The Altar

Xuan Qing's vision went black, and he arrived in this strange place.

It was boundless and empty, containing absolutely nothing, and he wandered aimlessly for quite a while.

Finally, he saw two phantoms suspended in the air; one was a majestic Azure Dragon circling above, radiating a cyan light.

The other was a grayish-white Qilin, its entire body emanating a nine-colored halo, looking incredibly mysterious.

The two phantoms suddenly moved! They transformed into streaks of light and zipped straight into Xuan Qing's forehead.

A majestic voice suddenly echoed in Xuan Qing's mind.

Azure Dragon God Trial First Trial:
Content: Reach level 10 Soul Power.
Time Limit: One year.
Reward: Purification of Azure Dragon bloodline.
Failure Penalty: Eradication!

Before Xuan Qing could even react, another voice rang out.

Qilin God Trial First Trial:
Content: Master the basic abilities of the Chaos Qilin martial soul.
Time Limit: Five years!
Reward: Level 10 Innate Soul Power!
Failure Penalty: Permanent deprivation of the Chaos Qilin martial soul!

Then, his consciousness returned to his body, and Xuan Qing sat on the ground, completely stunned.

What was going on? He had just bought a fake item from a street stall; how did he end up with God Trials?

And what was this about a second martial soul? Didn't he only have a Green Scale Python?

Xuan Qing hurriedly tried to summon it once, twice... until the sixth time, his shoulder suddenly sank. He turned his head to look and nearly jumped out of his skin.

A palm-sized Little Qilin was lying on his shoulder, yawning.

It glanced at Xuan Qing, turned its head, and went straight to sleep, even starting to snore.

Xuan Qing's heart shook violently. A detached martial soul? This was truly incredible.

He subconsciously touched his chest.

"Something's wrong... there's a problem."

"Something feels twelve times more off than usual—the jade pendant is gone!"

Xuan Qing focused his mind, and his entire person suddenly vanished from where he stood; he appeared inside that mysterious space.

"So that's how it is. The jade pendant turned into this portable space. I can come and go as I please."

Xuan Qing took a deep breath and discovered that the soul power here was exceptionally dense.

However, he didn't rush to cultivate. It was still broad daylight; if the village chief or someone else came to knock on his door and he was nowhere to be found, it would be awkward.

He had to carefully plan his next steps.

He absolutely could not go to Martial Soul Hall; he didn't want to be handed over to Yu Xiaogang by that madwoman Bibi Dong for research.

After all, his martial soul was just a bit too bizarre.

And an Innate Soul Power of level five was nothing in Martial Soul City—how could it compare to the status Yu Xiaogang held in her heart?

If dissecting him offered even a glimmer of hope to help Luo Sanpao evolve... would Bibi Dong have a change of heart?

Although the possibility was slim, he didn't want to take the risk. Keeping a low profile was the golden rule!

Thinking of this, he immediately ran out toward the village chief's house, hoping the soul master uncle hadn't left yet.

He rushed into the courtyard, gasping for breath, and intercepted the soul master just as he was about to leave.

"U-Uncle, I have a favor to ask. Can you please keep my situation a secret?"

"Although my Innate Soul Power isn't very high, my martial soul is truly special. I don't want to be targeted by some research fanatic."

The soul master smiled. "Don't worry, kid. I will definitely keep your secret, but don't go to Suotuo City. I have acquaintances there, and it would be easy for your cover to be blown."

He thought for a moment and said, "Go to the Tianyuan City Soul Master Academy instead. I have a friend who is a teacher there. Just take your soul master certificate and go directly. After you obtain your first soul ring, use the excuse of a martial soul mutation. Until then, try not to use your martial soul."

The village chief also walked out.

"You've gone to sell vegetables with me a few times, so you're familiar with Tianyuan City. Are you going to report there tomorrow? Do you want me to take you?"

Xuan Qing waved his hand.

"No need, no need. It's at most a half-hour walk; I could find it with my eyes closed. You two keep talking; I'm going back to cultivate."

He ran back to his small hut, locked all the doors and windows, and with a thought, entered the space once again.

The Little Qilin was summoned out, lying on the ground and yawning.

Xuan Qing poked it.

"What abilities do you have? Show me."

The Little Qilin lazily raised its head and spat out a ball of flame. The temperature of the flame was extremely high, causing even the space itself to warp slightly.

He followed up by exhaling a mist of ice, causing the surrounding temperature to plummet and a layer of frost to form on the ground.

With just these two moves, thirty percent of the level five spirit power reserves within Xuan Qing had been depleted!

His face fell. Does it really have to consume so much spirit power?

However!

The power was truly impressive; the word "Chaos" was certainly not just for show.

According to Xuan Qing's understanding, Chaos was composed of Yin and Yang energies; more accurately, Chaos contained both Yin and Yang, serving as the primordial state that birthed all things.

In his understanding, the Azure Dragon was the god of the East, and in folklore, it governed rain, agriculture, and bountiful harvests.

