The Underground Training Room

After the matter of the invitation passed, the academy returned to its outward calm.

Nan Feng trained with Xiao Wu on the back mountain in the mornings, attended classes during the day, and dealt with letters sent from Blacksmith Village in the evenings.

Old Chen couldn't read or write. All his letters were written for him by Mr. Zhang at the village entrance, and their contents were always the same: everyone at home was well, business at the smithy was decent, and Nan Feng should take care of himself while he was away.

When Nan Feng wrote back, he tucked in some of the copper coins he had saved from those Old Chen had sent him, then added a few lines saying he was safe. He was used to this quiet exchange; the understanding between him and Old Chen needed few words.

But peaceful as things were, his Soul Power had been stuck at rank fourteen for nearly two months.

The barrier between ranks fourteen and fifteen was thicker than any he had encountered before. Every night, Nan Feng practiced the Primordial World Qi Refining Art in the space inside the tower, circulating his Soul Power round and round.

The mass of Qi in his dantian was growing, but only at a third of its previous speed.

He had worked it out. Reaching rank fifteen would take another three months, and rank twenty was nowhere in sight.

That night, he sat in the space inside the tower for a long time. Green light shone from the crack.

Old Huai poked half his head out of the crack, glanced at him, then withdrew without a word.

Nan Feng knew the old man was waiting for him to ask. He held out for three days.

On the fourth night, he spoke.

"Old Huai, is there a faster way to get from rank fourteen to rank twenty?"

Old Huai emerged from the crack and sat down. Green light flashed in his cloudy eyes.

"You finally asked."

He reached out a gaunt finger and tapped the floor at the base of the tower. A ring of green light rose and spread into a translucent map.

A large area on the map was dark gray, with several winding routes traced across it in green lines.

"Underground in Nuoding City, there's a Soul Douluo's secluded cultivation cave abode that was buried three hundred years ago. He was a rogue cultivator in his lifetime, and he broke through to Soul Douluo before he turned forty using a Soul Power Circulation Acceleration Method he created himself. The cave abode is at the foot of the old city wall west of the academy's back mountain, less than three li from you."

Nan Feng studied the map for a few breaths.

"The Soul Power Circulation Acceleration Method?"

"That's right." Old Huai withdrew his hand, and the halo dissipated. "The speed at which Soul Power flows through the meridians determines cultivation efficiency. Ordinary Soul Masters use breathing and meditation to let their Soul Power circulate naturally, and the speed is fixed. The Circulation Acceleration Method uses consciousness to create tiny slopes on the meridian walls, letting Soul Power slide down them. It can increase the flow rate by twenty to thirty percent."

"Your Primordial World Qi Refining Art has already built a strong foundation for your meridians. With the Circulation Acceleration Method, you can cut the time from rank fourteen to sixteen in half. It'll save you plenty of time from rank sixteen to twenty, too."

"But there's a risk," Nan Feng said.

Old Huai glanced at him, one corner of his mouth curling to reveal a few sparse teeth.

"You're quick to catch on. The Circulation Acceleration Method wears down the meridian walls. The faster the flow, the greater the friction. Use it long enough, and the walls will thin until they may eventually split. An ordinary Soul Master using this method can't cultivate for longer than the time it takes an incense stick to burn and has to rest for half a day between sessions to let the meridians recover. But you're different."

Nan Feng raised his right hand. The layer of green light in his palm was glowing, and the pattern of the crack at the base of the tower flowed beneath his skin.

"The tower's Power of Mountain Suppression can repair the meridian walls," Old Huai said. "Although the first-floor door hasn't been pushed all the way open yet, the Power of Mountain Suppression leaking through the gap is already enough. When you use the Circulation Acceleration Method, the Power of Mountain Suppression will repair the wear on your meridian walls at the same time. It's like mending a road while you run along it. Others can cultivate for at most one incense stick a day, but you can do it for half a shichen."

Nan Feng withdrew his consciousness from the tower and lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling.

Moonlight filtered through the paper covering the window, laying a small patch of gray-white light on the floor. Tang San's breathing was even, the rhythm of the Mysterious Heaven Skill's breathing exercises long and steady.

Nan Feng turned to face the wall and pressed his right hand beneath his pillow. The warmth in his palm passed through the coarse cloth into the pillow.

I'll go look for that underground training room tomorrow.

The next evening, after classes ended, Nan Feng left through the academy's back gate alone.

He told neither Xiao Wu nor Tang San. The fewer people who knew about the underground training room, the better.

He followed the old dirt road along the west side of the back mountain for the time it took an incense stick to burn, then found the spot Old Huai had described at the foot of a half-collapsed city wall.

The wall was a stretch of ruined masonry from Nuoding City's old district. Its gray bricks had been weathered black by wind and rain, and broken bricks and dead grass lay piled at its base.

Nan Feng swept the area with his Treasure-Appraising Spirit Light and sensed a fluctuation of Spiritual Power at the bottom of the wall. It was very faint, suppressed beneath a stone slab, but it was definitely there.

He crouched and pushed aside the broken bricks and dead grass, revealing a bluestone slab half buried in the earth.

The slab was about three chi square, with a simple dust-repelling pattern carved into its surface. Time had worn it down until it was almost impossible to make out.

He used a short stick to pry up the edge of the slab. Beneath it was a flight of stone steps leading down, thick with moss.

Air rushed out of the opening, carrying the dry chill peculiar to the underground.

