His dad knew many of his secrets.
Still, Jiang Dongjun felt it was better to keep the manifested existence of the "Light of Time and Space" under wraps.
Forty-three diamond-clear thoughts slipped out through the top of his head, gathering into an illusory Yin Spirit three inches tall, seated in the full lotus position.
At that moment, the "Light of Time and Space" lay hidden deep within the Yin Spirit, quietly exerting its power. Gentle rays of clear light radiated from behind the Yin Spirit's head, spilling onto the Gilded Fireball.
-Density: 1.9 tonnes/cubic meter (0/5↑)
The data was easy enough to understand.
His earlier guess had been right: he had gained five chances to "add points."
And since the medicinal effects of the thousand-year and ten-thousand-year whale glue had yet to be fully absorbed, his physique was still improving. His number of opportunities to "add points" was nowhere near its upper limit and would continue to increase.
Under the illumination of the "Light of Time and Space," Jiang Dongjun watched the "5" turn into a "6."
The Yin Spirit's spiritual power had already activated the Storage Ring and retrieved the little metal vial holding the soul liquid. It pulled out the stopper, and six drops of soul liquid flew up into the Gilded Fireball.
Then the Yin Spirit immediately returned to take charge of his body.
-Density: 1.9 tonnes/cubic meter (0/6↑) ↓ -Density: 2.5 tonnes/cubic meter (6/6↑)
Boom!
His consciousness entered the Mysterious Space, where a blazing sun stretched across his vision.
This time, Jiang Dongjun did not divide his attention to capture the sun's divine essence. Instead, he visualized it directly.
With the sun's divine essence richer and more lifelike, the wondrous force field it gave rise to was naturally stronger. The mysterious "force" born within that field exerted a correspondingly stronger pull.
As mentioned before, drawing in Heaven and Earth Essence and guiding soul power to circulate on its own were merely the basics.
Its most heaven-defying aspect was that the wondrous force field formed through visualization would constantly mobilize soul power to assault the Eight Extraordinary Vessels!
Now, it began.
Forcefully taking over the task of the half-baked "Great Sun Visualization Method," the wondrous force field hung high in another dimension and exerted its pull. It consolidated the soul power in his dantian and mixed it with the whale rubber's excess yang energy, forming a single unified force that began breaking through from the Changqiang Acupoint, the starting point of the Governing Vessel.
The resistance he inevitably encountered while opening the Governing Vessel was hardly worth mentioning.
After passing the Changqiang Acupoint, it swept forward like a blade splitting bamboo, passing Yaoshu, traversing the Yangguan Acupoint, opening the Life Gate, clearing the Xuanshu Acupoint, and breaking through the Jizhong Acupoint-
There, its momentum stalled.
The whale rubber's yang energy had been completely exhausted;
the remaining soul power surging out of his dantian was so feeble it was a joke.
Facing the Zhongshu Acupoint beyond the Jizhong Acupoint, it was like a lone foot soldier confronting a towering fortress a hundred zhang high. It could only gaze at the vastness and sigh, lingering without advancing.
It was over.
Jiang Dongjun had been kicked out of the Mysterious Space for a while now. Sensing his soul power automatically descend and retreat into his dantian, he thought this with some regret.
Of the Governing Vessel's "three gates," he had only broken open the Tailbone Gate. He had stopped before the Clamped Spine Gate, unable to advance another inch.
At the time, it had felt as though a sharp sword were pointed at his spine, a thorn against his back that made him instinctively want to straighten up. It was as if a great lock sat before the Clamped Spine Gate, trapping all the rising "Qi" there. The discomfort had been unbearable.
By contrast, once the Tailbone Gate opened, he felt an unobstructed connection from top to bottom, with strength reaching all four limbs. He now had a core linking his entire body together, rather than remaining loose and disjointed, allowing him to exert strength as a unified whole. It felt wonderfully liberating.
Without even moving to test it, Jiang Dongjun could feel how incredibly solid his lower-body foundation had become. Yang energy flourished within him, making him a walking furnace.
There was also the strengthening of his mind.
Boundless energy! Clear thoughts! Invincible courage in his heart!
It all came down to one word-amazing!
The abundant gains from opening the Tailbone Gate completely swept away his earlier twinge of regret.
In its place-
Jiang Dongjun sincerely felt he ought to be grateful, delighted, and ready to celebrate. To open a third of the Governing Vessel with only one soul ring-what an incredible achievement!
