With a direction to pursue, much of the gloom that had long weighed on Tang Feng's chest dissipated. Though the road ahead remained perilous, he could at least see a clear goal and hope.
Once his thoughts settled, a powerful desire to cultivate welled up within him. Tang Feng stopped dwelling on it, carefully returned the book to the pendant's storage space, and sat cross-legged on the stone bed.
With a thought, the dark-gold phantom of the Clear Sky Hammer quietly reappeared before him, giving off faint fluctuations of Soul Power and a warmth connected to his bloodline.
Tang Feng closed his eyes, cleared away distracting thoughts, and began his first formal Soul Power cultivation session, following the sect's advanced meditation method his grandfather had taught him that day.
As he entered a meditative state, he felt the Soul Power within his body being guided by his spiritual power like a trickling stream, moving slowly along the specific routes recorded in the meditation method. Tang Feng could not help thinking that these must be the meridians so often mentioned in the martial arts stories he had read in his previous life.
At first, his Soul Power circulated somewhat awkwardly, encountering blockages. But soon, as his Clear Sky Hammer Martial Soul resonated faintly, its flow gradually became smoother.
The pores all over his body seemed to become countless tiny whirlpools, drawing in the surrounding spiritual Qi of heaven and earth strand by strand. After being tempered and purified by the Clear Sky Hammer, it slowly merged into his own circulating Soul Power.
The sensation of that power growing and becoming denser in an orderly manner within his body was profoundly wondrous. Tang Feng could not help silently admiring the wisdom of the predecessor who had created this method.
An hour later, one full major circuit was complete. Tang Feng could clearly feel that the Soul Power within him had become a fraction denser. Though barely perceptible, it was a genuine increase.
Tang Feng suppressed the joy in his heart and continued meditating without pause, guiding his Soul Power through a second circuit, then a third...
Only when waves of mental fatigue set in, and his meridians began signaling a faint sense of fullness, leaving him unable to effectively absorb any more spiritual Qi, did he slowly conclude his cultivation.
The Clear Sky Hammer's phantom dissipated. Tang Feng exhaled a long breath of stale air, feeling clearheaded and refreshed. Even the fatigue of the past several days seemed to have faded considerably.
He fell back onto the cold stone bed. This time, there was no bewilderment or weariness; he fell asleep almost as soon as his head touched the bed.
The next day, between three and five in the morning, the sky was a dim blue, and a waning moon still hung above the mountain peaks. A thin layer of frost coated the stone steps and rock walls.
Tang Feng had already risen quietly and splashed his face with cold water stored in an earthenware basin. The bone-piercing chill instantly penetrated his skin, making him shudder, but it also drove away the last trace of sleepiness and refreshed his spirits.
Instead of heading straight to the training grounds, Tang Feng went directly to the reading room on the western side of the ancestral grounds, which was empty at this hour. Familiar with the way, he stopped before the shelf labeled "Geography and local features." His fingertips brushed over rows of worn book spines, and he soon found the Imperial Geography and the Soul Beast Distribution Map.
He spread the enormous parchment map across a stone table by the window. The Heaven Dou Empire's vast territory, winding mountain ranges and waterways, and important cities and strongholds were all meticulously outlined in an archaic style.
Tang Feng's fingertip traced outward from Heaven Dou Imperial City as he searched carefully, his gaze blazing like a torch.
Soon, two conspicuous markings caught his eye: Sunset Forest and Thunder Canyon.
Beside Thunder Canyon was a brief annotation in small script: "Rich in the lightning element, with an abundance of lightning-attribute Soul Beasts and minerals. The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan has lived here for generations and regards it as its exclusive preserve."
Though ownership was not explicitly stated, this place was already the private domain of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, one of the Upper Three Sects. The consequences for trespassers were troubling to contemplate.
Sunset Forest's annotation was much simpler: "The continent's second-largest gathering ground for wild Soul Beasts. Dense woods, fierce beasts, and complex terrain. A common choice for Soul Masters seeking Soul Rings. Under no clearly defined power's jurisdiction."
Comparing the two, the answer was practically leaping off the page. If such a treasure land gathering the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth truly existed, how could it remain untouched right under the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's nose? It was more likely hidden deep within Sunset Forest, where human footprints were rare and danger lurked on every side!
Tang Feng reached a firm judgment. The treasure land is most likely in Sunset Forest.
Next came the timing. When had Tang San obtained the immortal herbs?
Tang Feng closed his eyes and concentrated, drawing upon the somewhat blurred fragments of memory in his mind to calculate: in the original story, Tang San had awakened his Martial Soul at six and enrolled in Nuoding City Junior Soul Master Academy. With its six-year curriculum, he should have been twelve upon graduation.
Afterward, he had joined Shrek Academy, then moved with the academy to Heaven Dou City. During the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament, they should have been fourteen or fifteen. And the qualitative leap in the Shrek Seven Monsters' strength had occurred shortly before the tournament.
