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Dong dong dong!
Shi Quan quickly arrived outside the mud house in the courtyard, knocking on the door and softly calling into the room, "Dad?"
Click, click.
In a short while, the sound of the lock disengaging came from inside the room. The door opened, revealing Shi Jian's tall figure.
"Come in," Shi Jian nodded.
Clang, click.
Another sound of the door closing and locking came. To prevent disturbance, the mud house's door could be locked from the inside, making it difficult for outsiders to enter easily.
With the door closed, the entire mud house appeared somewhat dim.
There was only one window in the entire room, and it was set very high, making it difficult for ordinary people to see inside from the outside. Moreover, Shi Jian's position for making mud sculptures was directly below the window, so even if one looked into the room from the window, they wouldn't see Shi Jian's movements.
"Shi Quan, come here."
Next to Shi Jian's usual spot for making mud sculptures, there was an extra chair, seemingly prepared specifically for Shi Quan.
As soon as Shi Quan sat down, Shi Jian suddenly asked him, "Shi Quan, what do you think a Martial Spirit is to us?"
After a slight pause, Shi Quan slowly replied, "Doesn't the book say that a Martial Spirit is a Legacy of our Bloodline?"
Shi Jian smiled and said, "The book does say that, but I don't think so."
"Dad, then what do you think a Martial Spirit is?" Hearing Shi Jian say this, Shi Quan's curiosity was immediately piqued.
"I think a Martial Spirit is a power that originates from our inner self. Perhaps it's related to Bloodline, but it's definitely not just Bloodline. After all, our ancestors couldn't possibly have been a lump of mud, right?"
"It really might have been a lump of mud!"
Hearing Shi Jian say this, Shi Quan thought to himself. After all, he had experienced Transmigration, and in the myths and legends of his previous life, weren't humans created by gods molding people from mud/clay/soil etc in various Religions?
[Note:The most famous example of this is in the biblical Book of Genesis (2:7), where Adam is made out of dust, an idea that appears across the Bible (Job 10:9; Psalm 90:3; 104:29; Isaiah 29:16, etc.). The idea is also found in the Epic of Gilgamesh where the goddess Aruru creates Enkidu from clay, in Egyptian mythology where Khmun makes man out of clay, and various Greek texts crediting Prometheus (one of the Titans) with doing the same.[3] Later, the concept would influence art history, such as the impact it had on the work of Giorgio Vasari.]
Although he thought this, Shi Quan naturally couldn't say it out loud. Instead, he asked, "Dad, what do you mean?"
Shi Jian still said unhurriedly, "In my opinion, a Martial Spirit is a manifestation of inner strength, a part of our body. Even without spirit power, it can be controlled by our own will!"
Shi Jian's voice remained steady, but as his words fell, he appeared much more profound and imposing.
Shi Quan's hand tightened on the chair, his eyes wide as he stared blankly at Shi Jian. For some reason, he felt as if Shi Jian had changed into a different person. There was no spirit power fluctuation on him, but at this moment, he exuded a sense of the Earth's profound stability, making one feel an inexplicable sense of his reliability.
"Did you feel it?" Shi Jian smiled, and he returned to normal.
Shi Quan suddenly stood up and said indignantly to Shi Jian, "Dad, you still say you're not a master?"
"Don't be arrogant or impatient." Shi Jian shook his head at Shi Quan, motioning him to sit down, and then slowly continued, "Your dad is just an ordinary person. What I just showed you is the inner strength I spoke of, which is the power of the Martial Spirit. First, release your Martial Spirit."
"Okay!"
Shi Quan nodded. Perhaps influenced by Shi Jian, his restless heart calmed down, and he became a bit more composed. spirit power surged within him, and a faint blue light appeared in his hand. In an instant, a small, vibrant Blue Silver Grass appeared in his hand.
"Blue Silver Grass." Shi Jian looked at it and then said, "Shi Quan, can you make the left leaf of your Blue Silver Grass bend down?"
"I'll try." Although Shi Quan didn't understand Shi Jian's purpose, he actively tried. But with this attempt, he understood the difficulty. Bending the entire Blue Silver Grass was not hard, but trying to control a single branch or leaf, the Blue Silver Grass didn't react at all.
After many attempts, Shi Quan's brows were already furrowed, but he still couldn't do it.
"That's enough, Shi Quan."
