Five minutes later, Xiang Yang was laid flat on a bed, with plenty of wet cloths placed on his head, chest, arms, and elsewhere. Although that bit of fire-attribute energy was of fairly high quality, it had no source to sustain it and was too scant in quantity. Yu Xiaogang easily suppressed it, then wrapped it in his own Soul Power and expelled it.
Xiang Yang woke in a daze. "You're awake? What you just did was far too dangerous." Huh? Who's that? He opened his eyes and saw a lean, middle-aged man wearing a headscarf, his face covered in stubble.
He recalled what had just happened. He had lost consciousness at the very end, and now his body felt as though it had been drained dry, leaving him weak all over.
Looks like I was saved? Damn it, I failed again. Could it really be impossible? No! He noticed the wet cloths against his body, and his eyes lit up. "Heh, heh, heh—cough, cough, cough, cough!" Heaven never seals off every road!
Seeing him cough so hard, the scruffy man handed him the warm water he had prepared earlier. "Have some water to soothe your throat."
With his help, Xiang Yang drank the whole cup. Feeling a little stronger, he sat up against the head of the bed and thanked him solemnly. "You're a teacher at the academy, aren't you? Thank you! If it weren't for you, I might have..." He didn't finish, but both of them knew what he meant.
"Mm, you could say that. I have quite a few questions. What exactly happened to you just now? Where did that energy come from? Was it medicine, or something else?" When he had questions, he asked them. He had never seen anything like this before. How could a Soul Master who hadn't even reached level ten have energy of such intensity inside him?
"Uh, well..." This was his secret, one that concerned the path of Martial Soul cultivation he would follow for the rest of his life. Although this man had saved him, it really wasn't easy to talk about...
"What's wrong? Is it difficult to explain? My name is Yu Xiaogang. I've had the good fortune to earn the title of Grandmaster, and I have some measure of fame. I wonder if you've heard of me?" He saw the hesitation on Xiang Yang's face at a glance and decided to tell him who he was.
It's him! Xiang Yang was astonished. He hadn't expected to be saved by the "Grandmaster." He knew quite a bit about this figure, whose reputation had seen considerable ups and downs, especially that classic line: There are no trash Martial Souls, only trash Soul Masters.
Many people quoted that line. At first, it was more of an inspirational saying, but later, people pointed out contradictions in the character's setting, and it took on an entirely different flavor.
He really hadn't expected to run straight into the "Grandmaster" himself before hearing about him from anyone else. He had once asked his parents to buy some information on Soul Masters, but aside from the most basic divisions of Soul Master ranks, the need to hunt Soul Beasts, and the different colors of Soul Rings, they hadn't been able to learn anything more. It wasn't even as much as Xiang Yang already knew.
It wasn't that anyone was deliberately keeping the information from them. The worlds of Soul Masters and ordinary people were simply too far apart. On top of that, Nuoding City wasn't a major city, and there weren't many Soul Masters to begin with. If they wanted to ask a Soul Master for help, never mind how they would find one—even if they did, how could they be sure the person was reliable? And how much would it cost? Offer too little and the person certainly wouldn't deign to help; offer too much and they would have to worry about being targeted. So they had eventually given up.
Watching Xiang Yang's expression change, Yu Xiaogang knew he had recognized him. "I have always firmly believed that there are no trash Martial Souls, only Soul Masters willing to be trash. I've spent many years researching Soul Master theory. Your situation just now was very unusual. That energy was of a very high quality. In anyone else, it would surely have been fatal, but you held out for so long and suffered no serious harm. That shows your physical strength and resistance to the fire attribute are both quite good. Your Martial Soul should be a fire-attribute Beast Martial Soul, right?"
Oh? Only Soul Masters willing to be trash? He had even guessed the attribute of Xiang Yang's Martial Soul. Although he wasn't entirely right, he wasn't far off. Could it be that the Douluo Xiang Yang had transmigrated into was based mainly on the comic's setting?
In the space of a few racing thoughts, he had already decided what to say. "Hello, Grandmaster. That energy is indeed connected to me. After I awakened my Martial Soul, I discovered there was some energy inside it... so I wanted to try refining it into Soul Power."
As long as he didn't mention the crucial details—exactly how much energy there was, where it came from, and that he could keep obtaining it—there was no great harm in it.