I'm six and a half now, roughly two and a half years older than Tang San, Tang Feng silently calculated. If events follow the original plot exactly, that opportunity should appear about ten years from now.
But would his existence cause a butterfly effect in the plot? Would someone discover that treasure land earlier or later? Everything was unknown.
Tang Feng's gaze sharpened. I can't wait passively. I have to hold the initiative in my own hands. Within ten years, I must find an opportunity to leave the ancestral grounds and explore Sunset Forest, snatching those immortal herbs first. An opportunity is safest in my own hands.
"No hurry. I mustn't rush," Tang Feng murmured, persuading his unusually restless heart.
What he needed most now was to lay a solid foundation and improve his strength. Only then could he face the forest's unpredictable dangers.
As the continent's second-largest gathering ground for Soul Beasts, Sunset Forest contained quite a few Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts, and danger lurked on every side in its depths. Without sufficient strength, never mind seeking opportunities-even surviving a journey through its outer reaches was in question.
A meal had to be eaten one mouthful at a time, and tasks had to be done one by one. Matters of the future could wait until the future. As long as his direction was right, he would find a way.
After reassuring himself once more, Tang Feng slowly rolled up the map and neatly returned it to its place. By the time he turned to leave the reading room, his steps had grown steady and firm.
With his mind made up, Tang Feng headed to the dining hall. Tang Jian had departed before dawn with the sect's Soul Hunting team. If everything went smoothly, it would take about a month for him to return.
Behind the Clear Sky Sect's ancestral grounds stretched a chain of remote, rolling mountains. Though Soul Beasts lived there, most had only a hundred years of cultivation, and traces of Soul Beasts over a thousand years old were exceedingly rare.
Thus, when sect disciples sought their first Soul Ring, most searched within this safe region, free of Spirit Hall spies.
Only when they needed a second Soul Ring or one of an even greater age would an elder secretly lead a team, risking treacherous paths under cover of night to reach the continent's wild Soul Beast forests beyond Spirit Hall's control.
After all, every officially designated Soul Hunting Forest was monitored by Spirit Hall personnel. Once Clear Sky Sect disciples' identities were exposed, Spirit Hall would inevitably pursue, encircle, intercept, and kill them.
Tang Feng ate a simple breakfast alone, then headed straight to Black Tortoise Hall.
Black Tortoise Hall stood directly north of the ancestral grounds, its architecture solemn and dignified. When Tang Feng stepped through its entrance at precisely the appointed time, seven or eight disciples were already seated beside three rows of rough stone tables.
Most of the children wore the excitement and curiosity of newcomers to the world of Soul Masters as they conversed in low voices, lending the room a rare liveliness. Sweeping his gaze across the hall, he quietly chose a seat in the farthest corner.
He had just settled into his seat when a woman in a simple pale-green robe entered the hall.
She appeared to be around thirty, with a naturally calm, steady presence that instantly silenced the faint hubbub within the hall.
"My name is Tang Lin. I am twenty-nine, my Martial Soul is the Clear Sky Hammer, and I am a rank thirty-five Battle Soul Elder." The woman's voice reached every child's ears. "Starting today, I will teach you the fundamentals of Martial Soul cultivation. Sit properly. We will begin our first lesson now: what is a Martial Soul?"
With that, she raised her right hand, palm upward. Soul Power stirred faintly, and the phantom of a small Clear Sky Hammer appeared in her palm. Though only three inches long, it exuded a pressure that made hearts tremble.
Resting his chin on one hand, Tang Feng looked toward the teaching platform. From the origins and classifications of Martial Souls to the fundamental differences between Beast Martial Souls and Tool Martial Souls, everything Tang Lin covered was already something he knew backward and forward. Over the past three years, the difficult theories Tang Feng had worked through in the reading room were ten times more complicated than this basic introduction.
As Tang Lin moved from the origins of Martial Souls to the differences between Beast Martial Souls and Tool Martial Souls, Tang Feng simply took the Complete Compendium of Pharmacology out of his pendant, spread it across the stone table, and began reading. Its pages were yellowed, the handwriting his maternal grandfather's own, with strokes so forceful they seemed to pierce the paper.
It opened with detailed descriptions of seventy-two basic medicinal herbs: blood coagulation grass, meridian-unblocking vine, bone-cleansing flower... Each was accompanied by a meticulous illustration, with annotations on its properties and flavors, meridian affinities, and contraindicated combinations.
Further on, it grew even more complex: how to blend thirteen cold-natured medicinal ingredients using the "sovereign, minister, assistant, and envoy" method to create a body-tempering salve; how to gently nurture medicinal liquid with Soul Power to increase its efficacy by thirty percent.
An entirely new field of knowledge opened before him like a treasure vault. Tang Feng instantly immersed himself in it, his attention wholly captivated. In the past, he had known only what happened; now, he finally understood why.