Martial Soul Hall

The Shi Family's Martial Soul Hall has five floors.

Each floor corresponds to a different cultivation realm and houses different realm-specific cultivation manuals.

The first and second floors contain Mortal Grade Martial Skills. Generally, Martial Artists in the Postnatal Realm select suitable Martial Skills from the first floor for their cultivation, while those in the Innate Realm choose from the second floor.

The third and fourth floors house Mysterious Grade Martial Skills. Martial Artists in the Human Position realm select Mysterious Grade Martial Skills from the third floor, while those in the Hundred Tribulations realm can choose from the fourth floor.

It is said that the fifth floor of the Martial Soul Hall houses the Shi Family's only Spirit Grade Martial Skill.

Unfortunately, that floor is not open to anyone. Only the Patriarch, Shi Jian, occasionally goes up there.

Spirit Grade Martial Skills are extraordinary. Even some of the Shi Family's enforcers are not qualified to view them. Only direct descendants of the Shi Family who have reached the Earth Position realm are qualified to cultivate them.

However, among the current Shi Family descendants, even the deepest cultivator, Shi Dang, is only at the Hundred Tribulations Third Heaven Realm, still one step away from the Earth Position realm.

Shi Jian led Shi Yan all the way to the Martial Soul Hall.

At the entrance of the Martial Soul Hall, an old woman with a face full of wrinkles like ravines saw Shi Jian approaching and bowed, saying, "Patriarch."

The old woman's name was Yun Luo. She was also a long-serving enforcer of the Shi Family, and like Han Feng, her cultivation was at the Nirvana First Heaven Realm. It is said that she is older than Shi Jian, having served as an enforcer since Shi Jian was a child.

It was precisely because she had been with the Shi Family for such a long time that she had earned Shi Jian's deep trust, and thus the task of guarding the Martial Soul Hall was entrusted to her.

"I've brought Shi Yan to pick out a Martial Skill," Shi Jian said as he strode forward. Upon reaching the entrance, he turned to Han Feng and Yang Hai and said, "You two wait outside."

Han Feng and Yang Hai nodded in unison.

Yun Luo stepped aside, bowing to allow Shi Jian and Shi Yan to enter. After the two entered the Martial Soul Hall, she stood at the entrance again and nodded at Han Feng, her expression somewhat strange.

After Shi Yan returned to the Shi Family, he had been under Shi Jian's comprehensive supervision and confined to the gravity room, with no opportunity to come out.

Let alone Yun Luo, even some of the direct descendants of the Shi Family were not fully aware of Shi Yan's situation.

Now, Shi Jian himself had personally brought him to the Martial Soul Hall to select a Martial Skill. What did this imply? It implied that Shi Yan must be a Martial Artist!

Yun Luo knew a little about Shi Yan, understanding that this young master had no Martial Soul and had never been passionate about martial arts since childhood. Now, at seventeen years old, he had actually become a Martial Artist. This was too abnormal.

Yun Luo couldn't help but be surprised.

Unable to comprehend the details, Yun Luo looked at Han Feng with confusion, but Han Feng shook his head, indicating that it was not convenient to say.

Yun Luo's confusion deepened, but she did not ask further, standing by the entrance of the Martial Soul Hall in thought.

Normally, she would have lowered the iron gate of the Martial Soul Hall and entered herself to supervise those selecting Martial Skills, preventing them from rashly entering floors that did not match their cultivation realm.

However, this time Shi Jian had personally brought Shi Yan, so she did not need to be so cautious.

"The first and second floors each have eighteen Mortal Grade Martial Skills. The third floor has eight Mysterious Grade Martial Skills, and the fourth floor has four Mysterious Grade Martial Skills. You are currently in the Innate Third Heaven Realm, so you can go directly to the second floor to select a Martial Skill."

Shi Jian gave a brief introduction and then took Shi Yan directly to the second floor of the Martial Soul Hall.

On each floor of the Martial Soul Hall, stone niches were carved into the walls, with a Martial Skill manual placed in the center of each niche.

