Ever since Fu Yu had retrieved what he wanted from the Zhang residence, he had sought out the most reputable caravan in the main city.
Using the excuse of visiting relatives in Heaven Dou City, he found a manager who looked the most kind-hearted.
In the society of the Douluo Continent, where eleven or twelve is considered adulthood, a six or seven-year-old is not actually that small, so the caravan manager found nothing unusual about it.
After negotiating a price of one silver coin, Fu Yu hitched a ride on this caravan heading toward Heaven Dou City.
More than ten days later, inside a carriage of the caravan bound for Heaven Dou City.
Fu Yu sat cross-legged in meditation, practicing the Cultivation Technique memories he had obtained from Fenghuang Down.
Taixu Sword Qi.
It was the ultimate technique of Immortal Master Red Kite, Fu Hua, of Mount Taixu, consisting of Five Phases: Heart, Form, Intent, Soul, and Spirit.
It was a highly refined discipline, specifically specialized for True Qi.
Among them, Heart and Intent were the Internal Skills; Form and Soul were the sword techniques; and Spirit was the ultimate skill.
Unlike ordinary Cultivation Techniques, Taixu Sword Qi does not store True Qi (spirit power) in the Qi Sea or other locations within the body; instead, it allows True Qi to come and go freely, circulating endlessly.
What Fu Yu was currently Cultivating was the Heart Phase of the Five Phases, also known as the Sword Heart Art, which is the Foundation for all variations of Taixu Sword Qi.
The Heart Phase is the introductory phase, yet it is also the most difficult one aside from the Sword Spirit phase.
This is because the earlier one begins Cultivating this phase, the better; youth is the optimal period for tempering the Sword Heart—the earlier one starts, the purer it becomes. (His memories of his past life were nearly burned away.)
For an adult to Cultivate the Sword Heart is like trying to catch the wind in one's palm; it is a futile effort.
Anyone who grasps the Heart Phase can utilize the meridians throughout their entire body to absorb True Qi for their own use.
As for why Fu Yu practiced the Sword Heart Art while in the caravan, he did not care if others overheard him.
That was because the full text of the Sword Heart Art consisted of four hundred and sixty-two sounds; it had no concrete form and could not be committed to writing. It taught neither Qi Circulation nor Body Refining.
Therefore, knowing the mantra itself was meaningless, yet its profound mystery lay precisely in this.
Even if one did not understand its meaning at all, as long as they had entered the Heart Phase, reciting, chanting silently, or listening to it would take effect.
It would temper the physical body and hone the will. Eventually, your body would become the 'Dao' of True Qi, and your consciousness would become a 'Lake' of thought.
But if one had not reached the entry level, then this mantra was no different from sleep-talking.
Fu Yu's greatest gain over the past dozen days was reaching the entry level of the Sword Heart Art. His spirit power now flowed through his body like running water, absorbing natural spirit power from the outside world according to his will.
However, because he had not yet obtained a spirit ring, the spirit power Fu Yu absorbed could only be accumulated slowly.
Just then, a call startled Fu Yu out of his Cultivation state.
He immediately stood up, pulled back the carriage curtain, and looked outside.
"What's wrong, Uncle Zhao?"
Fu Yu looked toward the middle-aged man who had just called out.
The man's surname was Zhao. He was a worker for the caravan, a kind person who had taken good care of Fu Yu over the past dozen days.
"Xiao Yu, we're about to enter Heaven Dou City. Are you familiar with the roads ahead? Do you want me to walk you part of the way?"
Hearing this, Fu Yu immediately jumped down from the carriage and looked toward the front of the caravan.
A few hundred meters away stood the tens-of-meters-high walls of Heaven Dou City. The weather-beaten stone seemed to tell the stories of the past ten thousand years.
Upon the walls, many soldiers clad in sturdy armor and holding sharp weapons patrolled back and forth, their sharp gazes scanning downward from time to time.
Thousands of years ago, the Heaven Dou Empire split into the Heaven Soul Empire and the Dou Ling Empire, each occupying half of the original Heaven Dou Empire's territory.
The capital of the Heaven Soul Empire was the former ten-thousand-year capital of the Heaven Dou Empire, Heaven Dou City. The Sunset Forest, which had produced the Seven Gods, was also not far outside the city.
However, the current Sunset Forest was no longer what it once was. Forget about ten-thousand-year Spirit Beasts; there weren't even many thousand-year-old ones left.
"It's alright, Uncle Zhao. I've been to Heaven Dou City several times, so I'm very familiar with the roads."
