Innate Rank Five Soul Power! Angel God Pool!

Qian Shengyuan sat down across from the low table, his gaze fixed on Li Long.

He saw Li Long's brow furrow slightly the instant the fruit entered his stomach, only to quickly relax again.

The medicinal power of the cleansing fruit differed from the violent tearing sensation of a Soul Ring's impact. It was more like a prolonged high-temperature smelting process, gradually burning away the impurities and sluggishness within the meridian walls before guiding Soul Power through the newly opened pathways.

After the time it took to burn one incense stick, Li Long's face began to flush. It was a sign that the medicinal power had permeated his entire body.

Under the continuous infusion of the warm medicinal power, his meridian walls were slowly expanding. The minor bends and blockages that had once existed were being cleared away one by one.

The effects of this process would not be immediately apparent, but they would continue to influence his cultivation speed for a long time to come.

After two incense sticks' worth of time, Li Long's breathing became long and steady. The medicinal power had moved from its initial intense penetration into a stable absorption phase.

Qian Shengyuan could see that the fluctuations of Soul Power around him were becoming smoother. The subtle sense of sluggishness caused by the limits of his Innate Soul Power was visibly diminishing.

Three incense sticks. Four incense sticks.

The night deepened, and even the chirping insects outside the East Courtyard gradually fell silent.

Qian Shengyuan remained seated across from the low table in a guarding posture, not moving from his spot.

He watched Li Long's complexion gradually return from flushed red to normal, his breathing ease from tautness into relaxation, and the flow of Soul Power within him become increasingly even instead of suffering from the previous localized sluggishness.

When the first ray of morning light broke over the horizon, Li Long finally opened his eyes.

He lowered his head to look at his hands, clenched his fists, and felt the state of Soul Power circulating within him. Then he raised his head and said to Qian Shengyuan, "The total amount of my level thirty-five Soul Power hasn't directly increased, but my meridians have widened by nearly twenty percent. The resistance to Soul Power circulation has clearly decreased, and the time it takes to complete one cycle of the Guidance Method has been reduced by roughly a quarter."

Qian Shengyuan nodded at that feedback. "The results are about what I expected. This is only the initial effect. The increase in cultivation speed brought by widened meridians will gradually show over the next month or two. Your Innate Soul Power foundation should have risen from rank three to around rank five. Your future cultivation speed will be faster than before."

He stood and glanced at Li Long in the morning light. "Feel out the rest yourself. Once the residual effects of the fruit are completely absorbed, how long do you estimate it will take you to break through to level thirty-six?"

Li Long closed his eyes and sensed the condition within his body before replying, "Around two months."

The corner of Qian Shengyuan's mouth twitched slightly. "Faster than I expected."

He said nothing more and turned to walk out of the courtyard.

Morning light fell across his shoulders, clearly illuminating the dust on his dark everyday clothes—the traces he had brought back from the depths of the Earthfire Lava Cavern in Sunset Forest.

Li Long stood in the courtyard and watched him leave. He lowered his head to look at his palm. The jade box had already closed, but a trace of warmth still remained on the surface of the cold jade.

He took a deep breath. The morning air carried the cool scent of grass and trees, forming a stark contrast with the lingering warmth inside his body.

He felt as though his meridians had been combed through anew. The flow of Soul Power had changed from something he once needed to force forward into a natural current flowing smoothly downstream.

He returned beneath the corridor, sat down, and closed his eyes again to begin circulating the Guidance Method.

This time, he could clearly feel the difference. Soul Power rose from his dantian through his meridians. Whenever it passed a meridian node, it no longer needed deliberate guidance to get through as it had before. Instead, like water finding a new riverbed, it flowed smoothly onward along the widened pathways.

A two-thousand-year Aptitude Cleansing Fruit had rewritten the limits of his innate rank three aptitude.

Now, he could truly race on the same track as other geniuses.

After leaving the East Courtyard, Qian Shengyuan did not return to the study. Instead, he turned and followed a rarely used corridor deeper into the Papal Palace.