Outside the niche, it was covered with a dark green crystal shield. In the center of the shield was a small keyhole, and below the keyhole was a page with a brief introduction to the Martial Skill in the niche.

Shi Yan looked around the second floor of the Martial Soul Hall and found that at least ten of the eighteen Martial Skills here were very common outside, skills whose cultivation methods were known to many mercenaries and Martial Artists. For example, the "Chaotic Star Fist" that Jin Mo used was among these Mortal Grade Martial Skills.

There were only eight Martial Skills that were rarely seen outside. However, in Shi Yan's opinion, the power and cultivation methods of these eight Martial Skills did not seem too difficult and lacked challenge.

Deep down, Shi Yan was a person who enjoyed trouble. He enjoyed the process of overcoming it.

Therefore, after looking around the second floor, Shi Yan shook his head and said, "Great Uncle, the Martial Skills on the second floor are not very interesting. Take me upstairs to have a look."

In the past, Shi Yan would not have been able to speak to Shi Jian like this.

But now, Shi Yan had deliberately revealed his Undying Martial Soul, making his dual Martial Soul identity known, precisely to achieve this goal.

In his view, only the mysterious Martial Soul was his foundation. He kept all the secrets related to that mysterious Martial Soul tightly guarded, never revealing them to anyone, and would always hide them in the deepest part of his heart.

However, there was nothing wrong with talking about the Undying Martial Soul. Only by revealing this recovery ability could he gain more privileges in the Shi Family and allow Shi Jian to arrange a better cultivation direction.

Dual Martial Souls were enough to make Shi Jian tolerate all his willfulness.

As expected, Shi Jian's face showed no displeasure, only a hint of hesitation. He snorted, "You are only in the Innate Realm. Recklessly cultivating Mysterious Grade Martial Skills may not necessarily be a good thing."

"Am I like ordinary people? You've seen it yourself. Although I'm only in the Innate Realm, my body's petrification has already reached the second stage. Furthermore, I have a recovery ability that others don't. Mysterious Grade Martial Skills that ordinary people cannot cultivate, perhaps I can."

Hearing this, Shi Jian was taken aback, then nodded and said, "That's true. Let's go, I'll take you to see the third and fourth floors as well."

Various strange Martial Skills were displayed in the niches. Shi Jian stood beside him, and whenever he found Shi Yan interested in a particular Martial Skill, he would patiently explain its characteristics and cultivation methods.

"Not bad, the Martial Skills on the third floor are indeed much more interesting." Shi Yan nodded continuously, quickly memorizing the various Mysterious Grade Martial Skills on the third floor. After a while, Shi Yan said again, "Let's go to the fourth floor and have a look."

"Alright, I'll explain the four Martial Skills on the fourth floor to you in detail. You are different from ordinary people, so you can know in advance."

Shi Jian took Shi Yan and headed straight for the fourth floor.

Upon reaching the fourth floor, Shi Jian walked directly to a niche and said, "This is the 'Shattering Star Net'. It can condense the Essence in the body into light points, weaving them into a net of starlight. It can directly bind the opponent's Essence, making them unable to exert strength."

"Interesting."

"Don't even think about this one. To cultivate the 'Shattering Star Net', one needs extremely profound Essence support and a very skilled control over Essence. As for you now... you're still far from it!"

Shi Jian was blunt and snorted. He then moved to another niche and said, "This is the 'Eight Desolations Seal'. When unleashed, it creates hand seals from all directions, blocking all paths of the opponent and forcing them into a frontal battle. Because of the characteristics of our Martial Souls, we can maximize our advantage in close combat. Therefore, this 'Eight Desolations Seal' is very suitable for us who possess the Petrifying Martial Soul!"

"This one isn't bad either."

"You can forget about it. Without reaching the Hundred Tribulations realm, you can't cultivate it at all. The reason is the same as for 'Shattering Star Net' – it requires immense Essence to sustain. If you can't even form a hand seal, how can you trap someone from all directions?"

