Elsewhere.
In Xu Qingjia's bedroom.
It was eleven thirty, Mingdu time.
After several hours of effort.
The Sun Moon Meditation Method 2.0 (Xu Qingjia's custom edition) was fresh out of the oven.
Xu Qingjia closed his eyes, sensing the speed at which his soul power circulated through his meridians, a faint, satisfied smile tugging at his lips.
Both the amount of soul power in each full circulation and its speed had increased considerably.
Overall, it was roughly 1.2 times what it had been-1.2 times his original cultivation speed, and 1.2 times his soul power recovery speed.
That was a 1.2-fold increase on a baseline that was already quite terrifying.
Over the three hundred and sixty-odd days of a year, he would gain the equivalent of two extra months of cultivation.
And that was with his abilities still limited. As his spiritual power and control over his own soul power improved, he could continue optimizing it, even incorporating the mysteries of the Book of Life and Death's laws of life, death, and reincarnation into the Meditation Method in the future. Only then would it truly be a consummate work!
"There's also the matter of immortal herbs."
They probably would not do much for his martial soul.
But they should still improve his body considerably.
Still, he would have to find a way to deal with that later.
Cultivation came first.
He meditated for two hours.
He sorted through the experience he had gained from today's battles.
To become a true powerhouse, raw stats were not enough; he also needed techniques and mechanics. Of course, that excluded certain fellows whose stats simply defied all reason.
At midnight.
Xu Qingjia used his thoughts to control the Book of Life and Death.
"Take me to the Netherworld."
The dark-gold Book of Life and Death transformed into a streak of spiritual light and shot straight into Xu Qingjia's brow-or rather, it enveloped his entire consciousness, soul included.
This crossing lacked the discomfort of his first.
His "vision" gradually returned. More precisely, it was the range of his soul's perception.
Xu Qingjia glanced at his currently naked form. With a thought, a short-sleeved shirt and long trousers appeared on him.
Although these clothes were themselves part of his spiritual power, and therefore part of his soul, being unclothed always gave him the strange sensation of running around naked.
He checked his condition.
The Book of Life and Death had not manifested beside his hand, but he could view it directly within his soul.
Xu Qingjia mentally leafed through the Book of Life and Death and checked Na'er's condition, wanting to see whether doing this might cause the Silver Dragon King to detect the Netherworld's aura.
[Fast asleep, tasting all the delicious food she ate today in her dreams.]
That certainly matched her astonishing appetite.
Just as Xu Qingjia was about to look up Elder Yi's condition as well, a familiar little gray sphere appeared in his field of vision.
It seemed he had arrived somewhere close to where he had last stayed, perhaps even the very same spot.
"Elder Yi?"
Xu Qingjia called out in delighted surprise.
The little gray sphere drifted unsteadily into his hand, sending out a familiar spiritual fluctuation. "Young Xu? Why are you here again?"
"I was worried about you, Elder Yi," Xu Qingjia said sincerely.
"Besides, I noticed that the Netherworld's aura is very beneficial to my soul, so I planned to cultivate here and strengthen it."
His soul had the Book of Life and Death's protection. That was his greatest source of confidence.
Although he did not know which version of the Book of Life and Death this was, its ability to carry him across countless realms of spacetime and bring him into this universe had long since surpassed the concept of a Super Divine Artifact in the original story.
"Oh?" A hint of curiosity entered Electrolux's voice. "It seems you already know why you came to the Netherworld?"
"It's because of my martial soul," Xu Qingjia said.
Leaving aside how he could explain obtaining the Book of Life and Death, or whether others would covet it, it was his trump card. He certainly could not let anyone else know about it.
Otherwise, how could it count as a trump card?
Xu Qingjia attributed his ability to cross into the Netherworld to his martial soul.
"Would you like to go to the world of the living, Elder Yi?" Xu Qingjia asked.
"I would." Electrolux made no attempt to conceal it.
"Although I am already dead, I avenged everything that needed avenging while I lived, and fulfilled every wish that needed fulfilling. I have long since had no lingering attachments, and I do not place much importance on life or death."
"But every minute and every second in the Netherworld feels as though someone is carving flesh off my body with a little knife. Life and death may not matter, but I still don't want to end my existence in such agony."
"What is it?" A teasing note entered Electrolux's voice, otherwise so accepting of life and death. "Do you want this old man to do something for you?"
"Yes." Xu Qingjia did not hide his intentions.
Trying to put on an act in front of an elder who had lived for thousands of years would truly be like showing off one's blade before Guan Yu.
"You said earlier that you had already touched the realm of gods. I was hoping to learn a few things from you."
An elder in the family was a treasure in the home.
That saying referred to an elder's experience and wisdom.
Those were treasures tempered and tested by time.
Although the supernatural systems of the Douluo Continent and Throne of Seal differed, all paths shared common ground. A god-level expert's understanding of any matter would certainly be deeper and better than that of a fledgling supernatural practitioner like him.
