Soul Power Testing, Half a Year of Grueling Cultivation

The Notting Spirit Hall stood grand and solemn, its walls built entirely from specially made blue-black stone bricks, sturdy and imposing, with an ancient grandeur. High upon its towering eaves was engraved the Spirit Hall's exclusive Six-Winged Angel emblem. Its intricate lines radiated stern majesty, carrying the official air of an orthodox authority supreme above the mortal world.

Led by his father, Lin Tianyu, Lin Chen walked steadily into the hall. Inside, ample daylight illuminated the neatly arranged furnishings.

The first-floor lobby bustled with people. Soul masters and prospective soul masters from various regions lined up in orderly queues to register, while the attending officers carried out their respective duties. Everything proceeded smoothly, without the slightest disorder or noisy commotion.

Having served in the Notting Spirit Hall for years, Lin Tianyu knew its layout intimately. Aware that the second floor housed the higher-level offices and assessment areas, he did not linger downstairs. Instead, he led Lin Chen slowly up the smooth stone staircase along the inner wall, heading straight to the dedicated offices on the second floor.

Compared with the busy, bustling first-floor lobby, the second-floor corridor was quiet and refined. Reserved for the Spirit Hall's senior appraisers and high-ranking officers, it offered far greater privacy and professionalism than the floor below.

Lin Tianyu led Lin Chen to a thick, old-fashioned solid-wood door. Interwoven grain ran across its dark-brown surface, lending it a weighty, composed dignity.

He raised his hand and gently pushed the door open, then led Lin Chen inside.

The room was clean and tidy, simple yet elegant, without any unnecessary luxurious decorations. A broad solid-wood desk stood in the center, flanked by several bookcases containing ancient texts on soul masters. The rich atmosphere of books filled the room.

A kindly, white-haired old man sat upright behind the desk, resting with his eyes closed. His aura was deep and restrained. Though he appeared unremarkable, he possessed the formidable foundation of one of Nuoding City's finest soul masters. He was Ma Xiunuo, the master appraiser who had presided over the Notting Spirit Hall for decades.

At the sound of the door opening, Ma Xiunuo slowly raised his head and glanced over. Recognizing Lin Tianyu, he spoke with easy familiarity. "Ah, Tianyu. What brings you here today?"

Lin Tianyu stood straight and offered the old man a slight bow.

"Master Ma Xiunuo, I've brought my son here today for his soul master advancement assessment and level registration."

Hearing this, Ma Xiunuo turned his gaze toward Lin Chen, who stood quietly nearby, and studied him for a moment.

The boy stood tall and straight, his bearing composed and his eyes clear and reserved. He showed none of the restless immaturity common among children his age. His aura was concentrated and steady, without a trace of instability.

Approval appeared in Ma Xiunuo's eyes, and he slowly nodded.

"So this is your son. Fine features and an excellent bearing—a promising young lad indeed. To successfully obtain a soul ring and advance to a soul master at such a young age, his talent must far surpass that of ordinary children his age."

Lin Chen offered a slight bow, his voice clear and steady.

"Greetings, Master Ma Xiunuo. My name is Lin Chen."

Even more pleased by his manners, Ma Xiunuo said no more. He gestured for them to follow and personally led father and son to the dedicated Martial Soul Laboratory deep within the Spirit Hall.

This was Nuoding City's most authoritative soul master assessment facility. Fully equipped and furnished with stable soul power, it could precisely measure a soul master's true soul power level, martial soul attributes, and the condition of their foundation, with negligible error.

Reaching the testing bench, Ma Xiunuo picked up a golden Soul Power Testing Crystal Ball from the tidy tabletop.

The sphere was clear and perfectly round, with a soft glow. It was a standard crystal designed specifically to measure the levels of lower-ranked soul masters.

"Come, child. Place your palm against the crystal ball and relax your mind."

Lin Chen did as instructed, gently pressing his palm against the crystal's surface. He dismissed all stray thoughts and allowed the soul power within him to circulate naturally.

The next instant, the previously clear yellow crystal ball, whose light had been colorless, blazed with dazzling gold. Dense halos of soul power spread outward in layers, shining far brighter than those of an ordinary level-ten soul master. The full, substantial glow settled firmly at the level-fourteen mark.

Ma Xiunuo's calm expression changed at once. Shock flooded his eyes, and disbelief filled his voice.

"Level fourteen! A full fourteen levels of soul power!"

Over his decades of work, Ma Xiunuo had met countless people and assessed innumerable newly advanced soul masters.

After absorbing a hundred-year soul ring, ordinary soul masters generally only managed to stabilize their soul power at level eleven. Even those with exceptional talent reached level twelve at most.

Yet Lin Chen's very first soul ring had sent his soul power soaring by four levels, settling firmly at level fourteen. Such a formidable foundation and heaven-defying talent were exceedingly rare even across Ma Xiunuo's decades-long career—practically unheard of and unseen.

Standing nearby, Lin Chen was equally surprised, inwardly marveling at the tremendous reserves contained in the soul ring of that Azure Water Fox, which had been over five hundred years old.

