"How was that, Sister Erlong? Pretty impressive, huh?"
Mo Li said with a smile as he walked beside Liu Erlong.
"Yes, yes." Liu Erlong sighed helplessly. "It was pretty good."
It wasn't that she was unwilling to praise him. It was just that Mo Li had said things like this several times along the way, leaving her quite exasperated. Seeing that his little tail was practically sticking up to the sky, she sped up and left him behind.
But Mo Li's voice still came from behind her. Liu Erlong finally couldn't take it anymore. Her willow brows shot up, and she said irritably, "Are you ever going to stop? What did I just tell you? You've gone and treated my words like wind in your ears again, haven't you?"
"If you've got so much free time, I'll assign you some cultivation tasks right now!"
"Sister Erlong, I just remembered something. I'll head back first..."
Mo Li's voice grew fainter. Liu Erlong was just starting to wonder what was going on when she turned around and saw that Mo Li had already disappeared around the corner.
At the sight, she froze for a moment, then laughed in exasperation.
That little rascal!
The moment he heard the word cultivation, he ran faster than a rabbit. He had no idea how to treasure his own talent.
Looking toward the place where Mo Li had disappeared, Liu Erlong gave a helpless smile.
Although Mo Li was usually a bit of a handful and often did things that left her laughing and crying at the same time, he was good at heart. And now it seemed he had excellent talent, too.
Besides, with Mo Li by her side, she felt much more at ease, and her mood improved considerably.
She wasn't particularly strict with Mo Li in daily life, but she couldn't exactly be called gentle, either. Even so, Mo Li still liked being close to her, which made her feel quite content.
At the thought, Liu Erlong's cool, beautiful cheeks flushed faintly. She glanced around nervously, and after making sure no one had noticed, cleared her throat and resumed her usual cool, imposing demeanor.
After walking a few steps, she still couldn't help laughing. Why would a Soul Saint like her need Mo Li by her side to feel at ease? It had to be an illusion.
With her at the academy, it hadn't yet reached the point where Mo Li needed to cultivate desperately. Still, that lazy streak of his would definitely need to be worked out of him someday.
Thinking this, Liu Erlong couldn't help smiling, and her steps grew much lighter.
At the same time, Mo Li, walking home, couldn't help sneezing.
Their home stood in the middle of a forest. It lay far from the academy campus, and its secluded, tranquil surroundings made it an ideal place for quiet cultivation.
Past the outer woods, two simple wooden houses stood quietly on a level grassy clearing. A fairly large lake lay in front of them, its water crystal clear. The surroundings were beautiful overall.
Liu Erlong was usually busy with all kinds of affairs inside and outside the academy, so Mo Li had the place to himself and could enjoy the peace and quiet without worrying about anyone disturbing him.
Mo Li came to the grass by the lakeside and sat cross-legged. He took a deep breath of the fresh air, calming the restless feelings in his heart.
Then he gathered his thoughts and silently recited the method of the Yin-Yang Reincarnation Art. Before long, he entered a profound state of comprehension.
After an unknown stretch of time, Mo Li felt as if his consciousness had become invisible ripples, quietly spreading outward from him in every direction.
One meter, two meters, five meters... At last, the entire lake, the houses, and even a small patch of the surrounding forest were covered by his spiritual perception!
Feeling this change, his mind snapped into focus. Once he confirmed it wasn't an illusion, excitement surged through Mo Li.
His range of perception was so vast that even ordinary Soul Elders would struggle to match it.
"My spiritual power has actually become this strong!"
He held his breath and focused, carefully experiencing this new perspective. His mind seemed to become an invisible web, spread across the entire area.
Though Mo Li's eyes were slightly closed, he could sense the path of leaves swaying in the breeze, the faintest tremble of Blue Silver Grass as the wind passed over it...
The whole world appeared in his mind with a clarity he had never experienced before.
This marvelous sensation lasted for several minutes before his spiritual power receded like the tide.
Only then did he slowly open his eyes.
Mo Li looked exhausted, but his eyes burned with excitement.
"What a profound technique! It can improve my spiritual power and perception to such an extent!"
"No wonder the first realm is called Peering at Heaven and Earth!"
Just breaking through the first realm of the Yin-Yang Reincarnation Art had taken Mo Li a full two years. He had spent that time constantly cultivating and studying it, but the results had brought him a pleasant surprise.
