A "Soul Technique" sounded like a very advanced concept, but in reality, it was quite easy to learn.
As long as you entered a specific area and infused your body with Soul Power of a special attribute, you could successfully learn the corresponding Soul Technique.
In this world, there were a total of nine Soul Techniques available for Soul Martial Artists to learn.
For example, the "Starfield Heart" only required you to get close to the locations on the Huaxia continent where Starfield Vortexes bloomed in the sky.
The "Heart of the Ocean," which was exclusive to Earth, required you to be in a coastal city, or even venture deep into the ocean, to learn it.
Similarly, to learn the Heart of the Snow Realm, you had to travel all the way north, getting closer and closer to the "rooster's crest" on the map of Huaxia.
An hour later, Rong Taotao, who had been diligently absorbing the Ice and Snow-attribute Soul Power and circulating it through his body, actually succeeded in learning it!
And unlike his two classmates, while Li Ziyi and Sun Xingyu were still unsure if they had learned the Heart of the Snow Realm, Rong Taotao's Inner Soul Map had already sent him a message.
"Soul Technique Learned: Heart of the Snow Realm!"
Rong Taotao pursed his lips and secretly opened his Inner Soul Map. Instantly, an ethereal silhouette of a human body bloomed once more in his mind.
Against a backdrop of the deep, starry sky, six Soul Slots were clearly visible on the ethereal silhouette.
Below it, a few lines of text were clear at a glance.
Character: Rong Taotao.
Lifebound Soul Beast: None.
1. Soul Power: Soul Soldier, Initial Stage (Potential Value: 6 Stars)
2. Soul Technique: Heart of the Snow Realm, One-Star, Novice Tier (Potential Value: 6 Stars)
3. Soul Skills: None.
4. Martial Arts:
1. Hand-to-Hand Combat, Two-Star, Advanced Tier (Potential Value: 4 Stars)
2. Heaven-piercing Halberd Mastery, Three-Star, Maxed (Potential Value: 3 Stars).
5. Available Potential Value: 0.
...
"Hmm..." Rong Taotao nodded in satisfaction. The Potential Value for his Soul Technique was actually six stars too!
'Looks like my aptitude is really high, huh?'
'Does that mean I can cultivate my Heart of the Snow Realm from a One-Star, Novice Tier all the way to the peak of Six-Star?'
'If I have a Six-Star Heart of the Snow Realm, then I should be able to learn and use every Snow Realm Soul Skill that human scholars have thoroughly researched, right?'
That's right. What truly allowed a Soul Martial Artist to use Soul Skills was their Soul Technique.
If the total amount of Soul Power was the foundation of everything, then Soul Technique was the medium through which you used Soul Skills.
To take a simple example, a Soul Martial God who had trained for years in the Starfield could use high-level Starfield Soul Skills with ease. However, without the support of the Heart of the Snow Realm, they couldn't even cast the lowest-level Snow Realm Soul Skill.
「Half an hour later...」
"Ah! I think I successfully absorbed it!" Sun Xingyu shouted excitedly. She immediately turned her head to look at Li Ziyi, her beautiful eyes under her red cotton hat filled with pleasant surprise.
Li Ziyi's body bobbed slightly with the high-speed gallop of the Snow Night Shock. He smiled and nodded at Sun Xingyu.
But his smile immediately stiffened when he saw Sun Xingyu's pale lips.
Although Sun Xingyu was excited, her face was deathly pale and her lips were trembling slightly, a sight that made Li Ziyi's heart ache.
Rong Taotao glanced at Li Ziyi. He knew Li Ziyi's personality well.
Right now, Li Ziyi wasn't showing any sign of bitter suffering, which told Rong Taotao that he must have already activated his Heart of the Snow Realm.
"What about Taotao?" A slightly concerned voice came from up ahead.
In the biting wind, Rong Taotao didn't speak, simply giving his sister-in-law a thumbs-up.
"As expected of geniuses. Not bad!" Yang Chunxi said softly. In fact, she wasn't surprised that Rong Taotao and Li Ziyi could succeed so quickly.
On the contrary, it was Sun Xingyu's ability to perceive the Ice and Snow Power so quickly that made Yang Chunxi see her in a new light.
Initial Awakening with Six Soul Slots versus Initial Awakening with Five Soul Slots...
Although it was only a difference of one Soul Slot, the gap in talent was more than just a little bit!
And since the trio had all activated their Heart of the Snow Realm one after another with no one falling behind, it meant that Sun Xingyu might be better at using her head, or perhaps... she was more willing to go all out.
