Plans

By the time they returned to Spirit Hall, it was evening four days later.

Ning Buhui jumped down from the carriage and set foot on the familiar ground, only to feel a little unsteady. He had been gone for barely ten days, yet it felt as though every bone in his body had been replaced. Standing by the western gate, he looked up at the banners hanging from the walls. They snapped in the evening breeze, as if welcoming him home.

"Don't cultivate when you get back tonight," Bibi Dong said as she stepped out of the carriage. "Get a good night's sleep. You're not even seven yet, and I'm already surprised you spent half a month on the road without complaining of exhaustion. Starting tomorrow, do physical training only. Put cultivating your Soul Power Level aside for now. You've advanced too many levels at once, and you're not yet skilled at using your new strength. Polish your foundation before thinking about anything else."

Ning Buhui acknowledged her order. He understood what mattered. On this trip to Rotten Wood Marsh, his Soul Power had jumped eight levels from level twenty. It sounded impressive, but his foundation had grown somewhat shaky. The unsteadiness he had felt stepping off the carriage wasn't entirely due to exhaustion; it was also because he wasn't accustomed to using his new strength.

He returned to his quiet room, shut the door and took a thorough hot bath. The steam made him drowsy, and he rested against the edge of the wooden tub for quite a while before finally washing away the damp smell of Rotten Wood Marsh. After changing into clean clothes, he went to the kitchen and asked for three large bowls of meat soup, which he polished off with flatbread. By the time he lay down in bed, even the strands of his hair felt lazy.

He slept deeply that night, more soundly than he had in the past half month.

Unusually, Ning Buhui woke up late the next day and missed the morning session. By the time he got up, the other children had already finished their physical training. Ning Buhui wasn't in a hurry. It was rare for him to take it easy. Ever since transmigrating, he had been on edge: partly because the unfamiliar world had caused him a moment of panic, and partly because his lack of strength left him feeling unsafe.

Now that he had a rare chance to relax, it was time to give some proper thought to his plans.

He certainly couldn't cultivate his Soul Power again anytime soon. He would have to wait until he had fully mastered his current strength before considering the next step. His level had risen a little too sharply this time, and he still needed to stabilize his existing Soul Power so his foundation wouldn't be so shaky. This wasn't something he could rush; he needed to polish it carefully.

The trip had also exposed a weakness of his: he had too few offensive abilities. Although he had just absorbed an offensive Soul Bone, his attack options were too limited. He could provide support and control, but those couldn't kill, after all. He still needed to expand his offensive arsenal.

His Martial Soul was too unusual for him to draw on the experience of those who had come before him. He could only feel his way across the river one step at a time. So, while he was polishing his foundation, he could spend more time in the library, see what he could learn from other Martial Souls, and then create some basic offensive Soul Skills of his own. It would be difficult, but there was no helping it.

Having settled his thoughts, Ning Buhui got up and went to the dining hall for a meal.

For the next half month, Ning Buhui ran every morning as usual to train his body. In the mornings, he practiced physical techniques under an instructor; in the afternoons, he immersed himself in research in the library; at night, he returned to his quarters to polish his foundation and practice controlling his strength. Every night, he put out the lights and went to sleep promptly after ten. His days followed a regular routine. It was rare for Zhou Qing to see him stop cultivating so desperately, and Zhou Qing teased him about it a couple of times.

Sometimes, when Ning Buhui ran into Hu Liena, he would hear her say, "It's rare to see little junior brother taking it easy. I'm really not used to it."

Ning Buhui always gave the same reply: "It can't be helped. These are the troubles of a genius. My level rose too quickly, and I didn't want that either."

And that left them grinding their teeth in irritation.

A month later, Ning Buhui's foundation had become completely stable, and he could control his suddenly increased strength well. But one thing had not progressed smoothly: creating his own Soul Skills.

In his previous life, he had often read novels in which the protagonist created Soul Skills with ease. He had thought it couldn't be that difficult, but when he actually tried it himself, he discovered it was nowhere near as simple as he had imagined.

First, one needed a sufficient understanding of one's Martial Soul. Second, one had to be proficient in the use of Soul Power, even if one hadn't mastered it to the point of perfection.

His understanding of his Martial Soul was limited to the contents of his inherited memories. He knew nothing beyond that. His use of Soul Power had become even more rusty because of its explosive increase.

Now that his Soul Power was finally stable and he had made some progress in controlling his strength, he could at last take the next step.

He consulted a great deal of material, some on other tower-type Martial Souls and some on Martial Souls of other types. Combining what he found with the characteristics of his own Martial Soul, he worked out two feasible approaches.

The first was to use Soul Power to guide his Martial Soul to grow larger and suppress his opponent. The Nine Hell Soul-Suppressing Pagoda was itself a pagoda for suppression and sealing. Once enlarged, its weight would reach a terrifying level. Its exact weight was tied to his Soul Power: the more he supplied, the heavier the pagoda became. Yet to the Soul Master himself, it remained as light as nothing. It was remarkable.

