"Is this mirror image my second martial soul?" Dongfang Jing stared at the illusory figure standing silently by the wall, asking himself in a low voice.
Twin martial souls? It didn't seem like it.
He withdrew his martial soul, then summoned it again.
After trying this several times, he discovered that the mirror image only appeared when he summoned the Shattered Mirror martial soul.
At this point, he was certain.
The mirror image was not his second martial soul, but rather a part of the Shattered Mirror martial soul, a kind of symbiotic ability.
He gazed at the mirror image pressed against the wall, facing him like a replica.
A thought suddenly flashed through his mind.
He casually picked up a piece of floating shard of mirror, held it in his palm, then turned around and lightly swiped it through the air behind him.
*Swoosh—*
A very faint sound, the soft scraping of a sharp object against the wall, came from behind him.
Dongfang Jing turned around abruptly, both surprised and delighted.
He immediately wanted to go to the location where the mirror image had just been to investigate.
The instant this thought arose, he felt his vision blur, the entire room being pulled forward at breakneck speed, an invisible force instantly acting on his entire body.
In the blink of an eye, when his vision refocused, he was astonished to find himself standing where the mirror image had been.
And the mirror image that had been standing by the wall was now where he had just been standing!
"This...this is!"
Dongfang Jing couldn't hide his astonishment.
His gaze was fixed on the fresh scratch on the wall, his heart pounding violently in his chest.
He was naturally indifferent and taciturn, especially after his parents' disappearance, he had buried his emotions deep within himself.
He was the complete opposite of his sister Dongfang Yao's outgoing and cheerful nature.
Ordinary things rarely stirred his emotions.
But at this moment, he couldn't sit still any longer.
The strange abilities displayed by this martial soul made him eager to immediately hunt for a soul ring, quickly increase his strength, and fully explore and master this ability.
He had been troubled about which direction to develop this seemingly broken martial soul.
Now, the path ahead seemed to have suddenly become clear.
"My mirror image is indestructible and can launch surprise attacks, and my real body can even instantly swap positions with it."
He closed his eyes, sensing carefully.
If a circle were drawn with himself as the center, an invisible domain seemed to form within a radius of ten meters.
Within this circle, he could freely choose the location where the mirror image would appear with a mere thought!
After numerous tests, he determined that the maximum distance between the mirror image and his original body was currently about ten meters.
However, he vaguely sensed that this distance was not fixed, but rather closely related to his own soul power level.
As his soul power increased in the future, this distance would definitely expand accordingly!
However, this alone was not enough to cause Dongfang Jing to lose his composure.
He had made an even more astonishing discovery!
The existence of this mirror image was like an extension of his "third eye" and "third ear."
Dongfang Jing turned his head to look at the wall, opposite which was his sister's room.
He adjusted his position, concentrated his mind, and manipulated the mirror image standing in the corner—the next moment, the mirror image, as if invisible, silently merged into the wall and directly entered Dongfang Yao's room next door.
In an instant, the layout of his sister's room, the little dumpling sleeping soundly on the bed, and the sound of her smacking her lips all these images and sounds clearly entered Dongfang Jing's mind.
However, this perception lasted only a few breaths.
A strong dizziness and a stabbing headache suddenly struck!
He stumbled, forced to immediately stop, and quickly retrieved his spirit and mirror image.
He sat cross-legged on the bed, resting while also trying to cultivate his spirit power through meditation.
Dongfang Jing had already thoroughly mastered this basic meditation method and much knowledge related to spirit master cultivation.
His adoptive parents were guards of the Soul Hunting Forest, essentially members of the Spirit Hall.
They were certainly better off than ordinary spirit master families, having purchased many books for him, laying a solid theoretical foundation early on.
Even in meditation, Dongfang Jing's mind raced.
'It seems that using the mirror image to perceive the environment from a distance is extremely mentally taxing; I must use it cautiously.
Then, what kind of spirit beast should I choose for my first spirit ring?'
Dongfang Jing had read a book when he was very young.
It stated, 'The limit for the first spirit ring is 423 years, the second is 764 years, the third is 1760 years, and so on.'
At the time, he found it strange; how could these numbers be so precise? Were they really not wrong?
