Triggering a treasure chest in Douluo Continent

Chapter 5 Shi Jian: What is a Martial Soul?

Boom boom boom!

Shi Quan hurried to the mud-sculpted house behind the courtyard, knocking on the door and softly calling out, "Dad?"

Click, click.

A short while later, the sound of the lock being released came from inside the room, and the door opened, revealing Shi Jian's tall figure.

"Come in." Shi Jian nodded.

Clang, snap.

Another sound of a door closing and locking came from the inside. To prevent disturbance from others, the door of the clay sculpture house could be locked from the inside, so that people outside could not easily enter.

Once the main door was closed, the entire mud-sculpted house appeared somewhat dim.

There was only one window in the entire room, and the window was set up very high, making it difficult for ordinary people to see inside from the outside. Moreover, Shi Jian was making clay sculptures right below the window, so even if you looked into the room from the window, you couldn't see Shi Jian's actions.

"Xiao Quan, come here."

A chair has been added next to where Shi Jian usually makes clay sculptures; it seems to have been prepared specifically for Shi Quan.

As soon as Shi Quan sat down, Shi Jian suddenly asked him, "Little Quan, what do you think a martial spirit is to us?"

After a slight pause, Shi Quan slowly said, "Doesn't the book say that martial spirits are a kind of inheritance of our bloodline?"

Shi Jian smiled and said, "That's what the book says, but I don't think so."

"Dad, what do you think a martial soul is?" Upon hearing Shi Jian's question, Shi Quan immediately became curious.

"I think martial spirits originate from the power within us. They may be related to bloodlines, but they are definitely not just bloodlines. After all, our ancestors couldn't have been just a lump of mud, right?"

"It really could be a lump of mud!"

Upon hearing Shi Jian's words, Shi Quan thought to himself, after all, he had encountered something like time travel. In the myths and legends of his previous life, weren't humans created by Nuwa from clay?

Although he thought this to himself, Shi Quan naturally couldn't say it aloud. Instead, he asked, "Dad, what do you mean?"

Shi Jian continued calmly, "In my view, a martial spirit is a manifestation of inner strength, a part of our body. Even without soul power, it can still be controlled by our own will!"

Shi Jian's voice remained steady, but as he finished speaking, he appeared much more robust and imposing.

Shi Quan gripped the chair tighter, his eyes widening as he stared blankly at Shi Jian. For some reason, he felt that Shi Jian was a completely different person. There was no trace of soul power fluctuation on his body, but at this moment, he gave people a sense of solidity and stability, like the earth itself, making people feel that he was very reliable.

"Did you feel it?" Shi Jian smiled, and his whole demeanor returned to normal.

Shi Quan suddenly stood up and angrily said to Shi Jian, "Dad, you still say you're not a master?"

"Don't be arrogant or impatient." Shi Jian shook his head at Shi Quan, gesturing for him to sit down, and then slowly said, "Your father is just an ordinary person. What I just demonstrated was the inner strength I mentioned, which is the power of your martial spirit. Release your martial spirit first."

"good!"

Shi Quan nodded. Perhaps influenced by Shi Jian, his restless heart calmed down, and he became more composed. His soul power surged, and a faint blue light appeared in his hand. In an instant, a small, blue grass appeared in his hand.

"Blue Silver Grass." Shi Jian looked at it and then said, "Xiao Quan, can you bend the left leaf of your Blue Silver Grass down?"

"I'll give it a try." Although Shi Quan didn't understand Shi Jian's purpose, he still tried very actively. But after trying, he realized how difficult it was. It wasn't difficult to bend the entire Blue Silver Grass, but controlling individual branches and leaves was not an option.

After numerous attempts, Shi Quan's brows were furrowed into a deep frown, but he still couldn't do it.

"That's enough, Xiao Quan."

Shi Jian also spoke at the right moment, then raised his right hand. Earthy yellow light condensed and turned into a palm-sized lump of mud in his hand, which was Shi Jian's martial soul mud.

"Look."

As Shi Jian finished speaking, he immediately became focused, and the soil in his hand began to move the next second.

