The Twelve Trials Starting from Zero

The area surrounding the dojo was a deep, dark forest, teeming with all sorts of venomous snakes and ferocious beasts. It would be almost impossible for a boy to survive in such an environment, so being expelled was practically a death sentence.

"What else can we do but survive in the wilderness? These mere mountains and forests are nothing to me, Daocheng Griells."

Su Qi felt no pressure. There was still nearly a month until the next assessment, and he didn't think he would be at the bottom again.

"Don't talk nonsense." Daohe didn't know where his confidence came from, and advised with a serious face, "Fortunately, the Daoist school is best at manipulating and repairing corpses. With the addition of the Black Jade Bone-Healing Ointment and Blood-Activating Oil from Kanli Palace, your injuries should be almost healed in a few days. There are still more than twenty days left. I'll try to help you improve your strength. Maybe it can raise your ranking by a few places and help you avoid this."

"I am deeply moved by the harmony between Dao and my friend."

"Come on. You took care of me when I was sick last year, I'm just returning the favor this time."

As the two chatted and applied the medicine, the light outside gradually dimmed, and night slowly fell.

Boom!Boom!thump...

A deep, resonant drumbeat suddenly sounded outside. Daohe, who had just put away the medicine bottle, paused and turned to look outside. "The evening drum is sounding; evening lessons are about to begin. Daocheng, let's go together."

"Huh? You want me, a seriously injured person, to attend evening classes? Xiao Hehe, are you trying to murder your friend?"

To avoid a 404 error, I slightly modified the timeline, replacing China with the Ming Dynasty.

Chapter Two: You beast, get over here!

"You can't practice fist techniques or weapons, of course, but spirit possession shouldn't be a problem. I remember you still haven't completely subdued that tiger spirit, have you?"

Generally, Taoist priests' evening prayers consist of meditation and chanting scriptures, but for Dao Cheng and Dao He, who are spiritualists trained for combat, their evening prayers are certainly not like that.

Aside from the Taoist teachings they received as children, the only things they need to learn after becoming spiritual children are three categories: martial arts, weapons, and spiritual communication. Martial arts and weapons are relatively simple; the Taoist tradition, with its over two thousand years of history, has highly efficient teaching methods, even capable of directly attaching powerful martial arts spirits to the students, allowing them to quickly reach a certain level in martial arts and weapons.

However, psychic abilities are different. In this world, the soul power of the living is called witch power, while the soul power of spirits such as the dead, elves, and gods is called spiritual power. The strength of witch power depends on the willpower of the psychic, while the strength of spiritual power depends on the purity of the spirit. The stronger the spiritual power of a spirit, the more powerful witch power is needed to control it. Otherwise, forcibly controlling it may shatter its consciousness, turn it into a madman, or even lead to death.

Initially, each psychic's magical power is innate. To increase it, one must undergo long periods of training or experience death. These are far too difficult for spirit children who are not yet adults. Furthermore, mental strength cannot be easily enhanced through simple training. Therefore, their magical power is generally low, making it extremely difficult to control spirits. The reason why Daocheng was unable to subdue the tiger spirit was ultimately due to his low magical power.

"Okay, you have a point, but I'll have to trouble you to push me over there."

Su Qi readily agreed. After all, he was under pressure from having Hao Asakura as his opponent, so he had no intention of slacking off; he had only made a casual remark earlier.

"Then let's go."

Without wasting words, Daohe pulled the wheelchair to the bedside, helped Su Qi put on his robes, and easily lifted him up. Daoists have pills that increase strength, and with years of martial arts training, both Daohe and Su Qi's bodies are much stronger than those of an average eleven or twelve-year-old child.

"Give."

Before leaving, Daohe took down a large gourd hanging on the wall, poured out a white pill the size of an egg yolk, and handed it to Su Qi.

This is a specially made Taoist fasting pill, made from ingredients such as astragalus, poria, polygonatum, ginseng, sesame, honey, and glutinous rice flour. One pill is enough to replenish the body's nutrition and is very filling, like a compressed biscuit, saving the young spiritual children time to eat and allowing them to concentrate more on cultivation.

"It's that tasteless stuff again."

Su Qi sighed softly, took it, and swallowed it in one gulp.

