Level 20

**Chapter 44: Level 20**

"Xiao Yi, did you make all of this?"

When Qian Xunji arrived, he quickly noticed the dozen or so Wind Talismans personally made by Gu Ziyi.

"Yes, teacher!" Gu Ziyi confirmed.

"Okay, okay, you are truly worthy of being my disciple. You haven't disappointed me!" Qian Xunji suddenly laughed.

When he learned that Gu Ziyi's Soul Power could be inscribed into his talismans through soul bones, Qian Xunji realized that Gu Ziyi could succeed.

Now that he had seen the success for himself, Qian Xunji was pleasantly surprised. 

At the very least, Gu Ziyi's ability to research soul skills impressed him. No one in the research department failed to praise him, and this gave Qian Xunji a sense of pride as his teacher.

"Teacher, I succeeded too! Thanks to my help, my younger brother succeeded," Bibi Dong proudly declared her achievement.

"Yes, Dong'er is also very smart!" Qian Xunji laughed.

"Come, let the teacher see these Wind Talismans you made!" 

Qian Xunji then checked the Wind Talismans Gu Ziyi had crafted and confirmed that he had truly succeeded in his research.

"Xiao Yi, have you ever felt that your Martial Soul isn't actually that simple?" After the surprise, Qian Xunji suddenly asked Gu Ziyi.

For a long time, he had suspected that Gu Ziyi's Martial Soul wasn't ordinary. His unique soul skill was impressive, and particularly the fact that his Martial Soul could inscribe soul bone skills into talismans was unheard of in any other Martial Soul.

However, Gu Ziyi's Martial Soul, the Talisman, could achieve this.

"Yes, teacher, I've thought the same!" Gu Ziyi replied. "When I awakened my Martial Soul..."

After hearing Qian Xunji's words, Gu Ziyi didn't hide anything and immediately told him about the vision he saw during his Martial Soul awakening.

It was no big deal to reveal, as it wouldn't change anything.

Bibi Dong blinked when she heard him, her eyes full of surprise. She hadn't expected such a thing to happen when Gu Ziyi first awakened his Martial Soul.

"Sure enough, your Martial Soul isn't simple!" Qian Xunji commented. "It seems there was an issue during the mutation, leading to flaws that resulted in the low quality of your Martial Soul…"

"But judging by the performance of your Martial Soul, it doesn't seem like a low-quality one. Whether it's your soul skill or the ability to inscribe soul bone skills into your talismans, this isn't the performance of a low-quality Martial Soul…"

"Yet, despite all that, your innate soul power is still only Level 1!"

Qian Xunji finally sighed with some melancholy.

Gu Ziyi fell into slight silence after hearing this, as he understood Qian Xunji's regret. For a Spirit Master with an innate soul power of Level 1, the upper limit of their potential was very low. 

Until now, no Spirit Master with an innate soul power of Level 1 had ever cultivated past Level 30 to become a true Spirit Master.

The highest achievement for a Spirit Master with Level 1 innate soul power was reaching Level 29, but never crossing the threshold.

This was the same as Yu Xiaogang in the original story.

Furthermore, it wasn't easy for a Level 1 Spirit Master to even cultivate up to Level 29—few people had ever achieved it.

It wasn't until Gu Ziyi arrived in the Douluo Continent that he learned that innate soul power levels ranged from Level 1 to Level 10, with Level 10 being full innate soul power, and there was a legend of someone having Level 20.

Additionally, there were no half-levels in the classification of innate soul power, meaning levels like 0.5 or 9.5 did not exist.

In other words, Yu Xiaogang's statement of having 0.5-level innate soul power in the original work was just something he created to console himself.

Since his innate soul power was already low, lowering it even further allowed him to prove his worth by cultivating to Level 29 with only 0.5 of a level, without even reaching Level 1.

In reality, this was what concerned Gu Ziyi when he learned that he had an innate soul power of Level 1.

It wasn't that he feared a slow cultivation speed—he wasn't afraid of slow progress—but he feared hitting the upper limit of his talent and being unable to advance further.

In Gu Ziyi's opinion, the only thing that could solve this problem was Immortal Herbs.

Or, after reaching Level 29, he could continue improving the quality of his Spirit Rings, thereby increasing his soul power level.

But that was still a long way off.

It would take eight years for Gu Ziyi to reach the limit of his talent if he continued cultivating at a rate of two levels per year.

Moreover, improving the quality of the Spirit Rings required more effort and time than merely increasing soul power levels.

Even if that method worked, it would still take many years to achieve.

This was something Gu Ziyi couldn't bear to wait for.

So he was determined to get Immortal Herbs.

Gu Ziyi already had a plan for that.

The turning point came when Qian Xunji gave him another soul bone.

That three-thousand-year-old soul bone had a useful soul skill called Invisibility!

Yes, invisibility!

Invisibility was considered a high-level soul skill by default, regardless of its quality.

The only flaw in this particular soul bone's invisibility was that once the user went invisible, they couldn't use any soul skills, or else they'd immediately be exposed.

While it wasn't very useful in battle, it was an opportunity for Gu Ziyi.

If he could create his own Invisibility Talisman and make a few more preparations, he could venture into the Sunset Forest.

However, Gu Ziyi didn't want to go right away. At the very least, he needed to wait until he passed Level 20 before daring to make the attempt.

If he was still only in the teens, he would feel too weak.

Even after reaching Level 20, it still seemed a bit weak, but it was much stronger than now, after all.

So, after Gu Ziyi succeeded in creating his own Wind Talisman, he immediately began developing his own Invisibility Talisman.

The reason he didn't start with the Invisibility Talisman was because its inscriptions were quite complex, so Gu Ziyi used the Wind Talisman to practice first.

Three months later, after successfully developing the Wind Talisman, Gu Ziyi, who had gained enough experience, finally created his own Invisibility Talisman.

Then he stopped researching any other self-created soul skills. Instead, he continued practicing the making of Wind Talismans and Invisibility Talismans to continuously improve his proficiency.

When it came to learning about flora, Gu Ziyi would ask Yue Guan for advice whenever he had time. In addition, he planned to ask Yue Guan to first tell him about high-quality plants. Gu Ziyi had basically mastered knowledge of the Immortal Herbs.

Mainly those eaten by the protagonists in the original work and those personally used by Tang San, he made a great effort to recall what he had read and, with Yue Guan's guidance, he was able to remember all of them.

What surprised Gu Ziyi was that Yue Guan knew that these top-tier medicinal herbs were called Immortal Plants. He also referred to these high-grade herbs as Immortal Herbs.

Buzz—

Time passed, and on the day Gu Ziyi turned 16, he finally reached the 20th level.

"I finally broke through!"

Gu Ziyi, now a handsome young man, opened his eyes and raised his fist in excitement.

He had been waiting for this day for a long time.

After breaking through Level 20, it was time for Gu Ziyi to add a second Spirit Ring to his Martial Soul.

…

(End of Chapter)

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