68:
“A body is merely a vessel for the soul,” His predecessor explained, his expression ponderous. “I believe the benefits the beast master spoke of are more of a bypass than a true increase in Qi control. Atleast, not initially.”
“Why?” Xiao Feng asked. Beast Master Zen didn’t have any reason to lie to him, so he didn’t think that to be the case. If he did not wish to reveal certain aspects of the soul to Xiao Feng, then it made more sense for him to have withheld that information instead of lying to him.
“Prior to gaining enlightenment over your own soul, you were still responsible for cycling Qi within your dantian. However, a large part of the process is delegated to the subconscious mind, with your physical body serving as a conduit that takes the message to your soul. If I have interpreted this soul space correctly, it should allow you to eliminate the need for your physical body as a conduit, allowing you to reclaim full control over your dantian and meridians while enhancing your control and reflexes.” His predecessor explained, his tone sounding contemplative as he laid down his theory.
“Because I’m side-stepping the physical body as a conduit?” Xiao Feng asked.
“Correct.”
“So it’s not an improvement but rather, more a novel way of channeling my qi?”
“You are underestimating the benefits of this state,” His predecessor answered with a shake of his head. “Sure, you are unlikely to be able to hold on to this soul space in true combat, because you are not used to pain. Even if it had been me in your stead, I do not believe that it would’ve been easy for me to suffer from a physical wound and fight the instinctive desire to assess the damage with my own eyes. But you are not here to fight, are you?”
“Preferably not.”
His predecessor nodded, before continuing onwards, “Using the soul space in conjunction with the essence cultivation art will take some getting used to, but it is well within your capabilities. Moreover, I encourage you to use it in sparring. Being able to see for yourself, first hand, what you can do with a much higher level of Qi control will naturally benefit your prowess.”
“Can I do that now?” Xiao Feng asked, as his curiosity got the better of him.
“I thought you would never ask,” His predecessor replied, before a smirk stretched across his features.
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“Keep your eyes closed,” Xiao Feng’s predecessor commanded, his tone stern.
“But I can still see everything clearly,” He protested, his tone sounding wronged.
“This is your soul. You impose the rules here. Let closing your eyes be associated with seeing an endless void, a blank, dark space that holds nothing of interest.”
Xiao Feng tried to do as commanded, closing his eyes before they snapped open with a mild burst of panic. Shaking his head, he repeated the process, managing to keep his eyes close the second time.
“Good. Now try to visualize your body. It exists as sure as you do, so does the connection. You need to find it and hold on to the connection.”
“I’ll try,” Xiao Feng replied, his brows furrowing in concentration. Minutes bled into half an hour as he tried to strike a connection with his body, only to feel like a caveman who had been given the task of sculpting a house out of marble. Not only did he not understand the tool he had at his disposal, but the very task itself felt too nebulous to him.
Until Xiao Feng recalled the sequence of events that had led him to the gateway to his soul in the first place.
Recalling his own appearance seemed like a foolish endeavor, but there was a different anchor he could try and use. Xiao Feng was thankful for the dark blankness that made up his field of view, as it allowed him to focus on painting a picture of the menagerie from the perspective he last recalled.
A calm lake that concealed great depths was his perception of Beast Master Zen as he recalled his likeness. Xiao Feng didn’t stop there, of course, as he tried to remember everything from the hue of the barks of trees to the many spiritual beasts that resided within the menagerie’s territory. The bovine beasts that were called bi-horns, the long eared leporine beasts that zipped from tree to tree, the unnerving but seemingly docile worm that was coiled around a tree…
Most of all though, Xiao Feng recalled Beast Master Zen’s bonded spiritual beast, the umbral fang named Liulian, that was a tier 3 spiritual beast. While Beast Master Zen was not a combatant, Xiao Feng was sure that his umbral fang, which possessed an innate affinity for Darkness Qi, was more than capable enough for doing damage for the both of them.
The connection that was forged was like a bolt of lightning. Had another hour passed, Xiao Feng was sure he would’ve missed it. Instead, he reached for it and held on like his life depended upon it.
Xiao Feng gasped as his eyes were all but flung open.
Back in the real world, Xiao Feng’s eyes snapped open as well. He ignored Beast Master Zen’s curious gaze as he swiveled his head from left to right.
In his soul space, the imagery his eyes captured was painted over the manicured lawns of his college campus.
Including a life-like representation of Beast Master Zen, along with every other spiritual beast that had stepped into his line of sight.
“Giving up already?” Beast Master Zen asked, his jovial expression failing to conceal the bitter tang of disappointment in his tone.
Xiao Feng met the Beast Master’s gaze calmly.
Then, in one fluid motion, he called for every hint of Qi flowing through his meridians, before tugging.
In one fluid motion, it was pulled back into his dantian with almost no resistance. There was nothing extraordinary about the action he had just committed to. Pulling one’s Qi back into their dantian was essential to any task that required stealth, unless one wished to broadcast their location to every nearby cultivator.
But the sheer speed Xiao Feng had did it in…
Beast Master’s eyes went wide with disbelief.