Soul Sculpting

Five days passed by in a flash, and fifteen cities' evildoers fell to Theodore's blade. By now, Xie Mei had only just made it to the Golden Core Realm, whereas Han Junqiao had done so a day earlier than her. This meant that it was high time for their lover to clarify the next steps from here onwards to them.

Early in the morning, after a filling breakfast, the three of them were seated in their usual cultivation spots, the two girls giving rapt attention to his explanation.

"Just like the Energy Refinement Stage and the Core Formation Stage before it, the Soul Sculpting Stage is divided into six individual realms. Namely and in sequential order, they are: Essence Cocoon, Incubation, Thunder Tempering, Coreflame Ignition, Final Forging and Nascent Soul."

Looking at both of them with a slight smile, he continued.

"Now that you've arrived at the Golden Core Realm, you should be capable of sensing your own soul. The next step in your cultivation will be to weave a cocoon of Energy around it, which will serve to protect and reinforce it. That is the core concept behind the Essence Cocoon Realm. When you have begun to use Energy to interact with your soul, you'll learn how to utilize it to interact with the world around you. Qiao'er, if you simply follow the steps described in your cultivation Technique, then you won't be able to err here. In addition to that, just like Mei'er, you can listen to your instincts. With cultivation-related Talents like yours, it should all come naturally to you."

The reason as to why it was so difficult to break through to this realm was in part that most weren't talented enough to figure out how to proceed, or didn't possess cultivation Techniques of a sufficiently high grade to show them the way. Another factor was that the cocoon itself took far too much Energy to build! Without an adequate concentration of it, one would struggle to do anything more than keep one's current realm stable.

"The Incubation Realm is very self-explanatory. Energy does not only help the physical body to evolve, the soul is no exception to it either. After the cocoon has been perfected, simply infuse Energy into it. That's it. Once you cannot continue any longer, that will be your limit. Let me remind you, though: Absolutely do not force it when you arrive at that point! Even more so than your body, your soul is of vital importance! Don't damage or destroy it out of stupidity or greed!"

His expression unprecedentedly stern, his gaze landed on the two of them, thoroughly drilling the content of his words into their very core. Far too many idiots had managed to obliterate their own souls by not heeding the warning signs, and he didn't want either of them to be the next such person.

"We understand. Don't worry, we've not done something dumb any of the previous times either! Still, thanks for the warning, my love~"

Looking directly into his eyes with a devoted, gentle expression, Xie Mei successfully reassured him. Han Junqiao nodded along as well, feeling touched due to the care which he showed them.

"... fair enough. Then let's move on to the Thunder Tempering Realm. Utilizing your Energy, you will fashion it into tiny bolts of lightning and bombard your soul's cocoon with it! It will protect the soul within from most of it, only letting minuscule amounts of it through, which will serve to further reinforce your soul. Yet again, I have to remind you: Tread carefully during this realm! Your intuition should guide you well enough, but do not allow yourself to get distracted while cultivating, alright?"

Only after the two of them had promised him that they would do their best to prevent such a thing from happening did he proceed.

"The Coreflame Ignition Realm could be considered the most vital one of the six. Every being has a certain amount of potential buried deep at the core of their soul. Once it has been tempered to its limit via lightning, this potential awakens and transforms into the Coreflame. For now, all that you need to know is that the greater your Coreflame, the further you'll be able to go. If it is lacking, then no matter how outstanding your cultivation-related Talent may be, you will not be capable of proceeding any further once you reach a certain stage. Oddly enough, the Coreflame Ignition Realm is perhaps the easiest to cultivate amongst the Soul Sculpting Stage's six realms. After all, it will automatically awaken once the Thunder Tempering Realm has been pushed to its limits."

Admittedly, the one realm which he looked forward to the most during this re-cultivation from zero–other than the Body Forging Stage as a whole–was the Coreflame Ignition Realm. The Coreflame that he had been born with had been somewhat flawed, mostly because it had been formed during his time in the womb, when he had not even been fully developed yet. That aside, fusing with John and becoming a new Theodore would definitely have a huge impact as well.

"The Final Forging Realm is yet again extremely straightforward. Just like you've all done many times before, simply funnel Energy into your Coreflame. Once it grows to the point that the cocoon can scarcely contain your soul any longer, this will mark its pinnacle. But do not worry, just like your Golden Cores, you can also keep reinforcing your Coreflame later! But only after the breakthrough to the next realm."

Taking a sip of the tea which Li Shuying had prepared, he moistened his throat and paused for a moment, then continued once more.

"Lastly, there's the Nascent Soul Realm. In essence, it consists of your soul 'hatching' from the cocoon. Exactly like a butterfly escaping its chrysalis, you'll know what to do when you arrive at this point. Successfully making it out of the cocoon will leave you with a soul which has been thoroughly transformed from the ground up. Naturally, you can further feed it more Energy from here on out to strengthen it, but qualitative changes won't take place any longer during this realm."

