‘What a powerful soul.’ Ben murmured to himself.

He had found the source of the familiar feeling, and was watching him crawl over the ground right now. Every now and then a animal would be attracted by the smell of blood and investigate, but they were all only as strong as a Qi Condensation warrior, how could they even think about going against Ben’s will?

He watched from nearby and gave orders to his group that was slowly taking over the country from the shadows.

There was a new favored concubine in the King’s harem, one who gently whispered suggestions in his ear.

A group of guest elders had appeared at Flowing Moon Sect. They displayed power that even the patriarch and ancestors had to acknowledge.

The Free Craftsmen had a new client that had provided enormous resources unseen in this corner of the world for hundreds of years. They also brought strange unimaginable designs. The chance to practice new and forgotten skills was too great a temptation to let go.

These actions didn’t go unnoticed, but when spymasters and information gatherers questioned these occurrences, they met with tragic ends, or sexy ones.

Faced with open confrontation, Lilith’s sisters all had at least a whole realm advantage in cultivation. In the shadows they were like fish in water. The country of Vorchin was helpless against the small invasion force.

Ben coordinated his people and watched Lin Feng. Using wisps of his aura he frightened away beasts that would be able to take advantage of his situation.

He took this time to inventory flora and fauna he saw.

The trees in the area were more similar to the trees back on Earth than the ones near Horned Rabbit Sect.

After some research he found that the reason for this was ambient Qi. All trees needed to absorb energy, back on Earth they used photosynthesis to take energy from light. Here the trees used photosynthesis and circulation of ambient Qi.

This explained why there could be moss and ferns in an underground cavern. How else would they grow without light?

Ben knew that this occurred with both animals and people as well. He needed to do more research on this process to figure out the details and see how to replicate this growth.

As it happened, there were two perfect subjects for this project in front of him, a boy and a pig.

The blue boar was easy to tame and control. It had a mind that was quite simple, it was either hungry, angry or sleeping.

There was some resistance when he first approached the wild boar, but the boar’s will crumpled like paper. The shadow of Ben’s aura was enough to make sure that its anger would never be directed towards him. After Ben sat on the creature and injected a small amount of neutral Qi into it, the boar was more than willing to follow his orders. Carrot and stick.

Getting the boy’s compliance would be more difficult, but not impossible.

---

Lin Feng was somewhat surprised. He never expected to get out of the valley, now he was crawling through the forest on his way back to the Lin family compound.

The pain was constantly at the back of his mind, attempting to erode his will. He pushed on with the single minded determination of a hero.

There was still little chance of him making it back alive, but even in little chance there was still hope.

Make firm your soul. Strive ahead. Take a step ahead, then another. One day you will see results. No one reaches the top without pouring out sweat and blood.

Lin Feng crawled slowly back towards civilization.

He should have been more careful in the stone valley. He shouldn’t have tried to gather that fruit when he knew full well that there was a beast guarding it that he had no chance of beating. That damned boar had driven him to this desperate state.

*Huff*

Lin Feng turned his head. There standing not six feet from him was that same boar.

Many thoughts ran through his head at this point. Thoughts about homicidal delivery trucks, wild pigs, the nature of the soul and the afterlife. Would be be forced to drink Granny Meng’s soup this time? Or would he reincarnate again with memories of his two previous lives?

There was no panic, only resignation. Lin Feng’s soul had faced much in his travels, the thought of death didn’t seem to be abhorrent to the boy with withered dantian and meridians.

*Munch*

The body of the boar had nearly covered up the silhouette of the man sitting on it. He had the same Purple Pear Strength Fruit in his hand and was eating it like an apple.

“Having some troubles I see.” The man said.

“Oh good, you’re not blind.” Lin Feng snapped.

“It must be difficult having a dantian like that.”

Lin Feng was completely startled. How could this man see his disability simply by looking at him? It took a Core Formation grandmaster to find out about his troubles, and he had to maintain physical contact to do so.

“Please, what can be done to heal me? I’ve been at the peak Body Tempering Realm for years now. I’m the laughingstock of the family. They treat me like a slave.” Lin Feng’s attitude took an abrupt turn.

“A heaven reversing dan would fix that, and I happen to know where to get one.” Ben did indeed know where to find one, it would be childs play to buy one with his influence over the marketplace.

“Please. I’ll do anything. I can’t stand this any longer.” The light of hope began to dawn on Lin Feng’s miserable existence, however, what the man said next just made him more confused.

“That is not your destiny. You are to walk a different path. The shedding of the mortal self should not go against heavens will. This is where most cultivators go wrong.”

