Soul

After bidding Xia Hong farewell, Head Instructor Liu led Huang Tian to the Martial Restraint Guard's Book Pavilion. The Book Pavilion sat at the very rear of the government office complex. It had three stories, with blue roof tiles, red pillars, and upturned eaves like wings, presenting an exceedingly elegant sight. Outside the pavilion, a squad of blade-bearing stout guards stood watch. Further inside, a young clerk sat behind a desk, seemingly engrossed in reading a popular novel. Standing outside the Book Pavilion, Liu Kuo said, "The token Battalion Commander Xia gave you not only lets you enter the second floor to pick two martial arts, but also allows you to come and go from the Guard Academy as you please. "However, according to the rules, martial students only receive one rest day every twenty days to leave the academy. So unless it's to visit the Book Pavilion, try not to use it to go outside, lest you invite criticism." "Understood." "Good. Go on in. Remember, once you're on the second floor, don't rush into picking your martial techniques. Look around first and find the ones that suit you best." Martial techniques in this world had no such grading as Heaven, Earth, Black, or Yellow; there was only the distinction between martial arts and divine abilities. Divine abilities were wielded by legendary Celestial Beings beyond the Grandmaster realm, while martial arts were practiced by martial artists from the ninth to the first rank. Of course, if one insisted on categorizing the latter, they generally fell into common, subtle, and pinnacle tiers. The reason subtle and pinnacle tiers existed was that they involved manipulating "qi"—a domain only martial artists of the middle three ranks began to tread. All the martial arts on the second floor of the Book Pavilion were of the subtle tier. If a martial artist of the lower three ranks mastered one of them, even if they couldn't unleash its true power due to the lack of qi in their body, dealing with enemies of the same rank would still be effortless. Furthermore, once they broke through to the middle three ranks later on, they wouldn't need to switch techniques, saving a great deal of time and effort. After bidding Head Instructor Liu farewell, Huang Tian walked over to the squad of stout guards and presented the silver token Xia Hong had given him. One of the guards inspected it closely and waved him through, allowing him to smoothly step into the first floor of the Book Pavilion. The clerk, who had his head down reading his novel, glanced up at him. Seeing the silver token clutched in his hand, his expression shifted slightly. He discreetly closed the novel, rose to his feet, and said with an amiable smile: "With this silver token, you may peruse any text on the first floor at your leisure. If you need anything, let me know anytime. Or if you're looking for a specific book, just ask. I'll share everything I know without holding back." "Thank you." Expressing his thanks, Huang Tian looked around the first floor. Dozens of redwood bookshelves stood here, each holding nearly a hundred volumes. With just a rough estimate, he could tell there were thousands, even tens of thousands of various texts on the ground floor, the vast majority being miscellaneous notes and history books. Not in any hurry to head up to the second floor, he approached a bookshelf and pulled out a volume titled *History of the Dynasties*. "Ancient times are remote, impossible to verify... After antiquity came various dynasties such as Da Sheng, Da Ling, and Da Hong, all powerful states in their own right, dominating their surroundings. Six hundred years ago, the Taizu of Great Gan, possessing the form of a Celestial Being, founded a new dynasty, establishing the Martial Restraint Guard, the Six Doors, and the Black Armor Army to suppress the realm, bringing every major sect and faction to heel..." Having gained a general understanding of history past and present, he returned the volume and pulled out another titled *A Brief Account of Martial Realms*. "The beginning of martial arts requires training force, using force to nourish blood and qi. Blood and qi undergo three transformations. After the three transformations, one draws in the spiritual qi of heaven and earth to convert into internal qi, stepping into the middle three ranks. "Beyond the middle three ranks lies the Grandmaster, flying through the sky and tunneling through the earth, riding the wind across empty space. "Only after the Grandmaster realm comes the Celestial Being, whose lifespan exceeds three hundred years. Their every move carries mighty power and divine abilities. In wrath, the realm trembles; at peace, the world calms; a single person suffices to anchor an entire nation. "Beyond the Celestial Being lies the unknowable void. Only ancient legends claim that beyond Celestial Beings lies the Void Realm. At that time, five supreme experts