Splitting Consciousness

Star Luo Empire, Frostwind Junior Soul Master Academy.

Lu Lin slowly opened his eyes.

The moment he opened them, Lu Lin felt a stinging pain in his brain. He felt dizzy and heavy, feeling quite unwell.

Lu Lin knew it was because he was still too weak and could not yet adapt to the state of his consciousness being separated from his body.

Lu Lin circulated his soul power to recover his state slightly, then pulled up his virtual panel and fell into deep thought.

The experience at the Body Sect was a long story, but in reality, only a little over an hour had passed.

Faced with Si Yuan Ye's request to take him as a disciple, only a fool would refuse.

After the apprenticeship ceremony, Si Yuan Ye explained some basic common knowledge of cultivation to Lu Lin.

However, it seemed he had urgent business; after passing down the Body Sect's core cultivation technique to Lu Lin, he left the Body Sect in a hurry and disappeared without a trace.

Currently, Mo Yin was the one taking him around, handling tedious trifles like accommodation.

Only then did Lu Lin withdraw his consciousness and return to his original body.

Currently, Ji Ming was being managed by the panel.

A junior soul master academy was similar to the primary schools of Lu Lin's past life.

The teachers in the academy included not only soul masters but also ordinary people, who were responsible for teaching students cultural knowledge, history, and soul power cultivation, among other things.

There were actually no rigid conditions for graduation standards.

Generally speaking, as long as one reached level ten soul power and obtained a soul ring before the age of twelve, they could graduate.

But for most soul masters, this age was the true watershed that determined their soul master career.

For no other reason than Shrek Academy.

As far as Lu Lin knew, the entrance requirements for Shrek Academy during the era of the Absolute Tang Dynasty might have been the lowest in the entire Douluo series.

As long as a child was under twelve years old and had a soul power level above fifteen, they could apply.

Of course, applying was one thing, but whether one could be admitted was another.

Because his aptitude was average, Lu Lin hadn't bothered to learn about Shrek Academy's enrollment rules for this era before, but he imagined they shouldn't be too far off.

Originally, Lu Lin had not dared to hope that he could attend Shrek Academy.

But now, his thoughts had changed slightly.

Although the avatar's soul power and the main body's cannot be shared, they share the same consciousness.

This means Lu Lin's main body can also cultivate the Body Sect's techniques.

Huo Gua had an Innate Soul Power of level one. Even with such poor talent, he was still able to cultivate to level ten in five years.

Since Lu Lin has the Body Sect's techniques, there is no reason he shouldn't be able to reach level fifteen before the age of twelve.

Furthermore, the quality of Lu Lin's Martial Soul is not bad at all.

Pure Fire Green Lotus, a fire-attribute plant-system Martial Soul, which also contains a hint of the life attribute.

The level of Innate Soul Power does not actually have much to do with the quality of a Martial Soul.

It is not as if possessing top-tier Martial Souls like the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon or the Clear Sky Hammer guarantees high Innate Soul Power.

Taking Huo Yuhao as an example again, he possessed a top-tier spirit-attribute Body Martial Soul. Even if his talent was affected by poor physical condition due to malnutrition, it shouldn't have been as low as Innate level one.

Therefore, this thing called aptitude really depends on fate.

However, the problem now is that when he logs into the avatar character Ji Ming, his main body falls into a deep sleep.

This will inevitably affect his main body's cultivation. Although the Avatar Panel can manage Ji Ming, it is not a long-term solution after all.

Lu Lin looked at a line of text in the corner of the panel, his eyes flickering with a sharp light.

While Ji Ming certainly has good talent, before Ji Ming completes the Main Quest, his main body cannot inherit the avatar's attributes. Moreover, if Ji Ming dies at this time, he cannot be resurrected, and he would be unable to create a new avatar character.

Even if Ji Ming has the protection of the Body Sect, there is still a risk of him dying prematurely.

A dead genius is not a genius.

In Lu Lin's view, only by splitting his consciousness and multitasking to control both the main body and the avatar simultaneously will his main body have more time to cultivate, reach level thirty sooner, and create a second avatar.

Ji Ming might also be able to complete the Main Quest earlier.

"Split consciousness."

Lu Lin touched this option on the panel; it was the only operation he could perform at the moment.

[Host, please note: The host's current level is too low. Splitting consciousness at this time will cause irreversible damage to the host's spirit. The parallel existence of multiple perspectives may cause the main body's spirit to lose control, or even risk personality fragmentation.]

