With a sense of curiosity, Dai Chengfeng picked up the envelope.
But before he could even examine it—
A familiar scent of orchid wafted toward him. "Mother!"
Dai Chengfeng instantly knew who this letter was from.
After all, he was intimately familiar with his mother's favorite fragrance, and only she in the entire palace used the scent of orchids.
For a moment, a gentle warmth flickered in Dai Chengfeng's eyes.
As the Emperor of Star Luo, Dai An was bound by duty, unable to show tenderness to his sons—Dai Weisi, Dai Mubai, and Dai Chengfeng…
The competition for the throne in the Star Luo Empire was brutal, often ending in life or death. Dai An feared that if he grew too close to any one of them, he might hesitate in the future.
Even though Dai An didn't want it this way, he had no choice.
This was the ancestral rule!
As a result, Dai An rarely showed gentleness or praise to Dai Chengfeng, instead quietly doing things behind the scenes.
It wasn't until Dai Chengfeng awakened with full innate soul power that their relationship improved significantly.
But during his childhood, the only place where Dai Chengfeng felt warmth was in his mother's embrace.
"It's been so long since I've seen Mother…"
Thinking this, Dai Chengfeng carefully opened the envelope.
'My dear Feng'er, Mother heard that you've run off again, and you're heading to the Tian Dou Empire!'
'What a pity—I was waiting for you to come home… It's been a year since I've seen you. Have you grown thinner, or perhaps gained some weight?'
'However~'
'Feng'er, if you've decided to leave, Mother believes you have your own reasons, and I won't stop you.'
'But promise me one thing—you must return safely.'
'Mother knows you must be curious about these self-created soul skills… They are gifts your father and I selected for you.'
'By the way, Mother will let you in on a little secret!'
'According to the rules of the Star Luo Empire, princes who aren't destined to become the next emperor can only receive one book each. But your father gave you the best ones.'
'He didn't even want me to tell you this, hehe!'
'Hmm…'
At this point, the letter ended with a long blank space.
Dai Chengfeng understood—his mother had so much to say but didn't know how to express it.
Until the final line.
'Remember, even if things don't go well, don't lose heart—but above all else, take care of your safety.'
'Mother will always be waiting for you in Star Luo City, watching for your safe return… Always.'
Looking at his mother's faltering handwriting at the end, Dai Chengfeng took a deep breath and carefully tucked the letter away.
He sat silently for a long time before finally snapping out of his reverie.
"Because of family like this, I must work even harder to become stronger!"
"The separation today is for a future where we'll never have to part again!"
The hesitation in Dai Chengfeng's eyes vanished as he turned his attention to the books before him.
He first flipped open Blazing Light Sword Technique, Star Earth Tremor, and Fierce Tiger Fist, glancing through them briefly. Instantly, realization dawned on him.
"So that's how it is!"
"I thought the names Blazing Light Sword Technique and Star Earth Tremor seemed vaguely familiar…"
"In my previous life's animated series, Dai Weisi and Dai Mubai each used self-created soul skills whose effects and names closely resembled these two techniques."
"Perhaps these were their original inspirations!"
As he reflected, Dai Chengfeng returned Blazing Light Sword Technique, Star Earth Tremor, and Fierce Tiger Fist to his ring.
Though these three soul skills were decent and held some reference value…
Dai Chengfeng clearly understood that the number of self-created soul skills one possessed wasn't something to be taken lightly.
It would take away from cultivation time!
For instance, in the original story, Feng Xiaotian, despite having the top-tier Beast Martial Soul of the Twin-Headed Storm Wind Wolf and being born with full innate soul power—a true prodigy—
Ended up delaying his own cultivation time just to create the Storm Wind Wolf Thirty-Six Continuous Strikes…
As a result, during the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament, while his combat strength was impressive, his soul power level simply didn't match his full innate soul power potential.
This spoke volumes.
"If I'm going to create my own soul skill, it has to be the strongest!"
