Chapter 0057
Tempest turned toward Xing Zhi Hui for answers since she likes Xing Zhi Hui the best among those currently present and she figured since Xing Zhi Hui and Aria Se Jivock are partners, then she'd have some idea.
Unfortunately, she was doomed to be disappointed because all Xing Zhi Hui did was stare at Aria Se Jivock with hatred and betrayal.
“Uh oh, someone’s been keeping secrets.” Tempest thought.
There are lies and then there are lies of omission.
“Hehe, I don’t care what kind of lies it is as long as Aria Se Jivock gets what's coming for her.”
Today is truly a day of drama. Xing Zhi Hui rushed towards Aria Se Jivock with her sword drawn, ready to slice the annoying woman in two only to be pushed back by an invisible force.
Karma converted into power by soul force.
“What?”
The power used to push Xing Zhi Hui back is karma converted into power by soul force.
“How does that work?” Tempest was curious about the various different types of powers in the Cardinal Realm.
Soul force is the power of the soul. Karma connects two souls together. A skilled Soul Liner can absorb the karma lines as a source of power, either to enrich his or her own soul or convert it into soul force which they can use to attack or defend. In this case, Aria Se Jivock used the karma between her and Xing Zhi Hui to stop her attack and push her back.
“Wasn’t she considered a waste by her family because she was choked down by karma and couldn’t progress further?” Tempest didn’t know where the rumor came from, but the mercenaries take it as truth. Tempest has mistaken it as truth as well.
Yes.
“Then what is this?”
Soul Liners has a reputation for having the most convoluted way of thinking in the Cardinal Realm. I don’t know what Aria Se Jivock was thinking when she left her clan. It could be she only mastered the skill recently or it could be that she was testing her clan, to see if they are worthy enough for what she is planning, or it could that the power can only be used if she is near the person the karma is connected to. Never assume a Soul Liner is straightforward in their behavior. They always have a plan, a back up plan and back up plan for their back up plan.
“Are they ever influenced by their emotions?” Tempest can never see her living a kind of under the microscope life celebrities live. Having the power Aria Se Jivock has will put a strain on Tempest as she is more spontaneous and silly, unbridle and destructive, a little eddy slowly turning into something bigger. She can’t live a life where she has to consider the consequences of every action she makes.
They can be, but they tend not to be. One Soul Liner describes it as living the consequences of your action through a dream, then suddenly waking from the dream to the point in time when the decision was made.
“I see.” Tempest does understand. It is like all the reincarnation stories she reads about back on Earth. Instead of them being reincarnated, what if they what they saw was a precognitive dream created by their power? All their memories of the life they lived are nothing but their power simulating the consequences of their actions at one point in time. Their ‘reincarnation’ is them coming back to that one point and changing their actions to affect the future. They know some of the future event because of their power, but the butterfly effect of their action distorts the result their power shows them.
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A dilemma indeed.
Tempest turned to watch the drama as Xing Zhi Hui confront her partner.
“Aria Se Jivock, what the hell was that?” Xing Zhi Hui’s growl contained pent up rage and sorrow.
“My soul force.” Aria Se Jivock answered nonchalantly.
“How are you so strong? I thought you were abandoned by your clan because of your karma lines limiting your growth potential.”
Tempest nodded her head. That exactly what she wants to know too.
“I was.”
“Then how is it you are so strong?”
“I was always this strong.”
“When we were in training, why were you so weak?”
“Isn’t best to start from the beginning when learning a new cultivation method?” Aria Se Jivock asked in puzzlement. It is what their master told her. There is no shortcut to cultivation, so it is best to start from the beginning when learning a new cultivation method. If she were to skip the steps, then she might miss an important part and be stuck at a bottleneck.
Aria Se Jivock couldn’t understand Xing Zhi Hui’s line of thought. She told her she was the Se clan’s second most powerful Soul Liner. Didn’t it explain her attainment in cultivating the soul?
“Then what is the rumor about being the Se clan’s waste?”
“I was. I am. I can’t progress any further as a Soul Liner unless I find a way to clear my karma lines. The Se clan abandoned me. They didn’t abolish my power.” Aria Se Jivock answered with a confused expression.
Tempest took pity on the new comedic duo. “Aria, in terms of the Heavenly Mountain cultivation method, what is the highest level cultivator you can kill?”
Tempest phrased her question in such a manner because she knew cultivations can jump levels and kill higher level cultivators all the time. Cultivation does NOT equal attack power. Also, Tempest doesn’t know what level of cultivation in the Ethereal Depths equal to what level in the Heavenly Mountains.
