Chapter 59: The Crystalline Soul Body
Two more witnesses witnessed the events leading to Tang Mu's predicament. They were tiny humanoids that had concealed themselves within the murky and dismal deeper folds of the very fabric of space, where ordinary psionics could never hope to extend their perception.
The two tiny beings exuded an untainted air of holiness while possessing identical fairy-like traits, including faces like those of angels, long hair cascading down their small shoulders like silky waterfalls, and delicate petal-like wings that matched well with their long princess gowns. They were just like twins, with the only difference being their eye and hair color, which happened to be green for one of the entities and purple for the other.
The one with green eyes and matching hair color was Little Green, the same manifestation of the artificial intelligence system responsible for managing the Star God Pagoda. Her iridescent green eyes continuously flashed with complex emotions after witnessing another potential Star God legatee facing a lethal sonic attack that would likely end his life.
She had thought that this time would be different. She had assumed that Tang Mu, someone blessed with Mentifery powers, would be different from everyone else who had tried to inherit the Star God Pagoda during her billions of years of existence.
At least for a few weeks, she had entertained the belief that the lucky guy would rely on his immense potential to overcome all odds and finally become a qualified inheritor of the Forefather's legacy. But as of now, all her hopes and considerations for him had gone down the drain after he thought himself clever and faced an attack from an enemy much more powerful than him.
At that juncture, when Tang Mu's life was quickly draining away, Little Green could only sigh with tiredness. She was growing less confident about finding another soul who could inherit the Star God Pagoda before the cataclysm from the Inverse Worlds arrived. Aside from that, she felt unresigned towards the prospect of losing a potential legatee with immense fortune and destiny that could have matched her creator's legacy.
"Elder sister!"
She turned towards the only other being in the deeper folds of space who had also witnessed all the events that led to Tang Mu's current predicament. She looked at the entity that matched all her traits, including body size, beauty, power, and grandeur — the same being she had always known as an elder sister since she gained sentience after the Forefather gave her the gift of life.
"If we don't interfere, his clone will quickly perish along with his original body," she stated. "Are we just going to do nothing and watch another potential legatee lose his life? Are we just going to watch an entity that awakened an ability similar to the Forefather's prime power waste away in the tumultuous rivers of time and destiny?"
"The Forefather's instructions are absolute, and they are everything to us sisters," the elder sister in question answered, her purple eyes flashing with mysterious symbols. "The new legatee candidate must rely on his own powers to overcome the current predicament. Otherwise, we can only watch him perish and wait for the true destined soul to connect with the Star Orb."
"Sister Purple!" Little Green called out again. "Why make things so complicated? Our multiverse is already beginning its alignment with the Inverse Worlds. If we miss out on this chance, do you believe that we can still find another fitting legatee candidate who can match Tang Mu?"
"Those are not questions for us to answer," Sister Purple said simply. "Our only responsibility is to follow the Forefather's instructions. We only have to guard his legacy while waiting for the 'true' destined one. Everything else doesn't concern us. End of story!"
The two beings exchanged shocking words that clarified a few things and made their positions known. However, before Little Green could say something else to make her case, an intriguing development happened within the barren dimension that was the storage space of the Star Orb.
A fraction of the bloody pieces from Tang Mu's original body that had just experienced the sonic attack flickered into existence within the Star Orb storage space. But what was surprising was that mixed among them was a glittering blood-red crystal with a conspicuous green eye incorporating a striking vertical black slit as a pupil. It teleported into the dimension before landing near Tang Mu's clone, which was also convulsing and twitching — a result of the deadly attack that had decimated its main body.
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"This is a crystalline soul body!" Sister Purple's eyes flashed with unconcealed surprise after her all-penetrating sight landed on the crystal, which was unquestionably exuding vibrant waves of soul and vital energy. "How can such a thing appear in a lifeform yet to exceed the level of a rank one metaphysical being? How can such a bizarre thing even appear in a backward civilization in the unexplored fringes of the Psionic Universe?"
Sister Purple was so shocked. Her hands flew to her face, and her jaw dropped. What she was witnessing was so unexpected.
A crystalline soul body was the physical manifestation of the ultimate metaphysical attribute that combined the potent superpowers of Mentifery, Reincarnation Manipulation, and Self-resurrection, among other abilities, depending on its tier. It was also the crystalized embodiment of the ability to defy death usually possessed by powerhouses commanding the peak powers in the greater multiverse.