Ancient times held customs of sacrificing to the Azure Dragon to pray for rain, so it also represented spring—when the first spring thunder rolls, all things awaken.

But as for which was stronger? He truly couldn't say.

The only thing he could be certain of was that both the Azure Dragon and the Qilin were known as auspicious beasts.

Xuan Qing sat cross-legged and began to cultivate, poking the Little Qilin at his feet.

"Don't you go slacking off. I know you can cultivate too; detached martial souls possess intelligence, so stop playing the part of a toy."

The Little Qilin tilted its head, lay down reluctantly, and a faint nine-colored glow began to emanate from its body.

The man and the beast cultivated like this for the entire afternoon. After eating a quick meal in the evening, Xuan Qing slipped back into the space to continue his training.

The spirit power within this space was not only dense but also exceptionally gentle, leaving him with absolutely no sensation of his meridians swelling.

A thought suddenly occurred to him.

Should I try creating my own meditation technique? At the very least, I could improve upon the basic meditation method.

Xuan Qing knew full well how important a good meditation technique was.

The reason Tang San was able to progress faster than others was largely due to the Mysterious Heaven Skill.

Even if he failed, it wouldn't matter; he had the Chaos attribute of the Chaos Qilin as a safety net, meaning he could utilize cultivation techniques of any attribute.

Water, fire, ice, light, darkness, wind, and thunder.

The effectiveness would simply vary. Of course, this wasn't absolute; the concept of Chaos was far too abstract, and heaven only knew what would work well and what wouldn't.

What if he approached it from the perspective of the Azure Dragon? The Azure Dragon belonged to the Wood element and governed spring thunder, wind, and rain.

One could even argue it had connections to time and space.

The Azure Dragon represented the East, where the spatial coordinates were fixed, and it also represented the spring season, as the changing of the four seasons was the rotation of time.

One could say this was a coordinate of space and time, and in Douluo Continent, time and space were superior attributes.

They wouldn't conflict with other attributes, so he could also start from this direction.

It would be best to ponder it from these angles as well.

"Sigh! It's difficult!"

Xuan Qing lay on the ground, feeling a headache coming on.

He suddenly thought of something and slapped himself twice.

"Damn it! This space is boundless; who knows what other treasures might be hidden here?"

"Time to go treasure hunting!"

He placed the Little Qilin on his shoulder, and the two of them began to explore.

After wandering for about an hour, they found an altar. On the altar sat two stone tablets.

They were inscribed with two sets of techniques.

Chaos Yin-Yang Canon: Can absorb all elements and unify them into the energy of Chaos.

Azure Dragon Mysterious Heaven Art: A body-refining method of the Dragon race; when cultivated to the peak, the physical body can shatter stars.

Xuan Qing's eyes lit up.

It seemed these were exclusive techniques! It was a pity there were no accompanying divine abilities, only the methods for cultivation.

In the center of the altar stood a long spear, and on the other side stood a large seal.

Xuan Qing tried to pull out the spear, but it didn't budge an inch.

He then touched the large seal, which was the height of a person.

The seal suddenly shrank, turning into the size of a brick.

Xuan Qing was stunned.

"A brick???"

He remembered that the Ancestral Dragon had the Ancestral Dragon Pearl, but the Azure Dragon was not the Ancestral Dragon, so using a spear made sense.

Beasts were led by the Qilin, and the Primordial Qilin possessed the Qilin Seal; could this large seal be a treasure of the Qilin clan?

In any novel, any treasure related to a Qilin was always a large seal.

He had no intention of leaving, so he sat cross-legged right there on the altar and began to ponder carefully.

Could the Little Qilin not be his Martial Soul? He hadn't thought about it carefully before, but now it finally dawned on him.

Twin Martial Souls must possess Innate Full Soul Power. This meant that, for now, it was merely something akin to a companion spirit beast.

It wasn't a true Martial Soul carved into his soul yet; otherwise, his aptitude should have been Innate Full Soul Power.

It seemed it hadn't fully acknowledged him yet, or rather, the Green Scale Python must evolve into an Azure Dragon for the two to be on equal footing.

That would explain why the long spear refused to acknowledge him.

After all, his Martial Soul wasn't an Azure Dragon right now, just a large python, and the Qilin Seal didn't acknowledge him either.

It acknowledged the Little Qilin, which was connected to a part of his soul; otherwise, he could have worked himself to death and still wouldn't have been able to budge it.

Viewed in this light, the rewards for the Qilin God Trial were intriguing—Innate Soul Power level ten?

Once completed, his Innate Soul Power would rise to level fifteen. This was equivalent to perfecting his foundation, exactly!

With this thought, Xuan Qing walked to the stone tablet, deciding to practice the Chaos Yin-Yang Canon first.

It wasn't that he didn't want to temper his body; both were important, and he understood the saying that "the poor study while the rich practice martial arts."

If his nutrition couldn't keep up with body tempering, it would be easy to cripple himself, and he didn't have much money right now.

Sixty Gold Soul Coins was a lot, but only to an ordinary person.