Body Secret Art, High Noon, Xu Yan Runs Wild

Drawing back his scattered thoughts, Xu Yan sat cross-legged on the bed and opened the Secret of the Body in his hands.

The first page of the secret art was exceedingly simple, bearing only a single name.

"Gu Wanjun..."

Xu Yan murmured, "He must be the founding elder of the Body Sect who created this secret art."

He turned to the second page, steadied his gaze, and carefully studied the words his predecessor had left behind.

The book opened with a blunt declaration: "Body martial souls originate in the human body.

They are reflections of flesh, bones, internal organs, and even the spiritual origin.

The world calls them weak only because they often appear utterly ordinary when they first manifest.

They possess neither the naked edge of tool martial souls nor the domineering might of beast martial souls.

Yet precisely because they are born of the self and bound to a soul master's very life, their potential lies hidden deep within the bloodline.

Only when stimulated through a secret art will their true power reveal itself..."

Something stirred in Xu Yan's heart.

Though brief, this passage perfectly summed up the awkward position of body martial souls.

No matter the world, the human body was the greatest mystery.

And it held the greatest potential!

Though body martial souls were weak, they made it easier for soul masters to study themselves and uncover their bodies' potential.

Xu Yan continued turning the pages.

Since the opening had identified the problem, what followed would surely provide the answer.

"Just as I thought!"

The book explained that the key to a body martial soul's transformation lay in its second awakening.

This second awakening was not merely a breakthrough in soul power.

Instead, it involved using special cultivation methods to merge the martial soul completely with one's flesh and spirit.

This awakened the dormant power of the martial soul's origin.

Xu Yan nodded slightly, confirming what he already knew.

In the original story, completing a body martial soul's second awakening not only offered a chance to increase the age of one's soul rings.

It could also directly raise the martial soul's quality, bringing it into the ranks of high-grade or even supreme-grade martial souls.

This was a genuine evolution of the martial soul origin, something ordinary cultivation could never achieve.

This ancient tome recorded not only the first sect master's cultivation methods, but also the insights successive sect masters had gained while refining them.

From specific cultivation approaches and techniques for tempering the body to suitable supplementary medicinal herbs.

It covered everything, thoroughly detailing and perfecting the system of second awakening.

It even included a meditation method created by the Body Sect's elders that could strengthen the Meridians and enhance the absorption of Heaven and Earth Essence.

Even a cursory glance told Xu Yan that this meditation method was considerably better than the one he currently used.

And it suited his body martial soul better.

This was the Sun Moon Empire's weakness: its foundations in traditional soul master cultivation fell far short of those of the Douluo Three Kingdoms.

Pulling back his thoughts, Xu Yan read on.

Depending on the importance of the body part represented by the martial soul and the depth of its origin.

A body martial soul's second awakening was divided into four grades:

Black Iron, Bronze, silver, and gold.

Their corresponding increases in combat strength were thirty percent, sixty percent, one hundred percent, and three hundred percent.

The highest of these, gold-grade awakening, had exceedingly stringent prerequisites.

One first had to achieve silver-grade awakening.

Only when physical strength, mental resolve, and soul power reserves all met the requirements was there a chance of triggering it.

For ordinary soul masters, only a Titled Douluo who had condensed a soul core could barely meet the threshold.

"So gold-grade awakening doesn't necessarily require reaching Titled Douluo. With a sufficiently strong physical foundation, it can be triggered early."

Understanding dawned on Xu Yan, but his expression then grew more solemn.

"But the dangers of gold-grade awakening far exceed those of the lower grades.

Depending on the body's aptitude, even the lowest death rate reaches sixty percent."

No wonder that, even now, no one in the entire Body Sect apart from Du Busi had achieved a gold-grade second awakening.

This was nothing less than gambling one's life for an opportunity!

"In the end, it still comes down to insufficient foundations in the body, spirit, and soul power.

If all three were perfected, where would the risk of death come from?"

He continued reading. The book recorded that top-grade spiritual herbs, or even immortal herbs, could greatly weaken the awakening's backlash and reduce the difficulty of the breakthrough.

Just as I thought! Immortal herbs really are the best!

