The Four Protectors outside were taken aback. This was an unexpected change. They quickly went in, to see what was happening inside. When they got in, being powerful experts at the Saint Realm and Half-step Saint Realms, they could see what was happening in the cave.
At the centre of the now empty pool, something was taking form. Its first appearance was energy, and then it condensed into water, all purple. Then, the water took different shapes of weapons, from spear, to sword, to halberd, to blade, and finally to the shape of an arrow. The arrow head was transformed to the head of an hairpin and the arrow shrunk, leaving a final shape of an hairpin.
The six people in the cave watched as everything transpired. Then one of the protectors, Mo Chen, said, "This must be the Manifestation of a Strange"
"It's definitely the Manifestation of a 'Strange'", Chu Bingyue said dogmatically.
The purple glow began to retreat, and the hairpin solidified into a Purple Jade Hairpin, then flew into the hands of Lin Qing'er, which caught her off guard. It didn't surprise her that it was able to fly into people's hands. What caught her off guard was that the 'Strange' chose her out of everyone here.
So, excitedly, she observed it carefully. The Hairpin actually emits an aura that was transmitted to her, and travelled up to the centre of her eyebrows and entered her Sea of Consciousness, strengthening and stabilising it.
She was surprised.This is what happened when she has not refined it yet. What would be the benefit when she refines it?
. To refine an Artefact, Spiritual Treasure, or even a 'Strange', is to make a connection with it through Spiritual Energy or Blood Essence, and make the Artefact/Treasure/'Strange' recognize one's breath.
Once there is a connection between the two, the Owner would be able to wield that Artefact or Treasure efficiently, without wasting its potential.
"Quickly refine it. This is the best time to do so, right here in the cave", Wang Wu advised.
"Yes, Protector Wang", Lin Qing'er replied and took out a Futon, sat cross-legged on it. She chose the difficult method of refining treasures. She controlled her spiritual energy to gather in her heart region, and slammed it slightly at its walls.
In the centre of her heart, 4 bright red drops revolve on the same orbit. These are the four Blood Essences that condense when a mortal becomes a cultivator. For a mortal, blood is produced in the marrow. For a cultivator, less of the blood supplied to the body is produced by the marrows, a third of the blood is produced by the revolving Blood Essences in the Heart's Inner Chamber. The Blood essences would absorb spiritual energy, use the Qi in food, pills and monster meat, to produce new blood cells.
…
When the spiritual energy slams against the wall of her heart, one of Blood Essences shot up through the pulmonary artery into the lungs and forced its way to the throat, and into her mouth. Lin Qing'er's face paled a little, but she continued.
Then she spat the drop of Blood Essence on the Purple Jade Hairpin. The Hairpin quickly absorbed it, and its purple colour became deeper, and the whole 'Strange' object became radiant.
But it only took a few moments, and it dimmed again. Lin Qing'er, whose face was pale, became confused.
"What's happening?", she asked.
Looking up at Ye Chen and the Four Protectors. But none of them knew what was going on, it was the first time for them. Normal conditions for making a 'Strange' one's companion is by putting a drop of Blood Essence, or by pouring Spiritual Energy into it, which is the simple refining method.
Since Blood Essence refining didn't work, then the Spiritual Energy refining will not work too, but not vice versa. Each one of them knew it, so they couldn't say anything.
'Use your Spiritual Sense to make an imprint on it. An Imprint, as I have told you before, is either your name or the name of the 'Strange'. But since we don't know the name of this 'Strange' yet, imprint your name', Su Yaoren saved the day.
By transmitting his voice to Ye Chen and Lin Qing'er's mind of course.
He already felt the Soul Qi emanating from this Hairpin the moment it appeared. But he was going to say everything to these kids. 'Let them experience things themselves. Otherwise, they'll become too dependent and that is not a good thing'.
Lin Qing'er did as she was told. She spread her Spiritual Sense, and made an Imprint of her name on the Hairpin. Immediately after she made an Imprint, the Purple Jade Hairpin buzzed and became illusory, like a spirit body that has no actual physical body, and rushed into the centre of her eyebrows.
