Chapter 11 - Soul Realm

I slept like a log in my room for almost a day. When I woke up, I felt refreshed, with a great sense of well-being all over. As I tried to move, I noticed something sticky beneath me. A black, syrup-like substance was stuck to my body, with small flakes scattered all over it. The smell was terrible. Ah, these must be the impurities expelled from my body during the refining process. The discomfort made me rush to the bath to wash it all off.

After taking a bath, I inspected my body and was surprised by the range of changes I could see. My skin felt like that of a newborn—soft, white, tender, and smooth, without any blemishes whatsoever. Although my skin looked tender, I had no doubt about its toughness. To test it, I took a quill lying on my study desk and tried to pierce my skin. But no matter how much strength I mustered, my skin wouldn’t break.

So this is what having real power feels like. This newfound strength filled me with confidence—so much that it could easily turn into arrogance if I wasn’t careful. I had to remind myself not to let this power get to my head. I may be strong, but I’ve just started walking this path. There are many extremely powerful figures out there, like the Head Elder, who have lived for nearly two centuries.

As I moved through some basic punches and kicks, my body suddenly glowed with a… red light? My skin and muscles pulsed as the red glow emanated from my body. I was dumbstruck for a moment before I remembered the stages of Knights. It seems that completely opening the Root Chakra has promoted my rank to the First Stage, the Red Knight.

I felt more confident in my decision to strengthen my body before starting the cultivation of the Soul Resonance Technique. Now, I could finally begin cultivating according to the high-level technique.

I still had almost half of the time given by my father before I needed to come out. Now that I think about it, what was that event my father mentioned? Hmmm… no matter how much I think about it, I can’t make any assumptions. Let’s put it aside for now. If he feels like it, my father will explain it to me. I’ve already achieved the condition he set for me. Should I go and talk to him, or should I continue with my cultivation practice?

Heh… I remember that day when the Head Elder told my father that I have no cultivation talent, that I could only be a Knight and never a Spirit Powerhouse. My father seemed disappointed when he heard those words. Let’s give him a pleasant surprise.

With that thought, I once again sat cross-legged on my bed and concentrated on analyzing the procedure of the Soul Resonance Technique. The procedure is simple to understand but very, very difficult to execute.

The first step is to feel the Soul in the Soul Realm. The soul is the very representation of life and resides in a space called the ‘Soul Realm’ in the chest area of the body. One must concentrate on the soul until the consciousness enters the Soul Realm. After entering the Soul Realm, the soul can be seen. The next step is to divide the soul into a number of smaller souls. The number of divisions depends on the strength of both the body and the soul of the cultivator.

A stronger soul can be divided many times, but a weak soul will collapse if divided too many times. If the soul collapses, there will be no difference between the cultivator and a vegetable. One cannot afford to be greedy or hasty when dealing with the soul.

Hmmm… this is a problem. How do I calculate the strength of the body and soul? The body’s capacity can be roughly estimated using various methods, but how can one calculate the capacity of a soul? Maybe LILY can help? But she’s not even charged to a quarter of her reserve battery capacity yet. First, let’s check the battery levels and explore the basic functions accessible at that level.

“[Command: Display Battery Levels]”

“[Command Executed. Current Reserve Battery Level: 17%. Current Main Battery Level: 0%.]”

Hmmm… it reached 17%. Did my body absorb and refine energy on its own while I was sleeping? It seems so. Anyway, this is good news. Maybe LILY can scan my body statistics.

“[Command: Scan my body statistics and display them.]”

“[Task Established: Scan In progress. Task Completed. Strength: 2.2 Agility: 2.3 Vitality: 3.5. Energy signatures detected. Recalculating with the altered parameters.]”

“[Task Complete. Strength: 2.2 (+3.1) Agility: 2.3(+4) Vitality: 3.5(+5). The body’s capabilities, compared to normal human standards, are six times that of an average human.]”

Ohhhh… LILY really executed the command, albeit on a basic level. And my statistics are even better than I had hoped for. Maybe she can also scan something called the Soul too… If she can really do that, it would be incredibly helpful. I have to hurry with the cultivation and wake her up quickly. With her support, I can reach higher realms like a breeze blowing through a plain.

But the energy boost to my statistics is greater than my basic capabilities. Is this what can be called dormant capabilities? Well, whatever. First, I have to hurry and start with the cultivation.

I closed my eyes and started concentrating on the chest area, where the Soul Realm is said to be located. Time passed slowly as I completely relaxed and focused my mind on sensing my soul. After a long time, I felt a faint flicker of energy deep in my chest. The more I concentrated on that flicker, the clearer it became. I tried to follow that energy signature to its source.

Suddenly, I entered a vast, dark space. It was so immense that it felt like another dimension—and maybe that’s exactly what it is. In that dark world, a faint light could be seen in the distance. In a short while, I reached that light, and I just stood there, dumbstruck.

A pear-shaped object was floating there, glowing with a bluish-green light. It was the size of a human body, slowly rotating on its axis, flickering brightly every once in a while. But what surprised me even more was that within the soul, I could vaguely see nine objects, though I couldn’t discern them clearly. The nine objects were of different colors, and one among them was brighter than the others. It was a silver orb with gold lines running across it. I was confident that this silvery-gold thing was LILY.

So this is my soul. I think it can be considered strong, though I don’t know the standards of this world for measuring soul levels. Is it because I am reincarnated? Since I was an adult in my previous life, is my soul still that of an adult in a child’s body? That doesn’t matter. What happened has happened. I can’t change it. What I can do is make the most of my situation.

“[Command: Scan the entity before me and display its statistics.]”

“[Scanning… Scan incomplete. Power levels are too low. In-depth scan is not possible. Can only display basic statistics.]”

“[Entity: Quantum–Void Dual Energy Construct. Mixture ratio cannot be scanned. Radiation frequency: 98.2 GHz. Flux discharge to radiation ratio: 78%]”

Hmmm… what is with this information? Quantum–Void Dual Energy Construct? So that means the soul is nothing but an unknown mixture ratio of Quantum and Void energies. Only I can understand the consequences of this information. I dealt with these two energies for most of my life on Earth. I could have never imagined that something as basic to life as the soul is an intriguing mixture of both these energies.

Then that means, once I can calculate the mixture ratio, I could potentially create a new soul. What would happen then? Could I create something like a new life with a new ratio? My mind drifted off with the possibilities and consequences of this discovery.

I reined in my wandering thoughts and focused on the task at hand. According to the scan results, the energy radiation frequency is at 98 GHz, which places it in the Very High-Level range in the radiation spectrum. At the same time, the discharge ratio of 78% means that more than three-quarters of the leaked radiation returns to the source, producing an energy field with a strength comparable to 78% of the complete strength of the soul.

Based on this data and my calculations, taking into consideration my body and soul statistics, it seems that I can safely split my soul into 58 parts without compromising the protective energy shield around it. Alright, let’s begin then…