Dantian? Soul Nest

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"Ow, Bro, not bad! As expected of my brother!" Chen Xiaojun reacted the fastest and immediately chimed in.

When Ye Xiuxin heard this, she also smiled happily and asked, "Oldest, when did you break through? Come, release your Soul Power and let grandfather and Mom sense it."

"Mm, okay." With that, Chen Jianjun released his Soul Power, and it began to ripple.

"Indeed. Good, good, good!" Chen Yu looked extremely gratified.

Joy was hard to hide in Ye Xiuxin's gentle voice as she said, "Your father has been gone for more than half a year. When he comes back and learns you've broken through to Soul Elder, he'll definitely be very happy."

Soul Elder was different from the previous Soul Master and Soul Grandmaster stages. After all, it was the first major bottleneck on a Soul Master's path: breaking through the Soul Nest.

A Soul Elder at nearly twelve years old, and one from the Seven Kill Sword Family who practiced the Upright Sword Qi Technique at that.

The Seven Kill Sword was born with killing intent. To build a solid foundation and prevent an unstable base in the future, where killing intent would backfire on the Soul Master, the first-generation ancestor Chen Xili had created the Upright Sword Qi Technique, which generations of ancestors had then perfected to replace the old Meditation Method.

Combined with the Seven Kill Qi Restraint Technique, it restrained killing intent and solidified the foundation, making the sharp, cutting Soul Power within that killing intent far more upright and peaceful, while expanding and nourishing the meridians and organs.

The only problem was that the conversion efficiency of Soul Power was somewhat slow. In past years, Seven Kill Sword Family Soul Masters who only cultivated to Soul Elder at fourteen or fifteen were everywhere.

Chen Jianjun also said with a happy look, "I broke through the day before yesterday."

"Good. How is your body? Is anything wrong? Although breaking through to Soul Elder isn't too difficult, damaging your meridians would be bad. Xiuxin, check him over," Chen Yu said, turning his head to instruct his mother.

Ye Xiuxin was a Soul Emperor-level support and healing-type Soul Master, and this was her specialty.

Chen Jianjun waved his hand and said, "No need, no need, grandfather. Everything's fine."

"Let your mother check your body!" Chen Yu still insisted on a physical examination.

Ye Xiuxin stood up and came before his older brother. A trace of blue light flashed in the palm of her right hand, and she pressed it against his older brother's left palm, the two standing palm to palm.

After a while, Ye Xiuxin lowered her hand, let out a breath, and slowly said, "Mm, there's nothing wrong with the meridians. They're slightly stiff, but after a few days of nourishing—two or three days—they'll be fine. Although the Seven Kill Sword Qi has been converted, when it strikes at a bottleneck, it is still fierce. Hmm, the Lower Soul Nest has indeed opened."

"Jianjun, Mom congratulates you."

"Grandfather, Mother, what is a Soul Nest?" Chen Xiaojun, who was beside them, immediately caught the key point.

Chen Yu slowly began to explain, "A Soul Nest is where Soul Power and Mental Power intersect. It is hidden within the body, not inside the meridians, yet connected to them, and it can store Soul Power and Mental Power.

Before becoming a Soul Elder, our Soul Power is stored in the meridians, but how much can the meridians store? In truth, not much. Through exploration, our predecessors found the place where the Martial Soul usually hides within our body, refined it through the Martial Soul, and stored it in that place.

Don't be fooled by how small this place looks from the outside. In truth, it can contain Mount Sumeru in a mustard seed; the space inside is very large, and it can be expanded. It can become infinitely large.

That is why the Soul Master World calls it a Soul Nest, meaning the nest where the Martial Soul resides and where Soul Power is stored.

There are three Soul Nests in total: Lower, Middle, and Upper. At the Soul Elder stage, one needs to fully open the Soul Nest where the Martial Soul resides. For us Tool Martial Souls, we open the Lower Soul Nest, located a little below the navel; Beast Martial Souls have the Middle Soul Nest, located slightly above the center of the chest.

The exact location must be sensed and searched for by yourself. Others cannot help you, unless your Soul Nest has already been opened; only then can someone else perceive it.

This is also why the Soul Master World has only classified Martial Souls as Beast Martial Souls and Tool Martial Souls to this day. It is not merely because Beast Martial Souls can possess the body while Tool Martial Souls leave the body as an external manifestation.

The Soul Nest is normally invisible, and closed as well. In truth, it is not completely sealed. When we use an Awakening Stone to guide out the Martial Soul during Martial Soul awakening, the nest gate of the Soul Nest is shattered, so there is still a small gap connecting it to the outside. This is the basis of our perception.

Only by sensing it and completely forcing open the nest gate through the meridians with that tiny connection, without greatly damaging the related meridians and Soul Nest, can one be called a Soul Elder and cross the first great threshold of a Soul Master.

