Tianhai City.
The Xu Family.
A chubby little boy held a wooden spear in his hand, maintaining the stance of holding a spear. His face was filled with anguish.
The boy's arms were trembling, but beside him, Xu Shengqun showed no mercy, still insisting that he maintain the posture.
"Xiao Tian, you must remember that becoming a strong individual isn't as simple as saying it," Xu Shengqun said sternly.
Four-year-old Xu Tian was a little fatty, and these training exercises were both preparation for his future spear practice and a way to shape his body.
This wasn't Xu Shengqun's idea alone.
Xu Tian constantly talked about how amazing his older brother was and how he wanted to be just like him, dominating a generation. These words became the driving force behind Xu Shengqun's unyielding attitude.
Ye Yuan watched from the side, her eyes full of concern, but she didn't stop him.
Since Xu Tian gritted his teeth and persevered, and with Xu Shengqun, who was on the verge of becoming a Limit Douluo, keeping a close eye on him to ensure his body wasn't overexerted, what reason did she have to intervene?
"Qun Ge."
Ye Yuan called out.
Xu Shengqun turned his head.
"Aren't you planning to break through yet?"
Xu Shengqun had already broken through to Level 96 when Xu Yuan awakened his martial soul. Ten years had passed since then.
Before heading to the Tian Dou Continent while helping Xu Yuan with his Paper Spirit Soul, he had already reached Level 97.
During their time on the Tian Dou Continent, his relationship with Ye Yuan deepened, and they faced various challenges together, which gave him new insights.
Later, while crafting the main body of the Paper Spirit Soul Shan He and spending a year in the spatial rift, along with the birth of Xu Tian, his overall condition was excellent, allowing him to break through to Level 98.
Now, more than three years had passed.
During these three years, Xu Shengqun had stayed in Tianhai City, taking care of his wife and child, living like a retired official.
However, amidst this peaceful life, his spiritual power quietly advanced.
With Xu Yuan's Starry Sky Meditation Method, Xu Shengqun naturally broke through to the Spirit Domain Realm.
(T/N: Does Starry Sky or Stellar sound better? Technically Starry Sky is the more literal translation but Stellar is fairly direct too)
The Starry Sky Meditation Method had been perfected after Xu Yuan's second visit to the Starry Sky Soul Master Academy. Later, during his time at Yuehua Sect, Xu Yuan gained further opportunities, bringing this meditation method to full maturity.
Afterward, Xu Yuan shared the method with Xu Shengqun.
It wasn't that Xu Shengqun lacked cultivation techniques for spiritual power.
Rather, the Starry Sky Meditation Method was unique, corresponding to the power of the stars.
Initially, Xu Yuan only asked Xu Shengqun to try communicating with the stars that resonated with his Heavenly Holy Void-Breaking Spear.
If he succeeded, there would be a great chance of using it to break through.
In fact, Xu Shengqun didn't disappoint.
During the day, he took care of his child, and at night, he communicated with the stars. In his calm state of mind, he successfully connected with nine stars, which were linked together in the form of a spear. Under their resonance, he felt a sense of shattering the void.
Clearly, this group of stars was compatible with his martial soul.
"No rush. Over at Shrek, Xiao Yuan is about to break through and has already entered seclusion. We'll wait until he breaks through."
Xu Tian's small ears perked up, and his grip on the spear loosened slightly.
Xu Shengqun coughed twice, and Xu Tian gritted his teeth, raising his hand to return the wooden spear to its previous position.
"Once he breaks through, we'll have him come back and witness my breakthrough to the Limit. It will also give him some inspiration."
Ye Yuan nodded slowly.
"Xiao Yuan is still four months away from turning seventeen. If he succeeds within four months, he will become a Soul Emperor at sixteen." Her eyes were full of admiration.
Even in the ancient times ten thousand years ago, when cultivators didn't need to focus on battle armor or soul-guided weapons, could the most outstanding inner court disciples of Shrek achieve this speed?
"Even Spirit Ice Douluo back then only broke through to Level 60 at the age of seventeen," Xu Shengqun nodded slowly, pride evident in his eyes.
"My nephew… has the potential to become a god."
---
Shrek Academy, Sea God Pavilion.
"It's begun."
Yun Ming sensed the fluctuations of the ambient energy on Sea God Island and looked toward where Xu Yuan was in seclusion.
The ambient energy from the island surged backward, forming a massive funnel that poured into Xu Yuan's location. From the Demon Gate, dense ambient energy spewed forth, mixing into the funnel.
"The vitality of Sea God Island's energy is abundant, while the Demon Plane's energy is filled with destructive power. I wonder what kind of fortune this will bring to Xiao Yuan."
Yun Ming pondered.
Under Xu Yuan's Devouring Heaven and Earth Technique, he accepted all incoming energy without discrimination.
In his lower dantian, the soul power suddenly collapsed in an instant.
All the soul power in his body was instantly drawn in.
He circulated the soul power within his body to maintain basic circulation while using his spiritual power to stabilize the collapsing soul power in his dantian.
The process of soul power collapse was instantaneous, but the subsequent chain reaction required time.
The tiny point of solidified soul power seemed to possess an unparalleled ability to induce surrounding soul power to transition into a solid state.
Xu Yuan used his spiritual power to guide the soul power to revolve around the core point of solidified soul power.
Originally, before breaking through, the flow of soul power in his dantian was already in the form of a vortex.
Now, he accelerated the flow of soul power.
The extreme rotational speed seemed to offset the process of outer liquid soul power transitioning into a solid state.
However, the liquid soul power outside still contracted rapidly.
All the soul power in his body was mobilized, flowing through his meridians and passing through the vortex in his dantian. The once fully saturated meridians quickly appeared to "diminish."
At this moment, a massive influx of energy surged into his body, circulating through his meridians. After one cycle, it was guided into the vortex in his dantian.
As more and more energy was refined, the soul core in his dantian grew increasingly mature.
The seclusion lasted a full week.
The breakthrough process went smoothly.
"After all, I've been stuck for eight months. It's impossible to spend two or three months finding the feeling or a month or two slowly condensing."
Xu Yuan opened his eyes and felt the changes in his soul power.
"With a soul core, my cultivation speed will greatly increase."
This was the most important point.
Condensing a soul core early not only consumed immense energy to compress the soul power but also required enduring a bottleneck for a considerable amount of time. Why did soul masters still pursue it?
Naturally, the benefits it brought were substantial.
First, the increase in soul power cultivation speed after condensing a soul core was enough to compensate for the time lost during the process.
Second, the foundation provided by the soul core ensured smooth cultivation up to Level 90.
Additionally, it enhanced soul power recovery speed, increased soul power intensity, improved the effectiveness of soul skills, and even facilitated the evolution of the martial soul.
After completing the breakthrough, Xu Yuan first sent text messages to Mu Ye, Xu Shengqun, and the others.
After leaving seclusion, he found Yun Ming.
"Teacher."
"The next step is to complete the creation of your two-word battle armor as soon as possible." Yun Ming's first reminder was about upgrading Xu Yuan's battle armor.
There was no helping it—Xu Yuan's creation of the one-word battle armor was indeed slow.
Though it was considered fast among soul masters, in the context of Xu Yuan's rapid advancement in soul power, it was relatively slow.
Could you believe it? The strongest genius of Shrek's current generation had only achieved a one-word battle armor at Level 59?
Xu Yuan's lips twitched.
"Don't worry, Teacher. This time, it won't take too long."
Ding!
The soul-guided communicator rang.
Xu Yuan took it out and saw that it was a call from his uncle.
Upon answering, his uncle's astonished voice came through.
"How did you break through so quickly?"
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