In the early morning, the sky was dim, and Minghui finished his breakfast before following his mother to the Soul Guidance Tool warehouse of the sect.
Regarding Soul Guidance Tools, the Qingluan family's evaluation is: they are tools that lead the development of the era, but the martial soul is still the foundation of a soul master.
Martial souls are inherent strength, and cultivation cannot be slack. Soul Guidance Tools are man-made tools, and tools only need to be used properly.
Therefore, there is no need to spend too much time researching them during the golden years of cultivation. It's a hobby to study them lightly, understanding and knowing how to use them is enough.
In the future, when traveling outside, one cannot be caught off guard when an enemy pulls out a Soul Guidance Tool that they can't even recognize. This could lead to a disadvantage. In addition, Soul Guidance Tools can indeed compensate for one's shortcomings to some extent, so they should be learned and used for offense and self-defense.
As for those who truly research and manufacture them, the world is never short of professionals, and they can be recruited from outside.
Another example of capitalist behavior!
But Minghui felt this was reasonable, as in his previous life, the same situation occurred. Talent is a social resource, not the real leader.
"No matter which world or era you are in, there will always be forward-thinking and intelligent people."
Minghui was grateful to be born into the Qing family, with wealth and power, and an open mind that saved him a lot of trouble.
"It's just that there were some issues with the inheritance of the martial soul," he sighed inwardly, and began choosing a Soul Guidance Tool as his mother introduced him to the different options.
He had already awakened his martial soul and had soul power, so he could now use Soul Guidance Tools.
As for how to use them, the family had already taught him the basics long ago, and today he could finally practice it himself.
Excitedly picking his tools, Minghui first chose a storage Soul Guidance Tool in the form of a belt embedded with 24 gems, each capable of holding three cubic meters, with four of the gems able to store living creatures.
With this, his mother would no longer have to worry about him only being able to eat dry rations when traveling outside.
Additionally, he picked the "Ice and Fire Dual Eyes" Soul Guidance Tool.
Though it seemed like a long shot, he felt it was worth preparing, just in case an opportunity arose.
Minghui then selected several offensive, defensive, and functional Soul Guidance Tools, all at a low level that he could control for now.
This was the bottleneck in the world's research on Soul Guidance Tools. Due to material limitations, portable high-power energy devices had not yet been developed.
As a result, soul masters couldn't rely on their soul power to drive Soul Guidance Tools of a higher level than their own.
Therefore, the tools Minghui picked could only exert limited power in his hands.
But there was nothing he could do. In his previous life, he had never used firearms. If he had, he could have had someone craft a gun, which would have been more practical in the early stages.
"Such a pity!" he thought as he returned home to practice shooting, fulfilling his desire to fire a gun, something he never did in his previous life.
He then spent more time practicing archery and cultivating his soul power.
Two days passed quickly.
In the morning, his father finally returned, and he was accompanied by a stranger.
Minghui was led by his mother to the reception room, and at a glance, he saw the stranger—tall, strong, with green hair, green eyes, and a green outfit.
From head to toe, he was completely green.
"This looks like an enhanced version of Douluo's Dugu Bo," Minghui thought.
"Greetings, Senior Poison." Qingyi greeted with a slight bow.
"Greetings, Senior." Minghui followed with a bow.
Poison Immortal nodded slightly, his face breaking into a smile, his voice loud and clear, "No need to stand on ceremony."
He then appeared a bit impatient, showing that he was a person of action.
"Child, quickly activate your martial soul for me to see. It's a good opportunity to confirm which part of your body it corresponds to."
Though he had guessed from the description before coming, he still wanted to confirm in person.
"Yes, Senior." Minghui stood up straight, closed his eyes, and summoned his martial soul from within his brain.
In the next moment, a faint silver light shone from the center of his brow, and his mind was filled with visions.
"As expected, it's the Pineal Gland!" Poison Immortal's eyes gleamed, and he looked at Minghui with burning intensity.
"This child and I have a master-disciple connection!"
"Interesting, you saw it so accurately," Minghui thought, surprised, but he still asked, "Senior, what exactly is the pineal gland?"
He opened his eyes, looking at Poison Immortal curiously.
The Ming couple also looked puzzled, waiting for Poison Immortal to explain further.
Poison Immortal was quite pleased with their response. When it came to understanding the martial soul, no one in the world could surpass his understanding, as it was a core principle of the Body Sect. He puffed out his chest and began to explain:
"The pineal gland is a small organ located in the center of the brain that resembles a pine cone."
"It's about this big," he said, holding his pinky finger up and then pointing to his brow.
"It's located just behind this spot."
"Though small in size, it plays a vital role in the body. It connects the physical body, the soul, and the sea of consciousness, acting as an anchor and an important hub."
He paused before continuing:
"For any life, the soul is the true essence, and the body is merely the vessel for the soul."
"The soul gives birth to consciousness, which then issues commands to the brain, controlling the body. That's how life activities occur. Without the soul, the body is just an empty shell, a walking corpse with no thoughts."
"But how does the soul give birth to consciousness? And how does consciousness issue commands to the brain?"
"You must understand that every action a person takes consumes energy, just like how you need to eat to have strength."
"Mental energy?" Minghui instinctively responded as Poison Immortal stared at him.
"Exactly." Poison Immortal nodded in satisfaction. "It's mental energy."
"Mental energy is the kinetic energy consumed when the soul generates consciousness and the carrier of the consciousness issued by the soul. The sea of consciousness that soul masters speak of is the place where the life force stores mental energy, which can also be considered an energy reservoir. Once it's depleted, a person will fall into a deep sleep."
"Generally, the stronger a life form, the stronger its soul and the greater the mental energy it can produce."
"The amount that can be stored is also proportional. A larger reservoir holds more water—this is the analogy."
"From one perspective, mental energy is the external manifestation of the soul's power."
"However, just because someone has strong mental energy doesn't necessarily mean their soul is strong. There are things in the world that can enhance mental energy."
"Take soul rings for example. Absorbing a soul ring can greatly enhance a soul master's mental energy, especially rings with a mental attribute. But it doesn't necessarily enhance the soul itself to the same extent, because other factors affect soul strength, like the vitality of the body."
"The soul also needs energy to stimulate mental energy, and that energy is the vitality."
"This is also why soul beasts, after losing their bodies, have their souls dissipate—they no longer have the vitality from their bodies to sustain them."
Minghui thought to himself: No wonder every plane has the concept of a core of life. Even the divine realm requires the Life Tree as its core. Without the Life Tree dispersing vitality as support, even the gods who have lost their bodies might eventually dissipate.
"Therefore, the body and the soul complement each other." Minghui spoke up, expressing his thoughts and increasing his presence.
"Strong mental energy doesn't necessarily mean a strong soul. But a strong soul undeniably means strong mental energy."
"Good reasoning, you're quite insightful," Poison Immortal thought to himself, growing more satisfied. He nodded and smiled, saying, "Not bad."
He then brought the conversation back, "The pineal gland is perfectly positioned at the source where the soul sends mental energy to the sea of consciousness. In other words, it links the body to the soul, activating mental energy to control the body and emitting mental energy to perceive the outside world."
"It's like a central base station!" Minghui nodded slightly, his expression showing he finally understood.