Body Sect

A Body Martial Soul's Second Awakening was no simple matter.

The principle behind it was actually quite straightforward: challenge the body's limits, thereby ushering in the Martial Soul's transformation.

In theory, one could undergo brutally inhuman trials in a short period of time to achieve a Martial Soul Second Awakening. However, the limits that needed to be challenged were simply too harsh, often accompanied by an extremely high mortality rate.

By comparison, the Body Sect's inheritance in this era was much more reliable. Through repeatedly striving to surpass the body's limit for bearing Soul Rings, one gradually broke through the Martial Soul's restrictions. After repeating this process many times, one could slowly open the door to a Martial Soul Second Awakening.

Although surpassing one's limit for bearing Soul Rings sounded even more absurd, it was actually safer for Soul Masters with Body Martial Souls.

In summary, it came down to one point.

"A Body Martial Soul is the Martial Soul that receives feedback from its Soul Master the fastest, so the success rate of absorbing Soul Rings beyond one's limits is extremely high."

"So before I obtain a Soul Ring, I need to determine the range of my physical capabilities as accurately as possible."

Chen Ming's words greatly pleased Lei Zhen.

"Not bad."

"Body Martial Souls also provide feedback to their Soul Masters, making their physical qualities generally superior to those of other Soul Masters. Compared to Beast Martial Soul Masters, we hold a greater advantage, because passive enhancement accounts for a far larger proportion of the strengthening provided by Body Martial Souls."

"Your Body Martial Soul even possesses Innate Full Soul Power, so your limit definitely isn't merely a little over four hundred years. I can't simply take you to absorb a five-hundred-year Soul Ring."

"Perhaps your limit is seven hundred years. We need to seek out an eight-hundred- or even nine-hundred-year Soul Ring."

The next day.

Lei Zhen took the two of them away from the Mad Saber Sect.

Yuan Liu accompanied them as well.

Yuan Liu's Martial Soul was very peculiar. It was a type of energy he called Flow, capable of circulating through every part of his body as though it were originally a part of him. Yet it could also be extracted and infused into weapons.

It seemed to belong to the category of Body Martial Souls, yet it was also suited for cultivating Weapon Martial Souls. Perhaps even the support-oriented path could be attempted.

Yuan Liu had taken Lei Zhen as his master, and his direction went without saying: he cultivated both the body and blade techniques.

Their journey spanned nearly half the continent. Starting from the southeastern region of the Star Luo Empire, they passed through the Star Dou Great Forest, with Heaven Dou City in the Heaven Dou Empire as their destination.

Ten days later.

The four of them arrived at the Star Dou Great Forest.

Keeping to the outskirts and circling around the Star Dou Great Forest's core, they traveled onward while searching for a suitable Soul Ring for Chen Dong.

The Star Dou Great Forest truly deserved its reputation as Douluo Continent's largest gathering place for soul beasts. Even though its area had shrunk repeatedly over the past ten thousand years, it still contained the greatest variety and largest number of soul beasts on the entire continent.

The four had a clear route, and they found a suitable Soul Ring for Chen Dong along the way, without wasting much time.

Chen Dong's first Soul Ring came from a four-hundred-year-old Thunder Horned Rhinoceros. It opened the door to the lightning attribute for his Wolf Lord Martial Soul and also granted him a powerful burst-type soul skill.

After obtaining his first Soul Ring, Chen Dong's Soul Power Level was finally revealed: it was as high as Level 19.

Yes, Level 19!

He only needed to cultivate for a while longer, and he had hope of obtaining his second Soul Ring within a year. Before the age of thirty, he might even have a chance of breaking through Level 30.

Heaven Dou City.

After more than a month of travel, the group of four finally arrived at their destination.

By now, two months had already passed since Chen Ming awakened his Martial Soul.

In a valley outside Heaven Dou City, the scenery was beautiful, and wisps of blue smoke rose from within the valley.

Upon entering the valley, it felt as if they were being scorched beneath the blazing sun.

The surrounding steep cliffs resembled the walls of a furnace, gathering all the heat within.

What gathered there was not merely heat, but the yang energy between heaven and earth. The supremely yang and unyielding power converged here, making the entire valley highly suitable for physical cultivation.

At the center of the valley stood an ordinary-looking village.

At the village entrance hung a plaque bearing the name of the Body Sect.

"So this is the Body Sect?"

