Living Soul

"This is..."

The daze in Qiu Yan's heart had already dissipated, and he was immediately startled.

"What's going on?"

He felt a part of himself floating lightly in the air. Only after coming to his senses did he realize that it was the living soul of his avatar, suspended above his head.

Calling it an avatar, it was actually not too different from his true body, like two sides of the same whole. Apart from their linked consciousness, they had no especially deep connection. Yet now, from the avatar's perspective, everything was hazy and drifting, as though in a dream.

Looking down, he could see a huge figure sitting cross-legged below. It was his scholar avatar.

"Those Three Divine Hairs truly are extraordinary. They actually worked!"

Secretly astonished, Qiu Yan had never encountered any great powers of this world and did not know the wondrous uses of avatars and incarnations. But after possessing a clay statue and serving as an Earth Deity for several decades, though confined within a temple, he had pondered things every day and had gained a rough understanding.

A so-called avatar generally involved splitting off a portion of one's consciousness and attaching it to another object. It inherently contained no soul. Yet with the power of the Mystic Hair, Qiu Yan had inherited Qiu Yan's body, and it had actually developed all Three Souls and Seven Souls.

What flew out from above the Fleshly Body was the primordial soul, formless and intangible, commonly called the living soul. In truth, it was the Three Souls before they had condensed. Though they appeared united, they were muddled and dazed, pulling at one another and limiting the soul's development. Bound by the myriad things of the world and the fleshly body, they could not attain Transcendence.

"Humans possess Three Souls, each with its own wondrous use. The path of Nature Cultivation is to clearly manifest the Three Souls, then temper and refine them, so they no longer remain muddled together and sink into the mortal world. Yet my avatar can actually project its living soul from its body. That truly is astonishing."

Though he had long suspected it, one purpose of cultivating the Lying God Inner Art had been to test and verify it. But now that it had truly happened, Qiu Yan's emotions still surged. Of course, he understood what this meant.

"No wonder neither the South City Land God nor the City God could see the connection between my avatar and true body. Aside from being linked to my consciousness, sharing two bodies and one mind, this avatar is no different from an ordinary person! It can cultivate too! My true body and avatar are practically two separate individuals, with only their consciousness connected through some profound method. Naturally, no one can see their connection. At most, they have some entanglement on the level of Karma."

"My true body is a deity, and its path has already been restricted. It can only strive onward along the Divine Path. But the avatar is free. It can try walking other paths, whether the Nature Dao or the Life Dao."

"I wonder whether any achievements made by the avatar will affect my true body. And beneath the Core Talisman, that Black Hole took shape when I inherited the fleshly avatar, yet it has shown no changes. Once the avatar's cultivation bears fruit, perhaps it will transform! As for the remaining two Mystic Hairs, there is no need to rush."

As he thought this, Qiu Yan was suddenly alarmed. He felt a chill spread through the avatar's living soul that had left its body.

It was a coldness that came from the soul itself. Then, as the airflow shifted, the disembodied living soul gradually began to break apart, on the verge of scattering.

"Not good! Without the restraint of the body and physique, the living soul is actually about to disperse!"

The living soul was essentially a hodgepodge, with the Three Souls mixed within it. Normally, it resided in the body, blocked and compressed by the Yang Qi of flesh and blood, and so naturally gathered into one mass. But once it left the body and lost that restraint, after some time it would spread through the air and breeze, growing thinner and thinner until it fragmented in all directions and finally vanished into the air.

The moment Qiu Yan obtained the Lying God Inner Art, he had tried cultivating it. He knew nothing of the taboos of Nature Cultivation. Yet because deity and man had divided into two, he had succeeded in a single step. Now that the living soul had left the body, he had fallen into such a predicament. Once the living soul completely scattered, it would mean the consciousness of the fleshly avatar no longer existed. The physical body would become an empty shell—the vegetative state of his former world, known in this world as Soul-Separation Disorder.

Not only that, as the chill rose and the living soul gradually thinned, Qiu Yan's consciousness found it difficult to control its direction. He could not return!

