In the Origin Refinement Stage, a Martial Spirit imbued a certain attribute in the cultivator's Origin Essence. For a cultivator with a Fire Martial Spirit, his Origin Essence would have the attribute of fire, allowing him to unleash attacks that burn his target.
A Trash Martial Spirit, as the name implied, didn't give any attribute to the cultivator's Origin Essence. This was why they had no future, usually treated as servants and guards by the Clans and Sects.
Above it was Human Martial Spirits. If a cultivator had a Tiger Martial Spirit, their Origin Essence would have its property, allowing them to obtain all the abilities a tiger possessed. Scent tracking, lithe body, graceful body balance, running speed, etc.
Anything and everything a tiger was capable of, they too would be able to do so. If someone obtained a Rhinoceros Martial Spirit, they would have exceptional defence, unbreachable by most attacks.
After that were Earth Martial Spirits, containing powers present in nature. Fire, water, air, space, lightning, etc.
Even at the Origin Refinement Stage, they would be strong enough to face higher stage cultivators. And their attributes would give them a tremendous advantage.
Moreover, if a cultivator had a Fire Martial Spirit, then he wouldn't be affected by fire in nature. But rather, he would be empowered by it. This was their frightening advantage.
Finally, there came the Heaven Martial Spirits. Heaven Martial Spirits consisted of the properties of two lower Tiered Martial Spirits.
There were six possible combinations in increasing order of power: Trash-Trash, Trash-Human, Trash-Earth, Human-Human, Human-Earth, Earth-Earth.
Consider Xuer's Ice Crane Martial Spirit, for example. The attribute given by the crane part allowed her to fly in the air and possess a weightless body, also wielding exceptional control. And, the attribute of ice allowed her to create a region of ice wherever she went.
She only needed to learn a projectile-based Origin Art for her ice attribute. With that, Xuer can take off high up in the air and rain down ice spikes on her opponents until they were decimated.
And whether she was in the water or air, Xuer wouldn't face any disadvantage.
This was the might of Heaven Martial Spirits.
And similarly, Compass Carburettor's Heaven Martial Spirit was the Mind Frog. The attribute of the frog allowed him to execute a variety of abilities. First of all was his ability to jump. He was able to cross large distances with every leap. And this only increased as his cultivation improved.
Following that was a frog's primary trait, its tongue. This allowed him to manipulate his Origin Essence to make it behave just like a frog's tongue.
Usually, all Origin Arts too were derived from the attributes generated by the Martial Spirits. They were then used as a reference material to derive Origin Arts that even those without the respective Martial Spirit could use.
Typically, only Trash Origin Arts could be cultivated universally by cultivators with all sorts of Martial Spirits. Everything beyond that was largely specific.
Every Clan had their respective Origin Arts that worked on unleashing the attributes of their Martial Spirit the best.
For Compass Carburettor, he too would have to derive an Origin Art that best used the attributes present in his Origin Essence.
At present, they were just present in his Origin Essence. He would have to slowly mould them to unleash their effects. In a battle, he would be killed long before he could do this.
This was why Origin Arts were necessary. They helped unleash the power of his attributes the fastest.
There was the final aspect of his frog attribute. And that was the poison coated on the skin of frogs. And, this was where his Martial Spirit truly shined.
Had it just been a Frog Martial Spirit, then there would be poison on its skin. But, the Martial Spirit he possessed was the Mind Frog. So, the poison on its skin was rather special and worked on the mind.
It was a simple but terrifying ability, one the Mind Frog had used to live attached to the Fire Dragon for eons.
Anyone that comes into contact with its skin would forget its existence. It's not that their memories would be wiped out, but just that they would no longer notice the frog's existence as long as they remain in contact with its skin.
That means, as long as Compass Carburettor derived an Origin Art to harness this property and used it, he could just touch someone and then casually tail them without them ever noticing him.
Coming onto the mind attribute, Compass Carburettor was shocked. Because, what this attribute gave him was the power to wield the mind, just like how a cultivator with the power of fire wielded it.
Even though at present he wasn't able to do anything with this mind attribute, once he created some Origin Arts accordingly…
"Keke!" He broke into a grin on his own. Because, this was the key to saving Stencil. He had been right on his bet all along. And as long as he created a suitable Origin Art to heal his daughter's mind, she would be cured.
"But, how will I create an Origin Art?" Compass Carburettor frowned, unaware of the process. As to what he had to do to create it, what signified that it was complete, and what actually was an Origin Art, he wasn't sure.
"Well, that's why I've come here." Smiling in response, Compass Carburettor got up and entered the nearby room, noticing that Grisha was still cultivating. Now that he had a cultivation base, he was able to sense her cultivation, figuring out that she too had reached the First Layer of the Origin Refinement Stage.
Grisha was seated upon a pile of Essence Stones, absorbing it into her Martial Spirit. He wasn't able to see her Martial Spirit though. He didn't know how it currently looked. 'Well, I'll be able to see it once she reaches the Martial Origin Stage.'
When Grisha awakened her Martial Spirit, there was just a black limbed blob floating over her palm. It didn't look like an ape at all. So, he was curious as to how it actually looked.
Upon seeing that Grisha was fully focused on her cultivation, Compass Carburettor didn't disturb her, exiting his house as he approached Mella, asking her, "Aunty, can I look at some books related to Origin Arts?"