With this thought, Dai Chengfeng's gaze burned as he looked at Disorderly Wind Splitting Hammer Technique and Record of the Great Sumer Hammer Technique.
Especially Record of the Great Sumer Hammer Technique…
Though he knew this wasn't the actual cultivation method for the Great Sumeru Hammer, he still felt anticipation.
"Could I use the knowledge of the Great Sumeru Hammer from the original story?"
"Combine it with the Record of the Great Sumer Hammer Technique, the Disorderly Wind Splitting Hammer Technique, and the Taoist principles from my past life to create a new soul skill that rivals—or even surpasses—the Great Sumeru Hammer?"
"It's possible!"
Thinking this, Dai Chengfeng eagerly opened the Disorderly Wind Splitting Hammer Technique.
After a quick glance, his brows furrowed slightly.
In the original story, the technique behind the Disorderly Wind Splitting Hammer was explained quite clearly.
[When the heart beats rapidly, begin by exerting force from the calves, then channel it upward through the thighs, waist, back, arms, and finally release it fully. This is the essence of maximum power. Use the body to catch the hammer at its highest point just before it falls...]
But now, Dai Chengfeng noticed—
Though this version of the Disorderly Wind Splitting Hammer Technique was complete, it differed fundamentally from the version Tang Hao taught Tang San.
There was no mention of the heart or blood circulation, making it somewhat crude, but the general technique remained largely the same.
"So this must be a self-created soul skill based on our ancestor's interpretation of the Disorderly Wind Splitting Hammer Technique…"
"That makes sense."
"Otherwise, how could a technique from the Hao Tian Sect end up in the hands of the Star Luo Imperial Family?"
"As for the purpose of our ancestor creating this technique, it was likely for…"
Saying this, Dai Chengfeng turned his gaze to the one book he hadn't yet opened: Record of the Great Sumeru Hammer Technique.
It wasn't surprising.
After all, the dominance of the Great Sumeru Hammer had been passed down since the generation of Tang Chen.
The profoundness of the Exploding Rings technique rendered its wielder nearly invincible on land—who wouldn't covet it?
Unfortunately, though many had studied it, none had truly unraveled its secrets.
Including his ancestors.
"Hoo…"
Dai Chengfeng took a deep breath. "Now let's see how far our ancestor got in his research."
"Whoa!"
Initially, after noticing the discrepancies in the Disorderly Wind Splitting Hammer Technique, Dai Chengfeng didn't expect much from the Record of the Great Sumeru Hammer Technique.
But he was completely wrong!
Within Record of the Great Sumeru Hammer Technique, nearly all the moves of the Great Nirvana Hammer were meticulously documented, along with several conjectures about how soul power was gathered and released.
Even the profound Exploding Rings technique was described in detail.
Though its accuracy couldn't be guaranteed, its reference value was immense. In particular, the newly added content in the final pages provided an incredibly detailed account of how Tang Hao unleashed the Exploding Rings technique during his battle with Qian Xunji.
It even included the approximate flow of soul power.
"That scout was truly talented—using the 56,000 compound eyes of his unique Dragonfly Martial Soul to observe such intricate details!"
Dai Chengfeng's eyes sparkled with joy.
Even with these records, it was still impossible to perfectly replicate the Great Sumeru Hammer.
But Dai Chengfeng's Martial Soul wasn't the Hao Tian Hammer, nor did he plan to learn the Great Sumeru Hammer.
Moreover, Dai Chengfeng firmly believed that following someone else's path meant the technique could never perfectly suit him—it would always have a fixed ceiling.
Thus, Dai Chengfeng resolved to carve out his own "path to the heavens!"
And if he were to use these records merely as a reference, combined with the memories of his past life, creating an entirely new soul skill would be more than sufficient!
"Our Dai family, as a royal lineage, indeed couldn't possibly be without treasures!"
Dai Chengfeng laughed, his tone brimming with excitement.
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