A Conversation Between Master and Disciple, Cultivating the Three Elements of Essence, Qi, and Spirit

After reviewing the battle, their discussion did not end. Rather, that had merely been the prelude; what came next was the truly important part.

"Yan, what do you think is your biggest problem right now?"

Though You Chen knew the answer, he would not simply hand it over. Instead, he chose to stimulate his disciple's thinking and let him ponder it himself.

A teacher was not only meant to impart knowledge to a disciple, but also to cultivate their ability to learn and think. This was especially true now, with his departure approaching.

The information from the battle review still lingered in Yan's mind, and his thoughts were particularly sharp at the moment.

Unlike usual, when he had to ponder deeply, he quickly gave his answer. "Teacher, is it my control over soul power? If I could have kept the Fire God Cannon from collapsing, I wouldn't have been completely overwhelmed in the first clash and left with almost no ability to fight back afterward."

You Chen nodded, then shook his head. "Your thinking isn't wrong. But more precisely, the issue is still your spiritual power."

Seeing the thoughtful look on Yan's face, You Chen continued, "You do not have that much time to keep improving your soul power control. At your current stage, this level is already more than sufficient. From here on, it is simply a matter of steady refinement."

As he explained, You Chen naturally borrowed Feng Xiaotian's story and told him about a genius with Innate Full Soul Power who had spent too much effort developing Self-Created Soul Skills and improving his soul power control, only to still be merely a level 44 Soul Ancestor in his twenties.

And after hearing that story...

"Innate Full Soul Power, level 44 at twenty!? Did that bastard spend twenty years living like a dog? Is that really the talent of Innate Full Soul Power? Teacher, you didn't just make that up to scare me, did you!?"

As someone without Innate Full Soul Power, Yan reckoned that reaching level 44 would not take him more than a few years. He could probably get there in two or three years. This story was far too absurd, wasn't it!?

You Chen silently scoffed to himself. Made up? In a few years, you'll see this legendary figure with your own eyes.

As for Feng Xiaotian's utterly brainless decision to suppress his level during his golden years because of his simp tendencies, there was no need to mention it.

He merely said meaningfully, "When you put effort into certain things and become immersed in them, you may realize without noticing that you have wasted quite a bit of time. Especially you young people—you don't know restraint. Only when you grow old will you be filled with regret."

"Teacher, why do I feel like there's a hidden meaning in your words?" A glimmer of wisdom flashed through Yan's eyes. He had long noticed that his teacher sometimes liked to suddenly say cryptic, unfathomable things.

"That must be your imagination."

You Chen coughed lightly and stopped letting the conversation drift. "In short, at your age, this level of soul power control is entirely sufficient. Over the next few years, there is no need to deliberately spend too much effort on it. After I leave, cut four-fifths of the time you spend on those daily exercises. It will be enough as long as your condition does not deteriorate.

"Spiritual power is different. Once your spiritual power rises, it can likewise improve your control over soul power. The training you did before was purely about technique and proficiency, while spiritual power improves your fundamental abilities. More importantly, soul power manipulation techniques can only improve your practical combat ability, whereas training your spiritual power can increase your cultivation efficiency."

"Teacher, I haven't forgotten that."

Yan nodded. "This is the cultivation of the three elements of essence, qi, and spirit that you mentioned."

You Chen nodded.

The Essence of Martial Souls in this world was a gift and miracle bestowed upon the world through the union of the three elements of essence, qi, and spirit.

Across the myriad heavens and worlds, the roots of most cultivation systems bore traces of this path.

Moreover, Douluo Continent possessed a certain foundation and style drawn from old wuxia novels. After spending some time and effort on it, You Chen had thoroughly confirmed that his conjecture was correct.

In this world, the three elements of essence, qi, and spirit referred respectively to the body, soul power, and spiritual power. More specifically, they were the body's vitality and essence, soul power, and spiritual will.

The reason Martial Soul Awakening only occurred at the age of six was not because the number six held any special significance, nor because the laws of the world dictated that martial souls could only awaken after six.

Rather, the body needed to develop to a certain degree so that it would not be too frail, while the mind also needed to reach an initial stage of maturity. Only when essence and qi had begun to mature could the final piece of the puzzle, soul power, be added, allowing the three elements of essence, qi, and spirit to achieve a relative balance and bring about Martial Soul Awakening.

Otherwise, there could easily be hidden dangers from congenital deficiencies.

For example, Huo Yuhao in Douluo II suffered oppression at the Duke's Mansion. His physical essence was insufficient due to inadequate bodily development, while his spiritual power was excessive, resulting in deficient Innate Soul Power.

Then there were most body martial souls. Because their martial souls were initially relatively weak bodies, the martial soul became the complete manifestation of a soul master's three elements of essence, qi, and spirit. Yet a body martial soul was only one part of the body, meaning its essence attribute amounted to only a portion of the whole. Thus, their essence was insufficient, and their Innate Soul Power was generally low.

Conversely, if the body and spiritual will developed early enough to reach the baseline, there would be no hidden dangers in awakening early rather than waiting until the age of six. This had already been verified by Spirit Hall.

Therefore, the cultivation of martial souls was, in essence, the cultivation of the three elements of essence, qi, and spirit. The three had a mutually reinforcing relationship.

Tempering the body, cultivating soul power, and honing spiritual will—if any one of them lagged behind, it would affect the overall cultivation speed. Conversely, improving any one of them could indirectly drive the improvement of the other two.

However, if one relied solely on a single advantage to pull along the weaker aspects that lagged behind, side effects would often emerge over time. This was commonly known as an unstable foundation.

The proper and righteous path was for all three to advance together.

In truth, You Chen had not kept this knowledge to himself. Related works had already been published in Spirit Hall's journals many years ago.

However, he had only been fourteen at the time, and he had merely proposed a conjecture. It received far less attention than Another Use for Whale Jelly, which could directly benefit soul masters.

By the time he completed his verification and published the organized material as a book, the change in the Pope's position was soon at hand.

For certain unspoken reasons, that book into which he had poured his heart and soul was buried away and sealed by Spirit Hall. Perhaps only Spirit Hall's true upper ranks knew its contents.

But while books could be forbidden from circulation, knowledge remained in his mind.

After taking on a disciple, he naturally concealed nothing. He even added the new insights he had gained over the years and taught everything to Yan.

At the same time, he told Yan that most of this knowledge had been written in that work. However, Spirit Hall regarded that work as a forbidden book, so the related knowledge absolutely could not be passed on to others—not even to his two childhood sweethearts.

Otherwise, disaster might follow.