Pushing the Body to Its Limits and the Three Theories of Martial Souls

The meal could wait, but training could not.

"Big brother, remember the push-ups I taught you? This time, I'll show you a few harder variations."

Once Su Yuntao had assumed the push-up position, Tang Shan crouched and patted one of his arms where it braced against the ground.

"Lift this hand. You can put it behind your back or in front of you. Support yourself with the other arm and do a push-up. The key points are the same as before: keep your back and legs in a straight line, and move slowly to give your muscles a thorough workout."

Su Yuntao grimaced. He tucked one hand behind his back, bent his other arm as far as he could, and slowly completed a one-handed push-up.

Seeing no major problems with his form, Tang Shan continued teaching him exercises.

Every movement put his physical fitness to a tremendous test.

Su Yuntao struggled a little, but he completed each exercise properly. Tang Shan nodded in satisfaction.

Just as I thought. Absorbing a Soul Ring gave his body an enormous boost. These exercises shouldn't be too much for an ordinary Soul Master. He simply hadn't tapped into this strength before.

There's a drawback, though. These exercises will only help him train until he becomes a Soul Grandmaster. Once he reaches Soul Elder, they'll probably have little effect.

And Big Brother absorbed a Soul Ring beyond what an ordinary Soul Master could handle. Even without Whale Rubber, by the time he naturally reaches level twenty, these exercises will do almost nothing for him.

Too bad I only came across the occasional workout video in my past life. You never realize how little you know until you need it.

Tang Shan set those thoughts aside and taught him more exercises: single-leg squats, planks, dragon flags...

Whether or not better training methods existed, he would at least teach his big brother everything he knew.

"This is a Burpee. Think of it as a combination of a frog jump, a squat, and a push-up. You have to do it in one fluid motion, without stopping between steps."

"Huff... Huff..."

Under the blazing sun, beads of sweat the size of soybeans glistened on Su Yuntao's skin. He slumped to the ground, breathing hard.

Tang Shan stood beside him and patted his big brother's shoulder.

"Good work, Big Brother. Give it a few days, and you won't feel this exhausted. Your body's much stronger after your breakthrough, after all."

After resting a while longer, Su Yuntao took the water Tang Shan handed him and drank it in small sips. He could not help asking in a hoarse voice, "Little brother, where did you learn these exercises? How can they work so well?"

"I found them in the library at Spirit Hall in Notting City. I forget which book it was."

Tang Shan lied without a moment's hesitation, showing no sign that he felt guilty about it.

"They seem effective now, but that's mainly because you've never trained this way before. Once you get used to it, the benefits will drop off fast. By the time you become a Soul Grandmaster, the exercises probably won't help at all. I don't know any more advanced methods, either."

"There's nothing beyond this?"

Honestly, Su Yuntao found that disappointing. The training hurt, but sweating buckets and feeling himself grow stronger was exhilarating. Had Tang Shan known what he was thinking, he would have recognized the rush of dopamine in Su Yuntao's brain, giving him a lasting sense of pleasure.

"You two boys! Come back and eat!"

Hearing Su Haichao call from inside the Attic, Su Yuntao struggled to his feet but stumbled.

Fortunately, Tang Shan reacted quickly and stepped forward to steady him.

Once he had regained his balance, Su Yuntao wiped another layer of hot sweat from his forehead and let out a long breath...

"What happened to you? Did someone pull you out of a lake?"

Su Haichao came out of the kitchen carrying a plate. He stared at Su Yuntao, who was soaked through and could barely move.

He knew his younger son's training methods were good, but he had not expected them to have such a noticeable effect even after Su Yuntao became a Soul Master.

"Dad, want to train with me?"

A mischievous smile tugged at Su Yuntao's lips, but Tang Shan promptly shattered his hopes.

"Dad's a Soul Elder. Even if he trained alongside you, it wouldn't do him any good. He might not even break a sweat. You'll have to enjoy it on your own, Big Brother."

Su Yuntao, still seething, wanted to take it out on his little brother. But Tang Shan was too quick: he had already darted over to the dining table as he finished speaking.

"Big Brother, get some rest first. Come eat in a little while. It'll be better for your body."

Moonlight spilled through the window onto the desk. The Soul Guidance Lamp, infused with Soul Power, cast a soft glow.

A small figure hunched over the desk, pausing to think before setting pen to paper again.

Tang Shan was writing up a Martial Soul Theory to submit to Spirit Hall. At first, he had been at a loss. He had never written an academic paper in his past life. But an idea soon came to him, inspired by a certain Grandmaster's Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul.

Neat characters flowed rapidly from his pen. Most of what he wrote revised theories from the Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul; only a small portion came from his own research.

