Chapter 101

Author's Note: Hello everyone. Sad to announce this but I'm going back to school soon and returning to campus. Without a doubt, I know I will be a lot more busy and as such, I plan to lower the release schedule to 2 chapters per week for the month of September. Depending on how school goes, I will see whether I can go back to 3 chapters after September ends.

Anyways, hope you enjoy the chapter :3

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Silently, a week passed since the events in the Uninhabited Region. Practically not living in the sect anymore, Qian Yu only came back to the sect to attend the meetings with the elders and spend time with Zhao Xieren.

Other than that, Qian Yu stayed with Zhen Yue and Sun Hong while cultivating every night with Sun Hong. Of course, their sessions weren't extremely intensive as Qian Yu could never fully refine all the yin qi Sun Hong released. After a week however, Qian Yu had finally reached the 9th stage of qi gathering.

Currently, Qian Yu was sitting on the floor of the inn. Surrounding him, the three girls and Tian Xinyi were quietly watching him.

"Alright, let's get started," Qian Yu said. His mastery had easily surpassed the required proficiency level and he could instantly start his ascension to soul foundation.

"Good luck master!" "You got this!" Zhen Yue and Zhao Xieren cheered from the side.

"Calm down first. Close your eyes and take deep breaths," Sun Hong said quietly and slowly.

Qian Yu listened to her mellow voice as he took deep breaths and closed his eyes.

"Your soul world is hidden "behind" your consciousness, towards your unconsciousness," Sun Hong continued.

Qian Yu focused on his consciousness, easily finding the scriptures of Annihilating Lightning and the Immortal Soul.

"Then, you must clear your mind and reach a state similar to a blank slate. Slowly, you will drift further away from your consciousness and towards your soul world..." Sun Hong's voice was like a soothing guide.

"Blank-slate, blank-slate, blank-slate," Qian Yu repeated as he focused on clearing his mind. Slowly he didn't think of those words anymore as his mind was completely blank.

'Where am I?' A fleeting thought appeared in Qian Yu's muddleheaded mind.

Yet he didn't bother to answer that as Qian Yu's soul slowly floated through his consciousness in an unconscious dreamlike state. It was an endless journey as he passed by the random floating bits of knowledge, facts, and memories in his consciousness.

Then, there was nothing, he had arrived at a new area. It was an endless pitch blackness unlike the consciousness filled with random stuff.

Still, Qian Yu traveled through the darkness wandering aimlessly around. Throughout the darkness though, a few sparks of lightning would be occasionally seen in every hour or so in a specific part and unknowingly he traveled towards it.

Yet as it continued, Qian Yu slowly escaped from his dreamlike state, gaining more and more consciousness. Eventually, Qian Yu regained his thinking ability.

"Where am I? What is this empty darkness?" Qian Yu thought as he looked around, still not fully awake.

"Ah, yes. I'm in the middle of ascending," Qian Yu's mind cleared up. However, he was still clueless on what to do as he looked around seeing nothing.

*Clap* He clapped his hands as a small sound rang out. He could feel himself but he couldn't see anything.

*Tap* Yet as he took a step forward and stepped on the ground a spark of lightning erupted.

*Szzwosh* Lightning pulsed outwards from Qian Yu illuminating the darkness into light.

"What the!" Qian Yu closed his eyes and yelled abruptly.

As he opened his eyes though, the previous black and dark scenery had changed. Everywhere he could see, was endless white. Yet in the distance a large black and gray circular object was seen. Occasionally, lightning arched through the globe.

Yes, he had found the soul world and expanded his consciousness to this region. Still, it was deep into his consciousness, nearing the borders of his unconsciousness.

Before he knew it, Qian Yu opened his eyes.

"What?" Qian Yu instinctually said as he saw he was back in the inn room.

"He did it," Sun Hong's voice was immediately heard. She had been watching the whole time and felt the change in his presence and aura.

"What?" "That fast?" Zhen Yue and Zhao Xieren exclaimed.

"Are you sure?" Qian Yu glanced at Sun Hong with a questioning look.

"Yes, if you saw your soul world then it means you ascended. The hardest part is delving deeper into your mind, leaving your consciousness and heading towards the unconsciousness before finding the soul world," Sun Hong said.

"Ah, my soul world was just like a black globe then…" Qian Yu was a little dissatisfied. He had pretty much been unconscious the whole time and didn't even know what happened.

"Well, it's only the soul foundation stage. Most people can enter it, it just varies by time and amount of tries. It is a lot more different when you try to enter the Martial Fighter," Sun Hong said.

"Alright…" Qian Yu shrugged. If he successfully ascended then it wouldn't matter. "How long did it take?" Qian Yu then turned to Zhao Xieren.

"It's only been about 3 hours... I had to try a few times and it took about 12 hours," Zhao Xieren said.

By the side, Zhen Yue quietly said, "I-I took over a day…"

"Well, I took about 3 hours as well. It just comes down to how strong your mastery and understanding of the laws are," Sun Hong said. Originally, a blank slate, the soul world would change based on your understanding of the laws which mainly stemmed from the cultivation technique.

"It's fine. You practiced the martial technique for the least amount of times," Qian Yu patted Zhen Yue who was a little down.

"Anyhow, we still have a lot of time until night arrives since Qian Yu ascended so fast. Firstly, you should try to reach the same state once again and look at your soul world. Do that three more times before we do anything else. After that, we can go test your new martial technique," Sun Hong ordered.

"Alright," Qian Yu nodded. Outside of the bed, Qian Yu had treated everything Sun Hong had said with respect. As a Martial Fighter, she definitely had more experience and knowledge than him.

Still, Sun Hong knew it was better to explain, "You will get the hang of finding your soul world faster as time goes by and it is something that will increase your understanding and control of soul and the soul world. This will allow your spiritual awareness to be stronger and let you bring forth your domain earlier. But first, you should keep practicing this until you can find your soul world while fully conscious."

She then turned towards the other two girls in the room, "You two should do it today as well."

"Yes," "Alright," the other two nodded. They too, saw Sun Hong as a mentor in this state.

Closing his eyes, Qian Yu started listening to Sun Hong as he calmed down and cleared his mind.

Before long, he entered the same state as the previous time, completely unconscious as he traveled towards the soul world. The next thing he knew, he opened his eyes, seeing the large black soul world from afar.

Qian Yu tried to get closer as he walked forward. However, after a few thousand steps, he realized he was still at the same spot.

Scratching his head he sighed, 'How do I get out of here?'

'Let me out!' Qian Yu yelled in his mind.

Once again, Qian Yu opened his eyes and he saw the familiar inn room waiting in front of him. Zhen Yue and Zhao Xieren were both sitting down with their eyes closed while Sun Hong was supervising everything.

"Pretty good, about 2 hours," Sun Hong quietly said with a smile on her face.

"How fast can you do it now?" Qian Yu asked.

"Half an hour," Sun Hong replied.

"Alright, I'll make sure to beat that record," Qian Yu smiled. Sun Hong always loved a good competition regardless of what it was so Qian Yu always looked for new ways to challenge her.

"Hmph, you wish. Alright, do it again," Sun Hong chuckled.