Just then, light flashed, and another figure appeared beside the table. It was the deity true body. With a flick of its sleeve, starlight shot from its fingertips and wrapped around the living soul suspended above the avatar's head.

At once, the living soul, which had already shown signs of collapse, shuddered. Its dispersal abruptly slowed, but did not stop. It seemed faintly inclined to continue scattering through the barrier of Divine Power.

"The soul truly is profound. Even Divine Power can scarcely isolate it."

With a sigh, the true body waved its sleeve again and tossed out a cloud of smoke. The smoke rushed toward the living soul and merged into it.

That cloud of smoke was precisely the Spirit-Calming Incense the Metropolitan City God had given him.

The next moment, a quiet and tranquil aura spread through the living soul. Smoke curled around it, gradually merging with the soul. Clear, resonant sounds of reading came from within, in the same tone as Qiu Yan's voice.

Deep within the living soul, memories of the past flowed like running water. They were scenes of studying bitterly alone by the window, lines from books engraved in his heart spilling forth one after another. Carried by the smoke, they seeped into every corner of the living soul.

Growing stronger!

The originally feeble and fragile living soul grew somewhat stronger after merging with those lines of literary Principle.

"What is this? This smoke first stabilized the living soul, then stirred the poems, essays, and strategies in my memories. It can actually strengthen the living soul? Could reading strengthen one's soul?"

With the help of that Spirit-Calming Incense, the living soul finally settled down. It no longer dispersed and had even grown somewhat stronger. To Qiu Yan, it felt like a drowning man suddenly being handed a swim ring, no longer at a loss.

Yet at that very moment, a heat wave swept in from all around and compressed the living soul. In an instant, the entire soul felt as though it had been tossed into dancing flames, unbearably hot.

The deity true body turned and looked outside the window. Red light seeped over the horizon, while thin purple qi spread through the distant sky.

"Sunrise is coming. This book repeatedly emphasizes that a living soul outside the body fears sunlight and vigorous qi and blood most. Just a thread of sunlight already makes me feel as if raging fire is scorching my body. Once the sun rises, I fear I'll be evaporated outright."

As he thought, Qiu Yan turned his mind, wanting the living soul to return to its shell. But as soon as the Divine Soul moved, it was blocked by the air, drifting aimlessly and unable to return.

"Good grief, the living soul is so weak that it cannot even break through the air. Projecting the living soul from the body truly is troublesome. If one is not sufficiently prepared, it can only be called nine deaths and one chance at life."

As he thought this, the light of Divine Power wrapped around the living soul flowed like water, pushing it back through the crown of the head. At last, it merged back into the body.

Then the scholar avatar opened his eyes, while the deity true body returned to the painting.

Letting out a long breath, Qiu Yan was about to rise when his body went limp and he fell back down. Then he felt his face burning.

"This first living-soul projection nearly ended in dispersal, and then I was struck by a thread of sunlight. It seems it still left aftereffects. I appear to have a fever."

Not long afterward, Liu Yue, who had risen early, discovered Qiu Yan's abnormal condition. The household immediately became busy, some fetching water and others preparing medicine.

"There are guests at the residence these next few days. Your cousin and I must go entertain them. Today, you must remember to rest well at home. Do not go anywhere."

After breakfast, Liu Huai and Liu Yue gave Qiu Yan a few instructions before setting off for the Pan Household. Only then did the house return to peace.

"The people of the Liu Household are truly simple and warmhearted. They hold nothing back in how they treat me."

After wiping himself down with warm water and taking medicine, Qiu Yan's symptoms eased. Looking at the Liu family bustling about for him, he could not help feeling moved.

After noon, just as he left his room to try moving about in the courtyard, pounding came from the gate.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The sound was loud and dense as drumbeats.

Qiu Yan frowned slightly, stepped forward, and opened the gate. A familiar yet somewhat unfamiliar face appeared before him.

"Young Master Qiu, you truly made me search hard." Wang Qiao'er stood at the gate, looking at Qiu Yan with a false smile. His eyes revealed undisguised malice and resentment.

P.S. First update today.