**Chapter 2 Five Years Later**
"Relax your mind, close your eyes, and seriously visualize your Martial Soul..."
In his thatched house, Gu Ziyi sat cross-legged on the straw mat and tried to practice.
This is the meditation method practiced and taught to Gu Ziyi by the Village Chief after he returned.
This type of meditation technique is very simple, and there is no need to remember the meridians and acupuncture points (like other, more complex techniques), so Gu Ziyi remembered it the first time he heard it.
This is also the most widely spread meditation technique in the Douluo Continent, with a very high rate of propagation.
However, if you want to succeed in cultivation, you must have Soul Power.
Otherwise, even if you practice, it will not yield any results!
Gu Ziyi would not be able to study at the Junior Academy for Soul Masters until three months from now. Naturally, the Village Chief would not let Gu Ziyi waste those three months, so he immediately taught Gu Ziyi the meditation technique to cultivate Soul Power.
Buzz—
Soon, Gu Ziyi recreated the scene of the Martial Soul Awakening Ceremony and saw his own Martial Soul in his consciousness. However, compared to the various strange phenomena that accompanied the talisman when the Martial Soul awakened, the Martial Soul in Gu Ziyi's consciousness at this moment was just an ordinary talisman.
"What the hell is going on?"
"Is it possible that my current Martial Soul is not truly awakened and I need to undergo a second awakening?"
Gu Ziyi had a vague suspicion in his heart. He felt that his Martial Soul should not be as common as it appeared.
However, Gu Ziyi quickly calmed these wild thoughts and now focused on a more important matter: trying to practice Soul Power.
Sigh—
Feel the Martial Soul, then concentrate all your attention on the Martial Soul, so that the human soul can become one with the Martial Soul and finally use it (the Martial Soul) to feel the outside world.
Gu Ziyi didn't know if it was because his soul was stronger due to reincarnation. In short, he quickly completed the step of integrating the human soul and the Martial Soul and then began to feel the outside world through his Martial Soul.
A magical sense suddenly opened through the Martial Soul to sense the outside world; Gu Ziyi felt a completely new realm.
Through the Martial Soul, he could clearly feel the energy floating around his body.
Reaching this stage proves that Gu Ziyi can start practicing.
"Come on, start absorbing this energy!"
Gu Ziyi thought to himself and then imagined the Martial Soul breathing. The energy that originally floated around Gu Ziyi's body suddenly began to be slowly absorbed into his body.
This is the most common and simple meditation technique to cultivate Soul Power.
By absorbing the energy from the outside world, Gu Ziyi could clearly feel that the Soul Power was gradually increasing.
This feeling of continuously improving Soul Power is very addictive.
Gu Ziyi forgot everything after he started practicing meditation.
Until Gu Ziyi felt saturation in the reservoir in his body for this energy, he knew that today's practice had almost reached its upper limit.
However, Gu Ziyi did not stop practicing; instead, he tried to continue.
But a few minutes later, Gu Ziyi began to experience the completely opposite sensation from before.
If the previous practice can be likened to the act of eating, then each bite fills the stomach a little, and you can also feel delicious food and feel full of happiness.
But the cultivation that Gu Ziyi was doing was like continuing to eat when you are already full. The feeling of happiness was gone, leaving only the sensation of being stuffed. In this case, each additional bite becomes extremely uncomfortable and increasingly unbearable. The longer one persists in cultivating with this feeling, the worse the sensation becomes.
Only by enduring hardships can one become a master. Someone once said that.
Gu Ziyi secretly encouraged himself and practiced for about half an hour more.
"Aaaahhhh....."
"No more..."
Gu Ziyi lay down directly on the mat and completely gave up on practicing.
This kind of saturation practice is really a bit thankless, not to mention unbearably painful; it's half the result with half the effort, and the absorption rate becomes slower and slower.
"It seems that I can't practice for too long. The quality of my Martial Soul is still very low!"
