3. New Changes
The following day, Su Mo got up early, freshened up, and reopened the chest.
He laid out the 3 sets of 100 soul crystals containing Beast souls from Class 1 Lv 1, Class 2 Lv 1, and Class 3 Lv 1 beasts.
He was a transmigrator. Hence he knew some abilities of his Martial Soul.
It was capable of upgrade due to the MC halo. It could absorb Beasts Souls and Martial Souls. It could also absorb Herbs, Blood Qi, and all other Soul Essence sources to rank up.
He released his Martial Soul. A black vortex was visible over his head, ready to devour everything in sight.
He crushed a soul crystal, releasing a Class 1 Lv 1 Beast Soul. A Beast Soul for a beast was similar to the Martial Soul of humans. It could be captured in a soul crystal within few moments after the beast's death, unlike Martial Souls, which disperse at death.
The Black Hole Martial Soul swallowed the Beast Soul. Su Mo instantly felt that satiated. He felt something change in his Martial Soul, but it did not rank up.
At that moment, Su Mo realised that his transmigration has affected his Martial Soul. Black Hole Martial Soul required different types of Soul essences to rank up.
Su Mo recalled his Martial Soul, repacked the soul crystals to use later and picked up the few scrolls.
The scrolls recorded a few cultivation skills and martial techniques. Su Mo had specially asked his father for them.
Unlike the novels, It was not easy to change one's skills as and when required.
Cultivation Arts and Martial techniques were divided into 9 levels, further divided into Lower, Medium and Upper grades. As a person practised them, the body would form a habit accordingly, resulting in a sequela being left behind when practising a higher level skill.
Su Mo had planned his cultivation path beforehand accordingly. He picked two scrolls from cultivation arts.
[Pure Art] (Lv 1 Low grade) The Qi absorbed is filtered, resulting in a finer and versatile Qi.
[Dense Art] (Lv 1 Low grade) A more significant amount of the Qi absorbed is compacted, resulting in a more vigorous Qi.
These would be the most common cultivation arts in the Firmament. They would not leave any residue later when switching to a better one.
Su Mo wanted to test whether his Martial Soul could improve his comprehension.
Hence, he read both arts and started practising according to [Pure Art]. After completing one cycle, he switched to [Dense Art].
He felt a slight discomfort in his body due to the two types of Qi. He released his Martial Soul. He again felt comfortable, but the qi in his body depleted at a rapid pace.
He tried filtering the qi from the [Pure Art], out of his body with his Martial Soul's help and succeeded.
He recalled his Martial Soul, recultivated [Pure Art] and repeated the process but removed the qi form [Dense Art] this time. The success in both his endeavours delighted Su Mo.
He didn't remember the original Su Mo being able to do it.
Then he went a step further. Instead of filtering out the qi into the air, Su Mo tried to reabsorb it from the Martial Soul using the other art but failed to do so.
He wasn't discouraged; he tried a different approach. He tried to absorb the qi dispersed from Martial Soul into the air naturally. He felt no change except an increased Qi absorption rate.
Happy with his successful trials, Su Mo recalled his Martial Soul and rested for a while.
Su Mo had read various books on myriads of topics in 14 years. He was talented, but talent could only take one as far as to the end of one's knowledge bank.
He wanted to test one more thing. If he succeeded, Su Mo believed that he could rig the game.
He wanted to test whether his Martial Soul could aid his comprehension ability like the Martial God Space of Ye Xiwen.
He had already prepared a combined version of the two arts. The [Pure Art] and [Dense Art] were the two simplest arts that most people could alter with a bit of human anatomy knowledge.
He crushed a spirit stone to feed his Martial soul and practised the combined cultivation art. He didn't feel any change. Soon, the Spiritual Qi released by the spirit stone was entirely absorbed by him. He was disheartened but did not stop.
He suddenly felt a shaking in his Martial Soul. It began to lose its radiance gained after consuming the Beast Soul. Su Mo was shocked and scared. He felt as if his Martial Soul was crumbling.
He quickly crushed the 2 soul crystals of Class 1 Lv 1 beast, but the situation did not improve.
He threw caution to the wind and crushed a soul crystal containing Class 2 Lv 1 Beast Soul and absorbed it.
Soon his Martial Soul stabilised. He sighed in relief. Then, the feeling of being stretched like a balloon struck him.
He understood that Class 2 Lv 1 beast's soul essence was too much for his Martial Soul to handle. He waited for a bit and comprehended the combined cultivation art again.
As the feeling of bloated subsided, new ideas and comprehension dawned on him. He began to understand how the two arts can be combined as formulated a new cultivation art.
The bottle-neck of Lv 2 Qi Cultivation Realm also loosened.
Su Mo cultivated without pause and smoothly entered Lv 2 Qi Cultivation Realm.
With a Rank 1 Human Class Martial Soul, success in cultivating Lv 1 Qi Cultivation Realm in a month was considered pretty good.
After achieving break-through, Su Mo relaxed.
"Now, it's time for rest. Jumping 2 levels in a span of 24 hrs has left quite a strain on my body. Time to unwind a little. Also, let's call this new art [Refined Qi Art 1.0]."
Su Mo repacked everything in the chest. After having a look around the room and checking that everything was in place, he locked the door and went out for a stroll.
"What's the best part of transmigration? You get to slap face and kick ass anytime, anywhere. After all this isn't some law-abiding society."