The previous world was the Sengoku period in Japan, and he hadn't been able to eat a decent meal many times. He thought that this Shaman King was in the modern world, and he would finally have a chance to satisfy his appetite. But he didn't expect that he would have to stay in the mountains and eat these fasting pills that only had a faint sweetness. He even deeply missed the Shaxian snacks downstairs.

……

A moment later, Daohe pushed Su Qi out of the side room, through the courtyard, out of the small courtyard, and along the bluestone-paved alleyway toward the center of Daocheng.

Su Qi sat in his wheelchair and looked around. He saw small courtyards with similar structures on both sides of the alley. There were braziers on both sides of the gate. Every now and then, he could see boys dressed in black training clothes with light blue Taoist robes on top, who looked similar to them, walking out of the gate and hurrying out of the alley.

People walked past the two of them, some ignoring them, others giving them a cold glance, and many of them with hidden malice and schadenfreude, creating a very disharmonious atmosphere.

Su Qi didn't take it to heart. After all, they were all competitors, and it would be strange if anyone other than Dao He, his roommate, could be so affectionate. If someone like that really appeared, he would be more wary of whether they were plotting against him.

Before long, the two emerged from the alley and continued along the main street of the city.

At this point, the view suddenly opened up considerably. Su Qi continued to observe and saw that the city's eaves were soaring, and the buildings were densely packed together. As far as the eye could see, there were sloping tiled roofs and hipped roofs with sloping ridges. The uniform ancient-style buildings even made one feel as if they had traveled through time and returned to an ancient city.

Unlike typical ancient cities, this city had no restaurants or shops, only pavilions and towers, and numerous Taoist temples and halls, which made it appear even more majestic and solemn.

"It's all modern society outside, but there isn't even a single electric light here. This retro style is too hardcore."

Su Qi was pushed forward, complaining inwardly as he observed with interest the two rows of figures standing motionless on either side of the road, like javelins, using the braziers and lanterns along the way.

They were tall and all wrapped in loose black robes. Their black, folded-brimmed round hats had veils hanging down to cover their heads and faces, but a yellow talisman with cinnabar patterns could be seen pasted on their foreheads. The skin exposed on their chins and necks was bluish-white.

That's the zombie, the weapon most commonly used and most proficient in by Taoists. Accumulating knowledge and experience over two thousand years, the Taoists have collected enough zombies to form an army of tens of thousands. However, zombies require spirit mediums to control them, so limited by the number of such individuals, a zombie army remains merely a fantasy.

After walking for a while, Su Qi and Dao He finally arrived at the Grand Training Ground, located slightly in front of the center of Dao City. Behind the Grand Training Ground was the true center of Dao City, the Dan Yuan Palace, where Dao Yuan and other high-ranking Daoists resided.

He glanced around and saw that the night sky was brightly lit with fire. In the huge training ground, there were at least a hundred boys, some wielding swords and spears, some shouting with their fists and feet, and some summoning their own spirits to practice possession and fusion. Each of them occupied a small area of ​​the field, and the scene was lively and bustling.

"Daocheng, what brings you here?"

At the edge of the training ground, a Taoist priest dressed in a dark blue Bagua robe, responsible for on-site supervision and guidance, was somewhat surprised to see Su Qi arrive in a wheelchair. Because he had been injured by Dao Lian, he had been granted temporary rest and, in principle, did not need to come.

“Master Daoli, Daohe has been ranked last for two consecutive times. He wants to try harder before the next assessment.”

Daohe stepped forward to explain, and Su Qi cooperated by putting on an expression of unwavering determination despite his disability, his eyes shining as he said, "That's right, Master Daoli, I think I can still be saved."

There's no hope. Just wait to die. Goodbye...

Knowing Dao Cheng's usual level, the Daoist master held no hope whatsoever. He gave a perfunctory "oh" and said, "Work harder, and there might still be hope," before walking away with his hands behind his back, showing no intention whatsoever of guiding Su Qi.

"Don't worry about it." Daohe glanced at Su Qi. "Actually, I have some experience with spirit possession, so I don't need his guidance."

"Hmph, fortunes change every thirty years, never underestimate a young man's potential..." Su Qi stared at Dao Li's back and said coldly, "Today he ignores me, tomorrow I'll make him regret it."

"Alright, you still have the mood to talk nonsense. Looks like I don't need to worry about you. Let's go practice."

Afterwards, Daohe pushed Su Qi to a small corner and stood beside him, saying, "Let's begin. Release your spirit first."