of the Void Realm forged five divine armaments, relying on their power supplemented by divine abilities to breach the Void Origin Gate and ascend. "Yet the divine armaments were not carried away with them, remaining behind in this world. Over the past ten thousand years, however, no one has seen a true divine armament of the Void Realm. Legend holds that only when a great calamity befalls heaven and earth will the divine armaments emerge to assist their masters and avert catastrophe..." Five divine armaments! The Void Realm! Celestial Beings! *Grandmasters can already fly with their physical bodies, live up to three sixty-year cycles, and ravage miles around in a single strike, wiping out entire villages. That should be roughly equivalent to the Dao Foundation realm, though immortal cultivators at Dao Foundation live longer.* *As for Celestial Beings, they likely correspond to the Golden Core?* *And the legendary Void Realm must be the Soul realm...* Huang Tian felt a quiet swell of joy. He hadn't expected this world to possess information about the great realm of the Soul. Even if it was merely a few brief lines, he believed that great Soul experts had likely existed here. After all, this world had been known as the Five Directions Realm since ancient times, corresponding precisely to the five Void Realm experts and the five divine armaments. Were it not for ancient ancestors having witnessed Void Realm experts and their forged weapons, such a coincidence would hardly make sense. *Still, it's too early to ponder all that. First, set a small goal: break through to Celestial Being! Only then should I consider the Void Realm and the Soul...* Putting *A Brief Account of Martial Realms* back on the shelf, he continued leafing through numerous history books and miscellaneous records to broaden his understanding of this world. Only after about half an hour did he finally stop and turn to examine the various martial arts stored on the first floor. Even though most of these martial arts were exceedingly ordinary techniques, to Huang Tian, they were more important than the subtle martial arts he was allowed to pick two of—simply because there were so many of them! Hundreds, even thousands of distinct palm methods, fist styles, leg techniques, saber arts, sword styles, and more—practically encompassing every common martial technique found in the outside world! If anyone could cultivate all these techniques to perfection, they would be well worthy of being called a "Martial Arts Master." Yet that was mere fantasy. How could anyone study and master so many martial arts unless they spent decades or centuries specifically practicing them? And who could possibly do that! Realm! Realm was always the most important thing! No one would be foolish enough to devote themselves entirely to martial techniques. Except for those with energy to spare. *Like me.* Huang Tian threw himself wholeheartedly into the vast sea of books. "Mountain Collapsing Fist, Tiger Subduing Fist, Flowing Stream Palm, Dragon-Elephant Demon-Subduing Fist, Three Suns Archery, Single Qi Spear Method, Streaming Light Phantom Sword Technique..." One martial technique after another entered his eyes, etched into his memory, and then rehearsed at lightning speed within his mind—from entry to mastery, and straight to perfection! Time slipped slowly by. The sun sank into the west, and soft orange light filtered through the window lattice, resting upon the popular novel. The clerk yawned and looked up, only to see the young man still head-down and single-minded, seemingly tireless. What was more, his method was bizarre. A book was merely flipped through—purely browsed! A cursory glance, then rapidly turning the pages, without thinking, without savoring, as though he were searching for something hidden within the pages. Shaking his head in bafflement, the clerk cleared his throat lightly to remind Huang Tian. "There are only three quarters of an hour before the Book Pavilion closes. If you're looking for a particular book, you'd better hurry. If not, you can come back tomorrow." "Alright." Huang Tian's page-turning paused, and he gave a brief reply before burying his head back into the book. About three quarters of an hour later, the sun sank behind the mountains, stars and moon revealed themselves, and darkness fell almost completely over the Book Pavilion. Only then did Huang Tian rise and take his leave. As he walked, however, his gaze lacked focus, clearly still immersed in the countless martial techniques. Leaving the Martial Restraint Guard government office, he entered the Guard Academy and walked to the Jia District of the Upper Quarters. "Huang Tian!" A chilled voice halted him. Huang Tian came back to his senses, stopped, and turned his head to look. Standing with hands behind his back at the doorway of Room Jia Six, where Huang Rui resided, Huang Qian was staring coldly at him.