Harry was surprised to see that his pure body cultivation was at level 6.
"Harry, there is a problem," Krish informed nervously.
"What happened?"
"Umm... see, your Qi cultivation is higher than your pure body cultivation, which is why you're feeling strain on your body. Currently, the gap isn't significant, so you can handle it, but in the future, it could become a big problem," Krish said in a very low voice.
"There should be a solution. How do others handle it?" Harry asked, not taking it too seriously.
"That's the main problem. For others, it is like a steel pot that can only be filled with Qi equivalent to their body's capacity. If they want to increase their Qi level, they have to increase the size of their 'pot,' meaning their body cultivation.
But in your case, the system is leveling you up without regard for whether you have a bigger pot. So, currently, you're handling more Qi than your body is eligible for."
Harry's was feeling different sensation in different part of his body upon hearing his explanation.
Seeing his reaction, Krish tried to lighten the mood. "But don't be disheartened. There could be a big silver lining in all of this.
You see, if the difference between your Qi cultivation and body cultivation isn't too big, you could help your pure body cultivation rise with the help of your Qi cultivation, which is impossible for others because they have to separately increase their body level before they can increase their Qi cultivation."
Harry understood everything.
He was mostly worried because that he couldn't control the system, and if it gave him another quest causing him to level up exponentially without getting time to balance his Qi and body cultivation, he was sure his life would end miserably.
"I think I made a huge mistake basing this system on equal exchange. It's the downside it took for your fast Qi level-up.
But now I remember a quote: 'In every setback, there is a setup for a comeback.'" With that, Krish started laughing nervously, realizing he had said something he shouldn't have.
Ignoring Krish's blabbering, Harry sat down and started cultivating his pure body to align it with his Qi cultivation level, and it was going smoothly.
He felt his body automatically adjusting to the Qi level. It felt like excessive Qi was putting pressure on the walls of the pot, and slowly the pot was expanding so it could store all the Qi without any strain.
After cultivating for the next ten days, he saw that his pure body level had increased.
[Qi cultivation: Foundation Building Level 8
Pure body cultivation: Foundation Building Level 8
Soul cultivation: Foundation Building Level 1]
He could no longer feel any strain in his body, but now he started feeling a little hungry. He could no longer wait in hope that someone would come to rescue him, so he saw his only option was to face that dead man.
Harry slowly approached the body. Walking a little ahead, he stood in front of the dead man's skeleton, but nothing happened.
There weren't many things on the dead skeleton; he could only see a sword on its back and a ring on the skeleton's finger.
He first grabbed the sword and took it out, but the skeleton's clothes turned to dust, revealing the whole skeleton, yet he didn't notice anything strange.
Inspecting the sword yielded no information.
"Hey man, please forgive me. Now that you are dead, it's better that your things help me. I promise to bury you in peace," Harry said to the skeleton, approaching the ring and taking it out.
The second he touched the ring, he heard an menacing voice, "Hahaha... finally... finally, I found a soul body. Now I can return. After all those years, I am back," a voice echoed through the cave.
Harry saw a white fog emerging from the ring.
"Wait... wait... who are you?" Harry asked, throwing the ring on the ground.
"I am the 3rd leader of the Soul Clan. You are very lucky that I will use your body to resurrect myself. Although you are quite weak," the person made from white fog said in an arrogant voice.
The white fog started approaching Harry. He could feel immense pressure on his soul.
"What do you mean by resurrect?" Harry asked, backing away.
"I will take over your body. No one with a soul body has come here in the last thousands of years, so I was waiting for the only chance, and here you are, hahaha..." the person started laughing crazily.
"Why didn't you choose any of them?" Harry said, pointing to the pile of skeletons and continuing to back away.
"They didn't have soul bodies, but their souls helped me keep my will awake," the person said and entered Harry's body.
But suddenly, the tone changed from arrogant to surprised.
"Hahaha... what? How?" The person stopped laughing after entering Harry's body. "Oh no... why do you have two souls, and that second soul is so strong? How is it possible? I was the most powerful soul cultivator. How could he be more powerful than me?" the person screamed.
Harry felt something inside him. He tried to focus and suddenly his consciousness came to a large black sea. He was unable to see the end of this vast sea, and the water was pitch black.
He saw the self-proclaimed soul clan leader shaking, and another person's hand was on the soul clan leader. Then the self-proclaimed leader turned into a white orb. Harry could feel that the white orb didn't have any consciousness; it was pure energy.
"Who are you?" Harry asked, looking at the giant soul. He was sure this man wasn't there to hurt him because if he wanted to, he could have already taken his body.
"I am Krish, but I lied about being an AI. I made this legendary system," the person said, his voice shaky from exhaustion.
"Why is your soul inside me?" Harry asked.
"I don't have much time, so I'll be brief. I was a great scientist of the 'Sky' race. Our race lost the ability to reproduce, and with time, we became extinct. I was one of the last survivors. I had no reason to live anymore, so I used all remaining resources to make this system. But for some unknown reason, my soul got stuck in it. My soul has weakened, and I used my last power to suppress this guy.
Now I don't have much time, but I can use this soul to regain my consciousness. However, it will take time."
Before Harry could say anything, the man changed into a similar orb, but Harry could feel a slight consciousness in it. Then it started drawing power from white orb. It was so slow that Harry didn't know how long it would take.