What flooded into his consciousness made him feel that the answer he sought lay at the other end of the passage! So long as he could keep going.
The bad news was that there were countless spirits like this one, and the one he had slain was the weakest among them; or rather, this spirit, like him, had only recently been born. Otherwise, he could never have killed it so easily.
Sensing his own newfound strength, Hou Niao thought he might be able to go a few steps farther. At the very least, he had to find a way back, didn't he?
So he continued floating forward, familiarizing himself with this soul body as he went. Though he was far from satisfied with it, he had no choice for now.
Sure enough, he had not floated far before encountering a second wandering soul body. This time, already accustomed to the rules, he had nothing to hesitate over. There was no possibility of negotiating or communicating with these things. Their existence held only one meaning: survival or death.
But the instant they clashed, he realized he had been badly fooled. This second soul body's energy was roughly equal to the first one's. He had assumed that, being stronger now, he would kill it easily, but the truth was that he was being crushed on every front!
This soul's swordsmanship was incomparably sharp, its movements and turns fluid, its attacks vicious and coming from treacherous angles. Once its sword light rose, he, a prospective Quanzhen disciple, could not even find north!
Had its longsword not likewise flickered with unstable energy, appearing only intermittently, this fellow would have killed him with a single stroke long ago!
Even so, he did not last long. When one stroke failed to finish him, another followed. Beneath the spirit's tempest of attacks, Hou Niao completely lost the initiative. More than a dozen gaping holes were pierced through his body, until at last he could endure no longer and dissolved into a wisp of smoke.
I actually got thrashed by an incomplete, wandering soul?
That was Hou Niao's final thought. The next instant, he discovered that he had returned to the real world.
He was still sitting in the little courtyard. In the distance, the rogue cultivators' drinking party was still noisy, yet those sounds were incomparably pleasing to his ears. He was finally back, though he had never expected to return this way.
Carefully examining his internal organs, he felt that circulating his Dantians this time had brought considerable gains, but he could no longer continue. The vortex in his Purple Mansion had vanished, as though it had never appeared at all.
But Hou Niao knew that all of this had truly happened. It had not been an illusion.
He lowered his head in thought, striving to recall every detail of his time as a soul body, yet found no concrete solution. Nor did he know whether the same thing would happen the next time he circulated his cultivation methods.
His feeling was that it would!
Rising, he drew his heavy sword and stepped into the courtyard to begin practicing his swordsmanship. Whether this strange phenomenon appeared again or not, sharp swordsmanship would safeguard his growth.
In the material world, it could kill enemies; in the immaterial, it could strike souls. If he wanted his cultivation to proceed smoothly, he had to last longer in the Soul Realm!
The night passed without further incident...
The next day, when the Ziwei Star flickered faintly and dawn was about to break, the best time for morning practice arrived. Hou Niao drew a deep breath. Now was the time to test whether yesterday's events would recur.
He slowly set both Dantians circulating. He could now divide his attention between Dragon-Tiger Convergence and Joining the Same, Tracing the Source, controlling them with ease. When both Dantians reached their maximum circulation, that mysterious vertical eye appeared again at the location of his Purple Mansion.
It was as though it, too, had slept soundly through the night and was now opening its eye.
Then come on!
Hou Niao knew he could not refuse. So long as he persisted in circulating his cultivation methods, he would inevitably return to that mysterious Soul Realm. He had no means of avoiding it.
With a shift of his awareness, he was indeed back inside that passage. However, he did not see the spirit with the formidable swordsmanship, which made him breathe a sigh of relief. It was not that he was bolstering another's prestige while diminishing his own; improving his swordsmanship truly required time, practice, and more experience. It was not something he could master overnight.
He did not know how much benefit this round of circulation would yield if he were instantly sent back again.
For now, he still could not determine whether killing spirits benefited his Qi Gathering. His preliminary judgment was that there was no connection, but that still needed verification.
Last time, he had floated forward; this time, he searched ahead. His manner of movement was the same, but his state of mind was entirely different. Now he was acting deliberately, of his own accord.
He wondered how long it would take him to discover the truth of the Soul Realm. Surely he would not remain ignorant until his death?
The first spirit appeared, still faint and weak. Presumably, the spirits born in this place were all newborns. That was good news. Otherwise, if a spirit hundreds or thousands of years old appeared, he would not have even the slightest chance.
This kill was relatively clean, for his soul body was a tiny bit stronger than yesterday. Most importantly, his confidence had returned. With a steady heart came a steady sword, and with a steady sword came ruthless strikes.
He began to enjoy the fighting. He himself admitted that he was someone who liked slaughter. Battles like these left him somewhat tireless in his enjoyment.
But his good mood came to an end after he killed three spirits, because the spirit with the formidable swordsmanship appeared again.
He could not run, nor did he want to. He had to break through this trial himself! There would be far, far too many powerful spirits like this in the future. If he wanted to advance, he could not avoid a single one.
He charged resolutely forward, but courage was no substitute for strength, and spirits were not things that could be frightened. The battle remained one-sided. As he swung his sword in vain, his body was struck again and again, yet none of this could stop him from striking back, trading his life for his opponent's.
He lasted a few sword strokes longer than last time. That was all.
The red sun shone high overhead as a freshly washed Hou Niao left the courtyard. He felt he needed to come out for some air. He could endure the loneliness of cultivating alone in the courtyard, but spending too long in an environment like the Soul Realm truly weighed on his spirits, as though everything he looked at swarmed with bloody light and shadowy demons.
He had to change his surroundings and relax a little: breathe fresh air, look at the blooming flowers and plants, and listen to the cries of birds and beasts.
Most importantly, seeing unfamiliar, living people could also stir something in his heart.
Strolling along the grassy path, his mood brightened considerably. He was rather curious how cultivators practicing White Bone Blood Transformation soothed their states of mind. Or did they simply allow their minds to sink into depravity and become genuine demons?
In the distance, a graceful figure approached. Carrying a vermilion-lacquered food basket, Xiao Qiang walked up to him.
"I made some pear blossom jelly, a little too much... Thank you for swapping houses with me. My cousin wouldn't let me say it yesterday, but I actually like this bamboo grove very much. I just don't like those people drinking every day..."
Hou Niao nodded in understanding and accepted the food basket without fuss. "It's all right. It doesn't bother me, so you needn't dwell on it."
Xiao Qiang dipped in a slight curtsy and drifted away. This was a gesture, an expression of thanks, not a wish to get to know him and make him a confidant. A woman so beautiful and of such noble birth had no shortage of protectors around her.
Only her way of handling things differed from that of her cousin Dugu Lan. Deep down, she was just as proud. With the insight Hou Niao had gained from reading countless people, he would rather deal with someone like Dugu Lan than become involved with a woman like Xiao Qiang.
At the very least, Dugu Lan's desires were written on her face, while this woman kept hers hidden in her heart.
For some reason, however, the figure of another woman appeared in his mind, beside Jade Water, as graceful as a flying immortal.
He drew a deep breath. Whatever happened, the beauty of the human world could never be replaced!
As the verse went:
Deep within the courtyard, rosy mists arose; chanting formulas, holding thoughts, refining the three flowers. I heard Quanzhen possessed a path to immortality; when would the bluebird deliver cinnabar?