As for the work that remained-
He could either perfect the "Great Sun Visualization Method," raising it another level so it could guide his soul power to keep breaking through the Governing Vessel during every meditation session, wearing away the obstacles through steady, patient effort;
or wait until his cultivation improved and his soul power grew strong enough to force a breakthrough in one go;
or find a spirit object rich in yang energy like whale rubber, consume it, and combine it with the ultimate visualization achieved after "adding points" to guide the "Qi" formed from yang energy and soul power into breaking through.
There was no need to rush the last option. After all, his cultivation had only just begun.
The residual medicinal power of the two pieces of whale rubber was still being absorbed, and his physique was still transforming, so Jiang Dongjun simply continued meditating and cultivating.
He kept going until the sun stood high in the sky.
Only when Jiang Dongjun examined himself with his spiritual power and felt his body had more or less stabilized did he end his meditation and rise from the metal floor.
"You consumed three portions of spirit objects in a row. Fortunately, none of them primarily improve soul power cultivation, so they won't leave hidden problems. But since you ingested them, their effects can't be completely isolated. Some of their medicinal potency will affect your soul power cultivation too."
Jiang Ming placed a hand on Jiang Dongjun's shoulder and infused soul power throughout his body to check the strength of his physique, then continued questioning him.
"What level is your soul power now?"
"About the middle of level fourteen. If I work a little harder at cultivating, I'm absolutely confident I can reach level fifteen in just over a month," Jiang Dongjun replied after briefly checking.
Jiang Ming's brows knitted tightly at that. "From just barely level twelve to the middle of level fourteen-a jump of two and a half levels? That's too much. This isn't a good thing."
Jiang Dongjun argued, "That session just now should count as Deep Meditation. I brought out every last bit of the three spirit objects' medicinal effects. Don't worry. Even gaining three levels in a row wouldn't leave any hidden problems. If you don't believe me, look at the soul power in my dantian. It isn't loose or unstable."
After checking, Jiang Ming found things were indeed as Jiang Dongjun had said, and his brow finally relaxed.
"To be safe, you're not allowed to consume any spirit objects a thousand years old or older for the next six months. Cultivate your soul power steadily and honestly."
"All right, Dad. Whatever you say. No objections here." Jiang Dongjun shrugged and spread his hands.
Jiang Ming withdrew his hand from Jiang Dongjun's shoulder.
"All right. By my rough estimate, your body's limit should be around thirty-five hundred years. If you don't improve any further, choosing a Soul Beast just over three thousand years old for your second soul ring would be safer."
"Get ready. I'm sending you to school tomorrow."
"Huh?" Jiang Dongjun's eyes widened. "What school? The Elementary Soul Master Academy? It isn't even time for new students to start yet. Besides, what could I do there? A level-fourteen Soul Master who's hunted an Evil Soul Ancestor and an Evil Soul King, ruling over Shrek's kindergarten?"
"Eh?"
Suddenly, something occurred to Jiang Dongjun. He tilted his head, his eyes darting about.
"Wait. Every resident of Shrek City is blessed with fortune. If I rule over Shrek Academy's affiliated elementary school, maybe I'll get a hefty helping of fortune too."
"What's wrong with beating up little beansprouts? Earning soul liquid is nothing to be ashamed of!"
Evil Soul Masters below five rings were too hard to find. Walk too many dark roads, and sooner or later you were bound to crash. Before the Star Luo Empire's Soul Fighting Tournament, the safest bet was to dutifully live off his fortune welfare payments.
Where on the present-day Douluo Continent was fortune most concentrated?
Shrek Academy, without a doubt.
"Hmph, I'm going to be a big, fat rat and steal Tang San's offerings for all I'm worth!"
Watching his eldest son's expressions change like a face-changing performance, Jiang Ming knew he was no longer opposed to attending school.
"It's true the term hasn't started yet, so I'll arrange for you to join an existing first-year class. I have faith in your ability to learn. I'll explain things to the elementary academy's teachers: as long as you pass the end-of-term assessment, you'll be allowed to skip your regular classes."
"All right, then. Going for a bit won't hurt."
Jiang Dongjun reckoned that, with the strength of his spiritual power, he could memorize every textbook for every year at the Elementary Soul Master Academy in a single night.
As everyone knew, the stronger one's spiritual power, the greater one's ability to learn.
That was why Soul Masters in the era of Douluo Dalu III: The Legend of the Dragon King, forced by the Soul Spirit System to improve their spiritual power, seemed more well-rounded than the Soul Masters in the previous two installments.
Before you continue