Dealing with Balls (Part 2) [Revised]

"It's simple," said the glowing ball of light. "When you first transmigrated to the Mountains and Seas Realm, what was the number one problem you faced?"

Hm, I don't know, maybe the fact that everyone and everything I had ever known had been replaced by a cutthroat world of cultivation?

Or the fact that I was unceremoniously dumped into a forest chock full of Spirit Beasts without an ounce of Spiritual Energy in my body?

Or how I almost lost my life trying find food in the forest, only to start foaming at the mouth later when I tried some berries?

"I see that you seem to be missing the point, so I will just answer my own question," stated the luminescent orb. Seriously, ever heard of privacy in one's own mind. Some people.

"It was the fact that your body possessed its roots in planet Earth, and thus it was incompatible with the Spiritual Energy of the Mountains and Seas Realm."

Ah, now I remember! Yeah, for the first five years or so I simply couldn't cultivate. It wasn't as if my talent was bad or anything, it was just that Spiritual Energy simply refused to enter my body and condense into a Manastone.

I remember spending some time experimenting on animals and slaves back when I was at the Hollow Core Stage to find out the root cause, and the results were interesting.

Apparently, this Spiritual Energy incompatibly really only affects humans, as animals just directly swallow spiritual energy to cultivate without having to refine it into a purer form.

"I see that you understand why you were selected. The Spirit Tide brings with it great changes to a realm's Spiritual Energy. Earth in particular has incredibly weak Spiritual Energy, so when the Tide arrives the Spirit Beasts will be the first to see advancements in cultivation. According to my projections, the highest level of cultivation currently on Earth should be Peak Astral Aura, although the arrival of the Tide should cause many Spirit Beasts to instantaneously break through into the Spirit Manifestation Stage. This is without taking into consideration the various other factions that may oppose humanity. Humans represent the core principles of Heaven, and thus should their species fall the Earth Realm will fall as well."

Well, that explains it. Since I'm already compatible with the Mountains and Seas Realm Spiritual Energy, I won't have to wait five years to begin cultivating and regain my strength.

Sigh, who would have thought I would be brought back from the brink of death just to be a baby-sitter for the human race?

As for that core principle thing, it really isn't anything special. See, the main distinction between humans and other creatures is that when humans die, their souls tend to stick around for a bit before entering the Underworld to be judged and then tossed into the reincarnation.

Now, this is where the core principle comes in. See, the Heavens are mainly responsible for two things in the mortal world, sending tribulations to test Ascendants and producing Spiritual Energy. Now, where could this Spiritual Energy come from? That's right, the lingering souls of dead mortals.

Soul decay (Like the term? I coined it) is a phenomenon where pieces of the soul splinter off, specifically that of the Bright Spirit.* These fragments are then purged of earthly elements and converted into Spiritual Energy, creating approximately 101% of the energy expended by the mortal when they were alive (even mortals expend Spiritual Energy, they just can't store or manipulate it).

Well, that's my theory anyways.

And in case you were wondering why it has to be mortals, Ascendants simply live too long and their souls are too powerful for Soul Decay to affect them. That's also why Ascendants have to face tribulations, it's like a form of population control.

"But that still doesn't make much sense. Even if I don't have to experience the adjustment period, you could have just picked a Spirit Circle Stage Ascendant and saved a lot of effort."

The radiant sphere seemed to pause for a moment, before emitting a pink light and stating:

"That... I never thought of that."

"..."

"..."

Well, its official. This glowing sphere is both sentient, and crazy incompetent.

"I was joking, contractor, so please retract your earlier thought. You were selected for this task specifically for your powerlessness, as those with too high cultivation would die immediately from Spiritual Energy starvation upon reaching Earth. The flow of my Spiritual Tide is gradual, after all."

"Sigh, whatever. So how is this going to work? Do I need to sign a contract, or will our agreement just be verbally binding?"

"Well," said the ball, which had regained its yellow hue, "we will both take oaths with our true name under the watch of the Supreme Lord of Radiant Justice Judecca, and then the contract will be established."

Seems legit. At the very least, I can safely rule out this entire incident being a ploy by some Devil for ownership of my soul, since they have their own copyrighted way of making contracts (apparently Devils all have law degrees, who knew?).

"Alright, then I'll start. I, Li Anjing, Great Ascendant of the 4th Path, Slaughter Prince of the Sanguine Church, and Immortal of Lost Dawn pledge under the Light of Radiance to uphold the terms of agreement that will next be stated, lest the flames of Karma reduce my soul and body to ashes. I will protect the human race from all threats for a period of 5 years, in exchange for a single wish within the capabilities of the Spiritual Tide of the Mountains and Seas."

"And I, Sour Dumpling Tea, Will of the Mountains and Seas Spiritual Tide, pledge the same."

Scarlet flames suddenly appear on my left hand, circling around my ring finger until a glowing circlet forms. As I look at Sour Dumpling Tea (seriously, who the hell named them that?), I see the same ring appear around its midsection. I hope to (non-existent) God this doesn't mean we're engaged.

"Don't worry contractor, you are far from being my type. For one thing, you are too skinny, and lack a smoothness to your form that I would find attractive. Furthermore-"

"Okay, Okay, shut up for a moment."

Seriously, I need to put a mind filter in place or something, else I'll never have any privacy.

"So, what's next?"