c3: The fantasy battle power floor tiles are not without reason!
Su Yu didn't dare to recklessly attempt cultivation right away.
The Intermediate Meditation Method booklet went safely into the storage ring. He would study it after confirming its legitimacy and ensuring it didn't contain hidden dangers especially since he'd taken it from an Evil Soul Master.
After sweeping the battlefield a second time to make certain there were no lingering threats or traps, Su Yu adjusted the strap of the storage ring on his finger, pulled out the worn map he had taken from the corpse, and began plotting a route toward the nearest settlement.
Wangyue City.
According to the map, it was a second-tier city in the southeastern territory of the Star Luo Empire. Despite its "small" classification by imperial standards, the city boasted an impressive footprint. It even maintained its own Spirit Beast Forest, officially regulated by the Empire to provide Spirit Masters with spirit rings of appropriate ages.
Of course, anyone who wanted to hunt there legally would have to pay a steep entrance fee, something Su Yu had no intention of attempting until his strength increased.
On the road, he stopped in a small farming village to change clothes, purchasing a plain but clean tunic with a few copper coins. He washed away the grime and dried blood at a public well, his reflection in the water showing a child's face still thin, but now free of the worst traces of the chase.
When he finally arrived at Wangyue City's gates, Su Yu stopped and stared for a moment, unable to hide his amazement.
The city gate rose like a fortress wall, built from massive granite blocks engraved with faint spirit patterns likely defensive arrays activated during wartime. Spirit Masters from the City Guard stood watch in polished armor, their uniforms bearing the roaring lion insignia of the Star Luo Empire.
"This fantasy world really is different… even a 'small' city gate looks this magnificent," he murmured to himself.
If this was the scale of a second-tier city, what would Shrek City—home to the legendary Shrek Academy look like? And what about Mingdu, the capital of the technologically advanced Sun Moon Empire, famed for its floating soul tool fortresses and railgun-like defensive cannons?
For now, though, he needed a roof over his head.
"First, I need to find a place to stay."
Avoiding the bustling central streets, Su Yu wandered through the quieter residential districts until he found a modest, detached courtyard house for rent. The landlord, a wary middle-aged woman, frowned at the idea of renting to a lone six-year-old, but five silver coins for a month's rent and Su Yu's unusually steady gaze convinced her.
Normally, letting a child live alone in a city like this was an obvious safety risk. But Su Yu now had something even most low-level Spirit Masters lacked: a self-created Spirit Ability Chancery Art.
It wasn't invincible, but it gave him a trump card.
Killing the Evil Soul Master earlier had been the result of several favorable conditions: the enemy's arrogance, Su Yu's concealment with Blue Silver Grass, and the perfect opportunity for a sneak attack.
If any one of those factors had been missing, the result could have been very different.
Even so, Su Yu had taken his first real step in this world and now, the game had truly begun.
Under normal circumstances, Su Yu absolutely couldn't defeat a Spirit Grandmaster. The gap between a Rank 3 Spirit Master and a Rank 20+ Spirit Grandmaster was enormous. However, if the opponent only possessed a single spirit ability, and Su Yu could land his Chancery Art at the right moment, he was confident in his odds.
His only real disadvantage was that his spirit power reserves were too low, leading to insufficient endurance in a drawn-out battle.
But Chancery Art wasn't designed for prolonged combat it was a single-strike assassination technique. The moment the perfect opening appeared, it could end a fight instantly.
"I need to find a way to learn how to read," he muttered.
That was now his second-highest priority.
As for obtaining an identity credential? That was a matter for later. Once his cultivation base improved, such things would be trivial. In a small city like Wangyue, even a three-ring Spirit Elder could easily get registered without question.
In truth, without plans to join an official Spirit Master Academy or purchase property, an identity credential didn't matter much.
And Shrek Academy…
"As long as your talent is high enough, their doors will open."
