Soul Power Affinity

The Ren Du Meridians were neither directly affiliated with the internal organs nor paired with the Twelve Meridians in an interior-exterior relationship. Their paths were separate and unusual, which was why they were classified as extraordinary meridians. If Soul Power circulated through them, it would undoubtedly be extremely difficult.

Since circulating through them was so difficult and did not noticeably increase the speed of absorbing Soul Power, people naturally mistook them for an inefficient route.

But no matter how difficult it was, they could not be bypassed! Only by passing through the Ren Du Meridians could one form a Lesser Heavenly Circuit, connect the Twelve Meridians into a whole, then open the Eight Extraordinary Meridians and complete the Greater Heavenly Circuit.

"Take the Ren Du Meridians!"

Cheng Xiao intended to modify the Meditation Technique. When his Soul Power reached the Ren Du Meridians, he would force it directly through instead of going around them.

Cheng Xiao performed another set of Tai Chi. This time, when his Soul Power reached the Ren Du Meridians, it advanced directly along them.

But the Ren Du Meridians were obscure and difficult to traverse, and his circulation broke off several times along the way.

He was not discouraged. He tried again and again, and with every attempt, his Soul Power traveled farther.

Cheng Xiao had been stumbling at first, but the more he practiced, the smoother and more fluid his movements became.

Off to the side, Xiao Wu glared at Cheng Xiao angrily. He had simply tossed her aside to practice that strange fist technique again without paying her any attention, adding more fuel to her already foul mood.

"Xiao San is like this, and so is Little Cheng. They're the worst! If they don't apologize, I'll never talk to them again!" Xiao Wu gritted her teeth and swore bitterly before turning her head away to sulk.

But when she saw that Cheng Xiao had not stopped after such a long time, Xiao Wu's gaze began to wander of its own accord. She sneaked a glance at him, quickly looked away, paused for a moment, then glanced again. Cheng Xiao remained utterly unmoved. Her turned head gradually straightened, and before she knew it, his movements had captivated her.

"Huh?"

She was surprised to discover that the originally soft and limp-looking fist technique had somehow gained a marvelous charm.

It looked much like before—soft and seemingly powerless—yet it appeared to contain a hidden force waiting to be unleashed. At the end of each move, that force erupted with a bang, stirring gusts of wind from his fists.

Was this still that soft, limp-looking fist technique?

"Crack, crack..."

Suddenly, his muscles and bones rang in unison. Cheng Xiao felt as though the roars of tigers, leopards, and thunder were contained within his body. When he successfully completed a Lesser Heavenly Circuit, they exploded at once, and the Twelve Meridians instantly connected into a single whole.

At that moment, what felt like an endless stream of power flowed from the Ren Du Meridians into his limbs and body, bringing indescribable comfort.

With a Grasp the Sparrow's Tail, his movements were gentle, but when the technique ended, force spilled from his palm. The energy burst forth along the force of Grasp the Sparrow's Tail and slammed directly into the ground some distance away. With a boom, it blasted a bowl-sized crater into the earth. Even a Soul Master would not have an easy time taking that force head-on.

Xiao Wu stared wide-eyed. "Was that a Soul Skill!? A Self-Created Soul Skill?"

No, that was impossible!

Her mother had said that only powerful experts who had been famous for many years could create their own Soul Skills!

But if it was not a Soul Skill, how had Little Cheng displayed power capable of injuring a Soul Master without obtaining a soul ring? With that soft, limp-looking fist technique alone?

At that moment, Xiao Wu felt as though she had been struck by lightning, her scalp tingling.

The longer Cheng Xiao practiced, the more comfortable he felt. Sweat actually began to bead on his forehead. He performed three more sets before finally stopping. His clothes were soaked with sweat, yet he did not feel even the slightest fatigue. He felt utterly refreshed, as if he had inexhaustible energy within him.

This state was a hundred times better than going to the infirmary for treatment and recovery.

"My Soul Power hasn't increased?"

Cheng Xiao examined the Soul Power within his body and found no increase, but he could clearly sense that his current state was completely different from before. The change was nothing short of earth-shattering.

"Could it be... that this method can make up for my innate deficiencies?"

People in this world used Innate Soul Power to judge a person's talent and future accomplishments, but in Cheng Xiao's view, that logic was wrong.

