"Once you're at the Spirit Master academy, you must listen to the teachers and become a Spirit Master as soon as possible. Our Holy Spirit Village will finally have a Spirit Master this time."
Old Jack was happy throughout the entire journey.
Tang San had awakened with innate full Spirit Power, and Su Ming also had fifth-rank innate Spirit Power. Both would undoubtedly become Spirit Masters.
As long as one was a Spirit Master, they were considered above ordinary people.
The enrollment process was just as imagined: a difficult gatekeeper, the Grandmaster happening to pass by, and Tang San being called away separately to be taken as a disciple.
Su Ming didn't pay it much mind. He completed his registration, tidied up his dormitory, and then took a walk around the academy.
After familiarizing himself with everything, he found a suitable cultivation spot for himself—the back mountain.
"The Martial Spirit is the Martial Spirit, the body is the body. When the two entangle, the body affects the Martial Spirit, and the Martial Spirit also affects the body."
Su Ming closed his eyes to meditate, pondering the characteristics of the Body Soul.
"As Spirit Power cultivation progresses, my body will definitely grow stronger, and the Martial Spirit will naturally strengthen along with it. But the human body has limits. The Martial Spirit will also be trapped, and might even, after reaching this limit,in turn hinder my Spirit Power cultivation."
"This is the Body Soul."
What was the conventional limit?
Su Ming pondered.
Was it the node before the Secondary Awakening?
The simplest model was naturally the Spirit Master and the Martial Spirit growing synchronously, reaching the limit at the Spirit King or Spirit Emperor stage. Then the Spirit Master would complete the Body Soul's Secondary Awakening, breaking through this shackle to continue cultivating.
But was the limit of the human body really that high?
"My body is influencing the Martial Spirit. In turn, the Martial Spirit should also influence the body, helping it break through constraints, giving the body greater potential to tap into, exceeding that of an ordinary Spirit Master's body."
"And the ways I can think of for the Martial Spirit to influence the body are only through Spirit Rings and Spirit Skills."
Spirit Rings went without saying; each one was a comprehensive transformation of the Spirit Master, with massive influence.
Spirit Skills were another key point.
The Body Soul originated from the body, yet it existed in the form of a Martial Spirit.
It was merely an intersection between the Martial Spirit and the Spirit Master's body, not a complete overlap. It still had characteristics entirely belonging to a Martial Spirit.
"The body, and the Body Soul, have differences, fundamental differences," Su Ming thought to himself. "The Body Soul has much greater operability. It can be comprehensively tempered with Spirit Power without worrying about being unable to withstand it. And as long as the effects of this tempering are synchronized to the body, it becomes a supreme body refining method."
"So the Body Sect excels in various combat techniques, likely by using the Martial Spirit to reversely temper the body."
"Twenty thousand years later, they even developed a system of physical strength, pushing the development of the Martial Spirit's influence on the body to the extreme."
Su Ming had reasoned out these essentials himself, but he lacked actual methods.
"Wait. Wait for my future self ten thousand years from now to join the Body Sect, then I can learn combat techniques." (PS: When the protagonist is thinking, it's from the perspective of the specific protagonist doing the thinking—'ten thousand years in the future', 'twenty thousand years in the future', or 'ten thousand years in the past', 'twenty thousand years in the past'.)
"Of course, I myself cannot give up on independently developing combat techniques,i.e., self-created Spirit Skills."
"I actually possess not this era's Spirit Master techniques and cultivation experience, but the experience from twenty thousand years later. Self-creating Spirit Skills is not impossible."
In the blink of an eye, the sky darkened. Su Ming opened his eyes and stopped meditating.
After eating, he returned to the dormitory and continued meditating.
The next day.
Su Ming got up early, left the academy, and came to a blacksmith shop not far from the academy.
He had made up his mind. Since he possessed a Body Soul, he was the most suitable for the Blacksmith secondary profession. It was time to start practicing forging.
It wasn't just a matter of Martial Spirit configuration; another important point was the environment of the era he was in.
In an environment where rare metals were already hard to find, he could only go to the Metal City, Gengxin City, to find enough suitable metal.
This era did have rare metals; the Douluo Continent wasn't completely devoid of them. But the quantity was small, and there was no ability to effectively utilize the properties of these rare metals.
The best way to find suitable metal in Gengxin City was to join the association there.
"The biggest problem isn't learning forging or finding rare metals, but whether a forging system exists in this era."
Forging didn't develop overnight.
The Blacksmith system also only emerged at a special node.
Su Ming suspected the forging system's establishment was inseparable from the evolution of the plane's laws.
"Boss, are you hiring apprentices?"
Duan's Blacksmith Shop.
Several burly men were shirtless, swinging large hammers. Hearing Su Ming's young voice, they all glanced up.
"Kid, with your build, you probably can't even lift a hammer, right?"
Su Ming said, "I've awakened my Martial Spirit, and I have Spirit Power. My Martial Spirit can also provide an all-around boost to my body. I should still be able to do some apprentice work."
Hearing Su Ming's words, the shop owner, Duan Tie, held out the large hammer in his hand.
"Come, let me see what strength you have."
Su Ming stepped forward and reached out to take the hammer.
Duan Tie slowly let go, feeling the hammer sink slightly but was held. He released it completely.
Su Ming manifested his Martial Spirit, Spirit Power flowing through his body.
The large hammer Duan Tie handed over was very heavy. The handle alone was 1.2 meters long. The hammerhead was a rectangular block with slightly rounded edges, larger than three of Su Ming's heads combined.
"Good!"
Duan Tie exclaimed in approval seeing Su Ming hold the hammer.
"Try to see if you can swing it."
Su Ming nodded, gripped the hammer handle with both hands, slowly raised the hammer, then slammed it down onto the anvil. He repeated this action over a dozen times.
From Su Ming's hammer-swinging movements, Duan Tie could tell he had no experience in forging whatsoever, but he wasn't dismissive.
Having strength was enough.
After all, he was just an apprentice, usually fetching tea and water, occasionally given some light forging tasks.
"Working here is much harder than going to school. If you can accept the conditions here, you can be an apprentice. No wages initially, since your skills are too poor to take orders. But meals are provided. Once your skills are up to par, I'll give you one Silver Spirit Coin a month, same as everyone else. I'll add more if business is good."
Su Ming thanked him, "Thank you, boss."
Duan Tie laughed heartily. "Not many Spirit Masters are interested in forging these days."
Students from the Spirit Master academy, even work-study students, had academy tasks to complete. Helping the academy with cleaning every day was enough to cover academy life; there was no need to come out and work as a blacksmith for money.
Su Ming coming to the blacksmith shop meant he either wanted to experience it or was genuinely interested in forging.
"No prior foundation in forging, right?"
Duan Tie told the other blacksmiths to continue working and led Su Ming indoors alone.
"None," Su Ming answered truthfully.
"I won't pay you wages initially. As for a forging hammer, you can use this old one I phased out." Duan Tie said, scanning the iron blocks indoors and picking one of moderate size.
Su Ming stepped forward, lifted the forging hammer Duan Tie mentioned, and tested its weight.
This hammer was much lighter than the one outside, but swinging it still required full effort.
"Your task today is to beat this iron block into a long strip. Don't use brute force; take it slow. It's best if you can find the technique."
...
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(End of Chapter)