Chapter 161 – Is that… Home?

Chapter 161 – Is that... Home?

Aiko was in pain, she felt awful, but a certain feeling bubbled inside her.

"SHUT UP!" She screamed at the top of her lungs.

The scream reverberated like a howl, a deep howl from a sleeping beast.

It not only pulverise the white fog, but also all of those strange rocks, vines and moss. The corridor returned to its former white colour.

Aiko unfortunately passed out after the scream. Her body lay motionlessly, but she was breathing slowly like she was sleeping.

The mist didn't dare to approach her as it was quivering in the corner of the final room, hoping that that monster wouldn't come for him...

...

Aiko woke up in an unfamiliar place. It was dark, very dark. Not even the [Dark Vision] could combat this darkness. She blinked a few times.

Under her was a sea of red and above her was a sea of black.

The sea of red tried to form something in front of Aiko, but it was unable to.

Aiko felt... at ease here, like she was back home. She wanted to stay here, but a deep voice interrupted her curiosity.

"You are too weak, you can't stay here."

That deep voice was without much emotion, but Aiko could feel concern from its voice. She wanted to call him an uncle, but her mind stopped her. There was something strange about this whole situation.

"You are confused, leave for now and only come when you are stronger."

The voice drifted all around her. She could not see the person or thing that talked to her.

She didn't try to find out about it and waited, soon a gentle feeling touched her Soul and she was sent out of this strange place...

...

Aiko woke up, she was back in the white maze, but it was back to its pure form without any blemishes.

Aiko felt good, like she slept for a long time, but her age did not progress, so it was truly just a feeling.

She stretched, looking around, but she didn't hear any voices.

She was slightly upset, but when she took a step forward, the scenery completely changed.

Aiko was in a large, well-decorated room. There was a pedestal in the middle of the room, but that was not the most interesting thing for Aiko.

She spotted a shivering translucent being.

It flinched when Aiko laid her eyes on it.

It dashed towards her, Aiko was ready to fight, but...

"Please spare my life, Princess!" He demonstrated the perfect dogeza.

Aiko was startled by that new and unfamiliar nickname.

The Ghost Cultivator sighed. "It is as you say, Master. If you allow me to nurture myself, I will be more pleasing to the eye." He hoped to regain his glory one day.

"Okay." Aiko's smile deepened, she had the perfect slave for her plans~.

Aiko hummed happily and his bad feeling intensified.

"You just have to swear on your Soul that you are my slave, you belong to me, you will never betray me and so on~" She giggled with large red eyes staring at him.

A shiver went down his spine as he heard a particular legend.

Most Demonic Beings had red eyes, but they were murky, from their mind being taken over.

Then you had Demonic Beings that had clear red eyes, but they had deep colours. Those were the Devil Folk.

Then there was the last group, only mentioned from Legend and Passing. Nobody in the Immortal World dared to slight them in any way. Not even when nobody was around them...

He gulped nervously. "W-will you let me live?" He was quivering. All paths now led to death, but not just death, but total annihilation, erasure of his entire being.

"That depends on how well you will perform." Aiko smiled sweetly.

He gulped. "I, a lowly Ghost Cultivator, swear upon my Soul that I'm no more than a slave to the grand being in front of me. I'm but a speck of dust that will roll and settle as my Master wishes. If I do anything to harm my Master, my Soul will disperse under her rule!" A small ball of light left his body and the same happened to Aiko, but hers was more animated.

Her small ball of light pulled chains made out of the blackest substance and chained the Ghost Cultivator's small ball of light. Then both of those lights entered Aiko's body and she could feel a faint connection, a string of life, in her body.

She could feel that if she wished, he would perish without any resistance.

She nodded slowly, but happily, her hair returning to her former, moon-like colour. "A wise choice." Aiko hummed.

"So, how do we nurture your Soul?" Aiko was a Beast and a Fox at that, it was very easy to nurture her Soul as that was what her species specialised in.

"Soul Fluid." He said simply.

"Soul Fluid?" Aiko tilted her head.

"It's ermmm..." He didn't know how much he could tell her without the Heavenly Dao making things difficult for her.

"It comes from other Souls." He said simply.

"Other Souls? From what part? Don't tell me it's from the Inner part of the Soul?" Aiko was concerned that she would have to touch the Inner part.

"Nononono." He shook his head hurriedly, he didn't expect that she would be so knowledgeable when it came to this kind of thing. "It's the Outermost part of the Soul. Not the Outer part, but the Outermost part." He created a recreation of a Soul for Aiko to understand.

"Do you see that slight hue?" He gestured at the hue that was forming around the Outer part of the Soul.

Aiko nodded slowly, it was barely visible to her.

"You can harvest that for Soul Fluid. It doesn't spoil under the right conditions and you don't have to use complex techniques to prepare it, you just need a tool to harvest it for you." He explained with fervent desire.

"Not to mention, since you are not harming the Soul, it will produce the Soul Fluid till the Soul perishes or disperses! As such, you are not breaking any Dao Laws!" He smugly said.

"Can I use it too?" Aiko tilted her head.

"This can be used by any being that has a 3-part Soul. I have not tested it on beings with fewer parts, but there were beings with more parts that could also use it..." He discreetly glanced at his new Master. 'That includes you, Master...'

"Oh..." Aiko smiled happily. "What do we need for that tool?" Aiko wanted to take this easy route since squishing Souls would still mean she had to engage with them, but with this, she didn't have to worry about that!