I was so close, so close to reaching the Eighth Layer. I mean, I could advance already, but then I wouldn’t reach the maximum strength possible. Maybe another five Spirit Realm Souls and I could cross over that threshold. Still, advancing Five Minor Realms at once was nothing to sneeze at.

While it was theorized that reaching the absolute maximum possible density of the Soul would give a Cultivator unparalleled abilities, Cultivation was already dealing with huge exponentials. Maxing out every Minor Realm would transfer you to the path of double exponentials, and those numbers became stupidly huge, fast. I was possibly one of the few people in the world who could do such a thing.

I stretched and exited the cave. It was night. The coast was clear and nobody bothered me the entire time. I reabsorbed what Qi was left of my doppelganger and packed Tiny into my ring.

I then tested the space around me and noticed it felt soft. I used a fraction of my power to twist it and then flew up above the trees. Looking at the sky I sighed with relief. Two familiar moons stared back at me. I was still on the same planet.

[Thank fuck.]

I was really afraid I would end up in another alien world. That would be too much to deal with. Still, as I looked around, I recognized nothing.

I flew higher and the air became chilly, yet the wilderness just stretched out in every direction. Wasting no time, I blasted off higher, flying as high as my powers allowed me. Nothing.

No recognizable landmarks, no human villages, and no abandoned structures. It was just jungles, barren mountains, and frozen peaks. There were a few rivers, though none of which had any signs of human civilization.

I leaned forward and accelerated. I flew in a large spiral from my landing spot, searching ever wider from the middle. After doing that for a few minutes, and getting no results, I decided to slow down and replenish my energy first. I was still low on Qi, not to mention it was still night.

I dropped down to the forest floor and leaned against a tree. Not any special, magical tree. It was just a normal tree. The kind with tiny leaves and soft bark.

I closed my eyes and spread my awareness wide. I let my Spirit Sense, as weak as it was since I was not in the Spirit Realm, stretch across the land. I already knew how to use its weaker version since I had so many memories of Spirit Realm Cultivators. I just let it flow and quietly observed.

The night was mostly silent, with just a few night critters chirping.

I spread a web of Qi around me up to a few dozen meters away, sensitive enough to know if anyone came, but hidden enough so they wouldn’t notice.

I knew my senses could detect them from farther away, but in case they were good at cloaking their presence, the web of Qi would break at the slightest disturbance, alerting me to movement.

Then, satisfied with my crude defenses, I replayed the recent events. I couldn’t do much with all that happened the day prior, but that sniper I fought against… His magic bullets were interesting. They were extremely dense and full of destructive potential.

I summoned a ball of Qi above my hand. It was transparent, barely visible, like mist. I began filling it up with more energy. It slowly became denser and more defined, gaining a golden color. Golden Qi. It was logical.

But then I intensified my push, and the sphere shrunk. From the size of an apple to the size of a marble. Its color became much deeper and it felt more solid. I watched it hovering over my palm as it began to leak.

The Qi coming out of it was dense, but not dense enough. I compressed it further. It was getting more difficult. Any imperfection, anywhere at all, and the Qi would try to escape. It would burst.

I encased the sphere with my Intent and compressed it harder. I could feel the pressure radiating from it as I pushed and pushed.

For a moment I let it relax, and the sphere expanded. I filled it with even more Qi, and then compressed it again. It turned solid like metal and gained that distinctive polished golden shine.

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I compressed it even further, my Aura suddenly exploding as I pulled on my emotions. I pushed harder. The yellow transitioned into a paler shade. On the way towards becoming white. Spirit Qi.

I held the pale yellow pea-sized sphere in my hand. It was a significant chunk of my Qi, and it didn’t leak. It wasn’t exploding. It was tightly held, its confines clearly marked by my mind.

I looked at it, observed it, and studied its structure.

I could change it. That’s what I thought while looking at that tiny ball of energy. I expanded it ever so slightly and then turned it into a raindrop shape. I then mentally flicked it, and it disappeared from my hand, into the distance. I saw the tiny glowing yellow dot get smaller and smaller as it pierced through trees, rocks, and small hills in its way.

