Su Yuntao's Invitation, a Rudimentary Spirit Master System

"Kid, do you want to join Spirit Hall?"

Su Yuntao pulled Chen Ming to a corner of the room and asked him sincerely.

"Lord Soul Master..."

"I'm only a few years older than you. Just call me Brother Su," Su Yuntao said with a smile, cutting him off.

Although there was actually more than a twenty-year age gap between them, by the standards of this era, Su Yuntao belonged to the same generation as Chen Ming's parents, whom Chen Ming had yet to meet. Even so, Su Yuntao wanted to close the distance between them.

"Brother Su, could you tell me about my Martial Soul first? What does Earth's Heaviness mean? And what is a Heavy Armored Earth Dragon?"

"Fair enough." Su Yuntao nodded and began explaining. As a Spirit Hall Awakening Spirit Master, he had memorized an extensive collection of Spirit Beast and Martial Soul illustrations. Aside from a few obscure Martial Souls, he knew most common ones.

"The Heavy Armored Earth Dragon is a High-Level Spirit Beast. It is said to possess Earth Dragon blood. It has great physical strength, defense, and earth attributes. This kind of Spirit Beast supposedly feeds on all kinds of metals, breaking them down and incorporating them into its body. The older the Heavy Armored Earth Dragon, the greater its defense."

"Because these Spirit Beasts spend most of their time entrenched in mineral veins and rarely leave, possessing little aggression but tremendous defense, they are also known as Earth's Heaviness."

"I heard that Spirit Hall has a lineage of Spirit Masters whose Martial Souls are White Armored Earth Dragons. That Martial Soul is superior to the Heavy Armored Earth Dragon, a true top-tier Sub-Dragon Martial Soul. One of that lineage even has a Spirit Hall elder at the Titled Douluo level."

"This is the first time I've seen a Heavy Armored Earth Dragon Martial Soul. Yours differs somewhat from what I know, but it should be mostly the same." As Su Yuntao spoke, he tapped the "armor" on Chen Ming's body with a finger. His nail struck the scales with a crisp sound.

Su Yuntao estimated that if he did not use a Spirit Skill and relied only on his claws, then unless he could strike a vital point directly, his claws might break before they could pierce the layer of heavy armor on Chen Ming's body.

Lone Wolf was considered a decent low-level Martial Soul, but compared to a High-Level Martial Soul possessing True Dragon blood, it was far too inferior.

"Thank you, Brother Su... I..." Chen Ming scratched at the armor on his body with his claws, feeling somewhat hesitant.

Logically, he wanted to join Spirit Hall. Spirit Hall was the largest organization of this era. It desperately sought talented individuals, and it had a complete, nearly transparent path for advancement. So long as one joined, resources and guidance would both be available.

As long as he performed well enough, it was possible for him to rise from a Spirit Hall branch to the Spirit Hall Temple, then all the way to Spirit Hall's main headquarters.

But the problem was that Tang Hao lived in Holy Soul Village...

Even if an ordinary Titled Douluo were petty, it would be difficult for him to simply kill a low-level Spirit Master from an enemy faction. But Tang Hao was different. Tang Hao was famously narrow-minded, and his way of thinking was equally bizarre.

Joining Spirit Hall might not get Chen Ming killed outright, but the chances of being casually beaten to death like some roadside dog were not low either.

Even while he stayed by Tang San's side, Tang Hao would occasionally run off to smash a few Spirit Hall branches to vent his anger.

After thinking it over, Chen Ming chose to set the matter aside for now.

"I want to make my decision after I understand the world of Spirit Masters," Chen Ming said evasively, neither refusing nor agreeing.

"Fine." Su Yuntao nodded as if this were nothing unusual, then said proudly, "I dare say that once you understand the state of the Spirit Master world, you'll only want to join Spirit Hall even more. Spirit Hall's power and status across the continent are truly, unquestionably number one!"

"You can first study at Nuoding City Junior Soul Master Academy for a while. It won't be too late to join Spirit Hall afterward. But you can't waste talent like yours..."

"How about this? This is a copy of a Meditation Method I transcribed by hand. Take it and read it. Practice a little before enrolling. If you're willing to join Spirit Hall, I can apply to Lord Ma Xiunuo. The two of us can hunt a suitable hundred-year Spirit Ring for you together."

"Thank you, Brother Su." Chen Ming took the thin booklet from Su Yuntao and eagerly flipped through it, only to discover that what it contained was simply...

It was not too profound or too extensive. It was too shallow and too sparse.

This so-called Meditation Method merely explained how to calm one's mind, how to sense one's Martial Soul, how to sense the spiritual energy of heaven and earth outside, and then guide that energy into one's Martial Soul to refine it through the Martial Soul... That was all...

There was not a single word about Meridians, energy flow, attribute changes, energy purification, or anything of the sort.

A tiny booklet of barely a dozen pages—that was the entirety of this Meditation Method.

"This..."

As the saying went, true teachings could be conveyed in a single sentence, while false teachings filled ten thousand volumes. The martial arts manuals in those wuxia novels were often only a few hundred words long, but no matter how he looked at it, this Meditation Method was far too flimsy.

Even without this booklet, Chen Ming could have figured out its contents himself after pondering for a while.

"Very simple and easy to understand, right? This is the Meditation Method. Whether it's Spirit Hall or the academies, this is what they teach. As a Spirit Hall Spirit Master, I even received guidance from the temple master and gained some insights and annotations after the Meditation Method. That's very rare."

"Do all Spirit Masters on the continent cultivate with this?"

"More than ninety percent do. Those powerful Spirit Masters merely use their own experience to alter this Meditation Method, forming higher-level Meditation Methods on that foundation."

Hearing those matter-of-fact words, Chen Ming's heart sank.

Only then did he remember that during the Douluo I Era, the best local Meditation Method ever mentioned was one Yu Xiaogang had given Tang San. It involved some information about the Meridians and had been judged by Tang San to possess the beginnings of internal cultivation...

Yu Xiaogang might have been wicked or foolish, but his knowledge was unquestionably real. Whether he had created it himself or obtained it elsewhere, what he gave Tang San had to be the best thing he could access.

What kind of background did Yu Xiaogang have? He was the favorite son of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's patriarch and had once lived off Spirit Hall. Even if his strength was lacking, his status gave him access to the most core knowledge.

And even under those circumstances, the best thing he could produce possessed only the beginnings of internal cultivation.

Chen Ming understood. The first problem before him was not what kind of first Spirit Ring he should obtain. It was how to create an improved cultivation method suited to himself. If he relied solely on this simple Meditation Method that did not involve the Meridians at all, then he would have no future in this life.