Douluo: Shadow Sovereign

(Mo Ling's P.O.V)

It has been three months since I received the Spirit Hall certificate. So, what have I accomplished during this time?

I've continued my Saitama workout regimen while also incorporating yoga and meditation into my morning routine.

During my first month, I focused on controlling my soul power, similar to chakra control in Naruto. My grandfather also gave me a basic meditation technique, which he learned from Su Yunyato. This method allows us to use our martial spirit as a medium to absorb the surrounding heaven and earth energy, helping us increase our spirit rank.

To practice soul power control, I started with a simple exercise: sticking leaves to my forehead using only my soul power. At first, I could barely make a single leaf stay in place, but after a full month of training, I managed to stick multiple leaves all over my body without them falling.

Through this, I realized that soul power might differ between spirit masters. For example, a fire-attribute martial soulmay have a different type of spirit energy compared to an ice-attribute martial soul. I also suspect that a martial soul influences the nature of a person's soul power, which might even change after absorbing a spirit ring.

My own soul power appears to have a slightly dark hue. I don't know if this means it has special properties—I'll need to test it.

For the next month, I focused on improving my balance. Instead of recklessly climbing trees and risking injury, I started by standing on a wooden log. My goal was to stick my feet to the surface using soul power and maintain my balance. It took me ten days before I could stand on it even when it shook violently, as if I were riding a bucking bull.

With that mastered, I moved on to tree-climbing training. At first, it was difficult to stick to the tree while maintaining balance, but after 15 days, I got the hang of it. I could climb easily and maintain my position for 10 minutes before my soul power was depleted.

During this time, I also started combat training with the experienced hunters in my village. They were skilled in tracking, ambushing, and close-quarters combat, and I learned a lot from sparring with them.

At first, I was completely outmatched. They were faster, stronger, and had years of experience. But after a few weeks, I began adapting.

I learned how to read their movements, predict their attacks, and counter effectively. My instincts sharpened, and my reaction speed improved. More importantly, I realized that my soul power had a strange property—it seemed to make my presence harder to detect.

During our sparring sessions, if I lowered my soul power output, the hunters would sometimes lose track of me, even when I was right in front of them. At first, I thought it was just a coincidence, but after experimenting, I confirmed it—my spirit power had a stealth-like effect.

Now, for the final and most difficult exercise—standing on water.

At first, I thought it would be similar to standing on wood. I was wrong. No matter how much I tried to channel my soul power to my feet, I would sink immediately. Even after several adjustments, the moment I stepped on the water, my balance would break, and I would fall straight in.

I kept trying, pushing my soul power control to the limit, but after an entire month, I still couldn't do it.

The longest I've managed to stay on the surface was three seconds, and even that was a fluke. Unlike wood or trees, water constantly shifts beneath my feet, making it much harder to stabilize.

I can feel that I'm close to grasping something, but I just can't figure it out yet.

However, I won't give up. If I can master this, my soul power control will reach a whole new level.

During the nights, I started practicing martial soul control in secret. My training with the hunters made me aware of my stealthy soul power, but I wanted to push it even further.

Under the cover of darkness, I tried to merge my presence with the shadows, slowly controlling my martial soul and testing its limits.

The results were astonishing.

The darker the environment, the easier it was for me to fade from sight. Even my breathing and heartbeat became harder to detect. It wasn't true invisibility, but it was something close—a natural concealment ability.

I still don't fully understand the mechanics behind it, but one thing is certain—my martial soul isn't ordinary.

After discovering that my soul power had stealth-like properties, I started night training to test the extent of my abilities. That's when I got an idea—

What if I could control my shadow?

Shadow Expansion Training

At first, I could barely make it tremble. No matter how much soul power I channeled, my shadow remained stiff and unresponsive. But after a week of continuous practice, I finally managed to make it move slightly.

The first real breakthrough came when I learned to expand my shadow. By pouring my soul power into it, I could stretch its length beyond its natural boundary. At first, it was only by a few centimeters, but over time, I could double its size.

But that wasn't enough.

I wanted to manipulate it freely, not just stretch it.

The next phase of my training involved using my shadow like an extension of my body. I started with small objects—pebbles, sticks, and leaves.

The first attempt was a complete failure. My shadow flickered, barely forming a vague outline of a hand, but it collapsed the moment I tried to grasp something.

It took another two weeks of trial and error before I could form a stable shadow tendril. At first, it could only wrap around an object but had no strength to lift it.

But after another week, I managed to grab and lift a small rock using nothing but my shadow's extension.

By the end of the third month, I could extend my shadow up to three meters and make it wrap around objects tightly, though lifting heavier items was still difficult.

I also noticed something strange—my shadow's movement became smoother and more flexible at night. During the day, it was sluggish and required more effort to control, but once the sun set, it moved as if it were alive.

I have only scratched the surface of my martial soul's potential. If I can strengthen my control, I might be able to use my shadow for combat, to restrain enemies, attack from a distance, or even merge into the darkness completely.

But for now, I need more training.

This is only the beginning.