Under Shi Quan's astonished gaze, the lump of soil began to change into various shapes: ovals, squares, rectangles. Not only that, the soil even began to change size and transform into more complex things. Tables, chairs, pots, pans and utensils of different sizes were transformed in his hands in just a few breaths.

However, this was not the limit of Shi Jian's strength. When the soil turned into a clump again, it began to show subtle changes.

Clay sculpting!

In less than a quarter of an hour, a lifelike clay sculpture of a little bird appeared in Shi Jian's hand. Throughout the entire process, Shi Jian did not even move an inch. The clay spirit in his hand seemed to have its own consciousness and directly transformed into the shape of a little bird.

Shi Quan, standing to the side, was so shocked by what he saw that he was speechless.

To the best of his knowledge, he had never heard of anyone who could control their Martial Soul to such a delicate degree, especially without any Soul Power.

Shi Quan felt his throat was dry and hoarse. After a long while, he finally came to his senses and asked, "Dad... how... did you do that!"

Shi Jian raised his finger and pointed to his heart. "This is what I mean by inner strength. In my opinion, the martial spirit is a part of the body and a manifestation of our inner will. As long as we understand our own hearts and our inner strength is firm enough, then the martial spirit itself can be controlled by us and act according to our will."

"Dad, what should I do?"

Shi Quan's eyes lit up; he hadn't expected that the secret of Shi Jian's clay sculpture was this.

In Shi Quan's view, Shi Jian's special method of controlling his martial soul was far more exaggerated than the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School's distraction control.

It can be called Martial Soul Mastery. It allows one to control their Martial Soul to make any move even without Soul Power. This may not have much impact on Beast Martial Souls and Weapon Martial Souls, but for Plant-type and Elemental-type Martial Souls, mastering Martial Soul Mastery will definitely lead to a qualitative leap in strength.

He didn't know how Shi Jian did it, but he understood why Shi Jian was so careful and always made clay sculptures alone.

If the secret of Shi Jian's ability to control his martial soul so freely were to get out, his family would never have peace.

"Your martial spirit is different from mine, but the path is the same. I can only teach you based on my previous insights. I'm not sure if you can learn it."

Shi Jian clenched his right hand, and the clay bird sculpture in his hand materialized and landed in his palm.

This is what makes Shi Jian's mutated earth spirit special. Ordinary weapon spirits can only be used by the user after they are released. Once the spirit is retrieved, the object will disappear. However, Shi Jian's mutated earth spirit can be created like a food spirit, turning into a real object.

Because Shi Jian lacks soul power, although his earth martial soul can materialize into a physical form, there is a certain limit to the number he can produce, and he cannot create them indefinitely.

Hearing Shi Jian's words, Shi Quan slowly recovered from his shock, smiled mysteriously, and said, "Dad, I'm sure I can learn it, because..."

As he spoke, Shi Quan clenched his right hand, and the Blue Silver Grass martial soul disappeared. At the same time, he raised his left hand. "...I have another martial soul just like my dad's!"

"What!" Even though Shi Jian was a calm and composed person, his face showed shock after hearing Shi Quan's words, and his eyes were fixed on Shi Quan's raised left hand.

A faint, earthy-yellow light burst forth from Shi Quan's left palm. The light condensed, and soon a ball of earth similar to the one in Shi Jian's hand appeared in Shi Quan's hand.

"Really, really..." Shi Jian grasped Shi Quan's hand that was holding the soil almost instantly. The thick, rough hand made people feel particularly at ease.

"Dad, I haven't even had a chance to tell Mom this secret yet, you're the first person to know."

Shi Quan chuckled. His parents were people he completely trusted, and there was no need to hide the secret of his martial spirit from them.

"Twin Martial Souls, my son actually has twin Martial Souls."

Because Shi Quan loved reading, Shi Jian and his wife also liked to browse through books in their spare time. Therefore, Shi Jian was clear about the concept of twin martial souls and the meaning they represented.

Shi Jian quickly calmed down, gripped Shi Quan's shoulders firmly with both hands, stared intently at Shi Quan, and reminded him in a deep voice: "Xiao Quan, your twin martial souls are special. You must be careful not to reveal the secret of your twin martial souls. The world of soul masters is more vicious than the world of ordinary people. When you have something that others don't have, it often brings not compliments and envy, but jealousy and suspicion. You must always hide your talents, understand?"

