Qian Renxue's eyes widened. "This..."
"Do you understand?" An Yi looked up at her.
"Under the effects of Tidal Gravity, both the cup and the water are restrained to a certain extent. By adjusting that force, I can keep the water spinning at high speed while preventing it from coming into direct contact with the walls of the cup as much as possible."
"The same principle applies to Soul Masters."
"Tidal Gravity compresses Soul Power while helping it circulate at high speed, reducing its impact on the meridians. That way, you can make your Soul Power circulate faster while staying within the limits of what you can withstand."
"And as the Soul Power is continuously compressed, its quality gradually improves. That's the principle behind how my Tidal Gravity can accelerate your cultivation."
Qian Renxue stared at him, dumbstruck.
It could be explained like that?!
Although it sounded incredible, she had understood every word!
Qian Renxue swallowed and couldn't help asking, "Teacher, how do you know so much?"
An Yi picked up his teacup and said calmly, "Because I'm not content to be nothing more than a Peerless Douluo in the future."
The corner of Qian Renxue's eye twitched violently.
What kind of ferocious words are those?! No matter how I look at it, you seem to look down on Peerless Douluos!
Though she was ranting wildly in her head and wanted to snap back at him, the moment she recalled the painful experience of being pressed to the ground and rubbed against it, Qian Renxue decisively swallowed her words.
Even so, she was still a little unconvinced.
Qian Renxue countered, "But teacher, this cultivation effect comes from your Tidal Gravity. Not everyone in the world has a Martial Soul like yours. Even if you understand the principle, doesn't that mean you still can't offer guidance to other Soul Masters?"
An Yi was noncommittal. "I'm indeed the only one who can use Tidal Gravity, but who says a similar effect can't be produced by other means?"
Qian Renxue paused. "Other means?"
"Let me ask you, what is a Soul Skill?" An Yi prompted. "It's when a Soul Master uses a Soul Ring to guide Martial Soul energy to circulate in a specific way, ultimately producing the corresponding effect."
"And what about Soul Tools? Soul Tools also use engraved Soul Guidance Circuits to make the energy fed into them circulate along a specific path, thereby producing the desired effect."
A flash of insight crossed Qian Renxue's mind, and she understood at once.
"You mean... create a Soul Tool that can produce an effect similar to your Tidal Gravity?!"
"Correct." An Yi nodded.
"Tidal Gravity itself is just an ability based on the uniqueness of my own Martial Soul. If I'm the only one who can use it, its applications are naturally limited."
"But what if I could figure out the principle behind it, then put that principle into practice and create a Soul Tool capable of producing the same suppressive effect, so other Soul Masters could use it to cultivate too?"
"When that happens, it will no longer be an ability belonging to me alone, but a cultivation method that can be shared widely."
"That's the true value of theory."
Qian Renxue listened, dumbstruck.
The cultivation methods she had encountered since childhood had mostly involved elders passing down their experience and her following their instructions.
As for why things had to be done that way, or why a particular method worked, people rarely got to the bottom of it.
She had never imagined that a Soul Master's cultivation could be approached from this angle.
Still less had she imagined that one day, the ability of a special Martial Soul could be transformed, through a Soul Tool, into an implement that could help other Soul Masters cultivate.
If An Yi really could do it...
Qian Renxue swallowed and finally couldn't help asking, "Teacher, can you really make it?"
"Not yet." An Yi shook his head.
"The principle is only the first step. To turn it into a Soul Tool, I still need to conduct a great many experiments, find suitable materials, design Soul Guidance Circuits, and repeatedly adjust how the energy circulates."
"Knowing how something works doesn't mean you can make it right away."
"But all of that can be studied in time."
Qian Renxue fell silent for a moment.
This man really was rather different from the Soul Masters she had met before.
Others pondered how to increase their Soul Power and obtain stronger Soul Skills.
But An Yi was studying why Soul Masters could increase their Soul Power, and whether the entire cultivation process could be changed.
That way of thinking was already completely beyond her previous understanding.
