"Her soul-it's gone! How can that be?"
Zhi Qing was extremely shocked, even with all that she had learned, she did not expect a conclusion like this. She knew that it was perfectly possible for this to happen but she dared not to believe it. A soul extinguished before her very eyes.
Much to her surprise, Grand Researcher Ou did not react like her. Rather, she stared intently at Ming Yue, as if waiting for something to happen and then somehting did happen.
The soul sword had crumbled and reformed back into a soul. The sharp aura that the sword exuded did not disappear but rather empowered the reformed soul. It was a radiant sphere of soul energy that brought life back into Ming Yue's pale body.
Her eyes trembled before they opened, revealing her twinkling brown eyes.
"She's awake!"
Zhi Qing exclaimed as she watched this unfold.
Unfortunately, Ming Yue was still quite weak and her eyes did not stay open for long. She fell into a deep sleep, even as color returned to her face she was quite far from looking healthy.
"Hm, she needs a few days of rest. I will send someone to care for her later but for now, we should let her sleep."
Grand Researcher Ou turned to Zhi QIng as she spoke. Her aged face had a calm expression which was a stark contrast to Zhi Qing's, whose large eyes had further widened form surprise.
"But was she not dead moments ago? How did this happen?" she asked.
"Your eyes are yet to reach that level yet so you did not see what had truly happened. Only a small fleck of her soul remained as it met against the tip of the sword. It was incredibly close but that tiny piece persevered, managing to push the sword back and destroy it from within."
Grand Researcher Ou's explanation only caused Zhi Qing to ask more questions.
"I'll explain it to you when you get back but for now we should leave."
Before the projection disappeared, she looked at Hei Yeu and Xiao Yin, projecting her voice into their minds and telling them that everything was fine.
The pair showed confused expressions towards the mysterious voice in their heads before realizing that it was from the Grand Researcher. Hearing her words ahd calmed them down, it was good to know that Ming Yue was in no danger anymore.
Still, she was incredibly drained and stayed in a deep sleep for a few days. When she came to, she was met with Hei Yue's wagging tail and the gentle coos of Xiao Yin. Having sensed the stirring of their master, they came with glee upon seing her well.
"Heh, you two seem quite happy, don't you?"
They looked a bit offended from her comment. She was alive and well, of course, they were happy.
"Ah, I shouldn't have made you two so worried."
She giggled a bit from their hugs before feeling a growing hunger within. Looking out into the window, it was night time and the night market was certainly bustling.
"Let's go get something to eat", she said to the two and left for the market.
She spent a few gold pieces on tonight's meal but that amounted to alot. After all, this was no fancy restaurant but food stalls that lined the roads. The trio had everything from cold noodles dipped in this spicy peanut sauce, grilled mushroom caps, raw fish fresh from the Ying Long Sea and much more.
On the next day, Ming Yue felt much better. She was energetic and excited especially. Ever since she had awakened, she felt something change within her and she knew that it was her soul that changed.
The light and delicate soul energy had gained a new aspect to its aura, a sense of coldness and sharpness.
According to what she had read, this was a sign that she had successfully entered the next stage, Sharpness of One's Soul. She had only just entered it and now, she had to cultivate it.
Waking in the early morning, Hei Yue and Xiao Yin were still asleep but Ming Yue grabbed her sword and walked out into the courtyard.
She gave a few casual swings to warm up before empowering the blade with her soul energy. This time, the blade did not turn transparent but gave out a much stronger aura of unease. It wasn't just a feeling but it had made her soul tremble.
In terms of physicality, it did not do much to the ground or any random stones.
But then she tried it with some of her techniques finding little difference in its nature but realizing that the feeling these attacks gave off was different. They were a bit stronger but the aura had become much more forboding. It was as if you would be cut down to your very essence, that is, your soul would be cut down.
She found it very interesting and spent the entire day testing it out.
As she became much more accustomed, she began to ponder the uses and understand just how amazing this was.
In a battle between two fighters, it always begins with a battle of one's willpower, their aura, their "sharpness". If one towered over the other, then battle would not be necessary as the victor was already clear. Whose mentality was stronger would determine the fight and in Ming Yue's case, she had quite the mentality. In fact, the sharpness that she exudes was a cut above the rest and that came from her experiences in the last few years.
But in her mind, Ming Yue still had a lot to do. If she were to compare her sharpness to that of Elder Xiang, it was nothing. She produced a feeling to the soul but not the pressure that the elder produced.
If she had to improve this, she had to learn how to use her soul energy and incorporate it better into her techniques. She also had to temper her soul energy and strengthen it but that was not something she would be doing anytime soon. That first experience was taxing and it would be stupid to do it again so soon.
"Hmm, I wonder how I would fare against someone else. I should ask Zhi Qing and Senior Ou."
She thought and decided to see them tomorrow as sun had already set. In any case, she had spent most of the week that the Grand Researcher gave her to break into the next stage of the Sword Sage Path. Today had been the seventh day so coming to see them was already a given.
A quick explanation was all that they needed to understand what had happened to Ming Yue in the past few days. Even then, Zhi Qing had scolded her for this.
"That was too dangerous! Your soul almost disappeared because of what you did. If you wanted to temper your soul, you could've asked me or Master about it. We have much more refined methods compared to what you've just done."
Her small stature nearly towered over Ming Yue from her anger.
On the other hand, Grand Researcher Ou merely had a small grin on her face as if she knew something else. Of course, compared to her disicple, she knew much more of what had happened. It wasn't merely a tempering of the soul but more of a transformation to attune to the Sword Dao. Tempering the soul did not lead to such a dramatic change nor was it that dangerous.
She could sense the aura of Ming Yue's soul, the sharpness and strength that it had was much different than before. It was controlled and focused. Even she was a bit surprised by the changes to Ming Yue but nevertheless, she knew that Ming Yue needed to improve.
As her voice entered Ming Yue's mind, she asked a simple question.
"Are you ready to try again?"