#1 - determination

Early morning, the sky was just beginning to lighten.

Inside the swimming pool of the Quan family's territory, Quan Yi was swimming.

His arms and legs swung rhythmically, movements fluid and natural. Although the actions weren't very intense, his speed was not slow.

Beautiful white splashes of water rose from the surface, shimmering in the morning sunlight.

The pool was long, twenty-five meters; wide, five meters. Quan Yi's task for the morning was to swim fifteen hundred meters.

What is the concept of fifteen hundred meters? A normal adult swimming fifteen hundred meters generally takes about forty minutes.

But Quan Yi, only six years old, could already finish it in half an hour.

His current achievements were thanks to Quan Yi's relentless efforts over the past four years.

Since setting the exercise plan four years ago, regardless of wind or rain, Quan Yi would insist on swimming every day, constantly increasing the distance he swam.

Quan Yi was working so hard for a reason.

Quan Yi was a transmigrator. In his previous life, he was a senior high school student. Although he was an orphan, he was also an outstanding young man with a bright future.

Until one time, in order to save someone, Quan Yi was accidentally hit by a truck and sent flying, which led to his unexpected transmigration to this strange, different world.

This was a fantasy world where everyone possessed a Martial Soul, but it was also a feudal society with clear status distinctions and a severe solidification of classes.

And at the top of this social pyramid were Soul Masters. As long as you could become a Soul Master, you would have already surpassed ninety-nine percent of the people.

But Quan Yi was a cautious person. He didn't dare pin his hopes on vague probabilities. He wanted more concrete evidence.

Therefore, Quan Yi began to pore over books about Martial Souls and Soul Power. Through research, Quan Yi discovered that innate Soul Power might not be determined "innately."

The most obvious clue was that the ratio of male to female Soul Masters reached five to one. The number of female Soul Masters was far less than male Soul Masters. If Soul Power was truly determined innately, then how could such a ridiculous difference occur?

Quan Yi pondered deeply, combining his knowledge of Martial Souls to reach a conclusion.

A Martial Soul, fundamentally speaking, was an aggregate of energy, a manifestation of life energy. And this energy wasn't produced out of thin air, but rather generated from the body. The body was the foundation of the Martial Soul.

The stronger the body, the more energy it could provide to the Martial Soul. And the more energy, the stronger the Martial Soul would be.

Moreover, Martial Soul and Soul Power were directly proportional. The stronger the Martial Soul, the higher the innate Soul Power; conversely, the higher the innate Soul Power, the stronger the Martial Soul.

Therefore, the level of innate Soul Power might have some secret relationship with physical strength.

Combining the above reasoning, women's physical strength was inherently weaker than men's, and perhaps this was the fundamental reason why the number of female Soul Masters was less than that of men.

Thinking of this, Quan Yi could no longer contain his excited heart. He seemed to see a broad road leading to becoming a Soul Master.

Having a strong body meant having the possibility of awakening a powerful Martial Soul, which in turn could lead to higher Soul Power.

But the biggest difficulty facing Quan Yi was that he was still very young. Could his young body really withstand high-intensity training?

Was there a training method that could both exercise the body and not cause a huge burden? Combining his memories from his previous life, Quan Yi found that swimming fit his requirements perfectly.

Affected by buoyancy in the water, the body's joints wouldn't bear as much pressure as they would on the ground, and swimming could also exercise all parts of the body.

Low impact and efficient, swimming was undoubtedly the best exercise at this stage.

Moreover, if the swimming pool was built indoors, Quan Yi wouldn't be constrained by the weather.

At the time, Quan Yi, only two years old, immediately went to find his mother, Su Ling'er, to tell her his idea of exercising his body through swimming.

Quan Yi's mother, Su Ling'er, had a head of fiery red wavy hair, a plump figure, and a graceful demeanor, perfectly showcasing the charm of a mature woman. Moreover, she was very tall, at least one meter eighty or more, taller than the average man.

Su Ling'er, upon hearing her son's idea, had a look of surprise flash across her gentle face. She knew that her son was mature and different from others since he was young, but she didn't expect that he would still far exceed her imagination.

Su Ling'er felt both gratified and worried.

"Xiao Yi, exercising your body is very hard work, and you can only see results if you persist for a long time. This process will be very painful. Are you really prepared to endure hardship?"

Quan Yi's face showed a firm look, his clear eyes directly meeting his mother's bright eyes, and he replied very resolutely: "Mother, I want to become a Soul Master. In order to become a Soul Master, I can't waste time. I only have four years left."

"What four years?"

Su Ling'er asked Quan Yi in confusion.

Quan Yi explained his reasoning process to his mother and emphasized the relationship between physical fitness, Martial Soul, and Soul Power to Su Ling'er.

Su Ling'er fell into deep thought after listening. Su Ling'er was a genius Soul Master who had reached the Soul King realm in her thirties and was now a level fifty-three Battle Soul Master, possessing the mutated Martial Soul, Blazing Sun Lion.

As an excellent Soul Master, Su Ling'er was of course very clear about the importance of physical strength to a Soul Master. Physical fitness not only allowed Soul Masters to carry more Soul Power, but also enhanced their combat power. Every excellent Soul Master would not relax their physical training.

But Su Ling'er had never heard of the claim that physical strength would affect innate Soul Power.

For a long time, in people's minds, innate Soul Power had always been determined "innately."

Therefore, when Su Ling'er heard Quan Yi's reasoning, her heart was greatly impacted, and she couldn't calm down for a long time.

"Xiao Yi, although what you said makes sense, it is ultimately a castle in the air. If large-scale experiments haven't been conducted, it's impossible to verify whether your reasoning is correct or not. Moreover, you are our son. Your father and I are both Soul Masters. No matter which Martial Soul you inherit, you will most likely have no low innate Soul Power."

Although Su Ling'er's heart had not yet calmed down, she still replied to Quan Yi very calmly. But Quan Yi had already firmly made his decision.

"Mother, I can't completely entrust my fate to heaven. My future should be controlled by me. I don't want to regret not working hard now if I don't awaken Soul Power in the future. Mother, please help me. I don't want to regret it!"

Quan Yi's steady and resolute voice echoed in Su Ling'er's ears. Su Ling'er felt that she had always underestimated her son's growth. She didn't expect that her son had already become a resolute man.

Su Ling'er's heroic spirit was also ignited by Quan Yi. She excitedly picked up Quan Yi and promised decisively:

"What ambition! Worthy of being my son. Don't worry, Mom supports your decision. No matter the result, Mom will definitely accompany you to the end."

Feeling his mother's warm embrace, Quan Yi felt that his whole body was full of strength. This feeling was something that Quan Yi in his previous life had never felt. His mother's trust and promise made Quan Yi secretly determined not to let his mother down.

Night fell, sinking into darkness, only Quan Yi's room still shone with light. In front of the desk, Quan Yi carefully wrote by the dim light, as if he had returned to the nights of his senior year of high school.