The latter did as instructed, taking off a yellowish-white tiger tooth pendant with incantations engraved on its surface, which was hanging around his neck. This was a medium for communicating with spirits given to him by the Taoists, and the spirit assigned to him was sealed inside it.

According to my memory, all that's needed is to inject a certain amount of magical power...

The so-called magical power in the Shaman King world is essentially the spiritual power of the previous world. It's just that the names and effects are different because the laws of the world are different.

Recalling Daocheng's previous methods, Su Qi easily infused his witch power into the pendant, activating the talisman and releasing the spirit within it.

That was the spirit of a Siberian tiger. It was nearly three meters long, with a tail about one meter long. Its pale yellow fur had narrow black stripes, a large and round head with a black "king" character on its forehead, strong limbs, sharp claws and teeth, and cold eyes full of untamed beastly nature.

Most ordinary people cannot see spirits, but in Su Qi's eyes, it was a small ball of ghost fire that floated out of the tiger's teeth, and then grew bigger and bigger, suddenly expanding into a living tiger in front of him. However, the tiger's body was semi-transparent, and he could see the scenery in front of him directly.

After the tiger spirit came out, it first shook its big head, then put its forelimbs on the ground, pressed its body down, stretched its spine, stretched lazily by itself, and then lay lazily on the ground without even glancing at Su Qi.

While observing, Daohe said, "It's obvious that this tiger spirit doesn't consider you its master at all. Try using it to possess and merge with it first."

Spirit possession begins by completely enveloping the possessing spirit with magical power, compressing it into a will-o'-the-wisp state, and then placing it into the body. The consciousness, magical power, and spiritual power of both must be harmonized. Success is achieved only when the spirit's consciousness is dominant and the spiritual and magical powers do not conflict.

After reviewing the key points of spirit possession from Dao Cheng's memory once again, Su Qi turned his gaze to the tiger spirit lying not far in front of him and coldly shouted, "You beast, come here!"

The lazy cat twitched its ears, glanced back at him, yawned, and then turned its head back.

“That won’t work.” Daohe shook his head slightly and said seriously, “Your witch power cannot overwhelm its spiritual power, so you cannot control it, you can only communicate with it. Spirits are very sensitive. You need to communicate with it calmly until it recognizes you, depends on you, and wholeheartedly helps you. Only then can your spirit possession reach a perfect state.”

"Don't rush, let me try again."

Su Qi waved his hand, looked at Hu Ling, and shouted coldly, "You beast, how dare you be so insolent! Get over here right now!"

As he spoke, a vast amount of magical power surged from his body like a tidal wave, sweeping towards the tiger spirit.

"I told you this won't work..."

Daohe frowned slightly, about to offer further advice, when he saw the tiger spirit, which had been lazily lying down, suddenly shudder, stand up, and look at Su Qi. It stared wide-eyed, its fur bristling, and its limbs trembling, as if it had encountered something extremely terrifying. The next moment, it let out a defeated dog-like whimper, covered its head and tail, curled itself into a ball, and rolled to Su Qi's feet.

Chapter Three: The Genius Start

What just happened?

Seeing the tiger, who had just been indifferent, suddenly become a sycophant, Daohe was filled with doubt and confusion.

It seems that while magical power cannot directly interfere with reality, it can influence spirits. According to the original work, high-density spirits can materialize and affect reality... In other words, if a psychic wants to have a direct impact on reality, they still need to have a spirit as a medium, or... can ancient spells also have some effect?

Looking at the pathetic big cat lying at his feet, looking up at him with a fawning expression, Su Qi pondered his current position of power in this world.

In fact, ever since he left the courtyard, he had been observing while subtly testing his own strength, and now he had a rough idea of ​​what he was doing.

First, the Black Fire Dragon's Roar is a special skill granted by the system, so there shouldn't be any problems; second, he can feel that the weapon Reverse Scale and the costume change item are in his own private space and can be taken out at any time; third, the sword skills and the pseudo-Heavenly Eye are also basically without any problems... The reason I say "basically" is because in this world, the Dream Bubble seems to have failed.

When he first rebuked the tiger spirit, he secretly used the Dream Bubble technique to intimidate it, but the latter didn't react. He roughly realized why it failed; it was likely because the laws of the world were different. Although the essence of soul power remained unchanged, its manifestation and effects were different, making the techniques for using spiritual power from the previous world difficult to apply directly in this one. (From this point onward, according to the settings of this world, Su Qi's spiritual power will be referred to as witch power.)

