Back at his residence, Ming Hui couldn't wait to begin experimenting.
He took a dagger from his soul tool and, gritting his teeth, made a shallow cut on his left forearm, allowing blood to flow out.
Then, gripping with his right hand, he summoned the Lightfeather Divine Bow, bringing it close. With a thought, he activated the Light of Life. A cool sensation immediately spread from the wound, quickly dulling the sharp pain and replacing it with a faint itch.
In just a few blinks, the surface blood had clotted, and the pain disappeared.
With a finger still gripping the bowstring, Ming Hui gently scraped off the scab to reveal smooth, tender skin underneath—completely scarless.
"Teacher was right. I don't need to add any healing-type soul skills to my martial soul," he muttered.
The innate healing properties of his martial soul were already this strong. Once he obtained and absorbed Essence of Life Gold, his body's self-recovery would definitely surpass Huo Yuhao's.
After all, his evolved martial soul inherently possessed a powerful healing capability—unlike Huo Yuhao's.
"The question is, how do I purify the Essence of Life Gold?"
"I should focus on obtaining it first."
"Without Electrolux's help, maybe I can try praying to the Goddess of Life for guidance."
Until he actually got his hands on it and learned more, he had no better ideas.
"As for how to obtain it, I can't just sit here waiting for the plot of the original story to catch up. Maybe when I go home for the New Year, I'll have my parents keep an eye out for any carving blades making the rankings across the continent."
"I definitely can't mention the Devourer Spirit Carving Blade by name—that'd be too suspicious, like I have foreknowledge."
"If I draw the attention of Life or Destruction—who could be watching from above at any time—that would be really bad."
He shook his head, refocusing on his martial soul, and strode outside.
In the open space in front of the courtyard, he drew his bow.
As he pulled the bowstring and activated Condense Arrow Technique, a faint green glow shimmered to life. As if on autopilot, a glowing green arrow quickly formed between bowstring and grip. The power of life took on a tangible form, radiating vibrant vitality.
"If I hit someone with this arrow, it should actually heal them, right?" Ming Hui thought.
He had already tested this—light arrows formed purely from his light attribute held no offensive power. Instead, they had certain healing effects.
"If I use Light of Life to condense arrows and shoot them at allies to heal… Doesn't that count as a healing-type soul skill?" A smile naturally crept onto his face at the thought.
With this as a foundation, once he acquired Essence of Life Gold, his martial soul's healing capabilities would be second to none.
No need to add extra healing soul skills—this basic power was enough!
After all, a soul skill was ultimately just an application of a martial soul's attributes using soul power as the medium.
"Let's try the ice attribute next."
With a thought, he dispelled the light arrow and instead activated his martial soul's ice attribute, condensing an ice arrow. As the attribute switched, the soul power in his body changed instantly.
Extreme ice-type soul power surged through his meridians, and his right arm holding the bow felt an immediate chill.
But compared to the bone-chilling cold he once experienced, this was far more bearable.
In just a blink, a crystal-clear ice arrow took shape, exuding an intense chill that instantly froze the surrounding moisture into frost and snow.
Suddenly, something else occurred to Ming Hui.
"Whoosh!" His longbow stirred up a powerful gust, launching a burst of green light.
Within his vision, it transformed mid-air into a massive, soaring Azure Luan with wide-spread wings. With a sharp cry, it dove down sharply—then once again became green light and shot into his body with a soft whoomph.
Ming Hui immediately felt a refreshing coolness within. His back surged, and—
A pair of translucent azure wind wings spread open behind him.
Ming Hui flapped his wings, gently lifting off the ground.
This was the ability of his Azure Luan Beast Spirit—like a beast martial soul, it could fuse with his body and grant him the power of flight.
It also granted him wind attribute power—to himself, not to the Lightfeather Divine Bow.
The advantage was clear, but so was the drawback.
Only while fused could he access those abilities. And beast spirits couldn't receive soul rings, so naturally, they couldn't produce soul skills either. Whether this beast spirit would grow stronger alongside his martial soul, or how much it would grow, remained unknown.
After all, he hadn't added any soul rings yet.
"And without soul rings, it'll be difficult for the wind attribute to grow stronger too."