Once his shock passed, Ma Xiunuo quickly composed himself and methodically processed Lin Chen's official soul master registration. He recorded his martial soul information, soul ring age, and soul power level, formally entering him into the continent's Soul Master Registry.

After all the registration procedures were completed, Lin Chen received the basic allowance granted to newly registered soul masters under the Spirit Hall's rules. A weighty Gold Soul Coin landed in his hand.

With the formalities concluded, Lin Chen stood within the solemn Spirit Hall, his resolve fully settled.

After careful consideration, he formally expressed his intentions to Ma Xiunuo and his father: he had decided to join the Spirit Hall.

Compared with Notting Academy, with its entrenched teaching staff and narrow horizons, the Spirit Hall's immense foundations and countless resources made it the ideal platform for his growth, allowing him to develop freely without shackles.

Once his enrollment in the hall was confirmed, Lin Chen said goodbye to his parents and quietly left the Spirit Hall alone, walking back to Notting Academy.

He kept his aura completely restrained throughout the journey, revealing none of his considerable strength as a level-fourteen soul master. He looked no different from an ordinary new student.

After returning to his dormitory at Notting Academy, Lin Chen cast aside distracting thoughts and quickly resumed his regular routine of grueling cultivation.

It was during this day-after-day meditation that he inadvertently unlocked his martial soul's unique advantage, discovering a heaven-defying cultivation method exclusive to him.

Whenever he sat cross-legged in meditation to absorb the soul power of heaven and earth, summoning his martial soul, Liuli, to accompany him instantly multiplied his absorption speed. His efficiency far surpassed what he could achieve alone.

More wondrous still, a closed-loop soul power circuit formed spontaneously between him and Liuli. Human and spirit were interconnected, nourishing each other in both directions as their soul power flowed and mingled, continually purifying and tempering itself.

Once the impure soul power of the outside world passed through this unique cycle, all its impurities were stripped away. It became ever purer and gentler, flowing thread by thread into his meridians and physique.

Day after day of refinement made every level of his cultivation solid and stable, without the slightest hollowness. His foundation grew exceptionally robust, and both his cultivation efficiency and the stability of his foundation left every student his age at the academy far behind.

The days slipped quietly by, and life at the academy remained peaceful and orderly.

Lin Chen gradually noticed Tang San's fixed routine. Every morning, Tang San sat obediently in the classroom, seemingly studying attentively, but every afternoon he vanished right on schedule. Lin Chen understood without needing to dwell on it: he was undoubtedly heading to the city's smithy to forge iron.

Meanwhile, Yu Xiaogang still had not entirely abandoned his desire to recruit Lin Chen.

After witnessing Tang San's heaven-defying growth and the successful validation of his theories, his fixation on detached martial souls deepened. Several times, he found time to seek out Lin Chen, hoping to persuade him once again to become his disciple.

Yet Lin Chen politely but firmly refused him every time. After repeatedly hitting a wall, and after Lin Chen told him that he would join the Spirit Hall, Yu Xiaogang finally gave up entirely and stopped coming to bother him.

During his daily life, Lin Chen occasionally encountered Tang San in the academy corridors, on the grounds, or at the Back Hill training area. As time passed, he could clearly sense the hostility and competitive drive buried in Tang San's eyes growing stronger and deeper.

At first, it had been no more than a trace of jealousy, but Yu Xiaogang's repeated attempts to persuade Lin Chen made Tang San's hostility toward him even greater.

Tang San always regarded him as an imagined rival, determined to prove himself through his own strength and the Grandmaster's theories, and to crush Lin Chen.

Lin Chen, however, remained unruffled. He deliberately concealed his aura and every fluctuation of soul power. In everyone else's eyes, he was still just an ordinary low-level Soul Scholar, with nothing remarkable about him.

Precisely because of this, although hostility lurked between them, it never erupted into a direct confrontation.

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, a year of study at the academy quietly came to an end.

Notting Academy's annual courses concluded successfully, and the holidays officially began.

In the blink of an eye, an entire year of cultivation at the academy had quietly drawn to a close. Lin Chen had not slacked off for a single day, maintaining a grueling cultivation routine with the utmost self-discipline.

With the supremely perfect physical foundation tempered by whale rubber, the substantial initial reserves provided by his five-hundred-year Azure Water Fox soul ring, and the unique cyclic cultivation method of human-spirit symbiosis, his cultivation proceeded without obstruction. He encountered not a single bottleneck as his soul power rose steadily, breaking through level after level. From level fourteen, he advanced step by step until he firmly reached the peak of level nineteen.

Now, he stood only one step from the threshold of Soul Grandmaster. He needed only to accumulate a little more soul power and obtain a suitable, high-quality soul ring to advance smoothly and become a true Soul Grandmaster.

Lin Chen knew that, according to the original story's progression, after a year of cultivation, Tang San's soul power had only reached around level sixteen through the tempering of blacksmithing and the Grandmaster's guidance.

Through silent, diligent cultivation, he had already decisively surpassed Tang San in soul power level, completely reversing their initial slight gap and leaving the original story's protagonist far behind.