Nie Li handed a basic Soul Crystal to each of them: "Everyone gets one Soul Crystal. You should keep this basic Soul Crystal close to you. Until your soul force reaches five hundred, you can use this basic Soul Crystal. Once it surpasses five hundred, you'll need to purchase an intermediate-level Soul Crystal."
Seeing Nie Li handing out the Soul Crystals, Wei Nan, Zhu Xiangjun, and Zhang Ming felt overwhelmed and anxious.
"How can we accept something so valuable?" Wei Nan said.
A basic Soul Crystal was worth a thousand demon spirit coins, more than two years of their living expenses.
Yet Nie Li just gave it to them casually.
"Yeah, we can't accept it!" Zhu Xiangjun quickly protested.
Zhang Ming nodded in agreement.
They were all from humble backgrounds and had never possessed such valuable items.
"If Nie Li gives it, then you should take it! Unless you don't see us as brothers."
Du Ze frowned slightly and said in a firm tone.
Though Du Ze was also from a common background, he carried significant influence.
Wei Nan and the others shared a glance, nodded, and received the basic Soul Crystals from Nie Li, their hearts filled with gratitude.
"Nie Li, thank you. From now on, you're our big brother. Whatever you need, just say the word."
Wei Nan and the others chimed in, having accepted Nie Li in their hearts and deciding to follow his lead.
Hearing their words, Nie Li smiled gently.
With such good brothers by his side, Nie Li could accomplish anything twice as effectively with half the effort!
"Du Ze, you start the test!" Nie Li said as he turned to Du Ze.
"Just like during the admission test!"
"Alright."
Du Ze nodded, carefully holding the basic Soul Crystal and slowly injecting his soul force into it.
The crystal gradually began to shine brighter, illuminating Du Ze's youthful yet slightly mature face.
Little sparkles danced inside the Soul Crystal.
Even though the brightness wasn’t quite enough for the rank of a Bronze one-star demon spirit master yet.
They took a quick glance and roughly gauged the quantity.
Each dot represented a single point of soul force.
"Du Ze, your progress is fast! You already have fifty-two points of soul force!" Lu Piao exclaimed excitedly.
With a soul force reaching fifty-two, Du Ze was likely to be the first among them to reach a hundred, thus becoming a Bronze one-star demon spirit master.
Du Ze looked over at Nie Li, who was focused intently on the Soul Crystal.
To Nie Li, it didn’t matter how much soul force one had; whether it was a few dozen or hundreds, it meant nothing.
What mattered the most were the attributes and form of the demon spirit.
The Soul Crystal's white light spots flickered with grayish-red hues, occasionally converging and transforming into various shapes like a cloud cluster.
Seeing this, Nie Li was surprised and involuntarily called out, "It’s a thunder-fire attribute, and the Soul Realm is in the Thunder Qilin Cloud form."
No wonder Du Ze had cultivated so much faster than others in his past life.
With a Soul Realm like the Thunder Qilin Cloud paired with a thunder-fire attribute, it was a perfect match.
Sadly, in his past life, Du Ze studied the Holy Fire Inscription Patterns, limiting him to a Gold one-star rank.
However, in this life, with his help, Du Ze's fate would change dramatically.
"Thunder-fire? Thunder Qilin Cloud?" The others were puzzled.
"There is no such thing as a crippled Soul Realm in this world. The seven colors, red, orange, yellow, green, azure, blue, and purple, represent everyone's unique personality and talent. Despite various reasons, some Soul Realms are easier to cultivate, but it's not as if a red Soul Realm is useless. As long as the appropriate cultivation method is found, even a red Soul Realm can unleash great power. Those who classify Soul Realms into levels are simply amateurs in soul force training!" Nie Li smiled faintly.
Nie Li’s words were like thunder on a clear day to Du Ze and Lu Piao.
It seemed beyond their comprehension.
Since the founding of Glory City, even those legendary figures had told them that Soul Realms were ranked, with orange stronger than red, and yellow stronger than orange.
Was it possible that these legendary figures were merely amateurs?
When it came to understanding the Soul Realm, not even legendary figures were on the same level as Nie Li.
In his previous life, Nie Qi had surpassed the legendary realm, reaching heights they couldn't fathom.
Nie Li continued, "As long as the right cultivation method is found, any Soul Realm can be cultivated to the legendary Heavenly Fate realm! Du Ze has a yellow Soul Realm in the thunder-fire category with a Thunder Qilin Cloud form, suitable for cultivating thunder-fire techniques and thunder-fire inscription patterns. The ideal demon spirit for him would be the Thunder Qilin Beast. If all these conditions are met, he'll achieve great things. But if he trains under other inscription patterns, his progress will be much slower."
After hearing Nie Li's explanation, Du Ze appeared troubled, saying, "Unfortunately, the thunder-fire techniques in Glory City are incomplete. Even if there are records in some ancient texts, they’re in very old languages..."
Mid-sentence, Du Ze suddenly recalled something.
Nie Li could understand the Thunderfire Scripture.