It quickly rushed into her Sea of Consciousness, and lightened the whole place up into a purple sea. Then it spunned, slowly at first, then it became faster and faster. Runes flew out from it and started imprinting themselves in Lin Qing'er's Sea of Consciousness, then the Hairpin would become slightly smaller.
The more runes flew out, the faster it spun. And the faster it Spun, the faster it shrunk too. And in a few breaths, it totally vanished. But Lin Qing'er knows that it didn't really disappear. The Hairpin itself is a Soul Enhancing 'Strange' Companion.
But a transformation was happening in her Sea of Consciousness. It was expanding and solidifying. If before it was 850 metres in diameter, then now, it is 1.6 km in diameter, until it stopped expanding when it reached a diameter of 4 kilometres in diameter.. This also affects her Spiritual Sense. If before it can cover 8.5 kilometres, now it has increased to 16, and is still increasing. It didn't stop until her Spiritual Sense could cover a radius of 40 kilometres with her as the centre.
She observed the changes in her. Then she paid attention to the source of the change, the Purple Jade Hairpin, now known as the Soul Guarding Jade Hairpin
The Runes that flew out from it earlier contain information about its name, rules of using it, how to summon it and how to recondense it into a physical entity.
She opened her eyes at this moment in the outside world,
"It worked!", she said excitedly.
The Protectors were surprised. And Bai Yujian couldn't help but ask, "What did you do? How did you form a connection with it?"
"I made an Imprint of my name on it using Spiritual Sense. I didn't expect it to work at first, but it did", she replied. She can't possibly say, "That was what Master Su instructed me to do, right?"
"Oh! Just like making an Imprint on a Storage Ring? Then that 'Strange' would be the rare Soul-type 'Strange', right?", Bai Yujian continued to ask.
"Yes, Protector Bai. And the imprint is the same imprint made on a Storage Ring to bind it on oneself", she replied.
"Oh, you are a lucky one", Bai Yujian replied.
Of course they knew that Soul-type 'Strange' exists, but they are very rare. Even they have not encountered one throughout their days of adventure with the Holy Lord, and before those too.
Lin Qing'er who felt a gaze on her turned around and looked at Ye Chen who has been looking at her.
"What?", she asked.
"That…", he paused, struggled for a while, then said, "Never mind"
Lin Qing'er observed him for a while, and then understood that he was curious about what the Purple Jade Pin was.
A cultivator would generally not share most of their Secret or Advanced Techniques, or reveal their treasures to even their parents or spouse. But, Ye Chen had shared his deepest secrets, Master Su Yaoren, with her. It would not be inappropriate for her to share her own secrets with him too.
In fact, the two rarely kept secrets from each other. So she looked at him and said six simple words via Voice Transmission, 'Don't worry, we'll discuss it later. After we return to the Holy Land'.
That seemed to scratch the surface of his itchy back. Ye Chen knew that Lin Qing'er must have guessed his thoughts, and he couldn't help but wonder if he had gone too far with this one. After all, it wasn't his own opportunity.
Wang Wu and others discovered the voice transmission. But they didn't mind. Although it was possible for them to listen in on what they were saying, they couldn't be bothered with it. Everybody has their own secret, after all.
"So, do you say we continue on our adventure now or take a break tonight?", asked Ye Chen.
"Continue. Of course we have to continue. The more rest we have, the longer it would take to kill that Shadow Monster!"Lin Qing'er almost didn't allow him to finish his words when she replied.
'Ah, there we go again. Is this not an obsession? If she goes on like this, I'm afraid it might turn into her 'Inner Demon', thought Ye Chen.
'You guys have to increase your pace. And Chen'er, you need to break through to the Soul Projection Realm as soon as possible, so that you will be able to fight against that Shadow Monster together', Su Yaoren's voice sounded in their minds again.
Ye Chen and Lin Qing'er looked at each other and nodded heavily.
And so begins another month of adventure.
…
In the Holy Land, on the Holy Son's Peak, inside Jiang Hou's Secret Chamber where he is currently in seclusion, his progress in the Dao Body of Celestials Secret Art was astonishing…