Dantian? Soul Nest!

Chen Xiaojun reacted the fastest and immediately chimed in, "Well, big brother, look at you! No wonder you're my brother!"

Hearing this, Ye Xiuxin smiled happily and asked, "Eldest, when did you break through? Come, release your Soul Power and let Grandpa and Mom sense it."

"Mm, all right." After saying that, Chen Jianjun released his Soul Power, and it began to ripple.

Chen Yu was extremely pleased. "As expected! Good, good, good!"

Ye Xiuxin's gentle voice could not hide her joy as she said, "Your father has been away for more than half a year. When he comes back and learns that you've broken through to Soul Elder, he'll surely be very happy."

Soul Elder was different from the Soul Master and Soul Grandmaster stages that came before. After all, it was the first major bottleneck on the path of a Soul Master: breaking through the Soul Nest.

A nearly twelve-year-old Soul Elder, and one who cultivated the Seven Kill Sword with the Impartial Sword Qi Art.

The Seven Kill Sword was born with Killing Qi. To lay a solid foundation and avoid an unstable one in the future, as well as the Killing Qi backfiring on Soul Masters, the first-generation ancestor Chen Xili had created the Impartial Sword Qi Art. Successive generations of ancestors had refined it, and it had replaced the old Meditation Method.

Paired with the Seven Kill Qi-Concealing Art, it restrained the Killing Qi and strengthened the foundation. The sharp, keen Soul Power within the Seven Kill Sword became much more impartial and peaceful, while also expanding and nourishing the Meridians and internal organs.

The only problem was that Soul Power converted a little slowly. Soul Masters in the family who only reached Soul Elder at fourteen or fifteen were a dime a dozen.

Chen Jianjun also said happily, "I broke through the day before yesterday."

Chen Yu turned and instructed Ye Xiuxin, "Good. How's your body? Is anything wrong? Breaking through to Soul Elder isn't especially difficult, but damaging your Meridians would be bad. Xiuxin, check him over."

Ye Xiuxin was a Soul Emperor-level Support and Healing-type Soul Master, and this was her specialty.

Chen Jianjun waved his hands. "No need, no need, Grandpa. Everything's fine."

"Let your mother check your body!" Chen Yu still insisted on examining him.

Ye Xiuxin stood and came to Chen Jianjun. A glimmer of blue light passed through the palm of her right hand as she pressed it against his left palm. Their hands met, palm to palm.

A little while later, Ye Xiuxin lowered her hand and let out a breath before speaking slowly. "Mm, there's nothing wrong with your Meridians. They're a little stiff, but two or three days of nourishment will take care of it. Although the Seven Kill Sword Qi has been converted, it's still fierce when breaking through a bottleneck. Hmm, the Lower Soul Nest has indeed opened."

"Jianjun, Mom congratulates you."

Chen Xiaojun immediately picked up on the key point. "Grandpa, Mom, what's a Soul Nest?"

Chen Yu began explaining slowly. "A Soul Nest is where Soul Power and Mental Power converge. It's hidden in the Flesh, not within the Meridians, but it connects to them and can store Soul Power and Mental Power."

"Before becoming a Soul Elder, our Soul Power is stored in our Meridians. But how much can the Meridians hold?"

"Not much, actually. Through exploration, our predecessors found the location where our Martial Souls are usually hidden in our Flesh, then used our Martial Souls to refine Soul Power and store it there."

"Don't be fooled by how small this place looks from the outside. It contains the vast within a mustard seed. The space inside is enormous, and it can expand until it's infinite."

"That's why the Soul Master World calls it a Soul Nest: the nest where the Martial Soul resides and Soul Power is stored."

"There are three Soul Nests in total: lower, middle, and upper. When a Soul Master reaches Soul Elder, they need to fully open the Soul Nest where their Martial Soul resides. Our Tool Martial Souls open the Lower Soul Nest, located a little below the Navel; Beast Martial Souls are in the Middle Soul Nest, a little above the center of the chest."

"You have to sense and find the exact location yourself. No one else can help you. Only after your Soul Nest has opened can others sense it."

"This is also why the Soul Master World has only divided Martial Souls into Beast Martial Souls and Tool Martial Souls so far. It's not just because Beast Martial Souls can possess their users while Tool Martial Souls can leave their users' bodies."

"The Soul Nest is normally invisible and closed. Actually, it isn't completely shut tight. When we use an Awakening Stone to guide out a Martial Soul during Martial Soul Awakening, the nest gate of the Soul Nest breaks, leaving a small gap that connects it to the outside. That's the basis for our ability to sense it."

"Only by sensing the Soul Nest and completely breaking through the nest gate via the tiny connecting Meridians, without greatly damaging the related Meridians or the Soul Nest, can one be called a Soul Elder and pass the first major threshold of a Soul Master."

"After becoming a Soul Elder, one gradually expands the connected Meridians and uses the Martial Soul to purify the quality of Soul Power. Only then can one continue advancing through the Soul Master ranks."

