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Chapter 6 - Cheating Shadow Soldier
At this moment, Yang Xie, who was deeply immersed in cultivation, had no idea that all the spiritual energy absorbed by the 100 shadow soldiers had flowed directly into his body.
The spiritual energy was drawn into his divine court, where the shadow soldiers transformed it before it entered Yang Xie's body, nourishing his frail form and gradually strengthening him with each passing second.
As he felt the spiritual energy from the heavens and earth pouring into him, Yang Xie wasn't just pleased, but also a little puzzled.
Because, at this very moment, he observed the shadow soldiers in his martial soul space with confusion. He didn't seem to need to practice or concentrate deliberately.
The shadow soldiers appeared to be doing the work for him.
All Yang Xie had to do was clearly think about the techniques and cultivation steps he understood, and with a mere thought, the shadow soldiers acted as if they were his personal cultivation assistants. He didn't need to worry about anything.
Yang Xie couldn't help but feel confused. Was the martial soul this magical?
Does a warrior only need their martial soul to practice, or was his martial soul particularly special?
After a brief moment of contemplation, he dismissed the confusion.
Who cares? As long as he became stronger, that was all that mattered.
Besides, while everyone else had only one martial soul, he had a hundred shadow soldiers helping him practice. Even if his martial soul could automatically cultivate, he was already a hundred times more powerful than others.
While the shadow soldiers continued their practice, Yang Xie flipped through the "Eternal Night Magic Book" once again, reviewing the method of circulating the energies of heaven and earth.
The technique required the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, which had been absorbed by his martial soul, to be guided through specific meridians and ultimately gathered into his Qi Sea.
Fortunately, before the awakening, the school had provided special courses that taught students the location of meridians and acupoints within the human body.
Yang Xie wasn't unfamiliar with this. Upon seeing the meridian diagram in the technique, he immediately began his cultivation. Starting from the Shenting (the crown of the head), the spiritual energy from heaven and earth began to flow through his meridians, eventually collecting in the Qi Sea.
Was it really this easy?
Yang Xie thought to himself, feeling a little unsure. Could cultivation really be so simple?
Meanwhile, the shadow soldiers continued their work. After Yang Xie completed a single rotation of the Zhou Tian cycle, the shadow soldiers began to diligently perform their task.
According to the technique, there were several levels of Zhou Tian cycles: General Zhou Tian, Small Zhou Tian, Large Zhou Tian, and Perfect Zhou Tian.
A warrior could create spiritual seeds in their Qi Sea after completing ten rotations of the general Zhou Tian cycle, marking the transition from a regular person to a warrior. The Small Zhou Tian required 36 cycles, Large Zhou Tian required 72, and Perfect Zhou Tian required 108 cycles.
The more rotations one completed, the higher the quality of the spiritual seed formed, and the stronger the warrior became.
Yang Xie didn't feel any difficulty as he proceeded from sensing spirits to gathering them and running the Zhou Tian cycles.
Naturally, Yang Xie assumed that the more Zhou Tian rotations, the better.
For now, he wasn't interested in generating spiritual seeds, so he let the shadow soldiers continue practicing without worrying about it.
However, the speed at which the soldiers were cultivating made him reconsider his plan.
Since the shadow soldiers were capable of practicing for him, could they practice different skills simultaneously?
Could he try running multiple skills at once?
The problem, of course, was that he had no war merits or money to exchange for other skills.
So where could he get money?
Ah, it seemed he would have to ask Nangong Ya, the wealthy woman, for help.
But for now, everyone was busy cultivating, and Yang Xie couldn't disturb them. So, he opened his personal terminal to check the available martial arts.
There were far more martial arts than skills to choose from.
From weapon techniques like swords, spears, clubs, and staves to hand-to-hand combat, there was a wide array of martial arts, each with its own level.
Yang Xie felt overwhelmed by the sheer number of options.
