Chapter 2: Without a Cheat, I Can Only Rely on My Own Imagination to Research
"Right, Dad, where are you taking Big Brother to hunt for Spirits?"
Suddenly remembering something, Tang Shan's heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly asked.
He had just recalled that in the original work, when Su Yuntao first appeared, his spirit rings were one white and one yellow. Before joining this family, he hadn't noticed any problem, but calculating it now, for Su Yuntao to have a white spirit ring at the start of the plot was clearly unreasonable given this family's situation.
One must know that the current Su Haichao is a high-level Spirit Elder close to becoming a Spirit Ancestor, with a standard spirit ring configuration of two yellows and one purple. With such strength, it was clearly impossible for him to provide his own son with a white spirit ring; some accident must have occurred during the process.
Hearing the question, Su Haichao thought for a moment.
"I was planning to take your big brother to the Star Dou Great Forest to hunt Spirit Beasts. After all, the Spirit Beast resources there are abundant, making it easier to find a spirit ring suitable for him."
"Dad, if all else fails, just take Big Brother to a Captive Spirit Beast Forest to have a look. There are many Spirit Beasts suitable for him there, and they are sufficient in age until he needs a thousand-year spirit ring. Instead of taking risks in the Star Dou Great Forest, it's better to seek stability. After all, thousand-year Spirit Beasts often appear even in the outer regions of the Star Dou Great Forest."
Hearing that such a crisis might be hidden, Su Yuntao couldn't help but frown. Although the training plan his little brother had set for him was devilish and often left him in miserable pain, making him want to beat him up, he highly acknowledged the other's erudition. His breadth of knowledge was probably no less than that of scholars immersed in Spirit research.
Since his little brother said the outer region was dangerous, it was very likely true.
"Father, a Captive Spirit Beast Forest is fine too. If it doesn't work out, we can visit a few more forests; the Star Dou Great Forest is still too perilous."
Seeing that both his sons, including Su Yuntao who was to obtain the spirit ring, were so opposed to going to the Star Dou Great Forest, Su Haichao shrugged helplessly.
"Fine, fine, fine, I'll listen to you both."
For some reason, after making this decision, Su Haichao also felt a sense of relief, as if the haze shrouding his heart had quietly dispersed.
After the meal, Tang Shan helped Su Haichao and Su Yuntao pack items for the Spirit Beast forest. Su Haichao suddenly remembered something and looked at Tang Shan.
"Shan Zi, while we're at the Spirit Beast forest for these few days, will you stay home alone, stay at someone else's house, or should I find someone to take care of you?"
If it were an ordinary three-year-old child, Su Haichao certainly wouldn't have asked such a question and would have arranged everything for him. But Tang Shan was different; he had been exceptionally intelligent since childhood and possessed an extraordinary constitution, enough to live independently.
"Dad, I'll stay home by myself. My current physical fitness is comparable to a six-year-old child's, enough to take care of myself."
Hearing Su Haichao's question, Tang Shan shook his head and spoke thus.
"Little brother, take good care of yourself while you're home alone. Just wait until Big Brother gets back; I'll bring you something good to eat."
Su Yuntao took the opportunity to rub Tang Shan's head vigorously, his face filled with uncontrollable excitement.
It must be said that Su Haichao's strategy back then was very successful. Tang Shan's arrival quickly dissipated Su Yuntao's loneliness and grief over his mother's accidental death.
Tang Shan shook his head helplessly, finally giving up resistance and letting his big brother have his way. There was no helping it; the difference in physical fitness was too great.
Watching the scene of brotherly harmony, a gentle smile also appeared on Su Haichao's face.
"Shan Zi, staying home alone is fine. I'll leave ten gold coins, which is more than enough for daily life. I really don't know what your Spirit will be, but the physical boost it gives you is so extraordinary that it definitely won't be simple."
Hearing Su Haichao's words, a hint of anticipation also appeared on Tang Shan's face. Although the Douluo of this era had many inconveniences, there was one point that his previous life could never match: there was the supernatural here, and there were eternal gods.
Everyone can go to Spirit Hall at the age of six to have their Spirit awakened for free. If they possess Innate Soul Power, they can become noble Spirit Masters.
Setting aside other benefits, a Spirit Master can go to Spirit Hall every month to receive one gold coin. This is definitely a significant amount of wealth, enough to sustain a small family for several months.
Comparing the prices here with his past life, Tang Shan found that the purchasing power of one gold coin was roughly equivalent to nearly ten thousand yuan in his previous life.
If one breaks through to Spirit Grandmaster, the benefits increase tenfold; if one breaks through to Spirit Elder, they increase tenfold again. The benefits stop at the Spirit Elder rank.
This is a real World. At first, Tang Shan was a bit confused as to why Spirit Masters were given such good benefits, but he soon understood.
To put it bluntly, Spirit Masters can basically be seen as a group of unstable factors possessing extraordinary power. Even those of the food system or support system—one can create poisonous food, another can buff themselves—not to mention the other systems.
Rather than leaving these unstable factors unchecked, it's better to pay some money to reduce the probability of them causing trouble.
As for why Spirit Masters beyond the Spirit Elder rank no longer receive benefits—please, if you are a Spirit Master with at least four rings, can't you find a way to make a living?
