The Beginning of Training

The first thing the two saw when they stepped out of the house was Village Chief Ye. However, they could clearly sense that he was different today. Whether it was his gaze or his expression, he seemed colder and sterner than they remembered.

Village Chief Ye looked at them and said, "You got up a little later than usual today. I'll let it slide this time, but I hope you'll get up earlier tomorrow. After eating, food needs time to digest, so you can't exercise right away. From now on, Grandma Ling and I will have the food ready before sunrise. But if you haven't arrived after half an hour, training will begin without you. Do you understand?"

There was none of Village Chief Ye's usual gentleness in his voice today. Instead, he carried an air of both authority and pressure, making him seem less like an old man and more like a peerless powerhouse who had weathered countless battles. Perhaps this was what the village chief was like when teaching younger Soul Masters.

The pressure in Village Chief Ye's words immediately made the two tense up. They answered in unison, "Yes, we understand."

"Very good. That answer satisfies me. Although you cannot begin physical training yet, you can start by practicing meditation. Meditation training is the foundation of a Soul Master's cultivation. Using meditation to increase Spiritual Power and Soul Power is the most common cultivation method, whether one is a top-tier expert or an unknown nobody. You must meditate continuously for at least forty minutes. Find your own locations. Choosing a suitable place to cultivate is also a skill a Soul Master should possess. You must find one within ten minutes. Once you begin sitting in meditation, you are not allowed to get up until the forty minutes are over."

Hearing a tone completely unlike his usual one, the two had no choice but to begin searching for a suitable place to meditate.

"Brother Feng, Grandpa is so fierce today. He's never been this strict with us before." Ye Hongling's tone was clearly dissatisfied. She still preferred the gentle Grandpa Ye.

"This is for our own good too, isn't it? Village Chief Ye never had the chance to become a powerful Soul Master, so he's stricter with us. He definitely hopes we can become powerful Soul Masters in the future. Let's hurry up and find a place to cultivate." Tang Chenfeng took it in stride. After learning some things about his own background, this was the first time he had wanted so badly to become stronger.

Ye Hongling puffed out her cheeks in displeasure. "Fine, then. Where should we cultivate?"

Tang Chenfeng looked around. "We should probably choose a place with abundant Spiritual Energy. I remember there's an old tree nearby that's pretty good. Let's go there."

The two hurried over and arrived beneath the tree. No one knew when this tree had first appeared here, but it had stood for at least a hundred years. Its trunk was over a meter around, and it was roughly fifteen meters tall. For some reason, the Life Energy around it was far denser than elsewhere. Tang Chenfeng had discovered this through observing with his Spiritual Power; that was one of the benefits of having powerful Spiritual Power.

The two sat cross-legged beneath the tree and prepared to meditate. Tang Chenfeng settled into meditation the fastest, entering the meditative state shortly after sitting down. Ye Hongling, however, was not so fortunate. Meditation required a mind free of distracting thoughts, but she was still holding back a breath of resentment and could not yet clear her mind. Seeing Tang Chenfeng enter meditation so quickly only made her anxious, and that made it even harder for her to calm down. Of course, she had no idea that Tang Chenfeng had learned quite a few cultivation tricks in his dream last night. Just as Ye Hongling was beginning to feel anxious, she suddenly noticed that the Life Energy around her seemed much denser. A great deal of natural Spiritual Energy was also gathering in her direction... or rather, in Tang Chenfeng's direction. Although it was flowing toward Tang Chenfeng, the Spiritual Energy and Life Energy washed over Ye Hongling's body, making her feel exceptionally comfortable and relaxed. Before long, she too settled down and entered meditation.

A full hour passed, and Village Chief Ye was still waiting where he had been, his expression dark. From his experience, beginners could meditate for no more than fifty minutes at most. The two had been gone for an hour without returning. They must have slipped off to play. After thinking it over, he decided to go find them. "Once I find you two, I'll make sure you suffer a little." With that, he headed in the direction where they had disappeared earlier. As he followed the path, Village Chief Ye thought about how to discipline them. But as he thought, memories of his younger self began surfacing in his mind. Back then, Ling Wei and I left Tianhun Town to seek adventure and cultivate together. In the end, though, all our efforts came to nothing. I lost my chance at my dream and even dragged Ling Wei into it. Now I've entrusted my dream to these children, yet they're so careless. At their age, I was already cultivating with everything I had... Hmm? Why is such a large amount of natural Spiritual Energy gathering over there? Did something happen? As he spoke, Village Chief Ye suddenly sensed a massive amount of Spiritual Energy and began walking toward its gathering point—the place where Tang Chenfeng was meditating.

Village Chief Ye soon arrived beneath the tree where they were cultivating, but he was stunned by what he saw. The Spiritual Energy around them was crazily converging toward the two as though a funnel had been placed beneath a water tank. Centered on where they sat, it formed a Spiritual Energy field roughly five meters in diameter. "No wonder they haven't come back for so long—they've entered deep meditation!" While shocked, Village Chief Ye felt the dense Spiritual Energy around him and even had the urge to sit down and meditate on the spot. Still, he restrained himself. No matter how good the cultivation environment was, it could not improve his Soul Power by even the slightest bit. If he disturbed the two's meditation because of it, the loss would outweigh the gain. Village Chief Ye looked at the two meditating children, then at the great tree. "So they chose this place for meditation... It seems the three of us, grandfather and grandchildren, really are fated. When I planted it back then, I also liked bringing her here to cultivate..." Village Chief Ye remained beside them, reminiscing about the past while standing guard over them.

Just like that, the sun slowly set, the moon rose, then set again. Two days passed before Ye Hongling finally showed signs of waking. A shadow of a tree gradually appeared behind her—it was her Tree of Life Martial Soul. Green light shone around the Tree of Life as it absorbed the Life Energy within the Spiritual Energy field to the greatest possible extent. Ye Hongling slowly took a breath and opened her eyes. "Heh, you're finally awake?" Then she saw Village Chief Ye sitting beside her.

"Ah! Oh, it's Grandpa Ye! You scared me! Why is it dark again? Brother Feng still hasn't woken up?" Ye Hongling's mind was filled with confusion after waking.

"You don't even know how long you've been sitting here. And don't disturb Chenfeng's meditation for now. Let him continue cultivating here and see what level he can reach."

"Oh." Faced with Village Chief Ye's answer, Ye Hongling could only respond with a token "oh." But neither of them knew that Tang Chenfeng was not only meditating—he was also cultivating in the Spiritual World.

Within the Spiritual World, Tang Chenfeng was learning under Bai Xing's guidance how to improve and use his Divine Sense. Tang Chenfeng opened his eyes, which shone with a strange light—the light belonging to his Divine Sense.

"Sister Bai Xing, I succeeded now, right?"

"Mhm, not bad. You learned quite quickly. You need to understand that before you truly become powerful, your Divine Sense will be your strongest weapon. But never use it casually on ordinary people. Ordinary people wouldn't be able to withstand even a single strike. Even if you must use it, you have to reduce its power. Do you understand?" Bai Xing said seriously.

"Mhm, I understand, Sister Bai Xing. But I still can't do a good job with using Divine Sense for disguise and concealment." For Tang Chenfeng, controlling Divine Sense—even his own—was still somewhat difficult.