Skills Mastered

Early the next morning, Hu Jiu, with dark circles under his eyes, got up voluntarily. Today, he would be learning the Soul Power Meditation Method from Old Jack, and he could hardly wait.

After hurriedly finishing breakfast, Hu Jiu quickly arrived at Old Jack's house.

"Grandpa, Grandpa, I'm here!" Before he even stepped into the courtyard, Hu Jiu called out loudly from outside.

"Haha, Xiao Jiu is here! Come in, quick. I never thought my Xiao Jiu would actually stop sleeping in!" Old Jack was sitting in the courtyard, drinking porridge from a large bowl. When he saw Hu Jiu, the smile on his face widened even further.

After quickly finishing his porridge, Old Jack led Hu Jiu into the room. The Soul Power Meditation Method had been placed reverently on the wooden table, and he began explaining it to Hu Jiu word by word.

Although Old Jack had never practiced the method recorded in the manual himself, he had studied it for an entire lifetime. He still had plenty of experience when it came to teaching Hu Jiu.

Besides, Hu Jiu was not truly a child. The steps for cultivating the Soul Power Meditation Method recorded in the manual were quite clear.

And besides...

One morning passed. After Hu Jiu had completely learned the Soul Power Meditation Method, a transparent azure panel appeared before his eyes, hidden from Old Jack's view. With a thought from Hu Jiu, the first small slot on the panel was immediately filled. The five words "Soul Power Meditation Method" occupied the slot, and in its lower-right corner was a level indicator: Level 0!

Above the slot was a transparent ring. From its starting point, a small section of progress was slowly rising.

After placing the Soul Power Meditation Method in the Idle Slot, Hu Jiu felt a sudden understanding of the method emerge in his mind after only a few seconds.

This insight felt utterly natural, as though he had comprehended it himself from the start.

Perfect!

Absolutely perfect!

Hu Jiu happily enjoyed the convenience brought by his cheat. Every few seconds, a small burst of insight regarding the Soul Power Meditation Method surfaced in his mind, yet it did not disrupt his thoughts in the slightest. It was incredibly miraculous.

Although he had already obtained the Soul Power Meditation Method and had even begun using the AFK Panel to cultivate it, Hu Jiu patiently spent an entire day studying with Old Jack so as not to appear too much of a Prodigy.

The next day, while Old Jack was preparing lunch, he quickly flipped through the Five Senses Strengthening Technique. At the same time, he placed it into the second Idle Slot. By then, he had secretly learned both manuals left behind by his Spirit Sage ancestor.

In the blink of an eye, three days passed. During those three days, he continued studying the Soul Power Meditation Method with Old Jack every day. Before Old Jack, his learning progress was not slow. He had already learned more than half of its cultivation methods and would finish in another two days.

It was also on that day that the level of the Soul Power Meditation Method on the AFK Panel changed, rising from Level 0 to Level 1.

In an instant, a massive amount of cultivation insight regarding the Soul Power Meditation Method appeared out of nowhere in Hu Jiu's mind, as though it had always been there.

At the same time, Hu Jiu felt a sudden Transformation in the soul power within his dantian. Every few seconds, it would increase ever so slightly. The increase was extremely faint; if he had not sensed it carefully, he would not have noticed it at all.

What a miraculous feeling!

Over the past few days, the AFK Panel had only increased his cultivation insight into the Soul Power Meditation Method. For a while, he had thought that being AFK could not directly improve his cultivation.

He had not expected the AFK Panel to give him such a huge surprise at this moment.

This felt incredible!

The feeling of constantly gaining soul power without pause was truly exhilarating, almost addictive.

Only then did he realize that a skill needed to reach Level 1 before it could provide an improvement in cultivation.

He raised his eyes to look at the progress ring in the second Idle Slot. It would probably level up after just one more day. He still placed great importance on the Five Senses Strengthening Technique.

"Xiao Jiu, don't space out. Listen carefully!" At that moment, Old Jack's voice pulled him from his thoughts.

Looking at Old Jack, who was growing more animated and excited as he spoke, Hu Jiu could only feel helpless. Fortunately, he was not the original Hu Jiu. If he had truly cultivated according to Old Jack's explanations, he might not have gone astray, but he would definitely have achieved twice the effort for half the result.

After all, Old Jack had no talent for cultivation himself. Even after studying it for a lifetime, he had never truly grasped the fundamentals.

Fortunately, those dull and difficult days finally came to an end a week later.

That day, he finally completed his study of the Soul Power Meditation Method and the Five Senses Strengthening Technique before Old Jack. He even demonstrated what true meditation cultivation looked like.

Through this period of AFK cultivation, Hu Jiu's understanding of the Soul Power Meditation Method had risen to another level. Although the Meditation Method had not reached Level 2, he had gained far more insight than when it had first leveled up.

Just yesterday, his soul power had even risen by one level, reaching Soul Power Level 3.

At this point, meditating before Old Jack came naturally to him. Soul power faintly circulated around his body, making it seem as though his entire body was glowing. A special aura that only Soul Masters possessed also emerged from him.

Of course, Hu Jiu had deliberately put on this display for Old Jack. There were no such special effects during actual cultivation.

He was only doing it to make the old man happy.

"Genius! My Xiao Jiu really is a genius!"

Hu Jiu's performance had not been wasted. Just from seeing him meditate, Old Jack was overjoyed, repeatedly calling him a genius. In his eyes, his own child was naturally the best.

"Grandpa, there's something I'd like to ask you to help me with." After finishing his meditation, Hu Jiu opened his eyes and voiced the plan he had been considering for several days.

"What do you need Grandpa to help with, Xiao Jiu? Tell me. Grandpa will definitely make it happen for you." Old Jack straightened up. At that moment, even his back no longer seemed hunched.

"Grandpa should know that for those of us cultivating soul power, physical fitness has a great impact on cultivation speed. And my Innate Soul Power is only Level 2. If I want to cultivate faster, I can only increase my physical strength."

"So I'd like to ask Grandpa to speak to Uncle Tang Hao and let me train with him. Do you think that can be done?" Hu Jiu asked Old Jack expectantly.

He had considered this matter for several days. For no other reason than to more smoothly win over Xiao Wu in the future.

After all, Xiao Wu was not as easy to win over as one might imagine. Without some ability, she probably would not even give him a second glance, much less let him win her over.

In order to gain some combat ability before school began, he had set his sights on Tang Hao, the hidden expert of Holy Soul Village.

As for Tang San, that was out of the question. That kid was stingy to the bone. There was no chance he would pass on any of his Tang Sect techniques, so Hu Jiu had ruled him out immediately.

That left Tang Hao's Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer. Hu Jiu vaguely remembered the Original Work saying that the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer was merely a Divine Skill of blacksmithing. That meant it was not impossible to pass it on to others. At the very least, he might have a chance to learn it from a disheartened Tang Hao.

Besides, even if he could not learn it, it would not matter. Trying would not cost him anything.

Opportunities had always belonged to those who were prepared!