The two did not explore the Netherworld that night. Electrolux guided Xu Qingjia in his cultivation. Under the protection of the Book of Life and Death, Xu Qingjia's soul was completely shielded in the Netherworld, preventing Electrolux from transmitting the relevant knowledge directly to him through spiritual power.
"The footwork changes with the positions of the stars. Begin at the Pivot and end at the Handle. Step along an arc, letting your body turn with the stars. As you move, focus your intent on your dantian and channel supernatural power through the Yongquan points. Tread the pattern of the Dipper and form the array of seven stars."
Electrolux was a good teacher.
Xu Qingjia was a good student, too.
The aura of the Netherworld constantly nourished Xu Qingjia's soul, keeping his mental state at its peak at all times. Under Electrolux's guidance, he soon captured some of the form and essence.
His progress in learning soul cultivation methods was even more astonishingly swift.
One was an advanced, attribute-free soul cultivation method called "The Times Are Calling."
The second was a top-tier, attribute-free soul cultivation method Electrolux put together several days later, drawing on his work over those days. He casually left the naming to Xu Qingjia, who called the cultivation technique "Soul Calisthenics."
The principle behind soul cultivation methods was simple, much like eating. The soul drew energy from the outside world and absorbed it, then continuously tempered its spiritual power to make it more solid.
Moreover, this could be practiced alongside a Soul Master's Meditation Method. It could completely replace the first step of a Soul Master's Meditation Method: drawing energy from the outside world.
It was much like being a mage.
However, to ensure that neither spiritual power nor soul power progressed more slowly, one had to cultivate in an environment with more abundant natural energy.
The best energy for the soul to absorb was pure power from heaven and earth: the wisp of purple qi at sunrise each day, the pure life force found in nature, and the stellar power of the silver moon and stars at night.
"Since the Netherworld's aura can nourish my soul, my soul should be able to absorb it, too."
Xu Qingjia gazed at the Nether Sea beneath him as he spoke.
"In theory, yes," Electrolux said.
After all, he could also sense fluctuations of the laws of souls within the Netherworld's aura.
But for now, Xu Qingjia did not dare withdraw the Book of Life and Death's protection over his soul.
Give it a try?
What if trying it meant dying?
His little life was precious. He would wait until his Divine Domain expanded into the Netherworld before attempting it.
Xu Qingjia asked Electrolux, "Elder Yi, may I teach my family what you've taught me?"
"Although I'm still weak right now, you've seen my potential for yourself. I'll definitely repay you properly in the future."
For example, by helping Elder Yi recover.
In the world of the Throne of Seal, becoming a god meant dissipating. Here in the Douluo Plane, however, becoming a god meant eternal life.
"You may." Electrolux did not care much about such things. After all, meeting in the boundless Netherworld was a kind of fate. He was also finding himself something interesting to do.
During the day.
With Elder Yi's permission, Xu Qingjia taught his parents the Heavenly Dipper Big Dipper Steps and "Soul Calisthenics."
Xu Ye and Shen Xi's eyes filled with utter astonishment.
They had never imagined that a cultivation technique could be so ingeniously conceived.
Both felt the bottlenecks in their spiritual power realms begin to loosen.
This was especially true for Xu Ye, who had been in the advanced stage of the Spirit Domain Realm for a long time.
If he could reach the peak of the Spirit Domain Realm, he could certainly advance further and become a demigod, or even attempt to reach the Quasi-God realm.
"I got them through feedback from my martial soul. They might have been left behind by that Underworld King's Envoy or the Underworld King," Xu Qingjia said without blushing or missing a heartbeat.
Xu Ye and Shen Xi did not doubt him. It had never occurred to them that their darling son was hiding something major from them.
After the family of three discussed it, they ultimately credited Xu Ye, a Limit Douluo, with creating the cultivation techniques.
A small child creating such powerful cultivation techniques was simply a little too outrageous.
Although legends claimed that Sea God Tang San had created the Mysterious Heaven Skill when he was only a few years old, earning him praise as a legendary supergenius and a born deity.
How much of that was historical record, and how much was Shrek and the Tang Sect blowing his trumpet like mad?