In comparison, in the Shaman King world, the soul power of the living is more strictly confined to the physical body. Even a soul as large as Su Qi's cannot spread its soul power too far. At the same time, the soul power in this world seems to be separated from the material world by a layer, and cannot directly distort reality like in the Inuyasha world to achieve effects such as enhancing speed, strength, or killing demons.

However, despite this, the soul power in this world also has its own advantages, namely its activation, which is incredibly active.

The idea that all things possess a spirit is not just an empty phrase in the world of spirit mediums. From the side room all the way to the training ground, Su Qi felt as if he were bathing in an ocean of interwoven soul fluctuations. Not only were there countless tiny and pure soul fluctuations permeating not only the wild grass by the roadside, but even the air itself... Compared to this, the world of Inuyasha was simply a desert of souls.

Thanks to the active spirituality of this world, Su Qi, whose soul is extremely powerful, can even clearly sense the emotional fluctuations of other souls. If he goes a step further, he may even gain the mind-reading ability like the big boss Asakura Hao and the heroine Kyoyama Anna.

However, to gain the ability to "read minds," one needs not only a powerful soul but also a lonely, withdrawn, and distrustful twisted mind. In the original story, it was precisely because the protagonist, Yoh Asakura, resolved Anna's inner conflict that she lost her uncontrollable, sorrowful ability to read others' minds at all times. Conversely, Hao's ability did not disappear until the very end.

As a mentally healthy (in his own eyes) tough guy, Su Qi certainly wouldn't have the superpower of mind reading.

"Daocheng, has your sorcery become stronger?"

Although Su Qi had deliberately controlled the scale and path of his magical power when subduing the tiger spirit, Dao He, who was standing nearby, still vaguely sensed it. After thinking about it carefully, he asked about it.

“That’s right.” Su Qi readily admitted, then asked in return, “Dao Cheng, where do you think a person’s soul goes after death?”

To ensure his rapid growth later on, although he planned to keep a low profile during his novice period, he didn't intend to hide the fact that his magical power had increased. As long as others didn't discover how much his magical power had increased, that would be enough.

"If there are no obsessions, one should return to the hell and underworld as perceived by one's own heart." As a psychic trained by Taoism since childhood, Daohe easily answered this common-sense question in the psychic world.

"Then where is hell?"

“Of course, it’s inside the Great Soul…” He paused here, then looked at Su Qi in surprise and said, “Huh? Were you just talking nonsense when you said you saw the Great Soul?”

"Sigh..." the latter sighed deeply, "It's heartbreaking that we can't trust each other, even though we're best friends."

Having long been accustomed to someone's affected manner and ignoring him, he said thoughtfully, "So, you're saying that because you almost died and came into contact with a great soul, you turned misfortune into a blessing, and your witchcraft power increased?"

“Yes.” Su Qi laughed heartily. “How about it, my friend? Want to experience death? I can offer to help you for free.”

"No thanks." Daohe refused decisively. "My current power is enough. You should take care of yourself first. After all, witch power does not represent strength. It is meaningless if you cannot exert it. Right now, you only have a slightly better chance of winning."

“That makes sense.” Su Qi looked at Dao He meaningfully. “After all, our little Hehe is just pretending to be weak right now. If he gets serious, there are actually very few among the spirit children who can match you.”

"Is this a case of flattery to kill? This must be flattery to kill!" The latter widened his eyes, his face showing an expression that said, "You're not human, you actually tried to scheme against me." He said, "Daocheng, I never expected that you, who looks so handsome, would be so vicious. Just because I mocked you a few times, you want me to die without a burial place? And you still have the nerve to call us best friends?"

"Ha..." Seeing the other party's attitude, Su Qi didn't press the matter, but just chuckled and said, "Just kidding, just kidding. Alright, let's continue practicing and work together to get out of the bottom of the class."

After saying that, he looked down at the tiger spirit at his feet. Following the method of spirit possession he remembered, he directly mobilized his witch power to wrap around it. Then, with a strong squeeze, the tiger spirit, which dared not resist, was compressed into a ball of ghost fire and floated into his palm.

Spirit possession... harmony, communication, resonance... it's very similar to the psychic techniques Kikyo taught me before, perhaps the skills can be shared...