Purple Ultimate Big Dipper Seven Origins Seal

In Frozen Forest Town, on the outskirts of Heaven Dou Imperial City.

Frozen Forest Town was a small town between the outskirts of Heaven Dou Imperial City and the edge of the Frozen Forest, built specifically for Soul Masters traveling to hunt Soul Rings to rest.

The town had countless taverns and inns, and its streets teemed with travelers of every kind. The noticeboard at the entrance was plastered with all sorts of notices: some offered rewards for information about particular Soul Beasts, while others advertised high-level Soul Masters for "hire."

But the notice at the very center of the board, which occupied the most space, read: "Free first Soul Ring hunts, commoners only." It was signed: Heaven Dou Imperial City Spirit Hall Branch.

Yu Tianshuang and his two companions had just entered the town. Looking at the bustling streets and the lively, noisy stalls and shops around him, Yu Tianshuang, who had never experienced the lively atmosphere of a "tourist town," could not help looking around curiously.

As he passed the town entrance, Yu Tianshuang naturally noticed the conspicuous notice at the center of the board.

"Spirit Hall!" Thinking of his origins and his parents, from whom there had been no word, Yu Tianshuang secretly clenched his fists.

Seeing Yu Tianshuang stop in front of the noticeboard, Shui Xinrou gently explained to him, "Most Martial Souls awakened by commoners aren't of very high quality, or aren't suited to combat at all, such as Blue Silver Grass or sickles. And the vast majority of commoners have very low Innate Soul Power. On top of that, they lack a good cultivation environment and resources. They might spend their entire lives cultivating to become one-ring Soul Masters."

"And these commoner Soul Scholars who reach level ten have no ability to hunt a Soul Ring themselves, and they can't afford to hire a high-level Soul Master. That's why towns near the various Soul Beast forests always have people from the local Spirit Hall stationed there, to help these commoners hunt their first Soul Rings. Once a commoner has his first Soul Ring, it will bring a huge improvement to his family's circumstances. That's why Spirit Hall has such a high reputation among commoners."

After saying this, Shui Xinrou could not help sighing.

"Spirit Hall has given the commoners of the continent a way forward. It's something the two great empires couldn't do, and wouldn't be willing to do in the first place. I admire them greatly for that."

After listening to Shui Xinrou, Yu Tianshuang had mixed feelings. If I didn't have Innate Full Soul Power and Twin Martial Souls, perhaps Grandpa wouldn't have told me about my true origins. Then perhaps I would have become a one-ring Soul Master with Spirit Hall's help and spent the rest of my life with Grandpa in Hagen-Dazs City.

"Hey, dummy, did you see that notice and realize how stupid it was to go into the Frozen Forest to hunt a Soul Ring by yourself? You could have asked Spirit Hall to help you hunt one, but you insisted on risking your life. If you hadn't met Auntie and me, wouldn't you have kicked the bucket? Haha~"

After saying that, Shui Yue'er clutched her little belly, pointed at Yu Tianshuang, and giggled.

"All right, stop laughing at Tianshuang. He's so young; how could he know about these things? It's getting late, so let's find somewhere to rest. We still have to travel back to the academy tomorrow morning."

In a room at an inn in Frozen Town.

Yu Tianshuang sat cross-legged on the bed, then circulated the Frozen Sky Condensing Sea Art and entered a state of inner vision.

The mysterious purple seal at his dantian still floated quietly above it. Ring after ring of purple ripples radiated from the seal, slowly expanding and washing over his body. The rings of light then traveled up to his Baihui acupoint and down to his Yongquan acupoints before slowly shrinking back to his dantian.

Yu Tianshuang focused on the purple seal and discovered that the rings of light it emitted were slowly improving his bodily strength and expanding his meridians' capacity at an almost imperceptible rate.

Looking more closely at the seal, he found an inscription carved on its front: "Seven origins of the Big Dipper, divine Qi governs the heavens."

On the back were the words: "Purple Ultimate, bestowed by heaven."

After repeatedly studying the twelve profoundly mysterious characters carved on the seal, a name surfaced in Yu Tianshuang's mind: "Purple Ultimate Big Dipper Seven Origins Seal."

He examined it carefully for a while longer, but nothing else surfaced in his mind.

Yu Tianshuang prepared to try infusing some Soul Power into the purple seal to see whether anything would change.

He directed the Soul Power in his body into the seal, and the moment it flowed in, the seal burst into even more dazzling light.

The purple ripples of light, which had originally spread slowly, then began moving rapidly in an "excited" state. At that moment, Yu Tianshuang felt his bodily strength and the width of his meridians increasing at a rate visible to the naked eye.

After only a short while, the purple ripples emitted by the seal returned to their normal speed, and Yu Tianshuang discovered that his Soul Power Level had fallen back to level ten.

After pondering for a while, Yu Tianshuang thought:

What I know for now is that one function of this purple seal is to passively increase my bodily strength and the width of my meridians.

If I actively infuse it with Soul Power, the rate of increase is nearly ten times the passive rate, but the rate of Soul Power consumption is also exceptionally terrifying. With four levels' worth of Soul Power, I can only actively operate it for a short while.

But the benefits are obvious. My bodily strength increased by around twenty percent in just a short while. Although my Soul Power Level dropped by four levels, if I cultivate back to level fourteen, my total Soul Power will be half again as much as before, and it will be more condensed. If I use the same amount of Soul Power to attack, my attack will now be more than half again as strong as before.

If I use this purple seal to strengthen my body and meridians every time I cultivate to the bottleneck of my current level, then wait until they can no longer be strengthened before obtaining a Soul Ring to break through, I'll be able to withstand older Soul Rings. I'll also be much stronger than Soul Masters of the same level. Although this will slow my climb in levels, only by laying a solid foundation can I go farther in the future.

He spent the night without sleep, cultivating.

Early the next morning, Yu Tianshuang was still sitting in meditation and cultivating when Shui Xinrou's voice came from outside his room. "Tianshuang, are you up? Wash up and get ready. We're leaving."

"All right, Teacher."

Hearing Shui Xinrou's voice outside the door, Yu Tianshuang opened his tightly shut eyes and answered.

After a quick wash and tidying himself up, Yu Tianshuang opened the door. The first things he saw were Shui Xinrou's gentle, refined face and Shui Yue'er's cute but listless appearance, her little head drooping and her eyes heavy with sleep.

"Your teacher hired a carriage last night. It should be waiting at the town entrance now. Let's go. We'll get back before evening and arrange a dormitory for you at the academy first."

Shui Xinrou spoke as she looked at the now-ready Yu Tianshuang.

"Wah~ Let's hurry. I still need to catch up on sleep once we're in the carriage. I'm dying of sleepiness." Shui Yue'er yawned and walked straight toward the inn entrance, her eyes half closed.