That part felt like a real pity. As for the inability to produce soul skills? He didn't care at all.
In any proper fantasy tale, don't all top-tier powerhouses eventually master elemental laws over soul skills?
…Oh, except for Great God King Tang!
As these thoughts flickered through his mind, Ming Hui had already ascended to a height of five meters. He scanned his surroundings and locked his gaze on an open patch of grass outside the courtyard.
He raised his bow, took aim, and channeled wind attribute power into his arrow—then loosed it.
"Thwip!" Boosted by wind force, the arrow streaked forward like a beam of light, instantly hitting the ground. Upon impact, it exploded into a violent gust of icy wind, sharp and chilling.
A large area of wild grass was instantly frozen and torn up, shattered into shards of ice that shot outward like razor-edged darts.
"Just a basic attribute combo and it already produces this kind of power?" Ming Hui was genuinely surprised.
He couldn't help but recall the archery techniques his father had taught him as a child.
Quick Shot—a technique for rapid fire. In simple terms, it was a set of standard shooting motions. Practice it alongside Condense Arrow Technique, and your speed would naturally increase with familiarity.
Spin Shot—also known as Piercing Arrow. This was a method of applying power through the arm, wrist, and fingers to make arrows spin rapidly, increasing both speed and penetration.
And now, with wind attribute enhancements, those techniques showed tremendous potential!
Who says basic techniques can't rival soul skills?
"I'll need to practice a lot more from here on out." With that in mind, he slowly descended.
His soul power was only at rank 13, so he couldn't stay airborne for long.
He retracted the Azure Luan back into his martial soul and began practicing his ice arrows again.
Before you can run, you have to learn to walk. This was his first time condensing an ice arrow—his body wasn't fully used to it yet. He had made plenty of mistakes and needed to solidify his fundamentals before moving forward.
Once you build a habit, it becomes much harder to change later.
He didn't want to fall short in his basics—such flaws would become fatal weaknesses when facing real powerhouses.
"Swish! Swish! Swish!"
Arrow after arrow shot from Ming Hui's bow until his soul power was exhausted.
He went through a stretching routine on the spot, then returned indoors to begin meditation and cultivation.
The next day, Ming Hui resumed his regular training schedule.
"He really is hardworking," observed Princess Vina, who had hoped to befriend him. But Ming Hui did nothing but cultivate every day. She never found a chance to approach him and had no choice but to wait.
Interrupting someone's training was a serious breach of etiquette—she could only continue to be patient.
Time flew, and a month quickly passed.
The statue of the God of Destruction was finally completed, and the sect held another assembly.
This time, everyone was present.
At the last gathering, some villagers at the base of the mountain hadn't made it due to physical difficulties. Later, they learned that the Goddess of Life had descended and bestowed her light, bringing blessings to all who were there. Regret and envy spread. This time, they were determined to attend—even if they had to be carried up the mountain.
Unfortunately, the Goddess of Life did not descend again.
Still, no one was discouraged. After all, gods—beings of legend—couldn't possibly watch over mortals constantly.
They're not your parents, after all!
After the prayer ceremony ended, Du Busi stepped forward to speak.
"After discussions with the elders, I, your Sect Master, now declare—our sect will formally enter the world starting today!"
"From now on, our mission will be to purge evil, protect life, and safeguard the balance of nature and heaven. We will spread the divine will of the God of Destruction and Goddess of Life."
"Of course, considering the current number and strength of our disciples, and the dangers of traveling, the elders and I have decided: the elders will personally lead teams to operate within the Heaven Soul Empire first—gathering information and experience. Once familiar, the disciples will then go out on missions in teams."
His thinking was simple.
Have powerful elders lead and teach by example—especially in fighting evil soul masters. Ideally, they could wipe out all such threats within the Heaven Soul Empire. Then, gradually let younger disciples take over.
Later, they'd expand outward—from the relatively safe Heaven Soul Empire, to the former Three Great Empires, and eventually to the unfamiliar Sun Moon Empire.
Step by steady step—in his view, that was the most responsible path for the sect's disciples.
"Yes, Sect Master!"
The young disciples were excited and responded in unison.