The second was to spin the pagoda at high speed and use its sharp eaves to cut his opponent. He didn't know what material the pagoda itself was made of, but it was extremely tough. Even Bibi Dong had found it difficult to leave a scratch on it with a test attack.

Both were physical attacks, and both counted as basic applications of the pagoda.

He actually had another fairly feasible idea: a spiritual attack. The Nine Hell Soul-Suppressing Pagoda was particularly effective against souls and spiritual power, and the pagoda's phantom in his spiritual sea could release a spiritual shock. There was no reason the pagoda itself couldn't do the same. He would have to test that bit by bit.

Ning Buhui closed his notes, drained the last of his cold tea, and rose to leave the library.

Back at his quarters, he locked the door and made sure no one could disturb him. He composed himself and summoned the Nine Hell Soul-Suppressing Pagoda. The black-and-white pagoda hovered above his right palm, the yin-yang fish circling at an unhurried pace. He closed his eyes and began his first experiment.

Making the pagoda bigger.

That was simple. Tool Martial Souls could change size to begin with, but increasing the pagoda's weight after enlarging it required Ning Buhui to continuously pour Soul Power into it. He tried doing so, and after supplying roughly a tenth of his Soul Power, he suddenly smashed the pagoda above his palm down toward the floor.

With a boom, the ground seemed to shake and the mountains tremble. The effect was quite good. Fortunately, there was no one near his room, or they might have wondered what had happened to him.

He reached out to recall the pagoda and touched its surface. It was cold and hard; pressing his palm against it felt like touching a piece of thousand-year-old cold iron. He estimated its weight just now at around one or two thousand jin.

"Convenient," he muttered.

Next, he tried the second experiment: spinning the pagoda at high speed.

He shrank it to the size of his palm and suspended it in front of him, then used Soul Power to set the nine-story pagoda spinning. At first, it turned slowly, like a windmill. He steadily increased the force guiding it, and it spun faster and faster, whistling as it cut through the air. He picked up a standard-issue spear he had prepared and brought its tip close to the spinning pagoda. The moment it touched the eaves, the spearhead snapped in two, the break as rough as if a beast had bitten through it.

"Interesting."

His eyes lit up. He tried a few more times and gradually got the hang of it. When the pagoda spun, the yin-yang fish automatically sped up, as though adding a wind blade to a knife's edge. Moreover, the nine stories spun in opposite directions, turning each tier of eaves into a blade. An enemy who came close would fare no better than someone who had run into a meat grinder.

After the two experiments succeeded, Ning Buhui practiced them over and over until he could enlarge or shrink the pagoda and change its spinning speed in an instant. But he knew that those two moves alone weren't enough. He lacked an attack that could cover a wide area and catch people off guard.

He thought of the third experiment.

A spiritual attack.

Since the Nine Hell Soul-Suppressing Pagoda could guard his spiritual sea, there was no reason it couldn't go on the offensive. Back when he absorbed his First Soul Ring, he had discovered that the pagoda's phantom could emit invisible ripples of energy when it vibrated rhythmically, dispersing a Soul Beast's lingering will. What would happen if he applied that same "vibration" to the pagoda itself?

He sat cross-legged, suspended the pagoda in front of him, and closed his eyes to look inward. Deep in his spiritual sea, the pagoda's phantom stood silently. He tried touching it with his mind, and the phantom trembled slightly, sending out a ripple invisible to the naked eye. A thought stirred in Ning Buhui's mind, and he tried to send the ripple out of his body. But that was much harder than controlling Soul Power. He tried more than a dozen times, but the ripple would only circle within his spiritual sea and refused to spread beyond it.

"It looks like I still need the real pagoda to mimic the phantom's vibration frequency," he mused.

He held his breath and concentrated, repeatedly picturing the frequency of the phantom pagoda's vibrations. It was a wondrous frequency, with a unique rhythm that defied description, as though it were playing a beautiful piece of music.

Then he used Soul Power to guide the real pagoda into vibrating at that fixed frequency. Nothing changed at first. He knew it was because the pagoda was solid, and some frequencies didn't match. He experimented repeatedly, adjusting his Soul Power output and guiding the pagoda step by step toward the frequency of the phantom's vibrations.

He didn't know how much time had passed. It had been so long that Ning Buhui thought he was chasing a wild fantasy and was ready to give up. Then an invisible ripple suddenly spread from the pagoda, followed by a strange wave. Ning Buhui froze for an instant, then was overcome with joy.

It worked!

His heart leaped, and he tried three more times. He succeeded only once, but although the success rate was low, it proved that his idea was right.

He wasn't discouraged. He had never expected to grow fat in a single bite. For now, the spiritual attack struck everyone in an area indiscriminately. Later, he would have to find a way to make it attack only his intended targets. There was no rush. He had already created a rudimentary version, and the hardest step had been taken.

For the next half month, aside from physical techniques and basic cultivation, Ning Buhui spent all his time practicing his Self-Created Soul Skills. He named the three skills Mountain Suppressing Falling Strike, Spinning Pagoda Strangulation, and Soul-Suppressing God-Devouring.