With such a crystalline soul body, a metaphysical being could manipulate the process of rebirth and reincarnation, allowing them to decide how, when, and where the target is reborn under certain conditions. The powerhouses with such a perk could also reconstruct their bodies and revive themselves upon death instantly or after some time if they could meet the energy needs to undergo the process.
Such were the obscene bonuses that came with a crystalline soul body. So, you can imagine Sister Purple's astonishment when she saw such a bizarre thing among the gory pieces of a being she had always thought of as a low-level life form. She was just at a loss for words.
Little Green's pretty mouth had turned into an O-shape when she also spotted the blood-red crystalline soul body within Tang Mu's bloody remains. But unlike her elder sister, she had already witnessed many surprises on Tang Mu's body. She had long known that the guy was beyond exceptional and that knowledge allowed her to compose herself within seconds before re-focusing on the current issue.
"Sister Purple!" She called out again. "What should we do? Do you still think that we shouldn't interfere?"
On hearing the question, Sister Purple sighed. "Even if we don't interfere, he will still rely on his crystalline soul body to undergo self-resurrection after some time."
"But if we don't do anything, the resurrection process could take dozens or even hundreds of years, depending on the potency of his crystalline soul body," Little Green argued. "By then, it could be too late, and the cataclysm from the Inverse Worlds might have already begun."
"I know," Sister Purple said and sighed again. "Let's do this. We can't interfere too much, but we can still use our own reserves to gift him a drop of the sap of the world tree of the Elven Universe. It's the only way and the only extent we can help him without going against the Forefather's instructions. As for the rest, he can only depend on himself."
"Yeah..." Little Green let out a silent cheer on hearing her big sister's words. She couldn't contain her happiness as she was a true-blue Tang Mu supporter.
The sap of the world tree of the Elven Universe contained a potent life force that could even help a soul close to death to return to its prime state. With that in mind, she was sure that Tang Mu would quickly recover if he got his hands on such a wondrous treasure. He might even exceed his past self and achieve higher levels of power.
"I will gift him a drop of world tree sap from my own reserves," she declared with a twinkle in her green eyes. Without waiting for her big sister's response, she waved her hand, and something incredible happened.
A basketball-sized drop of green and sticky liquid that exuded vibrant waves of life and soul energy silently flickered into existence beside her. Then, with another wave of her hand, she sent the treasured liquid that could cause even saints to go green with envy through spatial folds and towards the Star Orb storage dimension. She used her powerful mind to guide this wondrous item towards Tang Mu's crystalline soul body that was still working its innate magic of defying death.
"Little Green! What are you doing?" Sister Purple questioned on witnessing the development. Her eyes narrowed, and she quickly raised her arm to interfere. But just before she could master any force, she saw the massive amount of the Elven Universe's world tree sap landing on Tang Mu's crystalline soul body, which, in turn, absorbed the wondrous tressure almost instantaneously.
"What did you do?" Sister Purple questioned Little Green again.
"Don't pretend that you didn't know what I was doing," Little Green answered with a smile. "You said a 'drop' without specifying its size, and I gifted him a drop of the Elven Universe's world tree sap. Moreover, you could have stopped me if you wanted to, but you didn't. So, I'm guessing that you're silently supporting my actions."
Sister Purple shook her head. "Little Green! You're our youngest sister, and we have always treated you well. But that doesn't mean that you can be willful. That doesn't mean you can disregard the Forefather's instructions by favoring a candidate yet to become a true legatee."
"Big Sister!" Little Green's said with the most remorseful expression in the universe. "Forgive me! I won't do it again. I was only trying to help out a candidate who just made a single mistake and almost lost his qualifications to inherit the Star God Pagoda."
Sister Purple harrumphed. "I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. But this better be the last time you're doing something willful." After saying her peace, she didn't wait for a response but teleported away to her own area of jurisdiction to carry out her duties.
As for Little Green, she smiled with triumph on seeing her big sister depart. She pushed everything else out of her mind and started observing the goings-on within the Star Orb's barren storage dimension. She was eager to witness the process of Tang Mu rebuilding his body by relying on his obscene crystalline soul body ability and the incredible treasure that was the Elven Universe's world tree sap.
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