Adapting to the rules? Yao Lao: I'll teach you a body-refining method first! (Seeking follow-up reading!)

Dai Yu slowly gathered the surging Soul Power around his body. The level-17 Soul Power fluctuations gradually settled, returning to calm.

Although half of his source had been "snatched away,"

when he sensed the soul body in his Sea of Consciousness—the one that had originally seemed liable to disperse at any moment—now finally possessing a measure of solidity, most of the pain in his heart faded as well.

After all, this was Venerable Yao, Yao Chen!

A living encyclopedia and a grandmaster of the alchemy world.

Compared with that, the five clusters of source energy were certainly precious, but exchanging them for Old Man Yao's wholehearted assistance was an absolute bargain.

With a thought, Dai Yu's consciousness sank into his Sea of Consciousness once more.

Looking at Old Man Yao, who floated cross-legged above the Sea of Consciousness with his eyes closed and was regulating his breathing, Dai Yu could not help asking:

"Old man, stop pretending to be profound."

"Since you can even devour my source energy, that means you must have regained consciousness long ago."

Dai Yu paused, his tone carrying a hint of probing:

"Did you only wake up just now?

Or... had you actually woken up long ago and simply been hiding in the ring, observing me in secret?"

Hearing this, Old Man Yao, who had been resting with his eyes closed, slowly opened them.

A profound light that had never appeared before flickered in those aged eyes, as though he had just endured an extremely long and perilous journey.

"Observing you?"

Old Man Yao glanced at Dai Yu and irritably blew at his beard:

"If I'd had that kind of free time, I would have come out long ago to guide your lousy cultivation method."

As he spoke, Old Man Yao let out a long sigh, his expression becoming somewhat complicated:

"Actually, I woke up several days ago."

"Right when you first entered Shrek Academy."

"What?

You woke up several days ago?"

Dai Yu raised an eyebrow. "Then why didn't you say anything? You just watched me run around like a headless fly?"

"What the hell do you know?"

Old Man Yao could not help cursing. Then, he shook his head helplessly,

and extended his slightly illusory palm, gently clenching it in front of him.

A faint white flame began dancing in his palm,

but the feeling it gave off was subtly different from the Bone Spirit Cold Flame in Dai Yu's memories of Battle Through the Heavens.

It seemed... more in tune with the laws of this world.

"Although I had awakened, there was fundamentally nothing I could do. I couldn't even communicate with you."

Old Man Yao looked at the flame in his palm and spoke solemnly:

"Because I don't belong to this world."

"You mean... rejection?"

Dai Yu pondered this.

"Exactly."

Old Man Yao nodded, his expression grave:

"Every world has its own unique laws and principles.

In the world where I lived, people cultivated battle qi, absorbing the energy of heaven and earth into their bodies.

But in this world, people cultivate Soul Power, relying on Martial Souls and Soul Rings."

"Although all paths ultimately lead to the same destination, the fundamental laws are worlds apart."

At this, a trace of lingering fear flashed through Old Man Yao's eyes:

"The moment I first awakened, I sensed this world's intense rejection of me.

It felt as though the entire world was crushing my soul, trying to completely erase me as an 'outsider'!"

"If I had forcefully manifested myself, I'm afraid I would have been reduced to nothing in less than a breath, leaving not even ashes behind!"

Dai Yu was startled by what he heard.

Although he was also a transmigrator, he had crossed over with his system and his physical body was native to this world, so he naturally did not have this problem.

But Old Man Yao was a genuine foreign soul, and moreover, he was in a remnant-soul state.

"So these past few days, you've been..."

"Assimilating."

Old Man Yao picked up the thread, exhaustion showing in his voice:

"These past few days, I've been doing everything I can to alter the source imprint of my soul.

I stripped away the soul laws that originally belonged to the Dou Qi Continent bit by bit, forcibly twisted and reconstructed them,

and adapted myself to the laws of this 'Douluo Continent.'"

"The danger and agony involved were no less than being roasted within the Heavenly Flame ranked first on the Heavenly Flames ranking!"

Old Man Yao pointed toward the spot where the five light clusters he had devoured had been:

"Only just now did I finally complete the transformation, truly integrating myself into the laws of this world."

"But the price of forcibly defying fate and changing my destiny was that my soul power was nearly exhausted and on the verge of collapse."

Old Man Yao spread his hands and looked at Dai Yu with a perfectly justified expression:

"So, little brat.

I didn't devour those five clusters of your source energy out of greed."

"They were needed to save my life!"

"Without the replenishment from those five sources, which contained extremely pure energy, even after adapting to the laws, I would have completely dissipated from soul exhaustion."

After hearing Old Man Yao's explanation, the last trace of resentment in Dai Yu's heart vanished completely.

So that was how it was.

Not only had Old Man Yao awakened, he had also relied on his formidable willpower to complete the adaptation from the "battle-qi system" to the "Soul Power system"!

What did that mean?

It meant that Old Man Yao's vast ocean of alchemy knowledge, cultivation techniques, and battle skills might all reappear in this world!

Perhaps, having adapted to its laws, Old Man Yao could even improve and innovate upon them to suit this world's Martial Soul system!

How could this be an exchange of five light clusters for a remnant soul?

This was clearly an exchange for a super cheat leading straight to God Tier!

"All right, I'll admit you have a point."

The corners of Dai Yu's lips curled into a smile. Looking at Old Man Yao in his Sea of Consciousness, his eyes began to burn with anticipation:

"Since you've already adapted to the laws and regained the ability to act,"

"shouldn't you fulfill your duty as an 'old grandpa'?"

"For example... teach me a couple of your special skills first?"

Looking at Dai Yu's mercenary expression, Old Man Yao could not help rolling his eyes, though a trace of amusement flashed through them.

This kid was a little greedy, but his character was not bad.

Moreover, he possessed extraordinary talent and had that mysterious "system" backing him. His future achievements would be limitless.

Following him might truly allow him to rebuild his physical body and even... glimpse that legendary divine realm!

"Hmph, what are you rushing for?"

Old Man Yao clasped his hands behind his back, recovering some of his grandmasterly bearing:

"Since I've eaten your things, I naturally won't mistreat you."

"However, your body is too weak right now, and your Soul Power is too low. You can't learn those advanced techniques yet."

Old Man Yao sized Dai Yu up from head to toe. His gaze finally stopped at Dai Yu's dantian, and he thoughtfully stroked his chin:

"Since you've already taken the Marrow Cleansing Pill and the Mysterious Water Pill, both your meridians and constitution have improved considerably."

"Then I'll first teach you a Body Refining Method that will let you dominate this world..."

"A Body Refining Method?"

Dai Yu's eyes lit up.

On Douluo Continent, Soul Masters generally emphasized Soul Power while neglecting their physical bodies. Even Beast Martial Soul Soul Masters mostly relied on the enhancement provided by Martial Soul Possession.

But Dai Yu knew very well that the body was the vessel that contained Soul Power.