Nan Feng lit a candle stub he had pocketed from the dining hall and descended the stone steps.

The stairway was narrow, barely wide enough for one person to pass sideways. After about twenty steps, he reached the bottom.

Below was a stone chamber about two zhang square. Its walls and floor were built from whole blocks of granite, with joints so tight that not even a knife blade could fit between them.

A stone platform stood in a corner of the chamber, thick with dust.

Nan Feng held the candle up and moved closer to the wall. The carvings were a series of line diagrams showing the paths of the meridians and the routes of Soul Power circulation, with densely packed small characters carved beside them.

They were written in the continent's common script, but some of the terms were used in an old-fashioned way, as though written by someone from centuries ago. He started with the first diagram and read line by line.

The diagrams described a Soul Power Acceleration Method. It used consciousness to create tiny slopes on the meridian walls, allowing Soul Power to slide down them. It was exactly as Old Huai had described.

In a corner on the other side of the stone chamber was a small bundle wrapped in oilcloth.

Nan Feng opened it to find several pages of handwritten notes. The paper had yellowed and turned brittle, but the handwriting was still clear.

Besides detailed annotations on the Acceleration Method, the notes also mentioned a complementary application.

The Soul Power Compression Method.

First, accelerate the circulation of Soul Power to its maximum speed. At the instant it reached that limit, forcibly gather and compress it, causing its density to soar. Then release it, and its impact would far exceed that of an ordinary strike using the same amount of Soul Power.

"The risk of damage to the meridians is extreme," the last line of the notes read. "I attempted it seven times, and each time I coughed up blood for three days. On the final attempt, my meridians split in three places, and I needed half a year's rest to recover. Those who come after me must exercise the utmost caution."

Nan Feng read the passage twice, then wrapped the notes back in the oilcloth and tucked the bundle into his robes.

Old Huai said from inside the tower, "This Acceleration Method and Compression Method take a different path from the Soul Power Compression Method you practiced before. Yours compresses the density of Soul Power; this one compresses its speed. Use both together, and your cultivation efficiency and explosive power can rise another step. But the wear adds up too, so you must use the Power of Mountain Suppression to protect your meridians throughout."

Nan Feng began his first attempt that very night.

He sat cross-legged on the stone platform and drove his Soul Power into accelerated circulation. At the same time, he sank his consciousness to the base of the tower, letting the Power of Mountain Suppression seep through the gap in the door and cover the meridians throughout his body.

The accelerated Soul Power slid through his meridians, rubbing against their walls. The burning sensation was like a stream suddenly turning into a torrent, scouring the soil from both banks.

The Power of Mountain Suppression coated the meridian walls like a layer of warm, moist paste, restoring the scoured-away parts bit by bit.

After cultivating for the time it took an incense stick to burn, he stopped to check the state of his meridians.

Once the burning faded, the meridian walls were half a fen thinner than before.

The moment he stopped, the Power of Mountain Suppression immediately began repairing them. It restored their original thickness in about half the time it took an incense stick to burn.

He made an estimate. At that rate of repair, he could practice twice a day, for the time it took an incense stick to burn each time, with half a shichen between sessions for the Power of Mountain Suppression to make repairs. The pace was nearly twice as fast as before.

For the next two months, Nan Feng went to the underground training room every night.

He worked out the rhythm for using the Circulation Acceleration Method and the Compression Method together. His Soul Power circulated faster and faster, and the mass of Qi in his dantian grew more quickly as well.

Going from rank fourteen to fifteen took two months; from fifteen to sixteen, less than one.

With every rank his Soul Power rose, the resilience and width of his meridian walls increased a level, and the efficiency of the Circulation Acceleration Method improved with them.

In early autumn, Nan Feng's Soul Power broke through to rank sixteen.

He sat on the stone platform, feeling the Soul Power in his dantian, now nearly thirty percent more substantial. The green light in his palm was twice as bright as it had been two months ago.

As the green light in the crack at the base of the tower flickered, the gap in the first-floor door was a little wider than it had been when he absorbed the Soul Ring. The Power of Mountain Suppression flowed steadily and continuously from the gap.

Old Huai said from inside the tower, "Rank sixteen. Four more ranks to twenty. At this rate, you'll reach it next spring. Once you push open the first-floor door and release the Power of Mountain Suppression outward, you'll be able to help that little girl touch the seal. But there's one thing you have to remember."

"Before your Soul Power reaches rank twenty, the first-floor door won't open all the way. And if your Soul Power reaches rank twenty but you don't open that door, your Soul Power will be stuck at rank twenty and unable to advance. It's the same principle as absorbing a Soul Ring-an iron rule."

Nan Feng nodded. He blew out the candle stub, and the stone chamber sank into darkness.

Only the green light in his palm shone in the dark.

He climbed the stone steps back to the surface, replaced the bluestone slab, and disguised it with broken bricks and dead grass.

A cool autumn night wind swept through from beyond the ruined city wall, stirring the hem of his clothes.

In the distance, the lights of Nuoding Academy looked like a few flecks of gold against the night. An oil lamp glowed in one window, in the direction of Tang San's bed.

Nan Feng slipped his hands into his pockets and walked back along the old dirt road.

Moonlight spread across the road, stretching his shadow long. Each step he took was steady.

Soul Power at rank sixteen. The tower door had yet to open, and he still couldn't touch Xiao Wu's seal, but the road had already been laid out.

There was only one thing he needed to do: walk the remaining four ranks.