Power of the Moon

Everyone froze at the sight of Lin Mo's bizarre footwork, whether it was Ji Juechen on the platform or the spectators below.

Even Lin Mo himself found it a little unbelievable.

But he also knew this was no time to dwell on it. Seizing the opportunity, he used those strange movements to retreat again and again, only stopping once he had put a safe distance between them.

So that's how it works. Grandpa, thank you so much for teaching me this defensive method.

After two consecutive attempts, he had finally grasped the essence of this strange movement technique.

At first, he had simply been using a defensive movement technique that the orphanage director he called Grandpa had taught him in his previous life.

It involved coordinating all the muscles and joints in his body to make it more supple, allowing him to evade attacks just before they struck.

He had been preparing to use that same method to dodge the sword strike about to land on him, but something miraculous happened when he instinctively used soul power to assist the technique.

The infusion of soul power had not rendered the defensive method ineffective.

Instead, its assistance made his body lighter and more flexible. The two even complemented each other, granting him bizarre, rapid movements for a short time.

Does this count as another kind of Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track?

The first thing that came to mind was the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, one of the Tang Sect Secret Arts Tang San used.

Meanwhile, below the platform.

Seeing Lin Mo safely evade the attack, Huo Yuyao had no curiosity about his unusual movements. Instead, she breathed a sigh of relief and kept patting her pounding heart.

No one knew that, just as the sword was about to strike Lin Mo, she had nearly asked Tian Meng to help.

Inside her Sea of Consciousness, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had almost been shaken dizzy by Huo Yuyao.

The other four were simply astonished by Lin Mo's bizarre footwork.

"Those movements are so strange. How did he dodge at that angle?"

Xiao Hongchen sounded puzzled.

"It looks like he used soul power to activate something."

On the platform, astonishment flickered in Ji Juechen's eyes.

A moment later, the glow of soul power slowly surfaced on the Meteoric Iron Sword in his hand.

"Lin Mo, come on!"

Hearing his call, Lin Mo straightened again, holding the Mystic Sword in one hand, determination in his eyes.

"Right."

As he answered, they both charged forward, and the clash of their swords rang across the entire arena.

Their figures darted about so rapidly that even the spectators below struggled to follow them.

Under normal circumstances, Lin Mo could never have fully matched Ji Juechen's speed. After all, Ji Juechen had the strength of someone with two rings. No matter how much he suppressed his soul power, his physical capabilities would remain unchanged.

Only the movement technique Lin Mo had improved allowed him to barely keep up. But it also consumed soul power. Though the cost was small, it was still noticeable with only one ring.

After several exchanges, even the arena floor was riddled with dents and gouges. Following one final collision, they both pulled back.

"Hah, hah, hah."

Both had coated their weapons with soul power during those exchanges, so Lin Mo had not suffered many injuries.

No wonder he was later known as the Sword Fanatic. My swordsmanship can't compare to his at all.

He gasped for breath, forcing himself upright.

Ji Juechen was in far better shape. Both his precision with the sword and his physical capabilities surpassed Lin Mo's several times over.

"I never expected Lin Mo to last this long against Ji Juechen."

Jing Ziyan sounded astonished. Although she knew it was because Ji Juechen had suppressed his soul power, this was still the first time she had seen someone trade blows with him so evenly in swordsmanship alone.

"I lost."

On the platform, he still felt reluctant to concede, but there was nothing he could do. He had almost no strength left to resist, while his opponent could still stand steadily.

Lin Mo sighed inwardly, then raised his hand in surrender.

Once the match ended, everyone came up onto the platform. Ji Juechen put away his sword and approached him as well.

Naturally, Huo Yuyao was the fastest. The girl shot over to Lin Mo's side and began checking his injuries.

The adorable blue-haired girl beside him lifted his arms, then turned his face this way and that. There was none of her usual playful smile in her eyes, only worry and heartache on her face.

The joke Lin Mo had been about to make stayed unspoken.

