Twisted Cultivation Method

Academy Library.

After registering his information at the counter, Yao Yan was allowed inside.

The interior was not particularly large, roughly a hundred square meters, with rows of bookshelves standing along both sides and down the middle.

They were packed with books, neatly sorted into categories.

Yao Yan walked to the section on Soul Master cultivation and took down a book titled Introduction to Soul Master Cultivation Basics.

The book was fairly thick. It recorded that the Douluo world divided martial souls into two major categories: Beast Martial Souls and Tool Martial Souls.

The difference was that one involved Martial Soul Possession, while the other functioned independently from the body.

It also recorded the titles for each stage of a Soul Master, including a basic Meditation Method.

Yao Yan carefully studied that passage on meditation and thought to himself, "I wonder what effect the Inner Elixir Technique from my family would have in this world?"

It was surely much better than Tang San's Mysterious Heaven Skill.

Unfortunately, he had only learned about it superficially in his previous life, and his memories were vague at best.

Thinking of this, Yao Yan could not help pinching his thigh. He had truly missed out on an enormous opportunity!

But on second thought, this world had spiritual power. As his level rose, his memories would become increasingly clear.

If he spent his free time recalling them, perhaps he would have a chance to remember everything and use it for cultivation.

There was no need to rush.

Yao Yan continued flipping through the book and saw that if Soul Masters wished to advance, they had to hunt Spirit Beasts and absorb their Soul Rings.

"What a distorted cultivation method!" he could not help complaining inwardly.

Leaving aside the fact that Spirit Beasts and Soul Masters had completely disproportionate lifespans, the stronger a Spirit Beast was, the lower its chance of reproducing.

If things continued this way, Spirit Beasts would sooner or later be exterminated by Soul Masters.

At that point, there might be Title Douluos with nine white Soul Rings, with blood flowing like rivers over a single hundred-year Spirit Beast.

He still remembered that if Dai Yuhao had not created the Soul Spirit Technique in Douluo II and forcibly put this world on life support, Spirit Beasts would have gone extinct by then.

The God Realm had long possessed God-granted Soul Rings, yet it refused to pass down that technology, merely sitting in the heavens and watching Spirit Beasts be wiped out.

That so-called Dragon God was truly brainless!

For Spirit Beasts to end up with such a ruler, they had suffered eight lifetimes' worth of bad luck.

After venting his complaints, Yao Yan composed himself. His strength was still too low; thinking about such things was useless.

He casually flipped through the book a little more. Having read enough, he got up and headed to the herbal medicine section.

Looking up, he saw that the enormous bookshelf before him held only a dozen or so books on herbal medicine, an extremely small number.

Thinking about it, that was only normal. At this point in time, no one even knew that Whale Rubber could strengthen the body and enhance the muscles.

Research into herbal medicine was practically nonexistent.

He remembered that in Douluo I, only the Breaking Clan had any interest in herbal medicine, and even that was limited to poisons.

"It seems I'll have to find another way if I want more herbal medicine texts."

Yao Yan took down the dozen or so books and carefully examined them.

They recorded that Dragon Blood Grass and Diamond Bodhi Yuan Fruit could comprehensively improve physical strength.

Unfortunately, they were exceedingly precious and both grew in the core region of the Star Dou Great Forest.

Still, he made some discoveries. Lingzhi, Crimson Sun Seed, Dragon Breath Root, and the like could also benefit the body.

Yao Yan silently memorized them. Later, he could prepare a Medicinal Bath according to their effects.

After wandering around the Library once more, he found nothing else that interested him. Carrying seven or eight herbal medicine books, he went to the front desk to register them.

He put the books into his Backpack, left the Library, and strolled along the tree-lined paths of the academy.

Now that he had some leads regarding herbal medicine, it was time to choose a direction for his cultivation.

On the academy's tree-lined path, he summoned his martial soul. A gentle breeze brushed past, making the Blue Silver Grass in his palm sway in the wind, looking unbearably frail.

Yao Yan could not help but smile bitterly. "It truly is the useless martial soul people see it as."

Blue Silver Grass without a Soul Ring attached could not even withstand a light breeze.

As for which path to take, Tang San had chosen the control route in the original work, using entanglement to restrain his enemies before supplementing it with sneak attacks using Hidden Weapons.