After becoming a Soul Elder, one slowly expands the connected meridians and purifies the quality of Soul Power through the Martial Soul. Only then can the later Soul Master ranks be raised."

Holy crap, isn't this just the Lower Dantian and Middle Dantian? So in this world it's called a Soul Nest. Makes sense. It couldn't very well still be called a Dantian on Douluo Continent. This name really does have Soul Master characteristics. Chen Xiaojun inwardly ridiculed it, then continued asking, "grandfather, what about the Upper Soul Nest?"

"The Upper Soul Nest is different from the Middle and Lower Soul Nests. What the Upper Soul Nest mainly stores is Mental Power. Within the Upper Soul Nest is a sea of Mental Power, which we call the Sea of Consciousness. When we mobilize Mental Power for spiritual perception and operation, that is soul consciousness.

Everyone has a Sea of Consciousness, and when we meditate, we consume soul consciousness. Only after resting and recovering can we meditate and cultivate.

Only Soul Masters who have reached Soul Sage-level mental strength can open the Upper Soul Nest, because striking at it relies primarily on Mental Power.

It is different from the Middle and Lower Soul Nests, which are forced open from the outside in. Instead, the Upper Soul Nest is the opposite, struck from the inside out. In this regard, Spirit Type Soul Masters have the advantage.

In the current Soul Master World, there are no particularly good Mental Power cultivation methods. Aside from Head Soul Bones, some Natural Treasures, and a scant few other things, one can only rely on the accumulation of Mental Power over time: meditation, Mental Power consumption, recovery, then consumption again, recovery again, letting it naturally grow day by day along with the Soul Master's rank.

This is the second threshold of Soul Master cultivation!"

All right, sure enough, it's the Upper Dantian. Looks like even though these are two worlds, it matches the upper, middle, and lower Dantians from the legends of my previous life. In that case, the human body is still more or less the same; it's just the power system that's different, Chen Xiaojun pondered.

"Then grandfather, what is the third threshold for Soul Masters?"

Chen Yu paused, took a sip of the tea Ye Xiuxin had brewed, and said, "A Soul Master's Martial Soul is in the Soul Nest. Tool Martial Souls are in the Lower Soul Nest, and Beast Martial Souls are in the Middle Soul Nest. But deep within the Mental Sea of Consciousness in the Upper Soul Nest, there is an illusory body identical to the Martial Soul, called the Illusory Soul.

Only when a Soul Douluo's Soul Power is complete, their physical blood and qi are abundant, and they further comprehend will, sublimating their Mental Power, can they guide the Martial Soul Entity and the illusory Illusory Soul to merge, sublimating the Martial Soul and liquefying Soul Power. Only then can they break through level 90 and become a Titled Douluo.

This threshold blocks the vast majority of Soul Douluo. It is difficult beyond difficult!"

Haha, as expected, it matches the Daoist cultivation steps from my previous life: refining essence into qi, refining qi into spirit, and refining spirit to return to void. The Daoist Sect emphasizes Dao Follows Nature and comprehending the Dao of heaven and earth. The final Refining Void to Unite with the Dao is probably the key to breakthroughs in the later Titled Douluo stages.

Seeing Chen Xiaojun looking like a thoughtful little adult, Chen Yu turned his head toward his older brother and said, "Jianjun, grandfather will take you to kill a soul beast. Have you decided what soul beast you want?"

Chen Jianjun thought for a moment, then said, "For my third soul ring, according to my Soul Master path plan, I want a skill that mainly boosts speed, of the Wind Attribute or light attribute. Wind Attribute would be best, leaning toward offensive cutting ability.

I remember grandfather mentioning that deep in Shaolin Mountain, there are Azure Gale Grey Wolves and Hurricane Demon Wolves that have advanced from Gale Wolves. We can look for those. Or perhaps bird-type soul beasts, such as the Shuttle Light Sparrow or White-Headed Gyrfalcon, though avian raptors are a little hard to find."

Chen Yu thought it over and said, "That's all right. Mountains are different from forests; there will be a few more birds, especially large raptors.

But the Azure Gale Grey Wolf you chose is not bad. There may not necessarily be a Hurricane Demon Wolf around fifteen hundred years old, but grandfather knows where Azure Gale Grey Wolves are. It isn't too far. If we go and come back quickly, we can still return before your younger brother's awakening day."

Chen Yu turned back and instructed Ye Xiuxin, "Xiuxin, I will set out with Jianjun in the next day or two. When Chen Xun returns, tell him."

"All right, Father. There's no rush. We can wait until you come back before awakening Xiaojun," Ye Xiuxin answered.

Then Chen Yu told Chen Xiaojun, "Xiaojun, soak in the Medicinal Bath again later today, and soak once more the day before your awakening. Your body's toughness is already quite good now. It seems your body is very well suited to the ancestral Medicinal Bath; the effect is excellent. This will benefit your Martial Soul awakening."

"All right, grandfather. I wish you and Bro everything goes smoothly."

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