"Oho! Big Bro, you've done it! That's my brother for you!"
Chen Xiaojun was the first to react, immediately chiming in excitedly.
Ye Xiuxin also smiled with joy and asked, "Jianjun, when did you break through? Come, release your soul power—let Grandpa and I sense it."
"Mm, alright."
With that, Chen Jianjun released his soul power. A clear fluctuation spread out.
"As expected—good, good, good!"
Chen Yu looked visibly pleased.
Ye Xiuxin's gentle voice held unmistakable happiness as she said, "Your father's been gone for more than half a year. When he returns and hears you've become a Soul Elder, he'll be thrilled."
Becoming a Soul Elder was no small feat. It was the first major bottleneck on a soul master's path—the breakthrough of the Soul Nest.
A Soul Elder at nearly twelve years old—and wielding the Seven Kill Sword, while cultivating the Upright Sword Qi Method? That was outstanding.
The Seven Kill Sword naturally exuded killing intent. To lay a solid foundation and avoid future instability or backlash from this aura, the founding ancestor Chen Xili had created—and generations had refined—the Upright Sword Qi Method to replace conventional meditation techniques.
In combination with the Seven Kill Aura Convergence Technique, it absorbed and stabilized the killing aura, tempering the soul power's sharpness into balance, and helping nourish the meridians and internal organs.
The only downside was a slower soul power conversion rate. In previous generations, it was common for Seven Kill Sword users to reach Soul Elder at fourteen or fifteen.
"I broke through the day before yesterday," said Chen Jianjun, grinning.
"Good. How's your body? Any issues? Even if the breakthrough to Soul Elder isn't too difficult, damaging the meridians is no trivial matter. Xiuxin, check him over," Chen Yu instructed.
Ye Xiuxin, being a Soul Emperor-level support and healing-type soul master, was an expert in this area.
"No need, Grandpa. I'm fine," Chen Jianjun waved his hand.
"Let your mother check you anyway," Chen Yu insisted.
Ye Xiuxin got up and stood before Jianjun. A soft blue glow flashed from her palm as she pressed it to his left hand—palms facing each other.
After a moment, she withdrew her hand and exhaled gently. "Mm. His meridians are fine. Slight stiffness, but a couple of days of nourishing rest will fix that. Even though the Seven Kill Sword's aura was transformed, it's still fierce when breaking through bottlenecks. Hmm… the Lower Soul Nest has indeed been opened."
"Jianjun, congratulations from your mother."
"Grandpa, Mother… what exactly is a Soul Nest?" Chen Xiaojun immediately caught on to the key term.
Chen Yu slowly began explaining:
"The Soul Nest is the convergence point between soul power and spiritual power. It is hidden within the body—not in the meridians, but connected to them. It serves as a reservoir for both soul power and spiritual power.
Before reaching Soul Elder, our soul power is stored within the meridians—but how much can meridians hold? Not much.
Our ancestors, through exploration, discovered that our martial spirit resides in a hidden part of the body. They learned to refine soul power through the martial spirit and store it in this location.
Although it appears small from the outside, it's like a mustard seed hiding a mountain—a vast space inside, even capable of expansion. It's virtually infinite.
Thus, in the soul master world, it is called the Soul Nest—the nest of the martial spirit and soul power.
There are three Soul Nests: Lower, Middle, and Upper.
Soul Elders must fully awaken the Soul Nest where their martial spirit resides. For tool spirits, it's the Lower Soul Nest, located just below the navel. For beast spirits, it's the Middle Soul Nest, slightly above the center of the chest.
The precise location must be sensed by oneself—others can't help unless it's already been opened.
This is why the soul master world classifies martial spirits into just two types: beast and tool spirits—not just because beast spirits possess the body and tool spirits can leave it, but because of where their martial spirits reside.
Normally, Soul Nests are invisible and closed, though not entirely sealed. When using an awakening stone during martial spirit awakening, the nest's gate is cracked open, allowing some communication—this forms the basis for our sensing of martial spirits.
Only by sensing and then fully opening the nest's gate through its faintly connected meridians—without damaging them—can one be called a Soul Elder. This is the first major threshold for soul masters.
Once a Soul Nest is open, one gradually extends meridians and improves the quality of soul power via the martial spirit, paving the way for future advancement."