Once his explanation finished, the two young women fell into deep thought. Eventually, despite being somewhat reluctant, Xie Mei asked a question which had been on her mind since earlier.

"But Theo, I've been reincarnated a few times already. Even though I'm now a blank slate, does that mean that my soul will be different from that of others? Also... what about the 'Moon'?"

Seeing her bring this up in front of Han Junqiao, he raised an eyebrow in astonishment, then a relieved smirk stole itself on his face. It appeared like Xie Mei truly treasured her sister from the bottom of her heart–which he loved to see. With an encouraging look in his eyes, he responded.

"You don't need to worry about the 'Moon'–they have no connection to you any longer whatsoever. As for your soul being different... it can only be stronger than that of a normal person. There is nothing bad about it! Instead, if I were you, I'd be looking forward to the potential of my Coreflame. You indubitably ignited it in past lives, but this time, you've got a far better Talent on your side, don't you?"

Relieved at having been overly worried, a sigh escaped the girl's lips. Only then did she notice Han Junqiao staring at her, her eyes wide as saucers. Almost panicking, she hastily grabbed her hands.

"I'm sorry for not telling you earlier! Apparently, I've had many lives before this one, although I do not recall any of them."

Pulling up her Status Panel, she shared it with her sister, telling her all about Theodore's explanations and theories in regard to her past, which was still shrouded in a lot of mystery. Only now did Han Junqiao realize that there was far more than meets the eye to this girl. She didn't just have a fantastic aptitude, but the many Talents that she revealed made her both envious and relieved. She wished she had some better ones on hand herself, but was genuinely happy for her sister–it looked like she would be able to go very far, and even dying would not the end of her path!

Whilst the two of them bonded further over this and exchanged some theories and fantasies of their own, Theodore gave them a few quick pecks on the lips, then rose to his feet and bade them farewell for the day.

Although he had expounded on the Soul Sculpting Stage for quite a while, it hadn't been much longer than half an hour since he began. Today, he would still have to do as he had done many times before–cleanse three different cities.

Meeting up with Vigdis, who had been getting ready nearby, he couldn't help but give her another glance and have a genuinely happy smile blossom on his face.

"Congratulations on igniting your Coreflame! I trust everything went well?"

Reciprocating his smile, she nodded, the happiness reflected in her eyes impossible to suppress.

"Thank you! It went more than well! It's so much better than the one I was born with. Also, I think your Coattail Ascension helped out a fair chunk too, otherwise it wouldn't be this outstanding. So... thank you so much!"

Deeply bowing to him with her heart full of gratitude, Vigdis was looking forward to her future more than ever before. She was quite confident that her Coreflame could measure up to those of most Pillar descendants–although only barely. Still, this was nonetheless a qualitative change! One that she wouldn't have even dared to dream of in the past.

"You're welcome!"

Helping her up and patting her back, the two finally got ready to depart. Just like every day before it, the cleansing went smoothly. Maybe the Hans had already caught on, or perhaps they hadn't–in any case, that peak Initial Ascension Stage expert couldn't be everywhere at once.

If there was one thing worth mentioning, it was that they had never run into another Heaven's Chosen. Naturally, this was to be expected. After all, with thousands of cities of this level to choose from, the chances of meeting them were extremely low. Some might have even slipped up and been eliminated by the Hans, considering that they were actively hunting them.

'That is how it should be. Me coming across a total of four Heaven's Chosen in such rapid succession at the start was far too abnormal.'

Yet again, he contemplated if a helping hand had been in play here. Unfortunately, it would be impossible for him to tell if there was for an extremely long time to come–possibly even until he won this competition. Was there any doubt in his heart with regard to his victory? Of course, but that didn't mean that he would simply lie down and give up without trying his hardest!

'Come to think of it, I wonder how many other Heaven's Chosen there are in this world. And how are they faring? At least some of them should be aware of the elimination of entire cities by now, right?'

With the other competitors in mind, he had been building a considerably basic framework of a Fate Concealment Array at their new base over the past few days. He did not yet have all components of it, so it could only run at limited capacity, but it was better than nothing at all. Still, it might not have even been necessary to create in the first place, considering how strange the subterranean city was. It very likely may be able to shield itself and everything within from Divination Techniques as well.

'But better safe than sorry.'

Pushing his worries about his fellow Heaven's Chosen to the back of his mind, he began his daily cultivation session. No matter what they were up to, becoming stronger would always help him to deal with anything which could come his way.

While he had been teleporting–quite literally–all over the map for a few days now, his competitors hadn't been idle either. One of them had even just barely missed a cleansing of his.