Starry Sky Attribute

(ps: Brothers, due to a correction from a reader, the innate soul power of the Xu siblings has been changed to level ten; the attack power boost of the protagonist's first soul skill has been changed to 250%; the storage device given by Leng Yaozhu has been changed to three hundred cubic meters. Please be aware.)

As soon as the spirit fruit touched his hand, a cool sensation seeped through his palm and spread silently along his meridians, as if he had been washed by a refreshing spring. The fatigue accumulated from days of practicing with the staff dissipated significantly.

Chu Yan held the spirit fruit up to his eyes to examine it closely.

The peel was a deep blue-purple, covered with a layer of fine, silver-white patterns that looked like flowing silk threads wandering slowly beneath the surface. The entire fruit emitted a faint, crisp fragrance that made his mind feel invigorated just by smelling it.

He had read records of this spirit fruit in the Chu Clan's soul beast compendium and spiritual plant classics.

The Deep Orchid Spirit-Focusing Fruit was a special spiritual plant that grew in the depths of the ten-thousand-year cold pools in the Far North. It blossomed after five hundred years, bore fruit after one thousand, and required fifteen hundred years of time for a single fruit to reach maturity.

Its effect was to nourish spiritual power and consolidate the foundation of one's spiritual consciousness. While it provided no direct gain to soul power cultivation, its effect on enhancing spiritual power was exceptional.

It was almost never seen in circulation on the market; when it occasionally appeared at auctions, it was often snatched up at high prices by large factions or top-tier soul masters.

Even for the Chu Clan, it would be difficult to secure one such fruit at an auction with two years of income, yet his teacher had casually placed six of the same grade in his storage bracelet, and the remaining three were no less impressive.

Was this the foundation of a Limit Douluo?

Chu Yan turned the Deep Orchid Spirit-Focusing Fruit over in his hand, but instead of consuming it immediately, he carefully placed it back into the constant-temperature space within his bracelet.

The storage space inside the bracelet could insulate against external temperatures, allowing the spirit fruit to be stored while delaying the loss of its medicinal efficacy to the greatest extent. He decided to consume it during his meditation that night, as the absorption effect would be better then.

He probed his consciousness into the storage space again to examine the other items besides the nine spirit fruits.

In addition to the two Deep Orchid Spirit-Focusing Fruits, there were seven other spirit fruits of varying sizes and colors piled quietly in the corner of the storage space.

Three of them were deep red with fine golden patterns on the peel. They felt warm to the touch and emitted a faint fire-attribute soul power fluctuation; these were "Crimson Flame Blood Fruits."

They were specifically used for tempering the physical body and strengthening blood and energy. Their effect on improving physical fitness was extremely significant, making them especially suitable for soul masters with power-attack system tool Martial Souls.

Two others were emerald green, shaped like beads carved from jade. Their surfaces were as smooth as mirrors, and holding them in his hand, he could feel a gentle vitality slowly seeping through his palm; these were likely "Azure Wood Spirit Fruits."

Their medicinal properties were mild, focusing on nourishing the meridians and stabilizing the foundation, making them suitable as daily tonic spirit fruits.

The remaining two were entirely silver-white, each the size of an infant's fist. The peel was translucent, and one could see strands of silver-white radiance flowing slowly inside, as if concentrated starlight had been sealed within the shell.

These were "Star Marrow Fruits," an extremely rare spirit fruit for enhancing spiritual power, far more precious than the Deep Orchid Spirit-Focusing Fruit.

Legend had it that this spirit fruit could only grow at earth vein nodes where starlight energy was extremely dense. It bore fruit once every five hundred years, yielding only three to five fruits each time.

According to his knowledge from books, this item also provided a significant boost to spiritual power, and beyond that, it also enhanced physical strength.

Two Deep Orchid Spirit-Focusing Fruits, two Star Marrow Fruits, plus the other spirit fruits with various functions he had seen earlier—a total of nine spirit fruits.

Chu Yan withdrew his consciousness from the storage space. The weight of this meeting gift from his teacher was far heavier than he had initially imagined.

For a newly accepted personal disciple, before even holding an official apprenticeship ceremony, she had casually stuffed so many things into his hands.

This not only showed the degree of importance Leng Yaozhu placed on him but also indirectly reflected just how abundant the resources at her disposal were.

However, Chu Yan did not dwell on the surprise for too long. He simply memorized the classification and effects of these spirit fruits in his heart and then refocused his attention.

