9. Rigidity and Sharpness

Drawing from the historical knowledge of his previous life, Quan Yi quickly analyzed the situation and came up with a plausible explanation.

The Douluo Continent was a society built on a strict hierarchy—whether in terms of status or Soul Power level, breaking past one's limits was incredibly difficult.

At the top of society stood the powerful Soul Master clans, whose Martial Souls were inherently superior. As a result, they were born with higher innate Soul Power, giving them an overwhelming advantage from the start.

For them, their cultivation methods had always worked well enough. Since their talent was already leagues above the average person, they had little incentive to refine or develop more advanced training techniques.

As for commoner Soul Masters, their problems were even more severe.

Their education level was too low. Their horizons were too limited. The idea of improving cultivation techniques had never even crossed their minds.

Moreover, a Soul Master had to break through Rank 20 before the age of 30, or they would never advance past that bottleneck—no matter how hard they tried.

As a result, the entire Soul Master world had fallen into a rigid "innate talent theory"—where one's starting talent dictated their future. Nobody saw the value in studying cultivation methods because they believed innate talent was the only factor that mattered.

But Quan Yi was certain that somewhere in this world, there had to be people still researching this subject.

And these people must meet three key conditions:

They must be well-educated—otherwise, they wouldn't have the knowledge or resources to explore such complex theories. They must lack natural talent—otherwise, they wouldn't have a reason to seek alternative paths. Most importantly, they must be unwilling to accept their fate. Only those who refused to submit to their limits would strive for breakthroughs where others had given up.

However, Quan Yi was different.

He had talent, yes—but that wasn't a reason to limit his progress.

If improvement was possible, then he had no reason not to pursue it.

It seemed he would need to add another task to his already packed schedule.

As these thoughts raced through his mind, Quan Yi's Soul Power continued circulating within his body.

Yet, instead of sensing an increase in Soul Power, he felt as though he had hit a wall.

A bottleneck?

Slowly, he opened his eyes and turned to Quan Yue.

"Father, I've mastered meditation. I'm ready to start boxing training."

Quan Yue nodded approvingly.

"Very good. Now that you've grasped meditation, it's time to begin training in our Quan Family's boxing techniques."

He paused before continuing, his tone turning serious.

"The Quan Family's boxing style is both offensive and defensive, with techniques that are truly unique. Among them, the two most important techniques are the ones I will teach you today. They contain the essence of our family's martial arts."

"The first is a defensive technique—Gang."

"The second is an offensive technique—Jian."

Quan Yi listened attentively.

"Gang," Quan Yue explained, "involves condensing Soul Power into your hands to form a hardened membrane. This membrane can be used both offensively and defensively."

"Jian, on the other hand, is a technique where you concentrate Soul Power into spikes within your fists. Upon impact, these spikes pierce the opponent's defenses and inject Soul Power directly into their body, causing internal damage."

Hearing this, Quan Yi furrowed his brows in thought.

"Father, this sounds more like a technique for manipulating Soul Power rather than actual boxing. Isn't a boxing technique supposed to focus on punches, footwork, and combat movements?"

At this, Quan Yue let out a hearty laugh.

"Haha, you're absolutely right. This isn't a traditional boxing technique at all."

He smiled, his eyes gleaming with wisdom.

"However, 'Gang' and 'Jian' form the core principles of the Quan Family's boxing style. As long as you can master these two techniques within the next two months, you will have passed the test."

Although Quan Yi still had questions, Quan Yue had already begun his explanation. Pushing aside his doubts, Quan Yi focused and listened carefully.

The principle behind Gang and Jian was relatively simple—it was all about controlling Soul Power and condensing it into specific forms.

Gang required compressing Soul Power into a thin membrane around the hands, forming a durable defensive layer that could also be used offensively. Jian required shaping Soul Power into spikes within the fists. When striking an opponent, these spikes could penetrate their defenses, delivering a burst of internal damage.

As he spoke, Quan Yue demonstrated the techniques.

A dark black light emerged from his hands, quickly spreading across his skin like a thin, protective layer.

'Isn't this just Armament Haki?'

The thought flashed through Quan Yi's mind as he observed Quan Yue's demonstration.

His father's blackened hands gleamed with a metallic sheen, radiating an aura of impenetrable hardness.

