An Animagus transformation naturally didn't require magical power to circulate within the body. A wizard's magical power wasn't like a Soul Master's soul power; there were no so-called cultivation methods, nor did it involve meridians.
When an Animagus transformed, the way magical power operated involved a special transfiguration of the wizard's body.
In the Demon Fox Meditation Technique, however, apart from the circulation within the body, there was an added component of using soul power to temper the body.
This part was where the similarity to an Animagus lay.
"Like this, like this, and then like this... I see."
Xia Tian had completely understood the principles of the Demon Fox Meditation Technique.
It was using soul power to modify oneself, making oneself more compatible with the Martial Soul, thereby improving cultivation efficiency.
Simply put, it was modifying the Soul Master's internal structure to suit the shape of the Martial Soul.
This was a more advanced form of Martial Soul Mimicry cultivation.
The truly difficult part lay in how to modify oneself to be more compatible with the Martial Soul.
"By the way, is it the same for Tool Martial Souls? Perhaps I can research Xie Yue's Moon Blade Meditation Technique in the future."
"However, with the Demon Fox Meditation Technique as a reference, I can actually try to further upgrade my Space-Time Meditation Technique."
Xia Tian had an idea in mind, filled with the joy of discovering a new subject.
Utilizing his research on Animagi and referencing the Demon Fox Meditation Technique, Xia Tian could also begin upgrading the Space-Time Meditation Technique into the Autumn Cicada Meditation Technique.
However, even with these references, Xia Tian couldn't quickly complete the upgrade of the meditation technique in a short time.
Because the difficulty this time couldn't be forcibly overcome with the Dark Lord's experience; it required a deeper understanding of the Autumn Cicada Martial Soul.
It wasn't simply knowing the attributes and abilities of the Autumn Cicada Martial Soul, but rather deeply cognizing every detail of it.
Time passed quickly amidst Xia Tian's research and cultivation.
Sure enough, Xia Tian never encountered Hu Liena again.
The days that followed returned to tranquility.
Until one month later, when Xia Tian's soul power officially broke through to rank 10.
Or rather, Xia Tian finally recovered the soul power rank that an Innate Full Soul Power talent should have.
At this point, nearly five months had passed since the Martial Soul Awakening.
But Xia Tian wasn't in a hurry to obtain a Soul Ring.
There were two reasons.
One was that it was hard to explain his talent.
Two was... the Autumn Cicada Martial Soul was about to undergo its first metamorphosis!
He only needed to wait for the Autumn Cicada Martial Soul to complete its metamorphosis, and then the first hard-to-explain problem would also be easily solved.
After absorbing enough nutrients from time elements and space elements, the Autumn Cicada Martial Soul officially recovered from its state of being on the verge of death at any moment, and the wings on its back also turned into a shape like tender leaves.
The Autumn Cicada Martial Soul looked as if it were a handicraft made of brown wood and leaves. Its head and abdomen were brownish-yellow. The wings on its back were broad, having shed their withered yellow color to become translucent, looking like two overlapping leaves.
Xia Tian held the Autumn Cicada Martial Soul in his hand, flipped it over, and observed its abdomen.
On the abdomen of the Autumn Cicada Martial Soul, a circle of faint patterns appeared, just like growth rings recording the age of a tree.
The growth rings gradually became clear and were about to close completely, which also meant that the metamorphosis of the Autumn Cicada Martial Soul was about to be fully achieved!
Another week passed.
The patterns closed completely and became thoroughly distinct.
At that instant, the Autumn Cicada Martial Soul suddenly spread its wings, glowing with a silvery-white light, and then flew up.
Xia Tian grabbed it, and in an instant... retracted it into his body.
The changes in the Autumn Cicada Martial Soul didn't stop but continued.
And Xia Tian, sitting cross-legged in the library, actively started meditating, absorbing the time elements and space elements from the world's origin energy.
At the same time, this was also a baptism for Xia Tian himself.
Letting Xia Tian's body further adapt to the power of the two elements.
This metamorphosis didn't last long; it was completed in just a quarter of an hour.
When Xia Tian stopped cultivating and summoned the Autumn Cicada Martial Soul again, it displayed a vitality it had never had before, flying quickly around Xia Tian and finally landing on top of his head, letting out two chirps.
Xia Tian grabbed the Autumn Cicada from the top of his head, held it in his hand, and examined it carefully, finally discovering...
"Apart from looking more and more like a real cicada, there doesn't seem to be any change. I don't feel any new abilities awakening either..."
"However, the fluctuations of time and space power on the Autumn Cicada Martial Soul have become more obvious and are in a stable state."
"In short, this counts as the Autumn Cicada Martial Soul completely finishing its second awakening."
Undoubtedly, a Martial Soul possessing both time and space attributes simultaneously, as long as the mutation was fully completed, was enough to be ranked among the top-tier Martial Souls.
"It's also time to go get the first Soul Ring."
So, Xia Tian went to find his homeroom teacher, Rui Shi.
"Teacher, I have something to see you about." Xia Tian politely knocked on the door of Rui Shi's office.
Seeing it was Xia Tian, Rui Shi couldn't help but reveal a smile. "It's Xia Tian. Do you need something?"
Over the past five months, Rui Shi had seen Xia Tian's efforts and growth. Most importantly, not only was Xia Tian a well-behaved good child himself, but he also led the whole class to be well-behaved, basically causing no trouble for Rui Shi.
So for the past five months, Rui Shi's work had been not only smooth but also very pleasant.
This was something that rarely happened in the past.
Raising kids wasn't that easy.
Therefore, Rui Shi had a very good impression of Xia Tian.
Rarely seeing Xia Tian come to find him, Rui Shi decided that as long as Xia Tian's request wasn't too excessive, he would give Xia Tian the green light.
Xia Tian walked into Rui Shi's office and closed the door behind him before speaking. "Teacher, my Martial Soul seems to have undergone a second awakening, and my soul power has also increased to rank 10."
"Oh, you're talking about the Martial Soul second awakening... What? Your Martial Soul had a second awakening?" Rui Shi stood up in shock, staring fixedly at Xia Tian, and asked hurriedly, "Xia Tian, are you saying your Martial Soul has completely finished mutating? And you possess rank 10 soul power?"
Xia Tian nodded, actively summoned the Autumn Cicada Martial Soul, and displayed his rank 10 soul power fluctuations.
Rui Shi indeed felt the soul power fluctuations belonging to a rank 10 Soul Master from Xia Tian.
But Rui Shi still didn't dare to be certain. He took out a soul power testing crystal ball and had Xia Tian test it.
Sure enough, it detected rank 10 soul power.
"How did you do it... Sorry, Teacher got excited." Rui Shi suppressed the excitement in his heart.
He indeed wanted to know the secret of Xia Tian's successful second awakening, but this was a Soul Master's secret, and his moral standards didn't allow him to pry casually.
Besides, the method of a Martial Soul's second awakening was useless to him.
He didn't have a mutated Martial Soul.
"Teacher, can I go obtain my first Soul Ring?" Xia Tian asked next.
Rui Shi hummed low, and with a sense of responsibility, he spoke.
"Xia Tian, don't be in a hurry first. Mutated Martial Souls are different from conventional Martial Souls."
"I need to report your situation first so that the powerhouses of Spirit Hall can determine the path suitable for you. Perhaps they can also further determine the status of your Martial Soul mutation."
Xia Tian nodded. "Thank you, Teacher."
He didn't refuse.
Only by showing enough talent could he exchange for the attention of the higher-ups, and thereby obtain more resources.
The Dark Lord had taken the first step of growth.