In truth, Innate Soul Power was only an outward manifestation, not the root cause.

A person's martial soul and physique determined the speed at which they absorbed Soul Power. From the moment a person was born, they began passively absorbing energy and storing it within their body, where it transformed into Soul Power.

The worse one's physique and martial soul were, the lower their Soul Power Affinity would be. The less Soul Power they absorbed over six years, the lower their Innate Soul Power would be after awakening.

Those who awakened with zero Innate Soul Power had martial souls and physiques that were simply too poor, with no affinity for Soul Power. That was why they were judged to possess no aptitude.

Innate Full Soul Power, meanwhile, meant that they had absorbed a full ten levels of Soul Power over six years. Their physiques and martial souls naturally possessed extremely high Soul Power Affinity, and their talent for future cultivation would naturally be greater.

Therefore, it should not be the level of Innate Soul Power that represented the level of one's talent. It was the level of Soul Power Affinity that represented one's talent. The proper term should not be how many levels of Innate Soul Power one had, but how many levels of Soul Power Affinity one possessed!

Although his martial soul was a God-tier Martial Soul, the two Kings' martial souls conflicted with each other, leaving him able to use only a small portion of the Shadow King's power. By Douluo Continent's standards, was this not a malignant martial soul mutation?

A "malignant mutation" in his martial soul, coupled with an unremarkable physique, naturally resulted in low Soul Power Affinity. That was why he had possessed only level-one Innate Soul Power after awakening—level-one Soul Power Affinity.

"Although Tai Chi hasn't increased my Soul Power, I can clearly feel the difference. What it may have increased is my affinity for Soul Power!"

If his limit without awakening the Shadow King had been Soul Grandmaster, then as long as he practiced Tai Chi diligently every day without fail, his upper limit would continue to rise without end!

This was reinforcing his foundation. This was "Foundation Establishment"! Only by building a solid foundation could he continually advance to higher levels later on.

If he had begun using this method several years ago, perhaps he could have become a "genius" with Innate Full Soul Power as well.

"Perhaps Tang San's Mysterious Heaven Skill worked the same way." Cheng Xiao recalled that in the original story, Tang San had cultivated the Mysterious Heaven Skill for five or six years before noticing a bottleneck.

He guessed that Tang San, with his Twin Martial Souls, should originally have possessed Innate Full Soul Power. But malnutrition had left him innately deficient and physically weak, so his affinity had not been high.

The Mysterious Heaven Skill also followed the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, so it made up for innate deficiencies. It had constantly increased Tang San's Soul Power Affinity, which was why he had not fallen behind the others during his time cultivating at Shrek!

At its core, the Mysterious Heaven Skill was not some cultivation-accelerating miracle tool at all!

"Whew..."

A faint smile rose on Cheng Xiao's lips. It was as if a huge stone had been lifted from his heart, and all the pressure vanished.

All this time, an invisible sense of urgency had driven him to constantly temper his body, desperately wishing to free his two martial souls as soon as possible.

It was all because of "uncertainty"!

He did not know what level he needed to reach before he could free the two Kings.

He did not know whether merely increasing his Soul Power and tempering his body would allow it to withstand the impact of the Destruction King's power.

He was even less certain that he would live to see the day his martial souls were freed. Perhaps he would never be able to free them in his entire life.

These worries had kept him from ever relaxing or stopping. He had only level-one Innate Soul Power, and his limit was merely Soul Grandmaster. If he could not free his martial souls, he would only have a few decades to live.

But now, with Tai Chi increasing his Soul Power Affinity, his upper limit could rise. As long as he did not neglect his cultivation and encountered enough opportunities, he would surely be able to cultivate to the level of a Titled Douluo and gain a lifespan of centuries, perhaps even millennia. Then he could slowly find a way to resolve the issue with his martial souls.

Even if he did not solve the problem of his martial souls, as long as his Soul Power Affinity increased, his talent would improve. At that point, even taking the Sea God's Divinity would not be out of the question.

With more choices available, he no longer needed to worry as he had before.

Just as Cheng Xiao was lost in thought, Xiao Wu suddenly leaned close, her bright eyes fixed intensely on his face.

"Little Cheng, Little Cheng! Was that a Soul Skill just now?"