Chapter 2: Green Lotus
Dai Yao returned to his bed, sitting cross-legged and closing his eyes to regulate his breathing, entering a meditative state.
In his spiritual world, a green lotus was gently swaying.
"Perhaps, my fate depends on you." Dai Yao muttered to himself.
This green lotus was the root cause of his arrival in the Douluo Continent.
In his past life, after working late into the night, he walked past a lotus pond under his company building, and for some unknown reason, he was drawn to a peculiar lotus in the pond.
It was as if he was enchanted, walking towards that lotus in a daze.
In the end, he fell into the lotus pond.
Unable to swim, he drowned, and then, he found himself in this world.
This lotus had remained in his spiritual world for five or six years. He had once doubted if this was his "golden finger."
But thinking back to other Douluo fanfics, where the protagonist could sign in at certain places to receive a Chaos Green Lotus or a Pangu Axe martial soul, and then comparing that with this harmless-looking green lotus, he quickly dismissed the absurd idea.
"Perhaps this is my martial soul after all," Dai Yao thought to himself. "Could it be something like a Chaos Green Lotus? Forget it, I don't want to think about it. There's no clue. No matter how much I guess, there's no answer. But since this green lotus was able to bring me across dimensions, it must have its mysterious side—just that I haven't discovered it yet."
"Anyway, this green lotus is in my spiritual world. One day, I will uncover its secret."
Although this green lotus wasn't as powerful as those sign-in system rewards, it had granted Dai Yao a unique ability.
The ability to sense the presence of "Qi."
Soul masters cultivate soul power, which is drawn from the Qi that flows freely between heaven and earth.
From the day Dai Yao first sensed the Qi, he became ecstatic, throwing himself wholeheartedly into researching Qi, neglecting food and sleep.
He discovered that as long as he visualized the green lotus in his spiritual world, he would automatically cultivate.
In the original text, Tang San cultivated the Xuantian Treasure Record and, during the awakening of his martial soul, reached the innate full soul power.
As a result, Dai Yao practiced diligently every day. Finally, a few years ago, his cultivation hit a bottleneck, and his dantian could no longer store any more Qi.
At that point, his cultivation stagnated.
But with the awakening of his martial soul coming up tomorrow, he suddenly became inspired and began to practice again.
When he visualized the green lotus, a phantom of the green lotus appeared in his dantian. Instantly, the Qi in the world seemed to find an outlet and began rushing towards Dai Yao.
The Qi flowed through his limbs and veins, finally gathering in his dantian.
At these moments, he felt as though his body was flowing, like floating in water, cool and refreshing.
Within the dantian, the green lotus phantom spun, causing the Qi to swirl, turning it into a jade-green color. The dantian resembled a massive millstone, and the newly entering Qi was also spun around, slowly being crushed and assimilated.
As he stopped his practice, the assimilated Qi separated, flowing along his meridians and returning to the heavens and earth.
"Still no progress? Am I facing the same dilemma Tang San encountered when cultivating the Xuantian Treasure Record? Do I need to obtain the first soul ring to continue my cultivation?" Dai Yao thought, feeling a bit frustrated.
Tomorrow was the day to awaken his martial soul, and with his background, he couldn't help but worry. It was highly likely that he wouldn't inherit the White Tiger Martial Soul. Although he had the green lotus in his spiritual world, he still didn't know its full purpose.
He stood up, stepped through the snow, and went to the courtyard. A bright full moon hung in the branches, casting a glittering light.
Looking at the moon, he thought of the past. How were his parents in his previous life? How was their life? What happened to his mother, who used to laugh so much? Was his father, who was always serious but secretly cared for him, still working far away?...
Coming to the Douluo Continent, his biological mother had been murdered by the Empress...
The Star Luo Emperor, the man who, by blood, should be his father, felt like a stranger...
A wave of sorrow surged in his heart. Leaving his family behind, his future uncertain, and to vent his emotions, he slammed his palm against the dry tree trunk.
Crack—
Wood chips flew.
A sharp pain surged, but it wasn't the kind of pain from skin contact. It was a deeper, aching sensation that came from within his palm, from the bones outward, a tingling pain.
"What is this?" Dai Yao looked at his hand in shock.
On the tree trunk, a clear palm print was left.
At this time, he was only six years old. Even though the tree was withered, a six-year-old child wouldn't have left any mark with his bare hands.
"When did I get such powerful strength? I didn't even use much force," he exclaimed, and after the pain subsided, he struck the tree trunk again.
This time, no mark was left on the tree, and the pain in his hand didn't increase.
"Could it be because of the Qi?" He had just finished his training, and his arm still contained some Qi that hadn't dissipated. When he struck the first palm, the Qi was consumed, greatly amplifying the power. The second strike didn't have any Qi left, so it had little power.
"If just the Qi that hasn't dispersed yet can give my palm such power, how powerful would it be if I gathered the Qi in my hand and then struck?"
Without hesitation, Dai Yao gathered the Qi in his dantian and let it flow through his arm. Then, with his uninjured left hand, he struck the withered tree.
Crack!
A tree thick enough for a person to hug was split in half by his strike.
But Dai Yao didn't have the mood to admire the tree's broken condition. The intense pain surged into his mind: "Damn, that hurts!"
Dai Yao gritted his teeth in pain, feeling as though his entire arm wasn't his. He realized his arm could still bend slightly and said with lingering fear, "That was too reckless. I almost broke my arm!"
"My dantian's Qi has been significantly depleted, meaning this kind of attack can only be used a few more times. However, I can regulate the amount of Qi to control the power. In the future, I can use this as a trump card in battle."
"Such a powerful move must have a name."
"Since it can explode such great energy in an instant, and it's activated with both fists, I'll call it Eight Extremes Break."
He peeked through the crack in the door to check. Fortunately, the Cold Palace was secluded, and the noise hadn't attracted anyone's attention.
Returning to his room, he continued to cultivate, replenishing the Qi he had used. The Qi of heaven and earth flowed like a vortex, rushing into Dai Yao's dantian, and the once empty dantian began to fill at a visible speed.
In his spiritual world, the green lotus swayed, scattering faint pink dust.
His injured arm began to heal slowly.
The Next Day
Today was the day to awaken his martial soul. Dai Yao woke up early. To his surprise, the injury from yesterday had healed significantly.
His left hand, which had been hurt after using full force in a punch, no longer hurt. Only when he exerted force could he feel a slight tingling sensation.
"Could this also be thanks to the green lotus? Does it have healing properties too?"
(End of Chapter)
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