Tianhun Empire, Anyang City.
A quiet and peaceful small village appeared in the dim night. The village seemed to have many households, with flickering yellow lights strung together. On a moonless night, it appeared so warm and beautiful. The cold wind blowing down from the northern ice fields seemed to have no effect on these families.
One household at the entrance of the village was still lit. This family had blue bricks and red tiles, very different from the other households in the village, appearing more prosperous. It had three rooms and a courtyard, with two trees planted in the courtyard, giving it a strong sense of life.
In the middle room, although the light was also dim yellow, it was still brighter compared to the other lights. By the window, a desk leaned against the wall, and in front of the desk was a delicate-looking boy. The boy was engrossed in the book in his hand, his dark eyes occasionally flickering with thought, showing that he was truly reading very carefully.
Beside the boy's hand was a strangely shaped lamp. It looked like an oil lamp, but no lit wick could be seen, yet its light was brighter than a normal oil lamp. The peculiar oil lamp emitted a bright yet soft glow, illuminating the book the boy was reading.
Upon closer inspection, it was a brand new, ink-scented, thread-bound book. The title of the book was written on the page header: "On the Impact of spirit ring Quality on Spirit Master Development"!
"...When a Spirit Master absorbs a spirit ring, his Spirit is simultaneously strengthened... Under the same age, the stronger the Spirit Beast, the higher the quality of the spirit ring it produces, and the greater the enhancement to the Spirit... If the Spirit Beast that generates the spirit ring is more compatible in attribute with the Spirit Master's Spirit, and its bloodline is closer to the Spirit Master's Spirit, then the quality of the generated spirit ring will be higher, the enhancement to the Spirit Master's Spirit will be more significant, and the improvement in the Spirit Master's abilities will also be greater... Taking a cat-type Spirit as an example, if its Spirit Master continuously attaches spirit rings from tiger-type Spirit Beasts, its Spirit's origin will be continuously strengthened and accumulated, eventually causing it to undergo a secondary awakening and evolve into a tiger-type Spirit... In short, a Spirit Master should fully consider the quality issue when selecting a spirit ring..."
The boy was so engrossed that he didn't even notice someone entering the room. The person who entered was a beautiful woman, seven parts similar in appearance to the boy. Evidently, she was the boy's mother.
"Yang Yang, it's late. Go to bed quickly. You're going to awaken your Spirit tomorrow, so go to bed early tonight and get some rest, okay?" The woman's voice was full of maternal love as she walked to the boy's side and said.
Then, without waiting for the boy to react, her delicate hand picked up the peculiar lamp, gave it a gentle shake, and the light went out.
"Mom!" The boy called out with some helplessness, a hint of unhappiness appearing on his delicate little face, but he did not disobey his mother's words and obediently walked towards the bed.
After the boy lay down and pulled up the covers, the woman finally showed a satisfied smile, leaned down and kissed the boy's forehead, whispering, "Good boy, goodnight!"
The woman left the room, and the light in the room also extinguished. Only the starlight filtering through the window barely illuminated the book on the desk. The book gradually faded in the starlight, as if it had never appeared.
At this moment, the boy, who had already gone to sleep with his eyes closed, suddenly opened his eyes, sat cross-legged on the bed, with five hearts facing the sky. His eyes, exceptionally bright in the darkness, slowly closed, and his entire being entered an indescribably peaceful state, like an old monk in meditation.
A quarter of an hour later, the boy lay down again.
The boy's name is Zhu Ziyang. He is six years old this year and is from Anyang City, Zhenbei Province, Tianhun Empire.
After Zhu Ziyang lay down, his mind was exceptionally clear. Those long-lost, long-sealed, and somewhat blurred memories resurfaced, intertwining with his knowledge, shaping the wonders of this World in his mind.