The wall lamps on either side of the corridor gradually changed from ordinary Soul Guidance Lamps to specially made lamps embedded with golden crystals, their warm white glow turning pale gold.

The deeper he went, the quieter the air became. The reliefs of Six-Winged Angels on the walls also grew denser, with one appearing almost every step. They came in different poses, as though watching those who passed from every angle.

At the end of the corridor stood a heavy golden stone door. There was no handle on its surface, only a circle of intricate soul guidance patterns slowly flowing across it.

Qian Shengyuan raised his right hand, gathering a thread of golden Soul Power in his palm before pressing it against the center of the door.

All the patterns lit up at once. A moment later, the stone door silently slid open to both sides.

Inside was a circular hall with an extremely high dome. In the very center of the floor lay a pool of golden water.

The pool's surface was calm as a mirror, emitting a gentle and even golden radiance. It was like an entire mass of liquid gold contained within stone walls.

The temperature throughout the hall was several degrees warmer than outside. A gentle yet dense energy fluctuation permeated the air, and standing by the pool made one feel a heavy warmth slowly rising from the soles of one's feet.

The Angel God Pool.

Qian Yaoting had arrived ahead of him.

He sat cross-legged on a jade platform beside the pool, having just completed a round of Soul Power regulation. Hearing the stone door open, he opened his eyes and looked over.

When he saw Qian Shengyuan enter and close the door behind him, he asked, "How did that cleansing fruit work out for Junior Brother?"

"He's finished absorbing it." Qian Shengyuan walked to the pool's edge and stopped, his gaze falling on the golden water as he spoke evenly. "His meridians widened by nearly twenty percent, and his Innate Soul Power rose to around rank five. After two months of refinement, he should be able to reach level thirty-six."

Qian Yaoting raised his brows slightly.

From level thirty-five to thirty-six in two months was faster than he had expected.

After thinking for a moment, he suddenly asked, "Don't you plan to let Junior Brother undergo the Angel God Pool's baptism?"

Qian Shengyuan withdrew his gaze from the pool and looked at Qian Yaoting.

He fell silent for a moment before answering. His tone carried the judgment of careful consideration. "The time isn't right yet. Although the God Pool's baptism has obvious effects, its greatest boost is for the Angel Clan. For those whose Martial Soul isn't an Angel, its effects are greatly weakened. Li Long's Martial Soul is the Iron Rod. The God Pool's cleansing will help him, but it is nowhere near as beneficial as it is for you and me."

He paused, his gaze returning to the golden surface of the pool as he continued, "Besides, this kind of one-time great opportunity is most effective when used at a bottleneck. He has just taken the cleansing fruit and is currently in a period of rapid growth. Using the God Pool now and using it at a bottleneck are entirely different matters in terms of the gains. I plan to wait until he is stuck at a major bottleneck, when normal cultivation can no longer push him through, before letting him enter. That way, the God Pool's energy can be used to the fullest, helping him break through in one go and creating an effect where one plus one is greater than two."

Qian Yaoting did not respond immediately after hearing this. He lowered his head to think for a while, then nodded. "That makes sense. The cleansing fruit opened the road. The God Pool should be saved for when he needs to climb the slope."

He stood and walked to the pool's edge, reaching out to test the surface of the water. The instant his fingertips touched it, a layer of golden ripples spread from the point of contact. It was warm, but not hot.

"And," Qian Shengyuan added, "the more solid his foundation is before entering the pool, the better his absorption will be. If he goes in too early, his body won't be able to bear that much energy, and it will only go to waste."

Qian Yaoting withdrew his hand, looked up at the dome, and softly said, "Then I really want to see what kind of effect it will have if he uses the God Pool when he reaches four rings."

Qian Shengyuan did not answer.

He stood where he was, his gaze resting on the golden surface of the pool. The corner of his mouth moved slightly, as if he already had an answer but did not intend to say it for now.

He turned and walked toward the stone door, with Qian Yaoting following behind him.

The two left the Angel Temple, and the stone door closed behind them once more, sealing that golden radiance deep within.