Shi Jian spoke at the right moment, then raised his right hand. Earth-yellow light condensed, forming a fist-sized lump of Earth in his hand, which was Shi Jian's Martial Spirit, Earth.
"Look."
As Shi Jian's words fell, he immediately became focused. The next second, the Earth in his hand actually moved.
Under Shi Quan's astonished gaze, the lump of Earth began to constantly change into various shapes: oval, square, rectangular. Not only that, the Earth even began to change in size, transforming into more complex things. Tables and chairs of different sizes, pots, bowls, and ladles all appeared in his hand within a few breaths.
However, this was not Shi Jian's limit. When the Earth once again became a ball, subtle changes began to appear in it.
Mud sculpture!
In less than a quarter of an hour, a lifelike mud sculpture of a small bird appeared in Shi Jian's hand. Throughout the entire process, Shi Jian didn't even move. The Earth Martial Spirit in his hand seemed to have its own consciousness, directly transforming into the shape of a small bird.
Shi Quan, standing by, was already too shocked by this scene to speak.
In his understanding, he had never heard of anyone being able to control their Martial Spirit itself to such a delicate degree, and without spirit power at that.
Shi Quan only felt his throat dry and hoarse. After a long while, he recovered and asked, "Dad... how... did you do that!"
Shi Jian raised his hand and pointed to his heart. "This is the inner strength I spoke of. In my opinion, a Martial Spirit is a part of the body, a manifestation of our inner will. As long as we understand our inner self, and our inner strength is firm enough, then the Martial Spirit itself can be controlled by us, acting according to our will."
"Dad, what should I do?"
Shi Quan's eyes lit up. He hadn't expected Shi Jian's secret of mud sculpting to be this.
In Shi Quan's view, Shi Jian's special Martial Spirit control method was much more exaggerated than the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's Heart Separation Control.
It could completely be called Martial Spirit control. Being able to control a Martial Spirit to perform any action without spirit power might not have a big impact on Beast Spirit and Tool Spirit, but for plant-type Martial Spirits and element-type Martial Spirits, once Martial Spirit control is learned, it would definitely be a qualitative leap in strength.
He didn't know how Shi Jian did it, but he also understood why Shi Jian was so cautious, always working alone when making mud sculptures.
If the secret of Shi Jian's ability to control his Martial Spirit so freely were to get out, their family would definitely not have peace.
"Your Martial Spirit is different from mine, but they lead to the same destination. I can only teach you based on my past insights. Whether you can learn it, I'm not entirely sure."
Shi Jian closed his right hand, and the small bird mud sculpture in his hand materialized, falling into his palm.
This was the special aspect of Shi Jian's mutated Earth Martial Spirit. Ordinary Tool Spirits, once released, could only be used by the releasee themselves. Once the Martial Spirit was recalled, the tool would also disappear. But Shi Jian's mutated Earth Martial Spirit could be created like a food Martial Spirit, turning into a real object.
Because Shi Jian had no spirit power, although his Earth Martial Spirit could materialize into a physical form, there was a certain quantity limit, and he couldn't create them infinitely.
Hearing Shi Jian's words, Shi Quan slowly recovered from his shock and smiled mysteriously, "Dad, I can definitely learn it, because..."
As he spoke, Shi Quan closed his right hand, and as the Blue Silver Grass Martial Spirit disappeared, he immediately raised his left hand, "...I also have a Martial Spirit just like Dad's!"
"What!" Even with Shi Jian's steady personality, upon hearing Shi Quan's words, his face was filled with shock. His eyes stared intently at Shi Quan's raised left hand.
A faint earthy yellow light erupted from Shi Quan's left palm. The light condensed, and soon a lump of Earth similar to the one in Shi Jian's hand appeared in Shi Quan's hand.
"Really, really..." Shi Jian almost instantly grasped Shi Quan's hand holding the Earth. His thick, slightly rough hand made him feel especially at ease.
"Dad, I haven't even told Mom about this secret yet. You're the first one to know."
Shi Quan chuckled. His parents were people he completely trusted, and there was no need to hide his Martial Spirit's secret from them.
"twin spirits, my son actually has twin spirits."
Because Shi Quan liked to read, Shi Jian and his wife also liked to read casually, so Shi Jian understood the concept of twin spirits and the significance they represented.