The Tianhun Empire, one of the Four Great Empires, and also one of the original Three Great Empires of the Douluo Continent, was one of the two great Empires formed after the split of the Heaven Dou Empire. Although its area was only half of the original Heaven Dou Empire's territory, its strength was stronger than the other co-originating nation, the Douling Empire.
On the Douluo Continent, everyone possesses something called a Spirit. Regarding the essence and origin of the Spirit, the currently recognized theory in the Spirit Master's world is: the bloodline theory, meaning that bloodline is the root of the Spirit, and the Spirit is the manifestation of the bloodline.
It is generally believed that the purer, older, and higher the bloodline, the higher the quality and potential of the Spirit. Bloodline determines the Spirit, so it is rare for melodramatic incidents of mistaken identity to occur on the Douluo Continent.
Surrounding the Spirit, a series of knowledge and content such as Spirit Master, spirit ring, Spirit Beast, Spirit Ability, Spirit Bone, and spirit tool flashed rapidly in Zhu Ziyang's mind.
Unconsciously, he had thought a bit too much. Zhu Ziyang turned over, his eyes wide open, completely sleepless.
Zhu Ziyang would only awaken his Spirit tomorrow, so his pre-sleep behavior, which resembled spirit power cultivation, was definitely not meditation.
In fact, he was indeed not cultivating spirit power, but practicing a special breathing method called the Xiao Guangming Breathing Method.
Perhaps as a reward for his good deeds in a previous life, Zhu Ziyang was born with innate wisdom, his intelligence far surpassing that of ordinary children. He could speak at three months, walk at six months, and at a young age had already read thousands of books, earning him a reputation as a child prodigy far and wide.
In addition to his innate wisdom, a partially unforgotten memory from a previous life always lingered in his mind. The Xiao Guangming Breathing Method came from this memory, and that incomplete memory seemed to constantly emphasize that this breathing method was very important to him.
Driven by curiosity, Zhu Ziyang began to try practicing the Xiao Guangming Breathing Method at the age of three. After he practiced it once according to his memory, Zhu Ziyang was very surprised to find that his Danzhong Acupoint had actually been opened, and a wisp of qi had also been born.
Although he was only three years old at the time, he had already read extensively and naturally knew the function and importance of the Danzhong Acupoint. As the source of the bloodline, the Danzhong Acupoint is commonly known as the "Crimson Palace Golden Gate," and under normal circumstances, it opens with the awakening of a Spirit Master's Spirit.
In fact, along with the Danzhong Acupoint, his Mud Pill Palace and Yellow Court also opened simultaneously, all three major dantian opening, but Zhu Ziyang simply hadn't realized it.
Under the circumstances at the time, he knew that his Danzhong Acupoint had opened prematurely, and a wisp of mysterious qi, definitely not spirit power, had been born. This made the naturally curious Zhu Ziyang very excited, and the desire to explore instantly made him practice the Xiao Guangming Breathing Method again.
He was surprised to find that when he practiced the Xiao Guangming Breathing Method, the wisp of qi in his Danzhong Acupoint also changed. It left the Danzhong Acupoint and, following his meridians, traveled through his limbs and bones, from the Baihui Acupoint on his head to the Guanyuan Acupoint in his abdomen, from the Shaofu Acupoint in his hands to the Yongquan Acupoint in his feet, every meridian, every acupoint.
Wherever that wisp of qi flowed, Zhu Ziyang would feel a faint warmth, very comfortable, like basking in the sun in winter, warm and cozy. When one cycle of the Xiao Guangming Breathing Method ended, that wisp of qi also returned precisely to his Danzhong Acupoint, becoming quiet and still.
Although Zhu Ziyang was not clear about the origin of the Xiao Guangming Breathing Method, nor the origin of that mysterious qi, he realized that the wisp of qi was not harmful to him! That innate wisdom from his past life also seemed to prove all of this.
Therefore, adhering to the idea of seeing things through, Zhu Ziyang consistently practiced the Xiao Guangming Breathing Method and did not give up.