Chapter 5: Taking a Master

Li Xun felt a stir in his heart and quickly bowed: "Li Xun greets you, Master."

His martial spirit was unique, and there was truly no one else who could teach him anything. Now that Ning Fengzhi was offering to take him as a disciple, he was naturally more than happy to draw closer to such a connection.

Ning Fengzhi wore a gentle smile. Seeing Li Xun perform the rites of a disciple, he stepped forward and lightly helped him up, examining him closely.

"Little Xun, from now on, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect is your home. I will arrange your quarters for you first."

With that, Ning Fengzhi nodded to Chen Xin and Gu Rong, then strode briskly out of the hall. Li Xun bowed to the two Titled Douluo and hurriedly followed in Ning Fengzhi’s footsteps.

Watching them disappear into the distance, Chen Xin and Gu Rong exchanged glances.

"That child’s demeanor and conduct are not what one would expect at his age."

Gu Rong nodded in agreement. "Indeed, he is far too precocious. But if Fengzhi feels it is fine, then it is well. Besides, it is high time the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect began considering the next generation."

...

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was powerful, with over five thousand members in total. They possessed residences of all kinds. To Li Xun’s surprise, Ning Fengzhi had arranged for him to stay directly across from his own living quarters.

"Young Master, the hot water is ready."

The speaker was a gentle woman in her forties named Xue Mei, whom Ning Fengzhi had sent two days prior to attend to Li Xun’s daily needs.

"Thank you, Aunt Xue, I can manage on my own," Li Xun said, ushering away the woman who had intended to assist him with his bathing.

Yet, not long after, Aunt Xue suddenly returned. This startled him, and he quickly covered his vital parts with his hands. As it turned out, she had only returned to deliver some items before turning to leave, leaving Li Xun worried over nothing.

"The perks of being Ning Fengzhi’s disciple are truly excellent."

Li Xun tilted his head back, enjoying the comfort of the hot bath. After washing himself thoroughly, he reached for the silk garments on the table, only to find an exquisite gold-threaded bracelet resting on top.

Li Xun picked it up carefully and inspected it. "Master, this gift is far too valuable."

This gold-threaded bracelet was a storage-type soul tool.

Inside, there were also one hundred gold soul coins. In this era, soul tools had not yet become as ubiquitous as they would be in the future. Whenever a storage soul tool appeared, it would trigger a frenzy of competition, with prices sometimes skyrocketing to tens of thousands of gold soul coins. From this alone, one could see how much importance Ning Fengzhi placed on him.

"It seems my decision to be honest about having twin martial spirits was the right one."

Li Xun looked at the gold-threaded bracelet firmly attached to his wrist, feeling a sense of gratitude. It was truly wonderful to have a wealthy and powerful master; he didn't have to worry about anything.

After tidying up, Li Xun drank a small amount of porridge. Although his Wood Release provided restorative benefits, his body had been frail for too long, and it was not yet suitable to consume large quantities of food; he needed to recuperate gradually.

Once he had finished his meal, Li Xun began to analyze his current state.

"The soul power cultivation method draws energy from the external environment, and it does not conflict with the refining of chakra within my body."

Entering a meditative state, Li Xun could clearly sense a stream of energy drifting between heaven and earth. As this energy entered his body, he slowly opened his eyes.

"It is just that the two powers are intertwined yet distinct, and there are signs that soul power is faintly beginning to overshadow my chakra."

"This is likely the suppression of the world’s laws, attempting to merge the two powers into one."

Chakra was not like the orthodox Taoist internal arts such as the Mysterious Heaven Skill, which were balanced and could peacefully coexist with any other form of energy. Chakra was like an alien species that required time to settle. Li Xun did not reject this. If he used only chakra, even if he reached the level of Senju Hashirama, he would only have a lifespan of about a hundred years. After a century, no matter how strong he was, he would be nothing more than a handful of dust. Having soul power to elevate his life level was a good thing.

