The Soul's Transformation

One minute, two minutes... As the energy of the universe permeated him, it felt as though his whole body were soaking in a hot spring, and his fatigue gradually faded away.

As time passed, Guan Ning's rate of absorbing cosmic energy slowly declined. Once his body was completely saturated, he opened his eyes and checked the time, astonished to find that he had absorbed it for an hour and a half—far longer than most people.

Before this, Guan Ning had looked into how other Quasi-Warriors trained. Aside from their first session, their training lasted thirty minutes on average. The longest session recorded by the Limit Martial Hall had lasted only a little over forty minutes.

Absorbing cosmic energy for an hour and a half outside of one's first session was practically unheard of. Of course, that applied to Quasi-Warriors. After becoming a Warrior, they would have a Guiding Technique to help them train, and their training sessions would correspondingly grow longer.

During the process, Guan Ning also noticed cosmic energy entering his sea of consciousness. He was just a beginner who had only recently started training. Even though he had read the original novel in his previous life, a novel was still just a novel; it couldn't fully portray the real training process. So he assumed this was normal.

When the cold cosmic energy entered his sea of consciousness, Guan Ning's mind grew suddenly clear. At first, he thought this was a sign that Spiritual Force had awakened. But after testing it, he found that neither his five senses had sharpened nor could he move objects from a distance. His excitement quickly ebbed.

If it wasn't Spiritual Force, then what was it?

Guan Ning couldn't figure it out, so he could only chalk it up to not having trained for long enough. Given time, the answer would become clear.

Next came the day's morning lesson. He had forgotten it yesterday in his excitement, but he couldn't neglect it again today.

Guan Ning sat at a desk with a copy of the Yellow Court Scripture on it. That was right—it was a Dao Scripture, and his morning lesson was to recite it.

There were two reasons for this morning lesson.

First, in his previous life, Guan Ning had been a forensic pathologist and spent most of his time dealing with corpses. Though his parents believed in science, they still felt the job carried a certain ill omen, so they found him some Dao Scriptures to study.

Guan Ning had chosen forensic pathology himself and didn't think there was anything wrong with it, but he didn't want to disappoint his parents either. So he made time to recite the Dao Scriptures every day. After more than ten years, reciting them each morning had become a habit. He hadn't given it up even after coming to this world.

Second, although the specific details of Swallowed Star had grown hazy in his memory, he still remembered the levels of mental cultivation. He didn't know how to train his state of mind, but Hong relied on Chinese martial arts, while Thor practiced Indian yoga.

Guan Ning wasn't especially interested in either. As an indispensable part of Chinese civilization, the Dao Scriptures were more representative than Chinese martial arts. Combined with his experiences in his previous life, they were the obvious choice for him.

There was no denying that nearly thirty years of studying the Dao Scriptures across both his lives had clearly changed Guan Ning. He still couldn't remain unruffled with a mountain pressing down on him, but he had no trouble controlling his emotions.

"Laozi, at leisure, composed seven-character lines, explaining the form of the body and its spirits. Above is the Yellow Court, below is Guanyuan; behind is the Hidden Gate, before is the Gate of Life... The Spiritual Terrace reaches Heaven and overlooks the Central Plain; between the passes below lies the space of an inch... Cultivate harmony, stand alone, and let the Perfected One govern; be tranquil and free of desire as you wander the garden of virtue..."

Guan Ning opened the Dao Scripture and began reciting. At first, his voice was simply clear and resonant. But as he gradually entered the right state, an ineffable cadence crept into his voice.

As that strange cadence enveloped him, Guan Ning felt his spirit jolt. His consciousness entered a dim space, where wisps of pale blue mist illuminated the surroundings.

A sudden understanding came over him: this was his sea of consciousness. Those sparse wisps of pale blue mist were his Spiritual Force. Compared with Luo Feng's dark golden sphere, they were like an ant beside an elephant—worlds apart.

Seeing what his sea of consciousness looked like, Guan Ning knew he had little chance of becoming a Psychic Master. It would have been a lie to say he wasn't disappointed. This wasn't just a gap in Spiritual Force—it meant saying goodbye to the Yunmo Star Inheritance and the Golden Horned Beast for good!

Though Guan Ning was dazed, reciting the Dao Scripture had become a habit over the years, and he continued murmuring the words.

At the same time, the sound of his recitation reached his ears. The Dao resonance it carried appeared in his sea of consciousness, and the pale blue mist grew richer in color as the resonance permeated it. The change in his Spiritual Force was nearly imperceptible; Guan Ning only noticed because he was connected to it.

As the pale blue mist deepened in color, a wave of comfort spread through Guan Ning's soul. Just as he was savoring the sensation, the Dao resonance abruptly ceased, and his consciousness returned to clarity.

After coming to, Guan Ning still felt reluctant to let the experience go. It had been so pleasant.

The Yellow Court Scripture!

At the thought, Guan Ning recited the Dao Scripture again, but no matter what he did, that special cadence didn't return.

