Parasitic Soul-Sharing Body

Chapter Seventeen: Parasitic Soul-Sharing Body

"Cough, cough... everyone!"

A few breaths later, one of the branch lords in the back finally couldn't hold back a light cough and spoke first. "This little fellow was brought here by a disciple of my Nether Spring Branch. By rights, he should be taken in and cultivated by my Nether Spring Branch..."

Before he could finish, a strange laugh cut him off.

"Heh heh, Old Monster Xu, that may be the rule, but rules depend on the circumstances. This little fellow just showed astonishing ability, so his aptitude must be extraordinary. Your Nether Spring Branch has been in decline for hundreds of years. What resources could you possibly have to cultivate a genius like him? Sending him to your branch would be like casting a pearl before swine. In my opinion, my Yuanwa Branch is the most qualified to cultivate this child."

The speaker was a woman with a sinister, vicious expression. She was ugly, wrapped in hemp clothes, and wreathed in black mist, clearly practicing some evil art. Her words were sharp and cutting, showing no mercy.

"You..."

The Nether Spring Branch's leader was a middle-aged scholar in a green robe, with an elegant face and a faint, ethereal air about him. He looked less like a demon and more like an immortal. But now, the woman's words had left his face dark and ugly. He couldn't lash out, though, since she had spoken the truth: his branch had indeed been in decline for far too long.

But if Chen Lin's aptitude proved exceptional, he had decided that even if it meant offending the other branch lords, he would snatch the boy away and cultivate him. After all, his branch had been dormant for too long. If it didn't produce another outstanding disciple soon, it would likely be struck from the Seventy-Two Branches of Myriad Demon before long.

"Fellow Daoist Xu, there's no need to rush. Why don't we first examine this child's aptitude, then discuss and decide what to do?"

Li Juekong chuckled softly. He raised a hand toward the blood pool, and the enormous stele suppressing it began to shake violently. Black light flashed over its surface, and it rose free of the pool, rapidly shrinking in midair until it was about ten feet tall. With a whoosh, it landed before Li Juekong.

"This treasure is the Pool-Suppressing Stele, one of the Myriad Demon Sect's guardian treasures. It is a Spirit-Connecting Treasure Artifact. It was once a spirit mountain that gained sentience and cultivated into a demon. The sect's founding ancestors subdued it with a restriction, then forged it by combining the blood of many Heavenly Demons with various heaven-defying materials. As long as you drip a drop of blood onto its surface, it can test your bloodline rank."

Li Juekong evidently knew that these ferocious beasts had gained intelligence and could understand him.

"Bloodline aptitude is divided into the Mortal, Earth, Heaven, and Immortal Ranks, corresponding to four colors of light: milky white, pale gold, golden, and seven-colored glaze."

"Little fellow, you first."

Then Li Juekong casually pointed at Chen Lin. His tone was mild, but left no room for refusal.

Chen Lin slowly exhaled a breath of stale air. Though he hesitated, he didn't dare disobey Li Juekong's order. He could only step forward and walk up to the Pool-Suppressing Stele.

Under the expectant gazes of all the branch lords, Chen Lin extended his sickle and made a tiny cut at the tip of his right limb. He squeezed out a drop of blood and let it fall onto the stele's surface.

"Drip..."

The dark red blood landed on the stele, strangely rippling across its surface before being slowly absorbed and vanishing without a trace. The next moment, the stele quivered, and a faint golden light flashed across its surface.

"His bloodline is only Earth Rank? This... It's still decent, but nowhere near the aptitude of a once-in-a-generation genius."

At once, many of the branch lords who had been hopeful shook their heads. The atmosphere grew awkward, and their earlier enthusiasm faded. Clearly, Chen Lin wasn't bad, but his aptitude was only average.

But Chen Lin secretly breathed a sigh of relief. More than anything, he wanted to keep a low profile and avoid drawing attention. He had truly been worried that these powerful figures might take an interest in him and examine him closely, uncovering the secret of the Main God Coffin within his body. That would put him in grave danger.