Yao Yan had considered that as well, but quickly rejected the idea.

He did not possess Tang San's movement techniques or the Hidden Weapons in his hands. As for running off to grovel before Tang San, that was impossible.

With Tang San's personality, anyone who became his brother was doomed to bad luck.

Just look at the miserable fate of that huge sucker, Dugu Bo.

Besides, if Tang San had not later awakened as the Blue Silver Emperor and obtained the move "Blue Silver Overlord Spear," Yu Xiaogang would have practically led his Blue Silver Grass astray and turned it into a useless martial soul.

"Right, Blue Silver Overlord Spear!" Yao Yan's eyes suddenly lit up.

Wasn't Tang San's so-called Blue Silver Overlord Spear simply formed by refining, compressing, and solidifying the life force of his martial soul?

As long as his Blue Silver Grass had enough vitality and sufficient toughness, it could be shaped into all kinds of weapons.

By then, it would no longer be grass—it could be a spear, a sword, or even a dragon!

Yao Yan's thoughts grew ever clearer, his heart stirred by a single line: "Plants, trees, bamboo, and stone can all become swords; Flying Flowers and Falling Leaves Can Harm People."

Such a realm was not necessarily impossible to achieve.

The trait of Blue Silver Grass—"Wildfires cannot burn it all away; when spring winds blow, it grows again"—made it ideally suited for the path of life.

Even if his Blue Silver Grass was merely grass, while Tang San's was the Blue Silver Emperor.

But one must not forget that his mother had not been born an emperor either. She had cultivated her way up step by step.

What, was this Throne only meant to belong to the Tang Family?

As long as the quality of his Soul Rings was high enough, perhaps his Martial Soul could evolve in the future as well!

Having made up his mind, Yao Yan strolled toward the park, intending to test the malleability of Blue Silver Grass.

The Blue Silver Grass in the park was growing luxuriantly, nearly covering the entire lawn.

He poured his spiritual power into his Martial Soul and formed connections with the surrounding blades of grass. In his perception, countless points of light danced joyfully, as though welcoming one of their own.

"Good, very good!"

Yao Yan slapped one hand against the ground and fiercely injected Soul Power into the earth.

As a green glow appeared beneath his feet, the surrounding Blue Silver Grass received his command and contracted toward the ground.

Before long, a three-meter-long Grass Snake as thick as an arm burst from the earth.

Its body was woven entirely from Blue Silver Grass, slithering nimbly according to his will.

Yao Yan wiped the sweat from his brow. With his current Soul Power, forming this snake had already consumed seventy percent of it.

"Xiao Ying," he called softly.

The black spider leaped out of the Backpack at his call, landing on his shoulder and warily watching the Grass Snake.

"Come, give it a try."

Xiao Ying was utterly fearless. It sprang down from his shoulder, raised its forelegs, and let out a provocative sound.

Yao Yan controlled the Grass Snake, making it flick its tongue as it lunged at Xiao Ying.

Xiao Ying was quite clever. Taking advantage of its agility, it burrowed into the grass and vanished.

Unfortunately, what it faced was the combination of Yao Yan and the Grass Snake.

As Yao Yan spread out his spiritual power, the Blue Silver Grass across the ground fed him information, and he quickly found its whereabouts.

It was currently weaving a spiderweb along the ground, setting a trap.

How could Yao Yan give it the chance? He immediately sent the Grass Snake after it. Though massive, the Grass Snake did not lose speed, instantly coiling tightly around Xiao Ying.

Xiao Ying spat out a web, smearing it across the Grass Snake's face. At the same time, its spider legs stabbed into the grass stems and injected venom.

Unfortunately, it did not know that this was merely a snake made of grass. It possessed only brute strength and felt no pain.

The venom could only corrode part of it.

As the snake's coils tightened, Xiao Ying could no longer struggle.

Yao Yan lightly snapped his fingers, and the Grass Snake scattered into Blue Silver Grass across the ground, returning to the earth.

Xiao Ying looked around in confusion, seemingly unable to understand why its opponent had suddenly disappeared.

He walked over, returned the Little Fellow to the Backpack, then turned and headed out of the school.

His priority now was to sell the healing medicine. Once he had purchased medicinal ingredients, he could officially begin cultivating.