Chương 391: The Fisherman and the Koi

The question was an abyss threatening to swallow his newfound clarity. The good news was that this extra soul of his, which seems to be the soul from his martial spirit, was not harmful. It has only ever helped him. It also didn't feel foreign. It felt like a part of himself as it has always been. He focused his consciousness on the new human-shaped Nascent Soul.. He felt an immediate connection to it. It was an intimate sensation, even more so than his connection to the Leviathan.

The connection to the Leviathan soul had always felt more like a bonded primal instinct. He decided to test the one soul technique he had learned from Jian Xuan when they first met. It was still the only soul technique that he knew that humans used. The ones he developed with the Leviathan Soul was through trial and error and he couldn't use Soul Dominion with it before. He had mastered the principles of the technique long ago but he could never truly use it.

His Leviathan Soul never reacted even a little bit as he tried to use the technique before. He and Jian Xuan had theorized it was a technique meant for a human soul. He focused his intent.

'Soul Dominion.' The miniature human-shaped soul on the island didn't move at all. It didn't fly out of his body as Jian Xuan's soul did when he used the technique. It didn't even open its eyes. It simply acted. An invisible wave of spiritual pressure erupted from Li Yu's physical body and was filling the cave. It was not the annihilating force of "Death's Roar." It was a heavy, oppressive and suppressing aura. It was identical to the one Jian Xuan's when he used the technique.

The dust on the cave floor was pressed flat. The very air grew thick as if under the gaze of a powerful unseen master. It worked! He could use soul techniques from humans now. His soul also didn't fly out either. Li Yu's mind buzzed with the tactical advantage. His new soul didn't need to come out of his body, it could stay safe inside. More importantly, he didn't have to reveal that he had a Nascent Soul either. He would have to see if other soul techniques worked like that.

He made a mental note to use his merit points to purchase a few from the Allied Forces' exchange as soon as he could. Now that he could do so, he could get those soul techniques and perhaps even develop his own. He remembered Jian Xuan telling him how dangerous that was. That he was able to develop his soul techniques with his Leviathan because there was no backlash at all when it didn't work. The leviathan simply just didn't react or move.

Would it be the same with his new soul or would it behave more like a normal soul? He would have to find out later. Li Yu examined his new soul again. It felt strong. Its simple white robes had a distinct purple tinge and its serene form pulsed with a faint destructive purple glow. This was undoubtedly from the chaotic Xylarri energy it had siphoned off during its growth, creation and from its final act of absorbing the purple Nascent Soul. This brought him to the other mystery.

He looked at his Leviathan Soul, now crimson and gold, magnificent in its new divine beast form. He confirmed, as he'd thought, it had no purple tinge at all. His Leviathan had devoured the purple Nascent Soul but it hadn't integrated that destructive energy. It had just held it in its "stomach" as a ball of soul-energy until the Human Soul had forcibly pulled it out.

'How strange,' he thought. His Koi devoured everything but it seemed to only digest the 'normal' types of Qi. It then in turn isolates the more exotic or higher forms of Qi, like the void, life and this new destructive purple. His new human soul, however, seemed to be the one that craved and absorbed these special, higher forms of energy. They had different... appetites.

'Wait a minute, what happened to the life Qi and void Qi floating on the ocean!' Li Yu suddenly thought and looked around. The pools of void and life Qi that was floating on top of his Ocean of Qi were gone! If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

'Could it be… did you absorb them too!?' Li Yu thought as he looked over at this new soul. He probed it further and sure enough he detected that the Qi was now inside this soul. He also still had access to them and could use them as he normally would.

'I feel like I can utilize them even more than before. I feel a stronger connection to the void and towards life. Is this from my soul absorbing them or is it because I am now in Soul Formation? This is amazing, I will need more time to ponder them and strengthen my skills.' Li Yu was excited as he thought.

