Chapter 254: Beyond
by~~~
Liu Jin is floating.
At least, that is how he is choosing to interpret his current state. For him to actually be floating would require space to exist around him and for him to exist within that space. A vertical. A horizontal. All those things are necessary for him to do any sort of floating, and all those things are foreign to him right now. Liu Jin is not sure if he is truly anywhere.
Liu Jin is not sure if he even Is.
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…
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Is he dead?
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…
His mind hesitates to answer the question, but that only proves how obvious the answer is. The Fleshcrafter killed him. That cannot be denied. The memory burns far too brightly to be a product of his imagination. Against a foe like him, that was the only possible outcome.
However, if he is dead, why is he still forming thoughts?
Liu Jin would like to say his ability to think is proof of his survival, but no one has ever proven death is an impediment to thought. He could easily be dead and thinking. Perhaps this is all there is to death.
Thinking. Nothingness. Waiting.
Waiting for what?
Something.
Anything.
…
…
…
No. No! No!
That is all far too grim. Even for him. This cannot be all there is, and he cannot possibly be dead! If he dies, the Storm Dragon will almost certainly restore the Grand Storm. His allies will be left without a path to victory. That cannot happen. He needs to get up before people start getting the wrong idea! After all, it’s already been…
How much time has passed?
Surely, it has only been a few minutes… Right?
Certainly not hours.
…Days?
Years?
…
…
…
No.
He is not dead. None of the things he is worried about have happened because he is not dead!
He is alive.
That is the assumption he must part from. No, not an assumption. A fact! It has to be a fact, or else this is all pointless. He is not dead. He is just very nearly dead. If he cannot feel his body, that just means he is existing as a soul.
Usually, he’d need to be in the Earth Realm to even consider something like that being possible, but the battle against the Fleshcrafter forced him to detach himself from his body to withstand the pain. When the Fleshcrafter killed his body, Liu Jin’s soul must have immediately withdrawn, sparing him from suffering the same fate.
That must be what happened because the alternative simply cannot be contemplated.
Liu Jin breathes.
It is not a real breath, of course. Souls do not really breathe, but Liu Jin decides he can breathe, so he does.
He thinks. He exists. He lives.
Thus, it should be possible for him to go inside his soul. He has done it before. Not having a body should only make the process easier by depriving him of all sensory distractions from the material world. The idea that he could fail cannot be contemplated because it would entail many things that cannot be thought of. He just needs to close his eyes and open them. That is all.
Liu Jin takes a deep breath and closes his eyes.
He opens them to a boiling sea.
Bubbles of air rise by the thousands, and just as many snakes swim through the boiling waters, every single one writhing in pain, desperately searching for an exit that does not exist.
Liu Jin is fine.
It is his soul, after all. No matter how strongly the sea boils, Liu Jin can only feel what he wants to feel. More importantly, Liu Jin has a body once more. It might merely be a projection within his soul, but arms are arms, legs are legs, and, on this one occasion, a breath full of boiling water is just as sweet as one full of fresh air.
Liu Jin allows himself a moment to enjoy it.
Just one.
The briefest of instants.
It passes, and the joy in his face is replaced by resolute purpose. That his soul is in such an obviously chaotic state is a clear sign that things are not well. Most likely, it is a result of his own weakness. He is not a cultivator in the Heaven Realm, so he cannot just regenerate his body from nothing. His soul is not mature enough to sustain itself without a vessel, leading to this rapid deterioration. If he wants to survive, he needs to mend what the Fleshcrafter broke.
Unfortunately, Liu Jin cannot sense his physical body. It seems his soul has detached itself from it to a very extreme state.
However, is the separation truly complete?
Liu Jin considers the question carefully and picks the answer that is most convenient for him. If he still has a sense of self left, it is because his soul is not completely detached from his body. Something must be holding the two together.
Liu Jin starts swimming.
The first time Liu Jin dived into his soul, there was a giant snake to guide him, most likely a product of Nine-Headed Snake God’s Inheritance. That is not the case now because all the snakes are boiling. Still, Liu Jin is reasonably sure he can find his way without a guide this time.
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It is, after all, his soul.
As Liu Jin heads toward the depths, the sea becomes darker, but not due to any lack of light. It is poison that gives the waters their darker tint. The deeper Liu Jin goes, the worse it becomes, a sure sign he’s heading in the right direction.
At the very bottom, buried deep into the seafloor, is an ornate sword.
It was most likely placed there by Nine-Headed Snake God, and it is the most salient example that there is more to his Inheritance than Liu Jin initially assumed.
Right now, it is probably the only thing keeping his body and soul together.
When he first discovered it, Liu Jin assumed the sword’s energy merely spread randomly through the sea of his soul. However, the events in the Dead Plains, the transformation he underwent there, forced him to rethink those assumptions.
Most likely, the sword isn’t just influencing his soul. It has been influencing his body to make it better suited to Nine-Headed Snake God’s Veins. Indeed, as Liu Jin forces his whole focus on the weapon, he finds a small thread of energy plunging downwards.
Liu Jin follows it.
He follows it beyond sight. Beyond his own senses. Beyond everything and anything, guided by nothing more than the need for there to be something at the end of this abyss.
He finds death.
It feels like touching ice, but he knows it is his flesh. The moment he dips some of himself into it, he almost loses himself. His brain is too damaged to form thoughts. His nerves cannot properly carry sensory information. His body…
It’s just a lump of flesh…
He can fix it, Liu Jin immediately tells himself. He can definitely fix it. His body can regenerate, and his soul contains the imprint of his body. Besides, he is a doctor. The healing arts are his specialty.
However, will that be enough?
If you heal all the damage done to a dead body and put a soul inside it, does that make it alive? Or is it nothing more than a corpse with extra steps?
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