Chapter 1101: Soul Condensed

Old Mi felt fear and trepidation, but Zu An instead felt a sense of intimacy. He realized something. The technique he had learned was the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra. As the name implied, it had something to do with a phoenix. Was this it?

The feelings of fear and intimacy combined together, giving Zu An an extremely strange and inexplicable sensation.

The scene changed just then. The phoenix seemed to be angry. It waved its wings, raining down fireballs from the skies. The dark space was immediately engulfed in a sea of lava. Many of Old Mi’s companions went up in flames, screaming as they fell into the lava, never to be heard from again. Even though all the members of their group were competent individuals with their own special skills, no matter what they tried, they still couldn't deal with the phoenix’s large-scale attack.

In the end, only Old Mi and a few others could escape. However, most of them were injured. And yet, none of them felt a sense of defeat; they instead became excited. They all looked toward a book bound in golden silk.

Even though the scene was indistinct, Zu An immediately recognized the book. It was the first secret text that had completely altered his fate, the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra!

What followed were things Zu An had expected. Old Mi had felt a sudden wave of greed overwhelm him and suddenly attacked the survivors. After killing all of them, he took the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra with him and escaped far away.

…

“So that was what happened!” Zu An thought to himself. These were indeed the most unforgettable moments in Old Mi’s memory.

Of course, one other thing was definitely hard to forget; it was the moment when Zu An had retaliated and killed him instead. But that had happened too suddenly, and Old Mi had passed away before that memory even solidified.

Zu An digested the memories while fully absorbing the soul power within the fragments. His soul finally began to condense and take form according to the method Mi Li had passed onto him. In the process, he experienced several attacks on his mind. But after what had happened previously, they were child’s play to deal with.

Soon afterward, his soul gradually took form. His soul was no longer something imaginary; rather, it gradually became tangible. A miniature person appeared inside him, looking exactly the same as him.

Mi Li didn’t have a flesh body and always interacted with him in her soul body form. That was what she relied on.

But why is my soul so little?

Mi Li’s is a perfect replica of her real self, but mine is like a freaking infant…

I’m too embarrassed to even show it to Mi Li.

At the same time, however, he discovered that his own perception was gradually becoming clearer. Before, he had needed to use the jade badge to sense most of his surroundings. But after, he could clearly sense the movements of every tree and every blade of grass around the courtyard.

Maid Xing and Gong Pan were standing guard at the entrance, as well as various guards and maids. There were also people from several different factions waiting outside. He even had a feeling that as long as he wanted it, the very lives of everyone around him would be within his control.

He sighed in amazement. No wonder those at the master rank felt a natural superiority toward those who were beneath that rank. It wasn’t just the strength that came from their level of cultivation; the experience of being at that level simply beyond the imaginations of all those who hadn’t reached it yet.

If one’s every action and movement could be perceived by the opponent, they could already sense what one was going to do as soon as one thought of it, long since anticipating the attack. What would be the point of fighting in that case?

When he had fought against Jian Taiding previously, even though he had all sorts of miraculous skills, and his cultivation wasn’t even truly inferior, it was precisely because of that sense that he had always been at a disadvantage during their battle. Fortunately, he had used his own body as bait. Meanwhile, Jian Taiding had never expected his body to be that tough. That was why Zu An had been able to turn things around.

Now that his soul had already been condensed, even though no one had taught him how to properly use it yet, he could start figuring out most of it himself. That meant he didn’t have to be scared of any opponents anticipating his attacks beforehand anymore. Of course, the side with the stronger soul would definitely have an advantage, but it wouldn’t be as exaggerated as before. The battle would depend more on his own skills.

He now understood why Mi Li had been so set on focusing on his soul, and why she hadn’t rushed him into breaking through to the master rank, making him condense his soul instead.

Even if he broke through into the master rank, he would still have to condense his soul bit by bit. He would still have just as much trouble if he faced a veteran master rank opponent then. But now that he had condensed his soul first, even if he faced someone at the late stage of the master rank, he wouldn’t be fighting a losing battle from the start.

He had an advantage in cultivation because of the secret manuals he cultivated to begin with. Every bit of progress required a sea of ki, so the amount of ki he had accumulated so far was no joke. As such, he wouldn’t be inferior to a master rank cultivator at all.