Shi Jian quickly calmed down, firmly grasping Shi Quan's shoulders with both hands, staring intently at Shi Quan, and reminded him in a deep voice, "Shi Quan, twin spirits are special. You must be careful not to expose the secret of your twin spirits. The Spirit Master's World is more dangerous than the ordinary person's World. When you possess something others don't, it often brings not flattery and envy, but jealousy and suspicion. You must always hide your true abilities, understand?"
Shi Quan replied with a serious expression, "I understand, Dad. I will definitely not reveal the matter of my twin spirits."
"Hmm." Shi Jian nodded. "Since you have the same Martial Spirit as me, it should be easier for you to learn. Earlier, the village chief came over and discussed the matter of going to the Spirit Master Academy with us. Our village has a free work-study student quota, and the village chief has already applied for you. There are still more than three months until the academy starts, so your Cultivation cannot fall behind. For these three months, you'll follow me in the afternoons to learn the application of inner strength. In the mornings, you can Cultivate on your own. In the evenings, rest when you should, balancing work and rest."
Shi Quan knew Shi Jian was referring to his Cultivation last night. After a simple plan in his mind, he immediately said, "I can follow you to learn during the day. Actually, I didn't rest last night; I Cultivated all night. I found that after Cultivating, I don't feel tired. I think normal Cultivation should be able to replace rest."
"Cultivation can replace rest?" Shi Jian frowned slightly, his suspicion mixed with a hint of worry.
"Hmm, don't worry, Dad. I'll be careful. If there's any problem, I'll tell you immediately. Don't worry."
"Alright." Shi Jian looked seriously at Shi Quan before sighing slightly and saying.
Shi Quan had been smart since he was little and had his own opinions on things. Shi Jian and his wife knew this, but for them, no matter how smart Shi Quan was, he was still just a six-year-old child. How could they not worry about him?
After a simple admonition, Shi Jian quickly began the first day of teaching.
Shi Jian's teaching method for so-called inner strength was also very special.
Playing with mud.
Of course, it wasn't just random playing; to put it simply, it was mud sculpting.
After the age of three, when Shi Quan got tired of reading, he would occasionally go to Shi Jian to learn some simple mud sculpting. Shi Quan had already laid a good foundation in mud sculpting.
However, this time's mud sculpting was different from before. Throughout the entire creation process, Shi Jian instilled one concept into Shi Quan from beginning to end: to abandon all distracting thoughts and focus all his attention and mind entirely on the Earth in his hands.
He was to immerse himself completely in the 'shaping' of the Earth, feeling the power of the Earth and the natural sensation of creation.
It sounds simple, but in practice, it was very difficult.
People are easily influenced by surrounding distractions, and it's not easy to fully immerse oneself in something.
Sometimes, the human mind is like that: the more you don't want to think about something, the more your mind will think about it; it's simply uncontrollable.
In the beginning, Shi Quan couldn't meet Shi Jian's requirements at all. He was easily affected by the slightest sounds around him, unable to immerse himself, and he felt very agitated.
Fortunately, Shi Jian calmly guided Shi Quan the whole time, never showing any sign of impatience. Even so, it took Shi Quan half a month to reach Shi Jian's initial requirements for the first time.
And that was with the assistance of his Spirit Martial Spirit, which helped him enter this state of immersion.
This was also something Shi Quan discovered by accident. When his Spirit Martial Spirit was attached, his senses and perceptions would be greatly enhanced. Another very special point was that his thought process and consciousness would become more agile than usual when his Spirit Martial Spirit was attached.
It was as if he had an extra brain helping him process things; his previous single-core processor had become dual-core, making both processing speed and effect much more efficient than normal.
It was only by relying on Spirit's special innate ability that Shi Quan managed to meet Shi Jian's requirements once.
That feeling was very special.
While creating, Shi Quan's entire gaze was completely focused on the lump of Earth in his hands. He felt as if he was immersed in this lump of Earth, his hands slowly sketching on it. Soon, a simple mud bowl appeared in Shi Quan's hands.
Looking at the partially completed mud bowl in his hand, Shi Quan didn't even notice the passage of time. During that brief process, Shi Quan only felt that his heart was perfectly aligned with this lump of Earth.
Using the power of concentration to comprehend the Earth.
Shi Quan also understood Shi Jian's purpose.
Fully immersing one's thoughts into the mud sculpting process is actually a form of indirect comprehension. During this process, one can intimately feel the texture, grain, humidity, and so on of the Earth.
The purpose of this process should be to lay the foundation for subsequent communication and understanding with the Martial Spirit, thereby achieving further Martial Spirit control.