Without a top-tier cultivator overseeing things, who would maintain the sect's protective formation? Who would fend off the Heart Demons?
Ji Lian's answer was a soulless body.
Cultivation meant converting spiritual energy for one's own use. Once internalized, that energy gradually replaced the flesh and inevitably affected the mind. Every victory over a Heart Demon was the soul reclaiming control of the body. For geniuses, however, the body grew stronger far faster than the soul, until the will of the flesh overwhelmed it.
If part of the soul was severed before that balance broke, the body could be fixed in a stable state. An incomplete soul knew neither joy nor anger, sorrow nor pleasure, so naturally it would not produce new Heart Demons. It could also become the sect's core, the focal point of its formation, and protect the Cave Heaven for a very long time.
"So you're... Ji Lian's soulless body?" Chen Xuan murmured.
"Not quite. Without a soul, a soulless body cannot move. It can only remain hidden in the deepest part of the sect." The figure shook her head. "I'm a manifestation of spiritual energy under its control. In a sense, I'm rather similar to a demon."
Chen Xuan realized that, given his understanding of cultivation, he probably would not be able to untangle the relationship between these things anytime soon.
Had Ji Yun and Ji Lian already traveled so far down this path?
"But I still don't understand the purpose of the Auxiliary State Immortal Masters-"
"It's not as complicated as you think." The figure walked back from the window to stand before him. "An Immortal Master is a lock, and what it locks is
the cultivation level of all cultivators. As long as spiritual energy exists, there will always be people who embark on the