The Cheat Is Here!

A few days later, Oscar returned after successfully obtaining his First Soul Ring.

Just like in the Original Work, Oscar had still obtained the Recovery Great Sausage.

The pleasant surprise was that, with no one to teach him about Spirit cultivation, Oscar had been practicing on his own all this time. After obtaining his Soul Ring, he had directly advanced to Level Nineteen.

He had always thought Soul Rings would appear on their own. If he had failed to break through, it must have been because he had not worked hard enough.

Amid Oscar's smug boasting, Xia Tianling and his little companions officially began their cultivation at Spirit Hall Academy. Cultivation at their age was fairly simple: theory lessons in the morning and independent practice in the afternoon.

When afternoon practice arrived, Xia Tianling declined the teacher's guidance and dragged Little Fatty and Oscar into a cultivation room all to themselves.

"Fatty, whenever you try cultivating on your own, do you always feel an inexplicable fire rising in your lower abdomen, forcing you to lose focus and causing you a great deal of trouble in your cultivation?"

"Yeah, Brother Ling. How did you know?" Ma Hongjun was rather puzzled. He had never told Brother Ling about it, so how had he known?

"You don't need to worry about that. I'm going to pass you a Soul Power cultivation formula now. Just practice according to it, and don't use that meditation formula from before anymore."

Xia Tianling took out a Jade Slip and handed it to Ma Hongjun, motioning for him to press it against his forehead.

Little Fatty did as he was told and immediately felt a massive stream of information surge into his mind.

How to resolve Ma Hongjun's Evil Fire was something Xia Tianling had considered long ago. If they had to rely on the Cockscomb Phoenix Sunflower and the Inner Core of the Ten Headed Fierce Yang Serpent, who knew how long that would take? If Fatty could control his Evil Fire early, surpassing the cultivation speed he had in the Original Work would be effortless.

When in doubt, just make a wish.

The system was extremely reliable and quickly offered two solutions.

The first was to cultivate an orthodox Buddhist Cultivation Method or an orthodox Daoist Profound Art. The former suppressed desire, while the latter emphasized tranquility and inaction. The characteristics of both methods could suppress the Evil Fire within Ma Hongjun. Once he reached a profound level of cultivation in the future, such as after becoming a Soul Saint, he would be able to completely cleanse away the Evil Fire.

The second was to cultivate a technique known as the Phoenix Fire Technique. This technique originated from a powerful being with Phoenix Bloodline from an unknown plane.

The greatest benefit of this technique was that it could turn the Evil Fire within one's body to one's own use and refine it into Natal True Fire.

Once the Phoenix Fire Technique was initiated, the refinement could be completed. From then on, the Evil Fire would become one of the characteristics of the true fire within his body, allowing him to control it at will. It would naturally become one of Ma Hongjun's methods for facing enemies rather than an obstacle to his cultivation.

Once Ma Hongjun's cultivation reached the Soul Saint stage, which was after the seventh layer of the Phoenix Fire Technique, he would undergo a transformation and enter a state of Nirvana.

After being reborn through Nirvana, the Evil Fire within his body would be completely removed along with that death, while his Natal True Fire would be purified and evolve into true Phoenix Fire.

In the terms of Douluo Continent, that meant—Ultimate Fire. The Evil Fire Phoenix Spirit would also transform into a true Fire Phoenix Spirit, peerless beneath the heavens.

Seeing Ma Hongjun receive such benefits, Oscar could no longer sit still. Laughing and joking, he wrapped his arms around Xia Tianling's arm.

"Boss, I was the first one to follow you. You can't forget about me, Little Ao!" Ever since Xia Tianling had stopped him from calling him brother, he had switched to calling him Boss. As he spoke, he conjured a Sausage in his hand. "Boss, try it. It's my First Spirit Skill, and it's delicious."

"You won't be left out."

Xia Tianling shot him an annoyed glare, then took out another Jade Slip and handed it to him. At the same time, he accepted the Sausage from Oscar and took a bite. It was indeed quite tasty.