Chen Dong looked around. At that moment, his heart felt hot and restless, and he had the urge to vent his feelings by fiercely swinging his broad, sturdy saber.

"Little Ming, let's go. I'll take you to meet the Sect Master."

A Body Martial Soul with Innate Full Soul Power, discovered at the age of six—such a child was a treasure even within the entire Body Sect.

He would undoubtedly become the Sect Master's personal disciple!

In fact, Du Busi, the dignified Sect Master, had been interrupted during his seclusion by the sect elders because they had received the information Lei Zhen had sent ahead.

At this moment, Du Busi was all smiles as he waited at the village entrance.

Du Busi was tall and broad, with long dark-green hair cascading down his back. However, there was no hair atop his head. His face was as smooth as a baby's, with few wrinkles, yet his pair of dark-green eyes held the weight of age.

"Sect Master!"

Lei Zhen respectfully bowed.

"So this is my precious disciple?"

As Du Busi spoke, he had already stepped before Chen Ming and began feeling him over from head to toe.

In no time at all, he had grasped seven or eight tenths of Chen Ming's condition.

"Little Zhen, you did well. You didn't rashly take him to obtain a soul ring."

There was a suppressed excitement in Du Busi's voice.

"His physical constitution surpasses mine when I was at level ten!"

Du Busi's own cultivation had not been perfect either, as the Body Sect had only discovered him after he had obtained two soul rings. Thus, his first two soul rings had followed the conventional route. Fortunately, his luck had been good—one was four hundred years, and the other seven hundred.

Lei Zhen's mouth twitched.

Being addressed like that was rather awkward for him.

Especially with his own disciple standing right there.

Du Busi was extremely excited.

From his preliminary assessment, Chen Ming's physical constitution was even stronger than Long Aotian's had been when he first began absorbing his first soul ring.

Although he had already reached level ten, there was still room for further development. The Body Sect was fully capable of raising Chen Ming's physical constitution even further.

Perhaps they could attempt a Thousand-Year First Ring!

"Good disciple, you haven't even formally acknowledged me as your master yet!"

Du Busi's gaze burned brightly. There was no intimidation in his dark green eyes; instead, they seemed somewhat gentle.

Chen Ming took a deep breath. Without hesitation, he respectfully performed a bow.

"Master."

"Yes, yes, good disciple!" Du Busi did not hide his emotions at all; his joy was written all over his face.

He took Chen Ming by the hand and led him toward the sect compound within the village.

"Little Zhen already told you about the key points of cultivating a Body Martial Soul, right?"

"Brother Lei explained them all to me," Chen Ming said.

Lei Zhen was of a junior generation compared to Du Busi, so during the journey, he had told Chen Ming to address him as Brother Lei.

"Mm. The advantage of a Body Martial Soul lies in surpassing limits, so one thing is especially important: raising our limits."

"The higher our innate limits, the more our Body Martial Souls can help us surpass them. With each soul ring accumulated, the gap becomes unimaginably vast."

"Our Body Sect may lack other things, but we have no shortage of secret techniques for tempering the body. You needn't rush to obtain your first soul ring. Spend some time tempering yourself in the sect first. Your master has high hopes for you."

Chen Ming remained silent along the way.

He understood what Du Busi meant.

That was more or less what he himself had hoped for by joining the Body Sect.

With the Body Sect's training, fusing a thousand-year soul ring as his first soul ring would not be a problem.

As for whether pursuing the breaking of conventional soul ring limits despite possessing the Soul Ring Filling Method was redundant?

Of course not!

The higher a soul ring's age, the greater its enhancement to the martial soul, the more powerful its soul skill effects, and the more solid the foundation of those soul skills. They would also be easier to develop and use.

To soul masters in the later stages, a thousand-year soul ring might seem like nothing special. But for a martial soul that had only just reached level ten, a thousand-year soul ring was completely beyond the standard. Its enhancement to a martial soul at this stage could not be judged by comparing it to the improvement a thousand-year soul ring brought to a late-stage martial soul.

"For the next few days, I'll familiarize you with techniques for using your martial soul and teach you the Body Sect's methods of tempering the body."

"Unfortunately, your body hasn't developed enough yet. You can't use something like Whale Rubber."

Chen Ming joined the Body Sect but would not follow the Heaven Dou Empire's path. The next two chapters would explain why; the Body Sect itself did not want to be bound to them.