As the night grew deeper, Chu Yan sat cross-legged in his room and circulated his soul power. After confirming that his internal soul power was flowing smoothly without obstruction, he took out the blue-purple Deep Orchid Spirit-Focusing Fruit from the bracelet.

Holding the spirit fruit, he channeled his soul power to wrap around the peel, using an extremely pure and gentle force to slowly dissolve it.

The deep blue-purple juice seeped into his skin through his palm, and an extremely crisp chill, like a cold spring, surged into his meridians and spread rapidly throughout his body.

Chu Yan closed his eyes, focusing all his attention on mobilizing his spiritual power.

The cool current flowed slowly through his meridians and finally gathered at the center of his forehead, as if something had vibrated gently deep within his mind.

Under the nourishment of that cool energy, his spiritual power became active. The parts that had been somewhat stagnant gradually became clear, as if the riverbed of a slow-moving stream had been widened.

The entire process lasted about a quarter of an hour.

When the chill finally merged completely into his spiritual power, Chu Yan slowly opened his eyes and clearly felt that the spiritual power in his mind had undergone a qualitative improvement.

It had increased by more than fifty percent compared to before. Moreover, the Deep Orchid Spirit-Focusing Fruit was not a one-time consumable; its medicinal effect would continue to be released slowly over the next few days, and the true, full effect would only be completely realized in a few days.

Chu Yan used his soul power to shatter the remaining peel, cleaned it up, and then closed his eyes again to begin circulating his soul power to consolidate the changes brought about by the spirit fruit.

In the blink of an eye, two more days passed.

On the morning of September 2nd.

After Chu Yan finished his morning practice, showered, and changed his clothes, a light sound of footsteps came from outside the courtyard.

"Brother Yan!"

The voice arrived before the person, and one could tell it was the adorable Xu Xiaoyan.

Just as Chu Yan stood up, a figure in a light blue dress had already darted into his courtyard.

Xu Xiaoyan looked exceptionally excited today, her little face flushed, her twin tails bouncing behind her. She was clutching a small ice-blue booklet in her hand, as if she had just received it from somewhere.

"What's wrong? Why so happy?" Chu Yan greeted her with a smile.

"Brother Yan, look!"

Xu Xiaoyan ran up to him, held the booklet up before his eyes, opened the inner page, and shook it triumphantly, saying, "I went to the Spirit Pagoda yesterday!"

Chu Yan looked down. It was a copy of a Soul Spirit Contract, with the Spirit Pagoda's logo and the Xu Clan's family crest printed on the cover. Opening the inner page, there was a clear line of text and a light blue soul spirit imprint.

"You obtained a soul spirit?" Chu Yan raised his eyebrows slightly, a hint of surprise in his tone.

"Mm!" Xu Xiaoyan nodded vigorously, her small face brimming with irrepressible pride as she happily said, "Daddy took me there early yesterday morning. He said my soul power had finally stabilized and I was ready to absorb my first Soul Ring."

As she spoke, she took two steps back, drew a deep breath, and released her Martial Soul.

An ice-blue staff appeared in her hands. The shaft was as translucent as ice, with a faint, cold mist drifting across its surface, looking exactly as it had on the day of her awakening.

Immediately following, a yellow Soul Ring rose from beneath her feet, hovering around her body and rotating slowly.

Chu Yan's gaze lingered on that yellow Soul Ring for a moment.

The color was pure, falling within the range of a standard hundred-year Soul Ring, likely close to five hundred years.

For someone with innate full soul power like Xu Xiaoyan, a first Soul Ring of this age was well within her capacity to bear.

"This one is four hundred and eighty years old."

Xu Xiaoyan tilted her small chin up triumphantly and continued, "I spent such a long time picking it out. The staff at the Spirit Pagoda said this soul spirit was a perfect match for ice-staff-type Martial Souls. Daddy also said I was lucky to have caught the latest shipment, and that this soul spirit even possesses a trace of the Starry Sky Attribute."

"Oh, right, Brother Yan, I feel like something is a bit off with my Martial Soul. After fusing with this soul spirit, I feel like I've gained the Starry Sky Attribute myself."

Hearing this, Chu Yan's gaze lingered on the ice-blue staff in her hands for an extra moment before the corners of his mouth curved slightly.

"Is it possible that your Martial Soul isn't just the traditional Ice Staff from your family, but one that possesses an additional Starry Sky Attribute?"