"Don't worry, I'm fine. Senior Ji Juechen was very considerate. He did his best not to hurt me."

Despite his reassurance, he still had little strength when he tried to get up.

"Mm, Brother Xiao Mo, let me take you to the infirmary."

"Come on, there's really no need to make such a fuss."

With a wry smile, Lin Mo patted Huo Yuyao's head. He thought Little Yao was overreacting a little, but he was still happy. After all, few people cared about him this much.

Then he looked toward Ji Juechen, who was approaching him.

"Your sword doesn't seem to have fully awakened."

Ji Juechen stopped before Lin Mo, bent down to wrap up his own sword, and slung it across his back before looking at him.

"Not awakened?"

It was Xiao Xiao, rather than Lin Mo, who asked.

Naturally, Lin Mo could sense the condition of his own sword. That feeling had become particularly clear when he broke through to one ring.

He could feel that his sword seemed to require four awakenings in total, yet it had not completed even one.

"Hmm, how should I put it? Lin Mo's martial soul seems incomplete. Its power hasn't been fully developed-or perhaps it hasn't been unlocked."

"Huh? How can you tell?"

"My sword. My sword told me."

"While fighting him, each time our swords clashed, my sword could clearly sense that Lin Mo's sword wasn't unleashing its greatest power. Or rather, it couldn't unleash that power."

At those words, everyone turned their eyes toward Lin Mo.

"Yes, he's right."

Lin Mo nodded.

"I don't really understand it myself. It seems it'll awaken step by step as I grow stronger. Right now, it hasn't even completed its first awakening-or perhaps it's less than halfway there."

"I knew it."

Meng Hongchen nodded to herself, drawing everyone's attention.

Noticing their gazes, Meng Hongchen explained.

"Isn't that what the books say? A powerful martial soul doesn't necessarily come with especially high innate soul power, but high innate soul power always means a powerful martial soul. Think about it. Lin Mo's martial soul is the Mystic Sword. It doesn't sound particularly special, and it even looks ordinary, a little old, really. But with such extraordinary innate martial soul potential, it has to be something special."

After Meng Hongchen's explanation, everyone nodded in agreement.

Huo Yuyao and Lin Mo exchanged a glance without saying anything.

After all, no one would have imagined that a cultivation method capable of improving one's innate martial soul actually existed.

With the matter settled, the seven of them did not linger in the arena. Since Jing Ziyan had no classes that afternoon, she reported the damage and the need for repairs to the teacher on duty.

Fortunately, students did not have to pay for arena repairs themselves.

Lin Mo returned to class with Huo Yuyao. The moment they entered, however, they noticed several pairs of eyes glancing their way, some openly and others discreetly.

After they returned to their seats, Huo Yuyao asked Lin Mo curiously.

"Brother Xiao Mo, why do they keep looking at us?"

"Probably because we were with Senior Xiao and Senior Meng today."

"Huh? Why?"

"Because those four we had lunch with are some of the school's most prominent figures."

"Oh."

The afternoon theory class was even more boring than Lin Mo had imagined.

The teacher at the front kept explaining the basic theory behind rank-one Soul Tools, along with their various forms and configurations.

He was interested in Soul Tools, but what interested him was the practical side. Having already been a university student in his previous life, he had even less patience for these theory classes.

He had never imagined that he would still have to attend classes after changing worlds-and that they would feel so familiar.

His attention wandering, he turned to glance at Huo Yuyao beside him.

The girl sat perfectly straight, her eyes fixed on the blackboard as she busily took notes.

Sigh. The original story never had this many theory classes.

"All right, that's all for today."

The teacher at the front finally closed the book, said goodbye to everyone, and left the classroom.

Lin Mo and Huo Yuyao went to the practical training building, found Xiao Xiao and the other two, and had dinner together before returning to the dormitory.

"See you two tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow, Xiao Xiao."

"See you tomorrow."

After Xiao Xiao went into her room first, Lin Mo and Huo Yuyao said goodbye to each other.

