"Xiao Yang, now that you've awakened your martial soul and become a soul master, how about I arrange for you to go to a soul master academy tomorrow?" Mu Xiyue asked Mu Yang.
Although it was already mid-July, far from the regular enrollment season, that only applied to ordinary people. As the vice dean of Blazing Fire Academy, arranging special entry for her nephew was a trivial matter.
What's more, even if there was no familial connection between them, Mu Yang's innate full soul power alone would ensure his acceptance at any soul master academy regardless of the time of year or his age. No academy would reject such talent.
After all, unless a martial soul was flawed or the soul master died prematurely during their cultivation, innate full soul power always guaranteed one's future as a Titled Douluo. There were no exceptions throughout history.
Mu Yang nodded. "Alright, but I'd like to go to Blazing Fire Academy because they have a mimicry training ground."
Mimicry training grounds were incredibly expensive to build and required significant manpower and resources to maintain. Only advanced soul master academies were capable of affording such luxuries. No junior or intermediate academy on the continent could match that.
Since mimicry training grounds could accelerate the cultivation of soul power, Mu Yang naturally wouldn't miss such an advantageous environment.
Hearing that Mu Yang wanted to attend Blazing Fire Academy, Mu Xiyue was momentarily stunned.
"Xiao Yang, there aren't any students your age at Blazing Fire Academy. If you go there, it'll be difficult for you to make friends."
After some thought, Mu Xiyue spoke her concern.
As Mu Yang's aunt, she didn't want him to lose out on a normal childhood. Otherwise, he might regret it in the future. Even as the mother of two young children herself, she sometimes dreamed of reliving the joy of her own childhood days.
"That's unnecessary. As soul masters, we should prioritize cultivation above all else! Oh, by the way, Aunt, could you find me a teacher who specializes in martial souls and soul beasts? That way, I don't have to attend regular classes."
While he was indeed planning to join Blazing Fire Academy, Mu Yang had no intention of being a traditional student.
For one, due to his young age, he couldn't keep up with the advanced knowledge typically taught at higher academies. For another, having a personal tutor would save significant time. A private teacher could offer one-on-one guidance, allowing him to ask questions immediately or skip ahead once a topic was mastered. This was much more efficient than the slow-paced collective learning in classrooms.
"As soul masters, we should prioritize cultivation?"
Hearing such words from a newly awakened child sounded absurd to Mu Xiyue and Huo Lie, who exchanged bemused glances.
Such sentiments would be expected from an experienced adult soul master, but from a child? It felt strangely incongruent.
"Are you sure? No regrets?" Mu Xiyue asked again.
"I'm sure. No regrets!" Mu Yang nodded solemnly.
A childhood? He had already experienced that in his previous life. In this life, his ambition was to ascend to godhood and become a deity standing above all others!
Aside from Qian Renxue, whose unreasonable innate talent granted her innate rank-20 soul power, Mu Yang believed his talent was unmatched. Combined with his superior work ethic, if he couldn't become a god, who else could?
However, the path to divinity was long and treacherous. For now, he set a smaller goal: achieving the pinnacle of Titled Douluo with nine soul rings!
"Alright then. Tomorrow morning, you'll head to the academy with us," Mu Xiyue agreed, seeing his unwavering determination.
If children were willing to focus on cultivation, it was a good thing. It was far better than lazing about and wasting their natural talent.
That night, in his bedroom.
After completing his daily meditation practice, Mu Yang consumed a few soul-restoring ginseng roots to replenish his mental energy.
Once his mental energy was restored, an idea struck him, and he began practicing the Extreme Flame Meditation Technique again.
Unfortunately, as soon as he started, Mu Yang felt the familiar fatigue in his mind creeping back.
"Tsk, no shortcuts, huh?" Mu Yang muttered in disappointment.
Indeed, if simply replenishing mental energy allowed soul masters to remain in meditation indefinitely, the continent would be overrun with prodigious young talents.
Undeterred, Mu Yang activated his innate ability: Deduction. He began to refine the mental cultivation method he had already conceptualized.
The path of cultivation focused on essence, energy, and spirit. His meditation technique addressed energy, so methods for refining essence (body) and spirit (mental strength) needed to be developed as well.
With the aid of his first soul skill, Soul-Returning Ginseng, which could restore mental energy, it wouldn't take him several years to deduce these methods like it had for the Extreme Flame Meditation Technique.
Among the two, Mu Yang prioritized deducing the mental cultivation technique.
After all, until he reached level-20 soul power and obtained a second soul ring, his physique, even though superior to his peers, would offer limited advantages.
Mental strength, however, was a different story. His innate ability, Deduction, was directly tied to his mental strength—the stronger his mind, the faster he could deduce techniques.
Meanwhile, in another bedroom, Huo Lie suddenly recalled the storage soul guide he had obtained in the Sunset Forest earlier that day.
Curious, Huo Lie retrieved the storage soul guide necklace.
After injecting soul power to claim ownership, he discovered that the internal space was only about one cubic meter.
The contents were sparse: a few articles of clothing, some food supplies, a small amount of gold soul coins, and several sheets of handwritten paper?
Intrigued, Huo Lie pulled out the papers.
The first page bore five bold characters that immediately caught his attention: Extreme Flame Meditation Technique.
"Extreme Flame Meditation Technique?"
Huo Lie raised an eyebrow in surprise.
A meditation technique? But what did "Extreme Flame" mean? It sounded like a special method tailored for fire-attribute soul masters.
As he continued reading, Huo Lie's expression gradually grew serious.
This so-called Extreme Flame Meditation Technique seemed to be something extraordinary!
The method refined fire-element particles in the environment, enhancing the attributes of a fire-type martial soul and transforming it into the Ultimate Fire.
"Ultimate Fire, huh? Another new term. Judging by the name, it must be far superior to ordinary flames," Huo Lie mused.
"What's so interesting?"
Seeing Huo Lie engrossed in the paper, Mu Xiyue couldn't help but ask curiously.
"Fascinating," Huo Lie replied without looking up.
Hearing this, Mu Xiyue glanced at the paper in Huo Lie's hand, her curiosity piqued.