Forget about the fact that he had already condensed his soul ahead of time, once he did break through into the master rank, compared to other cultivators, his future would be limitless.

The miniature copy of him began floating around, as if it were about to leave him.

Mi Li had previously told him that once the soul formed, it could leave the body for a short period of time. It wouldn’t be too dangerous as long as it didn’t go too far. Of course, to remain in soul form for a long time the way she did was something only a grandmaster could hope to do.

Zu An tried to let the copy go. Sure enough, the soul left his body through his head. Seeing himself from a third person perspective really was a strange feeling. It was like watching a soul leave a corpse…

Pah pah pah! What the hell am I thinking?

“I wonder if Yu Yanluo is asleep yet,” Zu An muttered, looking toward her out of curiosity.

Suddenly, his eyes narrowed; he was so scared that he almost passed out. He saw that his hand was right in front of her chest, her eyes were completely red, and she was about to cry. She was clearly in pain from his grip. But she was just biting down on her lip, not uttering a single sound. She remained quiet, clearly having felt wronged the entire time.

What is going on?

Zu An finally realized that the softness he had felt wasn’t Old Mi’s memory; rather, he had been groping Yu Yanluo!

Who knew how many men in this world wanted to do something like that? And yet, only he alone had the honor of doing such a thing. If other men were to see him, just the Rage points alone would have been enough to drown him to death.

But he was a bit surprised. Why hadn’t Yu Yanluo resisted? According to their interactions, he knew she was definitely no weak bunny rabbit.

When he saw the look of worry in her beautiful eyes, however, he immediately realized what was happening. She had probably done so because he was at a crucial stage of cultivation, worrying that his cultivation might deviate if she did anything. Zu An felt warm inside when he realized that.

Suddenly, a wave of dizziness came over him. He felt his entire body start to become weak and powerless. Countless sharp, tearing pains attacked his body. Only then did he discover that he was already unknowingly floating back into his own head. It was clear that with his current cultivation, his soul couldn't move too far from his body yet.

After such an experience, he couldn't help but admire the truly powerful cultivators Mi Li had spoken of, and how their souls could wander tens of thousands of li in a single night. He was still too far off from that.

As such, he didn’t dare to act carelessly at all. He quickly used the method Mi Li taught him to guide his soul back into his body.

Yu Yanluo had been paying close attention to his condition, so she immediately sensed the change and exclaimed, “You have awoken?”

Zu An pretended to have a headache and reached toward his forehead as soon as he opened his eyes, groaning, “Ah, my head hurts.”

Seeing that Zu An had retracted his naughty hand, Yu Yanluo sighed in relief. She asked with a blush, “How do you feel?”

“I was cultivating my soul just now and experienced a bit of a backlash,” Zu An said as he opened his eyes.

“What?! You are actually starting to cultivate the soul? That is too dangerous!” Yu Yanluo jumped in fright. She quickly warned him not to be so reckless and impatient, or else his body and spirit might scatter.

“Thank you, madam, for your concern.” Zu An couldn't really explain the situation to her, so he could only change the topic. He asked, “Did anything happen just now?”

Yu Yanluo pursed her red lips and decisively said, “Not at all.”

Zu An was stunned. He had thought that she might criticize him, but she actually just pretended that nothing had happened. He felt both moved and conflicted when he realized that.

Yu Yanluo continued, “I have heard that cultivating the soul could easily lead to heart deviation, and that you would see all kinds of illusions. If you were to make even a single mistake, you might be trapped inside forever. Just what kind of illusion did you see?”

Zu An felt extremely moved. When he heard that, he instinctively replied, “Soft steamed bun.”

Yu Yanluo was stunned.

Zu An screamed inwardly, ‘I screwed up!’ He quickly said, “Ahem, I was sent to do odd jobs around the kitchen in the illusion and was constantly harassed by the head chef. I was forced to knead buns from morning until night. My hands felt as if they were about to fall off from how sore they were.”

“Why would you experience such a strange illusion?” Yu Yanluo ground her teeth. The one who is sore is clearly me, okay?!