Having simply resolved the breakfast issue, Yu Yan continued to practice his control over the Ice and Fire Twin Fish, striving to achieve the stage where only one of the two fish would appear as soon as possible.
Once his spirit power was completely exhausted, he would sit cross-legged to recover and Cultivate his spirit power.
The process of increasing spirit power through the Meditation Technique is one of accumulating bit by bit; there are no shortcuts.
This is also the reason why Titled Douluo are so rare on the Douluo Continent today.
The Meditation Technique of the Douluo Continent is not like the meditation found in Western magic; it is more similar to the Internal Skill found in Eastern high-fantasy martial arts.
Yu Yan remembered that the Douluo Continent novel mentioned that when Tang San was faced with the Meditation Technique brought out by Yu Xiaogang, he commented that it could be seen as the prototype of a Cultivation Technique.
The Meditation Technique Yu Xiaogang brought out was certainly not the one practiced by the general public; it likely came from the Spirit Hall's side.
In any case, Yu Yan didn't believe that Yu Xiaogang—who could write such nonsense as the Ten Core Competencies of Martial Souls and become a clown in the eyes of many Spirit Masters—could summarize a better and more efficient Meditation Technique on his own.
Yu Yan didn't believe Yu Xiaogang had true ability, but he believed Yu Xiaogang definitely had good things in his possession.
Thinking of this, Yu Yan even felt a bit like going to Nuoding City to attend school, and then finding a way to get some benefits from Yu Xiaogang.
This thought appeared for only a moment before being dismissed by Yu Yan.
First of all, Yu Village is near Balak City, the main city of the Balak Kingdom, and the Work-Study Student slots for Yu Village belong to the Balak Junior Soul Master Academy; if he wanted to go to Nuoding Academy, he would have to pay his own way.
Secondly, Yu Village is very far from Nuoding City in the Fasinuo Province, making travel inconvenient.
Finally, Yu Yan didn't want to stay with Tang San, nor did he want Yu Xiaogang to discover the uniqueness of his Spirit... Early the next morning, before the sun had even risen, Yu Yan arrived at the mountaintop early to wait.
Seeing the east gradually brightening, Yu Yan quickly sat cross-legged and entered a state of cultivation.
At the moment the morning sun first rose, the purple qi appeared once again in Yu Yan's perception as expected.
Knowing that the purple color was an absolute treasure, Yu Yan focused all his attention on the purple qi, drawing near it and guiding it toward himself.
This strand of purple qi did not resist Yu Yan's pull, allowing him to lead it to his side.
Looking at this strand of purple qi right before his eyes, Yu Yan hesitated; now that the moment had truly come, he began to worry whether rashly inhaling the purple qi into his body would cause him any harm.
As the purple qi became incredibly thin with the passage of time, he steeled his heart, gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, and directly guided it into his body.
Tang San could directly collect purple qi and incorporate it into his fragile eyes to Cultivate the Purple Demon Eye; my body is sturdier than eyes, so incorporating this incredibly thin purple qi into my body shouldn't be too much of a problem.
The purple qi entered his body and traveled through his Meridians; before long, a sensation of intense heat followed.
purple qi is energy born from the sun; even if it has no harmful effects, it inherently carries heat.
Feeling this heat, Yu Yan hurriedly summoned his Ice and Fire Twin Fish for Martial Soul Possession and actively triggered the Ice Fish's ability.
Martial Soul Possession added the Ice Fish's ability to Yu Yan's body, and waves of cold air surrounded him inside and out, alleviating the heat brought by the purple qi.
After eliminating the unbearable heat, Yu Yan used his spirit power to suppress, envelop, and guide the purple qi according to the Meditation Technique.
Time passed minute by minute, and ten minutes later, Yu Yan successfully refined that strand of incredibly thin purple qi that was about to dissipate.
Refining the purple qi brought Yu Yan no small amount of benefit.
The greatest benefit was naturally the growth of his spirit power; before absorbing the purple qi, his spirit power was at Level 7 (56%), and a single strand of purple qi brought this progress to Level 7 (60%).
Following this progress, Yu Yan was confident that he could Cultivate his spirit power to Level 10 before school started.
Besides the growth in spirit power, Yu Yan also clearly perceived that after the purple qi merged into his spirit power, the quality of his spirit power slightly increased.
The change wasn't obvious, but Yu Yan, who had strong mental force and weak spirit power, could perceive this extremely minute change.
"Very good. As long as I refine more and master the method of refining purple qi, my cultivation speed won't be slower than Tang San's."
Yu Yan clenched his fist, his eyes filled with confidence.
For the following period of time, Yu Yan would come to the mountaintop every morning to wait for the morning sun to rise, then refine the purple qi that was about to dissipate.
Days passed one by one, and Yu Yan made progress every day.
Old Man Yu visited Yu Yan a few times, bringing him plenty of food and also the good news that his son was willing to help Yu Yan obtain his first hundred-year spirit ring.
Yu Yan could only silently keep Old Man Yu's kindness in his heart, waiting until he had the ability in the future to repay this debt of gratitude... On a morning ten days later, Yu Yan sat cross-legged on the mountaintop, waiting for the sun to rise; as long as he successfully refined today's portion of purple qi, he would be able to smoothly break through to Level 8.
The purple qi appeared as expected, and Yu Yan summoned the Ice and Fire Twin Fish, surrounding himself in the form of the Taiji Yin-Yang Fish.
Doing this didn't have any special effect; it was simply because Yu Yan thought it looked cooler this way.
The refining process went smoothly, and when Yu Yan opened his eyes, there were no accidents or disturbances; he had successfully broken through to Level 8.
"Um, hello, were you just cultivating?"
Just as Yu Yan was feeling happy, a female voice came from nearby.
Yu Yan quickly completed his Martial Soul Possession, clenched his fist, and turned to look at where the voice came from.
Martial Soul Possession was to prevent the person peeking at his cultivation from having ill intentions; one should never intend to harm others, but one must always be on guard against them, and Yu Yan was worried the other party might be disadvantageous to him.
At the spot where the voice came from, Yu Yan saw a young girl; she looked about the same age as him, slightly shorter than Yu Yan who exercised regularly, and her pink clothes were simple, neat, and clean.
The little girl's face was chubby and rosy, looking very cute.
Most eye-catching was the hair behind her head, styled into a Scorpion Braid that reached past her buttocks.
Feeling that this little girl looked somewhat familiar, Yu Yan began to recall her name in his mind.
Seeing that the boy in front of her wasn't speaking, the cute little girl asked again: "Hello, were you just cultivating?"
"Obviously." Yu Yan, not sensing any hostility from the girl, answered the question and asked his own: "I think you look a bit familiar, but I just can't remember your name. Can you tell me your name?"
"My name is Xiao Wu, 'Wu' as in dancing."
Since the other party had answered her question, Xiao Wu didn't mind telling him her name.
After Xiao Wu introduced herself, Yu Yan's mouth dropped open in surprise.
He also understood why he felt familiar with the little girl in front of him; wasn't this the image of Xiao Wu from the animated version of Douluo Continent?
Moreover, Xiao Wu's voice was that of his favorite voice actress, Tao Dian.
It was only natural for Yu Yan to have a sense of familiarity upon seeing Xiao Wu.