The Self-Cultivation of a Liver Emperor (I)

Le Bai returned home before dark.

Because he hadn't eaten lunch and had been working the bellows for half the day, he was so hungry he felt like his stomach was stuck to his spine.

Consequently, dinner was quite hearty: ten large steamed buns, a pot of porridge, a large plate of greens, and half a rack of ribs.

This portion was more than a six-year-old child could finish, even if they were a Soul Master.

Le Bai glanced at the progress bar behind the [Eating] skill on his Panel and picked up his eating speed even further.

"Today's food expenses are a bit over budget."

Le Bai thought while eating, "The toys I sold today can be easily imitated by anyone with a mind to study them; they can't serve as a sustainable source of income. Even if I brought out those slightly more high-end ways to make money, I'm not a Soul Master yet, so it's hard to guarantee that the money I earn will actually stay mine... As expected, the safest way to ensure a living is to become a Soul Master."

During the day, when Le Bai tried to control the soul power within his body, it went very smoothly—perhaps because he had so little soul power?

When Le Bai controlled his soul power to wander throughout his body, the skill [Soul Power Control] appeared on his Panel at some point.

Later, while Le Bai was learning to work the bellows and stoke the fire, he continued to keep his soul power in a state of constant circulation, eventually reaching every place in his body that the soul power could touch.

Originally, Le Bai just wanted to grind the level of Soul Power Control, but after the soul power had circulated through his body once, a [Soul Power Cultivation] skill appeared on his Panel.

However, after half a day of effort, the level of Soul Power Control had already exceeded Lv3, while the level of Soul Power Cultivation was still Lv0, and the upgrade progress bar had only reached 0.00003/100.

This progress bar was outrageous, but Le Bai knew the reason.

The effect of the Panel was, in the end, just to digitize his current situation; because Le Bai hadn't mastered the correct cultivation method, the progress bar grew very slowly.

It wasn't that there was no solution.

It just required enough patience—as long as he used the real-time feedback data from the Panel to experiment bit by bit, he would eventually find the route where the progress bar for the Soul Power Cultivation skill increased the fastest while his soul power circulated through his body.

This was an effective but also the most foolish method.

The places inside the human body where soul power could travel, let's call them meridians for now, had more than a few optional route plans. Moreover, the order of circulation wasn't just a simple straight line.

If one were to factor in the direction of travel between different meridians and the routes that needed to be repeated within a single cycle, the number of circulation schemes for soul power in the body would be so high that it would require scientific notation to display.

"I can only hope the cultivation method Oscar learned is decent. Just thinking about grinding progress using a brute-force method makes my liver ache..."

Despite saying that, before falling asleep, Le Bai still used this foolish method to let his soul power pass through the meridians in his body bit by bit.

Unfortunately, without light, paper, or a pen, Le Bai couldn't draw a map of his own meridians.

The next morning, just as the sky was beginning to brighten, Le Bai was woken up by Oscar's loud voice: "Le--Bai--! I've become a Soul Master!"

The voice was truly loud; the early birds in the nearby trees were startled into flight.

Le Bai opened the second-floor window with a sleepy face to look down. Oscar was looking up at him with a face full of smiles, waving both hands: "Le Bai! I'm already a Soul Master!"

"Got it."

Le Bai was in a bad mood after being woken up so early, but seeing Oscar's smiling face, he felt that bit of displeasure dissipate like smoke: "The door isn't locked, push it open yourself."

A few minutes later, Le Bai, having finished a simple wash, met Flender and Oscar sitting in the main hall.

"Dean!"

Le Bai greeted Flender first, then turned to ask Oscar: "It's early in the morning, why aren't you at the Martial Soul Hall registering as a Soul Master instead of running over here to disturb my sleep?"

"Isn't it because I wanted to share my joy with you as soon as possible? Hehe, I'm a Soul Master now too!"

Oscar said with a smile: "By the way, Le Bai, guess what the effect of my First Soul Skill is?"

"The effect of your First Soul Skill..."

Le Bai scratched his head: "Is it a recovery effect?"

"Uh..."

Oscar's expression stiffened instantly: "Tch~ you guessed it right away, that's no fun."

Flender looked at Le Bai with a strange expression; he remembered that a few days ago, when the two of them had their Martial Souls awakened, Le Bai had also guessed correctly on the first try.

"Once or twice could be called a coincidence, but the possibility of it being a coincidence three times in a row, while not impossible, is too small."

Flender stroked his beard and thought: "However, he doesn't seem to have anything special about him..."

After thinking for a while, Flender couldn't come up with an answer, so he pretended to ask casually: "Le Bai, you seem to be particularly accurate when guessing things about Oscar. Back when the Martial Souls were awakened, you guessed his Martial Soul and Innate Full Soul Power correctly, and now this First Soul Ring as well."

"Eh, now that you mention it, that's true!"

Oscar also remembered: "Le Bai, be honest, do you have some special feeling for me?"

"Pfft! Even if I did, I wouldn't go around feeling it."

Le Bai looked at Oscar with a look of disgust: "I was just guessing. It's a Support System, after all; it's just recovery, strengthening, or removing abnormal statuses. Since you're a Food System, it's more likely to be recovery or removing abnormal statuses. I just happened to guess right between the two."

"So that's how it is."

Oscar looked disappointed: "I thought you could feel what I was thinking, tch~"

Le Bai rolled his eyes: "Is there anything else? I have to go to the Blacksmith Shop to learn how to forge iron this morning; I don't have time to waste with you."

"Forging iron, is that your choice?"

Flender looked at Le Bai: "Since that's the case, Oscar, teach Le Bai what you've learned; it will be helpful."

"Yes! Dean!"

Oscar was overjoyed: "Ha, Le Bai, come, come, come, I'll teach you!"

In his short life so far, Oscar had only ever been the one taught by Le Bai. This was the first time he was teaching Le Bai in return, which gave Oscar a refreshing feeling of finally turning the tables!

However, this sense of satisfaction came to an end after a mere ten minutes.

"Ahhh! Why are you learning this so fast, Le Bai!?"

Oscar let out a cry of disbelief: "I clearly had to practice it several times before I mastered it!"

"Maybe it's because I have less Soul Power, so it's simpler to control."

Le Bai said casually, most of his attention already focused on maintaining the circulation of Soul Power within his body—after mastering the cultivation method taught to Oscar by Flender, Le Bai had immediately begun controlling his Soul Power to circulate along the prescribed path.

The progress was obvious and immense; the fact that the Soul Power Cultivation skill on his Panel had jumped to Lv7 revealed quite a lot.

"Circulating Soul Power is truly completely different; it feels like my body is filled with strength."

Le Bai carefully sensed the Soul Power within him. With every cycle, he could feel something from his surroundings being absorbed into his body, after which his Soul Power would increase slightly.

The growth of the progress bar behind [Soul Power] Lv2 on his Panel also proved this point.

"Since you've already learned it, cultivate well."

Flender stood up: "We'll be leaving for today. Also, the Academy will have classes on reading and writing every day from now on. Arrange your time for Iron forging and attending classes yourself."

"Thank you very much for your help!"

Le Bai bowed to Flender.

"Le Bai, I'm heading off, remember to come to class!"

After saying this, Oscar followed Flender and left.

"Learning to forge Iron, maintaining Soul Power circulation, and having to attend classes—the next few days are going to be very exhausting."

Running through the things he had to do in his mind, Le Bai felt his liver aching faintly...