Shi Quan replied seriously, "I understand, Dad. I will definitely not reveal the matter of twin martial souls."

"Hmm." Shi Jian nodded. "Since you have the same martial soul as me, it should be easier for you to learn. Earlier, the village chief came over to discuss going to the Soul Master Academy with us. Our village has free work-study student slots, and the village chief has already applied for one for you. You still have more than three months at the academy. You can't fall behind in your cultivation. During these three months, you will follow me to learn how to use your inner power in the afternoons. You can cultivate on your own in the mornings, and rest when you should in the evenings. Balance work and rest."

Shi Quan knew that Shi Jian was talking about his cultivation the night before. After a quick mental plan, he said, "I can learn from you during the day. Actually, I didn't rest last night. I cultivated all night. I found that I didn't feel tired after cultivating. I think normal cultivation can replace rest."

"Can cultivation replace rest?" Shi Jian frowned slightly, his doubt mixed with a hint of worry.

"Okay, don't worry, Dad. I'll be careful. I'll let you know immediately if there are any problems. Don't worry."

"Alright." Shi Jian looked at Shi Quan seriously for a moment, then sighed slightly and said.

Shi Quan was intelligent from a young age and had his own opinions, which Shi Jian and the others knew. But to them, no matter how smart Shi Quan was, he was still just a six-year-old child, so how could they not worry about him?

After a brief instruction, Shi Jian quickly began his first day of teaching.

Shi Jian's teaching method of inner strength is also quite unique.

Playing in the mud.

Of course, it's not just random playing around; to put it simply, it's clay sculpting.

After the age of three, when Shi Quan got tired of reading, he would often go to Shi Jian to learn some simple clay sculpting techniques. Shi Quan had already laid a solid foundation in clay sculpting.

However, this clay sculpture was different from the previous ones. Throughout the entire production process, Shi Jian instilled a concept in Shi Quan: to abandon all distractions and concentrate all his thoughts and attention on the clay in his hands.

Immersed in the act of shaping the clay, I felt the power of the clay and the natural feeling of creating it.

It sounds simple, but it's actually quite difficult to do.

People are easily influenced by the distractions around them, and it's not so easy to immerse oneself completely in something.

Sometimes, that's just how the human brain works; the more you try not to think about it, the more it wants to, and you simply can't control it.

At first, Shi Quan was unable to do what Shi Jian required. He was easily affected by the slightest noise around him and could not concentrate. He appeared very restless and agitated.

Fortunately, Shi Jian patiently guided Shi Quan without showing the slightest impatience. Even so, it took Shi Quan half a month to meet Shi Jian's initial requirements for the first time.

Moreover, it was only with the assistance of the Martial Soul and Spirit that one could enter into this immersive state.

This was something Shi Quan discovered unintentionally. When his spirit soul was possessed, his senses and perception were greatly amplified. Another very special point was that his thinking and consciousness would become more agile than normal when his spirit soul was possessed.

It's as if he has an extra brain to help him handle things. The former single-core processor has become a dual-core processor, which is much more efficient in terms of both processing speed and effect than normal.

Thanks to his unique spiritual abilities, Shi Quancai finally managed to meet Shi Jian's requirements once.

That feeling was very special.

While making it, Shi Quan's entire gaze was focused on the lump of clay in his hands, as if he were immersed in it. His hands slowly traced the clay, and soon a very simple clay bowl appeared in Shi Quan's hands.

Looking at the partially completed clay bowl in his hand, Shi Quan didn't even notice the passage of time. In that brief moment, Shi Quan felt that his heart was completely connected to this lump of clay.

Through the power of focus, we come to understand the earth.

Shi Quan also understood Shi Jian's purpose.

By focusing all your thoughts on the clay sculpting, you can actually experience a kind of enlightenment in the process. In this process of enlightenment, you can feel the texture, veins, moisture, and so on of the clay.

The purpose of this process should be to lay the foundation for subsequent communication and understanding with the Martial Soul, thereby achieving further control over the Martial Soul.

(End of this chapter)