Fu Yu was not lying about this. He had indeed visited Heaven Dou City several times with Zhang Le Xuan under Uncle Zhang's lead. While he didn't know every nook and cranny, he remembered the streets he had walked perfectly.
Uncle Zhao laughed heartily.
"That's good. Once we enter the city, head home early so your family doesn't worry."
Hearing Uncle Zhao's words, Fu Yu instinctively looked toward a certain direction. That was the location of the Star Dou Great Forest, and also the location of Shrek City.
'Family? Yes, Sister Lexuan is still waiting for me.'
However, Fu Yu quickly reined in his emotions and looked at Uncle Zhao with a smile.
The memories of his past life were nearly all burned away, and the encounters of this life were once again forcing Fu Yu to grow up.
"Alright, Uncle Zhao. If we have the chance to meet again in the future, I'll definitely treat you to a drink."
"Hahaha, how old are you to be drinking? Wait until you're a few years older."
Accompanied by their conversation, the caravan gradually entered the bustling Heaven Dou City.
"Uncle Zhao, I'm off!"
At a bustling street corner, Fu Yu stood by the roadside, waving goodbye to the receding caravan.
Walking away, Uncle Zhao also waved his arm happily.
After leaving the caravan, Fu Yu began to walk quickly through the streets according to the route in his memory.
Correcting his path via roadside signs, Fu Yu eventually arrived at the largest library in the area.
This was also Fu Yu's first goal before hunting for spirits.
Because he had not yet entered an Elementary Spirit Master Academy to study, Fu Yu could only come to a place like a library to obtain the knowledge of Spirit Beasts he required.
After ten thousand years of development, some basic knowledge of Spirit Beasts had long since become widespread; it wasn't necessary to go to an Elementary Spirit Master Academy to learn it. Those places were now just for literacy and teaching common sense.
More advanced knowledge was only taught by teachers in high-level Spirit Master academies.
Fu Yu stepped over the somewhat old threshold, and the smell of decaying books hit him.
He fanned his hand in front of his nose. Once he had adapted a bit, Fu Yu approached the administrator and set down a silver coin.
"Excuse me, where are the books concerning Spirit Beasts kept?"
The elderly administrator wearing glasses lifted his somewhat cloudy eyes to glance at Fu Yu, then extended a wrinkled index finger toward a certain direction.
"Third row, second shelf."
"Thank you."
After giving his thanks, Fu Yu arrived at the shelf the administrator had mentioned.
"Encyclopedia of Spirit Beast Species," "Detailed Explanation of Tiger-type Spirit Beasts," "Sunset Forest Spirit Beast Distribution: New Edition"... Fu Yu's eyes lit up, and he directly pulled out the book about the Sunset Forest.
He flipped through it quickly, carefully committing every word and every illustration to memory.
After finishing one book, Fu Yu pulled out the Encyclopedia of Spirit Beasts and flipped through it rapidly as well.
A single book would inevitably have some errors; by reading several and cross-referencing them, the mistakes would be much fewer.
After finishing the most important books and running through them in his head to ensure nothing was missed, he left the library without stopping.
The administrator sitting at the door watched this scene and shook his head, used to such things.
"Children simply do not know the value of knowledge."
After leaving the library, Fu Yu arrived at a blacksmith shop.
"Master, do you have any crossbows?"
The clanging inside the blacksmith shop was constant, so Fu Yu had to shout loudly.
"A crossbow? Why does a kid want something like that?"
Although the Heaven Soul Empire did not ban bows and crossbows—nor even armor—the owner still felt the need to ask.
"For hunting at home."
The owner nodded in understanding. After all, being close to the Sunset Forest, some hunters often went in to hunt ten-year Spirit Beasts to sell.
"I don't have any crossbows left. If you want one, you can wait two days, and I'll have an apprentice forge one for you on the spot."
"Never mind then," Fu Yu said and turned to leave. There were many blacksmith shops in the city; there was no need to stick to just one.
"Wait a moment. I still have an old item in the shop. Do you want to take a look? If you want it, you can take it for five silver coins."
Hearing this, Fu Yu stopped and waited for the owner to fetch the item.
"Zhuge Divine Crossbow. How about it? This is from the last batch produced by the Tang Sect."
The owner brought out a black, box-shaped repeating crossbow from the shop and introduced it to Fu Yu with a smile.
"Deal, but I want the matching crossbow bolts as well."
Everything was ready; he only had to wait for tomorrow to head to the Sunset Forest.