Hilat had clearly sensed their doubts.
She sighed softly, her gaze falling on Winnie, and her voice slowed a little.
"No need to worry too much."
"It's normal for her to look weak right now. You could even say it's a sign that this was quite successful."
Hilat paused, then continued.
"You have to understand that Winnie's existence—especially the fact that she could maintain an independent consciousness and keep her soul from dispersing—was, for a very long time, almost entirely dependent on that Tracing Imprint."
"That imprint was one of the cornerstones that allowed her soul to take shape and remain until now, though it was also a shackle. But for me to strip it away was equivalent to removing a crucial portion of the support within the structure of her soul."
"This process would inevitably cause structural damage to her soul, leading to a certain degree of loss and collapse in the total amount of her soul origin."
"If the Seven-Petaled Polo Sha's nearly boundless vitality and soul-nourishing power hadn't filled the gap in time, repaired it, and built an entirely new support structure, then the instant the imprint was stripped away, her soul would have been completely annihilated by structural collapse."
"So, seeing her much weaker now is because the old, unreasonable support has been dismantled, while the new support structure that belongs entirely to her has only just been established. It still needs time, and the nurturing of her own power, to gradually strengthen and fill out."
"And the Seven-Petaled Polo Sha's power was mainly used to protect her and build the new structure. If it had mindlessly restored her strength like before, I suspect Mia could have appeared directly beside me through her soul just now."
"In the long run, if you want her to gain