As if seeing through my thoughts the guardian of hell said " The flow of time is completely different in here and the cosmic world. Your soul isn't a sinner yet you don't have enough good karma to ascend to heaven. Since your life span still remains you cannot be sent to reincarnation. But rest assured, you won't regret surviving in this place for a million years. Whether you can gain benefits from this place or you are cursed by this place, It depends on you."
With those words the guardian of hell vanished in nothingness.
Every place my vision went could only see the souls of people floating around. There were different colours of souls such as black, grey, white, green, blue and red. Among all there were only a few white souls. I didn't know what my colour was.
Finally I made my decision " If surviving here for a million years could change my life then I am ready to take this challenge."
I wandered around and saw many beautiful and gruesome scenes. The souls being tortured let out a defeaning screams. Their regretful voice echoed within me. At that moment I regretted ending my life as a loser. " I should have fought back courageously. I shouldn't have chosen the path of a coward. I hope that I can return back to the time I chose to die."
" Hmm, Little one, are you new here? Do you want to learn to defend yourself?"
Suddenly an old voice pierced me from behind. As I turned around I was surprised. Unlike many souls this one was different. It had a humanoid look. " Huh, how could this be? Aren't you supposed to be in a soul form? How could you take the shape of a human?"
" What! You want to take the human form like me? Then are you interested to learn from me?"
I was confused again but ' I guess it's better to learn something than to do nothing.'
" Will I be able to do things like you?"
" Yes, indeed. But it won't be easy. Since you don't have any special talent, it won't be easy. It might take a decade or even a century. So are you still willing to learn from me?"
" Hah, I have got a million years to spare so what's there for me to worry about. If I can become strong then I am ready to learn anything. So how should I address you?"
" It is not yet time for you to get to know me. Now should we begin?"
I reluctantly nodded my head and followed him.
" Little child, what I am about to teach you is called cultivation."
" Heh, sir, you are joking right? How could there be something like cultivation?"
" Well, it is indeed true that there isn't any cultivation in the current world. But it's because they don't know how to resonate with the cosmos. So I am going to teach you the way to resonate with the cosmos."
" But, this is only a soul of mine so how could I practice it?"
" Hmm, though you are only in your soul form, your body in the mortal world hasn't died. This means you can resonate with the cosmic energy even in this form. And slowly send it to your body to refine your bones, tendons, muscles, viscera, organs, blood vessels and meridians. But remember, no matter how long you practice this art you won't become god as the cosmic law has its own rules."
" I understand sir. I will be content as long as I can protect my family and loved ones. But will I be able to fly in swords?"
" No, you can't. The legends you hear aren't completely true. It's just a made up story. Why! You won't practice if you can't fly on swords?"
I felt dejected when I heard that I couldn't fly in swords. But how can I give up on such an opportunity so I hurriedly said" No, I will definitely learn from you."
" Now imagine yourself sitting just below the centre of the cosmic energy. And feel every sensation. You must not forget even the tiniest of the sensation. Make your mind void of any thoughts and listen to me properly."
As I began to follow the words of the old man's soul I began to see the endless sky, galaxy, universe, multiverse and finally the cosmos itself. But there was something that gave me chills. I saw a figure sitting in a crossed leg position and the cosmos I felt was hovering over his palms.
The old man was surprised to see the intensity at which the boy grasped the teachings. 'Hah, what a talent he is? He could learn so much from just the simple teaching of mine. I wonder if he would be able to surpass the cosmic law and become a free entity.'
I felt a great sense of pressure as I observed the silent being. He looked just like us humans but his magnanimity was beyond that of humans like us. No, he was even beyond the gods we praised about.
' I want to become someone like him.'
The world I saw while meditating was breathtaking. There were dragons, beautiful elves, even the dinosaurs that went extinct on our land, dwarves and even the tiny humans. There were fairies, beasts and many other vicious creatures. I could only gasp for breath as I felt suffocated by their presence.
" Brat, get out of that space and return your consciousness back here."
The voice of the old man woke me up.
Blurg…
Despite not having a body I felt like throwing up. I gasped for breath as I said " Sir, what was that? How could there be a being.."
Before I could complete my question I was interrupted.
" Brat, stop talking about this matter. Remember, what you saw must never be made known. I am telling this all for your own good. Now follow my instructions and form a body like mine."
I followed the old man's instructions and slowly formed a body out of my soul. It felt surreal at first but I was able to succeed.
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After that the series of painful learning began. Time and again the old man told me to forge my body in the mortal world time and again. Every time I followed his instructions, I felt intense pain as if my insides were being torn apart.
The series of torture continued for a while decade. Finally at the end of the 10th year the old man chuckled as he said " Hmm, little brat, you are quite persistent. I didn't expect you to complete reforging your body within a decade. I thought it would take at least a century for you yet you pulled it off."
"Since you have reforged your body and learned to resonate with the cosmic energy, it's time for you to learn other things."
' I can definitely feel myself becoming strong. Only a decade has passed and there's still many more years left for me to survive in this place. Because of my soul form I never felt hunger or tiredness. Even pain couldn't be felt except the time when I was reforging my body. From my experience the hell isn't as simple as described by the people. This is a library of cosmic history.'