Three Theories of Martial Souls

One: Twin Martial Souls. Based on my reading of numerous books, I have concluded that the two Martial Souls of someone with Twin Martial Souls must be extremely close in quality, if not equal. One cannot be strong while the other is weak. Under ordinary circumstances, a child inherits the stronger Martial Soul of their two parents. Some inherit a Mutated Martial Soul combining traits from both. For Twin Martial Souls to arise, luck alone is not enough: equal quality is also a necessary condition.

Furthermore, although every known person with Twin Martial Souls has had Innate Full Soul Power, I do not believe this holds true for all of them. The quality of a Martial Soul determines Innate Soul Power, not the number of Martial Souls. If someone awakened a longsword and a broadsword, both ordinary iron weapons, their Innate Soul Power might be relatively high, but it would not necessarily be full. Some of these claims have been verified by the author; others remain conjecture. Should any reader find evidence that disproves this theory, I welcome the correction.

Two: Does continued cultivation after reaching a bottleneck accomplish anything? I have verified that a Soul Master can continue accumulating Soul Power after reaching a bottleneck. Nevertheless, I believe ordinary Soul Masters should break through as soon as possible. Even if they can accumulate Soul Power, can cultivation at different ranks proceed at the same rate? Clearly not. Spending time stockpiling Soul Power so that it all manifests after a breakthrough strikes me as self-deception. Why do I specify "ordinary" Soul Masters? That relates to my next theory. Please bear with me. For the reasons above, ordinary Soul Masters should break through sooner rather than later.

Three: On absorbing Soul Rings. When Soul Masters reach a bottleneck, they must hunt a Soul Beast and absorb its Soul Ring to break through. The resulting Soul Skill depends chiefly on three factors: the Soul Beast's age, its species, and the Soul Master's own Martial Soul. Martial Souls and Soul Beast species vary widely, so I will not discuss them further here. This theory concerns the age of the Soul Ring absorbed.

For the vast majority of level-ten Soul Scholars, the upper limit for an absorbed Soul Ring is around four hundred years. Few exceed it. Thus, under ordinary circumstances, the limit for a First Soul Ring is roughly four hundred years. But are there extraordinary circumstances?

There are. If a Soul Scholar undertakes a proper, high-intensity physical training regimen after reaching a bottleneck, the upper limit can rise by nearly a hundred years. I have verified this through multiple avenues. This suggests that, before the Soul Shock inflicted by a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast becomes a factor in absorbing a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring, the maximum age of a Soul Ring one can absorb depends on one's physical fitness.

A year of high-intensity physical training may seem like a year of cultivation wasted. But readers should ask themselves: even if they broke through, could they gain a full level of Soul Power in that year? Absorbing an older Soul Ring can also raise Soul Power, easily making up for the time spent training.

Therefore, if circumstances permit, I recommend spending a year pursuing an older Soul Ring—one that will also grant a substantial increase in Soul Power after the breakthrough. This applies to those whose Innate Soul Power is not at level eight or nine, or even Innate Full Soul Power, and who cannot gain a level every few months. Those gifted with high Innate Soul Power should break through as soon as possible. Rather than spending time training, they would be better served by reaching a higher rank sooner.

I have one further, bolder conjecture: if a person continues strengthening their body, could they eventually become capable of obtaining a Thousand-Year Second Ring, or even a thousand-year First Soul Ring...?

Tang Shan wrote all three theories in one sitting. Looking over his work, he nodded with satisfaction. Some of it contained valuable insights; some merely summarized and revised existing theories.

Take the first theory, on Twin Martial Souls. He had plagiarized—no, drawn inspiration from—a certain future Grandmaster's classic theory and modified it. How could borrowing ideas between scholars be called plagiarism? Besides, Grandmaster had not even published his theory yet.

His first theory affirmed that Twin Martial Souls had to be close or equal in quality. It was mainly there to pad the length, but the information was not made up. Unlike a certain Grandmaster, who claimed one moment that Twin Martial Souls had to be equal in quality, then insisted the next that a certain grass Martial Soul could not provide Innate Full Soul Power, so its owner must have another Martial Soul of higher quality.

Being contradicted by his own theory—now that was a sight to behold.

The second theory also drew from the Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul, but it mainly served to set up the third.

The third theory was the one Tang Shan truly cared about. It contained the real substance of his thinking on how Soul Masters with limited talent could cultivate. If someone lacked talent, why not obtain an older Soul Ring? It could improve their potential to some degree and give them a superb Soul Skill. What was not to like?

PS: Thanks to readers 52HERTZ929 and Da Suda for the recommendation votes! Please bookmark and keep reading!