piratefiction Chapter 43: Soul Essence
Chapter 43: Soul Essence
Chapter 43: Soul Essence
Within an untamed forest, a shallow creek trickled and gurgled over a stony streambed.
An indigo bird flapped its small wings, flying carefree in the midst of scattered wild flowers. The feathers of the bird's wings seemed to glow a soft blue hue as they reflected the light of the sun, appearing extremely beautiful and majestic.
Soon, the bird landed onto a slender, pale finger, and was just about to retract its wings when the sound of heavy sprinting burst from the nearby grass, startling the bird so much that it flapped its wings frantically to take flight once more.
Standing on the creek bank, the owner of the finger lifted his head, watching the silhouette of the indigo bird as it flew away into the shelter of verdant leaves hanging from above.
Withdrawing the hand that once held the small bird, the man's fingers brushed aside his long silver-blue hair, vaguely resembling the clear water that trickled along beside him.
Another moment elapsed before a two-meter-tall, muscular man arrived behind him with a predatory presence, the overpowering scent of freshly-spilled blood accompanying his arrival. His body was bare, besides the long black hair that draped around his bronze-skinned, blood-stained physique.
He kneeled a distance away before glancing up towards the slim, similarly naked figure with visible hesitance.
The thin man did not speak, nor did he bother to turn himself around to address the new arrival.
"Sire." The muscular man bowed his head, gruffly forcing words out of his mouth. "One of the humans... escaped."
At the instant he finished his sentence, fine hairs raised all along the kneeling man's body.
An icy wave of irrepressible fear clutched the man's throat as the dribbling and splashing creek stilled to stagnation. The symphony of chirps ringing from the surrounding moss-covered trees deafened to dreadful silence. Even the leaves ceased their movements against the breeze as the scorching summer heat began to cool.
Rip!
Sounds of tearing flesh and fragmenting bone were incredibly resonate in the soundless forest.
The muscular man showed no signs of pain, nor did he say any words in defense as he tore off his own left arm and deposited it gently onto the grass in front of him. Not an ounce of blood leaked out of either the open wound or the fallen extremity.
The action was a clear show of penance for the neglect of his duties, a silent offering of his own flesh and blood.
As a few tense heartbeats passed, violent rustles emanated from the nearby patch of grass as the arm began squirming and twitching. Before long, black fur exploded out its bronze skin, the arm transforming into a huge, feline leg over ten meters in length, the sharp claws extending from the ferocious paw, gleaming with lethality.
To the kneeling Demon's relief, it appeared as though this beseeching display was enough to calm the man standing before him.New novel chapters are published on
Noise returned to the forest, the cool tendrils invading the air dissipated back to its previous sweltering temperature.
For the first time, the man spoke, his voice was low and soft amidst the purifying sounds returning to the creek.
"Clean up the bodies, Horux."
He turned around, revealing the tranquil face of a handsome boy, around the age of 16. However, his icy blue irises betrayed an aged countenance that starkly contradicted his young appearance.
"Send pride members to track the human. Tell the rest that we are to leave as soon as possible."
Horux bowed his head one last time, merely glancing at his gigantic limb lying on the ground before disappearing from his kneeled location.
The youth was alone once more.
He slowly turned back around to stare at the trickling creek, as if the small, but continual flow of the crystalline liquid held the answers to all the world's mysteries within its shallow depths.
...
The next morning.
It only took a heartbeat of silence before Vincent shook his head, already reconciled to his lack of basic knowledge that he, a 2nd Stage Qi Refinement practitioner and aspiring cultivator, should probably have thought to inquire about.
Cultivation is the slow process of integrating each of these three elements together into one. That is where humans are unique from every other lifeform.
Our Soul Force is weak and inherently immutable. Its only able to form a slight connection with the Profound Qi and the body.
Auslens eyes shimmered with faint envy as he turned his gaze toward the Peach Blossom tree. Soul Essence, on the other hand, has the powerful capability of direct integration with Profound Qi, strengthening the Soul Essence until the lifeform is ready to break through to the Lesser Demon Realm. And upon breakthrough, that strengthened Soul Essence can even integrate with the body, awakening the Ancient Bloodline and forming the Demonic Body.
Therefore, cultivation is the process of circumventing humanitys inherent deficiency, using the Demonic Body as a touchstone and guiding light in search of an alternate path to journey towards the Dao Auslen paused as he looked back at Vincent.
Vincent looked conflicted. The previously enlightened expression brightening his face quickly wrinkled with unease and disgust.
Demons arent Demons
Auslen sighed, already knowing where the child was going. You would be remiss to try decisively labeling Demon-kind, or any race and species, with terms such as bad or good. Demons are, just like humans, complicated creatures capable of performing both benevolent and malevolent actions when it suits them.
The frequency they dance between the two is merely dependent upon sentiment, benefit, and pleasure."
Auslen wasnt upset with Vincents thoughts. He had every right to be fearful of Demons. Years before the boy came to the Palace, from what Auslen was told, his parents were brutally murdered in their own house by a Demon during his infancy.
And Auslen knew firsthand the kind of wild destruction Demons were capable of. But, perhaps because he had to witness his mothers unnerving, violent bouts of emotional instability during his childhood, Auslen had gradually lost his initial wariness for the unbridled Demon-kind.
In his mind, both Demons and cultivators were nothing but beautiful, temperamental beasts.
Vincent's eyes lowered, and he no longer spoke.
Auslen turned his eyes away from the obstinate child. At 11-years-old, he was still too young to understand some things. However, if Vincent truly held a desire for cultivation, there would come a day where he would be forced to come to terms with his lingering resentment for Demons.
Leaving Vincent to his thoughts, Auslen focused on the Spell Formation before him.
Similar to the Profound Qi Transference Spell Formation, the Soul Essence Manipulation Spell Formation was another implementation for cultivating Pseudo Spirit Plants. But the procedure was much more complicated.
The Profound Qi Transference Spell Formation was the cheapest, easiest, and most often instructed method for an Apprentice Botanist to raise Pseudo Spirit Plants. It was incredibly useful for cultivators but frighteningly expensive for most practitioners, as practitioners couldn't acquire Profound Qi without the usage of Qi Refinement Elixirs.
Thankfully, there were other options.
White robes crumpled as Auslen kneeled. He put everything else out of his mind and placed his palms onto the Formation nodes with quiet focus.
Breathing softly as the Formation burst with illumination, Auslen felt an abrupt tugging sensation.
Auslen closed his eyes and did not resist.
Like a flash of light, Auslens perception extended forwards like dozens of invisible limbs. Soul Force shot through his fingers, flowing straight through a plethora of paths outlined within the glowing Formation until it touched upon the bark of the Peach Blossom tree from all sides.
Suddenly, Auslen felt an impossible mix of strange sensations. His Soul Force was coming into contact with some sort of almost-sweet, fluid-adjacent substance composed of nothing but untethered emotions.
Soul Essence.
Eyes still closed, Auslen sighed slowly as his Soul Force gently caressed the amorphous Soul Essence, doing his best to relax and adjust in preparation for the next phase.
A couple heartbeats passed before Auslens perception of his own body diminished until it was but a weak conglomeration of background noise.
He felt anchored. Stable.