Tao Fuyuan returned to the inn as the sun was setting. A-Dong greeted him instantaneously and went on to notify him that his dinner had just been delivered to his room. Tao Fuyuan nodded and walked up the stairs before entering his suite and eating his fill. Not long after did he call a waiter to bring the empty dishes away, and upon making sure that no one was around, entered his fissure. His figure warped and twisted before disappearing and reappearing again a moment later. He reached into his pockets and took out today's bounties, laying them out on the table.
Truly, the soul perceiving stone and the elemental gem had been today's premium bonus, amongst many others! This world is great!
On the wood table laid two sheer stones, one white as milk while the other was black as ink, a small, purple furnace of exceptional quality, fire pebbles and numerous edible ingredients and books related to cooking; if the library in his fissure lacked anything, then it was definitely cooking recipes. Nothing over nourishment!
As he was musing over this, both books and ingredients had been put back into his fissure while another one had been taken out. The front and back of the book gave off a subtle sheen and emitted a majestic aura, rendering others unable to retract their gazes. Engraved on it were numerous letters resulting in a short sentence, spelling "Activating and cultivating of the soul force", a simple yet thick manual. Fuyuan flipped it open and began reading.
The sky outside was now resembling that of his fissure, pitch black in color but decorated by countless stars. With an oil lamp on his right and his bounties on his left, he kept on reading deep into the night and finished just as dawn was approaching. Tao Fuyuan closed the book and put it back into his fissure before closing his eyes momentarily and rubbing his temples.
Sure enough. all-nighters don't seem to be all so bad until you take one.
Tao Fuyuan stood up and entered the bathroom, washed his face and sat back down at the table. Now or never!
"First things first, I need to find out what color my soul is and whether it's clear or clouded. The elements are secondary."
He shoved the purple furnace in front of him and tossed the previously purchased fire pebbles into it; not long after, the furnace started emitting a pleasant heat. While the heat was rising bit by bit, Tao Fuyuan grabbed the soul perceiving stone and slowly but successfully extracted his soul force for the first time. The previously dull soul perceiving stone began to light up as it absorbed more and more soul force, before stopping on it's own as if trying to signal that it's filled to capacity. Tao Fuyuan inhaled deeply before ceasing to emit his soul force, completely out of breath, and put the now shining soul perceiving stone into the furnace.
"Haah…"
Easier said than done, indeed…
Even as Tao Fuyuan was regaining his composure, his eyes never left the furnace. Moreover, ever since he had put the soul perceiving stone into the furnace, it had begun quivering like crazy. The stone has long since turned into milky white liquid, swaying in the furnace. One minute passed, two minutes passed...when the furnace unexpectedly stopped shaking and began cooling down on it's own at an alarming rate.
"Huh? Is it broken?"
Just as Tao Fuyuan was about to reach out, the liquid suddenly emitted a strong medical scent. Startled, he glanced into the furnace only to discover that the then-white liquid has become slightly transparent and shimmered colorfully. Red, blue, yellow, orange, all kinds of different colored swayed in the substance, resembling the lustre of an opal as it's being held against the sun.
"...iridescent?"
Tao Fuyuan's jaw dropped to the ground and into another dimension. Are you kidding me?
As if realizing something, he inspected the furnace's contents more closely, and not long afterwards did he let out an "ah" sound.
It's not white, it's clouded!
Certainly, some parts of the fluid were transparent while others were white. Although the furnace has stopped quivering long ago, the white fragments never stopped moving, resembling clouds moving across the sky on a windy spring day.
In other words…
"I'm an iridescent soul mage?"
As these words left his mouth, the liquid completely lost its shine before dissipating, leaving the furnace empty. Having no further use for it, he put the furnace and the elemental gem into his fissure silently. He heaved a deep sigh as he entered the inner room of his suite and let himself fall on the bed before closing his eyes, falling into a deep slumber.
On the next day, Tao Fuyuan woke up when the sun was at its peak. Only after moving and turning did the youth finally open his peach-colored eyes.
"Auntie, what's the time?"
No one answered.
"Ah, right…"
I died.
This life ah, really doesn't give me a minute to reflect.
Tao Fuyuan flicked his tongue before getting up sluggishly and entering his fissure. Half an hour passed before he reappeared in front of his bed, all traces of tiredness gone and, this time, wearing a peach-colored, simple robe.
Although, that "simple" robe was still made of unknown yet stunning material. Lustrous like silk yet seeming dull and flat, the long sleeves resembling cascading motions of a waterfall.
With that, he carelessly left his room and entered the spacious lounge downstairs. Upon arriving, several people shot him glances over and over again, murmuring something to their table companions.
Seeing Tao Fuyuan enter the lounge and sit down on a table, A-Dong immediately felt like spitting blood.
Sensing the louge's atmosphere change drastically in a matter of seconds, a co-worker walked up to A-Dong and dabbed his shoulder before asking in a hushed tone, "Hey, what's going on?"
"Tao Fuyuan entered the lounge. He's one of our best customers so watch your words and behave." Having said that, A-Dong continued working. His co-worker quickly went to take Fuyuan's order.
"I'll have filled tangyuan, zongzi and a bowl of egg tong sui. Also, I've never heard of a seven spring tea before. What is it made of?"
"The seven spring tea is our specialty!" The waiter beamed, "The plant it's made of is named seven spring herb, and those herbs are only found around spiritual springs. After plucking the leaves and letting them soak in boiling hot water for three days and three nights, all the impurities die off and the leaves dissolve, becoming one with the water. The seven spring's spiritual properties mix into the water as well and are therefore great nourishment, pleasing to body and soul. The taste is subtle and sweet with a hint of sourness to it."
Delighted, Tao Fuyuan also ordered a single can of seven spring tea for a whopping 30 anima coins, including the dishes, spending 37 anima coins in total. The waiter left as quickly as he came, the smile on his face not faltering from beginning to end. Stunned, the other guests couldn't refrain from emitting deep audible breaths. Shortly after, Tao Fuyuan's food and tea was served. The seven spring tea's strong spiritual scent slowly filled the lounge, making those around him go haywire in greed. However, Tao Fuyuan's mind was totally elsewhere.
Yesterday's events were certainly hard to digest, but that would explain why I'd been transported into the spiritual fissure. Maybe it has been passed on to me, from one iridescent colored soul to the next one…
But why couldn't I keep my own body? And why did the fissure only appear after I died? So many questions left unanswered, eating is my only way out of this misery ba.
With his train of thought going from north to south, Tao Fuyuan quickly finished his meal and went back upstairs to cultivate. Such a precious soul, I must nurture it to the best of my abilities. Time is money!