Du Busi's words sent a jolt through Toji.
He had never imagined that he could absorb Soul Rings.
"Teacher, do you mean that my Martial Soul actually has a framework for Soul Rings, but lacks the power to activate it?" Toji asked.
Du Busi nodded. "That's right. Although your Martial Soul is unusual, it isn't fundamentally all that different from those of other Soul Masters. It's just that your first three Soul Skills came from your Martial Soul awakening on its own, rather than from hunting Soul Beasts and absorbing their Soul Rings."
"That doesn't mean you can't absorb Soul Rings. On the contrary, if you can absorb them, your Soul Skills will become far more controllable and much more powerful."
Toji pondered for a moment, and things gradually became clear to him.
He had always felt different from ordinary Soul Masters, unable to improve his strength by absorbing Soul Rings as they did.
But now, Du Busi's words showed him new hope.
Having a teacher to guide him really was a good thing, saving him from taking many detours.
For the past few years, he had spent almost all his time buried in cultivation, hovering between life and death, with hardly any time to study his own Martial Soul.
"What makes me even more curious is the unique way your Martial Soul requires you to cultivate to the next realm. You actually have to break through at the very limits of life and death, again and again." Du Busi sounded faintly intrigued.
"If you were an ordinary Soul Master, you would have reached rank forty as soon as you absorbed that Soul Bone. But you haven't. Even though you already meet the conditions to advance to Soul Ancestor, your body and Martial Soul haven't allowed you to cross that threshold."
At that, Du Busi asked him a question:
"Does that remind you of anything?"
"It's very similar to the conditions for a Body Martial Soul Second Awakening." Toji understood at once.
"Every time you advance from one realm to an entirely new one, you need to undergo an awakening to cross over." Du Busi took a deep breath and exclaimed, "You're rank thirty-nine now, which means you've awakened a full three times."
"If mine is a normal self-type Body Martial Soul, yours is more like an enhanced version. Cultivating it is harder, but it's enhanced in every respect, and it undergoes nine awakenings!"
"If my Martial Soul had the same special quality as yours, and I cultivated to my current realm, I would undoubtedly be number one under heaven!"
Du Busi's face was full of confidence.
"Sun Moon Empire, Shrek Academy, whatever they were, they'd all have to submit to me. I could do whatever I wanted, and no one could stop me!"
Du Busi soon reined himself in and raised a hand to pat Toji on the shoulder.
"What I'm talking about is your future, Toji."
"I understand, teacher." This was the first time Toji had seen just how great his potential was at such close range.
"Come, I'll continue teaching you about Body Martial Souls. On the path of cultivation, I can only guide you. The one you truly have to rely on is yourself."
A month passed just like that.
Toji tirelessly absorbed Du Busi's teachings.
During the day, he defeated disciple after disciple in the arena. At night, he went to Du Busi to study theory.
Over that month, he had won ninety-seven consecutive matches without a single defeat.
Even a rank fifty-nine Soul King had suffered a crushing defeat at Toji's hands, leaving most of the disciples unable to see any hope of beating him.
Toji was beginning to be hailed by others in the Body Sect as the foremost member of the younger generation.
Fewer and fewer people came to challenge Toji. For one whole week, not a single person dared step into the arena to face him.
The month of arena matches came to an end, and Toji's final record was ninety-seven consecutive victories.
Toji's momentum in the Body Sect rose like a rocket, unstoppable, placing him above everyone else.
But some particularly gifted disciples were extremely unwilling to accept it when they heard Toji called the foremost member of the Body Sect's younger generation.
And so, a rank sixty-one Soul Emperor under twenty challenged Toji. An elder had intended to turn him down on Toji's behalf, but Toji accepted.
The result was a costly victory for Toji.
At the cost of dozens of serious wounds all over his body, he triggered Unyielding Fortitude, increasing his combat strength a hundredfold. With that and various Soul Tools, he successfully broke through the limits of his physical body during his life-or-death struggle with the Soul Emperor.
When he struck the Soul Emperor a devastating blow with all his strength, a golden, glowing phantom appeared behind him, leaving everyone watching the arena with their jaws hanging open in shock.
"It's a Gold Grade Martial Soul Second Awakening!"
"My heavens... That's a gift only the sect masters of generations past have possessed."
"Doesn't that mean he's already been chosen as the next sect master?"
The battle even alarmed the sect master and most of the elders. They all hurried to the arena and saw the golden phantom behind Toji with their own eyes, their gazes filled with shock.
"A Gold Grade Second Awakening... This is a gift seen once in a century, awakened only by the sect masters," an elder exclaimed involuntarily. "He actually awakened it at such a young age."
Du Busi stood to one side, a trace of pride flashing in his eyes.
He had been right about Toji after all. In the future, Toji would surely become a pillar of the Body Sect and might even lead it to unprecedented glory.
But at that moment, both men in the arena were gravely wounded and covered in injuries. Toji knelt on one knee, while the Soul Emperor had fallen to the ground, unconscious.
"Quick, help them both down."
Du Busi hurriedly directed people to help Toji and the Soul Emperor out of the arena.
Toji's injuries were especially severe. There wasn't an uninjured spot on the surface of his body, and white bone could be seen inside some of his wounds.
"This kid really fought with his life on the line, but he had no choice. Otherwise, his cultivation wouldn't advance."
Du Busi watched Toji pass out as soon as he was carried down. Shaking his head repeatedly, he hurriedly placed Toji back in the medicinal pool to treat his injuries.
That battle made Toji famous throughout the sect. With a cultivation of rank thirty-nine, he had gone head-to-head with a rank sixty-one Soul Emperor without falling behind in the slightest. Afterward, everyone acknowledged Toji as the foremost member of the Body Sect's younger generation.
His Gold Grade Martial Soul Second Awakening alone was enough to leave everyone with nothing more to say.
And so, Toji naturally became a core disciple of the Body Sect.
By the time Toji woke up, seven days had passed.
He had absorbed all the energy in the medicinal pool, and his injuries were more than halfway healed. The pool, once a pure green, had dimmed and was filled with impurities.
Toji slowly stood up in the medicinal pool, feeling the power surging through his body. A trace of excitement flashed in his eyes.
He had finally broken through the bottleneck at rank forty and reached a new realm.
As his physical realm rose, advancing became increasingly difficult. Only after five years of effort had he finally reached rank forty.
Advancing took only a minute, but building up to the peak of a realm took almost ten years of work.
"Congratulations on advancing." Du Busi's voice came from nearby.
Toji turned and saw Du Busi standing beside the medicinal pool.
"Teacher." Toji bowed respectfully.
Du Busi said:
"You performed exceptionally well in the matches this past month. Not only did you successfully break through to rank forty, but you also achieved a Gold Grade Second Awakening. That's extremely rare in the entire history of the Body Sect. No, you could say you've set a historical record."
Toji smiled faintly. "It's all thanks to your excellent guidance, teacher."
Du Busi waved a hand. "No need to flatter me. This is the result of your own hard work. The road ahead will be even harder, so prepare yourself."
"You're rank forty now. Get ready tomorrow-it's time to hunt Soul Beasts. I'll teach you how to absorb a Soul Ring."