"Good night, Brother Xiao Mo."

"Good night, Little Yao."

Huo Yuyao gave him a sweet smile, then turned and entered her room.

Back in his room, Lin Mo took a quick shower before sitting cross-legged on the bed.

His consciousness sank into his Sea of Consciousness...

"You're here, Little Mo."

Electrolux's voice was as steady as ever, and his soul form had grown increasingly solid.

"Teacher."

Lin Mo bowed respectfully, then sat cross-legged and began cultivating. Closing his eyes, he drew the moonlight outside the window into his body.

The clear, silvery-white light circulated slowly through his meridians.

One cycle.

Two cycles.

Three cycles.

After he had cultivated for an unknown length of time, Electrolux's voice sounded in his mind again.

"Little Mo, stop."

Lin Mo opened his eyes and appeared within his Sea of Consciousness.

"I've been observing your cultivation method these past few days, and I think it's far too slow."

Electrolux's voice drifted over slowly.

"Unlike others, you can draw in the essence of the sun and moon, channel it into your meridians, and turn it into soul power after a complete circulation. There's nothing wrong with the method itself, but it's terribly inefficient."

"Inefficient?"

"Yes."

Electrolux slowly floated down from the air and nodded.

"I've also calculated that, of all the power of the moon entering your body, barely twenty percent becomes soul power. The remaining eighty percent dissipates entirely."

Lin Mo opened his mouth, thought for a moment, and finally shook his head.

"I really never considered that. Isn't this simply how the laws of this world work?"

"To be honest, I have an idea, but I need you to put it into practice."

Lin Mo's eyes lit up.

He had absolute faith in the teacher before him.

"Teacher, just tell me. What do I need to do?"

Seeing no hesitation from him, Electrolux simply nodded and explained his idea.

"After drawing moonlight into your body, don't you first have to circulate it once before converting it into your own soul power? During that cycle, rather than merely absorbing the power of the moon, you should also circulate the soul power already in your meridians. Wrap the power of the moon in soul power and continuously dissolve it. That way, once it completes a full cycle and enters your dantian, its conversion should improve significantly."

Lin Mo understood, though not entirely. Still, since Electrolux had suggested it, he would certainly give it a try.

"Understood."

Without the slightest hesitation, he resumed cultivating. The power of the moon entered his meridians under his guidance, and as soon as it began circulating, he tried moving his own soul power to coat it.

First attempt: failure.

The moment his soul power touched the power of the moon, their incompatible attributes caused it to fall into disorder before naturally dissipating.

Neither dwelled on it, and Lin Mo chose to try again.

I wasn't hurt anyway. Let's try again.

Second attempt: failure.

This time, he successfully coated it with soul power, but a full circulation took too long. He struggled to maintain the coating throughout the entire cycle.

"It seems you still need more time?"

"Yes, but I think this method really can work, Teacher. I just need a few more attempts."

Even as he answered Electrolux's question, he entered a state of cultivation again.

This time, he did not circulate it as quickly as he had during his first two attempts. Instead, he moved it forward little by little, at a tortoise's pace.

Only after a full ten minutes did he finally complete an entire cycle.

Third attempt: success.

Feeling the abundant soul power filling his body and dantian, Lin Mo began estimating the result.

After briefly assessing it, he looked at Electrolux in delighted surprise.

"Teacher, it worked! Not only did it work, but the conversion rate really is much, much higher!"

Hearing his student's choice of words, Electrolux shook his head helplessly.

"How much is 'much, much'?"

"Seventy percent-no, at least a full eighty percent! And the soul power is considerably purer than it is during normal cultivation."

"Purer?"

This was the first time Electrolux had heard such a term, and he was somewhat puzzled.

"Yes. To put it simply, purity means how pure the soul power is after you absorb it and convert it for your own use."

For a while afterward, Lin Mo explained the concept of purity to him. Some of it was knowledge that already existed on this continent, while the rest came from novels he had read in his previous life.