Seeing how diligent Huo Yuhao was, Bei Bei naturally felt a deep sense of appreciation. After gently placing his own cloak over the sleeping Tang Ya, he returned to Huo Yuhao's side and once again explained some of the core principles of cultivating the Mysterious Heaven Skill before helping him enter meditation.
Compared to Huo Yuhao's previous basic method of meditation, the Mysterious Heaven Skill had a far more intricate path of circulation. The meridians involved were more than ten times greater than what he had ever used before, and many of them had never even been exercised by his original body.
This was Huo Yuhao's first time cultivating soul power, and it was with such a powerful technique. Naturally, he was excited. But in his excitement, his internal energy almost went awry, nearly resulting in soul power backlash. Realizing his mind was not yet calm, Huo Yuhao forcibly steadied himself.
To ensure his junior brother's safety, Bei Bei sat cross-legged behind him, placing both hands against Huo Yuhao's back. He slowly channeled his own soul power into Huo Yuhao's body, carefully guiding his soul force through the first cycle of cultivation.
But as the guiding began, Bei Bei's expression quickly turned serious.
Only upon entering Huo Yuhao's body did Bei Bei realize just how poor his junior's physical condition was!
His meridians were exceedingly narrow, and some were frighteningly thin. In areas where multiple channels intersected, there were even signs of disorder and instability. Bei Bei didn't even dare to use his own soul power to forcibly clear them, instead opting to gently guide Huo Yuhao's own internal energy along a safer route.
"To have such poor meridian condition, and with only a mediocre technique before this... yet still reach the tenth level of soul power at his age?" Bei Bei now had a clear understanding of how hard Huo Yuhao must have worked—and his respect for his junior deepened.
Rather than being disappointed by these discoveries, Bei Bei, steady by nature, found himself even more admiring of Huo Yuhao. To cultivate with such persistence at a young age despite these innate disadvantages—this kind of willpower could very well pave the way to a bright future, even if his innate talent was lacking.
From his examination of Huo Yuhao's body, Bei Bei speculated that the strength of his Spirit Eyes martial soul likely came from a mutation. And though the mutation brought great power, it also must have dealt serious damage to his body during his early years. Without proper care and recovery, this led to the weakened condition of his meridians today. Had he received medicinal treatment at birth, perhaps this junior brother could have become a once-in-a-generation genius.
Bei Bei's theory was only half correct. The mutated Spirit Eyes martial soul had indeed absorbed much of Huo Yuhao's vitality, but the second—and more significant—cause was the sealed million-year soul ring. Despite its restrictions, the pressure it exerted on his already fragile body was immense.
As the dark sky slowly turned to dusky blue, and the pale light of dawn emerged in the eastern horizon, Bei Bei finally withdrew his hands and let out a long breath. His face had grown pale, exhaustion written all over him.
He had spent the entire night helping Huo Yuhao clear his meridians and guiding him through the first full cycle of the Mysterious Heaven Skill. The process had been arduous, but for Huo Yuhao, it brought immense benefit.
"Wah—!" A mouthful of dark blood spurted from Huo Yuhao's lips as he opened his eyes.
At that moment, he felt as though all 36,000 pores in his body had opened up. A wave of comfort washed through him. That expelled blood was the accumulation of stagnant energy and blood impurities. After a night of guidance, his meridians had finally been cleared. Although they remained thin and fragile, they could now properly circulate soul power. With continued cultivation, his meridians could slowly strengthen. In essence, this night had altered his physical constitution.
Even though Bei Bei was an elite among his peers, a Soul Elder-level expert, he still felt deeply fatigued after helping Huo Yuhao through this transformation.
"Little brother, stand up and face the east. Follow my guidance and focus your energy into your eyes." Bei Bei, despite his exhaustion, issued a low command and placed his hands on Huo Yuhao's shoulders once more.
At that moment, the previously sleeping Tang Ya also stirred awake, seemingly reacting instinctively. She sprang up and seated herself cross-legged beside Bei Bei.
