Taking Whale Rubber, "Innate Soul Power Level Seven"

Seeing how much the young master had gained from a single outing, Uncle Fu thought of the Azure Bamboo's former glory, and tears glimmered in his eyes once more.

"Uncle Fu, I'm going to cultivate."

Uncle Fu always looked like this whenever he thought of the Azure Bamboo. Mo An did not know how to comfort him. All he could do was storm the Clear Sky Sect and Spirit Hall as soon as possible and demand an explanation, so that thoughts of the Azure Bamboo would no longer bring Uncle Fu pain.

"Go ahead, young master."

After watching Mo An return to his room, Uncle Fu took the Centennial Black Truffle and Cordyceps Essence to the front courtyard. The former had been harvested roughly, while the latter had been stored improperly. He needed to prepare a medicinal solution to keep these two rare herbs from losing any more of their potency.

Mo An returned to his room and shut the door tight. Then he took out the Ambergris Whale's Whale Rubber he had bought that morning, still unset, from his Azure Jade Ring. He cut off a small piece and placed it in his mouth. The gelatinous Whale Rubber melted on his tongue and slid down his throat.

The small piece soon took effect. Heat rose in his belly, and a hot current roamed through his abdomen. Fortunately, he had eaten only a little. Its aphrodisiac effect was not strong enough to sway his mind.

Once he had endured that effect, the Whale Rubber began to do what it was truly meant to do: strengthen his body.

Mo An could clearly feel the hot current spreading beyond his abdomen and through his entire body. Wherever it passed, he felt himself growing stronger.

A little over ten minutes later, the current from that piece of Whale Rubber was exhausted, and the sensation of growing stronger stopped abruptly. Still feeling fine, Mo An cut off another small piece.

After three pieces in a row, Mo An felt a little tired and stopped. He turned to cultivating Soul Power instead. He understood that too much of a good thing could be harmful.

The Douluo Continent was a peculiar world. In other worlds, cultivators could make no progress while facing a bottleneck, no matter how hard they trained. But on the Douluo Continent, a Soul Ring bottleneck could not stop a Soul Master's Soul Power from increasing. Even without obtaining a Soul Ring, a Soul Master could continue accumulating Soul Power, then break through several levels at once after acquiring one.

This was also mentioned among the ten core theories Yu Xiaogang had published after drawing on knowledge from various sources. It was a relatively accurate theory.

Relatively, because Yu Xiaogang's theory was incomplete. A Soul Ring bottleneck indeed could not stop a Soul Master's Soul Power from increasing, but there was a limit to how much Soul Power one could accumulate.

That limit varied from person to person. The Green Bamboo Compendium recorded an upper limit of three levels for a talented Soul Master. Yu Xiaogang's book gave an upper limit of five levels, presumably the limit of some genius.

Of course, under normal circumstances, Soul Masters who reached a bottleneck sought a Soul Ring and Soul Skill to break through to the next stage. No one would deliberately remain stuck just to see how much Soul Power they could accumulate.

As it happened, Mo An, who had Innate Full Soul Power, could not obtain a Soul Ring for certain special reasons. For now, he could take advantage of this peculiar feature of the Douluo Continent and continue cultivating.

In the blink of an eye, a month passed.

During that month, Mo An finished all the Whale Rubber from the Ambergris Whale that was over five hundred years old. His physique had doubled in strength since his Martial Soul Awakening, and he had grown five centimeters taller, finally passing the 1.2-meter mark.

He had finished the Green Bamboo Compendium and was now studying the Soul Beast Compendium and the Treasure Record. The former would help him choose the most suitable Soul Beast; the latter would help him spot overlooked treasures. Both were skills he would need to survive.

As for Soul Power, without a Soul Ring, Mo An felt no progress and had no idea how much a month of cultivation had improved it.

In the rear courtyard of the Azure Bamboo Pharmacy, a figure practiced his punches beneath the rising sun. His form grew more precise and his movements faster. Steam rolled off his body, and his punches and kicks now whistled through the air.

When he finished the final move, Uncle Fu, who had been watching from the side, could not help applauding. "Young master, your form grows more precise every day. Even the old master would probably have to admit defeat."

Of course, Uncle Fu meant the old master when he was a child. At the same age, the old master could never have matched the young master.

"You flatter me, Uncle Fu. I just copied the boxing form in the Green Bamboo Compendium move for move. It's nothing impressive."

Mo An took the warm towel Uncle Fu handed him and wiped the sweat from his face as he answered the praise. To him, it really was nothing special. He had simply learned a boxing form through practice, hardly something worth praising.

After answering Uncle Fu, he went on to ask:

"By the way, Uncle Fu, I can control the Soul Power in my body now. When are we going to the City Lord's Mansion to get proof of my Martial Soul Awakening?"

"I was planning to take you to the City Lord's Mansion for it in the next couple of days. Since you've brought it up, let's go today."

Uncle Fu had intended to discuss it over the next meal. The North Sea Junior Soul Master Academy would begin classes soon; if they did not get proof of Martial Soul Awakening, Mo An might miss the registration deadline.

After breakfast, Uncle Fu got ready and took Mo An to the City Lord's Mansion in North Sea City. After asking around at length, they finally found where they could obtain a replacement certificate.

In a reasonably furnished office, Uncle Fu explained the situation to an official and filled out several application forms. At last, it was time to display Mo An's Martial Soul and test his Soul Power.

The official, unable to recognize anything valuable, stared at the Ink Jade Divine Bamboo for a while before writing "Plant-type Martial Soul: Black Bamboo" on the certificate.

Having given the dark bamboo a passable name offhand, the official took a crystal ball from his desk and placed it before Mo An. "Now put your hand on this crystal ball to test your Soul Power."

Mo An placed his hand on the crystal ball. Once seven-tenths of it lit up, he cut off the flow of Soul Power so no more would enter it.

Innate Soul Power level seven was the best level to show, he had decided after careful consideration.

He was a genius with Innate Full Soul Power, so his cultivation speed could not possibly be slow. If he showed a low Innate Soul Power level now but cultivated too quickly in the future, he would draw unwanted attention. Someone might even suspect him of using the evil methods of Fallen Soul Masters.

Level seven struck the perfect balance. It would explain his future cultivation speed without attracting excessive attention from the major powers. He could keep his head down and grow stronger in peace for a while.

"In-Innate Soul Power level seven!"

"How can a dark bamboo like that have level-seven Innate Soul Power?"

The level of Innate Soul Power Mo An considered just right left the City Lord's Mansion official stunned.

To be fair, the official's astonishment was understandable. The last time he had seen a genius with level-seven Innate Soul Power was more than twenty years ago.

That genius was now not only a Soul Ancestor, but also the lord of North Sea City.