The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect's meditation method was different from ordinary meditation methods. It could enhance the user's affinity for lightning-element energy.
The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect had gradually developed it through generations of passing down the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul.
This enhancement was strongest for the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, followed by lightning-attribute Martial Souls. Not only did it provide no benefit to other Martial Souls, it could actually hinder their cultivation.
Therefore, on the Douluo Continent, only families with long-standing traditions optimized their meditation methods. Everyone else cultivated using the same unchanging method.
After all, only families like these had Martial Souls passed down through a stable lineage. Ordinary people awakened all kinds of different Martial Souls, and even a slight optimization of the meditation method would make some of them unsuitable.
This was especially true of powerful Martial Souls. Their distinctive traits made them particularly prone to incompatibility if the meditation method was altered.
The interesting thing was that a powerful Martial Soul meant its user would become a powerful Soul Master once they grew strong enough.
No one wanted to be the one cast aside by the times, so whenever something like this happened, that small group would step in and snuff it out.
There had been two such incidents in the history of the Douluo Continent. The more recent one had indirectly led to the birth of two empires.
Setting aside the distracting thoughts in his mind, Yu Hengqing began circulating the meditation method. The already active lightning-element energy instantly gathered around him.
The girl had been worrying that Yu Hengqing might get hurt, but when she sensed him achieve resonance with his surroundings in the blink of an eye, she suddenly felt her concern had been unnecessary.
The girl's companion was even more shocked. He had never imagined Yu Hengqing would resonate with his Martial Soul and the surrounding environment so quickly.
His talent couldn't compare to a genius like Yu Tianheng, but he was certainly among the better students at Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
Even so, it had taken him nearly fifteen minutes to resonate with his Martial Soul and the surrounding environment.
The boy swallowed and said to the girl in disbelief, "I remember Yu Tianheng took a full five minutes to resonate, didn't he?"
The dazed girl silently nodded. They had all been there the first time Yu Tianheng came to cultivate at Thunder-Fire Hall, so she knew how long it had taken him.
Seeing that the girl wasn't saying anything, the boy continued on his own. "Could our junior's talent be even greater than Yu Tianheng's? No, maybe it's because he has a dual lightning-and-fire Martial Soul. I heard that Martial Souls like that resonate very easily in Thunder-Fire Hall."
The girl looked at him as if he were an idiot. Even if a dual lightning-and-fire Martial Soul made resonance easier, without exceptional talent, it was impossible to resonate with the environment in a single second, wasn't it?
At that moment, Yu Hengqing was absorbing the lightning-element energy around him while circulating Cangming Lightning to neutralize the fire-element energy and keep its concentration from getting too high.
Despite how concentrated the lightning-element energy was in Thunder-Fire Hall, Yu Hengqing's cultivation speed had barely reached a third of an ordinary person's.
At this rate, even though he was at level sixteen, it would probably take him another two or three years to break through to level twenty in Soul Power.
It really had been the right decision to accept Dugu Yan's Century-Old Purple Vein Ginseng.
Once he got back, Yu Hengqing would ask Yu Yuanzhen to grind it into powder so he could take it during his future cultivation.
As for the instability in his cultivation caused by consuming medicinal herbs, Yu Hengqing could stabilize his realm while refining Cangming Lightning.
Leiyi had been the one to tell him about this effect.
"While you refine Cangming Lightning, it will temper the Soul Power in your body and improve its quality."
When Yu Hengqing learned that Cangming Lightning could temper Soul Power, he understood why his second God Trial had yet to appear. His Soul Power quality probably wasn't high enough; the trial wouldn't continue until Cangming Lightning finished tempering it.
As Yu Hengqing's cultivation session went on, the others cultivating in Thunder-Fire Hall began to notice him.
In a hall where everyone cultivated in groups, it was hard not to notice someone suddenly cultivating alone for such a long time.
Most of them hadn't seen Yu Hengqing resonate in a second, though, so they assumed he was just a reckless youngster.
"How long do you think this junior can hold out?"
"I don't think he'll last fifteen minutes. How long has he been going now?"
"Heh, looks like you guessed wrong! This junior's about to make it to fifteen minutes!"
"Damn, then this junior's more talented than I am! I only lasted ten minutes back then."
For most noble students, cultivating in Thunder-Fire Hall was incredibly dull. A rare bit of entertainment had appeared, so they stopped cultivating and watched Yu Hengqing.
In the blink of an eye, fifteen minutes had passed.
"This junior's pretty talented, huh? Do you know which family he's from?"
"No idea. I know quite a few families, but I've never heard of him."
"I don't know him either."
As Yu Hengqing's cultivation session stretched on, more and more onlookers gathered to watch.
What could be more entertaining than seeing a talented person make a fool of himself in public?
That was, until Yu Hengqing had cultivated for twenty-five minutes and was nearing the thirty-minute mark.
The onlookers straightened up. If Yu Hengqing could last this long on his first try, his Innate Soul Power had to be at least level six.
Soon, thirty minutes had passed, and Yu Hengqing was still quietly cultivating, showing no sign of wanting to leave.
No one there was still hoping to see him make a fool of himself. Now they just wanted to know how long he could last.
The current record among students at Thunder-Fire Hall belonged to Yu Tianheng, who had cultivated for a full sixty-five minutes before stopping!
Some busybodies had already pulled out their pocket watches and started calling out the time!
Thirty-five minutes, forty minutes, forty-five minutes, fifty minutes! Fifty-five minutes!!
As Yu Hengqing's time drew closer and closer to an hour, the excitement in the onlookers' eyes could no longer be concealed. This was perfect bragging material to share with their friends!
And even if Yu Hengqing couldn't break Yu Tianheng's record, lasting an hour would still be an impressive feat!
"One hour!"
Someone in the crowd whispered the words, and the whole group immediately tensed up, as if the person sitting there cultivating were themselves instead of Yu Hengqing!
"I've temporarily sealed your hearing with energy. Just focus on cultivating now, and don't let those people disturb you!"
Leiyi's voice rang out in Yu Hengqing's mind.
The chatter of the crowd had been distracting him, but now the world suddenly felt peaceful.
Because of that, Yu Hengqing kept cultivating until Cangming Lightning could no longer neutralize the fire-element energy in time, making his body feel hot. Only then did he stop.
The moment Leiyi restored Yu Hengqing's hearing, a wave of cheers erupted in Thunder-Fire Hall.
"An hour and a half! He lasted a whole hour and a half! He even outdid Yu Tianheng!"
"Not just that! An hour and a half is beyond what even a lot of people with Innate Full Soul Power can manage!"
"No way! If that's true, doesn't that mean this junior has the potential to become a Titled Douluo?"
"I think so. Most people with Innate Full Soul Power end up becoming Titled Douluo!"
Yu Hengqing looked at the noisy crowd, feeling a little speechless. He had never imagined that coming to cultivate at Thunder-Fire Hall could cause such a commotion.
Still, Yu Hengqing had no intention of dealing with them. After turning down several invitations, he left Thunder-Fire Hall.
But not long after Yu Hengqing left Thunder-Fire Hall, Leiyi suddenly warned him.
"Xiao Qing, someone's following you. Be careful!"
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