After looking at the sky outside, Gu Ziyi sighed silently.
Buzz—
But when Gu Ziyi summoned his Martial Soul and looked at the talisman floating in his palm, he had an explosion of excitement.
Regardless of his talent, he truly mastered an extraordinary power.
"Starting tomorrow, we'll also begin physical training!"
"Improving my physique can also accelerate cultivation!"
While silently admiring his Martial Soul, Gu Ziyi also began to customize a training plan for himself.
So Gu Ziyi spent the next three months practicing alone.
Gu Ziyi knew that his talent was low, so he had to rely on his own hard work in cultivation. Meditation was a saturation practice every day.
How long could he endure!
Physical training was also added to Gu Ziyi's daily practice.
There was no obvious effect at first, but as Gu Ziyi's physique gradually improved through exercise, the effects of the practice became gradually apparent.
The speed of cultivation really became a bit faster.
However, even so, when Gu Ziyi reported to the Junior Academy for Soul Masters in the city after three months, his Soul Power level was still only Level 1.
Quite shocking.
Gu Ziyi suspected that even if he studied at the Junior Academy for Soul Masters for six years and graduated in the end, he might not even reach Level 10.
No wonder in the original work, Tang San and Xiao Wu had just entered Nuoding Academy, absorbed a Soul Ring, and became Soul Masters. After that, they were able to defeat the entire Junior Academy for Soul Masters, even the sixth-year students were no match.
Because of the Junior Academy for Soul Masters in small towns, few sixth-year students manage to reach Level 10 and become true Soul Masters.
The small town where Gu Ziyi came from was called Liusha City, and the Junior Academy for Soul Masters he joined was also called Liusha Junior Academy for Soul Masters or simply Liusha Academy.
Gu Ziyi joined Liusha Academy as a working student. Besides studying, he needed to work part-time to earn money.
After coming to Liusha Academy, while studying and practicing regularly, Gu Ziyi also began to understand the current world of Soul Masters.
Wanting to know what period he was in concerning the original work (The Canon).
"The current Pope of the Martial Soul Hall is Qian Xunji. It seems that it's still early in the Canon. Not to mention Tang San, the Silver Blue Emperor might not have even transformed into his human form yet (Ah Yin)!"
Through the information collected, Gu Ziyi quickly determined the approximate time he was in.
Not 100% accurate yet, with the information collected, it's not clear about the situation he is in. After all, Liusha City is not a large city. He only knew that the current Pope was Qian Xunji and it was unclear if the current Saint was still Bibi Dong.
Gu Ziyi only knew that Tang San probably hadn't transmigrated yet.
This is undoubtedly a good thing for Gu Ziyi.
Because in this way, Gu Ziyi could cut off some of Tang San's opportunities.
Especially the 'Yin-Yang Ice and Fire Well,' one of the greatest cheats found in the Douluo Continent.
It is also what Gu Ziyi needs the most, because the Immortal Grasses (or Immortal Treasure) could allow Gu Ziyi's Martial Soul to complete its evolution and improve its quality.
However, at the moment, Gu Ziyi can only have ideas about these thoughts. With his current strength, he simply cannot touch the Immortal Grasses.
Gu Ziyi did not dare to reveal his knowledge of the Immortal Grass until he had a certain strength. Even if he found others to cooperate, he still needed to have some strength to rely on.
Otherwise, it would be the same as seeking the skin of a tiger!
…
Five Years Later.
In the forest behind Liusha Academy.
"Ahhh—"
"I finally reached Level 10!"
After entering Liusha Academy, Gu Ziyi took five years to finally reach Level 10.
This speed is incredible considering Gu Ziyi's Innate Soul Power of Level 1.
In all of Liusha Academy, there are currently only two sixth-year students who have reached Level 10.
Moreover, these two students had Innate Soul Power of Level 3, much stronger than Gu Ziyi.
Gu Ziyi was able to advance so quickly, all thanks to himself, who insisted on saturation training and physical exercise every day.