'Moving forward,' he decided, 'I'll call the miniature me my Human Soul. And the Leviathan... since it looks just like my koi now... it will be my Koi Soul.' As if hearing his decision, his Human Soul gave him a slight nod and then went back to fishing. It put its ethereal fishing line back into the "water" of his Ocean of Qi. The crimson-gold Koi Soul resumed its lazy, powerful coils underneath. Swimming in a great protective circle around the island, a divine beast guarding the fisherman.

This was his new internal landscape. With his internal world assessed, Li Yu turned his focus to the breakthrough itself. His ascension to Soul Formation... it didn't feel like a massive breakthrough for him physically or in his Qi. He got stronger, yes, his Qi was denser, his reserves larger, his connection to the world clearer and his body was rapidly healing from the Xylarri battle. However, it wasn't the heaven-and-earth, night-and-day leap he had experienced in previous realms. The real difference...

was his soul and his mind. He felt clearer than he had ever been in his life. His thoughts were faster, processing information with startling speed. It was almost like... He paused. He tried an experiment. He focused one part of his mind—his new Human Soul—on a complex, analytical task. He began to recall the principles of the 'Abyssal Sentry' technique he had been working on. The triple Qi cost was a problem. How could he refine the targeting matrix? How could he make the energy conversion more efficient?

He began deconstructing the principles he'd memorized from the 'Radiant Sentry Art', comparing them to his own void-art pathways. At the exact same time, he focused the other part of his mind—his Koi Soul, or perhaps his base consciousness—on a completely separate, practical and logistical task. He began to plan his return to Sorrow's Peak. What was the fastest, safest route? What did Corvus say about the array repairs? How was Jian Xuan holding up? What would the Cultists at the Sunken Basin Outpost be doing now?

He cataloged the dead from the battle, trying to remember their faces. The two thought processes ran in perfect, parallel and isolated streams. One mind was deconstructing complex technique mechanics. The other was handling high-level strategic logistics, memory recall and emotional processing. Neither interfered with the other.

'I have… I have two brains now…' Li Yu realized. Two souls allowed him to process two things at the same time without any interference. The realization was staggering. He could, in theory, be cultivating one technique while actively sparring with another. He could analyze an enemy's movements with one mind while simultaneously formulating a counter-attack and controlling his Abyssal Sentry with the other. He could be seriously learning a technique while at the same time going about his day to day.

The implications for his cultivation speed, his combat reaction time, his strategic planning... they were limitless. He was still reeling from this discovery when his senses returned to the cave. The physical body of the purple Xylarri leader, its energy fully drained by his breakthrough. Like the other Xylarri, it had dissolved into a pile of fine grey dust. But it had left something behind which was different from the others. Resting in the center of the dust pile was a single fingernail-sized purple crystal.

It pulsed with a faint dark light, radiating the exact same destructive purple soul-energy as the Nascent Soul he had consumed. Li Yu's curiosity was piqued. He reached out his physical hand and picked it up. The instant his fingers touched the crystal his Human Soul moved. In his Ocean of Qi the miniature Li Yu suddenly opened its eyes. It lifted the star-dusted fishing pole. With an impossibly fast and precise flick of its wrist the ethereal line shot out.

Li Yu watched as the glowing spiritual fishing line left his spiritual sea, passed through the spiritual barrier of his own body and materialized in the physical cave in front of him. The tiny barbed hook latched onto the purple crystal in his hand. The Human Soul tugged. A visible stream of pure purple energy flowed from the crystal up the ethereal line and back into his body. It was then absorbed directly by the miniature fisherman on the island.

The Human Soul glowed and its white-purple robes seemed to deepen in color and became more vibrant. Li Yu felt his mind clear instantly and his entire being felt nourished. What was that? It felt like his soul got a bit stronger as well. He looked down at his hand. The crystal with its energy drained crumbled into mundane dust. He stared at the spot where the crystal had been. His soul had just fished for a treasure. And it had eaten it. It was the beginning of an even more strange and bizarre mystery.