He spent most of his own time accumulating knowledge and conducting research. Still, going to Spirit Hall had been Yu Xiaogang's idea; Xiang Yang had long since read everything in his collection.
Early in the morning, Xiang Yang and Tang San sat together on a rooftop, their eyes fixed in the direction of the sunrise. At last, as the pale dawn appeared on the horizon, Xiang Yang clearly saw a wisp of purple Qi emerge from it. Now! The two began circulating their cultivation techniques, and then something wondrous happened!
As they circulated their techniques, the purple Qi followed a mysterious path into their eyes! Unfortunately, the purple Qi didn't last long, and the first light of dawn soon passed. After ending their cultivation, they looked at each other at the same time. Each saw a faint flash of purple in the other's eyes, which immediately vanished.
It was Xiang Yang's first time cultivating the Purple Demon Eye. "That felt really comfortable. It was cool and... warm at the same time." Uh, that sounded contradictory, but it was true.
Tang San had been waiting to hear what insight he would share, but as soon as he heard that, he knew something was off. "Warm?" His face said, Are you kidding me?
Xiang Yang didn't understand. What was wrong? Wasn't that right? Could something have gone wrong the very first time he cultivated it?
Tang San had to explain it to him. "Is that so? Maybe it's because my Martial Soul has a sun attribute." The cultivation session just now had been too brief, and they only had one chance a day, so they couldn't investigate it immediately. For now, that was the only explanation he could think of.
Over the next few days, however, they discovered an even greater difference as they continued cultivating and compared their results. Aside from making the same progress in the eye technique, Xiang Yang's Soul Power had actually increased a little. It wasn't much, but the increase was real.
"I should have my Martial Soul's attribute to thank for that. Because I have a sun attribute, I have a stronger attraction to energy of the same kind. But perhaps my spirit can't absorb all of it, so it gets converted into Soul Power in my body."
After some investigation, they quickly reached a conclusion. Although the principle behind the conversion was still unclear for now, it was enough to know that it was a good thing. Once his cultivation had improved, there would be plenty of time to study it.
The change did, however, remind Xiang Yang of some things that had originally appeared ten thousand years later. But what would happen if someone cultivating the Purple Demon Eye had an eye Martial Soul or a Sun Martial Soul? If he got the chance, he had to go looking for the other continents...
Tang San was curious too. "Hmm, those two Martial Souls sound very compatible with the Purple Demon Eye. But are there really people whose Martial Souls are their bodies?" He didn't find it strange that someone might have a Sun Martial Soul, not least because the person beside him had a Martial Soul with a sun attribute.
The vast majority of people in this world had Martial Souls based on things that already existed in the world: flowers, grass, trees, water, fire, and even dragons from the legends of his previous life were not uncommon. But could someone's Martial Soul really be a human body part? Martial Souls were even more wondrous than he had thought.
"Of course there are, but as far as I know, they're very, very rare, and most aren't as powerful as other Martial Souls of the same level." This era wasn't kind to those with unusual Martial Souls.
"This..." At first, it didn't sound reasonable. After all, humans should be more familiar with their own bodies, at least far more so than with plants or animals that had nothing to do with them. Yet those with human body parts as Martial Souls were actually weaker.
But in truth, what distinguished humans from Soul Beasts was their intelligence; physically, they didn't seem to have an advantage to begin with. On top of that, they lacked the external training techniques from his previous life that could develop and strengthen the body. And while other people's Martial Souls were whole, theirs were incomplete parts. It wasn't hard to understand why they were at a disadvantage among Martial Souls of the same level.
The main problem was that the theory hadn't been developed yet. Even the Body Sect wouldn't exist until ten thousand years later.
Breakfast was more lavish than usual that day. The group's reaction was to hurry and grab more. Halfway through the meal, they noticed two people coming from the kitchen: Yu Xiaogang and Dean Flender.
So that's why, Xiang Yang thought. No wonder. Still, the butterfly effect he had caused was quite significant. Even the Grandmaster had come many years early.
"The children are growing right now. We absolutely can't cut corners on their food."
"All right, all right, whatever you say." Fortunately, he had made quite a bit yesterday, or they wouldn't be able to keep this up for long. "By the way, I'm planning a long trip in the next few days. Sorry to trouble you and Old Zhao with the little ones' training."
That day, the four boys were running around the academy without Xiao Wu. "Xiang Yang, does this really help?" Dai Mubai was puzzled. Could running really make him stronger? He had been running for a month, but he hadn't noticed any benefit.
"Of course it helps. Running can improve your endurance effectively. Soul Power is limited, after all, especially for an assault-type Soul Master like you. Soul Skills consume a lot of it, so you can't just rely on those two or three moves, can you? Most of the time, you have to use your body along with them."
Xiang Yang's breathing had already grown somewhat hurried, while the fellows beside him were neither red in the face nor short of breath. Their physical condition was unbelievable. Was the boost to their bodies really that great from being only ten-odd levels higher? But that also meant he could reach the same level when his own level caught up. Thinking of it that way, it wasn't bad.
"But running alone definitely isn't enough. This month was just to help you and Xiao Ao get used to it first. Starting tomorrow, I'll teach you other training methods. Besides, if Soul Masters want an effective workout, they have to use equipment. That's already being worked on, so just wait. You'll have plenty to cry about when the time comes."
The fact that these training methods worked was really thanks to humans on the Douluo Continent having almost exactly the same physical structure as humans on Earth. Not only did they share the same internal organs, even things like their meridians were the same. Otherwise, Tang San wouldn't have been able to cultivate his techniques either.
Come to think of it, if Tang San hadn't been teaching him the cultivation method all this time, they wouldn't have had to trouble the smithy in the city. But getting it made to his specifications would take considerably more time. Fortunately, they had all chipped in, or he wouldn't quite have been able to afford it himself. Still, come to think of it, shouldn't this count as school equipment? Having the students pay to make it was really something else.
As the sun climbed higher, the group finished their morning exercise. Just as they were about to head to the dining hall for a meal, they noticed a little fatty at the academy entrance. When he saw them, he hurried over to greet them. "You're students of Shrek Academy, right? An uncle wearing square glasses told me to come here before. He said you could solve my Martial Soul problem. Oh, right, my name's Ma Hongjun."