Honestly, what was so unacceptable about Oscar's First Spirit Skill incantation? On Douluo Continent, where even men and women could sleep together and customs were so open, someone actually could not accept a single Spirit Incantation?

Oscar had seen how Ma Hongjun had done it before, so he followed suit and pressed the Jade Slip to his forehead.

Compared to the Evil Fire within Fatty's body, opening Oscar's cheat was much easier. What Xia Tianling gave him was the cultivation method for the Martial Golden Body.

Martial Artists cultivated qi and blood, focusing on developing the Acupoints within their bodies.

As a Food System Support Spirit Master, Oscar lacked means of self-defense and offense. The Martial Golden Body, however, was among the most formidable types of martial arts techniques. It tempered the body, circulated qi and blood, and developed the hidden treasures within the body.

Once the body was developed to a certain extent, qi would be like mountains and blood like mercury. Every breath would subtly align with heaven, earth, and nature. The Acupoints throughout the body would be without leakage, while spirit and Flesh and Blood would become one, as solid as gold and stone.

Of course, Martial Artist cultivation was far more grueling than Fatty's. Not only did one need to temper the body, circulate qi and blood, and practice martial techniques, one also needed to use large quantities of precious Herbs for Medicinal Baths. Why else was there the saying, Poverty in Learning, Wealth in Martial Arts? If he had not had Spirit Hall backing him, Oscar would need nearly ten years merely to get started without Medicinal Baths aiding his cultivation.

Martial Arts Cultivation could rapidly improve Oscar's physical qualities, allowing him to withstand stronger Soul Rings. It would give him means of self-defense and offense while also promoting the growth of his Soul Power, accomplishing several things at once.

Xia Tianling could already imagine the future Continental Elite Spirit Master Tournament. On the surface, Little Ao would be a support-type Spirit Master, chewing on a Sausage while knocking those Assault System Spirit Masters flat with one punch each until they wailed for their parents.

Sausage-selling Oscar competing with the Evil-Eyed White Tiger Dai Mubai in strength—hehe, that scene would definitely be interesting! Little San, Little San, your brother had prepared a great gift for you a few years from now! He only hoped Tang San would not be crushed beyond recovery when the time came.

Boom!

Just as Xia Tianling was planning how to properly "dote on" Tang San in the future, an aura erupted from Ma Hongjun beside him.

A faint phantom of a phoenix formed from purplish-red flames appeared around his body, then faded away.

Ma Hongjun opened his eyes and cried out in delight, "Brother Ling! I've gotten started! I'm already Level Ten!" As he spoke, he waved his arms about, showing Xia Tianling the wisp of Natal True Fire he had just refined.

"Not bad. Go report to Teacher Li and have him take you to obtain your First Soul Ring."

"Alright! I'm off!" Little Fatty shouted excitedly as he jogged away to report the good news to the teacher in charge of them.

Xia Tianling smiled and shook his head. Without that lecherous air about him, Little Fatty was quite amusing, full of vitality. He would have to educate him properly in the future and make sure he did not grow crooked. There was no need to worry about Little Ao, though. In the Original Work, he had run wild alongside Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun for so long, yet his personality had not changed much.

Oscar gradually woke after receiving the Martial Golden Body cultivation method, his face full of worry.

Unlike the Phoenix Fire Technique, which showed results as soon as one started cultivating it, martial arts cultivation required painstaking effort accumulated over time. Moreover, eight-year-old Oscar was already a little old for it, so achieving success would require even more hard work.

Still, worried as he was, Oscar had no intention of giving up.

After a morning of study, Oscar had gained a rough understanding of the profession of Spirit Masters. He knew clearly that granting a Food System Spirit Master offensive ability was practically a heaven-reaching method, a stroke of fortune one could not find outside even with a lantern.

Was it not just putting in more hard work? As long as it did not kill him, he would train himself to death! With offensive ability, what did a little hardship matter? After all, no Spirit Master did not yearn for great strength. If one could become strong, who would be willing to be weak?