At the end of the month, Bibi Dong sent Hu Liena to tell him to test his skills at the training ground the next day.

On the day of the test, the sky was overcast, and the wind was cold as a knife. When Ning Buhui arrived, Hu Liena was already standing at the edge of the training ground. She wasn't wearing her training clothes, but a moon-white dress with a short cloak over it. She didn't look as though she had come to spar. Yan and Xie Yue sat on a low wall, one with his arms folded and the other wiping his blade.

"Teacher told you to fight me." Hu Liena looked back at him with a smile. "Little junior brother, senior sister won't go easy on you today."

Hu Liena was already a level thirty-six Soul Elder, considerably higher than Ning Buhui. He took off his outer robe, revealing the training clothes beneath, and rolled his shoulders. "Senior sister, just don't hit my face."

"No can do." Hu Liena stepped forward and released her Martial Soul. Fox tails flickered in and out of sight behind her, and three Soul Rings, two yellow and one purple, floated beneath her feet. "If I don't make it hurt, Yan and the others won't believe it."

Before she had finished speaking, she was already in front of him. Hu Liena didn't use a Soul Skill, closing in with physical techniques alone. Her palm cut down toward his shoulder like a knife. Ning Buhui turned sideways to evade it. Instead of rushing to counterattack, he retreated toward the edge of the training ground. Hu Liena chuckled and stepped after him, launching three swift attacks in succession that sealed off every path of retreat. Whether in Soul Power or speed, he was far behind her and could only barely dodge by relying on his eyes and reactions.

On the seventh move, Hu Liena suddenly swept a whip kick toward his ribs. Ning Buhui seized the moment. Soul Power surged, and the pagoda flew from his hand, abruptly expanding to half a person's height and meeting the kick head-on. Hu Liena's lower leg struck the pagoda. She hopped back a step and rotated her ankle almost imperceptibly.

"Oh?" Her eyes flickered. "You're a tough nut to crack."

"Watch out, senior sister."

"Bring it on." Hu Liena's smile vanished. Her First Soul Ring lit up, and with a flick of her fox tail, a ray of pink light shot straight at Ning Buhui's face. He didn't dodge. The pagoda slid sideways to shield him, and the pink light struck it and scattered into fragments. Using that moment, he thrust his right palm forward and sent the pagoda toward Hu Liena. It grew to the height of a person and came crashing down on her.

Mountain Suppressing Falling Strike.

Hu Liena's brows twitched. Feeling the weight bearing down on her, she didn't meet it head-on and instead slid sideways out of the way. The pagoda smashed into the stone paving of the training ground with a muffled thud. Stone chips flew, and several fine cracks spread from the point of impact. She glanced at the cracks. "Little junior brother, how cruel of you. How could you bear to smash me with something so heavy?"

"Senior sister, you'd better show some real skill next. That was just an appetizer. Otherwise, you might find yourself at a disadvantage." Ning Buhui caught his breath.

He changed tactics as soon as he finished speaking. The pagoda began spinning at high speed and swept toward Hu Liena. She had intended to close in and interrupt him, but as soon as she approached, the fierce wind from the eaves sliced open her cuff. She gave a cry of surprise and darted backward, landing steadily three zhang away. At last, her expression turned serious.

"That's enough." Bibi Dong had appeared at the edge of the training ground at some point. Her voice wasn't loud, but it carried over the wind. "Stop here."

Ning Buhui recalled the pagoda and braced his hands on his knees, panting for a while. By the time he straightened, Hu Liena had already walked back to the edge of the training ground. She glanced back at him and suddenly smiled. "Little junior brother, next time we spar, I'll use my Soul Skills."

"Have mercy, senior sister," Ning Buhui replied at once.

Yan jumped down from the low wall and walked up to him, looking him up and down as though he were a monster. "Do you know that Nana's never been forced back by anyone below level thirty?"

Ning Buhui grinned. "That's because senior sister dotes on me."

"Dotes on you, my ass." Yan rolled his eyes. "You're a monster."

Ning Buhui smiled and said no more. As he followed the others out, Bibi Dong called him back.

"Your ideas are interesting." She offered no further praise. "But they're all unorthodox. From now on, come to the side hall once every three days. I'll teach you orthodox combat techniques."

Ning Buhui stopped and looked up at her. After a moment, he nodded firmly. "Yes, Teacher."

The wind had grown stronger by the time he left the training ground. He wrapped his outer robe tightly around himself and listened to the wind as his heartbeat gradually settled. Those two moves were rough, but at least he had succeeded in creating his own Soul Skills. From here on, he needed to refine them thoroughly and make them more complete. He also needed to speed up his progress on the rudimentary Soul-Suppressing God-Devouring.

A muffled rumble of thunder rolled across the distant horizon, as though a rainstorm were coming in from the north. Ning Buhui looked up at the sky. The rain had yet to fall, but the wind was already full of moisture. He quickened his pace toward his quiet room.