Suddenly, Quan Yue's right fist began to shift. The peak of the knuckles slowly protruded outward, forming a sharp, spike-like structure.

After completing the demonstration, Quan Yue turned to Quan Yi and said, "Jian is an advanced form of Gang. You should start by mastering Gang first, then move on to Jian."

Without any unnecessary words, Quan Yi immediately began practicing.

However, as soon as he started, he realized—he had underestimated the difficulty of mastering Gang and Jian.

Though the principles behind the techniques were simple, the execution was another matter entirely.

At first, controlling Soul Power within his body seemed easy.

But the moment Soul Power left his body, controlling it became exponentially harder.

The key challenge was Soul Power dissipation. Once outside the body, Soul Power quickly began to scatter, making it incredibly difficult to form and maintain a solid Soul Power membrane.

To create a durable defense, he needed to gather enough Soul Power—but the more he gathered, the greater the control difficulty became.

And the consumption rate was staggering.

Each attempt drained one-tenth of his total Soul Power. With his current reserves, he could only practice a limited number of times per day before needing to meditate to recover.

No wonder training takes place in the basement.

This underground chamber was a mimicry training environment, specifically designed for the Black Iron Gauntlet Martial Soul. Here, Soul Power recovery was significantly faster than in other locations.

Even with these difficulties, Quan Yi wasn't discouraged.

Instead, he made a firm decision—

He would completely abandon sleep and replace it with meditation.

One Week Later

After a week of relentless training, Quan Yi finally achieved his first breakthrough.

He could now concentrate Soul Power onto his skin and maintain it for a short period of time.

His Soul Power took on a dark red hue, resembling molten lava flowing across his hands—both magnificent and dangerous.

However, the membrane was still unstable. The Soul Power layer fluctuated, and every time it wavered, its defensive strength weakened.

Still, everything was moving in the right direction.

Quan Yue, who had been watching closely, was utterly shocked.

At Quan Yi's age, he himself had taken half a year to barely grasp this technique.

And yet, in just one week, Quan Yi had already reached the same level.

Soul Power control wasn't something that could be improved through innate talent alone.

It required exceptional mental strength.

Could it be that Quan Yi's mental power was also far beyond ordinary people?

What Quan Yue didn't know was that Quan Yi was a reincarnated soul.

Though his body was that of a six-year-old, his mind had already matured past twenty.

Compared to his peers, he had more than ten extra years of development, which naturally meant stronger mental fortitude.

At this rate, Quan Yue estimated it would take two months for Quan Yi to master both techniques.

But Quan Yi was about to exceed expectations once again.

The Second Week

At this point, Quan Yi had no time to pay attention to Quan Yue's reactions.

He was entirely focused on his training.

Unlike physical training, Gang and Jian did not tire out his body—but they placed a heavy burden on his mind.

However, with each passing day, he could feel the mental strain lessening.

What Quan Yi didn't realize was that this was a sign of increasing mental power.

As his mental strength grew, his Soul Power control became sharper.

With the same amount of Soul Power, he could now form a thinner, more stable Soul Power membrane.

By the end of the second week, Quan Yi had completely mastered Gang.

Once Gang was mastered, Jian became much easier to learn.

After all, Jian was simply an extension of Gang—instead of forming a membrane, he needed to concentrate the Soul Power into spikes.

For eight days, he focused entirely on refining this technique.

Then, on the twentieth day, Quan Yi approached Quan Yue.

"Father, I have mastered both Gang and Jian."

For a moment, Quan Yue just stared at him.

He had lost count of how many times he had been shocked by his son.

Through weeks of observation, he had come to a new realization—

Quan Yi's greatest strength wasn't his innate full Soul Power.

It was his unwavering, unbreakable will.

Compared to Quan Yi's sheer determination, his natural talent seemed almost insignificant.

At first, Quan Yue had worried. He feared that after awakening such exceptional talent, Quan Yi might grow arrogant and start slacking in his training.

But Quan Yi had not relaxed for even a second.

If anything, his drive had only intensified.

Reflecting on this, Quan Yue realized something—

Even he couldn't maintain this level of dedication.

He could never train day and night without rest, pushing himself past his limits with no hesitation.

But Quan Yi could.