A Turtle Chanting Scriptures

"Being overly excited makes you lose your composure."

The shadowy figure put on an air of mystery as it explained slowly.

"Five hundred points of spiritual power, for an ordinary Soul Master, would be enough to sustain all Soul Skills and other conventional applications.

But for cultivating in the Sea of Consciousness and independently constructing a mental world, this is merely the beginning.

If your state of mind is unstable and your emotions are agitated, the consciousness space you construct will become chaotic and unbalanced.

It is like dreaming. One second, you are in a peaceful room; the next, you are suddenly transported to bustling streets, desolate wilderness, or mountain forests. The scenes are utterly disordered."

Chen An understood at once. In the end, it was still a matter of mental control.

After thinking for a moment, he asked curiously.

"Then if, inside the Sea of Consciousness, I forcibly imagine someone stabbing me in the back, would I feel real pain?"

"Yes."

The shadowy figure answered flatly, without the slightest hint of a joke.

"Once consciousness is given form, what the mind feels is what the body feels. There is no falsehood in it."

"Could you stop talking like you are in some cultivation novel?"

"Oh, fine. Your consciousness is closely linked to your body. Everything you imagine in the Sea of Consciousness will be reflected in your body."

"Then I really do need to be more careful."

Chen An nodded inwardly. Then he recalled a question that had long puzzled him and asked it casually.

"By the way, I have always been curious. I forgot to ask before—why are you always this pitch-black?"

"I was originally derived from your subconscious. I have no fixed physical form, and my appearance must also be shaped by your consciousness. Right now, I am in an unlocked form."

The shadowy figure spoke evenly, explaining at length.

Chen An's eyes lit up.

"Then once I can control the Sea of Consciousness myself, can I change your appearance however I want?"

The shadowy figure instantly became wary. Its black phantom form stiffened slightly, and its voice carried a trace of probing.

"You... do not want to turn me into a 165-centimeter, black-haired, long-haired, straight-haired beautiful girl in a JK uniform, do you?"

Chen An looked utterly disgusted and immediately snapped back.

"What kind of nonsense are you thinking about all day?!"

The shadowy figure pressed its palms together and muttered to itself, its whole style completely derailing.

"So you still like lolis. Fine, fine. The appearance does not really matter..."

"Hey! Are you even listening to me?! Could you be serious for once?!"

Chen An rubbed his forehead helplessly, completely speechless.

The next second, his consciousness gradually blurred. Chen An knew that he was about to wake up.

The pitch-black figure and the forest scene before him all faded away.

Chen An suddenly opened his eyes, fully waking from his sleep.

He slowly sat up and looked at the Soul Guidance clock on the wall. There was still plenty of time before class.

After getting up, washing, and dressing, Chen An walked to the mirror and leaned closer to examine himself.

He did not know whether it was due to the long-term meditation tempering his mind or Dragon Qi nourishing his body.

His skin had become increasingly fair and delicate, his features more refined, and his temperament had lost some of its youthful immaturity.

During this period, aside from his daily high-intensity training, Chen An often made time to visit the Forging Association. He had successfully passed the Level Three Blacksmith assessment.

He knew that in order to break the first seal and obtain those spirit items, Tang Wuling had incurred debts at the Blacksmith Association. She had been continuously taking forging jobs, polishing parts day and night to repay them.

Now that he was temporarily acting as her younger brother, Chen An chose to help her out a little.

He found all sorts of excuses to quietly slip his forging earnings to Tang Wuling. If she refused to accept them, he would secretly stuff the money into her cash.

Honestly, hammering metal day after day made forging an unbearably dull process.

If it were not for the chance to spend more time around Tang Wuling, he would never have patiently kept at it.

Until one day, Mang Tian sent word for Chen An and Tang Wuling to immediately make a trip to the Blacksmith Association.

The two left the academy building and had just arrived at the school gates when a striking figure, clearly brimming with anger, suddenly blocked their path.

Golden hair was tied into a high ponytail, with a bright red bow fastened among it.

Her features were beautiful and vivid, but her face was now clouded over with resentment. She was Mu Xi, the daughter of the Blacksmith Association's president.

"Hello, Senior Sister," Chen An and Tang Wuling greeted her politely.

But Mu Xi was completely unlike her usual gentle self. Her figure flashed, and with extreme speed, she instantly closed in on them.

The sudden close-range assault made the unprepared pair's hearts jump. They instinctively took half a step back.

Mu Xi stared at the two junior students before her, her heart filled with jealousy and unwillingness. Her voice dripped with resentment.

"Tell me. You two have both passed the Level Three Blacksmith assessment?"

Under her ferocious glare, Chen An inexplicably felt a little guilty and stammered slightly.

"Y-Yes..."

Tang Wuling hurriedly nodded as well, obediently agreeing.

The moment they finished speaking, Mu Xi flashed again and instantly circled behind them, shaking their heads from side to side with one hand as though dribbling a ball.

"Damn it! Why?!"

She growled in frustration.

"I started learning forging years before you! I have more experience than you, and my foundation is stronger than yours.

Obviously, I should be the most outstanding one! Why did you catch up to me—and even surpass me—in just a few short months?!"

Students passing by the school gate turned to look when they saw this scene. They then held back their laughter and hurried away, afraid of being caught in the crossfire.

Chen An was left dizzy from the shaking and hurriedly tried to soothe her.

"Big Sister Mu Xi, do not be angry, do not be angry. You were just unlucky, that is all!"

"Unlucky? Do you think I am that easy to fool?"

Mu Xi did not loosen her grip, her cheeks puffed up in anger.

"You two have only been learning for a few months? So all that praise about how impressive I was was just polite flattery, was it?!"

"It really was not! Every word I said came from the bottom of my heart!" Chen An hurriedly defended himself.

"Not listening, not listening! A turtle chanting scriptures!"

Mu Xi ignored him entirely and continued rubbing their heads to vent her frustration.

To escape her "demonic claws," Chen An immediately began showering her with elaborate praise, speaking at breakneck speed.

"Senior Sister, you are absolutely the smartest and most beautiful senior sister I have ever met! Both wise and brave, stunning enough to topple kingdoms, as lovely as a fish sinking beneath the water, a goose falling from the sky, the moon hiding its face, and flowers bowing their heads! You are practically an immortal descending from the heavens, an unrivaled beauty in the mortal world!"

"Enough! Stop!"

That string of exaggerated yet sincere praise instantly choked off Mu Xi's resentment.

She immediately let go and stepped between them, though her expression remained somewhat awkward.

"You two, where are you rushing off to?"

"We are going to the Blacksmith Association."

Tang Wuling answered honestly.

Mu Xi's pupils suddenly shrank. Her eyes instantly reddened, and panic filled her face.

"You... you are going to take the Level Four Blacksmith assessment already?! So soon?!"

"No, Senior Sister." Tang Wuling hurriedly explained.

"Our forging teacher, Master Mang Tian, sent word for us to go over. It is not an assessment."

Hearing that, Mu Xi's tense expression eased slightly. Then she declared with certainty.

"Then I am going with you!"

The two could only nod helplessly in agreement.

"At least you know what is good for you. Since you praised me just now, you do not have to walk today. I will give you a ride!"

Mu Xi instantly brightened, humming a cheerful tune as she strode ahead to lead the way.

Inside the Blacksmith Association.

When Mu Xi followed the two into the meeting room and clearly heard the conversation inside, the smile on her face abruptly froze. Her face filled with disbelief.

"What?!"