Chapter 54 - Chapter 54:Ka Refinement(Part1)

A living being— no matter how small, or how big— requires a soul. Nothing could live without a soul. The soul was considered the crux of a living being. A soul was even more important than the organs to a cultivator. But a soul was also a very complicated thing. Even a fly needed a soul, let alone the other animals.

Without a soul, the body was only a statue. No matter how profound or detailed a statue was, it was still a statue, it could not move or feel. A soul was just like a person's consciousness and controller. Without a soul, the statue could only be controlled by the others, even the mind would be useless. Just like the concept of Zombies on the earth. Like a puppet, that was controlled by the others. 

But even the one controlling the puppet also possessed a soul. A dead body would be buried or burned back on the earth. Without a soul, the body was only a tool for the others to decide the fate of. Even when Yang Zhai reincarnated back to the past eleven hundred years, he did everything possible to protect his soul. His body did not matter. As long as his soul survived, he could live. A soul was the real essence of a person. Without a soul, the body's talent would be nothing. What would a person do with the talent if he died? A soul was the real talent.

Kas were considered the treasures of heaven and earth. They contained the secrets of the world. A pure being, even purer than humans. But, they were also considered evil. They were forbidden from being refined. Only the Kas, which were produced by nature itself, were considered good.

A Ka also required a soul to live, as it was a living being as well, just as it required food like the other living beings. But, could the souls be created from nothing? If it was possible, wouldn't everyone be able to create new living beings? So, how could something be refined into a living being without the soul? A refinement master creates a statue and puts the function he needs in it, just like a robot from the earth. Robots were created for different functions, but for them to function, they needed a memory, like a soul to a living being. Memory was their soul.  

So, when a refinement master refines a Ka, where does the soul come from? As it could not be created from anything, it was not possible to refine a Ka with just the materials. But a living being could not exist without a soul. Therefore, a soul is needed to refine a Ka. And where do the souls come from to refine the Ka? They are taken from other living beings, like Kas, beasts, or human souls. But the higher the Rank of a Ka refined, the more souls are needed. And as such, other living beings are needed to be sacrificed to refine a Ka. Thus, the refinement of a Ka is considered demonic, an evil thing, especially when it is a human soul that is being sacrificed. That's why the Kas are forbidden to be refined.

And if Yang Zhai wanted to refine a Rank two Ka, he needed a soul as well. As he was weak and only a Rank 1 cultivator, he could not go into the forest to capture the beasts to extract their souls, in that way, he would only be seeking death. Therefore, he needed to become the leader of his class. He needed two kids as a sacrifice. Now, he could easily get them. This was the minimum requirement needed to refine a rank 2 strength Ka. It was enough, as human souls were more refined and intelligent than the beasts. This Ka was considered the top Ka among the Rank 2 Kas and the souls needed to refine it were also less compared to the other Kas. And a human's body was also needed to substitute the materials he was missing to refine the Ka. His knowledge of the blood path and the strength path was profound, so he could easily change the method of refining the Rank 2 Ka. And he only modified the method and didn't completely change it.

That's why he chose to sacrifice the two kids instead of his two Kas. These Ka were important for his future fights. And their souls were also weaker to refine a Rank 2 Ka, so the Wooden Fists Ka and the Dug-Worm Ka would not be able to refine a Rank 2 Ka, even though there would always be a chance, it was still a chance and a failure would make him lose two Kas and would also waste the resources he had collected.

This was a risky play, but Yang Zhai was not scared or hesitant. He was calm and revised his plans a few more times to be cautious. 

The next day

The class had just ended, and the kids began to leave the Academy.

Yang Zhai was standing in an inconspicuous corner and was looking at the two leaving the Academy. 

After the two left the main gate of the academy, Yang Zhai followed them silently. When he saw that the two were alone in an alley, he approached them.

"Hey, you two." Yang Zhai called them from behind.

Both of them looked behind and saw Yang Zhai. One was a boy and the other one was a girl. They were confused when they saw Yang Zhai. The boy had short light-brown hair and the girl had long dark black hair. The color of both of their eyes was dark black. 

"What is it, brother Yang?" The boy asked.

"I have something that I need your help with, come with me." Yang Zhai said and left, he didn't explain the thing he needed their help with or anything else. 

Yang Zhai was not worried about the two not following him. These two kids had no choice but to follow Yang Zhai, after all, he was their leader, and they had to follow his commands. This was also one of the reasons Yang Zhai wanted to become the leader. If he had asked the two before becoming the class head, they would not have followed Yang Zhai and would even mock him as to why they would listen to Yang Zhai. But now, they had no choice. 

Both of them were perplexed after hearing Yang Zhai. Was Yang Zhai following them, or did he just see them while he was passing by? And what was the work Yang Zhai required their help with? They were confused but did not refuse Yang Zhai and followed after him. They knew that they had to follow Yang Zhai's orders, if they did not, they would be punished by the Academy.

Yang Zhai kept on walking and didn't talk to the two kids on the way. He exited the village from an inconspicuous place. When the two kids saw this, they were baffled.

"Why do you think Yang Zhai didn't leave from the main gate and is going outside the village from here?" The girl asked the boy.

"I don't know," the boy answered.

"Do you think we should follow him?"

"What choice do we have?"

"But, it is dangerous to go out with our cultivation levels."

"Just stay close to me. And I am sure that Yang Zhai is not so foolish as to go to a dangerous place." The boy replied.

When Yang Zhai saw that both kids had stopped and were not following him, he said with a casual expression, 

"Are you not coming?"

"Coming," when the two heard Yang Zhai, they hurriedly exited the village and followed after Yang Zhai.

After walking for half an hour, they arrived outside a cavern.

"Let's go," Yang Zhai went into the cave.

Both of the kids looked at each other before following Yang Zhai into the cave.

They kept on walking for five minutes in the cave and went deeper. After five minutes, they came to a stop. There, some stuff was placed on the ground. 

"What are these?" The boy questioned Yang Zhai.

"They are the materials needed to refine The Strength Ka. This Ka is a Rank 2 Ka. Even though this Strength Ka has many more ranks, like rank 1, rank 2, rank 3, and more, I can only refine a Rank 2 Ka with my cultivation. I can even refine a rank 1 Ka, but that wouldn't be much beneficial. Thus, I decided to refine a rank 2 Ka" Yang Zhai explained calmly.

Even though Yang Zhai explained calmly, both the girl and boy were shocked to hear him. What Yang Zhai's words suggested meant that he was able to refine a Ka. And a Rank 2 Ka at that? Where did he learn that from? They both looked at each other and could see the disbelief in each other's eyes. According to them, Yang Zhai was just bluffing.

"Go ahead and look at the materials if you want to." Yang Zhai said and turned around to look at the two.

When the two heard Yang Zhai, both the girl and the boy could see the impatience in each other's eyes. They— without thinking about anything —went forth and began to look at the materials placed on the ground.

"Amazing, are all the materials here, or do you have some more?" The boy asked Yang Zhai whilst looking at the Ice-Fire cubes.

"Well, all of the materials are present here. But two are still not placed with them."

"What are the two materials that are not placed with them?" 

"Two human bodies and two human souls." Yang Zhai replied.

"Ah," when the boy heard this, he turned his head around to look at Yang Zhai.

"What are you trying to say?"

"I said that you two are the materials that I needed." 


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