Xu Yan narrowed his eyes. "Looks like I still have to visit the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well."

Even without the gold-grade second awakening, that trip was unavoidable.

The extreme yang flame within him was too domineering, too terrifying.

As his strength increased, this flame would only grow stronger.

Though the gold of life was powerful, its primary functions were healing and enhancing the strength of his life force.

He could barely suppress the extreme yang fire now only because the gold of life had just tempered his body, raising its strength by a considerable margin.

At the same time, whenever the extreme yang flames burned, the Flame of Life could repair the damage in time.

One attacked and the other defended, barely maintaining a balance.

Though this could temper his body, once he broke through again, the Extreme Yang Fire would inevitably spiral out of control and turn against him.

Even if he could withstand it as a Soul Elder, how would he contend with it as a Soul Ancestor, Soul King, Soul Emperor, or even Soul Saint?

Only by drawing on the extraordinary power of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well and consuming immortal herbs to temper his body could he eliminate this hidden danger completely.

The thought had barely settled when a scorching heat suddenly swept through Xu Yan.

The soul power inside him instantly grew agitated and ran wild.

The yang energy between heaven and earth surged madly toward his body, pouring into him.

Xu Yan jerked his head up to look out the window, and his expression abruptly changed.

"Damn it, it's noon!"

With no time to think, he immediately sprang off the bed and leaped straight through the window into the courtyard.

The instant his feet touched the ground, a raging pillar of fire erupted from his body and shot more than five meters into the sky!

"That was close. I nearly burned the house down." Xu Yan inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.

Yet the Extreme Yang Flame inside him showed no sign of settling.

Scalding heat spread through his flesh, sinews, and bones, engulfing his entire body in an instant.

Flames began scorching and charring Xu Yan's skin from the inside out.

At the same time, a terrifying aura rose steadily within him.

His muscles bulged slightly, and his frame gradually grew taller.

Wisps of white mist rose ceaselessly from his skin.

It was the strange sight of the blood inside him evaporating under the intense heat.

At that moment, outside the courtyard gate.

Long Aotian had arrived with Vina and Wang Yanfeng, intending to knock and call Xu Yan and the others to the Cafeteria for a meal.

The moment the three saw the horrifying scene in the courtyard, their pupils contracted.

They froze on the spot, their faces filled with shock.

"What a terrifying aura!"

"Wh-what's going on?!"

Wang Yanfeng cried out involuntarily, "Did our junior brother accidentally get fire oil on himself and catch fire?!"

Everyone's expressions changed sharply.

Without another word, Long Aotian kicked the courtyard gate open and was about to rush forward to help.

"Stay back! I'm fine!"

Xu Yan's deep voice suddenly rang out, stopping them.

Long Aotian halted abruptly. The next second, his pupils contracted sharply.

Two purple soul rings slowly rose from beneath Xu Yan's feet, beyond his control.

His body martial soul possessed him at the same time.

In an instant, flames surged around Xu Yan, transforming him into the supremely domineering form of the Flame Emperor!

The surrounding temperature abruptly rose by dozens of degrees.

"Thousand-year soul rings?! His first and second soul rings are both thousand-year?!"

Wang Yanfeng's eyes widened, disbelief covering his face, and even his voice trembled.

Vina's lips likewise parted slightly as she stared, utterly dumbfounded.

"Is this junior brother... a monster?"

Vina murmured to herself, storm-tossed waves surging through her heart.

The Body Sect did have disciples whose first soul rings were thousand-year.

But all of them had only been fortunate enough to gain that increase in age through feedback from their martial soul origins after completing a Body Second Awakening—one in ten thousand.

Xu Yan, however, had only just joined the sect and had never even encountered second awakening!

That meant he had genuinely absorbed both thousand-year soul rings himself!

No wonder the sect master made an exception and accepted him as a personal disciple... Understanding dawned in Vina's heart.

At that moment, however, Long Aotian's attention was not on those two striking thousand-year soul rings at all.

Instead, his gaze was fixed firmly on the crimson figure wrapped in flames in the courtyard.

"This guy... his martial soul is actually his entire body!"

Long Aotian's mind reeled, towering waves surging through his heart.