Peak of the Soul Realm

Elsewhere, Shui opened his eyes and looked at his body. There were no visible changes, but he could feel that his overall strength had improved. Thanks to the environment and the resources that Alia shared with him, Shui had reached the peak of the Soul Realm. This was normally when energy system cultivators would seek materials to use as the base of their phantom palace, but Shui wanted to walk the ancient path, to use the body as the phantom palace.

With the modern energy cultivation path practiced in the Alterna Kingdom, the body, soul and energy were developed separately before being fused together, but in ancient energy cultivation, the vessel was always the core of one's cultivation. The ancient energy cultivation method allowed for a stronger foundation, but made some degree of body cultivation essential and delayed the speed of progression. Shui's body was more than strong enough and he didn't see a need to rush his cultivation, so he preferred to walk this path. However, he was still lacking one requirement for practicing the ancient path, the perfect limit of the Soul Realm - Soul Perfection.

The method of attaining Soul Perfection was much simpler compared to Mortal Perfection. He just needed to control every part of his body using his soul. Other cultivators could manipulate the insides of their bodies once they reached the peak of the Soul Realm, but it was a very delicate matter. From a technical standpoint, it was outrageously difficult since he would need to maintain his own heartbeat and involuntary muscle contractions, but Shui thought this was more straightforward than the epiphany required for Mortal Perfection. Considering how powerful his soul was, it should have been a simple task, but his quasi-divine body took more effort to control, so he would need to slowly make adjustments.

When Shui checked on Alia, he saw that she was still absorbing fire-attribute treasures, so he observed her and studied the law of fire. Alia wasn't using any flashy or sophisticated techniques, but as she was a powerful fire spirit, there was much he could learn from her just by seeing how she absorbed the fire element. 

Time passed and eventually Alia stopped absorbing fire-attribute treasures. There were still some left, but they were too weak to provide her with much benefit. Curious as to the progress of her current partner, Alia looked at Shui. The area around him was visibly hot, but there was still some distance before he touched on the natural law of fire. 

"Passable, I suppose."

Since he was still meditating, Alia took a nap while she waited for him to exit this state, so when Shui woke up, he noticed Alia sleeping above him. 

"Alia?"

"Mmm..."

Alia had intended on taking a short nap, but once she started, she didn't want to be interrupted. With a few waves of her hand, she opened a portal, threw Shui into it, and then followed him. Once they had both returned to the desert isle of the Fae Playground, Alia collected her treasury artifact, which appeared in the form of a bronze crystal the size of a pebble, and flew into Shui's pocket with it. When Shui checked his pocket, he could only see the crystal, so he guessed that she went back inside the artifact. 

It was a good thing that he didn't have to be as careful to avoid waking her up, but she left him with a major issue, so it was hard to appreciate it. As he looked around, he found several types of landforms and water bodies, but all of them were covered in spirit-made natural disasters.

"Do I really have to go through this again?"

One long nap later, Alia calmed the spirits down and received permission to leave their territory with a promise to return to play again one day. Shui didn't like how she implied he would have to uphold that promise, but he was still happy to be free. 

After walking through a cave, Shui and Alia appeared at the edge of a dense forest. Shui recalled that there was a large forest near the eastern border of the Free Spirit Region, so he assumed that was their location, but he received a concerned message before he could confirm.

'Master, where are you?'

He hadn't expected it, but it was obvious whose voice this was.

'Lily.'

'Master! Are you okay?! Do you need any help? Where are you? Are you coming back? How are you feeling?'

'Calm down, Lily. I'm doing fine. I was just stuck inside a troublesome area so I couldn't hear you before.'

He wasn't sure since this was his first experience, but Shui guessed that the Fae Playground not only hindered spiritual sense but all forms of intent communication. He had still felt his bond with Lily and Cin while inside the Fae Playground, but even if he had tried to speak to them, they probably wouldn't have received his message.

'I see. That's good to hear. I could feel that you weren't in danger, but when I heard the news that you went missing, I couldn't help but worry. I'm sorry, I should have been more composed.'

'I won't say anything about whether you made a mistake; you're more clear on that than I would be. Instead, let me thank you for your concern.'

'It's only natural that I would worry about your safety.'

'Even so, I feel grateful. Moving on, you said you heard news that I was missing. Did that information come from Silver City?'

'That's right. Allow me to explain what has happened in your absence.'

After Lily gave her report, Shui nodded with furrowed brows.

'So it can't be avoided after all.'

'Master, do you know the identity of this incoming disaster?'

'I believe so. I'm surprised that its appearance was divined, but at least that means less people will be hurt. You said Kate is still missing, correct?'

'Correct, Master. Shall I search for her?'

'Hmm, no. She should be fine.'

'Very well.'

Given the rumours that had come up in Silver City before the news of disaster, Kate had likely shared the information he told her about Mater and the Chun clan. Shui took a quick look at her string of fate to be sure, and she was alive at the very least, so he wasn't too worried about her.

'I'll try to be back soon, but I'm a couple regions away, so it'll take a while. Tell everyone that I'm doing fine and keep me updated.'

'Yes, Master. I look forward to seeing you again.'

Once he was done talking with Lily, Shui also reached out to Cin. Cin had noticed that Shui couldn't be contacted, but he hadn't been worried about him. Cin didn't have any big news to share, but apparently, he and some other evolved beasts were getting a bad feeling from the direction of Silver City. Shui told him what he knew about the incoming disaster and asked Cin to contact him in case something happened.

With that out of the way, Shui recalled a map of the kingdom to plan his route. He was at the eastern edge of the Free Spirit Region, which was close to the southwestern border of the Alterna Kingdom. The shortest route back to the Five Cities region would require that he pass through three other regions. One of these regions interested him, but he didn't think it would be okay for him to take a detour and linger given the impending crisis of Silver City.

"I'll have to explore at a later date."

Once he was sure of his route, Shui started the journey.