In the end, he chose two martial arts to study: Zhenwu Fist, a hand-to-hand combat technique, and the Blood Battle Sword Technique, both of which were at the warrior level. One focused on close combat, the other on sword fighting.
He began downloading these two martial arts and studied them carefully. Thanks to his extraordinary talent, Yang Xie's ability to understand martial arts was astonishing.
While the shadow soldiers continued their practice, Yang Xie started training with the Zhenwu Fist in the practice room. It was unfortunate that he didn't have a sword, or he would have tried the Blood Battle Sword Technique.
According to martial arts progression, there were six stages: entry, proficiency, minor success, major success, and perfection. With his current speed, he was likely at the entry level.
As Yang Xie continued, he once again glanced at the shadow soldiers in his martial soul space. His mind raced. Could these soldiers also practice martial arts?
Sure enough, as soon as Yang Xie thought about it, ten of the hundred shadow soldiers began practicing the Zhenwu Fist, while another ten began learning the Blood Battle Sword Technique. Even sword-shaped weapons appeared in the martial soul space.
Unbelievable! Yang Xie thought to himself. His talent was too powerful. It almost felt like he was cheating.
Moreover, according to the information about his talent, the number of shadow soldiers would gradually increase as his talent level rose. In the later stages, the supply would be limitless.
This meant that Yang Xie's cultivation speed and growth potential would be invincible in the future.
The realization made Yang Xie smile foolishly. After 18 years in this world, he had finally found his strength.
Another four hours passed, and Yang Xie had already completed 36 rotations of the Zhou Tian cycle, reaching the Small Zhou Tian level.
However, Yang Xie didn't feel any limits at all.
With the help of the shadow soldiers, his martial arts skills had progressed from entry level to proficiency.
At this point, though, Yang Xie couldn't continue practicing.
It was already past nine o'clock in the evening, and the designated time for practice had come to an end.
"Time always flies when you're immersed in cultivation," the dean reminded everyone. "Don't get too absorbed. The practice room is available to you for the next month. It's open from 6 AM to 10 PM every day, as the Spirit Gathering Array in the practice room requires the supply of spirit stones."
"There's one more thing. As awakened individuals, each of you will receive government subsidies. Those below level B will receive a bonus of 10,000 Da Zhou coins. Those above level B will receive 100,000 Da Zhou coins. The school has already applied to the city, and the money will be transferred to your personal warrior terminal within three days."
As a poor individual, Yang Xie's eyes sparkled with excitement upon hearing this news.
Nangong Ya, with her S-level talent, had received a sponsorship of 1 million from the mayor, which made Yang Xie envious. But now, he too would finally get a subsidy!
After several hours of cultivation, the awakened students all felt hungry and headed to the cafeteria.
But Yang Xie had something else on his mind. He needed to ask the wealthy woman, Nangong Ya, for help with the cultivation method. He immediately made his way to find her.
As soon as he approached, Nangong Ya handed him three items. Yang Xie took a closer look and realized they were the S-level rewards given to Nangong Ya by Principal Wang.
"Yang Xie," Nangong Ya said, "I don't need these. My family has provided me with better ones. You don't need to repay me for them. Just focus on your cultivation and become a martial artist."
Yang Xie's eyes widened as he stared at the three treasures in her hands.
This rich woman, Nangong Ya, was definitely generous.
"Yaya, I'm not that kind of person. You're going to make people think I'm a gigolo," Yang Xie said, trying to defend himself, though his hands were already reaching out to take the treasures.
Perhaps due to the awakening of his god-level talent, Yang Xie had gained more confidence. In the past, when Nangong Ya gave him things, he never accepted them.
Back then, it might have been due to his feelings of inferiority or the hopelessness he felt about his future with her. He didn't dare entertain any unreasonable thoughts.
But now, with his god-level martial soul, he felt more confident. He would repay her in the future, a hundredfold.
Nangong Ya, sensing the change in Yang Xie, smiled happily without caring about his cheeky attitude.
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