After binding himself to the [Perennial Quill], Spark picked up the crude, unrefined white metal and inspected it.
Remembering the strange vision of earlier, he gulped and began to hesitantly infuse the metal with Mana, willed by his Soul.
Energy proceeded to gush out and smother the metal until surprisingly, a faint sense of connection established itself.
Spark stared at the lump incredulously.
Didn't this mean that his Elements were suitable?
Even when his Elements were portrayed as nothing but question marks! How could it work?
Reality contradicted his thoughts continuously as with every moment passed, the connection between his Soul and the lump of metal gained more stability.
It felt like something deep inside him has reawakened from slumber and grew in presence like the quickening breath of an ancient horror after hibernating a thousand years.
As the bond strengthened, the matte alloy seemed to regain luster, and its unrefined form twisted and convulsed like a willful ghost in pain.
The stronger the connection became, the more evident the transformation.
The ore churned and stirred, as if unable to decide on its form, or having forgotten its true appearance in the long years of inactivity, until it finally, formed a sharp, translucent edge.
Slowly, it stretched and stretched, to resemble a pale-white sword with the shimmer of ominous fog.
Minutes later an austere blade, its subtle white color seemingly able to coruscate through the darkest of nights, sat in the tight grip of his hands.
And something about it felt very, very wrong.
...It had a strange ornery and cursed feeling to it.
The temperature in the room dropped by several degrees when the sword fully materialized.
Like a wistful ghost, it sparkled in Spark's hands with a pale luster.
[You have obtained a Soul Bound, Ancient Ghost Slayer]
[Ancient Ghost Slayer]
[Category: Inheritance]
[Rank: Rare]
[A cursed blade created with the death wish of an unavowed and ancient Ghost Slayer, who possessed both the Soul and the Sword Element. With the goal of retribution, he learned his slashes to reach beneath the fabric of reality, splitting apart every single disembodied being of the Soul Realm. Motivated by wuthering fury, his remnant soul bound itself to his favorite sword, etching in it his wish to slay all vile ghosts, even after his life had long ended.]
[Effect: [Soul Slaying] , [Eternal Ire] , [Sate the Hunger]]
...
"Rare Rank!" Spark drew in a cold breath.
What was the Rare Rank? It was one rank above a Normal-Rank Soul Bound, and two above a Lesser-Rank Soul Bound.
It was not something that a Cultivator randomly possessed! Normally, you would need to slay many Depraved Hazards, or even Behemoths for a chance to receive a Rare-Rank Soul Bound.
Either that, or pay an inexorable amount of money to a blacksmith gifted by the Grand Dao.
"Ancient Ghost Slayer... must have been a fearsome guy..." Spark uttered with a shudder when he finally composed himself.
"Furthermore... Soul and Sword Element?"
Spark's eyes widened at a thought.
"Does that mean..."
Reading through the decription again made him shudder with imagination. This sword felt eery and terrifying, and now he knew why it did...
[Soul Slaying]
[The Ghost Slayer can bypass reality and kill disembodied creatures.]
[Eternal Ire]
[Facing Ghosts and Wraiths, the Ghost Slayer's edge will turn ferocious and motivated by vengeance, strengthening its effects.]
[Sate the Hunger]
[The ancient Ghost Slayer wants his inheritor to slay all kinds of beings of the Soul Realm. He hopes you to have them cease to exist. 0/10.000 Ghosts slayed.]
Spark's eyes nearly popped from his sockets when he read how many Souls that thing wants him to devour.
"10.000? Are you kidding me?! Where can I even find ghosts?" he snorted in disdain.
He somehow felt that this Ancient Ghost Slayer was not reasonable at all... He didn't even mention what would happen if he succeeded.
Of course, Spark wouldn't throw himself into the arms of danger just to hunt 10.000 Ghosts... If a chance revealed itself he would try, and if it didn't... well, he wouldn't be bitter about it.
Taking one last look at the austere and pale-white sword in his hands and gulping, he willed it to vanish into particles of azure Mana.
Heaving a sigh of relief when the aura and feeling around him turned normal again. Way better than the eery atmosphere before, he heaved a labored sigh and sharpened his eyes.
Runes appeared before him and substantiated his assumption.
----
[Théo Floga's Soulslate]
[Cultivation: Peak Body Foundation[Part-Divine Awakened]]
[Elements: ?, Sword , ?, ?, Soul]
[Spirit Bond: not acquired]
[Soul Bounds: [Perennial Quill], [Ancient Ghost Slayer]]
[Skills: Foreign Being , The Favored Prospect , Cochlean Implant, ? , Altymirs Basic Swordplay , ? , ? , Soul Inspection]
---
"Indeed... I was correct," Spark laughed with glowing eyes.