After resting briefly, he once again circulated the Yin-Yang Reincarnation Art.
This time, he focused his spiritual power on his eyes.
A strange light flashed in his pupils, and the world before Mo Li completely changed color!
The plants in the forest and the fish in the lake were all surrounded by a faint glow—that was the Soul Power emitted by their life force.
The plants' glow was tranquil and unbroken, while the fish's was lively and nimble.
By comparison, the Heaven and Earth Soul Power drifting through the air seemed extremely thin.
To test his theory, Mo Li flicked a finger. A wisp of Soul Power condensed into Black Flame, streaked through the air, and fell into the lake.
In Mo Li's heightened state, he clearly saw the flame's trajectory, as well as the process by which the two types of Soul Power collided and vanished.
"How amazing!"
Mo Li couldn't help smiling. With this ability, he could easily detect weak points in other people's Soul Power when fighting them and strike there.
Just as he was immersed in this vivid world of Soul Power, his gaze happened to fall back on himself.
A faint black glow covered his body, drifting over the surface like viscous liquid. It was the Soul Power emanating from him, far stronger than that of the plants and living creatures around him.
"So this is what it looks like when Soul Power is released outside the body."
Just as Mo Li was about to look away, he suddenly sensed something strange within himself and let out a soft gasp.
"What's this?"
He focused on his body and saw countless fine lines extending through his limbs and all his meridians.
"These are... the meridians in my body!"
Mo Li's heart trembled. It seemed he had still underestimated the ability of Peering at Heaven and Earth.
He hadn't expected this first realm not only to give his spiritual power a great leap and make his perception astonishing, but also to let him see the pathways inside his own body.
Mo Li concentrated on his meridians and counted them carefully. There were twenty bright ones; he didn't include the other, smaller meridians.
Twelve of them were clear and unobstructed. Based on what he knew from his previous life, they should be the Twelve Primary Meridians, responsible for circulating qi and blood.
The other eight were thicker but somewhat dim, like silt-choked river channels.
"These must be the Eight Meridians."
On Douluo Continent, Innate Soul Power determined how quickly a Soul Master could cultivate. But the Eight Meridians existed outside the cultivation system, and could be considered one of the mysteries of the human body.
With that thought, Mo Li wasted no time. He guided his Soul Power carefully toward one of the Eight Meridians.
Time passed as he focused. By the time Mo Li emerged from his cultivation, it was already noon.
After spending the entire morning at it, he had only managed to loosen the first meridian a little. Clearly, this was no task that could be completed in a single day.
And as people grew older, their meridians became more and more clogged, making them much harder to clear.
"At this rate, it'll probably take at least half a year, maybe even a full year, to open the first meridian completely." That was assuming he set aside time every day to work at it.
But Mo Li was only six years old. What he had in abundance was time.
He stretched.
Tang San, who had cultivated the Mysterious Heaven Technique, had only opened his first meridian at the age of thirteen. Mo Li was still making considerably faster progress than Tang San.
"This really is delicate work that takes a lot of effort."
Mo Li chuckled to himself.
But he knew perfectly well that every bit of effort he put in now would bring him even greater rewards in the future.
Once he opened all eight meridians and combined that with his Innate Full Soul Power, just imagining how fast he would cultivate made his heart race.
"I could find a chance to help Sister Erlong identify her Eight Meridians."
He just needed to find a suitable excuse.
After resting briefly, Mo Li only then noticed how hungry he was.
He got up and strolled toward the academy.
It was noon. As soon as he entered the academy's main campus, Mo Li saw students in blue-and-white uniforms walking in groups along the tree-lined paths. Laughter and chatter rang out now and then, and the place was full of youthful energy and vitality.
Looking at the lively campus, he thought it even resembled a university from his previous life. Mo Li couldn't help remarking, "Sister Erlong really is impressive."
He wasn't just flattering her. In the context of the Douluo World, the Blue Tyrant Academy Liu Erlong had established really was an anomaly—a breath of fresh air that had transcended the limitations of its era.
Mo Li's admiration for Liu Erlong grew a little more, and he set off toward the cafeteria.
Just as he was about to head inside, a soft, affectionate voice called out from behind him.
"Little brother Li."