Another year quietly passed.
Without anyone realizing it, Su Yuxuan had reached the age of five.
The changes in his body were becoming increasingly noticeable.
Among the children of the same age, he stood nearly half a head taller.
Even compared to some six-year-olds, the difference was no longer insignificant.
His arms and legs had become lean and well-proportioned, lacking the softness most children still possessed.
It wasn't the physique of someone who lifted heavy objects.
Rather, it was the body of a child who spent every day running, swimming, and playing beneath the open sky.
His stamina was even more impressive.
While the other children would collapse onto the grass after an afternoon of games, panting heavily, Yuxuan could still smile and continue playing if he wished.
Naturally, he never did.
He always pretended to be just as tired as everyone else.
Standing out too much was never his goal.
---
One afternoon, Yuxuan arrived at the village entrance just as a familiar figure returned from the nearby Spirit Beast Forest.
A middle-aged man carrying a long spear over his shoulder smiled upon seeing him.
"Yuxuan!"
The boy waved happily.
"Uncle Huang!"
The man was Huang Zhikai, one of Holy Spirit Village's few active soul masters.
Unlike ordinary hunters, Huang Zhikai possessed a weapon martial soul known as the Flame Pattern Spear.
His innate soul power wasn't particularly high, and after years of cultivation, he had only reached Rank 17 Soul Master.
Although he lacked the strength to hunt powerful soul beasts, dealing with ordinary ten-year soul beasts posed little difficulty.
Especially soft Bone Rabbits.
He lowered the large basket strapped to his back, Inside lay several cleaned rabbit carcasses.
"Hunted quite a few today."
"You came at the perfect time."
Yuxuan looked inside with bright eyes "As expected of Uncle Huang."
The hunter laughed heartily "Your mouth has become sweeter lately."
He selected the fattest rabbit before handing it over "Take this one."
Yuxuan immediately shook his head "I'll pay."
"Nonsense." Huang Zhikai waved his hand dismissively.
"It's only a ten-year Soft Bone Rabbit."
"Besides, your grandfather and father helped me more than once back then."
"Just think of this as returning an old favor."
Yuxuan remained firm.
"My grandfather always said that hunters risk their lives for every hunt."
"I can't just accept it for free."
Seeing the stubborn look on the child's face, Huang Zhikai sighed helplessly.
"You really are just like Old Su."
After a brief moment, he accepted the silver soul coins Yuxuan handed over.
"Fine."
"But next time, don't insist so much."
Yuxuan smiled.
"Thank you, Uncle Huang."
Walking home with the rabbit meat in hand, memories surfaced within his mind.
His grandfather, Su Lie, had once been the village's strongest hunter.
His Snake Pattern Bow martial soul excelled at long-range attacks.
Combined with his Rank 22 cultivation, hunting fifty-year soul beasts wasn't impossible.
As a result, the Su family had rarely lacked soul beast meat.
Unfortunately.
After his grandfather's death, Huang Zhikai became the village's primary soul master hunter.
Although his Flame Pattern Spear possessed decent offensive power, it required close combat.
For safety's sake, he usually hunted only ten-year soul beasts.
Still that was more than enough for Yuxuan.
After returning home, he skillfully prepared dinner.
Soon the rich aroma of roasted rabbit filled the small house.
Old Jack inhaled deeply "That smells wonderful."
Yuxuan smiled while serving him a bowl "Eat while it's hot, Grandpa."
Old Jack looked at the generous portion of rabbit meat before frowning slightly.
"You've been buying soul beast meat quite often lately."
"It isn't cheap."
Yuxuan scratched his head sheepishly "I've been getting hungry more easily."
Old Jack laughed.
"Growing children eat a lot."
"That's normal."
He picked up a piece of rabbit meat and nodded approvingly "Huang Zhikai's cooking advice seems to have helped."
Yuxuan smiled but said nothing, the increased appetite wasn't simply because he was growing.
It was because of his training, continuous physical exercise consumed far more energy than ordinary play.
Without enough nutrition his progress would slow considerably.
Fortunately.
His family's savings were more than sufficient to support this lifestyle.
After dinner, Yuxuan sat cross-legged in his room.
He quietly circulated his breathing according to the meditation methods recorded in his grandmother's cultivation journal.
Although he hadn't awakened his martial soul yet and couldn't cultivate soul power.
Meditation still helped calm the mind and improve concentration.
More importantly.
The soul beast meat he had eaten every day over the past year wasn't merely delicious.
In his previous life, many readers overlooked this detail.
But the original novels repeatedly hinted that soul beast meat contained rich vitality.
For ordinary people, eating it regularly strengthened the body.
For children who had yet to awaken their martial souls, it laid a stronger physical foundation before cultivation even began.
As for soul masters, the benefits became much smaller.
It couldn't directly raise soul power by any significant amount.
However, over many years, the accumulated nourishment was still better than eating ordinary meat.
Perhaps.
That was one of the reasons why wealthy soul master families produced talented descendants more frequently.
They had access to resources commoners could only dream of.
Yuxuan slowly opened his eyes "So many people only focus on spirit rings, They forget that cultivation begins long before the first spirit ring."
A strong body.
Healthy organs.
Abundant vitality.
These things might not immediately increase one's rank, But they determined how much strain the body could endure in the future.
He lowered his gaze to his small hands, Compared to a year ago they were stronger.
Steadier.
Calluses had begun forming on his palms from practicing archery with the simple wooden bow his grandfather had left behind.
He smiled faintly "There is only one more year, Then my martial soul will awaken."
Whatever martial soul he inherited
Whether it was his father's Snake Pattern Longbow, His mother's Blue Silver Grass or even his grandmother's Sacred Sea Pearl.
He would accept it without regret.
Because he had already prepared everything within his power.
The rest would depend on fate.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hey Author here! 👋
A few information for those who Is reading this Story.
1. My Main language is not English so there will be some or plenty of Grammatical error along with mistakes.
2. The story update is Once per day until the story Reach CH 15 or 20, depending on my Free time as I have work.
3. If I haven't update the story for more than two or three days it means that I am busy with work but I will Gave an explanation if I cant update for more than three days.