Planting the Seed (Please Keep Reading!!!)

This was not a question unique to Xu Yuan.

It was something he had wondered about in his previous life. He had merely just broken through in Soul Power and suddenly thought of it again.

"Oh?" Mu Ye was slightly surprised that Xu Yuan would dwell on this question. Curious, he asked, "What do you think?"

"Even before awakening my Martial Soul, I had this question. At the time, I thought Soul Power cultivation was a process of expansion—expanding the Meridians or expanding the dantian. During meditation, one expands outward, which is why progress is difficult. Recovering Soul Power, meanwhile, only replenishes the areas that have already been expanded, so it is easy and quick."

"And now?" Mu Ye pressed.

"Now that I'm cultivating personally, at least for the moment, the Meridians in my body have not been filled, and my dantian still has room. There is no such process of expansion."

It was perfectly normal logic.

Xu Yuan actually understood the process of Soul Master cultivation in great detail, including the specifics of high-level Soul Master cultivation. He had long known that what he had said earlier was unreasonable.

Bringing it up now was simply a way of showing Mu Ye his own line of thought.

Mu Ye nodded. He was already quite satisfied that Xu Yuan could have such thoughts.

"Actually, your idea isn't wrong."

It wasn't wrong?

Xu Yuan froze for a moment and looked at Mu Ye in confusion.

"Soul Power cultivation is indeed a process of expansion. It just isn't the Meridians or the dantian that are being expanded, but the limitations of the Martial Soul."

"The limitations of the Martial Soul?" Xu Yuan murmured, pondering it.

"What determines the upper limit of Soul Power is the Martial Soul's capacity—or rather, its degree of control. That is also what a Soul Master expands through meditation." Mu Ye further explained, "However, this so-called capacity has nothing to do with the quality of the Martial Soul itself. Only its upper limit and the difficulty of expanding it are related to the Martial Soul's quality."

Mu Ye then gave an example, one that sounded somewhat familiar to Xu Yuan.

"A powerful Martial Soul only needs to gradually unlock its restrictions and continuously increase Soul Power. But a weak Martial Soul may not be able to support even Level 30 Soul Power, even after displaying its full capacity without any so-called restrictions. Such a Soul Master will remain trapped at Level 29 for life."

"But does Soul Power capacity, or control, really have to rely entirely on the Martial Soul?" Xu Yuan asked.

Xu Yuan did not understand this deeper theory thoroughly enough. After all, the novels from his previous life had not described such specific theories.

Mu Ye shook his head. "Of course not. A Soul Master's physical body and Spiritual Power can also grow strong enough to share the burden on the Martial Soul, but that is ultimately limited. So far, apart from using Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures to induce a Martial Soul mutation or evolution, there is no other way to overcome this innate problem of the Martial Soul."

"Your father's research is actually at the forefront of finding a solution to this problem."

Using Companion Soul Spirits to solve the issue of capacity.

Then Mu Ye shifted the topic.

"Actually, the expansion of the Meridians and dantian that you mentioned does exist as well, but it only begins once one reaches Level 30 Soul Elder. At that stage, the Soul Power inside a Soul Master's body has basically filled the Meridians. Then they begin compressing gaseous Soul Power into liquid-state Soul Power. In subsequent cultivation, the Soul Power cultivated is still gaseous, but under the Soul Master's circulation and compression, it gradually turns liquid. Naturally, gaseous and liquid Soul Power coexist. Then the Meridians are filled again, converted again, filled again—repeating the cycle until the Meridians are completely filled with liquid Soul Power."

"From Level 30 until that stage, every compression after filling one's Soul Power slightly expands the Meridians and dantian. Once liquid Soul Power fills the Meridians, it continues to be compressed, becoming denser and denser, with ever-higher quality. This stage continuously expands the Meridians and dantian."

"Different Soul Masters progress differently through these stages, mainly due to the influence of their Martial Souls, their Meditation Methods, and even the quality of their Soul Spirits."

Mu Ye described his own firsthand cultivation experiences to Xu Yuan.

Xu Yuan looked thoughtful.

Combining Mu Ye's explanation with what he knew, he felt as though something had stirred within him.

After thinking carefully and examining the two stages over and over, he seized upon the key point.

"Teacher, do both of these stages remain inseparable from that upper limit of capacity determined by Martial Soul quality?"

Before Level 30, one could be trapped because the Martial Soul was too weak and there was no more room to expand. Was it the same after Level 30?

Mu Ye paused, then nodded before shaking his head.

"Generally speaking, after breaking through Level 30, Soul Power has already become liquid. Before liquid Soul Power fills all the Meridians, the upper limit of Martial Soul capacity is not as apparent."

The transformation from gaseous to liquid caused the demand for capacity to undergo a sudden change at Level 30.

That was why it became a hurdle.

"What about afterward? After liquid Soul Power fills the Meridians? Soul Power still needs to be compressed afterward. Although it is all liquid, there are differences in quality. How is that stage measured in terms of data?"

At this point, Xu Yuan emphasized data.

Mu Ye frowned, finding it somewhat difficult to answer.

"For the most accurate data, you would have to go to the Spirit Pagoda. As for what I have seen and heard, it seems that no one is completely limited by Martial Soul quality at that point. Personally, I believe it is because Soul Masters generally already possess at least four Soul Rings by then, and their Martial Soul quality has already improved significantly through the enhancement of their Soul Rings."

Xu Yuan still wore a contemplative expression.

"Xiao Yuan, do you think that the process of expanding the Meridians and dantian also positively affects Martial Soul quality, gradually improving the Martial Soul without one noticing?"

"That's right." Xu Yuan was not surprised. He did not take Mu Ye, someone capable of cultivating to Level 94, for a fool. Everyone could think. Perhaps not everyone would come up with such questions without prompting, but he certainly would not be the only one who could.

"There probably is such an effect. Some have even proposed methods to actively improve Martial Soul quality through this process, but there should be no results yet."

Even if there were, it would only mean making more efficient use of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures under the guidance of this basic theory, maximizing their ability to improve Martial Soul quality.

A true secret technique that did not require the support of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures did not yet exist.

"Teacher, what if I carry out research in this area alongside the forging of Soul Spirits?"

Mu Ye was taken aback.

"That depends on you. You can ponder these ideas yourself, but they cannot affect your normal cultivation and studies."

Xu Yuan nodded.

Mu Ye took out a stack of materials.

"Don't think about anything else for now. It's time for you to begin studying Mecha Design as well. These are some basics of Soul Guidance Arrays. Try to absorb them over the next few days. Once you finish reading them, I'll give you the actual schematics of a Mecha's internal structure for you to study."

Xu Yuan accepted the materials and did not think they would be difficult.

Ever since his Brain Martial Soul awakened, his mind had been clearer than ever. Thinking did not tire him in the slightest. These past few days, he had followed Zhen Hua and listened to his explanations of forging theory, understanding everything without any burden.

The materials on Mecha Design should be about the same.