A Loving Father and Dutiful Son, the Spirit Saint's Legacy

In the dilapidated blacksmith shop at the eastern end of the village, even its roof damaged in several places, Tang San met his father, Tang Hao, and told him about the Martial Soul he had awakened that day.

When Tang Hao heard that Chen Ming had awakened a level-seven Innate Soul Power Heavy Armored Earth Dragon, his bleary eyes did not change in the slightest. To someone who looked down even on the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul, a high-grade Martial Soul like the Heavy Armored Earth Dragon was merely a slightly tougher loach.

When Tang San said that his Martial Soul was Blue Silver Grass with Innate Full Soul Power, Tang Hao's expression changed. Yet rather than showing much excitement, he seemed faintly disappointed.

Although Blue Silver Grass was Ah Yin's symbol, reminding him of his deceased wife, Tang Hao honestly believed there were only two kinds of Martial Souls: the Clear Sky Hammer and everything else. The Clear Sky Hammer was invincible beneath the heavens, while even the strongest of all other Martial Souls fell short of it.

Ah Yin was Ah Yin. She had been a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast that had taken human form, and her Martial Soul was not ordinary Blue Silver Grass. Tang San's Martial Soul, however, was merely somewhat unusual Blue Silver Grass. In Tang Hao's eyes, it was far inferior to awakening the Clear Sky Hammer.

Both excited and disappointed, Tang Hao stood up, preparing to return to his room for more sleep. Tang San wanted to say something, but Tang Hao roughly interrupted him with, "Don't disturb me."

Only when Tang San said that he had another Martial Soul did Tang Hao's previously disappointed eyes light up. He immediately turned around and came before Tang San.

When he saw Tang San summon his Clear Sky Hammer Martial Soul and sensed the bloodline connection within it, Tang Hao finally excitedly embraced Tang San.

"My son, my son." Ordinarily, Tang Hao rarely referred to Tang San as my son. Even when calling him, he usually just called out, "Little San, Little San." This was the first time in Tang San's memory that Tang Hao had held him so excitedly while calling him his son.

(This was how it was described in the original work.)

"Father, is this hammer Martial Soul of mine very powerful?" Tang San asked, both puzzled and excited as he felt this intense paternal love he had never experienced before.

"Hmph. Compared to your hammer, any Earth Dragon is nothing more than a roadside loach. Swear that you will not use your hammer lightly. Use the hammer in your left hand to protect the grass in your right."

Tang San did not understand why his father was telling him not to use the hammer while also telling him to use the hammer in his left hand to protect the grass in his right. Still, faced with Tang Hao's request, he naturally agreed.

While Tang San and his father were sharing such loving familial affection, what was Chen Ming, the other protagonist of the Martial Soul awakening, doing?

The answer was that he was preparing to raid a beehive in the mountains.

One was one, and two was two. If he had promised someone something, he had to do it. So, after awakening his Martial Soul, Chen Ming headed straight into the mountains to raid the beehive. When passing the small river, he summoned his Martial Soul by the bank and saw his reflection in the water.

It was a half-human, half-beast existence. Solid Dragon Scales rose and closed together, forming a structure like armor over his body. His hands had become highly beastlike, swelling at the wrists, while his ten fingers had turned into ten earth-yellow claws. Behind him, a heavy dragon tail supported him on the ground like a third leg.

In his Martial Soul Possession state, earth-yellow earth-element energy gathered above Chen Ming's head, while fine Dragon Scales covered his neck. Using his two dragon horns as their core, the earth-yellow energy formed a helmet-like structure around his head. A faint golden gleam shone within his cold-blooded, vertical pupils.

Mighty and savage. He possessed the heaviness of a mountain along with a wild, barbaric ferocity. This Martial Soul Possession form suited Chen Ming's preferences perfectly.

Maintaining his Martial Soul Possession form, Chen Ming went straight to the beehive. Without concealing himself at all, he climbed up the tree with his claws and reached toward the hive.

While climbing, Chen Ming found his body somewhat stiff. In particular, the range of motion in his joints seemed to have decreased because of the armor-like structure covering his body. Although his straight-line sprinting and short-distance bursts of force were not affected much, his agility and flexibility had both declined somewhat.

The faint Sub-Dragon aura provoked the bees inside the hive. Because Chen Ming had only just awakened his Martial Soul and his aura was not particularly powerful, after briefly fleeing, the bees actually began to gather in swarms and attack him.

But after Chen Ming protected his face, the bees could not harm him in the slightest against the hard armor that had appeared after his Martial Soul Possession. They could only be swatted down one after another by Chen Ming like headless flies.

After this tug-of-war went on for quite some time, Chen Ming finally drove away the attacking bees. They scattered off in every direction, attempting to rebuild their hive.

Carrying a watermelon-sized honeycomb, Chen Ming returned to the village. Old Jack had long been waiting for him at the village entrance. Seeing Chen Ming return with a golden-yellow honeycomb in hand, Old Jack smilingly placed it into a large basket. Then he took a still-warm book from his robes and stuffed it into Chen Ming's arms.

"Grandpa Jack, this is?" Chen Ming dismissed his Martial Soul Possession, casually licked the Honey off his palm, then carefully opened one corner of the book.

"This is the Meditation Method left behind by that Spirit Saint from Holy Soul Village. It has been kept with me for decades. I'm not a Spirit Master, so I don't know how it differs from Spirit Hall's version, but I hope it can help you."

Old Jack's words carried both pride and an indescribable sense of helplessness.

"Little Ming, I won't hide it from you. Holy Soul Village really did produce a Spirit Saint in the past. But we are only a small village. That Spirit Saint's descendants and close relatives followed him to other cities long ago, where they settled and multiplied."

"Our Holy Soul Village merely retains the name of having once produced a Spirit Saint. We do not possess that Spirit Saint's direct bloodline."

"This Meditation Method was left behind when that Spirit Saint returned to his hometown in his old age to reminisce about his childhood. He said it was to leave some roots behind for future generations. My ancestors carefully preserved it all this time, but no Spirit Master ever appeared. Until you..."

After shaking his head, Old Jack hugged the large basket and hurried toward his home with reddened eyes, afraid Chen Ming would see his tears.

Looking at the somewhat thicker Meditation Method in his hands, Chen Ming felt Old Jack's care for him.

But after Chen Ming returned to his room, hastily ate some dry rations, and spread both Meditation Methods open together, a speechless feeling filled his heart.

The so-called Meditation Method left behind by the Spirit Saint was indeed better than the ordinary Meditation Method. However, it was not better because the method itself was fundamentally superior or more complete, but because the Spirit Saint had added extra annotations outside the Meditation Method during his cultivation.

Fundamentally, both Meditation Methods were based on the same concept and model. Only some details had been altered and improved.

Cultivating with this Meditation Method would be a little faster than the Basic Meditation Method Su Yuntao had given him, but it could probably only improve efficiency by around five to ten percent. Anything more was completely impossible.

No matter how many times he looked at them, crude and monotonous remained the main theme of these Meditation Methods. Even without AI Thinking, Chen Ming could greatly enhance the Meditation Method on this basis through the ideas from his previous life alone.

Although human civilization on Douluo Continent had existed for more than ten thousand years, and more than one god had appeared, no matter how Chen Ming looked at it, this cultivation system still seemed to be in an extremely primitive state.

No wonder the people of Douluo World placed such importance on Innate Soul Power and the quality of one's Martial Soul. With such a crude cultivation system, unless someone's talent was heaven-defying, it was simply impossible to nurture true experts.