After his bath, Zhu Ziyang felt completely refreshed. He lay lazily on his bed, too relaxed to even move, eyes half-closed as he pondered his future plans.
His martial soul had unexpectedly evolved into one with both light and death attributes—an unexpected but welcome surprise. Now he faced a decision: should he continue strengthening the death attribute, or follow his original plan and focus on the light attribute?
He sank into deep thought.
Death was undeniably powerful, but it came with many drawbacks.
First, soul beasts with death attributes were typically high-level and extremely powerful—hard to kill. While hunting a death-attribute beast under 1,000 years might be doable with his current resources, anything beyond that would be difficult. His father, after all, wasn't particularly strong.
Second, death-attribute beasts were incredibly rare, both in species and number. Encountering the White Bone Scythe Fiend had been a stroke of great luck. From what Zhu Ziyang knew, there were no death-attribute soul beasts near Anyang City.
Third—and most importantly—cultivating death energy could cause others to mistake him for an evil soul master.
And that… would be disastrous.
After the fall of the Church era, the nobles and evil soul masters alike had risen to power. With no Spirit Hall to suppress them, evil soul masters had grown increasingly bold—so much so that they were rumored to have formed their own sect after ten thousand years of development.
So, did the empires do nothing? Zhu Ziyang wasn't sure about the Sun Moon Empire, but the three great empires held a clear stance: better to kill wrongly than to let one go.
However, those in power only talked. In reality, there was only one organization on the continent that truly hunted evil soul masters:
Shrek Academy.
As the top academy on the continent, Shrek took a strong and unwavering stand against evil soul masters.
Zhu Ziyang still hoped to attend Shrek. He didn't want to draw unwanted attention or trouble because of his martial soul.
By contrast, light was much more practical. It was just as powerful, but far more common than death. Light-attribute soul beasts were plentiful, didn't require tremendous strength to defeat, and crucially—they could be found near Anyang City!
Having access to suitable soul beasts nearby was an incredible advantage. It meant he wouldn't need to travel far for soul rings, saving both time and effort.
In the end, Zhu Ziyang decided to prioritize the light attribute and treat death as a secondary path.
"Sigh… this is the only way," he muttered, a little reluctantly.
In the end, it came down to one thing—lack of power.
"Ah!" He sighed again, then shook his head and said to himself, "Forget it. I'm only level 11. Level 20 is still far off. I'll worry about it later. For now, I need to get stronger. Time to cultivate!"
With that, he cleared his mind and sat cross-legged to begin training.
This would be his first cultivation session after absorbing a soul ring—and he was excited.
He got into position, closed his eyes, and prepared to meditate. Yet once again, his body instinctively started using the Little Radiance Breathing Technique. Zhu Ziyang paused for a moment but didn't stop the motion. Since his martial soul had awakened, the breathing technique had become just a regular breathing pattern—his Heart Center Acupoint's wisp of energy had remained completely still.
He had already given up on trying to understand it.
However… it seemed that the Little Radiance Breathing Technique sensed this abandonment. Because this time, when he practiced it again, the wisp of energy that had lain dormant for seven days suddenly stirred!
Startled, Zhu Ziyang's focus was instantly drawn to it, filled with curiosity.
The breathing cycle completed as usual. Normally, the wisp would return to his Heart Center.
But this time, it didn't. It kept moving.
Zhu Ziyang, closely monitoring it, noticed it charging straight toward his forehead—the Mud Pill Palace, also known as the Upper Dantian or Sea of Spirit—the place where soul masters store their spiritual power. For non-spiritual-type soul masters, this area typically only opened upon reaching the Soul Elder rank (three rings).
Zhu Ziyang was shocked to find that the wisp entered his Sea of Spirit without resistance. He followed it with his consciousness and realized—his Sea of Spirit had already been secretly activated.
The moment his awareness entered, his spiritual power surged throughout his body, flooding him with blissful sensation. It felt like ascending to immortality.
But he quickly calmed down and refocused his awareness, eager to find out what the mysterious wisp intended.
Inside his Sea of Spirit, he saw a bleak scene—only a small blue pond of average size and the wisp hovering above it. The rest was gray and foggy.
"This is my Sea of Spirit? It's so barren," Zhu Ziyang murmured. "That little pond is my spiritual energy? There's so much of it! Clearly, my Sea of Spirit was already open—and a newly awakened one shouldn't have this much spiritual power!"
His gaze settled on the wisp, filled with suspicion. "What are you?"
No response.
Then suddenly—BOOM! The wisp exploded into golden powder, instantly flooding his Sea of Spirit.
Moments later, sharp pain stabbed through his mind, and his vision blurred.
He lost consciousness.
Who knew how much time passed.
Inside the room, Zhu Ziyang slowly opened his eyes, astonishment and joy written all over his face.
"I never would've guessed… never!" he muttered. "The Little Radiance Breathing Technique—ha! It was actually the foundation of the Grand Radiance Art!"
It turned out that the breathing technique was just the introductory stage of a powerful cultivation art.
And that wisp of energy had been a legacy seed—containing the full inheritance of the Grand Radiance Art. Only those who cultivated that wisp to completion could receive the full technique. Once Zhu Ziyang reached level 11, it met the requirement, triggering the inheritance in the form of the wisp's explosion in his Sea of Spirit.
Now, he had gained the Grand Radiance Art.
He figured it must be something similar to a meditation technique—a way to circulate power.
But the art's origin was completely mysterious. His past-life memories had no trace of it. The only thing the inheritance provided was the mantra and the acupoint map for energy circulation.
To learn its true effects, he'd have to test it himself.
After a moment's pause, he decided to give it a try.
He sat down and began channeling his soul power along the route prescribed by the Grand Radiance Art. At first, the movement felt awkward and slow—but as he completed the cycle once, he became more fluent. Speed and ease followed.
During the process, he noticed something amazing: once his soul power left the dantian, it became imbued with light energy, which gradually fused into his bloodstream. This radiant soul power traveled until it reached his Heart Center Acupoint, then left in purified form to continue the cycle.
When he finally finished, his expression was one of excitement and elation.
He now understood the art's function.
If ordinary meditation methods were simply ways to circulate soul power, then the Grand Radiance Art was a higher-level method—one that refined soul power, bloodline, and spiritual power all at once.
Zhu Ziyang realized the art had at least four effects:
Cultivates soul power.
Cultivates spiritual power.
Strengthens the body.
Enhances affinity with light elements.
After just one night, he clearly felt all four—his spirit had grown, his body strengthened, and most importantly, the light attribute of the Radiant Scythe had become even stronger!
For someone who had just committed to the path of light, this was exactly the breakthrough he needed.