His gaze towards Nie Li was immediately filled with hope.
At this moment, Nie Li showed a confident smile and said, "With me here, what’s there to worry about? Thunderfire techniques alone won’t stump me. I have sixty-nine of the strongest thunder-fire techniques. Which one do you want to learn?" The Scarlet Thunderfire Art? No, too aggressive and likely to damage the meridians with prolonged practice.
The Qilin Art? It suits Du Ze's physique, but nobody has truly cultivated it to its full extent, including its creator.
From Nie Li’s perspective, the first nine levels of the Qilin Art are safe, but the last three are challenging.
The Qilin Art’s power was undeniable, being quite formidable by the ninth level alone.
The final three levels would depend on Du Ze’s luck.
"Let’s go with the Qilin Art then. It’s one of the three strongest thunder-fire techniques."
Nie Li passed on the Qilin Art's techniques to Du Ze, and he promised to write down the martial skills needed during cultivation later on.
The Qilin Art’s techniques weren't difficult to grasp, and Du Ze quickly memorized them.
As he silently recited and studied the Qilin Art, Du Ze was profoundly surprised.
The Qilin Art was unquestionably more powerful than any technique he had ever seen.
Just silently reciting the techniques made his Soul Realm surge wildly, with his soul force showing obvious signs of growth.
He hadn't even started to cultivate yet, and his soul force had already begun to strengthen!
With the Qilin Art, Du Ze's cultivation speed was guaranteed to advance rapidly!
Having always worked hard for his family's future, Du Ze dreamed of changing his parents' and clan's fate.
However, he understood how distant and unclear that dream was.
But now, he felt that as long as he seriously cultivated the Qilin Art, those dreams were within reach.
All of this was thanks to Nie Li!
"I'll write out each layer of the technique in detail for you over the next few days," Nie Li smiled.
Filled with gratitude, Du Ze tearfully declared, "For the kindness of bestowing the Qilin Art upon me, Du Ze will forever be thankful. If you ever need me, Nie Li, no matter the danger, I will never hesitate. If I do, may I suffer the harshest punishment!"
"Don't say that. We’re good brothers! It’s just a technique!" Nie Li said with a laugh, patting Du Ze on the shoulder.
For Nie Li, it was just a technique, but for Du Ze, it meant the world!
Meanwhile, Lu Piao eagerly chimed in, unable to suppress his curiosity, "Listening to you all makes my teeth ache with jealousy! Of course, brothers should share fortunes and hardships! Nie Li, with my red Soul Realm, is it possible to cultivate soul force?"
"Of course, everyone can cultivate, even those with a red Soul Realm. The suitable techniques just differ!" Nie Li replied with a smile.
Lu Piao began to channel his soul force into the Soul Crystal.
Gradually, the crystal emitted a faint glow, and inside, about a dozen slightly reddish specks danced.
The brightness was much dimmer compared to Du Ze's.
Seeing this, Lu Piao blushed with embarrassment.
His soul force was, frankly, very low.
"A red Soul Realm, belonging to the chaos category, and in the form of the Crimson Sun," Nie Li noticed with a frown.
"The Crimson Sun is somewhat ordinary in shape, but being chaos-based is quite rare. Among tens of thousands, there might not be a single chaos-based one. You should cultivate the Chaos Holy Spirit Technique!"
"Chaos Holy Spirit Technique? Is it strong?" Lu Piao asked excitedly, the name sounded impressive.
"Absolutely, the Chaos Holy Spirit Technique is comparable to the Qilin Art, yet it requires less intensive training. All you need is to nurture your inner chaos energy, which suits you well. But reaching the highest level depends on your fate," Nie Li explained with a chuckle.
"Whether you can cultivate it to the highest realm depends on your destiny."
Lu Piao’s eyes sparkled with excitement.
This technique was perfect for him.
He smiled and said, “I don’t need to reach the highest level. If I can become a Silver one-star demon spirit master, I’d be content.”
Silver one-star demon spirit master...
If the creator of the Chaos Holy Spirit Technique knew Lu Piao's "ambitious goals," that person might be stricken with helplessness.
"Silver one-star..."
Nie Li sighed inwardly, knowing Lu Piao would soon realize just how naive his current aspirations were.
Cultivating the Chaos Holy Spirit Technique would lead to rapid and astonishing progress, far beyond a simple Silver one-star rank!
Nie Li helped Wei Nan and the others with their tests, giving each a powerful technique.
While they couldn't compare to the Qilin Art or Chaos Holy Spirit Technique, they were still superior to those commonly taught in Glory City and best suited to their physiques.
In the future, these techniques would ensure their cultivation progressed with incredible efficiency!
Once they reached the Bronze five-star rank and found a compatible demon spirit, their combat capabilities would skyrocket!
With a glance at the Soul Crystal in his hand, Nie Li readied himself for his own talent test.
In his previous life, due to various reasons, Nie Li took many wrong paths, learning too many scattered techniques, which hindered his later cultivation.
This time, he was determined to find the technique most suited to him!