Although absorbing and refining the pure soul power from the system had raised Lin Yu's cultivation directly to the level of Soul King, he wasn't about to get arrogant. He had yet to fully understand the techniques of his Chaos Green Lotus Martial Spirit, and he also hadn't completely mastered the Xuanwu True Skill or the Extinction Spear Technique.
Despite all his power—the Longevity Formula, Xuanwu True Skill, Extinction Spear Technique, the dual martial spirits of Chaos Green Lotus and Golden Sacred Dragon, plus three pieces of attached spirit bone—he knew he had a long way to go before he could fully realize his potential. Theoretically, if he could completely harness all his abilities, he could easily defeat a Soul Sage! But with less than six months since acquiring all this, there was still much to learn and refine.
With his cultivation having made a significant leap, Lin Yu tweaked his training regimen to ensure he was mastering his abilities rather than spreading himself too thin. He had too many skills and secret techniques to train all at once, so he chose to focus on a few key ones that were most beneficial to him right now.
First, the Longevity Formula was his main cultivation method, and he planned to continue practicing it diligently. Next, for the Xuanwu True Skill, he chose to focus on four key techniques: Dragon Claw of the Ancient Bones, Goldfinger Harmony, Fierce Legs, and the Meihua Dodge Technique.
Since the Golden Sacred Dragon Martial Spirit gave him claws when he summoned it, he had a natural advantage for cultivating the Dragon Claw of the Ancient Bones and Goldfinger Harmony. The Fierce Legs technique would complement the claw and finger attacks, while the Meihua Dodge Technique was more suited for evasion in battle compared to the Water Dance, which was better for pure speed but not as useful in combat situations. The Water Dance would now just be a backup since it paled in comparison to the Wind Thunder Wings from his external soul bone.
As for the Extinction Spear Technique, although it was incredibly powerful, its difficulty level was also immense. Since his Chaos Green Lotus Martial Spirit hadn't yet granted him the Spear of Godslaying soul skill, he decided not to focus too much energy on it for now. He'd let his Upper Purity Clone handle the spear training, while his main body concentrated on mastering the Five Hearts to Heaven Training Method from the Guide to Life and Death.
The Five Hearts to Heaven method, drawn from the Swallowed Star universe, was a gene energy cultivation technique that paired with the Guide to Life and Death to significantly accelerate energy absorption. The full set of techniques Lin Yu had received from the system included not just the Extinction Spear Technique, but also the associated movement skills and energy absorption methods.
In the Swallowed Star universe, you needed a certain level of physical strength—akin to that of a warrior—before practicing the Five Hearts to Heaven method. Specifically, one needed a punch strength of 900 kilograms and a speed of 25 meters per second, without relying on external energy like soul power.
Although the dragon essence Lin Yu had previously absorbed had enhanced his body, he hadn't fully reached those benchmarks. However, after advancing to the Soul King level and absorbing four 10,000-year spirit rings, his physical strength had improved substantially, making him now fully qualified to start the technique.
…
In the following days, Lin Yu maintained a consistent training schedule. Most of the time, his Upper Purity Clone handled appearances at Nuoding Academy, while Lin Yu's main body focused on cultivating in the academy's back mountain. The training regimen had shifted as well: in the mornings, he focused on the Dragon Claw, Goldfinger, Fierce Legs, and Meihua Dodge techniques; in the afternoons, he practiced the Longevity Formula; and at night, he trained in the Guide to Life and Death and the Five Hearts to Heaven gene energy method.
Within fifteen days, Lin Yu succeeded in sensing the energy of the universe and mastered both the Five Hearts to Heaven and the Guide to Life and Death techniques. The first time he succeeded, he experienced a huge surge in his physical strength. After testing with a spirit tool he purchased, he found his punch power had increased by nearly 2,000 kilograms, bringing his total strength to almost 4,000 pounds!
While subsequent training didn't yield the same dramatic increase, the progress was still impressive. After just 15 days, his physical strength had reached a level where his punch exceeded 6,000 pounds, and his speed surpassed 40 meters per second.
And that was just his base form! When he activated the Golden Sacred Dragon Martial Spirit, his physical strength would increase even further. At his current level, Lin Yu estimated that his body could now rival that of a top-tier Beast Martial Spirit Soul Elder in their fully augmented state.
With the Golden Sacred Dragon spirit active, he estimated his strength would be comparable to a fully powered Soul Emperor with a top-tier Beast Martial Spirit!
As for fighting a Soul Sage, however, Lin Yu still felt unprepared. The gap between Soul Emperor and Soul Sage was significant, as the Soul Sage's seventh soul skill, the Martial Spirit Avatar, provided an enormous boost in power. Lin Yu wasn't confident about facing that just yet. But once he gained more combat experience and fully mastered his abilities, defeating a Soul Sage wouldn't be out of reach.
For practice, Lin Yu had already planned to head to the border between the Heaven Dou Empire and the Star Luo Empire, where chaos reigned. He figured that fighting bandits and thieves in that area would help him hone his skills. But for now, it wasn't the right time.
Recently, Lin Yu's food consumption has skyrocketed due to his enhanced physical condition from gene energy cultivation. What was once enough money to last him years—a thousand gold soul coins—was nearly gone in just over a month. Even with the help of his Fifth Soul Skill: Universe Cauldron, which allowed him to refine food into easy-to-absorb elixirs, the costs were still piling up.
With his funds running low, Lin Yu started thinking about ways to earn more money. He came up with the idea of opening a restaurant with help from Xiao Chenyu, a classmate who was infamous for his wild imagination, and the City Lord's mansion. Lin Yu figured he could provide the recipes and management ideas while they provided the manpower and initial capital.
Lin Yu wasn't just a fan of anime and novels in his past life—he also loved watching food videos. Living alone, he had learned to cook quite well. He was confident that with his skills, opening a successful restaurant would be easy.
Convincing Xiao Chenyu and his father would be simple enough; showing them his hundred-year-old first spirit ring should do the trick. Since Lin Yu had arrived at the academy, everyone there, including the teachers, assumed he was a descendant of a prominent family or powerful sect. Xiao Chenyu, the "king of assumptions," was no exception.
But before Lin Yu had a chance to approach Xiao Chenyu about the business idea, the fifteenth day had arrived.
The tenth livestream was about to begin!
Note: If you are interested you can read up to chapter 133 at patreon.com/MythMosaic.