Chapter 4: Confirming a Theory

"Know the truth, but also know the reasons behind it."

Su Wen at first paid little attention to the whereabouts of his Soul Power when cultivating at the tenth level.

After all, things that no one had ever been able to figure out were generally subconsciously ignored. It wasn't until Su Wen truly reached the tenth level, coupled with his exceptionally strong perception, that he remembered the strangeness of this situation.

'The conclusion given by the Grandmaster is obviously supported by a large amount of data. That means, Soul Power cultivated after the tenth level is indeed being stored somewhere but he thinks it doesn't serve any purpose'

'However, this Soul Power that is being stored might not be without use!'

Su Wen focused his senses on himself, entering into a meditative state, repeatedly feeling the Soul Power he had cultivated.

He felt as if he was a bucket full of water that was overflowing, but that excess water was dissapearing somewhere specific! Su Wen continuously sensed himself, introspecting every subtle change within his meridians, until he sensed a trace of abnormality.

"This feeling is similar to what I felt before awakening my Martial Spirit."

Before awakening his Martial Spirit, Su Wen could vaguely sense his own Martial Spirit, but he couldn't sense it clearly. It was merely a kind of intuition. With this intuition, he could sense the strength of the Innate Soul Power within the gestating Martial Spirit.

Then, by comparing whether the Innate Soul Power had increased, he gradually created his external training movements, ultimately developing a method to increase his Innate Soul Power.

Now, feeling this special situation again, Su Wen classified it as a special space within his body where the Martial Spirit and the excess Soul Power exist.

"The Martial Spirit is the intermediate product of the fusion of the soul and the physical body. Spiritual and soul powers of a soul master emerge afterward.The martial soul acts as a bridge between the two, facilitating the manifestation of these powers."

This is Su Wen's summary of his understanding of Martial Spirits.

Martial Spirit exists on a special level. It is both as illusory as the soul, without substance, and as substantial as the flesh, manifesting externally.

"If Soul Power cultivated after each complete ten levels continues to be stored in another special space, then what is the significance of this space?"

"Perhaps it's not another special space, but rather the Space where the Martial Spirits resides when they aren't manifested"

After all, after obtaining the Spirit Ring, these stored Soul Powers will manifest along with the Spirit Ring, becoming the Spirit Master's true Soul Power, enhancing the level of Soul Power. That's why some people when they breakthrough can jump multiple levels.

"The reason why it cannot be manifested now is because the bucket is full and cannot be poured in anymore, so it stays in that special space."

Su Wen continued to speculate.

However, while making assumptions, he also conducted verifications based on his own knowledge, examining whether his theory had any flaws.

"No, it's not that it cannot be poured in." Sensing that the meridians within his body were far from filled with Soul Power, Su Wen changed his wording: "It should be that it cannot be outputted anymore!"

The Martial Spirit reaches a limit where it no longer provides the ability to generate more Soul Power.

Therefore, this stored portion is not genuine Soul Power. It should lack certain qualities imparted by the Martial Spirit, thus remaining in the space where the Martial Spirit resides.

'It better to consider it a different type of power... Let's call it Origin Soul Power.'

According to his understanding, Su Wen decided to define this portion of Soul Power as Origin Soul Power.

"After obtaining the Spirit Ring, The Martial Spirit grows in capability and can continue bestowing certain qualities upon the Origin Soul Power, thus truly transforming it into Soul Power."

Although this theory seemed logical, Su Wen felt it's still insufficient.

This is merely a conclusion without problems.

But so far, it hasn't proven useful to Su Wen.

What's the point of establishing a useless theory?

"Origin Soul Power is the core of my theory, and closely related to Origin Soul Power is the process of absorbing the Spirit Rings." Su Wen felt he's grasped the key: "Yes, after the Spirit Ring is absorbed, there's also a feedback of Soul Power. If Origin Soul Power and the Soul Power brought by the Spirit Ring are consistent, can Origin Soul Power be integrated into the evolution of the Martial Spirit during the absorption of the Spirit Ring?"

