A Rebirth That Was Not His Own

Wang Yuan had been fortunate. By sheer accident, he had captured fragments of a soul-traveler's spiritual information and obtained a method for crossing between worlds.

Wang Yuan had also been unfortunate, because that method was utterly useless to him.

Wang Yuan did not know what exactly made up a human soul, but judging from that monster's actions, it believed that the things deep within the soul, along with the memories contained in its own soul, were its true self.

That was why, when it had been forced to leave this world, it had discarded most of its soul body while preserving the things buried deep within its soul.

Wang Yuan looked directly into the depths of his own soul body. There was nothing there. Rather than something having been lost from him, it seemed more like he himself was the discarded part.

After extracting the monster's scattered information, Wang Yuan finally gained another layer of understanding about his own predicament. The thing deep within the soul had a name in the monster's language: Gusa.

The word roughly meant the true self, root, origin, and the like. It was the soul's most primordial existence. In cultivation terms, it was the true spirit.

The so-called soul body was merely a derivative of it. Strictly speaking, Wang Yuan's true spirit had already reincarnated long ago. The present Wang Yuan was no more than the remnants of that Wang Yuan.

It did not even matter if he was gradually ceasing to be the Wang Yuan he had once been. From the soul's sensory perspective, the monster's soul was broadly similar to its true spirit. Yet when Wang Yuan examined himself, he found far too many impurities within his soul body.

Some of those impurities came from crows, some from all manner of animals, and quite a few from the Kexi People. Every person's true spirit was different, so naturally the soul bodies derived from them were different as well.

By absorbing the Soul Qi left behind when other living beings died and their soul bodies shattered, Wang Yuan could rapidly strengthen his own soul body, but it also made that soul body hopelessly muddled.

"Truly the worst news imaginable."

Among the fragments of information left behind by that monster, those monsters could travel through different worlds by relying on the traits of their true spirits. They had witnessed quite a few civilizations from other worlds. Guta Count was their evaluation of a lifeform's soul potential.

Their power system seemed to involve gradually liberating one's own true spirit and drawing immense power from one's roots. As for the power systems of other civilizations, nearly all of them had to involve the true spirit in some way before they could reach the higher levels.

The higher a lifeform's Guta Count, the easier it was for it to liberate its true spirit. That monster had obtained the secret art of soul-travel precisely because its Guta Count was extraordinarily high, allowing it to use its true spirit to cross into other worlds.

If Wang Yuan went to the monster's world and had his Guta Count assessed, the conclusion would be this: a remnant soul without a Gusa, contaminated by a large amount of soul power, possessing the soul ability Virus Control (maximum level restricted). Recommended for cultivation as cannon fodder.

That was right. If that monster had not been unable to adapt to the environment of this new world, Wang Yuan's meager strength might not even have qualified him as cannon fodder in its eyes.

"Still, setting aside this bad news, I gained quite a few benefits." Wang Yuan now had a clear understanding of himself. His potential was limited. Without a true spirit, his Virus Control ability would soon reach its peak.

He could still make something of himself in this low-magic world, but if he went to a higher world, he estimated that he could be wiped out with a casual flick of someone's hand.

"I have to admit, this blow is rather severe." Wang Yuan drifted back to the village and arrived at the great tree. Looking at the crows infected by pathogens and undergoing mutation, he could not help feeling dejected. Anyone would be depressed upon learning that a game they had to play contained level one hundred and level one thousand, while their own account had a level cap of ten, could not be restarted, and would be trapped in the beginner's village forever.

"What I need to reconsider now is reincarnation." Wang Yuan recalled the impulse he had felt before that pregnant woman and could not help thinking of this idea he had once abandoned.

"If I reincarnate again, I might be able to obtain another Gusa."

Wang Yuan drifted before a pregnant woman. She was Jacques's wife, Isabella from the Interkami Kingdom. Feeling the warmth emanating from her belly, he knew the fetus had not yet been born and its true spirit was still in a relatively primordial state. If he attached himself to it now, perhaps he truly could gain a new life.

After pondering for a long time, Wang Yuan lightly drifted forward until he arrived before Isabella. That pull became even stronger.

"A new life..." Wang Yuan sighed, but he did not enter Isabella's belly. Compared to never being able to advance, what Wang Yuan found even harder to accept was being controlled by something else—even if it was a new true spirit controlling him.

"Gusa is merely the term used in that monster's world. Other worlds may not lack other ways to grow stronger, or methods to restore one's true spirit."

Wang Yuan consoled himself. Since he could not accept reincarnating and attaching himself to another true spirit, he could only walk one road into the dark and see whether he could carve out a new path.

"Since the Divine Grace Church can restrain Evil Spirits, it must have conducted some research on them. Then let's set a small goal first." Wang Yuan observed the distribution of pathogens throughout the village. "Conquer the Divine Grace Church and obtain information about Evil Spirits."

"Before that, I need to develop myself first." Wang Yuan calculated his resources. They were not particularly substantial. After all, he had only been in this world for a little over a month, and the forces he could control were not numerous.

One month later.

"Ah!" Isabella suddenly clutched her stomach and cried out in pain. She was about to give birth. Several neighbors saw everything, yet few came over to help.

After all, Jacques had once tried to seek help from the Divine Grace Church, thereby blaspheming Negary. In this village that was gradually falling under Negary's control, there were not many who dared risk helping the wife and child of a sinner. At most, out of old friendship, they refrained from bullying this pitiful pregnant woman.

Isabella wailed in agony, yet still struggled to crawl into her house. No one came to help her, so she could only help herself.

Hot water, scissors scorched by fire, towels—Isabella endured the agony of childbirth as she prepared everything.

After an unknown length of time, accompanied by a newborn's first cry, a wrinkled infant appeared in Isabella's hands. It was a daughter. Looking at this newly born life, Isabella, this strong mother, burst into tears.

In accordance with Jacques's final wish, she named the girl Nara—Nara Dacmi.

Wang Yuan drifted nearby, watching this new life named Nara. His expression turned grave, because he could sense the pathogens within her body, yet he could no longer control them.

Those pathogens had fused with something inside the girl. Although Wang Yuan could still sense them, they had become the girl's own possession.