Attribute Forms

Happy times were always short-lived. Their sparring practice soon came to an end.

At the same time, the lunch bell rang.

Under a barrage of murderous, jealous glares, the six brothers protected Xian Wu as they hurried away.

"I really didn't mean to pull her into my arms. I don't know what happened, but my strength suddenly got so much greater." Xian Wu desperately tried to explain. He was telling the truth; he wasn't lying.

Lu Piao slapped Xian Wu on the shoulder with a lecherous grin. "We get it. No need to explain."

"Explaining is covering it up, and covering it up means it's true," Zhang Ming added with a lewd laugh.

Xian Wu pressed a hand to his forehead, speechless. Those two were a real pair of clowns.

"Enough. You guys go eat first. I'll take Xian Wu to the training grounds next door to test him and see what's going on." Nie Li sent the other five off, then led Xian Wu toward the Training Ground next door.

Unlike the bustling Training Ground, the testing grounds were nearly empty.

By the time the two arrived, the instructor had already gone home.

"Great. We came all this way for nothing." Xian Wu turned to leave.

Nie Li grabbed his arm and pointed at the Strength Testing Stone. "Since we're here, give it a punch. I'll check the results."

"Okay." Xian Wu didn't hesitate. He cracked his knuckles as he walked toward the Strength Testing Stone.

"Wait. Use your right hand. Don't use that Left Hand of yours. If you break the testing stone, we can't afford to replace it," Nie Li reminded him.

"Got it." Xian Wu gathered all his strength and slammed a right hook into the Strength Testing Stone.

Nie Li hurried closer and squinted as he estimated the depth of the imprint.

"Another one!" Nie Li patted Xian Wu on the shoulder.

Bang!

Bang!!

Bang!!!

After Xian Wu landed three more punches on the Strength Testing Stone, Nie Li told him to stop.

"How is it?" Xian Wu asked nervously.

Nie Li stroked his chin. "Your strength is 99. Just as I thought, you might have an extremely special constitution, one that's never been seen before."

"Really?" Xian Wu's blood surged, and he was so excited he could hardly think straight.

Nie Li rolled his eyes. "Don't get ahead of yourself. I said you might. We won't know for sure until we test you. After lunch, go to the dorm and get Du Ze and the other three. We'll meet on the third floor of the library. I have something to tell everyone."

"What is it?"

"Something good!"

At noon, on the third floor of the library.

The floor had many small rooms where the students could read. They were quiet and private.

The seven of them sat around a long table, quietly waiting for Nie Li to speak.

Nie Li took out a small cloth pouch, pinched the bottom, and shook its contents onto the table with a clatter.

Everyone looked closely. The pouch was filled with Primary Soul Crystals.

Why had Nie Li bought these? Did he have money to burn?

"Why are you all looking at me? Take one each. Pick for yourselves!" Nie Li was the first to take a crystal from the pile.

Zhang Ming's big eyes weren't just for show. He immediately spotted the largest Primary Soul Crystal.

"Nie Li, did you buy Primary Soul Crystals just to make it easier to test our Soul Force?" Du Ze asked, puzzled. The one he picked was neatly shaped, almost oval.

"Ugh..." Xian Wu sighed. His Soul Force was still 1. It hadn't increased at all.

"Don't move!" Nie Li suddenly cried.

Xian Wu looked up, confused. "What is it? Why are you so jumpy? Never seen a legendary Spirit Master with only 1 Soul Force?"

Nie Li stood up and walked around the table to Xian Wu's seat.

"I knew it! I should've thought of this sooner!" Nie Li bent down and studied the Primary Soul Crystal in Xian Wu's hand.

"Chaos element, black-hole form." Nie Li clicked his tongue in amazement. "Good heavens, I've only ever read about this kind of Sea of Soul in mythical texts. It's rare—extraordinarily rare."

Nie Li stared intently at Xian Wu, as if he were a peerless beauty who could topple kingdoms.

"What's going on? Get back to your seat and explain it to everyone!" Xian Wu felt his scalp prickling under that gaze.

When Nie Li finally shook his head and returned to his seat, Xian Wu let out a sigh of relief. For a moment, he'd thought Nie Li was about to molest him.

"I spent so much money on Primary Soul Crystals because I wanted to test everyone's Sea of Soul," Nie Li explained with a smile.

"Didn't we already get tested at the start of the school year?" Du Ze asked, puzzled.

Nie Li continued, "That test wasn't accurate. That lousy crystal has probably been used by thousands of people. There's no way it could be precise."

"Precise? Besides the strength of our Soul Force and the color of our Sea of Soul, what else can a Soul Crystal test?" Xian Wu asked.

"The attribute and form of the Sea of Soul," Nie Li replied.

Xian Wu was remarkably perceptive and good at getting to the heart of a question. Nie Li liked him more and more.

"The Sea of Soul comes in seven colors: red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple. Most people believe that the farther along the colors go, the greater the cultivation talent."

"That belief is wrong!"

"There's no such thing as a useless Sea of Soul, only useless Spirit Masters. Even someone with a red Sea of Soul can cultivate to become a legendary Spirit Master. All they need is..."

"All they need is what?" Lu Piao asked impatiently.

Of those present, only Du Ze had a yellow Sea of Soul. The rest all had red ones.

Nie Li smiled faintly. "All they need is to find a suitable cultivation technique. Don't worry. I have plenty of top-grade techniques. But I'll need to test the form and attribute of your Sea of Soul before I can assign them to you."

"Xian Wu, your Sea of Soul has a black-hole form and a chaos attribute. I'll teach you the Chaos Spirit Devouring Art. Get a pen and write this down..."

The Chaos Spirit Devouring Art allowed its user to advance by devouring demon spirits. It could not advance through active cultivation.

After devouring any 1 Bronze Rank demon spirit, Xian Wu's Sea of Soul would instantly expand to a capacity of 999.

After devouring any 2 Silver Rank demon spirits, Xian Wu's Sea of Soul would instantly expand to a capacity of 9999.

And so on.

An increase in capacity didn't represent the amount of Soul Force the user actually had. It only indicated the upper limit of the Soul Force that could be stored in their body.

If Xian Wu wanted to gain Soul Force, he could devour the Soul Force of other Spirit Masters in addition to devouring demon spirits.

Once the devouring began, even if the other person sealed off their Sea of Soul, their Soul Force would continue to be drained until not a single drop remained.

There was one way to return the Soul Force taken from a Spirit Master—and even return twice as much.

For now, that method could wait.

In the end, the Chaos Spirit Devouring Art was merely a tool for controlling the Sea of Soul. Xian Wu's Sea of Soul was what truly made him powerful.

The cultivation deviation he'd suffered a few days earlier had been caused by his Sea of Soul losing control.

Because a black hole had the property of devouring without limit, once Xian Wu began absorbing Moonlight Essence, he couldn't stop until every last bit had been absorbed.

Obviously, that was impossible.

Any Soul Force that exceeded the Sea of Soul's capacity would spill over, tempering the body, building muscle, and increasing strength.

Once the increase in strength also reached its limit, the cultivator would explode and die.

That was exactly why Xian Wu's body had become bloated in the first place.