Thinking of this, Yang Chunxi turned to glance at Sun Xingyu. Sure enough, the Snow Night Shock beneath the girl was already releasing waves of Soul Power, starting to protect her and shield her from the severe cold.
Meanwhile, Rong Taotao and Li Ziyi were still being mercilessly battered by the cold wind, their faces flushed red.
The Snow Night Shocks specially trained by the school were truly considerate and meticulous, knowing who was really about to be "frozen through."
Yang Chunxi spoke at the right moment, pouring a bucket of cold water on the three youngsters' excitement. "Soul Techniques are easy to learn, but difficult to advance. Any Soul Martial Artist can learn a Soul Technique."
"But to make any real progress in them, you'll need to spend a great deal of time and energy."
Hearing this, Rong Taotao nodded silently.
He knew he had embarked on an extremely difficult path.
If they were Starfield Soul Martial Artists, their cultivation careers would be way too comfortable!
First of all, there were numerous Starfield Vortexes across the land of Huaxia. You only needed to get close to one of them to learn the Starfield Heart.
But Rong Taotao's Heart of the Snow Realm could only be learned in the northernmost part of Huaxia.
There was only one such place.
Additionally, the environment of the Starfield was far better than that of the Snow Realm.
Inside a Starfield Vortex, you could say it was a beautiful scene of "stars hanging low over a vast plain, and the moon surging in a great river's flow."
Soul Martial Artists could even leave Earth and enter the vortex directly, cultivating in the true Starfield.
What kind of Soul Power concentration was that!?
How could Earth even compare!?
Directly beneath the Starfield Vortexes, not only were there human Warriors on guard, but they had even advanced into the Starfield itself, establishing human survival bases on the Alien Planet.
But what about Snow Realm Warriors?
From beginning to end, no one had ever dared to claim they had conquered the Snow Realm.
The extremely harsh conditions made countless Soul Martial Artists shrink back in fear.
This was also why Huaxia had built three massive walls in the northernmost part of the country.
This was also why the situation in the north was extremely grim, with large-scale battles frequently breaking out.
The tragic Battle of Dragon River over a decade ago was the most classic example.
From the very start, on these northern lands, battles both large and small have never ceased.
Powerful Snow Realm Soul Martial Artists did have the ability to break into the Snow Realm Vortex, but being able to get in was a completely different matter from setting up a camp and stationing troops inside.
You can conquer the territory.
But no one can hold it.
The layer upon layer of ferocious, sweeping blizzards could reduce your visibility to less than a meter. Any building could be uprooted by a Snow Dragon Tornado at any moment, and people could easily be torn to shreds by the wind and snow.
Inside the Snow Realm Vortex, the phrase "frozen through" was no longer an exaggeration, but a literal reality...
Snow Realm Soul Beasts could eke out an existence in the Snow Realm Vortex, but humans, clearly, did not have that privilege.
Even if your Lifebound Soul Beast was a Snow Realm Soul Beast, you were still, fundamentally, human.
Coincidentally, in Dajiang Province, located at the "rooster's tail" of Huaxia's map, the natural environment within its Molten Rock Vortex was just as extremely hostile.
Likewise, no one could withstand the high temperatures and scorching heat within.
Violent, volatile volcanoes, churning, blistering magma, and searing, scorching heatwaves were synonymous with the Molten Rock lands.
Molten Rock Soul Martial Artists, just like Snow Realm Soul Martial Artists, had extremely harsh cultivation conditions.
In comparison, the places where Starfield Soul Martial Artists and Ocean Soul Martial Artists cultivated were practically paradise.
Under these circumstances, the vast majority of Soul Martial Artists chose to follow the path of least resistance.
They chose to stand on the shoulders of giants, to walk the path the nation had paved for them, and become Starfield Soul Martial Artists or Ocean Soul Martial Artists.
There's a saying that circulates widely among the people:
"Choose Starfield, choose Ocean. Good, very good."
"That is how a Huaxia Soul Martial Artist should be."
"But those who choose Molten Rock, who choose the Snow Realm... they may not be true heroes, but they are definitely people of faith!"
Whether this saying applied to Sun Xingyu and Li Ziyi was unknown.
But for Rong Taotao...
The cold wind howled, and the sound of hooves shattered the air.
Atop the Snow Night Shock that galloped ever northward, Rong Taotao leaned forward, one hand covering his nose and mouth, diligently absorbing wisps of Ice and Snow Soul Power and circulating them through his body.
She,
was his faith.
For the person who had given him life but had never appeared in it, Rong Taotao had only one thought in his heart: 'If you won't come to see me, then I'll go to see you!'
Growing up, everyone said he was Xu Fenghua's son.
But Rong Taotao just wanted to know when she would finally be willing to be his mother.