“ARGRG, who is attacking me?” The young man sitting in a cold cave suddenly spat out blood on the ground, his eyes even redder than the blood he had just coughed up.
Although the man didn’t understand who was attacking him, he could feel a foreign presence attacking his soul, trying to take it over.
But while the man was just a beginner on the journey of cultivation, he wouldn’t let himself be killed without defending.
Fortunately, The Mirror Blood Sect, which the young man was part of, specialized in souls.
So the young man used the only soul-attacking technique he knew: Soul Slash, in the direction he believed the attacking soul was.
“Few... what’s the hell is going on?”
‘Who would attack me here, for other outer disciples to attack me, they wouldn’t use a soul technique, certainly not such a strange one. But there is no way I could win against anyone besides another outer disciple.’
Fortunately, besides Soul Slash, the man knew 2 other techniques that were quite useful now. Soul Perception and Soul Manipulation.
Just as their names relieved, Soul Perception was like a sixth sense that allowed one to see souls, and Soul Manipulation allowed him to interact with them.
And what was revealed to him was a weak soul, clearly belonging to a mortal. But despite the obvious weakness of the soul, the young man felt this strange attraction to the soul. Certainly not romantically or sexually, but as if the soul was a window into great opportunity and strength.
‘Could I... capture it?’
The young man used Soul Manipulation to tear an opening inside his own soul, an incredibly dangerous and painful task. But the man persevered and with a mysterious strength he could make a hole large enough to grab the other soul, which was just floating around in the spiritual plane, and put it inside his own soul.
‘Who is Lucius Muller? What a strange name.’ The young man marveled at the strange black screen in front of him. It seemed to be flying in front of him.
“How do I make this disappear?” The man voiced out his thoughts being annoyed at the fact that he couldn’t make the screen disappear. What if other people could also see it?
He also tried to interact with it, but failed. Even clicking on the {Expand} didn’t do anything.
‘Does this artifact… belong to this mortal soul?’ It was a strange but rational explanation. It could explain the attack he felt towards his soul, and the reason the soul had captivated him so much.
But the only thing he couldn’t explain was how the weak soul had such a strange artifact.
*DING*
*DING*
*DING*
Soon, the bells of the sect rang and the young man realized he had wasted several hours on this strange artifact. But the night wasn’t entirely useless since he now had a goal in mind.
‘I’ll find a technique that can help me absorb that mortal’s soul.’
Unfortunately, obtaining a technique wasn’t very easy for an outer disciple such as him. While some could be rented for cheap, but the better the technique, the more expensive it became.
‘Fortunately, I have managed to save a lot of Sect Coins. But can I and should I?’
These 2 questions pressed the young man. Soul Devouring techniques weren’t rare, but because of their power and use, they were hard to obtain. And the young man was sure the only ones he could get were those with severe side effects.
But the even more pressing question was if he even should buy a soul absorption technique. ‘If this fails, I will have wasted a lot of Sect Coins. My future could depend on this.’
In a sect so demanding as the Mirror Blood Sect, even such a sect back could be fatal.
‘Ha, since when have I ever been a coward? A devil can’t be born of peace.’
With this determination, the young man properly dressed himself in dark red robes with the Mirror Blood Emblem. He also had a small pouch containing things such as his Sect Coins and Identity Plaque.
Normally, the young man would now visit the cafeteria to eat for the day, but he instead immediately visited the Sect Library.
“Give me your plaque.” Although the young man had already visited the library many times. The procedure remained the same.
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He would enter, finding a senior member of the sect as the librarian to whom he would hand his Identity Plaque.
“Hmm, Outer Disciple with 3 years. Alright, you can visit the first and second floor. You can take 1 technique with you and hold on to for up to 2 weeks.”
“Thank you for your guidance, Senior Brother.” The young man bowed, cupping his hands and addressed the librarian as respectfully as possible despite already knowing everything that was said.
But he had learned the hard way in the past what would happen if he didn’t respect his seniors.
Knowing the library quite well, the young man didn’t waste any time on the first floor, going immediately to the second floor in the section where more auxiliary soul techniques could be found.
And while the library was large, and the names confusing. After half an hour of searching, the man found something that fit his needs.
Soul Absorption: Exchange.
