"Auntie Ah Rou." Nezha walked over. "I'll help you find a Soul Beast suitable for my first Soul Ring."
Ah Rou looked up at Nezha, a gentle smile appearing on her face.
"Nezha, why aren't you playing with Xiao Wu?"
"I want to help you," Nezha said seriously. "This is my Soul Ring. I can't let you handle it all by yourself."
Ah Rou paused for a moment, then smiled.
She reached out and stroked Nezha's head.
"As long as I'm here, it'll be fine." Ah Rou's voice was gentle, yet left no room for doubt. "Nezha is still young. All you need to do is be happy."
"But..."
"No buts."
Ah Rou stood up and took Nezha's hand, leading him outside.
"You just awakened your Martial Soul. You must be especially curious about it, right? Don't suppress your curiosity just because you don't want to trouble me. Go on, go get a good feel for your Martial Soul."
She pushed Nezha to the doorway, bent down, and met his eyes.
"Besides, you're still a child and don't know much about the Soul Beasts of Douluo Continent. Leave the choice of your first Soul Ring to me."
Although Ah Rou's tone was gentle, Nezha could tell that she was serious.
Nezha opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but ultimately swallowed the words.
Ah Rou was right.
He might know much of Douluo Continent's future plot, but only in broad strokes.
When it came to the traits and ages of specific Soul Beasts, or what kinds of Martial Souls they suited, he truly knew very little.
Although Ah Rou usually taught him some lessons, they were mostly basic literacy and broad classifications of Soul Beasts.
His knowledge of Soul Beasts was superficial at best.
"Then... all right."
Nezha nodded.
"Good boy." Ah Rou smiled and pinched his cheek. "Go on. Once I find a suitable Soul Beast, I'll call you."
With that, Ah Rou turned and returned to the room, continuing to browse through those thick books.
Nezha stood in the corridor, watching Ah Rou's back as warmth rose in his heart.
This woman had no blood relation to him whatsoever, yet she had given him more love than family ever had.
"Bibi Dong..."
Nezha softly spoke the name, a trace of coldness flashing deep within his eyes.
In the original story, it was this woman who hunted Ah Rou down for a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring and Soul Bone.
He would not let that happen.
Never.
Nezha returned to his room and shut the door again.
Since Ah Rou would not let him help, he could not waste time either.
Nine-Turn Mysterious Technique.
He needed to begin cultivating as soon as possible.
The appearance of this technique had completely changed Nezha's understanding of his own strength.
If he could begin cultivating soon, then even if he only reached the entry level, his physical strength would undergo a qualitative leap.
And physical strength directly determined what age of Soul Ring he could absorb.
In Douluo Continent, the age of Soul Rings a Soul Master could absorb was directly proportional to physical strength.
The stronger the body, the older the Soul Ring it could bear. That was why an ordinary Soul Master's fourth Soul Ring could only be a Thousand-Year Soul Ring, while Tang San, whose body had been tempered by the Ice-Fire Yin-Yang Eyes, could absorb a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring.
Although Nezha felt that he had been born with immense strength, to be honest, he had no idea where he stood.
After all, who were the ones he usually played and roughhoused with?
The Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast Xiao Wu.
The Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast Titan Giant Ape Er Ming.
The Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast Sky Azure Bull Python Da Ming.
Any one of those three would be enough to give a Title Douluo a headache.
Hanging around them, even if Nezha could punch a hundred-year Soul Beast to death, he would only think he was too weak.
His frame of reference was completely wrong!
He had no idea what level he was at among six-year-old children in this world, much less what the upper limit of the Soul Ring age he could endure was.
So Nezha's original plan had been to obediently get a hundred-year Soul Ring for his first one, then get a feel for his body's reaction and endurance when absorbing it.
Once he had some experience, he would consider whether his second Soul Ring should be a Thousand-Year Soul Ring or a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring.
But things were different now.
Nine-Turn Mysterious Technique!
With this technique, as long as he cultivated properly, his physical strength would absolutely undergo a terrifying leap.
By then, a Thousand-Year Soul Ring for his first Soul Ring?
No.
Maybe... he could go even higher.
At that thought, Nezha's heartbeat could not help speeding up.
He sat cross-legged on the bed, closed his eyes, and sank his consciousness into the inheritance of the Nine-Turn Mysterious Technique within his mind.
Countless profound incantations and circulation paths surfaced in his consciousness.
It had to be said that the Nine-Turn Mysterious Technique truly deserved to be called a top-tier cultivation method from the primordial era. Its mysteries were boundless.
Those incantations were obscure and profound, every single word containing indescribable principles of heaven and earth.
The circulation paths were even more intricate, involving all 365 acupoints throughout the body, the twelve primary meridians, the eight extraordinary meridians, and several energy channels whose names Nezha did not even know.
If the knowledge had not been directly instilled into him, then with his level of illiteracy, let alone cultivating it, even understanding it would have been difficult.
But now, this knowledge seemed etched into his soul. It came to him naturally.
The feeling was strange.
It was as though he had always known it, only forgotten it before and suddenly remembered it now.
Nezha took a deep breath and followed the circulation path of the first turn of the Nine-Turn Mysterious Technique, beginning his attempt to absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.
At first, nothing happened.
But Nezha did not grow impatient.
The inheritance of the Nine-Turn Mysterious Technique told him that the greatest taboo of first-time cultivation was impatience.
The spiritual energy of heaven and earth was everywhere, but mortals could not perceive it. He needed to calm his heart and feel it with focus.
Nezha emptied his mind and adjusted his breathing.
Gradually, his breaths became long, steady, and rhythmic.
With every inhalation and exhalation, Nezha felt as though he had passed through an invisible barrier, his consciousness entering an incomparably mysterious state.
Though his eyes were closed, he could clearly "see" everything around him.
He was not seeing with his eyes, but perceiving through another, more fundamental sense.
Within Nezha's perception, countless tiny points of light floated through the surrounding space.
Some were larger and some smaller; some bright and some dim. Their colors also varied. Most were a faint white, a few carried a hint of gold, and rarer still shimmered with seven-colored radiance.
The spiritual energy of heaven and earth.
This was the spiritual energy of heaven and earth that the Nine-Turn Mysterious Technique allowed him to perceive!
A wave of excitement rose within Nezha, but he quickly steadied his mind and continued breathing rhythmically according to the technique's circulation path.
With every breath he took, the light points floating around him slowly began to draw closer.
First came the few nearest to him, then more and more.
As though drawn by an invisible force, the points of light flowed into Nezha's body through his mouth, nose, and pores with his breathing.
They slowly flowed along the meridian paths designated by the Nine-Turn Mysterious Technique, ultimately converging in his dantian and transforming into a warm current.
This current was completely different from Soul Power.
Before you continue