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“The most perfect method of cultivation is that of your personal Dao. Focus on your own journey and disregard unimportant matters such as money, power and position. Try not to be influenced by unimportant matters like food, women, comfort and things like that. Only then can you cultivate the Dao of Soul.”

“You have a unique opportunity with your one of a kind constitution. Your crippled dantian is not a disability, but a chance to follow your correct path towards the eternal, undying Dao.”

This shocked Lin Feng even more. Could he see into his soul with just a glace? Was his most closely guarded secret known to this man?

The man said no more and let Lin Feng ponder.

Was the path to immortality not the path of Qi cultivation? This went against everything he had learned growing up in the Lin family. Strength was power and power was right, was it not? Who would disagree with this fact?

After thinking this through for several minutes, Lin Feng was more confused than ever. While he disagreed with the basic premise, he had to admit that there was a kernel of divine truth in the man's words. If what he was saying was even remotely true, Lin Feng needed to know more.

“Teacher. Please guide me” Lin Feng bowed deeply to the old man riding on the blue boar.

“I don’t know how you ended up here, but you should consider yourself lucky to have met me. You can call me Ben.” He reached down and offered his hand to the youth.

---

On the journey back the two talked about the unknowable Dao in it's many aspects. This was a subject that Ben hardly spoke of, having internalized it long ago back on Earth. As far as he was concerned it was quite simple, keep calm, cleanse the soul then do whatever you want without thinking too much about it.

There were aspects of the Dao that were unteachable and undescribable. These things could only be learned by personal revelation and experience. The Dao was both chaos and order, life and death, spoken and unspoken, wisdom and naivety, young and old.

The mindset of Lin Feng grew stronger with every mile traveled under the man. It only took an hour of conversation with his new teacher to ignite a spark in his soul that slowly grew. It was a cultivation of a different kind, Lin Feng was embarking on the path of cultivation of a different kind, the Dao of the Soul.

‘Fuck it’s getting tiring talking like this, I hope it’s worth the trouble recruiting this boy. If cultivated properly his Weathered Soul Body could be the strongest of all my interns, I mean disciples.’ Ben thought to himself.

‘I’ll have to keep up a better face if I want to recruit and train the best followers. Unlike back on Earth I don’t have a large pool of geniuses to draw from. I can only draw the best talent so I’ll need to work on my charisma. At least until I draw them close enough, then I can start ignoring and abusing them.’

‘I won’t let him learn that I’m also from Earth until I have too. I won’t lie, but I’ll let him figure it out himself. There’s no need to let him know that the reason for his low karma was his soul transferring from Earth. I’ll need to ask him about the cycle of reincarnation when he finally trusts me fully.’ Ben decided.

The pair took longer than needed as Ben regurgitated what he had learned as a teacher for decades. Most of the time he never applied this ability, but he had long ago learned how to targets a students weaknesses and strengths and influence them. He could give the boy resources and a cultivation method later, it would be better to temper his soul first.

---

At the gate of the family estate the guards present had to stifle their laughter at the sight of a old man and one of the servant boys riding a boar into the small compound.

It was easier to let them in, they were too lazy to carry the wounded servant back to the kitchens. The boar was somewhat remarkable, but it was the lowest kind of mount, even a horse would be preferable to a wild boar.

A subtle use of illusion Qi also helped the two think that it was a unremarkable sight.

“The true soul cultivator lives a simple, humble life. Food, a place to sleep and a purpose are all the Daoist needs for his cultivation. He faces the waves of tribulation like a strong granite wall. I don’t need to tell you what to do, you must live it yourself.” Ben preached at Lin Feng.

“I have three gifts from master to pupil. The first is a Impurity Cleansing Dan. It would help others with their cultivation, but your mortal body is unable to cultivate Qi. The most it will do for you is increase your vitality. Take it and practice your Dao in your daily life.”

Ben handed Lin Feng a low quality cleansing pill. These things were eaten by the slaves in Horned Rabbit Sect, even the outer disciples would destain them. Here on the outer edges of civilization they would be worth years of food for entire families.

“The next gift is communication jade, break the jade and I will hurry to your location if you need my assistance.” He gave Lin Feng a small tab of jade with a alarm formation inside it. If it was broken, the closest of his people would receive the alarm and hurry help him.

“My last gift is this.” He laid his hand on Lin Feng’s shoulder and sent his most gentle Qi into his body.

He used his mist Qi to knit the bones in his ankle together and strengthened his blood using his own new thread of blood Qi. It wouldn’t be a problem teaching the boy about blood refining later.

“Remember this, there are many who shine, I alone am dark.” Ben said cryptically.

He then used a simple illusion formation and disappeared along with the boar.

‘Jesus, I sound like a pompous asshole.’ He thought.