"He was astonishing in the blood pool just now. Perhaps it was because his innate ability was unusual, but his aptitude is limited. He won't amount to much."

"Right. This child, though... huh? Wait, the Pool-Suppressing Stele is reacting again?"

Before they could finish discussing him, another layer of pale golden light suddenly rose from the stele's surface. The two faint golden layers overlapped, creating a strange and uncanny sight.

"Huh? His constitution is actually a Parasitic Soul-Sharing Body?!"

"What? A Parasitic Soul-Sharing Body? This..."

Several powerful figures seemed to understand what this meant. Their gazes at Chen Lin turned strange, and even Li Juekong looked at him in surprise. Then he shook his head with a regretful expression, his face returning to calm. A few other powerful figures, however, seemed confused.

A sense of foreboding suddenly rose in Chen Lin's heart. It seemed this Parasitic Soul-Sharing Body wasn't a good constitution... Otherwise, why were so many powerful figures staring at him with such strange, indifferent expressions?

"Parasitic Soul-Sharing Body? What kind of constitution is that?"

One of the powerful figures had evidently never heard of it and asked.

"Heh heh, the Parasitic Soul-Sharing Body was rare in the past, too."

A powerful member of the Demon Race with strange blue scales on his face chuckled with interest. "Before some ferocious beasts gained intelligence, they lived on raw flesh and blood, swallowing their prey whole. There was a very small chance that a strange parasitic beast would infect and attach itself inside them. These parasites were weak at first, hatching into larvae inside their host. Then, while lying dormant, the larvae would gradually assimilate the host, fusing its essence, energy, spirit, soul, flesh and blood, bones, and meridians into one!"

"That's right. Although parasitic beasts have no consciousness, they still have souls. This creates the strange phenomenon of two beasts' souls existing within this child, blending together while remaining separate. That's why it's called a Parasitic Soul-Sharing Body."

Another person picked up the explanation.

Chen Lin's heart sank.

"To cultivate, one must break through the innate stage and open a sea of consciousness before one can fully transform into human form and comprehend divine abilities. The sea of consciousness is also called the sea of the soul, and it is extremely fragile. This child has two souls, which means two seas of consciousness. Opening even one is already difficult for ordinary ferocious beasts, let alone two. This constitution has appeared before, but without exception, when they broke through to the Sea Opening Realm, their bodies couldn't bear the power of their souls, and they died."

"Oh? Couldn't they separate the souls?"

"Separate them? Heh heh, the two souls have already fused. They can't be separated. Even if one were removed, all that would remain would be an empty shell without consciousness."

"That's not entirely true. Have you forgotten Gu Yuetian, from seven hundred years ago? Word has it that he also had a Parasitic Soul-Sharing Body."

"Could Gu Yuetian be compared to an ordinary person? His bloodline aptitude surpassed the Immortal Rank; he possessed the legendary Saint Rank. He also cultivated the supreme immortal art, the Nirvana Demon Body. Now he has made a tremendous name for himself in the Central Province, where no one in the world can match him. How could this child compare?"

"True enough..."

"Tsk tsk, still... when someone with a Parasitic Soul-Sharing Body breaks through to the Sea Opening Realm, you can put them in a pill furnace, add a few medicinal ingredients, and refine them into a potent medicine! With two souls in one body, their soul is powerful. Who knows, you might even refine some miraculous pills that increase the power of the soul!"

Just then, a hunched old man suddenly spoke in a sinister voice, looking at Chen Lin with a cruel, malicious glint. At his words, several more unfriendly gazes fell upon Chen Lin.

Chen Lin couldn't help but shiver inwardly.

"Heh heh, heh heh. You can have this disciple, Nether Spring Branch. I don't want him anymore."

The sinister woman who had earlier tried to claim Chen Lin as her disciple let out a strange laugh. Gloating, she spoke mockingly to the Nether Spring Branch's leader.

The Nether Spring Branch's leader wore an uncertain expression. He looked at Chen Lin with regret and hesitation, but said nothing.