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After his train of thought had run its course, Xu Yuan absentmindedly glanced at the other materials in his hand about Ji Juechen, including his biography and cultivation journey.
"The meteoric iron sword was destroyed."
Xu Yuan's gaze sharpened.
He had read the original trilogy and the first half of the fourth book in his previous life, but that didn't mean he remembered every single detail about every character.
Thus, for information about Ji Juechen, he still relied heavily on research.
He had no recollection of Ji Juechen's meteoric iron sword being destroyed.
So, upon suddenly encountering this detail, Xu Yuan immediately perked up, sensing an opportunity.
"The meteoric iron sword was destroyed, but the sword's essence remained, as did the soul of the sword. From then on, man became one with the sword, and the sword became one with man—indistinguishable from each other!" Xu Yuan's breathing quickened as he felt he had found the answer.
"I cannot achieve the same purity as Ji Juechen, whose heart held only the sword. Therefore, I cannot become one with the spear, nor can the spear become me."
"But—I have a spirit soul to act as a medium!"
"A vessel, a vessel..."
"Isn't my own body the best vessel?"
At the same time this idea burst forth, Xu Yuan's mind raced wildly, generating countless possibilities.
The Tianyuan Spear could use the spirit soul as a medium and his physical body as a vessel, separating itself from the Tianyuan Brush martial soul. It would no longer be just a form of the Tianyuan Brush, but instead become a new martial soul—the Tianyuan Spear martial soul.
Though Xu Yuan didn't know how to create a completely new martial soul, he could cultivate it into something akin to a martial soul.
What mattered most was the essence: the ability to continuously improve by attaching soul rings.
And it wasn't just martial souls that could attach soul rings—physical bodies could too!
Or more specifically, the flesh and blood.
In this moment, Xu Yuan suddenly saw a possible breakthrough for the bottleneck in his physical cultivation.
Man and spear becoming one.
Integrating the form of the Tianyuan Spear into the Five-Element Spear Spirit, then binding the spirit to his physical body through a blood contract, transforming it into a physical spirit soul!
The Tianyuan Brush martial soul could continue cultivating soul power, while the now-vacant Five-Element Spear Spirit could be replaced with another spirit soul imbued with five-element properties.
As for the brain martial soul...
Who said the brain martial soul had to follow the traditional path of the main martial soul?
Couldn't his brain martial soul be cultivated as a spiritual martial soul?
The Five-Element Spear Spirit would provide the opportunity to attach soul rings to his physical body, while the brain martial soul would provide the foundation for generating soul rings through spiritual power. Meanwhile, the Tianyuan Brush martial soul would continue cultivating soul power.
"Cultivating essence, energy, and spirit simultaneously—if this isn't the foundation for ascending to godhood, I can't think of any other method to break through and become a god in this era without a divine realm."
That is, assuming we don't consider consuming the Abyssal Star to elevate Douluo Star to a god-level planet.
Even if Douluo Star were to ascend, Xu Yuan could still continue this path of cultivation, breaking through to higher levels of soul power, accumulating depth, and preparing to condense a divine position.
Xu Yuan's ambitions were vast—he wanted too much.
But in this era, how could anyone stand out among all the overpowered individuals without such lofty aspirations?
Of course, while madness was permissible, losing rationality was not. Though Xu Yuan had these ideas, he would only implement them after ensuring his safety as much as possible.
Leaving the archive room, Xu Yuan returned to his dormitory.
He retrieved his soul-guided communicator and made a call.
"Hello?" Mu Ye was clearly busy and hadn't expected Xu Yuan to call him at this time, so he sounded puzzled.
"Teacher, I need the Body Sect's blood and qi cultivation methods and all related materials on blood and qi cultivation and research," Xu Yuan stated his request.
"Huh? You're planning to cultivate your blood and qi now?" Mu Ye was clearly startled. "Don't go experimenting blindly on your own. Wait until I return. Blood and qi cultivation isn't child's play, and your body hasn't fully developed yet—don't mess around!"
"That works. Blood and qi cultivation has indeed come up in my studies. Can you return within three months?" Xu Yuan wouldn't refuse having someone to guide him.
As for the elders of the Sea God Pavilion?
Xu Yuan found Mu Ye far more reassuring.
"Three months? Sure, I'll return in two months. Have you passed Shrek Academy's trials by now?"
"Yes, I've already passed. Lately, I've been researching the cultivation of Body Martial Souls. Could you send me the materials?"
"You can go find your uncle. He has them," Mu Ye replied.
"Alright."
Xu Yuan let out a sigh of relief.
Turning off the soul-guided communicator, Xu Yuan looked at the mountain of materials in his hands.
"For the next three months, I'll stop learning secondary professions. Aside from daily meditation, I'll dedicate all my time to studying spirit soul contracts and sensing the opportunity to split my martial soul's two forms. If I make progress within a month, I'll go to Tiantou City to retrieve the blood and qi cultivation methods and materials from my uncle."
On the third day of training in Shrek's Inner Court, Xu Yuan stopped visiting the various associations. Instead, he traveled back and forth between his dormitory and the archive room, focusing solely on those two locations. Even meals were brought back to the dormitory by Xu Lizhi.
A week later.
"Yuan-ge, Yuan-ge, our teacher is here!" Little Fatty's voice came from outside the door.
Xu Yuan was puzzled.
What teacher?
He opened the door.
"Yuan-ge, the academy has assigned us a temporary teacher to guide our cultivation. She's a senior who just graduated from the Inner Court," Xu Lizhi quickly explained.
"A senior who just graduated?" Xu Yuan's furrowed brow relaxed.
With that, he likely knew who this so-called teacher was.
"The teacher wants us three to gather now—it seems we're going into the Sea God Pavilion!" Little Fatty was visibly excited at the prospect of entering the Sea God Pavilion.
"Alright."
Xu Yuan tidied up a bit before following Little Fatty to a small square within the Inner Court.
"Hello, teacher."
"Mm, for the next few years, I'll be responsible for guiding your daily cultivation. My name is Shen Yi. You can call me Teacher Shen."
Shen Yi looked at the three children, intending to first get an understanding of their cultivation progress since enrollment.
"How has your cultivation been going these past few days?"
"Yuan-ge led us in joining two associations. Over the past ten days, Sister Xinglan and I have completed tasks in the associations and then meditated afterward," Xu Lizhi explained.
"Oh?" Shen Yi was surprised. "Two associations?"
"That's right. I joined the Mecha Repair Association and the Mecha Pilot Association."
"Ah~~~" Shen Yi nodded in understanding, realizing what the "two associations" referred to.
She turned her gaze to Xu Yuan, quite astonished that this boy had so many unconventional ideas.
This kind of multitasking was only possible in the Inner Court. For ordinary Outer Court students, where would they find the energy to join two associations and reap benefits?
"And what about you, Xu Yuan? What have you been doing these past ten days?" Shen Yi asked.
"I've been further developing my martial soul," Xu Yuan replied.
Further developing his martial soul?
Shen Yi frowned.
This wasn't an easy path of cultivation.
"How's it going? Are there any areas where you're confused?"
Xu Yuan shook his head.
"Everything is proceeding smoothly so far."
"Alright." Shen Yi didn't press for specific details about his cultivation.
"If you ever have questions about cultivation or need help with anything, feel free to contact me. Here's my soul-guided communication number." She handed her contact information to the three of them.
Then, she revealed the main purpose of this gathering.
"There's another reason I've called you three together today."
Xu Lizhi looked at Shen Yi with excitement, waiting for her to continue.
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