Of course, there was another crucial point: if a Martial Soul's innate attribute could approach or reach the ultimate, it naturally wouldn't be countered.
Shui Bing'er had proven this beyond a doubt in the original story when she fought Tang San.
Even after Tang San had eaten an Immortal Herb and gained immunity to fire and ice, he was still suppressed completely in the face of Shui Bing'er's near-Ultimate Ice. His so-called immunity was utterly useless.
An ultimate attribute was enough to ignore the rules.
Unfortunately, Huo Wu hadn't been so lucky.
The flames she was so proud of had barely inflicted any effective damage on Tang San. One could even say that they were less powerful than Ma Hongjun's grass-chicken Martial Soul.
The reason was simple: her attribute lacked purity.
If elemental attributes were divided into four distinct levels of purity, then:
The first level would be the legendary "Ultimate Attribute," such as Ultimate Fire or Ultimate Ice. They were as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns, one in ten thousand.
The second level would be "near-Ultimate Attributes." Though not yet perfected, they were still far beyond the ordinary. Only truly top-tier Martial Souls possessed them, and even then, they were limited to a single element.
The third level was the kind Huo Wu possessed.
The innate attribute brought about by her Martial Soul Mutation was considered high-grade, far surpassing that of ordinary fire-attribute Soul Masters. Yet an insurmountable chasm still separated it from the truly top-tier geniuses.
The fourth level, naturally, was the most ordinary and common elemental attribute.
And his current situation was much like Huo Wu's.
His innate attribute had likewise come from a beneficial Martial Soul Mutation. The light attribute innate to his Light and Shadow Martial Soul could, at best, be considered "high-grade."
It was more than enough to deal with ordinary Soul Masters, but if he ran into a Soul Master with a top-tier attribute, he feared he wouldn't fare any better than Huo Wu.
In that situation, his light attribute might be nothing but a joke in the other person's eyes.
It seemed his foremost goal from now on was to find every possible way to purify and evolve his light attribute, until he could reach for the elusive "Ultimate Light."
Otherwise, he could forget about making further progress. He might not even qualify to be a true opponent to someone like that.
With that thought, the fog in Ye Feng's mind cleared completely, and the path ahead became clearer than ever.
He slowly withdrew his Light and Shadow Martial Soul, and a wave of exhaustion swept over him. It was the inevitable result of keeping his mind intensely focused for so long.
Ye Feng couldn't hold on any longer. He toppled onto the rough wooden bed, and the moment his head touched the pillow, he fell into a deep sleep, snoring loudly.
In the blink of an eye, two months passed.
During those two months, Ye Feng had kept himself exceptionally busy.
By day, he was the hardest-working waiter at the Red Romance Hotel, carrying tea and water, greeting guests, and performing his humble job without a single slipup.
By night, he became the most studious of students, pestering Manager Wang Dali as he painstakingly learned the common written language of Douluo Continent, one character at a time.
Wang Dali regarded this genius waiter with innate Soul Power of rank seven in a new light. He seemed to think of it as an investment in the future, and taught him patiently.
Thanks to the soul and comprehension of an adult from his previous life, along with his relentless determination, Ye Feng had finally escaped the ranks of the illiterate. He could now read books on his own.
Today was a day worthy of going down in history for him.
The night was still.
Ye Feng took from his inner pocket the copy of the Basic Meditation Method, its edges worn from repeated readings.
It was the only cultivation resource he had obtained from Su Yuntao, and it was invaluable.
He didn't rush to begin. Instead, he sat cross-legged on the bed and, by the moonlight filtering in through the window, read the text carefully from beginning to end three times.
Every word, every sentence, every meridian route was studied over and over until he had etched it into the depths of his mind, making absolutely certain there wasn't the slightest mistake.
"Phew..."
He let out a long breath, carefully put the booklet away, then slowly closed his eyes.
According to the opening outline of the meditation method, the first step in cultivation was to "cleanse the mind of distracting thoughts and sense the energies of heaven and earth."
Put simply, he had to quiet his mind and then try to sense the energy drifting through the air.
For Ye Feng, whose state of mind already far surpassed that of his peers, this was no difficult task.
He emptied his mind and cast aside all distractions. His consciousness gradually sank into a boundless darkness.
Time passed, second by second.
A quarter of an hour.
Half an hour.
An hour.
The air around him seemed not to change at all. The so-called "energy of heaven and earth" was so elusive that he couldn't find a trace of it.
For an ordinary person who had never cultivated before, sensing Soul Power on the first try was nothing but a pipe dream.
It took patient effort and unwavering perseverance.
He remained immersed in meditation, his consciousness like a lone boat adrift on a dead-black sea, trying again and again to establish the faintest connection with the outside world.
Who knew how long had passed? Just as his spirit was nearing its limit and his consciousness was beginning to grow hazy—
Suddenly.
In that ancient, unchanging darkness, a tiny golden speck of light, so faint it was almost impossible to detect, flickered without warning.
Though it vanished in an instant, Ye Feng's intensely focused spiritual power caught it at once!
That was it!
Ye Feng's mind jolted. All his consciousness gathered frantically in that moment, probing toward the spot where the speck had appeared.
Sure enough, moments later, another golden speck emerged.
Then a third, a fourth...
More and more golden specks began to appear in the dark world he "saw." They were like fireflies on a summer night: sparse and faint, yet undeniably real.
These were energy particles from heaven and earth!
He'd done it!
Ye Feng stifled his elation and immediately tried the second step recorded in the meditation method: "Drawing energy into the body."
He carefully separated a wisp of spiritual power, like an invisible tentacle, and slowly, tentatively reached toward the nearest golden speck.
The speck seemed to have a mind of its own. Sensing his spiritual power draw near, it gave a slight twitch and dodged away.
Ye Feng wasn't surprised. He guided his spiritual power again, wrapping it around the speck even more gently.
Once.
Twice.
Ten times.
Hundreds of times.
This tedious process tested his patience and control to the utmost.
Finally, after his tireless efforts, the golden speck seemed to give up resisting, and his spiritual power successfully "stuck" to it.
Ye Feng didn't dare let his guard down. Following the route laid out in the method, he used his spiritual power to draw this hard-won first energy speck slowly toward his body.
The process was even more difficult than he'd imagined.
The speck seemed to weigh a thousand jun. Every time he moved it even a little, Ye Feng felt his spiritual power being drained violently.
Fine beads of sweat formed on his forehead, and his face turned pale.
Closer.
Closer still.
The instant the golden speck finally touched his skin—
"Buzz!"
An indescribable coolness spread from the point of contact, like the first drop of sweet rain finally falling on a riverbed parched by a long drought.
Ye Feng's spirits lifted. Without hesitation, he followed the instructions in the meditation method, guiding that wisp of incredibly faint energy toward the first meridian passage in his body and driving it forward!
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