"I've had a feeling that my Sword Skills increased slightly lately. So it wasn't caused by my resolve..."
Spark somehow felt irritated.
Not giving it any mind, he immediately inspected the newly-acquired Skills and Elements.
***
Five days later...
After his daily routine of hours of Cultivation and Interpretation of his Elements, Spark found himself in a room that wasn't his.
Currently, he was positively surprised.
In front of him was the golden-furried ape Borza sitting on the ground in meditation.
He used [Soul Inspection], and was very surprised what the runes showed.
[Name: Borza]
[Cultivation: Lesser Body Foundation Realm]
[Race: Divine Blood Kerok]
Unexpectedly, he found out Borza's race.
Divine Blood Kerok... From The Kerok Mountain of the East?
He had learned another useful thing. This ability was pretty amazing!
Spark thought back to its description.
[Soul Inspection]
[Rank: Normal]
[Category: Growth]
[The User can glimpse behind the confines of the physical world, able to take a furtive peek into the innate world of the Soul.]
Some time later, Borza opened his eyes with a breath of steam leaving his body. His yellow eyes had turned even sharper.
Getting up from the floor, he almost staggered back to the ground in shock when he saw Spark who had somehow made his way into his room silently.
It was a coincidence to meet him at the moment of breaking through.
Spark just smiled and nodded in friendly manner.
"Wonderful job, Borza. You are the first among the kids to reach the Body Foundation Realm."
Borza gave voice to an excited chuckle before saying:
"Thank you, Spark. I owe it to you and Uncle Joey."
The ape's language Skill improved by leaps and bounds every day, since he was being friendly with the other brats and Jessie was giving him grammar and vocabulary lessons every now and then.
"It's your own luck!" Spark quickly said without soaking in the gratitude.
He thought for a moment and added, "Ok now then, let's go..."
Borza arched his brows and asked:
"Go... where?"
The young man in front of him laughed as if he heard a silly question.
"Go where?... Go celebrate of course!!!"
Borza lingered a bit, before getting up and following Spark who had already turned around. His tail was swaying in joy.
...
A couple more days of managing the shops, cultivating, giving lections to the kids and advertising Terry's company went by.
By now, Spark was still a bit from the Qi Realm, but he felt his realm being more saturated every day.
The shops generated more income under Spark's process innovations, advertising and careful guidance.
And more orders for the suits have been rolling in.
A couple of knocks thumped on the door of his office. Spark was not surprised.
He stopped meditating and opened to door. Sona, Robert and Kiana were waiting on him, dressed in clean and nice garments.
"Shall we go?" Spark said with a gentle smile.
His family nodded in agreement. Kiana was visibly happy, because they made plans for the day! In fact, they didn't only make plans, they were invited out!
Making their way through the streets of Monsoon City with a hired carriage, paid by an hourly rate they arrived at the mercantile area of Monsoon City.
Fancy buildings jutted out from the ground and the streets were clean and flawless. Boisterous carriages, decorated in ornate swings and flashy colors rolled around. They took a turn into the Brokerstreet and finally stopped at a fancy restaurant, with personal carriages parked in front of a spacious plaza in front.
Men dressed in fancy robes, accompanied by lithe and elegant women clad in accentuating and silken dresses with frilly engageantes.
Spark stepped out of the carriage with an elevated countenance and perfect posture. His black suit veiled him in an air of professionalism. He had a distinctly different aura around him than the wealthy men clad in silken robes.
His black hair was cut neatly and slicked to the back of his head, revealing his forehead and green-anthracite eyes.
Giving a hand to his little sister, who was also formally dressed, the family made their way into the restaurant.
Today a socializing event would happen in here!
Sona and Robtert prodded their son and asked in a whisper:
"Son... were we really invited? This place... it's too blinding!"
Spark gave a chuckle and replied nonchalantly:
"Of course! Just ignore the hollow luxury. We're here to have a normal dinner."
The couple was shocked, but his younger sibling was staring at the insanely decorated inside of the restaurant with sparkling eyes.
"Ahh... Spark! You're finally here!"
At this point, the family heard someone call Spark out. When turning to the source, they saw a man dressed in a chequered blue suit. He wore gold-rimmed glasses and his back-long black hair gave him a youthful and beautiful appearance.
"Kandel! It is nice to see you. Thank you once again for the friendly invitation."
"It's a small matter, you already met Mr. Taler and Mr. Korand."
Spark shaked the hands of two other people and exchanged cordial pleasantries.
"How can I forget! It has only been a couple of days. Terry told me that your customization orders are coming along."
Mr. Taler, a middle-aged man with a brown beard, streaked in grey, greeted back:
"Hello Mr. Spark, it truly is a pity the garment could not be finished for today."
