Soul Power Stirs, and Then There Were Stars

Mu Tian'en walked out of the classroom.

He did not know that a new round of clashes over him had already begun between Pope Hall and the Worship Hall at Spirit Hall headquarters.

Ten days had passed since he awakened his Martial Soul and returned with Deacon Yan Bohan to Spirit Hall's main hall in Vast Sea City.

No longer having to worry about going hungry or sleeping poorly, and facing only the pressure of learning to read, Mu Tian'en had visibly begun to put on weight.

Only now had Mu Tian'en's cheeks developed a little baby fat.

They even jiggled a little when he walked.

These days, whenever Mu Tian'en returned to Deacon Bohan's room, he also had to deal with aunts pinching his cheeks.

Today, however, Mu Tian'en's expression was quite serious.

Even so, he was visibly in a very good mood.

Today, Mu Tian'en had finally finished learning the few hundred characters in the Basic Soul Power Cultivation Method that described how to circulate Soul Power.

He could now formally begin circulating Soul Power.

At last, he could experience for himself what it felt like to have that power flow through his body—the power that had filled him from head to toe after his awakening that day, only to become food for his Martial Soul the next moment.

Innate Full Soul Power~

Over the past few days, Mu Tian'en had heard those words from his teachers countless times.

He also knew that his talent stood at the very pinnacle, even among the countless people on the Douluo Continent.

But precisely because of that, a question had occurred to Mu Tian'en amid his teachers' praise.

Why did they think he could instinctively circulate Soul Power without knowing how to read?

Almost instinctively?

That power had clearly appeared only when he awakened his Martial Soul at the age of six.

How could he, who had never possessed such power before, possibly circulate Soul Power straight away?

He needed to adapt.

He needed to study the Basic Soul Power Cultivation Method, then work on perfecting the course his Soul Power took.

Even before completing the hunt for his first Soul Ring, Mu Tian'en felt that he needed to obtain the knowledge he wanted from more sources, and then rouse the power buried deep within his body.

Now was the time.

Mu Tian'en dodged the uncles and aunts who saw his chubby cheeks along the way and wanted to pinch them, then hurried back to his room.

He shut the door.

He opened the Basic Soul Power Cultivation Method Grandpa Yan Bohan had given him and annotated the characters he had learned today with pinyin between the lines.

"Different Martial Souls have different circulation paths."

"Among them, Beast Martial Souls place the greatest emphasis on vitality. Mobilize Soul Power from the lower abdomen, send it through the heart and brain, then back through the heart and into the lower abdomen."

Mu Tian'en still paused a little as he read the book.

He still stumbled somewhat over the material he had studied and was not entirely fluent, but he understood in general the cultivation route the Basic Soul Power Cultivation Method prescribed for Beast Martial Souls like his.

"When circulating Soul Power for the first time, one must be careful. A single cycle is enough; do not be greedy for more."

"At the same time, prepare food containing energy nearby to replenish that energy after circulating Soul Power."

"Also, when expanding the Soul Power path later on, caution must come first, caution must come first."

After reading the general guidelines aloud, Mu Tian'en worried that he might have misread them and went over them several more times.

Only after confirming that he had not mistaken any of the characters did he take the pastries and sweets he had prepared from the drawer of the small table beside his bed. Then he sat cross-legged, copying the posture Grandpa Yan Bohan used when cultivating.

He summoned his Martial Soul.

According to Grandpa Yan Bohan, all cultivation began with understanding one's own Martial Soul.

But Mu Tian'en did not understand his Martial Soul very well.

Even so, just as others did when using Martial Soul Possession, Mu Tian'en called out the words almost instinctively.

"Martial Soul Possession~"

At Mu Tian'en's call, the fierce-looking whale, which did not feel the least bit cold or sinister, slowly swam into his body.

And so~

Mu Tian'en hurriedly closed his eyes and saw something he had never imagined.

One~

Two~

Countless stars lit up as Mu Tian'en's whale entered his body.

Each star's light was quite faint on its own, but when they truly gathered together, they were somewhat dazzling.

Mu Tian'en wanted to open his eyes, but no matter what he did, he could not.

But he knew this was his body resisting his attempt to peer into its secrets, an instinctive resistance to the flow of Soul Power that had been stagnant in his meridians.

He narrowed his eyes to slits.

Through those slits, Mu Tian'en peered at the bizarre world of stars.

Something seemed to connect the stars to one another.

But he could not see it clearly.

Mu Tian'en wanted to open his eyes a little wider and get a clearer look.

But~

Just opening his eyes a fraction made Mu Tian'en feel as though he would be blinded by the glare.

A piercing pain stabbed straight through Mu Tian'en's nerves.

Mu Tian'en hurriedly closed his eyes.

But in the outside world, Mu Tian'en's eyes had already reddened.

Just as Mu Tian'en was about to reach his limit, however, a whale's cry rang out, drawing his gaze to where his Martial Soul was.

Lower abdomen?

For no apparent reason, the name of the place where the whale was appeared in Mu Tian'en's mind.

But it was only a name.

In the world known as the lower abdomen, the whale, which was one in heart and body with Mu Tian'en, waited until it had made sure his gaze had not wandered again. Only then did it slowly flick its tail and descend into a small puddle in the lower abdomen.

Looking at the whale, which seemed to have run aground, Mu Tian'en finally realized why his whale Martial Soul always answered his summons in such a hurry.

This place was somewhat painful for a whale.

It needed more, much more Soul Power to fill it and turn it into a vast ocean.

"So, how can I help you?"

Mu Tian'en's will took the form of a tiny person and appeared inside his body, before his Martial Soul.

Facing the Martial Soul that had revealed its true form only in his lower abdomen, Mu Tian'en looked pitifully small.

Yet those low, muffled cries told Mu Tian'en that his Martial Soul was the one truly to be pitied.

Since coming into being in this world, it had never swum freely, nor even had the chance to eat its fill.

For that very reason, after his awakening, Mu Tian'en had acquired an almost frightening appetite and digestive capacity, as well as a desire to plunge into the vast sea and swim freely.

"Then teach me, and I'll help you expand this ocean."

Mu Tian'en reached out.

He could feel the fluctuations within his Martial Soul that belonged to him alone.

So, just as Mu Tian'en reached out to touch his Martial Soul, the whale suddenly leaped from the little puddle and crashed straight into his field of vision.

Then pain surged through Mu Tian'en, nearly making heaven and earth spin.

The nearly stagnant Soul Power in his dantian began to surge through the meridians of his body to the whale's low song.

The surrounding energy began to gather.

It plundered with near savagery.

In a display of absolute might, it devoured all the scattered energy around it, then brutally forced it into Mu Tian'en's body.

Mu Tian'en's back arched in an instant.

He could barely maintain his already clumsy cross-legged posture.

As his fingers twisted, Mu Tian'en saw the whale inside him leap again.

It crashed into a star, then fell back down.

The star flashed.

Then it dimmed again.

"Do you want me to light the first star?"

Mu Tian'en's question received no answer at all.

Only~

Looking at the stars inside him, then at the great whale that had already vanished from sight, Mu Tian'en felt tears gather at the corners of his eyes.

The stars here looked a little like the ones he had seen while lying on the windowsill in Anlan Village.

Mom and Dad were watching him.