Lu Sheng's eyesight began to dim suddenly as if he was losing his vision. It felt like someone had adjusted the brightness settings too low, causing everything to appear dim and hazy.
Nonetheless, he was still able to see everything, although it was more like the outline of everything had become sharper.
The entire world around him looked like a blueprint outline on a third-dimensional dark page, with every line and width visible, and the ability to see through objects. Yet, all the colors and brightness were lost, leaving everything in darkness.
Despite this, he was still able to see everything around him - the furniture, the floor, the ceiling, and even the door - but all of it in a dark and outlined form, as if drawn in white glowing lines. It was eerie and creepy.
"Is this because of this Shinigami Soul Reaping Method?"
[Yes, I am at the first Realm of this method. I will name it Silent Apprentice.]
"Silent Apprentice? Why?"
[Because it focuses more on hearing the wail of the Resentment from the other side and for that we need to stay silent and listen more.]
"Oh. okay, don't let me stop you then, keep up the good work."
[...]
The Automated System continued the cultivation when Lu Sheng suddenly started to hear faint sounds like someone was weeping. He felt drawn towards the weeping as he looked around to find the source of it.
His vision was still not normal yet as he felt confused about whether he should leave the bed or not but he also felt a sudden intense urge to help whoever was weeping when suddenly he noticed something bright, it was intensely contrasted with the dark world around him.
In the corner of the room, he saw a fat child in a white dress weeping. A dark inky smoke was emitting from its body as if it was burning and melting at the same time, and it felt painful.
"Lu…Lu Sheng?" He recognized this fat child. The original owner of this body he is occupying.
"Big…Big brother?" The fat child ghost heard the call and turned, innocently wiping his tears with his small hands as he gazed at it in confusion. His eyes were puffy and red from crying. "You can see me? You can hear me?" The chubby child ghost was surprised and relieved to find that finally, someone could hear him.
"Yes…" Lu Sheng was expecting to feel fear or other strange and creepy sensations, yet he felt nothing but familiarity as if he was looking at his own childhood version.
He quickly asked his automated system, "What is happening?"
[This body never got his final rites, that's why the soul struggles to depart to the afterlife, to the next cycle.]
"What am I supposed to do here?"
[Two things, reap this soul or fulfill its last wishes.]
"Can we do that? Already? Or fulfill its wishes?"
[Yes. Do you want to reap this soul?]
"What does it mean? This Reaping of Soul?"
[Severing the soul from its clinginess towards this world, the needs, the desires, the will of the living still within.]
"Sounds very cruel."
[Yes, it does. But it would be even crueler to let them burn in their resentment and turn into vengeful ghosts with unfulfilled desires.]
"Let's hear his wishes, first."
He turned towards the fat child's soul. "Why are you crying?" He asked.
"It hurts, it burns."
"Hurts? Where does it hurt? What is burning?"
[A soul cannot see it but as you have started to cultivate this Shinigami Soul Reaping Method, you can see it.]
"What is it? That inky smoke? That is burning?"
[Yes, that is resentment, it is eating it from the inside.]
He looked back at the fat soul. "Do you want something? Tell me how I can help?"
"Do you have something to eat?" The fat soul child quickly asked with hope-filled eyes.
"Eat? Can you still eat?" He asked in return to which the fat soul child nodded innocently.
[I am not surprised to hear its last wish. He is truly your clone of this world.]
"Whatever, let's find something for him to eat."
[Not finding something but a feast.]
"Feast? Why?"
[Do you want your last meal to be just something? Or a feast?]
He grumbled inside but the Automated System was right. He looked back at the fat child soul of the original Lu Sheng and smiled. "Big Brother will prepare food for you. You are welcome to eat as much as you would like, as long as you behave well. Is that okay?"
"Yes, I am a good child. I will obey Big Brother."
"Let's find something to eat."
[Wait. let's eat ourselves first, I mean, he is oozing with lots of resentment, let's take it away for our Shinigami Soul Reaping Cultivation.]
"Okay."
Suddenly, the inky smoke from the fat child's soul rushed toward Lu Sheng, entering his body through his eyes, ears, and mouth. It felt like a thick, dark liquid flowing through him, but strangely, it didn't bring any discomfort or pain. Instead, Lu Sheng felt a surge of power, like absorbing a potent energy.
Lu Sheng found his senses clearing, drawing in strands of resentment from the weeping soul. He felt the wispy darkness slither into his mind, sending a charge of energy through his soul.
Meanwhile, the ghost child stared with wide eyes. "How are you doing that, Big Brother?"
"Just...absorbing some of what's hurting you," Lu Sheng replied. "It should help you feel better. Here..." He gestured, siphoning off more smoky essence. Although it was all an act as Automated System was performing the actual deed.
The soul breathed a sigh of relief as the stinging agony inside him started to dull. "Thank you, Big Brother."