After adjusting his state of mind and calming his restless thoughts, Guan Ning recited the Dao Scripture for another half hour, but still got nowhere. He set it down and began to consider the reason.

This had never happened in over ten years, and it had come out of nowhere. It had to be related to something recent.

Recently... What had happened recently?

At that thought, Guan Ning's eyes lit up. Only one unusual thing had happened recently: the cosmic energy.

Cosmic energy?

If it was the cosmic energy, why had the Dao resonance appeared the first time but not the second?

The first time... The second time... The first time... The second time...

Time!

The cosmic energy only had an effect for a limited time.

After analyzing it step by step, Guan Ning finally found the reason. He wouldn't know for sure until tomorrow, though.

Still, he was eighty percent certain. The cosmic energy entered his body through his Baihui Acupoint and flowed into his sea of consciousness, while the Dao resonance cleansed the soul and transformed it. Anyone who said there was no connection between the two would have to be a fool.

Telekinesis was mental power, and the soul was composed of a large amount of mental power. So the transformation of Spiritual Force was the transformation of the soul.

Guan Ning knew full well how important the transformation of the soul was. It was the key to becoming an "Undying." But since he wasn't certain yet, he could only rein in his excitement and wait to see what tomorrow brought.

He cooked himself a meal, tidied up the kitchen, then headed to the Limit Dojo. This time, he wanted to replace his weapon with one that suited him better.

On the way, everyone who saw Guan Ning praised him. After a full day of word spreading, news that he had passed the Quasi-Warrior Assessment had reached every corner of the residential district.

Their reactions were fairly subdued, though. For the residents of Ginkgo Residential District, a seventeen-year-old Quasi-Warrior wasn't exactly commonplace, but there were still more than a dozen each year. After all, the residents were all Warriors and had plenty of resources. As long as one's talent was above average, becoming a Quasi-Warrior at seventeen or eighteen wasn't particularly difficult.

Seeing this, Guan Ning was relieved. Fortunately, news that he had joined the Limit Martial Hall early hadn't spread yet. Otherwise, who knew how the people, currently so calm, might have reacted?

Guan Ning had decided that after choosing a new weapon, he would stay home until the practical assessment came around.

At the thought, he quickened his pace. He soon reached the Limit Dojo, greeted Uncle Chen at the entrance, then went inside.

He tried every Qingming Sword on the weapon rack. Even the heaviest Qingming Series 1 practice sword felt a little light. In the end, he found a weapon that suited him on the sixth floor: a Qingming Sword weighing 98 kilograms.

After buying a practice sword at the dojo, he returned to his villa and began his seclusion.

He practiced swordsmanship for two hours, footwork for two hours, yoga for one hour, then absorbed cosmic energy to recover his strength while increasing his Genetic Origin Energy. Each cycle took about seven hours.

He did two cycles a day. It was downright insane—there was no success without madness.

As expected, reciting the Dao Scripture after absorbing cosmic energy brought forth the Dao resonance, and his soul grew a little purer.

When Guan Ning saw the result, he couldn't put his feelings into words.

A transformation of the soul!

This was a transformation of the soul!

From Apprentice Rank to World Lord Level, it was the body that transformed, while the soul simply grew stronger. Its essence remained the same. Only when breaking through from World Lord Level to Undying did the soul undergo a fundamental transformation.

In that respect alone, he was already many steps ahead of everyone else.

The benefits of the soul's transformation didn't end there. A transformed soul would be more in tune with the universe, making it easier to comprehend the Universe Origin. That meant Guan Ning would find it much easier to grasp domains, laws, and secret techniques.

The cosmic energy was inexhaustible, which meant Guan Ning's soul would continue to transform. The changes were minuscule for now, but as long as he persevered, he would one day soar to great heights.

Most importantly, the only treasure capable of transforming the soul was the Chaos True Spirit in Chaos City—and that wasn't something ordinary people could get their hands on. There might be other treasures in the universe that could transform the soul, but every one of them was extremely rare, practically one of a kind.

With such an incredible stroke of luck landing in his lap, even the composure Guan Ning had cultivated through thirty years of studying the Dao Scriptures finally cracked. At that moment, his mind went blank. He had lost the ability to direct his own actions, standing motionless like a block of wood with his eyes wide open.

"Ha... Ha..."

It took a full ten minutes for him to come to. He drew in great gulps of air until his complexion returned to normal.

After regaining his composure, Guan Ning carefully reflected on what he had experienced. He realized that even without reciting the Dao Scripture, cosmic energy would slowly seep into his soul; the scripture only accelerated the process.

At the same time, he understood why the first time he absorbed cosmic energy, the increase had been so great.

Given his natural physical aptitude, he could have hoped to gain only about 1,000 kilograms of strength. But the transformation of his soul had prolonged the time he could absorb cosmic energy, which naturally improved his physical fitness as well.

That was why he could absorb cosmic energy for far longer than ordinary people. It also meant that he would progress far faster than they did.