The three of them opened their eyes wide, gazing toward the east. Fixating their eyes on the faint purple mist rising with the dawn, they began circulating their techniques, absorbing the energy to cultivate the Purple Demon Eyes.
The Purple Qi didn't last long. As the pale dawn light gave way to the brilliance of the rising sun, the purple mist vanished completely.
Only then did the three slowly close their eyes and exhale a long breath of turbid air.
"How did it feel cultivating the Purple Demon Eyes?" Bei Bei asked with curiosity. He was eager to know what kind of synergy might arise between Huo Yuhao's Spirit Eyes and the Purple Demon Eyes technique.
"It felt amazing! Not only could I see much farther and clearer than before, but my martial soul seemed to instinctively absorb and merge with that purple mist. It felt cool and incredibly comfortable!" Huo Yuhao closed his eyes again, savoring the sensation. "Also... I think I may have discovered a new use for the Purple Demon Eyes."
"A new use?" Tang Ya's ears perked up immediately, her curiosity piqued.
"At one point, when that trace of purple mist merged with my soul power, it seemed to unlock a kind of spiritual overflow. My spiritual power surged past its normal limit, and the excess flowed out through my eyes in the direction I was looking. Could that count as a type of spiritual attack soul skill?"
"Oh?" His words immediately captured Bei Bei and Tang Ya's full attention.
The two exchanged a glance. Bei Bei instantly understood her thoughts. After pondering briefly, he began to circulate his own soul power, drawing spiritual energy toward his eyes. As the pressure built up, he carefully opened a small gap in the soul power layer around his pupils. Instantly, the stored spiritual power erupted from the gap and shot directly at Tang Ya.
Prepared in advance, Tang Ya raised her soul power in defense, activating the Purple Demon Eyes to resist the spiritual assault.
The impact hit her quickly. It felt as if her spiritual sea had been struck head-on. While Tang Ya's soul power wasn't as high as Bei Bei's, she had trained longer in the Purple Demon Eyes technique. Her spiritual strength slightly surpassed his. Though she only felt a brief pain in her mind and momentary disorientation, the shockwave disrupted her defensive soul power shield, causing it to flicker and become unstable.
"You alright, Xiao Ya?" Bei Bei asked with concern as he saw her massaging her temples.
"I'm fine," Tang Ya replied, her eyes gleaming with excitement. "That absolutely counts as a spiritual attack! Yuhao, you really are a genius!"
"It can definitely disrupt and interfere with an opponent. Though your spiritual energy was somewhat scattered, reducing the overall impact, that's something you can refine and improve with practice."
"Also," she continued, "since the nature of this soul skill relies on your own spiritual power, it can interfere with an enemy's mind, affecting their control over their soul power. And as your spiritual strength increases in both quantity and quality, the skill's power will rise accordingly!"
Huo Yuhao had also quietly activated his Spiritual Detection to observe the effects of this casually mentioned soul skill and quickly discovered some flaws:
"But there are likely some drawbacks. Using spiritual power directly as an attack leaves behind traces of one's own spiritual aura. If the opponent has a higher spiritual cultivation, they might use that residual aura to trace and lock onto me with their own spiritual power, launching a counterattack. So, against foes with stronger spiritual strength, this technique can't be used recklessly. Also, it puts a strain on the eyes. The eyes are naturally fragile and may not be able to handle excessive spiritual pressure."
Tang Ya chimed in encouragingly:
"Even so, it's still a great ability! Since we're cultivating the Purple Demon Eyes, we already have an advantage in both spiritual power and eye strength. If used at the right moment, it could decide the outcome of a battle in a single strike!"
"Alright, alright, we can keep studying it once we're back at Shrek," Bei Bei interrupted, seeing that Huo Yuhao and Tang Ya were becoming increasingly animated in their discussion. "Yuhao, focus on meditating for a bit to stabilize your soul power. Xiao Ya, can I trouble you to prepare some breakfast? I'm going to get a bit of rest—I need to recover my energy before we head out."
Having spent so much energy helping Huo Yuhao cultivate the night before, and again expending spiritual power just now, Bei Bei was thoroughly drained and truly needed to rest.