[it's not done yet. A core of resentment has formed inside it, that is our prize, let me pull it out. ]
"It's not done yet, stay calm, this might sting a little." he gently said to the child's soul.
He nodded innocently.
A gentle probe from the Automated System through his mind revealed a dark, pulsating orb inside the soul body of this fat child.
It looked bitter, filled with resentful, unfulfilled wishes and lingering pain. Lu Sheng felt the resentment of a life that had been robbed, never to be lived fully, filled with grievance turning it into something malevolent.
Deep within the soul, a seed of twisted resentment had planted itself and started to grow, fueled by the essence of its host—the child soul of Lu Sheng.
Using the Shinigami Soul Reaping Method, this seed of malice was persuaded to come to the surface, making the child's soul twist in distress. Surprisingly, it didn't fight back as the dark seed gradually showed itself.
"What's that?" Lu Sheng asked, looking at the dark writhing orb, it felt alive as it snarled an otherworldly screech.
[This is the core of the soul's resentment. If not stopped, it could turn any gentle spirit into a vengeful one.]
In the heart of the soul was an ominous dark core, a pulsating malevolence, shrouded in a darkness that seemed to resist the very essence of purity.
Surrounding this sinister core were twisted tendrils, wriggling and coiling like vipers defending their tainted core. Each tendril possessed a monstrous vigor, as if infused with the very resentment they desired to protect.
The Shinigami Soul Reaping Method remained unshaken in front of this dark core, the resentment, the source of its power, was nothing in front of its reaping pull.
The very weapon it wanted to use to struggle is exactly what the Shinigami Soul Reaping Method was sucking out of it and using it against it. It was out of wits, its very core of resentment was pulled out bit by bit to avoid harming the child soul of the Lu Sheng.
The child soul of the original Lu Sheng struggled, yet he placed his innocent confidence in the new Lu Sheng, his Big brother.
The last tendrils gave up with an unpleasant sound. The seed of resentment was trapped in a swirling vortex of the Soul Essence of Shinigami Soul Reaping Method, its harmful essence locked inside. He looked at the young spirit, now weak but free from the heavy darkness.
"Big brother, you saved me!" the child's voice rang out, not choked with pain anymore, but filled with amazement and vibrant relief. "The pain is gone!"
He nodded at the happy little soul who danced around him like a little pet. However, he focused back on the seed of malice. "What about this? What to do with it?"
[A Surprise, Behold!]
Before Lu Sheng could react, a chilling pressure surged out of him and pressed upon the swirling dark orb. The Seed, sensing the change, let out a sharp scream as it twisted by unseen forces, forcing it, reshaping its essence.
Lu Sheng watched in amazement as the orb underwent a dramatic transformation. It let out a shrill scream as it was pressed like clay, twisted, pulled, and finally elongated, solidifying into a smooth black rod surrounded by elegant swirls of dark energy.
Intricate symbols formed, pulsating with a sinister power. As the last traces of domineering pressure from within him vanished, the swirling markings gathered at the rod's top, shaping themselves into bone-white sigil.
This carved sigil resembled a skull, with grooves and hollows that seemed to shift in the flickering darkness. Lu Sheng felt a sinister presence within the white sigil as if it were a watchful skull peering from within the darkness.
His eyes widened with wonder as he now held a solid, materialized cane in his hand. The rod felt alive, with subtle tremors and faint wails emanating from the trapped seed of malice inside it.
Yet, these sounds were no longer defiant or filled with resentment. With a final surge of pressure, the Automated System successfully completed the transmutation.
In Lu Sheng's hands rested a sleek ebon staff crowned with the carved bone-white sigil pulsating with sinister might. Though lightweight, Lu Sheng keenly sensed immense potency contained within the staff, focused and encapsulated within that ever-vigil skull sigil on its crown.
"What is this?" he asked aloud.
[Your first Soul Reaping Tool, The Cane of Obedience. It has the power to force wandering souls to accept their fates. With a disciplinary beating, it compels them to obey.]
"So it's a stick to beat ghosts? huh?"
[The Cane also absorbs lingering resentment in your surroundings effectively. Moreover, it acts as a special compass, leading you to the strongest and purest concentrations of resentment, assisting you in delivering justice.]
Lu Sheng examined the staff with fascination, impressed by its sinister beauty. The child, who was still playing nearby, suddenly stopped upon seeing the ominous rod.
"I will obey you, Big Brother, please do not punish me! Please do not beat me!" Fear laced his exclaimed face.
Lu Sheng chuckled reassuringly. "It's not for you; you don't need to fear it or me. This is for others; it will help guide lost souls to where they belong." He reached out, affectionately ruffling the boy's head.
[It will also help with the resentment building up in the body you are in right now, it will keep on absorbing the resentment, defusing it for a while, keeping the balance in check until you perform a last rite for yourself.]