A few seconds later I saw the sky light up for a moment in the distance, and then a loud boom and a shockwave blasted past me, ruffling my hair. A small smile formed on my lips.

I made finger pistols and play-fired at the center of that destruction.

[Headshot.]

My Magic Bullet was pretty effective. It used about 5% of my Qi, but considering how much that was, and how tightly it was packed, I wondered if it had a good penetrative power. It was quite fast and packed a punch, if it could just pierce through defenses like the sniper’s gun did, then it could become a perfect spell.

Though it was probably more suited for Spirit Realm Cultivators, considering I used inspiration from them. But who cares? I made it, I could use it. It was fine.

I stood up, satisfied with my little experiment, and stretched a little. I then summoned Tiny and went on a slow walk through the forest, first to see the destruction up close, but then to recover my Qi on the move as well. Staying still in one place for ten minutes and then moving after the Qi there was exhausted didn’t appeal to me.

I came to the clearing the explosion created. I stood at the edge of a massive crater, with the forest leveled for a hundred meters around it. All around the destruction was about 500 meters across. Massive destruction from a single bullet. And I could make another 20 or so.

I pointed and another golden sphere formed at the tip of my finger. It quickly became denser and then shrunk down to the size of a marble. I just needed to give the order and it would fly in a straight line at hypersonic speeds. I reabsorbed it all and dropped my hands. It was getting too easy for me to move and waste my energy.

The only problem was that I didn’t have enough. I needed to get more of it.

Of course, my Dantian would slowly grow over time to catch up with the size of my Soul. But that was so damn slow, one of the disadvantages of growing so fast. Energy capacity growth would be delayed. But for that, I just had to wait and my Qi reserves would gradually increase over time.

[Sigh… It is what it is.]

I took a deep breath and crossed my hands behind my back. With my stone guardian by my side, I took a leisurely stroll, breathing the fresh forest air. My life was peaceful and quiet. For the moment.

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I flew hundreds of meters above the ground in an ever-expanding spiral pattern, searching for something. Something that would tell me where to go. But there was nothing. The jungles and hills looked all the same to me no matter how far I went.

Unlike the last time I got lost, I didn’t even know the general direction my home was in. I was completely clueless.

After flying for a full day, I finally saw some change. The forest thinned, replaced by semi-desert terrain. The density of Qi dropped even further.

[Man, fuck!] I cursed and flew even higher.

To the west, the landscape was similar to the one where De Danw had his secret base, but I knew it couldn’t be the same. The plants growing down there were completely different. I must have been transported to the other side of the continent or something, if I was even on the same continent still. I could just as easily be somewhere completely different.

While I was sure it would be interesting to meet some people living in such harsh places, I had no desire to do that at the moment. Maybe when I at least knew the area. I definitely needed a map of some kind. Whatever I already had didn’t help in the least.

Having realized I probably went the completely opposite way to where I should be going, I decided to rest for the rest of the day and then turn back east in the morning. I dropped to the ground and made a small camp with a campfire in the middle. I wasn’t cold, I didn’t need it for cooking or keeping the beasts at bay, but looking into the flames was just something so relaxing.

I took a piece of meat out of my storage, flash-fried it with my flames, and then began to absentmindedly munch on it as I stared into the fire. After some time I heard a quiet squeak and saw a creature that looked like a small desert fox looking at me from behind a nearby boulder.

I scanned it and it could barely be considered a Cultivator. It was so pitifully weak.

[You want sum?] I said quietly and pointed at the meat in my hand. Its eyes were wide and clear with desire, but that was the flesh of a Spirit Beast. Or maybe it was Spirit Long Pig… Anyway, it would probably kill it if it had a small taste of it.

I instead took a small chunk of some random creature that found its way into my storage ring. Probably one of the Giant Rats or something. I tossed it over and the fox jumped back, hiding behind the boulder.

I urged it with a gentle voice, and after a while, it finally gathered the courage and poked its head out again. It carefully approached the piece of meat, sniffed it, and then bit it with its tiny teeth, dragged it a few steps back, and began tearing into it.

I smiled as I watched the poor creature devouring the meat like a starving beast. It made me feel a certain unfamiliar warmth in my heart. I guess that’s how one should feel when faced with such cuteness.

My mind was at peace.