The Great Bright Art can enhance a cultivator's affinity for the Light Attribute, which was a pleasant surprise for Zhu Ziyang. The appearance of the Great Bright Art immediately firmed up his previously hesitant resolve.
Cultivating the Light Attribute as his main, and the Death Attribute as his secondary, was a path absolutely full of glorious future for him!
Of course, the most important thing was the value of the Great Bright Art cultivation method itself. A meditation method that could enhance mental force and physique while cultivating spirit power – such an effect probably didn't exist on the entire continent.
Meditation methods might be able to cultivate mental force, but they absolutely couldn't enhance physique. The importance of physique to a Spirit Master was self-evident, as it directly correlated with the spirit ring age limit a Spirit Master could withstand.
On the continent, methods for a Spirit Master to enhance their physique were very limited. Physique would be strengthened when absorbing a spirit ring; this was the most basic improvement. Consuming rare treasures could also enhance physique, but such methods were only suitable for the heirs of major powers. Another method was regular exercise; running like ordinary people could enhance physique, and self-mutilating exercise using immense pressure could also enhance physique.
However, none of these could achieve what the Great Bright Art did: subtly enhancing a Spirit Master's physique through cultivation.
Zhu Ziyang felt an unprecedented confidence.
After a night of cultivation, Zhu Ziyang's mental state was better than ever, his whole body felt incredibly light, the fatigue from several days of traveling was swept away, and his overall condition was excellent.
"Great! Time to go for a run with Nannan!" Zhu Ziyang quickly got out of bed, finished his ablutions, left his house, and headed towards Jiang Nannan's home.
When he arrived at Jiang Nannan's house, he happened to meet Jiang Nannan's mother, Bai Xinyi.
"Aunt Bai!" Zhu Ziyang called out.
"Xiao Yang, congratulations on becoming a true Spirit Master!" Bai Xinyi's pale face broke into a gentle smile when she saw Zhu Ziyang, and she said softly, her tone filled with genuine joy. Bai Xinyi was very fond of this child from the village chief's family; he was smart, sensible, and a genius with innate full spirit power. Most importantly, he was very good to her Nannan. If Nannan could be with him in the future, she would die content!
"Haha, it's alright!" Zhu Ziyang laughed, then asked, "Aunt Bai, is Nannan up yet?"
"Yes! She's already gone for her run!" Bai Xinyi said with a smile, "These past few days while you were hunting for a spirit ring, Nannan has been getting up half an hour early every day to run."
"Is that so?!" Zhu Ziyang was a little surprised to hear this, then said, "In that case, I'll go find her. Goodbye, Aunt Bai."
"Mm, goodbye!" Bai Xinyi watched Zhu Ziyang's retreating figure, wondering what she was thinking about.
When Zhu Ziyang found Jiang Nannan, the little girl was running, drenched in sweat, even her bangs were wet and stuck to her smooth forehead. She ran past Zhu Ziyang without even noticing him.
"Nannan!" Zhu Ziyang couldn't help but feel a bit speechless and called out.
"Huh?" Jiang Nannan suddenly heard someone call her and instinctively replied, but her moving legs didn't stop. It wasn't until she had run thirty or forty meters that she reacted, "Was that voice just now... Brother Ziyang?!"
The little girl immediately stopped in her tracks, looked back, and saw Zhu Ziyang standing on a rock by the roadside, smiling and waving at her.
"Oh! Brother Ziyang!" Jiang Nannan jumped up happily and immediately ran towards Zhu Ziyang.
Zhu Ziyang naturally couldn't stand still and also ran towards the little girl.
Then, they met. Jiang Nannan excitedly hugged him, pressing her head tightly against Zhu Ziyang's neck. Seven days – this was the longest they had been apart. Every morning when she ran, she couldn't help but think of Zhu Ziyang's companionship, always feeling an emptiness in her heart, an indescribable feeling. Perhaps, this was what Sister Ahua and the others called love!
The sudden embrace left Zhu Ziyang a bit stunned. After a moment, he hugged Jiang Nannan back. A smile appeared on his face.