Seeing that she had stopped talking, An Yi picked up his teacup, took a sip, and asked:
"Now, do you still think these things are useless?"
Qian Renxue immediately shook her head. "No, I don't!"
An Yi closed his eyes.
In his mind, the enormous Level 10 Soul Guidance Grand Library glimmered faintly.
Sure enough, following his explanation of profound concepts in simple terms just now, another book flew out of a shelf from thin air.
Its pages turned on their own, revealing a proposed plan for applying the principles of Tidal Gravity to Soul Tools.
It contained analyses of everything from the most basic energy compression to the design of Soul Guidance Circuits, and even how to use external pressure to constrain the path along which energy circulated.
But the contents did not provide a complete answer directly. The book offered more in the way of guiding hints.
For example, how to determine a Soul Guidance Circuit structure suitable for containing compressed energy, how to choose materials that could withstand sustained pressure, and how to adjust a Soul Tool's output according to a Soul Master's cultivation level.
Each question was followed by corresponding lines of thought. Even how An Yi should teach Qian Renxue next and guide her to understand this content step by step was written out clearly.
An Yi looked through it for a while, his expression gradually turning strange.
No matter how I look at it, this thing looks like a lesson plan!
It hadn't simply stuffed the answers into his head. Instead, it had him search for them alongside his student.
As for which direction to think in and how to avoid taking detours, it provided corresponding guidance.
An Yi closed the book, deep in thought.
It seemed his guess had been right. The Soul Guidance Grand Library really could add content on its own, and the conditions for doing so were very likely related to his teaching others.
But the problem was that in his spare time, he often explained Soul Tool design concepts to Qian Renxue, and had even proposed quite a few novel ideas.
Yet the library had never reacted at those times.
So what exactly was this thing's trigger mechanism?
Did it require the student to have an attitude of "respecting the teacher and honoring the Dao"?
Or did the student have to harbor a strong "desire to learn"?
Or... was there some other hidden condition?
Or perhaps all those conditions had to be met at once?
An Yi shook his head and set his doubts aside for the moment.
He slowly opened his eyes and met Qian Renxue's eager gaze.
"What are you still standing there for?"
An Yi clapped his hands. "Today's cultivation is over. Go back."
Qian Renxue didn't move. Instead, she took two steps closer, bit her lower lip, and said in a somewhat ingratiating tone, "Teacher, tonight... could you take me to see Mom?"
"I haven't been there in seven days."
Ever since An Yi had taught her a lesson for throwing a tantrum last time and she had sworn to "be obedient," she hadn't dared make another request in the past seven days, even while being pressed to the ground and rubbed against it.
An Yi looked her up and down and waved a hand in distaste. "Go take a bath and change your clothes. You reek of sweat. Never mind Bibi Dong, even I can't stand the smell of you."
Qian Renxue's expression froze, and her little face flushed red in an instant.
The next second, instead of retreating, she advanced. She lunged straight into An Yi's arms and even deliberately rubbed herself hard against his clothes.
"I don't stink!"
An Yi pressed a finger against her forehead and pushed her away, his face full of distaste:
"Hurry up and take a bath and put on some clean clothes, or I'm not taking you."
Hearing that, Qian Renxue immediately knew when to quit. She hurriedly let go of An Yi, turned, and headed for a room on one side of the courtyard.
An Yi watched her go, a little puzzled. "Where are you going?"
Qian Renxue turned back and answered matter-of-factly, "To take a bath."
An Yi was speechless. "That's my bathroom. Go back to the Pope's Palace and bathe there."
Qian Renxue wrinkled her nose and said unhappily, "That's too far away. Going back and forth is such a hassle. Besides, what's wrong with borrowing yours?"
Something suddenly occurred to her. She narrowed her eyes and deliberately drew out her words:
"Could it be... teacher, you really are a pervert?"
An Yi picked up his teacup and took an unhurried sip. "I'm a clean freak."
Qian Renxue went rigid, the expression on her face a sight to behold.
"You-!"
Gritting her teeth, she spread her arms again and lunged at An Yi.
"I'll stink you to death!"