Su Wen took a deep breath, feeling a slight excitement in his heart.

He had finally found an opportunity for his Martial Spirit to truly evolve!

"There's one more thing."

Su Wen knew that this kind of exploration couldn't be accomplished overnight, nor could it be solely advanced theoretically; it required practical application.

"Firstly, I need to be able to sense the Martial Spirit Space and have some perception and control over the Origin Soul Power."

Su Wen possessed extraordinary perceptual talents, which was his greatest confidence.

"By using the birth of Origin Soul Power, I can sense its direction. If I can expend Origin Soul Power and sense it, combining these two processes might allow me to quickly sense the Martial Spirit Space and control the Origin Soul Power."

As for consuming Origin Soul Power...

"Controlling the characteristics of the Martial Soul, Soul Power will be consumed... I can exhaust it this way!"

Su Wen infused Soul Power into his Martial Spirit, and the dull Heavenly Book unfolded. Three pages separated, swirling around him, swiftly and started transforming. The intensity and form of the pages changed rapidly, folding into the shape of paper swords.

The best way to consume Soul Power is to strengthen the Martial Spirit with it.

While the Martial Spirit has its own strength, consuming Soul Power can empower it, temporarily enhancing the strength and resilience of the Martial Spirit's pages.

However, the consumption is not as cost-effective as Spirit Skills. Which is why this method is rarely used for combat.

As Su Wen's Soul Power got depleted, he began to restore it.

"I shouldn't absorb the energies from the outside world; I must seek it internally from the Martial Spirit Space."

If Su Wen doesn't restore his Soul Power through meditation, his soul power will absorb the vitality of heaven and earth on its own and return to his original upper limit. Albeit at a slower rate than if he was actively restoring it.

This is the self-recovery characteristic of Soul Power.

"Using this passive recovery, perhaps, part of the original soul power can be sucked out from the Martial Spirit Space no matter how small!"

Su Wen was fully focused, sensing the source of his Soul Power recovery within his body.

He noticed that not all of it was converted from the energy of the heavens and earth; a small portion of it was indeed replenished by Origin Soul Power.

"As expected."

He sensed it.

Absorb! Absorb! Absorb!

Su Wen continuously reinforced this process, constantly using his strong perception to increase the absorption rate of the Origin Soul Power.

When his Soul Power was fully restored, he continued to cultivate, striving to sense the birth and recovery of the Origin Soul Power in the Martial Spirit Space, and then he would repeat the previous step of consuming his Soul Power to absorb the Origin Soul Power from there, sensing its consumption.

After many experiments. He gradually began to figure out some tricks.

"One of the biggest achievements is that my Soul Power recovery speed can be increased with this method"

Using Origin Soul Power to restore Soul Power, as long as it can be "sucked" out from the Martial Spirit Space, it's almost instantly converted to usable Soul Power.

It's much faster than absorbing the energy of the heavens and earth.

After all, it's an energy that belonged to the Spirit Master in the first place through his own diligent cultivation.

"So, continuing to cultivate after every ten levels is actually equivalent to increasing my Soul Power limit through creating a hidden reserve for energy huh... How useful"

"Su Wen!"

While Su Wen was in the midst of training, a voice came.

Opening his eyes and looking at Lin Tian in front of him, he frowned, "What's wrong?"

Lin Tian was also a working student, a lackey of Wang Sheng.

"You are indeed training in the dormitory. Stop practicing for now, there's a fight going on!"

'A fight? again with these childish act?'

Su Wen didn't need to think too much to know it was a conflict between working students and other students.

"It seems Boss Xiao got into a conflict with Xiaopang, and Xiaopang got beaten."

"Xiaopang got beaten?" Su Wen frowned.

Sun Xiaopang came from the same village as him, and with Old Jerry's advice, Xiaopang had always listened to Su Wen. Moreover, for over a year, all of Su Wen's homeworks were completed by him so hearing he got beaten annoyed him.