Ch 167 – Souls and Spirits
Inside a certain hotel in America, a certain group of people can be seen sitting around in a single room on the highest floor of the hotel. The room had all of its windows closed, while invisible nanites floated all around the entire room, and also throughout the entire hotel.
Along with that, three figures surround a single person sitting on the fluffy white bed in the middle of the room. One was Gal Jum who has flowing red hair that was similar to a river of blood; Yokota Makoto who has fluffy golden hair and pure golden eyes; Qian Feng with long black hair, sharp eyebrows, and eyes that hold spectacular brilliance within.
In the middle of them all sat Isaac Deathwill in a lotus position. He has long, raven black hair. His eyes were akin to the abyss with endless depths, yet they shone with terrifying intellect that couldn't hide his genius. He wore a simple set of clothing consisting of a white shirt and black pants.
'All conditions are finally set. After trial and error, along with experimentations from this life, and the knowledge I accumulated in my previous one, I can finally enter the astral plane of existence!' Isaac calmed deeply, his eyes shone with excitement as he recalled his past.
As a Lich, his soul was directly stuck inside a phylactery and couldn't be normally taken out. With his soul inside a phylactery, it essentially gave him a form of immortality where he wouldn't die as long as his soul was safe and sound, but it led to a lot of problems along the way.
One of the most glaring flaws was that it made his cultivation progress slower, as his soul wasn't directly stored within his body so he will have a harder time nourishing it with mana when it was inside his phylactery. But he was able to solve that problem later in life, around a few centuries in as an immortal lich.
But one of the problems he was never able to solve was the fact that he couldn't enter the astral plane.
The Astral Plane of existence can be considered the dimension where all spiritual beings reside after they escaped the clutches of reincarnation, soul degradation, or other causes where the soul will die. In there, one would find an entirely different world where spiritual entities roam freely!
Isaac Deathwill was unable to explore that world for his soul was trapped in the physical plane of existence inside his phylactery, meaning it was essentially impossible for him to have first-hand experience entering the astral plane.
He was only able to steal memories or something similar to see what that world is like, but it wouldn't compare to personal experience. If he was able to enter the astral plane, his understanding of souls and death would have already elevated to another level.
But now? Now, he was living inside a body of flesh and his soul can roam freely, meaning he has the capability to enter the astral plane!
'With the spell matrix I devised painstakingly for weeks, and the bountiful amounts of souls roaming in the astral plane, I would not only explosively hasten my soul progress but even the other departments I am lacking in!' Isaac Deathwill closed his eyes, and the three Servants of his prepared for any mishap.
Quickly, he could feel his very soul like a flickering bright flame within his body and without any difficulties, he willed it to move, and moved it did. Like leaving a tight cage, he opened his eyes and found himself floating in the middle of the air and staring at his stagnant body sitting in a lotus position in the physical world.
'So this is what it's like to exist as a soul. With my soul in the phylactery, I had little experience moving around in this spiritual state.' Isaac Deathwill noted his own deficiencies and used his plentiful experience to quickly get accustomed to moving around.
Turning his head to the closed window, his eyes shone brightly and with a thought, he could feel his body moving through the air and passing through the wall of his room into the outside world. Instantly, a scene much different from what he has previously seen.
From floating balls of elements to towering spiritual beings that flew all around the air. Giant worms with white skin munching on other spiritual beings, to human-like spiritual beings that interact with the humans of the physical world, causing mischief and chaos.
There were the Yokais of Japanese folklore, ghosts of the western world, spirits, the true bodies of the elementals, and such. Some spiritual beings were strong, strong enough that they can cause substantial influence on the physical world, while some were weak that they can only mildly influence the world around them.
Some were special, like the elemental spirits that can directly affect the physical world but were far weaker than other spiritual beings around them.
It was an entirely new world for Isaac, and his eyes gleamed brightly upon seeing the scene. He could feel the countless spiritual auras throughout the city he was in, some were strong, some were weak, and some were distinct and unique!
What are spiritual beings? They are the spiritual manifestations, the souls of dead beings that managed to stabilize and escape from the grasp of reincarnation, spiritual death, and other causes! They had transcended the physical world and turned into beings far beyond flesh and blood.
Some can directly affect the emotions of others in the physical world, some can cause natural disasters like storms or earthquakes, and others can cause misfortune and fortune. The astral plane was a far wackier world that Isaac has zero interaction with other than the stolen memories he holds.
And now, Isaac can finally explore this plane to his heart's contents without obstructions!
Quickly floating downwards to the ground, he looks around the area and saw many unique scenes.
There were spiritual plants like flowers that were white and transparent, trees that bore spiritual fruit that gave off a strange aroma that only beings like him can smell, and strange motes of light in the sky that Isaac determined were soul fragments.
Soul fragments are the leftovers of souls that degraded and didn't manage to enter the cycle of reincarnation. Without a body to stabilize the soul and now left to wander the world, they become unfortunate souls that will slowly die as their souls dissipate with each passing second.
The only way for them to live longer is by finding a way to stabilize their souls and live longer. Some can eat spiritual fruits, use mana to nourish their soul, gather spiritual energy, kill other spiritual beings and use them to strengthen themselves, etc.