Of course, besides practice, Gu Ziyi did not neglect the knowledge of Martial Souls taught by the academy.
As a person from the modern era, Gu Ziyi understood very well the importance of knowledge.
Although Gu Ziyi possessed some insight due to reading the history, putting him much better than the people of the Douluo Continent.
However, Gu Ziyi still needed to know more about Martial Souls.
You cannot simply rely on what you learned from the original work, both the manga and the anime, and think that you really have a comprehensive and complete understanding of the world you live in.
After all, Liusha Academy is just a Junior Academy for Soul Masters, and the knowledge it teaches is quite limited.
However, as a reincarnated person and psychologically mature, Gu Ziyi asked the teacher his doubts if they were not taught during class.
Whenever he encountered something he didn't understand, Gu Ziyi would seek advice from the teacher.
If even the teacher didn't know, then there was nothing Gu Ziyi could do.
His bold behavior also led his peers to give him the nickname 'Daring Gu.'
Fortunately, Gu Ziyi didn't care and continued to follow his own path.
Thus, Gu Ziyi stood out in the eyes of the teachers and students of Liusha Academy. Not only did he practice a lot, but he also had the will to learn.
A suitable academic figure, the son of someone else.
Along with his good looks and unique temperament, he received various love letters from girls since the third year.
I must say that the children of the Douluo Continent also mature relatively early.
Huuuumm... Gu Ziyi remembers that the first time he wrote a love letter to a girl in his past life was only in the third grade (around 8 to 10 years old). He asked his sister, who was a year older than him, to send the love letter to the girl.
(N/E: Here, I'm not sure if he meant elementary or high school. It could be either at 9 years or 17 years; what do you think?)
Well, it's all the same!
But that was all in his past life. Gu Ziyi naturally didn't plan to fall in love prematurely in this life.
Girls would only affect the speed of his cultivation.
"Now that I'm at Level 10, I can test my hypothesis!"
Gu Ziyi's eyes sparkled with a mysterious light.
After practicing for several years, Gu Ziyi knew very well about his talent. If he practiced step by step, his achievements would be quite limited.
With his current strength, there was no need to think about the Immortal Grasses.
So Gu Ziyi decided to find another path.
Since he started practicing Soul Power, Gu Ziyi had a bold idea.
This is a self-created Soul Ring!
When he was watching the anime in his past life, Gu Ziyi found it very strange that Soul Masters in the Douluo Continent had to absorb Soul Rings to break through.
Cultivation is a personal matter, and advancements should come from within yourself.
How can there be such a strange scenario where one has to rely on external objects to achieve breakthroughs in cultivation?
Gu Ziyi knew very well that cultivation and Martial Souls in the Douluo Continent were firmly linked. Tang San could not advance after practicing his 'Sky Bible' to Level 10.
(N/E: Is it Sky Bible or is there another more commonly known name?)
Only after absorbing the Soul Ring could he continue to practice.
Therefore, it is correct that cultivation in this world is closely related to the Martial Soul. If there is no advancement in the Martial Soul, there will be no advancement in the level of Soul Power or in other techniques.
The discovery of the Martial Soul is made by adding a Soul Ring to the Martial Soul.
Conversely, adding a Soul Ring to a Martial Soul does not necessarily require the absorption of a Soul Ring from a Soul Beast!
In the Douluo Continent, there is something like condensing Soul Rings on one's own.
For example, after practicing for 100,000 years, a Soul Beast can transform into a human and thus use its accumulated cultivation to avoid hunting Soul Beasts until it reaches Level 60. This way, one can condense Soul Rings on their own.
There's also Tang San's fifth Soul Ring, which was also formed by the awakening of the Silver Blue Emperor through the Martial Soul - Blue Silver Grass.
So why can't a Soul Master find a way to condense a Soul Ring on their own?
…
N/E: I hope you enjoyed the chapter; tomorrow there will be 2 more chapters.
(Finished the chapter)
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