[Please consider carefully.]

[Does the host wish to split consciousness now?]

[Yes]/[No]

Lu Lin calmly finished reading the friendly reminder provided by the panel, then clicked [Yes].

Lu Lin had not forgotten; his goal from beginning to end was only one.

Revenge.

And the prerequisite for revenge was nothing but becoming stronger.

Lu Lin knew that this current choice was the optimal solution.

[Splitting Host Intent.]

As this line of small text appeared on the panel, Lu Lin's face turned deathly pale.

An indescribable, sharp pain pierced deep into his mind, as if an invisible blade were brutally and forcibly splitting his complete consciousness apart.

At the same time, his vision instantly blurred and overlapped; countless fragmented images and sounds surged in like a tide before exploding.

"Ngh..."

Lu Lin let out a muffled groan, his forehead instantly covered in cold sweat. He struggled to circulate the Soul Power within his body, attempting to stabilize his spirit, which was on the verge of collapse.

The duration of this pain felt both incredibly long and like a mere fleeting moment.

When the stinging sensation slowly receded like a tide, an extremely strange experience descended.

Lu Lin's Intent split complete.

Lu Lin could clearly see two distinct scenes, as if two different windows had been forcibly jammed into the same brain.

His original body, Lu Lin, lay curled up on a hard wooden bed, his face pale and his breathing faint.

Meanwhile, his avatar, Ji Ming, was following behind Mo Yin, familiarizing himself with everything in the Body Sect.

Two perspectives poured into his core consciousness in parallel, sensory information weaving together frantically, bringing with it uncontrollable chaos and dizziness. For a moment, he was almost unable to distinguish which one was "me."

Heh, it looks like I won't be able to make it to class this afternoon; I'll have to ask for leave.

This thought suddenly popped into Lu Lin's mind.

Body Sect.

"Kid Ji, what's wrong with you?"

Mo Yin reached out to steady Lu Lin, who seemed about to collapse to the ground. He frowned; he always felt this kid was a bit strange.

On the way to the sect, it was one thing that the kid had fainted for no reason, but just a moment ago, he had shown signs of his Soul Power spiraling out of control. Yet, when he used his own Soul Power to investigate, he found that the Soul Power inside the kid was perfectly normal.

Moreover, he didn't know if it was just an illusion, but after Si Yuan Ye left, the kid seemed to have become somewhat stiff.

Although in Mo Yin's eyes, Ji Ming had always been a little poker-faced, there was still a hint of incongruity about him.

However, that sense of incongruity had vanished now.

Mo Yin did not know that the signs of soul power instability were occurring in Lu Lin's original body; the soul power within Ji Ming was, of course, normal.

Yet, the agony of a fractured consciousness was shared between them.

"I am fine, Elder Mo."

Lu Lin's face was pale. Enduring the dizziness and sharp pain, he forced his voice to remain steady as he replied, "It might be the influence of my Martial Soul. I will be fine after a short rest."

Mo Yin confirmed that Lu Lin's soul power was normal before releasing his grip on him. Hearing this, he nodded, though he still looked slightly suspicious.

That was right; both of Ji Ming's Martial Souls were top-tier. One was excessively domineering, while the other possessed a Death Attribute. It did not seem strange that issues arising from them would affect him.

Beyond that, Mo Yin could not think of any other explanation.

"Very well. I have said what needed to be said. You should rest for a while; we will discuss everything else once the Sect Master returns."

After speaking, Mo Yin did not wait for Lu Lin to respond. He raised his gourd, took a long gulp, and turned to leave with a carefree air.

Lu Lin offered his thanks, then sat cross-legged on the bed, circulating his soul power to dissipate the discomfort caused by the split in his consciousness.

It was unknown how much time had passed when Lu Lin opened his eyes, only to find Si Yuan Ye standing before him, watching him quietly.

"Teacher, you have returned."

Lu Lin hurriedly stood up to greet him.

Si Yuan Ye nodded gently and produced a yellow, gelatinous object that resembled fish glue. He said warmly, "Ji Ming, since you have joined our sect and become my disciple, there is no need to be so formal."

"I just made a trip to the Heaven Dou Empire's imperial palace to bring you a welcoming gift."

"This is Ten Thousand Year Whale Rubber."

Lu Lin was slightly stunned. Only then did he realize why Si Yuan Ye had left the sect in such a rush right after accepting him as a disciple—it turned out he had gone to retrieve the Ten Thousand Year Whale Rubber for him.