"What about the next one?"

"'Dark Moon Shadow Follows.' This is a movement technique. When performed to its extreme, the body becomes an elusive shadow. Hmm, this one isn't easy either. It has high realm requirements, needing to be combined with the Hundred Tribulations realm's perception of the energy field to be performed. You can forget about it too."

"There's only one slot left."

"'Finger Spear Art!'"

Shi Jian exclaimed, as if he suddenly remembered something. His eyes lit up, but then he hesitated. After a long pause, he said, "This 'Finger Spear Art' is a Martial Skill for cultivating the ten fingers. Once mastered, your fingers become like steel spears, capable of piercing an enemy's body with a single strike. With all ten fingers as spears, tearing out hearts and lungs is effortless. Up close, combined with our Petrifying Martial Soul, its destructive power is terrifying!"

"I'm interested in this one!" Shi Yan's expression stirred. "Are there any special requirements?"

"There are special requirements, but you're suited for it." Shi Jian hesitated for a moment. "Before cultivating 'Finger Spear Art,' you must reach the second stage of the Petrifying Martial Soul. Your body must flash with a dark sheen after petrifying. Only then can you ensure your fingers won't break while cultivating 'Finger Spear Art.' Yes, you qualify."

"Then it's this one." Shi Yan said decisively.

Shi Jian's expression was strange. He stared blankly at Shi Yan, lost in thought.

"What's wrong? Is there a problem?" Shi Yan vaguely felt something was amiss.

"Kid, you really plan to cultivate this 'Finger Spear Art'?" Shi Jian took a breath, his expression growing stranger.

"Is there something wrong with it?"

"You can indeed cultivate 'Finger Spear Art,' and you can achieve rapid mastery. Your Undying Martial Soul can also be put to good use." He paused, then added, "However, cultivating 'Finger Spear Art' is extremely painful! It's almost inhuman torture, more painful than your daily thousand impacts with the wolf-tooth mace! Do you really want to cultivate 'Finger Spear Art'? Not the much easier Mortal Grade Martial Skills on the second level?"

"Yes!"

"Alright, then I'll explain the cultivation method for 'Finger Spear Art.' Once mastered, your ten fingers will be incredibly sharp, creating bloody holes with every stab, making it extremely vicious. However, the cultivation method itself is quite unbearable..."

One day later, the gravity room.

Six of the seven gravity pillars were wrapped in the skin of a level five Yao Beast, the Silver Flood Dragon. The Silver Flood Dragon skin could dampen gravity, so the gravity in the room was now only double the normal gravity.

Beside the only gravity pillar not wrapped in Silver Flood Dragon skin, Shi Yan stood upside down, his body pressed against the pillar, supporting himself only with the tip of his left index finger.

A single, slender index finger supported his entire body weight, doubling his gravitational force under the increased gravity!

His index finger trembled slightly, as if it might bend and break at any moment.

Shi Yan's face turned beet red. The muscles in his left arm twitched, veins like small snakes writhing beneath his skin, giving a ferocious impression of bursting through flesh.

The pain emanating from that single index finger pressing against the ground was bone-deep!

It felt as if countless tiny needles were constantly pricking his finger, the pain washing over his nerves in waves, nearly driving him to collapse.

Endure!

Shi Yan gritted his teeth, his face so red it looked like blood might seep out. In his inverted state, blood rushed to his head, a very uncomfortable sensation.

Five minutes.

After just five minutes, Shi Yan's spirit was nearly broken.

The pain from the index finger touching the ground made him want to give up. If that finger hadn't been petrified, the joints would have long since snapped.

Persist!

Six minutes! Seven minutes!

By the eighth minute, Shi Yan's spirit was on the verge of collapse, feeling as if he might faint. Even his senses seemed to be growing numb...

Just then!

The acupoints on his head suddenly erupted with various negative forces!

Threads of negative energy suddenly surged, flooding into his mind!

This was a sign that 'Berserk' had been triggered.