Nebula Soul

The history of Kemar City is far more ancient than that of the Coriti Province; the province only adopted its current name after becoming the fief of the Coriti Clan, and its former name has long been forgotten.

Kemar City has existed for at least tens of thousands of years, dating back to a time before the Keir Kingdom was even established.

Torista and Lei Mo entered the city at dusk. The deterrent power of a level-nine Magic Beast was absolute; the city gate guard took one look and hurriedly cleared a path for Lei Mo.

Lei Mo did not stand on ceremony. Leading the way, he rode the Divine Wind Bear into Kemar City—a city with such a long and storied history.

Kemar City was no different from other cities in human territory, possessing a thick, medieval style.

The buildings were primarily constructed of stone; regardless of their comfort, their longevity was certainly much greater.

The ancestors of Huaxia played a high-level game with carved beams and painted rafters, pavilions and towers, but wood was simply too vulnerable to fire, and the dynastic wars of Huaxia were particularly frequent.

If Kemar City had not been built mostly of stone, it could never have existed for so long.

Lei Mo saw traces of fire damage on the bricks near the city gate; clearly, Kemar City had suffered its fair share of the ravages of war.

As he wandered through the city, the people of the Coriti Clan discovered Lei Mo early on, but they did not disturb him, choosing instead to follow from a distance.

Lei Mo led these tails as he toured the City Lord's Mansion and the Kemar Library, where he went inside to read for an entire morning.

He even probed the military barracks with his divine sense, finding only a few thousand warriors ranging from the third to fifth level. It was enough to maintain basic order in the city, but their control over the city was effectively non-existent.

Under the coverage of Lei Mo's divine sense, robberies, murders, and rapes were occurring in the dark corners of the city at every moment.

Regardless of that, the Kemar Library was truly a wonderful place. Was this the foundation of an ancient city?

In this ocean of books, Lei Mo discovered many incredible things.

Countless years ago, a War of Gods had occurred, a war in which the elves achieved an overwhelming victory.

The specific era was not recorded, nor was the location, nor were the participants; there was only a vague account of the events, reading more like a legend.

Combined with Tagore's account, was this the time when the Elf Queen unified the continent?

Or had there been another War of Gods later on?

The era was too distant to ever know for sure.

What Lei Mo found most curious was a travelogue recording that tens of thousands of years ago, an elf appeared in Kemar City who could transform into various Magic Beasts, indistinguishable from the real ones.

If there was a flaw, it was that the Magic Beasts he transformed into were relatively small in size and were all beasts with strength far inferior to his own.

It provided no significant boost to combat power, excelling only in surprise; it would have been decent for a scout.

Unfortunately, according to that elf, his ability to transform into Magic Beasts stemmed from a fortuitous encounter and could not be passed down as a hereditary talent.

He wondered if that person was still alive, though he was likely long gone; without reaching the Saint Realm, everyone eventually becomes a handful of dust.

For some reason, Lei Mo suddenly thought of the "complete" rune on Franklin, the function of which remained unknown.

"Boom—"

Franklin unleashed his Divine Domain and whisked Lei Mo away, setting him down in a secluded spot. By this time, Lei Mo had already closed his eyes.

"Transformation, shapeshifting, Magic Beasts?"

A spark ignited in Lei Mo's mind. That rune, which he had long since memorized and felt in his heart to be complete, manifested and lit up within his sea of consciousness, slowly shifting and rotating.

Suddenly, his sea of consciousness shook. An inexplicable fluctuation emanated from Franklin, sweeping over Lei Mo's body in total silence.

It passed through his arm to his shoulder, then traveled upward along his neck—

"Hum—"

The fluctuation entered Lei Mo's head directly and transmitted into his sea of consciousness. Lei Mo felt as if he had entered a gray, hazy space.

"This isn't Franklin's soul space; it's more like a Soul Ocean!"

"Then where is my soul?"

His mind followed his intent, arriving in an instant.

Within this gray, hazy space, Lei Mo saw a massive nebula, resembling a magic array, standing amidst the void—orderly and beautiful.

The magic array operated without cease, and a towering, phantom Totem Pillar stood majestically within this nebula.

"Is this my soul? Whose soul looks like a nebula magic array?"

"Is this Totem Pillar the reason I can comprehend the Law of Destruction?"

"But what talent does a nebula-shaped soul indicate?"

Lei Mo asked himself question after question, though he did not know who he was asking.

The nebula soul was far too regular; a nebula in the starry sky could not be this complete and precise, without a single bit of excess diffusion.

The nebula magic array was hallucinatory and profound, like the most intricate magic array with interlocking rings, or the most beautiful treasure; merely watching it was intoxicating.

"If I feel this way just by watching my own soul, what about others?"

Lei Mo sighed with emotion. He was already fascinated by his sudden ability to view his own soul, and seeing such a miraculous sight only added to his wonder.

He could not help but feel his mind impacted; his thoughts grew chaotic, drifting toward all sorts of random ideas.

"A weapon-shaped soul possesses the talent for destruction, so what kind of talent would a nebula-shaped soul have?"

Lei Mo's mind continued to wander, drifting further and further away.

"Boom—"

A complex, mysterious rune that gave one a sense of natural completeness suddenly flew into the Nebula Soul.

It slowly appeared above the towering phantom of the Totem Pillar, rotating around the silhouette of the pillar.

Every line of the Nebula Soul was perfect, shimmering with flowing light and rippling waves of radiance.

Slowly, the flowing light within the nebula poured into that rune.

"Hum—"

The entire Nebula Soul began to tremble. The frequency was irregular, as if it were adjusting itself; after an unknown amount of time, it gradually stabilized.

That complex and mysterious rune suddenly vanished into the nebula.

At the same time, a rune manifested upon the massive phantom of the Totem Pillar.

This rune was incredibly clear and large, reflecting brilliantly against the phantom of the Totem Pillar.

Was it not the very same mysterious rune that had just disappeared?

This was the rune Lei Mo had studied for a long time without knowing its function, having searched his entire Soul Space without finding any spiritual insight into it.

He had even observed the split bodies at the Ancestral Court last time and had certainly never seen it there.

Now that such a major change had occurred and it was imprinted within Lei Mo's soul, he wondered what kind of transformation would follow.

Lei Mo acted on his thought; he found a massive stone slab and carved this huge, mysterious rune onto it.

While carving, Lei Mo used his own blood once again.

With a ripple of soul energy, the rune activated automatically, unlike any rune Lei Mo had carved before.

The moment the rune took shape, a burst of light flowed through it, slowly deforming to form a new combination of runes.

It was similar to the original rune but not identical; at the center of this rune combination, a vortex appeared, expanding and contracting by turns.

"Whoosh—"

The rune combination flew up, submerged into Lei Mo's mind, and merged into the nebula. The rune that had manifested in the Nebula Soul due to his comprehension slowly fused with the one that had just entered.

With a "boom," it exploded, turning into specks of starlight that scattered into the Nebula Soul, causing the rotation of the entire Nebula Soul to suddenly stall.