Soul Power Cultivation

Tang Xuan had only meant to pretend to sleep, but he ended up falling asleep for real. He slept until the afternoon, then went with Tang San to the Grandmaster's quarters that evening for another lesson.

Knock, knock, knock. "Teacher, we're here." Tang Xuan and Tang San stood outside the door, and Tang Xuan stepped forward to knock.

"Come in," the Grandmaster's gentle voice answered.

The two pushed open the door and entered. Inside, the Grandmaster was seated at his desk, reading. When he looked up and saw the brothers, Tang Xuan and Tang San, a rare hint of a smile appeared on his stiff face.

"All right, release your martial souls first. Let me have a look," the Grandmaster told the brothers. At noon, he had only seen Tang San's Blue Silver Grass martial soul, not his second martial soul or either of Tang Xuan's. He expected both brothers' first martial souls to be relatively weak, while their second martial souls would be powerful, top-tier ones. His actual investigations had shown that this was generally the case for those with twin martial souls. Only a few exceptions had two extraordinarily powerful martial souls.

"Yes, Teacher," Tang Xuan and Tang San answered in unison. Tang Xuan then released his first martial soul, the Godslayer Sword, in his right hand, and his second martial soul, the Clear Sky Hammer, in his left. Tang San released his Blue Silver Grass martial soul in his right hand and his Clear Sky Hammer martial soul in his left.

At the sight of their martial souls, the Grandmaster shot to his feet.

"This is... the Clear Sky Hammer!" The Grandmaster was utterly astonished. One would have been surprising enough, yet there were actually two. Having been born into the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, one of the Upper Three Sects, how could he fail to recognize the Clear Sky Hammer, the greatest tool martial soul in the world?

"Their surname is Tang. That man's surname is Tang as well. Apart from the Clear Sky Sect, he's the only possibility," the Grandmaster murmured. Looking at their second martial souls, a suspicion formed in his mind. Yet he desperately hoped it was only his imagination. These two children were the key to fulfilling his dream. He believed they could prove his research correct.

Next, just as Tang Hao had done, the Grandmaster warned Tang Xuan and Tang San not to add any soul rings to their second martial souls without his permission. The moment he saw their Clear Sky Hammer martial souls, the connection had occurred to him. Tang Xuan and Tang San's ages roughly matched the time since Clear Sky Douluo Tang Hao had disappeared. The Clear Sky Sect had long since withdrawn from the world, and Tang Hao was the only member of its direct lineage living outside it.

"Teacher, I've had some ideas about cultivation, and I'd like to check them with you," Tang Xuan told the Grandmaster.

The Grandmaster came back to his senses. "Oh? Then let's hear them, little Xuan." Although he had only known Tang Xuan for a short time, he could tell that the boy had many novel ideas worth developing.

"Teacher, I want to compress my soul power to improve its quality, so I can surpass soul masters at my own level and fight those at higher levels," Tang Xuan said, enunciating every word.

The Grandmaster immediately exclaimed in surprise, "What? Forcibly compress your soul power? Wouldn't that risk making it explode inside you?" This went completely beyond his understanding. It was not that no one had considered such a method, but its benefits came hand in hand with drawbacks. Soul power flowed through every limb and bone. If it ran wild and damaged the meridians, that would be no different from courting destruction. Cultivation was already extremely difficult for soul masters, and doing this would make breakthroughs even harder. The accumulation needed to advance a single level might be several times what others required. To most people, the benefits of this method were certainly great, but the danger was equally enormous, so most had abandoned it. He had never expected six-year-old Tang Xuan to think of it.

"Teacher, my brother and I have both compressed our soul power, and we're fine! My brother has already done it several times," Tang San explained to the Grandmaster. He had shared the same worries when he first tried Tang Xuan's method. The process had also been extremely difficult, but its results had made Tang San cast those fears aside. The increase in his strength was enormous. Riches and honor lay amid danger; he had to take a gamble.

Seeing that both of them were determined, and that both had already succeeded, the Grandmaster swallowed the words he had intended to use to dissuade them.

"All right, then. If it works, you can keep at it, but be careful," the Grandmaster said. He turned away, thought for a moment, then added, "Don't act rashly in the future. Put your own safety first." Having received the Grandmaster's approval, Tang Xuan naturally nodded in agreement.

Next, the Grandmaster gave Tang Xuan and Tang San a general explanation of martial souls and determined their paths of development based on their martial souls. Tang Xuan chose the power attack system, while Tang San chose the control system.

The Grandmaster's theoretical knowledge truly was unrivaled! Tang Xuan marveled as he listened to the masterful explanation, then thought, Teacher may be a little lacking in character when it comes to romance, but his knowledge is the real deal. He truly deserves the title of Grandmaster. Becoming his disciple was certainly worthwhile.

That evening's lesson was drawing to a close.

"Little Xuan, little San, go back and think carefully about what I just taught you. Make sure you remember it. Also, these are the materials I've compiled on soul power cultivation. Keep them safe." As he spoke, the Grandmaster took out a book and handed it to them.

Tang Xuan and Tang San both had cultivation methods of their own, but neither refused the Grandmaster's kindness. After all, they could not bring their methods out into the open for the world to see. Tang Xuan accepted the materials with both hands, and the two thanked the Grandmaster. "Thank you, Teacher."

"Little Xuan, little San, that friend of mine should arrive here in about three days. Then I'll take you to hunt for soul rings. In the meantime, get some proper rest and stabilize your newly awakened soul power. Although you can't advance without soul rings, the benefits of steadily accumulating soul power now will reveal themselves once you obtain your soul rings, and will help with your future cultivation," the Grandmaster reminded them.

"Yes, Teacher," Tang Xuan and Tang San answered in unison.

Before Tang Xuan and Tang San left, the Grandmaster gave each of them a soul tool. Tang San's was a belt, which he named Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges. Tang Xuan's was a ring with twenty cubic meters of storage space, which he named the Heaven and Earth Ring.

The next day, because the Grandmaster still had doubts about the brothers' desire to absorb soul rings beyond the usual age limit, he specifically found several one-ring soul masters to test their physiques. The results, however, left him astonished and forced him to acknowledge how powerful Tang Xuan and Tang San's physiques were. Those one-ring soul masters were no match for either of them, and the Grandmaster fully agreed to their plan.