Just as Zichuan had sensed before, this was the culture of the Body Sect: straightforward, strength-oriented, yet placing even greater value on loyalty. Competition was for mutual improvement, not internal strife.
"Senior Brother Long, you flatter me. I only had the advantage of my Spirit Bone and domain." Zichuan smiled as well, able to feel Long Aotian's sincerity.
"Who cares whether he had an advantage? A win is a win!" the surrounding disciples cheered. "Little Junior Brother is amazing! He even beat Aotian! We have to add dishes tonight to celebrate!"
"That's right! Extra dishes! The Sect Master is paying!"
"Let Little Junior Brother tell us what it feels like to have two hearts beating!"
The atmosphere became lively and harmonious once more. Surrounded by the others, Zichuan was bombarded with questions. He happily answered them, and before long, he had become one with these fellow disciples, each so different in personality yet equally forthright.
The faint sense of detachment he had felt because of his "cheats" and being "spoon-fed" gradually melted away amid this pure enthusiasm. This place really did seem worthy of being called home.
Over the following days, Zichuan completely integrated into life in the Body Sect.
During the day, he either followed Du Busi in practicing the Body Sect's secret body-tempering arts, honing his physique and excavating the potential of his two hearts, or sparred with Long Aotian and his other senior brothers and sisters.
He tempered his combat skills through real battle, familiarized himself with switching between the Heart of Destruction and Heart of Life, and occasionally visited the sect's library to read texts on martial souls, soul beasts, and continental history, cramming himself with common knowledge about this world.
The speed at which his cultivation improved left everyone who knew about it dumbfounded.
All of it stemmed from the "apprenticeship gift" Du Busi had given him.
Inside the quiet chamber, two jade bottles sat before Zichuan. He pulled the stopper from the Mystic Water Pill bottle, poured out a deep-blue pill rippling like water, and tossed it into his mouth without hesitation.
The pill melted the moment it entered his mouth, turning into a cool yet vast torrent that surged through his limbs and bones.
This energy was pure and gentle, but incomparably immense. An ordinary soul master would need several days or even longer to cautiously refine and absorb it, transform it into Soul Power, and cleanse their meridians.
But Zichuan was different.
Inside his chest, his two hearts began beating powerfully at the same time! The Heart of Destruction pumped out a scorching torrent of Soul Power, while the Heart of Life released a warm, nourishing force.
The two powers intertwined like an extremely efficient furnace of digestion, wildly breaking down, absorbing, and converting the energy released by the Mystic Water Pill! The efficiency far exceeded anything ordinary people could imagine!
In merely half an hour, the medicinal power of one Mystic Water Pill had been completely absorbed.
Zichuan could clearly feel his Soul Power rise by a small amount. His meridians had become clearer and tougher, and his perception of water-elemental energy had sharpened slightly as well.
His Soul Power Level had directly risen by one level!
"Sure enough, having twice as many hearts brings double the efficiency in every respect, including digestion and absorption."
A gleam flashed in Zichuan's eyes. Without pausing in the slightest, he poured out another Soul Raising Pill and swallowed it.
The Soul Raising Pill's effect was even more direct: it purely increased Soul Power. Emerald-green energy surged into him, only to be rapidly divided and refined by his two hearts once again. His Soul Power Level climbed at a visible rate.
Thus, Zichuan treated Mystic Water Pills and Soul Raising Pills as everyday "extra meals."
Top-tier pills that others regarded as treasures and needed to wait a long time between taking were things he could practically swallow one after another.
The terrifying metabolism and endurance granted by his two hearts allowed him to completely ignore the issue of pill resistance and side effects.
His Soul Power Level shot upward like a rocket.
Level 13... Level 14... Level 15...
"Kid, you're cultivating pretty quickly." The God of Destruction's voice carried a hint of satisfaction within the Sea of Consciousness.
"It seems this god was right to lower the difficulty of your Godly Trial. The time saved can be used to improve your strength. Once you reach Level 20, we'll go claim an opportunity that should have been yours."
"That would be the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well!"
"The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well?... One of the continent's three great treasure basins?" Zichuan asked inwardly. He had guessed it long ago.
"Correct." The God of Destruction's voice turned colder, filled with undisguised disgust.
"The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, one of Douluo Continent's three great treasure basins naturally nurtured by the world, gathers the spiritual essence of heaven and earth. It is an ownerless paradise, a land of opportunities born from nature itself! But in later generations, after Tang San discovered it, it became the Tang Clan's private property!
He set up a poison formation, declared it forbidden ground, and allowed only Tang Clan members and their dogs to use it! The Shrek Seven Monsters, his son's friends... Bah! A pack of bandits squatting on a latrine without taking a shit, yet calling it 'protection'!"
His tone grew more heated.
"That place was meant for you! Your destruction and life attributes faintly align with the yin-yang convergence and cycle of life and death within the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well! Cultivating there will yield twice the result with half the effort! And the immortal herbs there can lay an unparalleled foundation! Why should the Tang Clan monopolize it?"
Zichuan fell silent. When he had read the novels in his previous life, he had already held some criticism toward Tang San for claiming the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well for himself and benefiting only his own people.
Now, hearing this "wronged owner," the God of Destruction, denounce him, he found it even more justified. Resources belonged to the virtuous—the ones with the bigger fists? No, now they belonged to whoever had "Old Zi."
"But a treasure basin like that probably isn't easy to enter... I'm a soul master who doesn't even have two soul rings yet, and crossing thousands of miles would be troublesome too."
Zichuan raised the practical concern.
"I'll need Teacher's help."
"That body-tempering brat?" the God of Destruction said disdainfully.
"But you are indeed a little weak right now. It'll be fine to bring that green-haired one along with you. Having a fighter around will save trouble."
Thus, the plan was set.
Three months later, inside Zichuan's quiet chamber.
A distinct wave of Soul Power spread out, then gradually settled. Zichuan opened his eyes and felt the surging, robust Soul Power within him, far stronger than that of an ordinary Level 20 Soul Grandmaster. A faint smile appeared at the corner of his lips.
Level 20, achieved. He was still a few days short of being six and a half years old.
The door to the quiet chamber was violently shoved open. Du Busi's tall figure charged in with a gust of wind, his face filled with both delight and disbelief.
"Level 20? You really reached Level 20? This old man didn't sense it wrong, did he?"
He grabbed Zichuan's wrist, sent Soul Power into him, and immediately widened his eyes until they looked like brass bells.
"Hiss! Really Level 20! It's only been three months! You brat... are you eating pills like meals? No, even if you ate them as meals, you shouldn't be this fast! Two hearts—are they really this absurd?"
He circled Zichuan twice, clicking his tongue in amazement as though he were looking at some priceless treasure.
"Monster, a true little monster! This old man took nearly two years to get from Level 10 to Level 20 back then! Your speed... it'd scare a whole crowd to death if anyone heard about it!"
Zichuan chuckled but offered no explanation. After Du Busi's excitement subsided, a trace of hesitation and unease appeared on his face. Rubbing his hands together, he seemed to want to speak but held back.
"Hm? What is it?" Du Busi keenly noticed something was wrong. His thick brows rose.
"Did your Soul Power rise too quickly and cause a problem? Or is there something you don't understand about cultivation? Just say it! Your teacher is here!"
"No, it's not about cultivation." Zichuan shook his head. Seemingly having made a difficult decision, he carefully pulled a rather old-looking object wrapped in oilcloth from his clothes.
Holding it in both hands, he offered it to Du Busi. His gaze was somewhat evasive, and his voice lowered.
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