章節 18: Specimen

The spirit of the Void-Soul Spirit-Housing says to me, "[The process may be a little painful, but the results will definitely be worth it… I'll need to take residence in your soul and body and use the spirit herb within to modify your spirit-root and cultivation. You can simply wrap me in your soul.]"

"How could I wrap you in my soul? It's too weak and uncultivated." Accepting something into your soul is an incredibly dangerous process. Intaking a physical object should only be possible at an advanced cultivation stage.

"[Relax! My true nature is a soul fragment meant to augment a complete one. Accepting me can only nourish your soul. Since you can communicate with me, we can synchronize in a way that even your young uncultivated soul can withstand.]"

"…" This statement is so incredible! I can't muster a response.

"[After the baptism from your soul, I can become a satellite ring for your soul and mediate the changes in your body. You will be able to intake spirit herbs to cultivate however you like. You can even take in this Crimson Star Halo Fruit as the base of your spirit-root. This will grant you an abundance of Firey Qi and the ability to continue cultivating it in the future.]"

"…"

"[I'll transmit the technique to absorb me. Simply touch my physical form with your palm.]"

It's so tempting... but isn't this too good to be true? Not only will accepting a foreign entity into my body create risks, but it will also prove hard to convince Granduncle Byron. Why should he give me this herb the family painstakingly brought back from Alphonso's Plain?

I need more information.

"You say you will be able to give me a spirit-root and cultivation? What do you get out of this?"

"[It will help restore my strength. In the future, as you get stronger so will I. Without you, I can only wait for another host, and I may eventually dissipate.]"

"You say I will gain a cultivation base… Is it an instant inheritance of cultivation strength?

"[Yes, you should immediately gain strength, but it will take some time for you to acclimate to it."]

"What level would my cultivation reach?"

"[Considering the Crimson Star Halo Fruit's remaining Qi… It should balance out at the mid warrior realm— around the precipitation stage. (1)]"

I suck in an abrupt breath. I'll skip the entire mortal realm and the beginning stages of the warrior realm? Such a jump is unheard of. I'd be the most powerful ten-year-old in the country. With this, I should be able to convince Granduncle Byron that giving me this artifact and herb is worth the cost. Besides who else could make use of it?

The only problem is I must accept this artifact's spirit into my soul. If it has malicious intentions it could severely injure me and steal my body… However, my soul has the characteristics of the proud phoenix and I have strong mental endurance. Maybe I could fight against the spirit if it tries a takeover. Also, who knows if I will really die for good? Haven't I died a few times already?

These are all the lies I tell myself.

In the end, it's a risk, but it's a risk I'm willing to take. Until now, I had no real hope of ever being able to cultivate. Without a cultivation base, how could I ever be anything but helpless— a prisoner to one party then the next?

"Alright, send me the method." I place my hand on the warm, membranous surface of the artifact.

Zong!

I become dizzy as information is implanted directly into my head. I don't understand all of it, but I clarify it by conversing with the spirit as I go. Following the instructions, I take the artifact from the table. I sit cross-legged on the floor with it in my lap, my palms flat on its surface.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing with that?" A guard in studded leather yells at me stomping forward to grab the artifact.

"Patience!" I shout. "I'm simply searching for the technique to open it for appraisal. I can't do it properly while it's on the table. Stay and observe if you must."

[False.] The truthstone hidden in my pocket is no doubt glowing scarlet but the guards can't see it.

I chant the mnemonics in my head and move my body according to the method. Soon I feel an enjoyable warm sensation in my body as I intake the Void-Soul Spirit-Housing. The feeling of my soul stirring for the first time since reincarnation fills this body. It's being nourished by the artifact. A few breaths later, a searing pain grows in my chest and head. Tempered by my time with the slave collar it does not show on my face but sweat forms on my back and neck.

The guard watches me sit for the time it takes an incense stick to burn. (2)

"If you don't know what you're doing, just put the item back," says the guard in contempt.

"..." I'm too busy concentrating to reply.

"Hey!" the guard stomps his foot and shouts at me. He reaches forward for my shoulder.

Now that he is close I whisper forcefully between my clenched teeth, "Don't... break... my... concentration... it's a... complicated... procedure."

The guard withdraws his hand snorting impatiently, "Hurry it up then!"

An incense stick worth of time later, the herb in the artifact turns into light and I swallow it.

"You! What did you do?"

The artifact shatters into dust and the guard rushes to strike me.

"Wait, wait I was successful!" I rotate my newfound cultivation base hoping to use some Qi to defend against the incoming blow.

Bang! The guard's blow bounces off my raised hand harmlessly.

Yes! It's everything the spirit promised.

"{Of course, it is.}" says the spirit of the Void Soul Spirt Housing directly into my soul.

Could it be, it can read my mind? …The spirit conveniently forgot to mention this.

After seeing his blow was ineffective the guard's eyes widen in surprise. "I need backup!"

Multiple guards charge towards me.

Vroom! The aura of a rotating cultivation base spreads out into the room.

Thud! Bang! Clatter! Crash!

Everyone falls to the ground suppressed— including me. It's not my cultivation doing the suppression.

My vision goes dark.

* * * * *

"Ouch, where am I?" Everything is black, and my head, hands, and feet are restrained. I'm in a sitting position on a hard chair. I can't access my new cultivation. Was I betrayed?

"Oh, you're awake? What an interesting specimen you are," says a deep voice with an effeminate tone from somewhere in front of me.

The blindfold on my face is ripped off. A pale-faced, bespectacled man places the blindfold onto a stone counter. Half his head is shaved. The unshaved, blonde hair is straight, long, and hanging neatly toward the unshaved side. He has a short beard surrounding his bright-red, lipstick-covered lips.

"{Was it a mistake to bond with you? What sort of enemies do you have? Why did someone so powerful kidnap you and suppress your cultivation?}" says a voice in my head.

I look for the owner of the voice in vain. No one besides the lipstick-wearing man is present between the stone counters cluttered with glass apparatuses and flasks of liquid.

"Who's there?"

"{It's me talking to you in your mind, the Void-Soul Spirit-Housing. How did you get us into this situation?}"

The spirit didn't do this to me after all…

"{I don't know.}" I try to communicate with my mind. The spirit grumbles in response.

The strange man stops fiddling with the contents of the counter and asks, "Isn't it impolite to introduce yourself before asking for the names of others?"

"I'm Reinhold."

The bespectacled man fiddles with his hair using his long, painted nails. He picks up a jade slip with his free hand as he chuckles. "Interesting… Are you blind?"

"What? I'm not blind... Now that I've told you my name I hope you'll tell me yours."

"Oh, how many fingers am I holding up?" He holds up his ring-covered, tattooed fingers.

"Three."

"Interesting. Are other senses intact?"

"…" I stare at the crazy man.

"How did you come to this body?" The man swirls a flask of green-colored liquid while one hand continues to hold the jade slip.

Is he recording my responses with that jade slip?

"You won't answer my questions. Why should I answer yours?"

"Oh, you don't realize, do you? You're the prisoner here…" The man steps forward continuing to swirl the green liquid flask. "I'm afraid you'll need to drink this."

Pain wracks my body from the collar. I convulse, my limbs are beyond my control due to the electrical shock and restraints from the chair. The man uses a funnel to force the green liquid down my throat. The liquid smells acrid and burns my insides.

"There now, won't you tell me how you came to possess this body?"

"Never!"

* * * * *

(1) Each cultivation realm has 3 stages. Warrior Realm Precipitation Stage is the second stage of the second realm. See Appendix A in the auxiliary volume 0 for more information about cultivation ranks.

(2) An incense stick of time is about 15 minutes.