Mr. Korand expressed the same sentiment, and also replied with a wistful sight:
"That's right... You wouldn't believe how female eyes have already landed on our young friend Kandel here... It truly is a pity. I feel like we're being left behind."
Spark retorted the humorous comment with a bit of self-deprecating sarcasm:
"Honoured gentlemen, I am afraid, that Mr. Kandel is blessed not only by the suit, but also by mother nature. It is normal to be the focus of attraction. It truly feels unfair..."
After a round of laughter, Kandel scratched his temples in embarassment and humbly opposed:
"That is not true... I feel like they are solely fascinated by the difference in my appearance."
Spark gave a chuckle and shook his head:
"No need to be too humble. Or people might actually think it's true!"
"Because it is!" Kandel uttered with some vigor, "Don't think I haven't realized that you're not being overlooked either."
Kandel's face turned smug when he added the last part.
Spark could only arch his eyebrow and laugh wrlyly.
After exchanging some friendly talk and introducing his family to the merchants, they got seated and ordered some items from the menu.
Right... Spark had already made some connections to the mercantile grouping of Monsoon City. Kandel enjoyed some reputation in the circle, as he was an owner of a resource-gathering firm, which mainly explored the Dark Vine Forest behind the Pluvial Grasslands.
After seeing Mr. Kandel dressed in new glamorous clothing, both Mr. Taler and Mr. Korand were intrigued and ordered themselves a pair, too.
Like a wildfire, rumors about a strange, and formal piece of wear circulated in the mercantile community and orders filled Terry's little shop like oceanic waves.
He had already needed to hire assistants to be able to satisfy the overwhelming demand. That was also the reason he couldn't come today.
"It seems that keen eyes would always see the splendor of suits, no matter which world it was." Spark thought silently.
He was in a happy mood.
The conversation flowed naturally at the table, as Spark was a socialite gifted with a silver-tongue, and knew how to approach many interesting discussion from his enormous experience as a capital venturer back on Earth.
Remarks on their own lives, and stories about their mercantile and Cultivation journey were annecdoted and discussed. Of course Spark cut on many other topics, where his family could also come into the conversation.
Mr. Taler owned a couple of enterprises, with the most valuable being a real-estate agency. Mr. Korand was widely connected, with some of his connections reaching into the upper echelons of some of the domestic Sects.
At some point, Spark revealed that he himself was very close to reaching the Awakened Realm. It was good to boast a little from time to time. Also it was solely to gain some more favorability from the renowned gentlemen.
With the use of [Soul Inspection], he already found out that the three merchants are in the Qi Realm.
Which Stage they have reached could not accurately approximated but it was clear that they did not recently break through. The three seemed to be very experienced.
Spark had to sigh when he once again saw that standing and Cultivation were tethered together tightly.
His remark took some time process.
Not only the three gentlemen were surprised, but his family also had the same look of shock plastering their faces.
'If they knew about my Elements, would they suffer a heart attack?!' Spark thought with beads of sweat on the back of his head.
Their reaction... was a bit exaggerated.
"Hohoho, is that so?" Mr. Korand said with a surprised laugh. He added, "That is quite the achievement at your age! You must have started your Cultivation pretty early then?"
Spark scratched his temple and gave his family a side eye before saying, "Haha, something like that."
Kandel nodded his head and revealed a piece of information, that Spark didn't think he knew:
"I've heard about a part of Silver Hawk's businesses and wealth being taken over by a youth... To think that you were also gifted in Cultivation! What a pleasant suprise!"
Mr. Taler and Mr. Korand gave a silent smile, as if already knowing about it.
Spark frowned a bit inwardly. On second thought, it wasn't that he was shocked or didn't like that development. But he was a bit surprised... positively surprised.
'So they at least do their homework... It seems not everybody in the Cultivator world only knows how to fight carelessly and fiercely... It's good to know that a merchant will always be a merchant. Information is still the most important resource.'
Mr. Korand then gave a passing comment with a smile, "It truly is impressive... If you manage to break through, I will put in a good word at the mercantile grouping. It will definitely be beneficial to your clothing business and further Cultivation."
Spark looked at him with a thankful expression.
"Thank you Mr. Korand, I really appreciate the offer. I will definitely get in touch with you."
The spectacled blonde with mature and refined looks nodded his head and said:
"You know where to find me!"
After a couple of hours, the dinner came to a close, and the March family made their way back after biding the merchants farewell.
In the carriage on their way back, Kiana couldn't hold back any longer and asked with a hesitant voice:
"Brother... Are you really almost an Awakened?"
Spark gave a loud laugh before turning toward his sister and saying:
"Of course! There's nothing to it. Your brother will become even stronger in the future!"