"My ability to manipulate Wood Release remains, but my chakra is too scarce and lacks stability, making it impossible to rapidly grow the Seeds of Life. I may need the power of this world as an auxiliary to bring out the true strength of Wood Release."

Wood Release, which controls the growth of trees, is not actually a summoning technique. Instead, it uses tree seeds in the ground or the practitioner’s bloodline and chakra to create Seeds of Life, which are then forced to grow. The stronger the user’s power, the more Seeds of Life they can create and the faster they grow; conversely, the weaker they are, the less effective the technique.

"It seems my first soul ring should ideally be of a type like a dandelion, capable of scattering seeds. That would reduce the consumption required to create Seeds of Life and expand my range of operation."

"For my second soul ring, I should choose a soul beast with rapid growth capabilities to shorten the time it takes for the trees to mature."

"In battle, I can deploy my first and second soul skills, then use Wood Release to control them." Li Xun mused. In his mind, he would use the first soul skill to sow, the second to improve the quality of the seeds, and his chakra as fertilizer, allowing the two powers to complement each other.

"Actually, Tang San’s development path is also viable. Grass-type plants are easy to cultivate and grow fast; if spread out, they shouldn't be much worse than a domain."

"Since the first two soul rings have low age limits, choosing attack-type soul rings wouldn't yield much benefit. Tang San and I are both transmigrators and already have our own means of attack; battles before reaching level thirty won't be too difficult."

Li Xun suddenly thought of the man famous throughout the Douluo Continent for his theories: Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang.

After Grandmaster took Tang San as his disciple, he spent a great deal of time analyzing and deciding to add resilience and toxicity to Tang San’s Blue Silver Grass. In the end, the soul rings he helped Tang San hunt were entirely based on luck—either a ten-year-old bamboo or a snake, and Tang San had to kill the snake himself. It made Li Xun sigh at how fickle the Grandmaster’s theories were. If it weren't for Tang San’s numerous opportunities, his Blue Silver Emperor would likely have been ruined.

"Hmm, I recall that Tang San seemed to have a period of decadence during the competition, only to be swayed by more talk."

If Li Xun were to choose soul rings for Tang San, he would certainly pick passive ones that enhanced future potential for the first two. At worst, he would have chosen 'Bind' for the second ring. If one could spread the Blue Silver Grass out during battle and then use control-type soul skills for support, it would surely be stronger than simple binding. Of course, his own configuration might not necessarily be correct, but adhering to the principle of "firepower coverage" was always a safe bet.

Shaking off these thoughts, Li Xun entered a state of cultivation. He needed to cultivate two types of power, and the difficulty of his training far exceeded the orthodox "Mysterious Heaven Skill" possessed by Tang San. Tang San only needed to circulate his technique to draw energy from heaven and earth for his own use, while Li Xun had to practice them separately. He couldn't easily ask about the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect’s "Distraction Control" method yet. If he didn't put in the hard work now, let alone becoming a god, even catching up to Tang San would be difficult.

Over the next dozen days, Li Xun stayed in his room, recuperating and cultivating. With the help of Wood Release and nutritious meals, his body recovered rapidly. The sallow complexion of his face gradually began to show a hint of color.

A few days ago, Ning Fengzhi had come to see him, wanting to take him and Ning Rongrong to hunt for soul rings, but he had declined. The age limit of a soul ring a soul master can withstand is closely related to their physical fitness. The limit for a first soul ring, due to factors like age, is around four hundred years. Li Xun’s body was still depleted and far from reaching the point where he could absorb a limit-breaking ring, let alone the fact that he wanted to exceed that limit.

With his Wood Release bloodline, his self-healing ability was strong. Li Xun estimated that absorbing a five-hundred-year soul ring should not be a problem. Even if there were some risks, he believed it wouldn't be fatal.

*Knock, knock, knock!*

Just as Li Xun was in the midst of his cultivation, a crisp sound of knocking at the door rang out.