Chen Xiaojun grumbled inwardly, I'm a blade of grass. Isn't this just the lower and middle Dantians? So this world calls them Soul Nests. That makes sense. They couldn't still be called Dantians on the Douluo Continent, could they? The name really does have a distinct Soul Master flavor.

He continued to ask, "Grandpa, what about the Upper Soul Nest?"

Chen Yu replied, "The Upper Soul Nest is different from the Middle and Lower Soul Nests. It mainly stores Mental Power."

"Within the Upper Soul Nest is a sea of Mental Power, which we call the Sea of Consciousness. When we direct our Mental Power to sense and manipulate things, that's Soul Awareness."

"Everyone has a Sea of Consciousness, and meditating consumes Soul Awareness. You can only meditate and cultivate again after resting and recovering."

"Only Soul Masters with the mental strength of a Soul Saint can open the Upper Soul Nest, because breaking through it relies mainly on Mental Power."

"Unlike the Middle and Lower Soul Nests, which are broken into from the outside, the Upper Soul Nest is broken into from the inside out. Mental System Soul Masters have an advantage in this regard."

"In today's Soul Master World, there are no especially good Cultivation Methods for Mental Power. Aside from Head Soul Bones and a few kinds of Heavenly Treasures, one can only rely on accumulating Mental Power over time: meditate, expend Mental Power, recover, expend it again, recover again. It naturally increases over time along with one's Soul Master rank."

"This is the second threshold in Soul Master cultivation!"

Chen Xiaojun mused, Well, it really is the Upper Dantian. It seems that even though these are two different worlds, they match the upper, middle, and lower Dantians from the legends of my Previous Life. So the human body is more or less the same, and only the power systems are different.

"Then, Grandpa, what's the third threshold for Soul Masters?"

Chen Yu paused, took a sip of the tea Ye Xiuxin had brewed, and said, "A Soul Master's Martial Soul is in the Soul Nest: a Tool Martial Soul in the Lower Soul Nest and a Beast Martial Soul in the Middle Soul Nest. But deep within the Spiritual Sea of Consciousness in the Upper Soul Nest, there's a phantom identical to the Martial Soul, called a Phantom Soul."

"Only when a Soul Douluo has reached the peak of Soul Power, has abundant Blood Qi in the body, and comprehended a Conception, can they elevate their Mental Power and guide the physical Martial Soul and the Phantom Soul to merge. By elevating the Martial Soul and liquefying Soul Power, they can break through Level 90 and become a Titled Douluo."

"This threshold stops most Soul Douluo, and it's extraordinarily difficult to overcome!"

Chen Xiaojun pondered to himself, Haha, as expected, this matches the Taoist cultivation steps from my Previous Life: refining essence into qi, refining qi into spirit, and refining spirit to return to emptiness. Taoism teaches that the Dao follows Nature and that one must comprehend the world. The final stage, refining emptiness to unite with the Dao, is probably the key to breaking through in the later stages after becoming a Titled Douluo.

Seeing Chen Xiaojun looking like a little adult deep in thought, Chen Yu turned toward Chen Jianjun and said, "Jianjun, Grandpa will take you to hunt a Soul Beast. Have you decided what kind you want?"

Chen Jianjun thought for a moment and said, "For my Third Soul Ring, based on my Soul Master path plan, I want a skill that mainly boosts speed, with the Wind Attribute or Light Attribute."

"The Wind Attribute would be best, with an emphasis on offensive Cutting."

"I remember you said that deep in Shaolin Mountain there are Azure Wind Cang Wolves and Hurricane Demon Wolves, which are evolved forms of Gale Wolves. We could look for those, or bird-type Soul Beasts, such as Swiftlight Sparrows and White-Headed Sea Dongqings. It's just that birds of prey are a little hard to find."

Chen Yu considered it for a moment and said, "That should be fine. Unlike forests, mountain ranges have more birds, especially large birds of prey."

"Still, your choice of Azure Wind Cang Wolf is good. There may not be a Hurricane Demon Wolf around 1,500 years old, but Grandpa knows where to find an Azure Wind Cang Wolf."

"It's not too far away. We can make it there and back quickly, and still get back before your younger brother's awakening day."

Chen Yu turned and instructed her, "Xiuxin, I'll take Jianjun out in a day or two. When Chen Xun comes back, let him know."

Ye Xiuxin answered, "All right, Father. There's no rush. We can wait until you're back before awakening Xiaojun's Martial Soul."

Then Chen Yu told Chen Xiaojun, "Xiaojun, take another Medicinal Bath later today, and another one the day before your Awakening. Your body is already quite strong."

"It seems your body adapts very well to the Hereditary Medicinal Bath. It's working wonderfully, and that'll help with your Martial Soul Awakening."

Chen Xiaojun said, "All right, Grandpa. I wish you and big brother all the best."