Douluo: I Can Choose My Own Soul Skills

Join my Patreon to be 30 chapters ahead of the webnovel releases:

patreon.com/ZeroMoney

I would appreciate your help if you could join my Patreon and support me because it would keep me motivated. 

******

Ye Lan chuckled and answered each villager's chatter in turn before returning to Grandpa Tom's house.

This time, he strode along the pebble path he'd once funded—how spacious it looked now!

Grandpa Tom's home had been expanded too. No longer just a small wooden cabin, it now resembled a medieval-style villa.

Pushing open the door, Ye Lan finally saw Tom reclined in his old armchair, leisurely sipping tea.

"Grandpa! I'm home!"

"Eh? Xiao Lan? You've changed so much!"

"It's me, Grandpa—my martial spirit evolved, so my appearance shifted a bit," Ye Lan explained.

Tom studied him, nodding in satisfaction.

"Well done—you've grown taller. Xiao Lan, summer break hasn't even started yet, and you've already come back to visit me?"

"I've graduated, Grandpa. I'm a fully certified soul master now." Ye Lan drew the golden badge from his chest pocket.

Tom took the badge, its surface gleaming with gold. On the back, Ye Lan was engraved.

"Excellent! You've made great progress. Are you headed next to the Intermediate Spirit Academy? I still have savings—let me use them for your tuition."

"Thanks, Grandpa, but no need. In a little while, I'll be going to Hanhai City to train—that'll help me most. Keep those savings for your retirement. Besides, I'm a soul master now; I won't run out of money." Ye Lan shared his plan.

"So mature—you don't need Grandpa's support anymore," Tom said proudly as he watched the independent young man.

Over the next few days, Ye Lan accompanied Grandpa Tom, chatting and playing chess. Harvest Village even held a banquet in Ye Lan's honor to celebrate his new status. He fully relaxed, savoring the village's peaceful rhythms.

…

After a week of hard travel, every muscle in Ye Lan's body ached.

Finally, he arrived at his destination: Hanhai City, the Heaven Dou Empire's premier seaside metropolis.

Ignoring his soreness, Ye Lan leapt from the carriage, immediately drawn to the boundless sea.

The ocean's vast waves and the sky's unending blue mirrored each other—neither quite knowing whether the sea dyed the sky or vice versa.

White clouds drifted for miles, a gentle breeze stirring the air. On the shore, Ye Lan inhaled a whiff of the sea's salty tang.

Soon, he acclimated completely. Beyond the scenery, it was the sunlight here that made him feel truly at ease.

Instead of heading straight into the city, Ye Lan went south to a stretch of golden sandy beach for his first sunbath.

Ignoring dust and grains of sand, he stretched out, arms wide, and lay down on the soft shore.

With eyes closed, he felt as though he floated in a warm spring, his body cocooned by the heated sand.

His Blue Silver Grass martial spirit instinctively absorbed sunlight, swaying gently as if rejoicing.

The passive effect, "I Want to Grow," activated—Ye Lan's talent and the grass's vitality began to increase gradually.

Beyond the warmth outside, a gentle heat coursed through his meridians.

Unlike cultivating via meditation—where one feels only the main energy channels—this internal warmth was vividly traced through every branch and capillary.

From the primary meridian trunks to their smallest offshoots, every channel—regular and extraordinary, even the unnamed filaments—pulsed with this nourishing current.

Ye Lan sensed that absorbing sunlight and the resulting internal warmth were steadily repairing and refining his meridians.

In his Sea of Consciousness, the Blue Silver Grass also seemed to bask in sunlight, stretching eagerly toward the sky.

By now, Ye Lan's Blue Silver Grass had noticeably increased in size—its bonus to his vitality was roughly eight percent.

Beyond simply strengthening his martial spirit and meridians, this internal warm current revealed an even deeper benefit. Thanks to the passive effect "I Want to Grow," Ye Lan could now see a complete map of every meridian channel in his body.

Previously, he could only sense the general flow of soul power through the main conduits. Now, it felt as though he had true inner vision—every branch, every capillary was laid bare before him.

With that full meridian blueprint, Ye Lan realized he could refine both his meditation technique and his Extreme Soul Power Attachment Method. His original approach was like flooding a parched riverbed with a torrent—direct, but crude. For example, when he attached soul power to his legs, he didn't need to know each vein's path; he simply funneled energy to his limbs and let it fill every channel.

Now, having memorized the exact meridian layout, he could modulate the flow—diverting, throttling, and focusing it with precision. That promised to be the key to inventing more powerful soul skills tailored to his own physiology. He could even determine the optimal circulation route of his soul power, then remodel the Spirit Hall's standard meditation method into a version perfectly suited to him.

…

Time passed in an instant before Ye Lan blinked awake from his sun-soaked reverie. He hadn't expected the beach to be that relaxing—just one afternoon had slipped by.

Unfortunately, he couldn't cultivate soul power while sunbathing, since doing so would disrupt the delicate internal warm current—a net loss.

The one consolation was that in Hanhai City, five hours of sunlight each day sufficed, rather than a full eight. That freed up time for other pursuits.

Feeling the lingering changes in his body, Ye Lan brushed the sand from his clothes and readied himself to climb up into the city. Hanhai City sat atop a cliff, its western edge highest and sloping down to the east.

With a deep breath, he began the ascent on the eastern trail. By the time he paused to catch his breath, the city walls had drawn into view.

As one of Heaven Dou's principal strongholds—the empire's top port and premier seaside city—Hanhai City's massive walls stood guard at the cliff's edge. Dark-blue monoliths were carved with rolling wave motifs, a fortress clearly designed to be easy to defend yet hard to assault.

After a brief questioning by the gate guards, Ye Lan entered the city proper. He immediately noted the differences from Nuoding City: the locals were about half a head shorter, with skin tanned to a sun-kissed wheat color. His own pale complexion and golden hair made him stand out like a crane among chickens.

Even as evening approached, the temperature barely dipped. Many young women strolled in swimwear, and a few boldly flirted, casting coquettish glances his way.

Unaccustomed to such attention, Ye Lan silently reminded himself to stay focused—and turned his gaze to explore the streets and buildings of Hanhai City.

(End of Chapter)