This technique allowed him to exchange part of his soul with another of equal value.
It was safe and had little downsides besides that, while the young man might be a cultivator, his soul wasn’t that much stronger. Making him suspect that he would need to sacrifice a large part of his soul, which could become a problem.
He didn’t stop searching, though, hoping to find something better. Which he soon did.
Soul Burning Absorption.
While not perfect, the technique allowed him to burn part of his own soul, which would give him enough Qi to then properly use the technique and absorb part of the new soul.
The benefit was that he would need to damage his soul less, but according to some of its users, a common, strong and temporary side effect was a strong need to act upon impulses for several weeks if not months.
The young man kept looking, but after another hour of finding nothing, did the young man give up and decide on the Soul Burning absorption?
While it was more risky, the gains were also better.
“What did you choose?” The librarian asked curiously. The only interesting thing that happened during his work days was seeing if he could predict what technique disciples would choose.
“Soul Burning Absorption senior. How much Sect Coins would it cost for me to rest this for a week?” The young man handed the scroll to the senior, he actually already knew what it would cost. But decided it was easier to ask this way.
“Let me look, 17 and for a week comes up to 119 Sect Coins.” On productive days, the young man could make around 5 coins a day or 150 a month. But then, accounting for the cost of his abode, food, and additional resources, the young man only managed to save around 20 to 30 coins a month. Which was already a lot for Outer Disciples.
“Thank you for all the help senior, here are the coins.” He handed the senior 11 coins, the senior only grunting to be left alone after his interest waned.
The young man departed with the scroll inside his hands, quickly scurrying to his abode. There, he opened the scroll, ingraining every word inside his head before even trying to use the technique.
With its dangerous nature, the young man began small, only burning the corners of his soul and slowly absorbing the mortal soul.
And for the first time since seeing the screen did change.
And for the next 3 weeks, did the young man continue this cycle of slowly burning small pieces of his soul and absorbing the other soul?
He could have done it more quickly, but seeing how uncontrollably the process could become even when only burning the edges of his soul, the young man decided to not be brash.
And finally, after 3 weeks, did the man complete in swallowing the soul within him?
The cost came at a burning a quarter of his own soul. Which although was a lot, could be healed similarly to physical injuries. Just at a much higher price.
Without hesitation, Ying Ce clicked on {Expand}, hoping to see this screen do something. He had bet it all on this, and while the screen did react, the awnser wasn’t what he had hoped for.
[Not Yet Unlocked.]
His eyes then shifted down, looking at the quests. Creating a sect was a preposterous dream for someone as weak as him. But he had nothing else to do, so he clicked on both {View}’s.
Looking at this, Ying Ce felt both despair and the will to rise up to the opportunity.
Although this artifact was incredibly strange, its very strangeness was also what made him believe it was something great.
‘But how do I start a sect?’ A sect should at the very least be founded by a late stage Foundation Building Cultivator. A realm Ying Ce might never reach in his entire life.
‘Well, I don’t really need to start a sect, I just need to fulfil these requirements.’
Both the name and headquarters were easy to accomplish. 1 Sect Coin can be traded for enough silver teals to live as a commoner for months.
With 10 coins, he should be able to buy a house in a relatively large village.
‘In 2 months, there will be sent out disciples to recruit in nearby villages. If I’m lucky, I should be able to poach a young child, trick them into becoming my disciple and then run away.’ If anyone could read his thoughts, they would have murdered him.
He was essentially betraying the sect and poaching a disciple. An act that if he was ever punished for would be enough to kill the entire village, he came from if necessary.
‘If I’m going to do this, I need to be extra carefully. I will need to either abandon or trade anything and everything from the sect.’ Even if he wasn’t sure, just the chance that his robes or coins could have a tracking formation on them was enough for him to need to abandon everything from the sect.
From the rumors, the sect had an incredibly large tracking formation spanning hundreds of kilometers and countless villages. They would then only need to place another formation on an item and they could find its location as long as it was within the larger formation.
Of course, Ying Ce wasn’t sure if this existed. But he had heard and seen enough to believe them.
‘Since I have around another 2 months, I should prepare as best as I could.’ His eyes now fueled with determination, Ying Ce felt ready for the task in front of him.
