You Chen's Cultivation

There was still a month before the official start of term.

But You Chen was in no hurry to complete Yu Xiaogang's task.

Hurry when it was time to hurry; take things slowly when it was time to take things slowly.

You Chen understood that excessive impatience and anxiety could easily ruin things.

He had always been decisive when making decisions, but when it came to carrying them out, he proceeded cautiously, step by step.

About half a month remained before Notting City Elementary Academy officially began classes. During that time, Xiao Wu had completed her enrollment procedures and moved into the academy dormitory.

Naturally, it was not Dorm Seven from the original story.

She had enrolled through the proper paid channel and lived with students from the same grade.

However, You Chen had told Xiao Wu in advance that, because the elementary academy's students were still young, its dormitories did not separate students by gender.

He was making the unpleasant truth clear beforehand, so she would not come back asking him for help after finding herself unable to get used to it.

Some noble children could not adapt to the academy dormitories, so they simply lived at home and commuted to school.

Xiao Wu had already resolved not to grow too close to You Chen, so she shook her head and said she did not mind.

After sending the child off to school, You Chen officially began work as well.

Under the branch hall's rotating leave policy, he only needed to be on duty for less than two weeks each month. He was also allowed to take leave and adjust his shift schedule.

These were all privileges of a Yellow-robed Deacon.

The Branch Hall Master, who was also yellow-robed, was different. Though his daily working hours were much more flexible, he had to remain stationed within Spirit Hall every day.

Accordingly, his authority, salary, and resources were all substantially greater.

That was the balance between authority and responsibility.

Overall, the branch hall's work was quite leisurely.

Most trivial matters were handled by White-robed Deacons. As a Yellow-robed Deacon, You Chen only needed to intervene in major incidents such as disasters caused by fallen soul masters or soul beast attacks.

Spirit Hall's prestige was currently at its peak, and very few fallen soul masters dared to show themselves casually.

Thus, the only situations that generally required You Chen's deployment were soul beast disasters the city lord could not handle and needed Spirit Hall's help to address.

Notting City was located in a remote area, and such disasters might not occur even once in several years.

As a result, You Chen was essentially idle throughout his workdays, merely changing locations for his cultivation.

You Chen's daily cultivation regimen could roughly be divided into the following categories.

First, improving his Soul Power Level.

Second, training his ability to control soul power.

Third, training his body while practicing the Cloud Movement Fist along the way.

Fourth, training his spiritual power, primarily through the Distraction Control Soul Refining Art, supplemented by the Soul Shocking Tactic.

Fifth, cultivating the Aura Concealment Art.

Sixth, researching the source power of his martial soul.

It could be said that every day of You Chen's life was packed full with cultivation.

For an ordinary person, such a terrifying cultivation schedule would be overwhelming even if they kept it up for only a day or two, and they would be unable to ensure efficient cultivation.

But You Chen was different.

Leaving aside his exceptionally powerful spiritual power, far beyond that of ordinary people.

These six cultivation tasks did not have to be practiced separately, one by one.

Many of them could be cultivated together, even integrated with one another, allowing insights gained in one area to benefit another.

Naturally, the Distraction Control Soul Refining Art played an indispensable role in this.

By dividing his mind for multiple uses, You Chen could already cultivate the three elements of Essence, Qi, and Spirit—soul power, body, and spiritual power—in parallel without them interfering with one another.

Of course, the Distraction Control Soul Refining Art was not without cost, nor could it be used continuously around the clock.

Aside from consuming several times more spiritual power, as one would expect, it also consumed a type of energy that the world of soul masters had never noticed or defined: "mental energy."

Simply put, if this art was used too often, one could feel mentally exhausted even if one still had ample spiritual power.

If used without restraint, one might even become extremely urbanized and develop YuYu Syndrome...

Based on You Chen's experience using it, the upper limit of this "mental energy" should be related to a person's spiritual will. But this was indeed rather mysterious, and even You Chen found it difficult to quantify.

He only knew that willpower did not increase simply because spiritual power increased, though the stronger one's spiritual power was, the faster it could improve.

Given You Chen's spiritual power, the strength of his will was naturally not low. As long as he did not abuse this art, there would basically be no problem.

During this period, his most important gains lay in two areas.

The Fifth Soul Skill You Chen had obtained from the Wind Spirit was called Wind Dragon's Roar.

It was an entirely offensive skill. After You Chen's testing, its power fully lived up to its twenty-four-thousand-year cultivation age.

Used on its own, it was powerful enough to threaten a six-ringed Soul Emperor.

But the soul skill was only one aspect; the soul ring itself had also strengthened his martial soul to a certain extent.

When soul masters absorbed soul rings, even if they were not among the first three rings, their martial souls would still undergo changes.

It was simply that the first three rings more often altered the martial soul's very essence, whereas the fourth, fifth, and sixth soul rings mostly strengthened it upon its existing foundation.

In a sense, the latter was the "normal" situation.

The former was like the strengthening brought by a soul ring merely making something "larger," yet causing the martial soul to grow entirely new limbs. It was not a normal occurrence.

You Chen's Fifth Soul Ring naturally leaned more toward the ordinary case.

It brought two main changes to the Stardust Dragon martial soul.

First, a tiny organ capable of storing energy appeared in the Stardust Dragon's mouth. It was essentially an evolution the martial soul had undergone to better release its Fifth Soul Skill.

Second, a thin membrane appeared over the martial soul's skin. It could reduce wind resistance, thereby increasing You Chen's speed. This was an evolution suited to the Wind Spirit's traits.

These minor evolutions did indeed raise the Stardust Dragon martial soul's strength, but its overall rating remained within its original range. It was not a qualitative transformation.

Even the numerical improvement in his physical attributes brought by the soul ring itself currently surpassed the effects of the martial soul's changes.

But this was not what concerned You Chen.

He was satisfied with the increase in wind-element power, but his original purpose had been to experience Shooting Sonic through the process of creating a Self-Created Soul Skill, and to comprehend the source power of the Stardust Dragon!

His control over the source power of his martial soul was still far from reaching the next stage, but he had indeed gained something.

Now, for his first three soul skills, each below the ten-thousand-year level, You Chen could already use preliminary simplified versions without relying on soul rings, merely by drawing upon the martial soul's own power!

However... this was not solely the result of simulating Shooting Sonic through a Self-Created Soul Skill.

There was also the Aura Concealment Art!

Considering Tang Hao's existence, even though there was a ninety-nine percent chance that the man would not attack him, You Chen still instinctively wanted to conceal himself better from someone who might begin appearing around here.

That sense of urgency became pressure and motivation, causing You Chen to work exceptionally hard on the Aura Concealment Art during this period.

He had completely squeezed out his own potential.

Although he had not yet cultivated it to the Minor Accomplishment stage, during the process, You Chen had finally discovered the art's hidden effect.

It was training one's control over soul power!