H. Chapter 02
Inside the house:
The practice room was quiet, free from any distracting noise. There was a "silence formation" around the practice room. The room was well lit and it gave a comfortable feeling.
In the corner, Liu Ye was soaking in a bathtub filled of lukewarm water that contains a mixture of spiritual herbs brought by Qin Jia.
As he started meditating in the bathtub, he felt uncomfortable because of the herbs mixed in it. The spiritual herbs mixture produced a burning sensation as if hundreds of ants were biting his body. He felt itchy all over his body.
Liu Ye tried to control himself from scratching when he felt itchy. If he does scratch, his skin could suffer damage from the spiritual ingredients. His skin could bleed, and dark purple rashes would cover his body.
After controlling himself for a period, the itchy feeling slowly disappeared, and he started to feel the effects of the medicinal bath on his body.
The spiritual herbs strengthened his body and brought a relaxed feeling all over his body. For years, Liu Ye had been taking this medicinal bath. This medicinal bath was supporting his physical recovery. The bath could only help to heal and repair his body and internal organs, which were slowly damaged every second.
After the medicinal bath, he felt refreshed and relaxed. It was time for him to begin soul cultivation.
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Sitting in the lotus position on a mat made of a soul tiger skin, he began to inhale and exhale slowly through his nose and mouth. Initiating his breathing exercises, he focused on relaxing his limbs and muscles while clearing his mind. Swiftly, he entered a meditative state.
During his childhood, meditating after a warm bath often made him feel sleepy. However, after years of soul cultivation, he had grown accustomed to it.
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Once his body became relaxed and his mind calmed, he commenced chanting the "Golden Soul Scripture." With each repetition, he felt the energy of his soul condensing deep within his consciousness.
After a period of meditation, deep within his divine soul space, an area of 4–5 meters appeared veiled in fog, representing his soul energy. Within this ethereal mist, a shining object gleamed at the centre.
With the amount of soul energy, Liu Ye had gathered, he could utilize it to examine his physical condition. Without delay, he began scanning his body by enveloping it with the gathered soul energy fog.
On the right side of his chest, near his shoulder, all the meridians passing through this area were connected to a small cyclone made of grey spiritual energy, Death Qi. This represented the death essence spirit root of Liu Ye. The cyclone slowly sent strands of Death Qi to every part of his body, constantly corroding it. He tried to control it, but failed. He couldn't stop it from spreading.
With his soul energy, he could only watch as the Death Qi within his body destroyed his organs and brought him closer to his death. Despite his efforts, he found himself unable to control the cyclone with the amount of soul energy he possessed at the time.
With the presence of the Death essence spirit root in his body, he had been fortunate enough to be alive. Due to his deteriorating health, Liu Ye's parents had decided to remove the Death essence spirit root from his body. They had spent a huge amount of resources to remove it without harming Liu Ye's body. However, the results had left them in despair. Furthermore, the abundant medicinal properties of the rare treasures ended up adversely affecting Liu Ye's health. The wealth they had sold off might have helped them greatly increase their cultivation to the next major realm.
With the amount of the resources they spent, they could exchange for a small kingdom, the same size as the one, Liu Ye was presently settled in. But all those resources were spent just to keep an ordinary human alive.
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With the soul energy, Liu Ye looked inside his head. He could see the small cyclone that saves him by sending golden spiritual energy into his body, it was the Life essence spirit root. He was alive only because of the Life essence spirit root. When he tried to control it, he failed. Likewise, he couldn't speed it up.
The golden spiritual energy repaired his body. However, the constant cycle of breakdown and repair had damaged his body so much that it made him too weak to cultivate.
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So he chose to cultivate his soul.
In the cultivation world, cultivating the soul is one of the hardest things to do.
Many cultivators don't give too much preference to cultivate their soul until they have enough power, status, and connections.
Even after knowing that it is the most powerful trump card for a cultivator in a battle, they avoid cultivating their soul. It's just because, to make progress in soul cultivation, one requires a formidable soul cultivation technique and too many resources. Resources needed to be combined or taken in large quantities frequently. They may also need them according to the requirements of their cultivation technique. No ordinary cultivator could gather them all at once.
This causes cultivators to drop the idea of cultivating their soul.
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Liu Ye was close to reaching the first layer in soul cultivation. To reach the first layer, the energy must be compressed to form a small puddle of soul liquid. The soul energy could be condensed into soul liquid.
A drop of soul liquid. It doesn't sound much. But for ordinary cultivators, that amount might take years if they solely cultivated their soul. And it takes decades to condense a small soul puddle. This would take all of their lifespan to become successful in soul cultivation without getting started in spirit cultivation.
So no person tries to enter into soul cultivation before spirit cultivation unless their body is incapable of spirit cultivation. Due to his circumstances, Liu Ye was walking this path.
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Liu Ye stopped checking his body condition and continued his soul cultivation. It was easy to gather his soul energy, but it would be harder to condense it into soul liquid. With each condensation, he could increase his soul energy in small amounts.
As time passed, Liu Ye's soul energy gathered and condensed into a drop of soul liquid. The fog in the divine soul space became sparse. The soul energy required time to replenish. He could try to reach the first layer soon; there was only a single step to reach it. The soul strengthening fruits he had in his hands would be enough for him to reach the first layer in soul cultivation.
Liu Ye ate the grape sized soul strengthening fruit. The gathering speed of soul energy could be enhanced by this fruit. It can also enhance soul strength slightly. He needs to absorb the energy from it before condensing soul liquid again.
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"Brother Qin," Liu Ye walked towards Qin Jia, who was enjoying a cup of tea.
"Is your meditation complete?" Qin Jia asked as he put down his teacup.
"Yeah." Liu Ye replied. "Brother Qin, please help me absorb the soul strengthening fruit."
Although Liu Ye could absorb the energy from the soul-strengthening fruits by himself, it would take a while. Now, he wanted to quickly condense a drop of soul liquid and enter the first layer of soul cultivation.
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Qin Jia sat down behind Liu Ye in the practice room. He placed his palm on Liu Ye's back and started transferring his spirit energy into him. His spirit energy slowly began moving inside Liu Ye's body, helping him to speed up and control the process of absorbing the effects from the soul-strengthening fruits. Liu Ye quickly entered meditation.
Time passed by. Under the effects of the soul-strengthening fruits, Liu Ye's soul cultivation speed increased. With the "Golden Soul Scripture," the soul energy gathered and slowly started to condense into a droplet.
With his practice and under the effects of the soul-strengthening fruits, the gathered soul energy was getting compressed every second and starting to condense into a drop of soul liquid.
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"Drip!"
A drop of soul liquid condensed as he reached the first layer of soul cultivation…