“I can kill anyone at the Nascent Soul or below.”
“Then why in the world did we have to go through the hellish training?”
“I told you. It is better to start from the beginning when training in a new cultivation method. I won’t learn anything if I breeze through everything with soul force.”
Tempest had to tackle Xing Zhi Hui to prevent her from getting whipped by Aria Se Jivock again.
Tempest truly sympathized with Xing Zi Hui. She truly did.
Tempest can imagine the crazy type of training Xing Zhi Hui went through with Aria Se Jivock dragging her heels. Even though Aria Se Jivock said she was training in a new cultivation method, Tempest believes Aria Se Jivock put in the minimal effort and expected everyone else to pick the slack.
“Tempest, let me go. I want to beat some sense into the crazy idiot.” Xing Zhi Hui tried to shake Tempest off, but Tempest adamantly clung on her thighs.
“I would let you go if I think you can win.”
“I can still teach her a lesson.”
“You seriously believe you can?”
“Damn it.”
Tempest disengaged herself from Xing Zhi Hui with a snort. “Yeah, I figured.”
It wasn’t hard to figure out Xing Zhi Hui never won against Aria Se Jivock either in schemes or in a fight. She wouldn’t have been so forbearing if she could beat up Aria Se Jivock when she did something stupid or slacks off. Tempest got the feeling Aria Se Jivock push everyone’s patience to the utmost limit.
Aria Se Jivock mocked, “Are you two done providing the entertainment? When you’re done, I’ll explain.”
Perhaps the rare chance Aria Se Jivock was willing to explain her actions stopped the enraged Xing Zhi Hui.
Once Xing Zhi Hui calmed down, Aria Se Jivock began her explanation. “The Ethereal Depths cultivates the soul. Once a baby is born, the elders of the clan test the aura of the soul then use a special method to instill a cultivation method suitable for the baby. We basically start cultivating our soul the minute we are born. The Ethereal Depths has an advantage over the Heavenly Mountains and the Mysterious Wasteland because we start cultivating earlier. The flip side is soul force is very hard to cultivate. After a certain level, the cultivators from the other domain surpass us.
“Also note, during the entire time a cultivator from the Ethereal Depths cultivates their soul, they do not cultivate their bodies. Other cultivators calling us weak chickens are true. At higher levels, we use our soul force to strength our bodies to achieve immortality. Essentially, we are the opposite of the cultivators from the Heavenly Mountains. It is beneficial for me to cultivate the body using the method provided from the Brilliant Yin Sect.
“As to what I just did, well, every cause has an effect; every action has a reaction. You might not be able to see it but Soul Liners can by following the karma lines. The Twilight Assassin Guild decided they wanted to mess around with our test. All the members of the guild formed a karma line to everyone here when they lured the Iron Clawed Wolf Pack to attack us. I just grabbed the karma line and attacked the souls of the assassins in the Twilight Assassin’s guild. If they survive my attack then it mean there wasn’t much karma between them and us.”
Aria Se Jivock didn’t mention she used enough soul force to kill all the members of the Twilight Assassin guild she wanted to kill, regardless of their karma lines to the mercenaries here.
Aria Se Jivock’s explanation left the mercenaries in stunned horror and extreme awe at the powers of a Soul Liner.
Soul Liners are the ultimate assassins. They didn’t have to go anywhere or show their face to kill anyone as long as they have a karma line.
Tempest suspects there is more to what Aria Se Jivock was saying but people shouldn’t pry too deeply into other people’s secrets if they want to live.
Xing Zhi Hui turned around and walked away.
“Tempest!” Tempest was greeted with an armful of Aria Se Jivock.
“What?” This bipolar crazy woman. Tempest truly regret coming to this camp. One moment she’s a confused partner, then a scheming mastermind moving pawns in place with one scheme or another then she turns into a bashful young woman.
Tempest empathizes with Xing Zhi Hui. She really wants to beat Aria Se Jivock. Everyone who dealt with Aria Se Jivock probably wanted to beat her to a pulp.
“Ahem.” Aria Se Jivock cleared her throat to catch everyone’s attention. A foreboding feeling climbed up Tempest’s spine. It is the feeling a person gets when they know they are trapped with no way out. “I hereby present to you the Discipleship token of the Brilliant Yin Sect.” Aria Se Jivock produces a jade token with a flourish. “Make sure you arrive at the gates of the Brilliant Yin Sect within six months.”
Tempest believed she was turning into a parrot because all she could say is, “What is going on?”