Moreover, even an average genius wouldn't be too young by the time they cultivate to the Spirit Ancestor rank; their values would have basically formed, and the probability of them causing trouble would be much lower.
Returning to his room, Tang Shan sat at his desk and began to review his gains and decisions during this period.
The decision to have Big Brother exercise his body before absorbing a spirit ring was definitely correct. Not to mention the improvement to the Spirit from absorbing a ring beyond the age limit, purely from the perspective of spirit power enhancement, the effect would definitely exceed that of the wasted year.
Look at the future Lord Sea God; when he was attaching the poison-attribute Datura Snake spirit ring to his life-system Blue Silver Grass, he jumped directly from level eleven to level thirteen while near the limit of human endurance.
Don't talk about how hard he cultivated; in the time between Spirit awakening and hunting Spirit Beasts to absorb a spirit ring, no matter how gifted Tang San was, even with the Mysterious Heaven Skill, his spirit power increasing by half a level would be the absolute limit.
So letting Big Brother exercise before absorbing a spirit ring is definitely not a problem. After all, Big Brother's Innate Soul Power is what it is; no matter how hard he cultivates, it certainly won't catch up to the boost from absorbing a spirit ring.
After finishing his planning for Su Yuntao's future, Tang Shan turned his attention to himself.
Taking out pen and paper, he organized his thoughts while writing.
"My Spirit definitely won't be weak, and it might be a Beast Spirit. After all, Tool Spirits basically don't provide a physical boost until the Spirit Avatar stage."
"Speaking of which, there's one point I still don't understand. Tool Spirits should be implements—though I don't know their specific origin, they're nothing more than those few possibilities—but plants and animals should be more similar. Theoretically, they are both living organisms and should both be classified as Beast Spirits. Yet, plant-system Spirits are all classified as Tool Spirits. What's the logic in that?"
"Although I know there's a high probability my Spirit won't be weak, I should make several backup plans just in case. After all, through detailed investigation, I've confirmed that I probably don't have any cheat."
"Then I can only rely on my own imagination and the way of thinking cultivated by my past life's compulsory education. Right, there's also a lot of important information hidden in the Trilogy."
After filling a sheet of paper, Tang Shan unhesitatingly lit a fire-starter and burned it to prevent the information from leaking. After all, he was mainly organizing his recent gains, not writing a diary. What decent person writes a diary?
"Through my reading of Spirit Hall's library collection during this time, I've found that there are three main mediums that influence a Spirit."
"First is the bloodline originating from the parents. This can be seen from the fact that a child inherits the Spirit of one or both parents. As for so-called Spirit mutations, they are primarily the result of the mutual influence and fusion of both parents' Spirits."
"Second is spirit power. This goes without saying; Spirits primarily cultivate spirit power. It's worth mentioning that although it's called spirit power, it doesn't seem to have much to do with the soul or mental force."
"Third is conscious thought. This point is quite special and is one of the variables that leads to Spirit mutation. Such examples are extremely rare. As far as I know, there is probably only that Sword Fanatic from the douluo two era. He is also the only person who validated a certain Grandmaster's theory that 'there are no trash Spirits, only trash Spirit Masters.'"
"Fortunately, that certain Grandmaster hasn't published his theories yet, otherwise, I really wouldn't understand if that theory was meant to prove he is trash."
Pulling his drifting thoughts back, he recalled Su Yuntao's previous words, which confirmed the guess in Tang Shan's heart.
"I previously had Big Brother attach spirit power to his fingers to do eye exercises, and the effect was indeed very obvious. Clearly, the acupoints in this World still share certain similarities with my previous life. Unfortunately, I only know the general paths of the twelve primary meridians and the names of the eight extraordinary meridians, but nothing else. Dammit, one only regrets having little knowledge when it's time to use it."
Composing his thoughts, Tang Shan tried his best to sit cross-legged on the bed, placing one short leg behind the knee of the other. With his eyes slightly closed, he attempted to sense the omnipresent spirit power in his surroundings.
Half a quarter-hour, a quarter-hour, half an hour, an hour... At some point, Tang Shan fell into a mysterious state. His mind was free of thoughts, his breathing was deep... and he fell asleep.
The next day, Tang Shan, who had somehow ended up lying on the bed, opened his eyes and sighed like an old man. Combined with his youthful face, it carried a strange sense of humor.
"Another failed attempt to cultivate in advance. I didn't sense the omnipresent spirit power between heaven and earth that Big Brother and Dad talked about at all. Clearly, cultivating early is unlikely. Thinking about it, if it were really possible, the major clans and Spirit Master powers would have done it long ago. Another day of envying Tang San. Heavens, please give me a Mysterious Heaven Skill."
He pushed open the door to find breakfast already prepared. He finished it in no time and watched Su Yuntao and Su Haichao as they prepared to set off.
"Dad, remember to try and find a wolf-type Spirit Beast for Big Brother. Only then can we maximize the effect of this breakthrough."
"Got it."
"Then, little brother, what if I find a Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear? Do you think I should absorb it?"
Before leaving, Su Yuntao couldn't help but act like a clown. Before Tang Shan could even react, Su Haichao's large palm came swinging down.
"Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear? Absorb it? Can't you wish for something good? If we really encountered one, even ten lives wouldn't be enough for it to kill us."