About three or four minutes later, Jiang Nannan finally let go of Zhu Ziyang, stepped back half a pace, her small face slightly red, wearing a silly smile, and gazing blankly at Zhu Ziyang.
"What's wrong, Nannan? Why are you looking at me like that?" Zhu Ziyang was a little puzzled.
"N-nothing." Jiang Nannan quickly lowered her head, shook it, then looked up again at Zhu Ziyang and said, "Brother Ziyang, you're back. Have you already obtained a spirit ring?"
"That's right!" Zhu Ziyang showed a confident smile and said, "I am now an 11th-level Spirit Master!"
As he spoke, he released his spirit ring. The dazzling bright yellow spirit ring rose from beneath his feet, adding a touch of nobility to his already refined appearance.
"Is this a spirit ring? It's so beautiful!" Jiang Nannan gazed at the yellow spirit ring in a daze, saying with envy.
"Don't worry, with your talent, Nannan, you'll definitely reach level 10 in less than two months. When that time comes, my father and I will take you to find your spirit ring!" Zhu Ziyang patted Jiang Nannan's shoulder, encouraging her.
"Mm! I will definitely cultivate hard!" Jiang Nannan, being a strong-willed and independent child, quickly snapped out of her envy and said with determined eyes.
"That's my Nannan!" Zhu Ziyang said, not realizing there was a problem with his words. He was thinking about whether he could teach the Great Bright Art to Jiang Nannan, but as soon as the thought arose, the word "Forbidden" appeared in his mind.
Alright! He was helpless; this was a restriction of the Great Bright Art. Only those who received its recognition were qualified to learn it.
It seemed Zhu Changhe and Liang Ying couldn't cultivate it either. He had given them the Xiao Guangming Breathing Method a long time ago, but they never had any reaction, clearly just like Jiang Nannan, they hadn't received recognition.
What a pity, Zhu Ziyang sighed inwardly.
Jiang Nannan didn't realize it either, perhaps because she had grown accustomed to Zhu Ziyang's words since childhood.
"By the way, Nannan, have you been practicing the breathing method I taught you?" Zhu Ziyang suddenly asked.
"Yes, I practice it every time I run, and before meditating every evening," Jiang Nannan replied without hesitation.
"Very good. Have you felt any changes?" Zhu Ziyang's eyes gleamed with thought as he continued to ask.
"Changes? Hmm, does faster cultivation count? I can already circulate eight cycles now!" The little girl lowered her head, thinking, and said, "And, and, I don't breathe as heavily after running now!"
"Is that so!" Zhu Ziyang narrowed his eyes and hummed.
That Jiang Nannan could circulate eight cycles was within his expectation, after all, her talent was there, and it probably had little to do with the Xiao Guangming Breathing Method. This should be the limit of Jiang Nannan's spirit power circulation. If she wanted to break through this bottleneck, she would probably need her Spirit to undergo a secondary awakening or encounter some other heaven-defying opportunity. As for not breathing as heavily after running, this should be attributed to the slight strengthening of her body after her Spirit awakening, and also had little to do with the Xiao Guangming Breathing Method.
It made sense, Jiang Nannan had only received the Xiao Guangming Breathing Method for six or seven days; how could it have such a quick effect?
Having figured this out, Zhu Ziyang smiled and said, "Mm, Nannan, just keep practicing it. If a wisp of energy completely different from spirit power appears in your Danzhong Acupoint, be sure to tell me."
"I know." Jiang Nannan smiled sweetly.
"Alright, let's go back first. Look, you've sweated so much, you're stinky!"
"No way! Brother Ziyang, you're lying!"
"Hahahaha!"
The two jogged and played all the way home.
After returning home, Zhu Ziyang pondered the possibility of combining the Great Bright Art with meditation methods to research a new meditation method.
If the elders of the Spirit Master's world knew of Zhu Ziyang's idea, they would surely scoff and reprimand, "A mere six-year-old child actually wants to innovate meditation methods, it's simply a fool's dream!"
However, Zhu Ziyang wouldn't care. After all, he was a man with hundreds of thousands of books in his mind!