For example…
Dongfang Jing had overheard his parents casually mention it.
His father, frail in childhood, absorbed a 140-year spirit ring after awakening his martial soul; the pain was so intense it felt like his body was about to explode. His mother, on the other hand, absorbed a 230-year spirit ring with relative ease, experiencing only slight discomfort.
Therefore, he boldly speculated:
Could the limit of spirit ring absorption be related to a soul master's physical constitution?
After all, everyone is different, with varying talents; how can one generalize?
From then on, regardless of the weather, he never stopped his basic physical training.
But then again,even though he felt his body, forged through rigorous training, far surpassed that of ordinary people his age,and he even had the confidence to try absorbing the so-called limit-age spirit ring described in the book, he still… dared not gamble.
Because failure meant certain death.
If he died, what would happen to Yao'er?
She was only three years old; he couldn't even imagine how she could survive alone in this dangerous world.
"But if I only seek stability and choose a spirit ring around four hundred years old, how can I gain power beyond ordinary people?"
His thoughts were in turmoil.
Suddenly, as if sensing something, he emerged from his meditative state, his gaze unconsciously falling on the full-length mirror in the room.
Dongfang Jing frowned slightly, stood up, and walked to the mirror.
Looking at himself in the mirror, he subconsciously summoned his martial soul.
As if possessed, he raised his hand, his fingertips lightly touching the cold mirror surface.
The instant of contact, a strange change occurred!
The once hard and smooth mirror surface rippled gently from the point where his fingertips touched it, like the surface of a lake where a pebble had been thrown in!
He withdrew his finger in surprise; his fingertip was unharmed.
After a few seconds of hesitation, Dongfang Jing's eyes narrowed, a resolute glint in them, and he stepped inside.
A flash of white light disappeared, and the scene before him completely transformed.
Everywhere he looked was a mirror.
This was the very place he had glimpsed when he awakened his martial soul—
"The Hall of Ten Thousand Mirrors?!"
That bone-chilling, icy loneliness enveloped him once more, the eerie feeling of being stripped away by countless reflections.
And the subtle pain of his soul being assimilated by the mirrors, shattering, resurfaced…unbearable, every second spent here was torture.
Dongfang Jing could feel that he could leave this strange space at any time.
And he could come and go as he pleased here.
Just as he was about to leave, he stopped.
A thought popped into his head.
'What if I stay here to cultivate?'
He endured the discomfort, surveying the eerie hall composed of billions of mirrors.
It must be said that here, his body and mind were constantly battling immense pressure.
Cultivating here would undoubtedly be an extreme test of willpower and endurance.
The next morning,Dongfang Yao tiptoed, struggling to bring a cup of warm milk to her brother's lips.
Her little face was filled with worry: "Brother, are you alright? You look very tired."
Dongfang Jing's movements were stiff, and the faint dark circles under his eyes revealed his exhaustion.
He rubbed his temples vigorously, then smiled at his sister: "Well, I awakened my martial soul, and I was too excited last night to sleep much."
After saying goodbye to Dongfang Yao and repeatedly telling her to stay home and not wander off, Dongfang Jing left the house.
Awakening one's martial soul and possessing innate soul power meant being qualified to enter a junior soul master academy.
However, there were usually only two ways to enter:either become a work-study student or pay tuition.
Dongfang Jing chose neither; he simply didn't attend school.
It was understood that this junior soul master academy lasted six years, somewhat like his elementary school in his previous life.
For him, studying there would be a complete waste of time.
The elementary Soul Master Academy only taught the very basics, along with some basic arithmetic.
In the original story, Tang San, after six years at Notting Academy, should have entered an intermediate Soul Master Academy.
However, because he became Yu Xiaogang's disciple, he learned a great deal of advanced knowledge ahead of time.
This allowed him to skip the intermediate academy and directly enter Shrek Academy.
Dongfang Jing, having lived two lives, was far more mature than his peers.
While others played, he studied the world of Soul Masters;while others played, he trained and strengthened his physique.
Rather than learning the basics he already possessed in the elementary Soul Master Academy,
Dongfang Jing longed to learn truly practical knowledge and skills that could be quickly transformed into power.
(End of Chapter)