Having read the original story, Xu Qingjia had nothing to say to that.
Someone who had once stolen the Tang Sect's cultivation techniques had switched worlds and become the Tang Sect's founding ancestor, as well as the creator of the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record.
Come to think of it, when Tang Hao saw his son using all sorts of martial arts from childhood without anyone teaching him, didn't he suspect anything at all?
Well, I can't expect that fellow Tang Hao to have much intelligence. If Tang San hadn't been the protagonist of the first installment, Tang Hao would have been an utter waste of space. His wife suffered a fatal attack, yet he didn't work hard at cultivating and just kept wallowing in despair. He let down his sect, failed to care for his child, and failed his dead wife.
Xu Qingjia personally guided his little childhood sweetheart.
Ye Xinglan learned the Heavenly Dipper Big Dipper Steps fairly smoothly, barely managing to grasp the basics, but she never managed to get started with "Soul Calisthenics."
In theory, any human who had embarked on the path of the supernatural could learn this soul cultivation technique, but whether they could master it depended on their aptitude for spiritual power.
Xu Qingjia mastered it quickly because his talent in this area truly was excellent. After all, he was a young god himself. Xu Ye and Shen Xi managed because they already possessed Spirit Domain Realm spiritual power.
If the top-tier method was beyond her, she could only settle for the next best thing and switch later, once her spiritual power improved. "The Times Are Calling" and "Soul Calisthenics" operated on essentially the same principles, but the latter was more sophisticated and improved the soul more efficiently.
Na'er had a much easier time with it. After all, she was the Silver Dragon King's avatar, and her foundations spoke for themselves.
Time passed. Three months later.
Mingdu.
Early morning.
Having finished washing up, Xu Qingjia sat at the edge of his bed, took out a spiritual power testing helmet, and put it on to test himself.
"How much?" A soft, sweet, adorable voice came from behind him.
A few strands of silver hair draped over Xu Qingjia's shoulder. A White-Haired Dumpling leaned against him with practiced ease, craning closer to look curiously at the number on the helmet.
"521."
The Spirit Sea Realm: the mind was like a sea, vast and boundless.
It could support five Hundred-Year Soul Spirits, three purple ones, or one Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Spirit.
"Not bad."
Only three months after his Martial Soul Awakening, he had already accomplished something that would take even a genius spiritual-type Soul Master years. To Xu Qingjia, this was nothing worth being surprised about.
Nether Moon's spiritual power origin had helped him greatly in the process of breaking through to the Spirit Sea Realm.
Xu Qingjia thought to himself:
Now that I'm in the Spirit Sea Realm, a night of meditation with "Soul Calisthenics" can increase my spiritual power by a little over two points. But if my soul spends a night being nourished in the Netherworld, it can gain around three
points of spiritual power. The latter is still more cost-effective.
The crunch, crunch of someone chewing potato chips came from beside him.
"Not fair." Na'er looked at Xu Qingjia with a deliberately fierce yet babyish expression. The sweet-smelling, soft White-Haired Dumpling leaned closer. "Xu Qingjia, are you hiding something good? Why is my spiritual power only at two hundred, while you've already reached the Spirit Sea Realm?"
Xu Qingjia reached out and lightly tapped Na'er's fair forehead, drawing an adorable whimper from the White-Haired Dumpling. He said rather helplessly, "If you spent half the night cultivating, how could you have improved so little?"
He did not know how extraordinary the Silver Dragon King's talent was, but he knew Na'er certainly had not been cultivating properly at night. His Bedchamber had been specially modified, with several large Soul Tools associated with the stars installed above it to gather stellar power exceptionally well at night.
"Also, no eating potato chips on my bed."
"Hmph~" The White-Haired Dumpling raised her little face haughtily. "I will! I will!"
The White-Haired Dumpling stood up, wearing a white short-sleeved shirt and black knee-length shorts. Thin white over-the-knee socks outlined the girl's slender calves and exquisite, jade-like feet, as lovely as works of art. Like a little angel descended to earth, the White-Haired Dumpling planted her white-stockinged feet on the sheets and quickly retreated.