Although Su Yu didn't agree with many of Shrek's more idealistic philosophies such as their reluctance to train Spirit Masters without moral "quality" he had to admit that in terms of educational and cultivation resources, Shrek stood at the pinnacle of the entire Douluo Continent.
He wasn't just thinking about the teaching staff. Shrek held libraries of cultivation methods, martial spirit theory, and ancient combat experience unmatched by any other power. Even the Tang Sect in its prime couldn't match the sheer volume of Shrek's knowledge network in the Peerless Tang Sect era.
Su Yu had an extremely clear understanding of himself.
His Heaven-Defying Comprehension was his true cheat the cornerstone of his future rise. To make the most of it, he needed a massive base of knowledge. Without it, even his creativity in developing techniques would be limited.
The Chancery Art was a prime example, it was a self-created spirit ability born in a moment of enlightenment, but it wasn't perfect.
Self-created abilities worked by summarizing unique spirit power circulation routes into a reproducible technique. But to remain effective, they had to be improved as one's cultivation grew.
It was the same principle as spirit rings: with the same spirit power cost, an ability granted by a hundred-year ring would inevitably be weaker than one from a thousand-year ring or a ten-thousand-year ring.
By that standard, the Chancery Art Su Yu had developed now was equivalent to an ability from a low-grade hundred-year ring good for his current stage, but needing refinement.
"All of that can wait. First, I'll learn to read… then I'll work on this Meditation Method."
He spent half a day in Wangyue City searching for a tutor and paid one gold coin to hire a local teacher to give lessons.
The sum was generous enough that the man agreed without hesitation, following Su Yu to his small rented courtyard. Since Su Yu only wanted literacy training, and his comprehension was frighteningly fast, progress came quickly.
By the first day's end, the teacher was already regretting not bringing more materials he'd exhausted his prepared lessons before midday. Three days later, he left with a deep sigh, marveling at Su Yu's learning speed, and an even deeper smile at the gold coin now in his pocket.
After seeing the man off, Su Yu closed the door, took out the Intermediate Meditation Method, and began working through it. Though he hadn't learned every character, the basics plus a borrowed dictionary were enough to piece together meaning.
Comparing word after word, he slowly deciphered the text—
"…What the hell? This is exactly what I guessed."
He tossed the dictionary aside with a sharp curse.
"Damn it, it's not that I overestimated myself, it's that I overestimated this Meditation Method!"
The Douluo Continent's notorious "low combat power floor" suddenly made more sense.
In essence, the method was nothing more than: sense the Martial Spirit within the body, meditate to connect with the elemental energy of heaven and earth, then use the spirit as a medium to convert that energy into one's own spirit power.
The so-called 'Intermediate' designation merely referred to a few minor refinements in meditation posture and focus technique.
Su Yu was speechless.
"Since that's the case… I'll just experience it myself."
Sitting cross-legged, he emptied his mind.
To his surprise, the method did have value. Its approach to entering meditation was efficient—helping him quickly cut away stray thoughts and sharpen focus.
Within moments, he sensed the faint thread of his Blue Silver Grass spirit within his body, activated it, and reached out to the subtle flow of elemental energy in the air.
"This perception technique… is decent."
"And the refining process isn't bad either."
When he opened his eyes, he had to admit the auxiliary effects were real. Still, as a cultivation speed booster, it was lacking.
"The part that actually increases cultivation speed the energy-to-spirit power refinement will probably be useless once I hit Spirit Grandmaster."
At that point, he'd likely rely solely on his own developed techniques.
No wonder it was just called a Meditation Method.
Above Intermediate, there was the Advanced Meditation Method, and above that, likely even more specialized techniques. The Meditation Method's original intent might have been to standardize entry into meditation, while true cultivation speed boosts came from spirit power circulation routes the kind pioneered by figures like Yu Xiaogang, the Grandmaster, ten thousand years ago.
That proved the Douluo Continent did have something akin to internal martial arts, but no one had formed it into a complete, universally adopted system.
And why, after ten thousand years, no one had fully perfected such a method… Su Yu decided he didn't even want to think about it.
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