Bright as Day

Su Yu listened thoughtfully as Du Busi explained the principles behind the secret method for a Body Martial Soul's second awakening.

The principles were not difficult to understand.

What he was considering now was how the logic of this secret method fit into his understanding of the Inner Landscape.

If he could work that out before receiving Du Busi's guidance, he might be able to maximize its effects.

Of course, thoughts always tended to branch out.

Even while considering how the method's principles corresponded to the Inner Landscape, he could not help asking, "Sect Master, are there any drawbacks to this guidance?"

"There are," Du Busi said. "My guidance will become the greatest driving force behind your Martial Soul's second awakening, which means your own will loses its leading role in determining the awakening's quality."

"As I just told you, the more vital the body part your Body Martial Soul corresponds to, the more thoroughly your mind and flesh will merge when your Martial Soul breaks through the human body's limits. This is your Martial Soul's instinct. The more vital the corresponding part, the more readily it draws upon the power of the mind to merge with the flesh."

"But this is ultimately a fusion of mind and flesh. Aside from the influence of your Martial Soul's instincts, the tempering of your own body and the strength of your will also play a part."

"The earliest Body Martial Soul Masters challenged the limits of the human body, braving death time and again without regret, their wills unshakable. One ancestor whose Martial Soul was merely an arm even achieved a gold-grade second awakening."

"Although a special opportunity played a part, his will undoubtedly had a decisive effect."

"Without the influence of his will, he could not even have reached silver grade during his initial second awakening, much less gold grade."

"But when you receive guidance through this secret method, your own will goes untempered. On top of that, my guidance is so powerful that the role your will plays is diminished even further."

"At that point, the quality of your Martial Soul's second awakening depends entirely on the strength of its instincts."

Du Busi's explanation was clear, and understanding dawned on Su Yu once he finished listening.

No wonder.

He knew that the Body Sect would have someone known as Golden Belly, Silver Butt in the future.

Twin Body Martial Souls: a belly and a butt.

That person would eventually become a rank-98 Super Douluo.

Clearly, that person had also completed a second awakening through trials of near-certain death. Even a butt Martial Soul had reached the standard of a silver-grade second awakening.

At the same time, this new piece of information gave Su Yu another flash of inspiration.

If the second awakening involves those mysterious substances in the Inner Landscape, rather than purely a fusion of mental and physical power, then the existence of this secret method...

Yes, from the very beginning, Su Yu had not believed that everything Du Busi said was correct.

A Body Martial Soul's second awakening provided a terrifying boost to both the Martial Soul and the Soul Master.

How could a mere fusion of mind and flesh explain such an increase?

Moreover, most Soul Masters with Body Martial Souls were not proficient in the mental domain.

Even if their minds fused perfectly with their bodies, the resulting boost should not have been so outrageous.

Of course, the union of spirit and flesh was undoubtedly a great path.

But what if the two were not balanced to begin with?

With weak spiritual power and a strong body, no amount of unification would make the result anything but lopsided.

Some special power had to be awakened in the process.

Of course, all of this was merely Su Yu's speculation.

And these speculations did not arise because he insisted on looking down on Du Busi or the Body Sect.

It was simply normal human psychology at work.

His advantage lay in the Inner Landscape, which allowed him to unearth the hidden treasures within himself. Naturally, he subconsciously hoped that everything would lean toward his own strengths.

If all his guesses proved true, he would have an unparalleled advantage when it came to second awakening.

That was only human nature.

Now he just had to see whether this secret method worked as he suspected.

Seeing that the three had accepted what he had just told them, Du Busi took a deep breath.

There was one thing he had left unsaid: the secret method had drawbacks not only for them, but for him as well.

Helping someone else undergo a Martial Soul second awakening did more than alter the relative influence of the factors involved in their awakening. It also affected the state of his own second awakening.

While he pulled on others, they were pulling back on him.

Using the secret method too frequently could very well cause a Martial Soul's second awakening to fail.

Of course, this effect was negligible for Du Busi.

The state of his Martial Soul's second awakening was already incredibly stable.

Not only would he remain unaffected, but he could also use the process to experience the subtle mysteries of his own Martial Soul.

His Martial Soul was his entire body, so helping Long Aotian undergo a Martial Soul second awakening allowed him to feel his skin's presence more keenly and become more sensitive to it. If he happened to undertake targeted cultivation during this period, it would be more efficient as well.

The three sat cross-legged, and Du Busi circulated his Soul Power. A silvery figure appeared behind him.

The figure closely resembled him and hovered behind his back, radiating an overwhelming pressure that blotted out heaven and earth.

Its terrifying aura made all three feel their scalps prickle.

Du Busi activated the secret method. The figure behind him actually left his body for a brief moment, rushed toward Long Aotian, and finally stopped behind him.

It occupied precisely the same relative position as when Du Busi had manifested it.

As the silvery figure exerted its power, a gleam flashed through Long Aotian's eyes.

He seemed to have sensed something.

After a while, his guidance came to an end, and Du Busi drew the white figure back into his own body.

Then he activated his second-awakening state again, detaching the figure from himself and sending it into Vina's body.

Repeating the process left his face looking somewhat weary.

Every activation of his Martial Soul's second awakening placed a burden on him.

That remained true even if he barely fought.

Once Vina's guidance was over, Du Busi spent a long while regulating his breathing.

"I'll guide your lower dantian first."

Su Yu sat cross-legged, having already entered the Inner Landscape well in advance.

The moment the figure settled behind him, Su Yu felt as though day had broken.

The entire sky of the Inner Landscape changed from its deathly stillness and gloom to ordinary daylight.

The only pity was that this change extended solely to the area around him.

This light, bright as day, did not shine into the Inner Landscape from beyond his perception. Instead, it radiated from his own consciousness.

Under the pull of the silvery figure behind him, Su Yu could clearly feel his body of consciousness being affected.

An inexplicable feeling rose in his heart.

I think I should go... there!

Shaken, Su Yu turned to look in a certain direction.

The silvery figure activated the Martial Soul's instincts, guiding the Soul Master's spiritual power to merge with the flesh.

The portion of spiritual power being guided was, unexpectedly, precisely the portion of consciousness Su Yu used to enter the Inner Landscape.

And the destination toward which it guided that spiritual power to merge with the flesh was not in the outside world!

Yes, as far as Su Yu could sense, that guidance was not urging his consciousness to return to his body and merge with some part of its flesh. Instead, it pointed toward a certain location within this Inner Landscape.