"A Plant-type Martial Soul, of all things. But what is this energy? Innate Soul Power? No, would Innate Soul Power remain inside a Martial Soul? But..." Yu Xiaogang soon sank into thought despite himself. Perhaps this was a common failing among researchers.
He didn't have much doubt about Xiang Yang's words, chiefly because Xiang Yang had now mostly recovered and was no longer as unsettled or unable to control his expression as when he had first woken. Moreover, in his view, Xiang Yang was merely a somewhat unusual six-year-old child. He had neither the need nor the ability to lie to him about this.
Several minutes passed unnoticed. There was too little information, and the system of Martial Soul Theory in this era was also far from complete. Yu Xiaogang simply couldn't reach any useful conclusion.
"Ah, forget it. I won't think about it for now." He took out the paper and pen he carried with him and wrote it down, then looked at Xiang Yang, whose body was gradually recovering. "You haven't eaten yet, have you? You need to build your strength back up. I'll take you to the cafeteria."
"All right, Grandmaster." He had no reason to refuse, and he was hungry too.
After the meal, Grandmaster gave him his address and told Xiang Yang to contact him if anything happened or if there were any results concerning that energy. He would also make time to look through relevant materials, and if the information Xiang Yang provided proved useful, he would pay him accordingly.
At the mention of payment, Xiang Yang immediately refused. A life-saving kindness deserved to be repaid with a gushing spring. He already felt somewhat guilty that he couldn't explain the situation truthfully, but his circumstances really were unusual, and he couldn't yet trust the other man. After all, Grandmaster was indeed a complicated figure. He could only say that he would let him know immediately if there was any news.
He had eaten a little too much, so he rested in the dormitory. In the end, he slept all the way until early the next morning.
After getting up, he took advantage of the cool weather, gathered the clothes he had changed out of the day before, and passed through the academy gates and along the streets back to the flower shop. He also scrounged a breakfast and chatted about what had happened at the academy the previous day. Of course, there was no need to mention that something had gone wrong with his cultivation; it would only make them worry and fear for him.
He helped move flowers and water them, and the morning soon passed.
Thinking back on his experience the day before, Xiang Yang had gained a better understanding of the sunlight energy after coming into contact with it twice and hearing what Yu Xiaogang had to say.
First, the quality of this energy should be around level thirty. Level thirty marked a major threshold. One could say that only after passing it could one truly witness the wonders of the Soul Master World. Only at level thirty could one obtain a Thousand-Year Soul Ring, and one could also begin to form a system out of one's skills.
He had too little Soul Power in his body, and the difference in quality was too great, which was why the situation had become so serious. He had assumed there would be no problem since the powers shared the same source and attribute. He had thought too simply.
The solutions weren't difficult or complicated. First, he could improve his physical condition. If his body was strong enough, he could even absorb a Thousand-Year Soul Ring directly, let alone this bit of energy. Second, he could raise his Soul Power Level. But the problem was that, at his normal cultivation speed, he would be seventeen or eighteen at the earliest before he reached level twenty, let alone level thirty. The years before twenty were the golden age for a Soul Master's cultivation. If one hadn't reached level thirty by then, there was a good chance one would be stuck there.
So he couldn't manage it on his own; he still had to start with external conditions. He had drawn inspiration from the wet cloths the day before. His rising body temperature had endangered his life because, ultimately, he had been shedding heat too slowly and there had been a difference between his internal and external temperatures.
In other words, he either had to cool down or equalize the temperatures.
He could try cultivating in water or in a high-temperature environment. In theory, either should work. For him, the latter could even theoretically count as a Mimicry Cultivation Environment.
He had come back today mainly because it was convenient for him to experiment here.
He had just tried it in the bathroom, and he had successfully refined the same amount of sunlight energy as on his second attempt the previous day.
He worked it out. The natural energy drawn in through normal cultivation had a very balanced mix of attributes, with every kind represented. The vast majority wasn't what he needed, and combined with the issue of quality, the final conversion rate was only one or two percent.
His method of cultivation, on the other hand, allowed him to skip the stage of gathering energy. Coupled with a conversion rate of around thirty percent, he estimated that reaching level ten in three years shouldn't be a problem. Moreover, in theory, the higher his level, the faster he could absorb it. Even if the later levels required more Soul Power to advance, his cultivation speed might be even faster than it was at the beginning.
Of course, that depended on the sunlight energy remaining plentiful at later levels. Otherwise, all those dreams would be flowers in a mirror and the moon reflected in water—beautiful dreams for an ugly face.
