Chapter 152: Shed

~~~

Fan Bingbing helps them find a room devoid of traps, if not completely devoid of Spirit Beasts. Thankfully, none prove too strong for their combined efforts. It takes them only minutes to clear up the room and surrounding hallways. After that, Liu Jin has the other disciples stand guard outside the doors. Some use the opportunity to harvest the Spirit Beasts’ corpses in the hallways.

Liu Jin sits in the now empty room and meditates.

Heaven and Earth.

Spirit and Matter.

Soul and Body.

He is Liu Jin. He has a soul and a body, and he is a soul and a body. Both things are simultaneously true. Yet, it is also more complex than that. As he grows closer to Eternity, his body becomes more than matter, and his soul becomes more than spirit. Despite that, his body is never more than matter, and his soul is never more than spirit.

Breathe.

When a child is born, he must familiarize himself with his body. One does not need to wonder how long their arm is before reaching for something. Familiarity has already embedded that knowledge into their mind.

The soul, Liu Jin has learned, works similarly.

When he entered the Nascent Realm, he became aware of the shape of his soul. He could feel it just beneath his skin, existing as a part of him yet resisting all his attempts to impose his will over it. It took months of training to gain the thinnest sliver of control. Only entering the Spirit Realm changed that, allowing Liu Jin to fully interact with his soul.

That does not mean Liu Jin understands it.

Liu Jin knows his soul occupies the same space as his body, existing in a plane that is spiritual but at the same time not. Trying to explain it beyond that, however, is the sort of thing that gives him a headache. Even Old Jiang’s notes and teachings instructed him not to think too deeply about it. At his current stage of development, it matters not whether he can explain his soul.

Understanding will come later. It must come later for action will be the instrument of its birth.

Breathe.

His soul has a shape, and it has a balance. It can be moved, and it can remain still. It can even be manipulated by others to let them hide swords and books inside it.

Breathe.

The soul is not like the body. The loss of a finger is far easier to bear than the loss of a leg, but the soul is one. All of it. Whether the soul is shaped like a finger or a head matters little. It is all his soul.

Breathe.

One finger. That is all that is necessary. One to become two. No more. No less. Liu Jin wills the part of his soul occupying his finger further and further away, and—Ithurts!Ithurts!Ithurts! Ithurts!Ithurts!Ithurts! Hurts!Hurts!Hurts!Hurts!Hurts!Hurts!

Shed!

One becomes two. Liu Jin looks at himself only to see himself looking back. He is small and big. He burns and shivers. It is dizzying and maddening. The He that was Him is frail. Ephemeral.

Mortal.

The soul fragment snaps back into place.

Two become one, and the worst of the pain fades away, leaving Liu Jin laid out on the floor, gasping and with tears in his eyes. It is a small mercy the locked doors kept the other disciples from seeing him in this state.

It is hardly the sort of thing that inspires confidence.

“…This type of technique is something you will only be capable of once you reach the Earth Realm…”

“I am sorry for ignoring your advice, Elder Brother,” Liu Jin says in a weak voice. “I do not have the luxury to wait, so I must get ahead of myself.”

He has cleared the first condition for the… Well, it couldn’t properly be called a plan until now. Until now, it was all merely an idea. Liu Jin saw options. He saw possibilities. However, despite the confidence with which he talked to the others, he lacked a way to bring them into a coherent whole.

That is no longer the case.

Liu Jin rubs his hand as he rises from the floor. Splitting his soul was always something he was going to learn. His first attempt was… unideal, but that is fine. He never expected to get it right on the first try. He understands the process better now. That is what truly matters. All he needs to do is refine it.

Shed.

~~~

Fan Bingbing hums as Qing Jin’s screams stop. A part of her is happy he is no longer in pain. Another wishes he could have kept screaming for a few more minutes. The sound was greatly aiding her in mapping out their surroundings. It is doubtful they will use this area of the temple later on since they have already found a far better one, but it never hurts to have options.

“He is mad, isn’t he? He has to be!”

A weak and doubtful voice seeks desperate approval. Fan Bingbing does not even turn around to face Wong before answering.

“You are in the Spirit Realm now,” she says. Her fingers lightly tap at the walls. Each note lightly echoes down the hallway, refining the picture in her mind.

“I… yes?”

Surprise and confusion.

As expected, he does not get it. A delicate frown appears on Fan Bingbing’s face. It is a sad truth, but most people are far too stupid to have a proper conversation with.

“You were in the Nascent Realm when we entered the Dead Plains,” she clarifies for him and for the others who are pretending not to hear anything. Certainly, Wong may have been in the Ninth Level of the Nascent Realm, but that is still the Nascent Realm. “You are in the First Level of the Spirit Realm now, and you will be in the Second soon enough. Even I near the Sixth. All of us are on the verge of advancement.”

It is not just because the Eye is a Qi-rich environment. Eating the flesh of powerful Spirit Beasts like the All-Devouring Worm. Facing challenges. Overcoming adversity.

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“The Dead Plains have fed us well,” she continues. “Those who are weak have grown much. Those who are strong have grown little.”

She waits for a moment until comprehension spreads to the others. Still, she feels she must spell it out for them, regardless.

“Our situation is not hopeless.”

Of course, even though she says that, their opponent is still someone in the Earth Realm. The difference between them is more than one realm.

Behind the locked doors, Brother Qing’s screams begin anew.

~~~

A snake slithers out of the temple.

Qu Rou does not detect this right away. Despite what many of his brethren believe, it is not unparalleled eyesight that helps his arrows hit their mark. Certainly, his eyes have been enhanced by all manner of techniques and elixirs. He can see every detail of a fly’s body from a hundred yards away. More if he pushes himself.

However, Qi is always more important.

Qi is what tells Qu Rou a creature is leaving the temple. Qi is what tells him this creature is not a Spirit Beast, and Qi is what defines the creature’s shape for him.

Qu Rou watches with sunken eyes as the snake slithers further away from the temple, all while he does not move a single muscle. Only the feathers in his hair rustle in the wind. Qu Rou’s bow is already on his hand; it has been for days. However, he refrains from firing. It is not mercy but curiosity that stays his hand.

The snake moves slowly but tirelessly, never once faltering. Qu Rou’s sunken eyes narrow with quiet intensity. One of his thin, dark eyebrows rises ever so slightly. The more he senses it, the surer Qu Rou becomes of something.

The snake is a soul fragment.