But some don't need to worry about their bodies disappearing, because they might be natural-born spiritual beings like elemental spirits and Yokais. Some might be ghosts, some might transform into an entirely new spiritual entity, and overall, there were nearly infinite possibilities in this new world.
'A soul fragment, this would do for my new spell's first actual trial run.' Isaac Deathwill approached a floating mote of light and stretched out his hand, and mana surged outwards to grab the soul fragment.
Quickly, he watched it disintegrate and got absorbed into his own body, and his eyes brightened with surprise as fragmented memories surged into his mind. It showed strange visions ranging from different time frames, and the final vision showed a burly man with hulking muscles fighting against a powerful S-Rank Monster—Tyrannical Gorilla Emperor.
"So, this is the way I, the fearsome Demonic Fist, die? Hahaha! Then so be it! Come! Come and taste the culmination of all my fist techniques! <HEAVENLY FIST>!"
Quickly, both of his arms ignited with a brilliant white glow as an overwhelming aura erupted from him. With shining eyes, he jumps forward and fearlessly throws a final punch toward the ginormous Tyrannical Gorilla Emperor. With that, the white glow disappears, indicating the end of the fearsome warrior titled the Demonic Fist.
Opening his eyes, Isaac stabilized his soul and processed the gathered memories from the mysterious being. 'To think I'd attain the soul fragment of an otherworlder. It seems like his soul was somehow steered off from the cycle of reincarnation and shattered into fragments. But it seems like they trained this thing called Qi, which is just another form of life energy! With a single fragment alone, it elevated my understanding of life energy to another level!'
Feeling the surge of experience, Isaac looks around and his eyes gleamed upon noticing the multiple soul fragments in the area. With one glance alone, he knew that those soul fragments belonged to Demonic Fist!
'If I can attain all of his soul fragments, it would elevate my life energy skills to the same level as Demonic Fist, but even beyond that! I'd also attain his complete set of qi-related martial arts, and elevate my martial art skills! To think there'd be a world out there that utilizes life energy for martial arts instead of mana, this is indeed an eye-opening experience!'
Without waiting, he swiftly moved through the area and used his superior soul-devouring abilities to completely gobble up the entirety of Demonic Fist's shattered soul. If it were any other spiritual beings, they'd only obtain an increase in spiritual energy and strengthen their soul, the notion of even receiving memories from Soul Fragments is a ridiculous idea.
But now, Isaac Deathwill has attained everything Demonic Fist has learned throughout his entire life.
'With Heavenly Fist, it can sacrifice lifespan for an explosive increase in life energy and attain a fearsome battle strength that is at the peak of S-Rank. Using lifespan for an increase in life energy is definitely more comprehensive than turning lifespan into mana. Using Qi, or life energy for martial arts truly is wondrous!' Isaac hummed as he processed his current gains, when out of nowhere, as if all of the strong spiritual beings in the city noticed something amiss at the exact same moment, they all looked up to the sky and saw it.
A flying soul that exuded the powerful aura of an S-Rank being! Not only that, one glance alone and they knew that the soul had no consciousness whatsoever, meaning anyone smart would know that they can quickly devour that soul without any problems!
'I must get it!' That rang in Isaac's mind as he felt intense greed for the soul in the sky. With it being so intact, he could quickly devour it and not just gain all of the soul's memories—which would be valuable as it belongs to an S-Rank being—but also because it could elevate his soul to another level altogether!
Due to the soul of Demonic Fist being shattered into fragments, the strength increase of his soul was only minimal. But with the one in the sky, it would potentially save him months of progress depending on how strong it is!
So without hesitation, a strong burst of spiritual energy exploded from below him and he flew upwards toward the unconscious soul in the sky. But most spiritual beings are smart as they lost the constraint of their physical bodies, so most higher-ranked spiritual beings also flew towards the sky with their own techniques.
From giant snakes that were tens of meters long, to gigantic eyes that had a long tail swishing from behind just like a creepy tadpole. They were all greedy and lusting for the soul, as it was akin to a gourmet meal presented to them for free, and the one who gets it would receive immense benefits.
But the true competitors were the S-Rank spiritual beings, and Isaac knew that. So, without hesitation, using his immense knowledge of souls and spiritual energy, he waved his arm, and rays of light hit all the S-Rank spiritual beings in the area without them noticing.
Without fail, he could see them suddenly turning chaotic and rampaging around the area, some even went to directly fight with one another, just like that, all of the true competitors had their attention turned away from the gourmet meal in the sky.
With a grab, Isaac hastily disappeared after using another technique, and quickly flew away from the chaos in the air and landed in a quiet alleyway. As the soul got absorbed, he could feel a treasure trove of knowledge appear in his mind as he opened his eyes with more surprise.
'A peak S-Rank being that has almost reached Z-Rank! But he, unfortunately, failed at the last hurdle and now his soul is mine! To think both Demonic Fist and this guy came from the same world of Auron, now, I have attained a higher understanding of life energy with both of their life and experience combined!' Isaac stabilized the increase in strength and nodded to himself.
'It seems like my increased luck is already paying off! Clover, you really are my fortune lover.' Isaac snickered before flying off once more, for he knew that there would be more lucky opportunities waiting for him due to his increased luck.
AN: This chapter has 2202 words.
(October 7, 2022 – 317th day of writing)