That afternoon, he returned to the academy with his dried clothes and found some books on Soul Beasts in the library, reading until dark. When he returned to the dormitory, he found the light inside was actually on. He walked closer and looked through the open door, seeing Yu Xiaogang sitting inside. He had no idea how long he had been waiting.
"You're back. Why are you so late? Where did you go? I looked for you in the teaching building and on the back mountain, but I couldn't find you. Nothing happened, did it?" He really was rather puzzled. He had spent quite some time looking for Xiang Yang and had even asked several teachers on duty, but he still hadn't found him, so he had no choice but to wait here.
"Hello, Grandmaster. I left the academy this morning, and afterward I was reading in the library the whole time. Did you need me for something?" Xiang Yang didn't know when Yu Xiaogang had begun looking for him.
"Hm? I didn't think of the library. It seems you have your own ideas about your Soul Ring. Oh, right. After I went back, it suddenly occurred to me that we could use water to cool you down. That would make refining that energy less difficult and dangerous." Yu Xiaogang was visibly eager. "I've already made preparations in my room. Come on, we're sure to succeed this time."
"Oh, is that so? All right, Grandmaster, I'll give it a try." Xiang Yang truly hadn't expected this Grandmaster to have the same idea as him. Although he had already put it into practice and gotten a result, he couldn't mention it. He had only said yesterday that he would report any news immediately, after all. Haha~
He had no choice but to follow him to the teachers' dormitory. As expected, he successfully cultivated in the pool again. Looking at Yu Xiaogang's excited expression, Xiang Yang thought that at least he wouldn't have to make preparations himself tonight.
"Good, good, good! Xiang Yang, cultivate normally this time and see whether your cultivation speed has increased." Seeing that he was still in decent spirits, Yu Xiaogang spoke to him. "Huh? All right, I'll try." A little puzzled, Xiang Yang tried as he asked, but he didn't feel any difference from his first time cultivating.
Yu Xiaogang didn't react much to this. "Perhaps it hasn't been long enough, and you haven't refined enough of that energy yet." He calmed himself, took a sip of water, and continued, "According to my conjecture, your Martial Soul should be a Mutated Martial Soul, and it mutated in a beneficial direction.
"That energy is very likely your Innate Soul Power. Because of some special circumstances that aren't clear yet, it didn't enter your body during your Martial Soul Awakening and instead remained inside your Martial Soul. If you finish refining all of it, your Innate Soul Power and corresponding cultivation talent may reach a fairly high level. I estimate it could be around level five, or perhaps even higher." He had calculated this based on the quality of Xiang Yang's Martial Soul. One of his theories was that Innate Soul Power was directly proportional to the quality of a Martial Soul.
Huh? This... Xiang Yang suddenly felt somewhat guilty. Because he had held back out of distrust, he had led the other man's thinking completely astray. If that were all, it wouldn't matter much, but it would be rather bad if it ended up affecting Yu Xiaogang's other research.
"Mm-hm, I understand, Grandmaster." For now, he could only go along with it. He would find a way to make it up to him later. "Good. You're tired too. Go back and get some rest early. I'll come see you again in a while."
"All right. Goodbye, Grandmaster." He had only just turned around after saying goodbye when he heard another voice behind him. "Oh, right. I have quite a few of the academy's books here, as well as some from my own collection. They're much more detailed than the ones at the academy. If you need them, you can come here to read." Yu Xiaogang had suddenly remembered Xiang Yang saying that he had been reading in the library earlier. Leaving aside the beneficial mutation of his Martial Soul, his ability to persist in learning had given Yu Xiaogang some ideas.
Xiang Yang didn't refuse. Knowledge was exactly what he needed now, and the more the better. After thanking him solemnly, he returned to the dormitory with somewhat complicated feelings. Although it felt a little as though the man was using him for experiments, his care and the kindness of saving his life were real.
A debt of gratitude is hard to repay. Let me think. If I could help him break through level twenty-nine, that would certainly do it, but how could I tell him about Immortal Herbs? No, no. What if I started with Martial Soul Theory instead? How should I go about it?
As he thought, his breathing gradually became steady. In his dream, Xiang Yang saw his Soul Power cultivation grow faster and faster. He became a great master of theory of his generation, acclaimed throughout the world, and ultimately ascended to the Divine Realm with everyone watching.