"Damn… that's just like the Lower Dantian and Middle Dantian," Chen Xiaojun thought to himself. "So they call it the Soul Nest in this world, huh? Makes sense—can't call it 'Dantian' in the Douluo Continent. But this name fits the soul master system better."
He asked again, "Grandpa, what about the Upper Soul Nest?"
"The Upper Soul Nest is different," said Chen Yu.
"It primarily stores spiritual power. Deep within it lies a Sea of Spirit, which we call the Sea of Consciousness.
When we use spiritual power for sensing and manipulation, that's called Soul Sense.
Everyone has a Sea of Consciousness, and meditation consumes this soul sense. Only by resting and recovering can one resume meditative cultivation.
Only when a soul master's spiritual strength reaches the level of Soul Sage can the Upper Soul Nest be opened, because its breakthrough depends on spiritual force.
Unlike the middle and lower nests, which are broken open from the outside in, the Upper Soul Nest breaks open from the inside out—this gives spiritual-type soul masters an advantage.
Currently, there are no particularly effective training methods for spiritual power in the soul master world. Aside from head soul bones, a few rare natural treasures, or gradual accumulation through meditation and daily use, there's no shortcut.
This is the second great threshold in a soul master's cultivation."
"As expected, that's the Upper Dantian," Chen Xiaojun mused. "Even though this is a different world, it still matches the structure of Upper, Middle, and Lower Dantian from my past life's Daoist training. Looks like human physiology is similar—the power systems just differ."
"And Grandpa… what's the third threshold for soul masters?" he asked.
Chen Yu paused, took a sip of the tea Ye Xiuxin had made, and continued:
"The martial spirit resides in the Soul Nest. Tool spirits reside in the Lower, beast spirits in the Middle.
But deep in the Sea of Consciousness of the Upper Soul Nest, there exists a phantom identical to your martial spirit—it is called the Void Soul.
Only when a Soul Douluo has perfected their soul power, their body brimming with energy, and they achieve a breakthrough in spiritual will—can they guide the true martial spirit and the Void Soul to merge. This is the ascension of the martial spirit.
This process also liquefies soul power, enabling the breakthrough to level 90—Title Douluo.
This barrier blocks most Soul Douluos—it's incredibly difficult."
"Haha, just as I thought—this matches the Daoist progression from my previous life: Refine Essence into Qi, Refine Qi into Spirit, Refine Spirit into Emptiness.
Daoism speaks of following nature, comprehending the Dao, and finally, merging with it—that must be the key to post-title breakthroughs," Chen Xiaojun mused.
Seeing Chen Xiaojun deep in thought like a little old man, Chen Yu turned back to Chen Jianjun and asked,
"Jianjun, Grandpa will take you to hunt a soul beast. Have you decided what kind you want?"
Chen Jianjun thought for a moment. "For my third soul ring, I want to enhance my speed skills—something wind or light attributed. Preferably wind, with some offensive edge, like slicing ability.
I remember Grandpa mentioning the Gale Wolf evolving into the Azure Wind Direwolf and Hurricane Demon Wolf in the depths of Shaolin Mountain. We could try there. Or perhaps a flying soul beast—like the Flash Sparrow or the White-headed Sea Eagle. But those raptors are harder to find."
Chen Yu nodded.
"Not bad. Mountains tend to have more birds than forests—especially large birds of prey.
But your choice of the Azure Wind Direwolf is a good one. A 1,500-year-old Hurricane Demon Wolf might be hard to find, but I know where to locate an Azure Wind Direwolf. It's not far. We can make it there and back before your little brother's martial spirit awakening."
Then he turned to Ye Xiuxin and said,
"Xiuxin, I'll take Jianjun out the day after tomorrow. When Chen Xun returns, let him know."
"Alright, Father. No rush—when you're back, we can awaken Xiaojun's spirit," she replied.
Chen Yu then said to Chen Xiaojun:
"Xiaojun, take another medicinal bath later today. You'll do it again the night before your awakening. Your body's already in excellent shape—seems like you're very compatible with our ancestral medicinal bath. The effects are excellent. This will help with your spirit awakening."
"Okay, Grandpa. I wish you and Big Brother a smooth trip."