With his relationship with the Silver Dragon King still uncertain, having such an expert help him would surely bring him plenty of benefits.
Of course, all of that depended on his ability to keep every uncertain factor under control.
Xu Qingjia looked at the little gray sphere in his hand.
He had a sense that the now-recharged Book of Life and Death could easily suppress this wisp of divine sense. This was not some vague, inexplicable feeling, but feedback from the Book of Life and Death itself.
A divine treasure of the Netherworld Court that overwhelmingly countered energy beings.
"But I don't yet have the ability to rescue you from the Netherworld."
Xu Qingjia explained the Ghost Gate within his innate domain.
Opening this gate, which symbolized the boundary between life and death, would connect the two realms-the Douluo Continent where he lived, and this Netherworld.
But the Ghost Gate absolutely could not be opened yet.
Otherwise, the Netherworld's energy would pour into the Douluo Continent all at once, directly destroying the entire continent, and even the whole Douluo Star.
He had to wait until his divine domain grew strong enough to carve out a buffer space on the Netherworld side.
"Heh heh, it doesn't matter." Electrolux seemed to take little interest in anything. "If you can let this old
man catch his breath in this damned Netherworld through your means, I'll already be quite satisfied."
The old man and the youth traveled together, just as they had last time.
From Electrolux, Xu Qingjia learned that he had arrived at the same place where he had left last time.
The two continued their unfinished business from before, heading in the direction from which the souls had come.
"For us to meet in this vast Netherworld, there must be some fate between us."
Electrolux said, "Since you've taken a fancy to my abilities, what do you want to learn?"
A gleam of delight flashed through Xu Qingjia's eyes, and he stated his aim. "Elder Yi, your soul has reached the realm of gods. You must know some extremely powerful methods for cultivating the soul, right?"
He had no idea what was wrong with Douluo Star. The importance of spiritual power had been recognized for thousands of years, yet aside from the Purple Demon Eye that Tang San had brought from another world, there was not even a single method for cultivating it.
Were spiritual-type soul masters really that rare?
Or perhaps the very existence of martial souls doomed soul masters to be extremely lopsided among supernatural practitioners. Any supernatural power a soul master could display had to be related to their martial soul.
As for meditation methods, those on the Douluo Continent were nothing like the ones used by mages in the novels he had read before.
The latter cultivated the soul and spiritual power, while the former gathered energy from the world, allowing the body to refine it and cultivate the martial soul.
"Naturally," Electrolux said.
Whether he had been a light mage at the beginning or a necromancer later, he had always been a mage. Naturally, methods of cultivating the soul were indispensable.
"However, before cultivating any of these, we need to test your soul's attributes."
Electrolux looked at Xu Qingjia.
He still looked as ordinary as before, but in truth, he could not be probed.
Compared to last time, he even gave off a feeling of being impossible to gaze upon directly, as though looking at him meant staring into an abyss that might swallow the observer at any moment.
"Soul attributes?" Xu Qingjia pondered, recalling his Yama martial soul.
"My soul's attributes probably don't fall within metal, wood, water, fire, or earth."
"I could guess as much," Electrolux said. Since he could move through the Netherworld like a fish in water, his attributes were most likely related to life, death, or reincarnation. In any case, they certainly lay outside the ordinary range.
"How about this? Give me some time, and I'll put together a high-level, attributeless method for cultivating spiritual power for you."
With his knowledge and abilities, creating a method within his field of expertise was not particularly difficult.
"Thank you, Elder Yi!"
"The soul is a person's foundation," Electrolux said. "If, after reaching the limits of your world, you attempt to advance further, you must pay close attention to this aspect."
"I understand."
Time passed.
Eight hours later.
Xu Qingjia summoned the Book of Life and Death and left the Netherworld.
Although speaking with an elder as experienced and wise as Electrolux had benefited him greatly, and he was willing to help him, he could not neglect his daily cultivation.
It was almost eight in the morning.
Mingdu had already begun its busy day.
Xu Qingjia washed up and changed at an unhurried pace.
He had not slept all night, yet he felt more mentally refreshed than ever.
Xu Qingjia even felt that the world looked a little brighter.
He went to the training room inside the Bedchamber, which housed numerous gravity-altering devices.
Running, stretching...
But that was not all. Those alone would have had very little effect.
After an hour of exercise, the maids had already prepared his medicinal bath.
His fatigued body greedily absorbed the energy and nutrients in the medicinal bath. The minor injuries caused by his earlier training and stretching received ample healing, while his growing body received plentiful nourishment. Throughout the process, his physical strength gradually increased.
After twenty minutes in the medicinal bath, he washed up and went to eat.
"I got up quite a bit later than usual today."
As Xu Qingjia waited for the food to be served, he saw his soul guidance phone's screen light up as a message popped up.
"Xinglan wants to come over?"
At the same time, the aroma of the food woke a little white-haired bundle.