Focused Heaven Physique

Suddenly, there was a huge flow of energy surrounding Kate and her awareness became vague. She was still awake, but she couldn't focus her mind, while her body was encased by a floaty feeling.

Kate appeared to be making a sudden breakthrough into the Soul Realm. Noticing the state she was in, Shui hastily held her head with his hands and sent his astral will towards her soul. Normally, the breakthrough wouldn't be this spontaneous but since Kate had just overcome her mental barrier and had accumulated enough, her instincts as a cultivator forcefully activated the process. In order for this breakthrough to be a success, Kate needed to strengthen the link between her soul and her body by finding her soul and dragging it back into her body. This was normally something that an elder in the Soul Realm would help with, but even if Kate could do it by herself that would only be if she was in perfect condition.

The longer Kate stayed in the vague state of being in her body and yet not, the more danger she would be in. Now that she was this far into her breakthrough, he had to be the one to guide her to finish it. Luckily with his nebula two-star soul, Shui easily detected Kate's soul and shared his astral will with her so she could sense her body more easily. He had enough mental energy to keep going like this for two hours, but Kate managed to complete the last steps in twenty minutes.

Now that the link between her soul and her body was strong enough, Kate gained spiritual sense and was now in the Soul Realm. At this time, Kate had her eyes closed to sense the differences in her body. On the other hand, Shui was amazed by the scene outside the house. The grass and flowers which were nearby grew at a monstrous rate as Kate's new Soul Realm aura spread out. Before it got too out of hand, Shui quickly suppressed this aura and dragged it back to Kate's body. As he waited for her aura to settle down, he rapidly examined it and determined the cause for the strange appearance of the flourishing flora. After narrowing down the options, he thought of an unbelievable idea.

'Could she really have it? That physique said to be comparable to innate divine bodies.'

Shui waited for Kate's aura to settle down and when he saw the shade of blue that appeared in her light brown eyes, he knew for sure.

'The Focused Heaven Physique!'

There were two types of special physiques that living creatures could have. Innate body physiques and special aptitude physiques. Unlike an innate body physique like Rune's stone saint body which made it easier for him to do body cultivation within the same realm as his physique, special aptitude physiques had various effects. Some gave a body invulnerable to poisons, others made it easier for them to communicate with evolved beasts and ones like Kate's improved talent.

Kate's Focused Heaven Physique was comparable to innate divine bodies due to how much easier it made anything. As long she stuck to one path, she would improve greatly in it. This wasn't just limited to cultivation. Even if Kate wanted to become a mortal scholar she would still make a name for herself as the greatest one to have ever existed.

There was also a Myriad Heaven Physique that made one multi-talented, but they had to triple cultivate and maintain progress in each system. At the same level someone with the Myriad Heaven Physique would obviously be stronger than someone with the Focused Heaven Physique, but since Kate's physique was concentrated on one path, unless she was much younger than someone with a Myriad Heaven Physique she would likely always be at a higher level than them.

As he sensed Soul Realm auras quickly approaching, Shui added a light suppression to Kate's aura so that the hint of divine aura she had didn't leak.

'I'll have to teach her the aura-restraining art later.'

With her physique, it wouldn't be strange for even Kings to want her, either as a disciple or for, rather malicious practices. For this reason, Shui knew he had to take care of her.

'I tell her not to protect me and now I have to protect her. The irony.'

After suppressing her aura, Shui and Kate went outside the house to welcome the incoming people.

"Kate, are you okay?!"

"Dad!"

Kate happily jumped into the arms of her father. Bartos, Lilia, along with three elders in the late Soul Realm were here. They were likely surprised by the Soul Realm aura that they felt and rushed here. Now that they saw her again, even Lilia knew that Kate was different. The anxiety she recently had was gone and she felt more free-spirited than before, as if all her worries had disappeared. However, this wasn't what the rest of the group focused on.

"She broke through!?"

When one of the three elders shouted this, Bartos and Lilia also realized that Kate had advanced. They looked at her in bewilderment and before they could ask, Kate said the answer.

"Yep. I'm in the Soul Realm now!"

Bartos was used to surprises from Shui by now, but Kate gave him quite a big one now. Even if she wasn't burdened by worries, he didn't expect her to breakthrough anytime soon. And yet, despite leaving her in a depressed state a few hours ago, she now had a clear mind and was in the Soul Realm at the age of nine. This was something that was unprecedented in the Heaven clan's history.

This discovery made the oldest elder with a beard of white comment with deep-rooted emotion.

"Finally. We can have a direct disciple come from this clan again."

Within sects, from lowest to highest the disciples were ranked, outer, inner, core and direct. Though one couldn't enter the sect as a direct disciple, with Kate's talent it would only be a matter of time before she was picked by one of the prominent elders as a direct disciple.

"Wait, why are you talking as if we're gonna send her this time?"

Bartos quickly spoke his stance as he pushed Kate behind him. Based on their faces it was obvious that the elders were displeased by Bartos, but this wasn't enough to make him back down. However,

"It's okay Dad."

Kate tapped his back and stated her opinion.

"I want to go."

When he helped her with her Soul Realm breakthrough, Kate realized that he was still much more capable than her. Even if she couldn't be strong enough to act like a guardian to Shui, she had to at least get strong enough to be of help. And she knew that if she stayed in the clan then that would never happen. It was a decision that no mortal child, no, even most children who cultivated would be hard-pressed to say they could do it without hesitation, but she did it. She made the decision to leave the nest of her own volition.

"Are, you sure?" Bartos hesitantly asked.

Just like Bartos, Lilia was also anxiously looking at Kate and waiting for her response. While they knew that she would leave one day, neither of them thought that day would come so soon.

Though she already had her answer, before responding Kate looked back at Shui. Even now, his expression was unruffled as if he could read her thought process ahead of time. Yes, she also wanted to stay here longer, but if she did that then the gap between them would only widen.

"Yes. I'm sure."