Besides training on his own, Xu Zhengyang sought his father's and mother's advice on cultivation every evening after dinner. His father Xu Haoyang's Martial Soul was the sun, so he mainly shared insights into meditation. Of course, he also kept encouraging Xu Zhengyang to study Soul Tools.
But right now, Xu Zhengyang's mind was entirely on training his body and breaking through his meditation bottleneck. He had never even considered studying Soul Tools. That would take far too much time.
His mother's Martial Soul, on the other hand, was a spear. She explained some techniques for using it, along with insights into cultivating with a spear.
That evening, his father seemed very mysterious, and very solemn.
Just as Xu Zhengyang was puzzling over this, his father took out a small box and handed it to him.
Xu Zhengyang accepted the box. Inside was a deep blue pill the size of a cherry, its surface traced with white patterns of varying shades. There was even a faint layer of watery mist around it. Its rich medicinal fragrance instantly captivated him.
"Father, could this be the legendary Mysterious Water Pill?"
Xu Haoyang nodded. "Son, we've seen how hard you've worked lately. Although your Innate Soul Power is lacking, this Mysterious Water Pill should be of some help to you."
Xu Zhengyang's face lit up. "Father, Mysterious Water Pills are extremely precious. They're worth ten thousand gold soul coins, and even then, you can't find any for sale."
Xu Haoyang smiled. "Zhengyang, your father is a Soul King, after all, as well as a fourth-grade Soul Engineer. Ten thousand gold soul coins may be a steep price, but it's not beyond our family's means."
"Besides, remember this: your surname is Xu. Even if you only belong to a collateral branch of the Sun Radiance Lineage, you still have your own path to walk, and no one is allowed to bully or humiliate you."
Xu Zhengyang fell silent. "Father, did you go to the clan leader in Dongyang City? Did you have to pay some price to get this Mysterious Water Pill?"
Xu Zhengyang knew very well that throughout the clan in Dongyang City, even though they were only a side branch of the Sun Radiance Lineage, the hierarchy remained sharply defined. For his father to obtain this Mysterious Water Pill, he must have paid a considerable price and called in quite a few favors.
The value of a Mysterious Water Pill was hard to imagine. It was a rare pill capable of increasing Innate Soul Power, refined by the Mysterious Underworld Sect. Extremely few made their way outside each year. Under normal circumstances, one would never end up in a Soul King's hands.
Of course, it was also at this moment that Xu Zhengyang truly understood what it meant to bear the surname Xu. On the Sun Moon Continent, clans bearing the surname Xu essentially represented an existence no one dared provoke, an existence at the very pinnacle.
Xu Haoyang stroked Xu Zhengyang's head. "Silly boy, your mother and I have struggled for half our lives. Hasn't it all been for you? As long as you're happy, as long as you can grow, every sacrifice is worth it."
"Take this Mysterious Water Pill first. If the opportunity arises, I'll get you another one, though I'm afraid it won't be anytime soon. These things really are far too scarce."
After the three of them talked for a while, Xu Zhengyang returned to his room with the Mysterious Water Pill.
Once back in his room, Xu Zhengyang did not take the Mysterious Water Pill immediately. Instead, he stared closely at it and began studying it.
In his previous life, he had been a genius in traditional Chinese medicine, after all. He had a keen interest in Chinese medicinal herbs and had read all sorts of books on traditional Chinese medicine. If not for that accident, he would probably already have become a capable practitioner.
Added to that, he had read quite a few medical books over the past few years and gained some understanding of this world's knowledge of medicine refining. Obtaining such a scarce Mysterious Water Pill only heightened his interest.
Xu Zhengyang held the Mysterious Water Pill and examined it closely. He even cut a tiny piece off the edge, put it in his mouth, and carefully tasted it.
This Mysterious Water Pill was far more complex than he had imagined. The entire pill was free of impurities, without even a trace of a bloody scent. There was only the pill's delicate fragrance, only the purity of its medicinal ingredients.
Strange. Isn't the Mysterious Water Pill refined from the blood essence of more than a dozen kinds of water-attribute soul beasts, along with more than a dozen kinds of water-attribute medicinal plants? Why can't I sense even a trace of those ingredients' original presence? Something's not right.
Besides, if water-attribute soul beast blood essence and medicinal plants were refined into a pill, how could there be no trace of a fire-attribute presence? It seems to lack something of the character of ordinary pills. Could there really be some pill-refining method I've never heard of?
And judging by the Mysterious Water Pill's effects, it should transform the sinews and cleanse the marrow, clear the meridians, and expel impurities from a soul master's body. It can even increase Innate Soul Power. In the Douluo World, those effects could be called heaven-defying.
Xu Zhengyang knew very well that in the Douluo World, Innate Soul Power could be considered fixed. Increasing it was fraught with a thousand hardships and ten thousand difficulties.
As far as Xu Zhengyang recalled, there were only three methods. The first was to improve one's constitution through rare heavenly materials and earthly treasures such as immortal herbs. Such things were extremely scarce, and the only truly famous examples were the immortal herbs in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
The second was to improve one's physical constitution through top-tier Soul Bones. After a soul master absorbed a Soul Bone, it could clear the meridians in the area where it was located, improving cultivation results.
The last was through pills like the Mysterious Water Pill. Such pills were even rarer. In the original story, Huo Yuhao had taken a Mysterious Water Pill, a Soul Ascension Pill, a Dragon Pill, and a Heaven and Earth Fortune Pill. The latter two, especially, were comparable to immortal herbs.
The more Xu Zhengyang studied the Mysterious Water Pill, the more extraordinary he found it. It no longer seemed like something refined from heavenly materials and earthly treasures. It seemed more like all the medicinal ingredients had been condensed in specific proportions through some special secret method. Moreover, the refiner had to be a water-attribute soul master. That point alone completely defied the logic of pill refining.
As a genius in traditional Chinese medicine in his previous life, Xu Zhengyang had his interest and curiosity thoroughly stirred. He looked at the Mysterious Water Pill as though it were a treasured possession and could not bear to take it.
Over the next few days, apart from his daily training and meditation, Xu Zhengyang devoted all his attention to this Mysterious Water Pill. He looked every bit as though he had sworn not to rest until he had unraveled it.
Even his parents found his behavior exceedingly strange. Xu Zhengyang's Innate Soul Power was poor to begin with, yet instead of taking the Mysterious Water Pill right away, he was actually researching something.
But Xu Zhengyang paid little attention to any of this. As a genius in traditional Chinese medicine, his interest in medical research seemed inborn, and he grew even more absorbed.
If only I could get a living Mysterious Underworld Turtle. Then I'd definitely be able to uncover the secret of the Mysterious Water Pill. Perhaps I could truly break through the constraints of Innate Soul Power. Perhaps I could really improve physical constitution.
Xu Zhengyang knew very well that there were absolutely no living Mysterious Underworld Turtles to be found on the continent anymore. Given the Mysterious Underworld Sect's influence, they had probably long since investigated those turtle soul beasts thoroughly. There might be only one place where a living Mysterious Underworld Turtle could still appear.