Addiction

Hana's Soul Hall Domain.

The melodic sounds of Hana's voice chanting her version of Lightning Emperor Divinity Soul Cultivation Chant reverberated in the darkened, endless hall. All stars present were shining brightly while pulsating every time a wave of the chant washed over them.

The soul bridges were slowly materializing intermittently from all corners.

After a lot of practice, Hana was able to maintain her ethereal state while performing tasks in the real world. She didn't consciously sing out loud like before; instead, she made it into a habit of humming the 'song' under her breath while doing work. Although it didn't sound complete, the 'song' was at a full tempo within the Soul Hall Domain. Her soul was continuously chanting all the time.

At the same time, she was able to interact normally with her pets through face-to-face communication and telepathy. In other words, she managed to multitask with her mind!

If Arash was in front of her, she would've bragged about her achievements with a smug face. Many OP lead characters had their humble beginnings, and being able to auto-cultivate was one of the greatest milestone cheats towards their OPness.

"!!!"

Hana clutched her chest in pain. She felt a searing pain over her heart a second ago. The pain appeared and disappeared so fast, she thought she had imagined it at first. However, she had experienced such pain multiple times as of late, making it hard to ignore. The strongest one was two days ago, while she was observing the herb garden with Ta-chan.

Something was seriously wrong with her heart.

Am I getting a heart attack? I've been eating clean lately! I even exercise! How come?!

Hana was wondering if she should consult with a doctor. However, a creature who remotely resembles one was Ara, who was super clumsy and somewhat incompetent. She was more of a quack doctor rather than a certified one.

Hana would have a hard time believing Ara's diagnosis.

Hana sighed helplessly as the pain subsided a few seconds later. She took a couple of deep breaths to calm herself. As usual, the pain was gone as if it had never existed in the first place. So weird.

Sigh. Nevermind... Let's just wait and see. To be safe, I'll just carry around an All-cure pellet.

In the darkness of the Soul Hall Domain, a segment of a transparent bridge appeared. The bridge was ornate, thick, and resembled a structure rather than multiple connecting ropes. One end points towards the center of the Soul Hall Domain, where Hana's avatar resided. The other end of the bridge seemed to penetrate the void; no particular recipient was at the other end.

...

In the pitch-black darkness, Arash immediately tried to duplicate the same feeling he had gone through the last time he saw his beloved. He had totally forsaken Tok Silihan's advice on trying to feel the spiritual energy from his surroundings. He struggled hard to calm down again, to no avail.

His mind was jumbled up with a mixture of feelings, the ones he had suppressed so hard all this while. He was desperate to validate what he saw before, one more time. He needed to confirm that he wasn't hallucinating to stay sane.

Was he dreaming? Or was it really his beloved?

The possibility made his heart alive again.

He tried to recall how he did it the first time. He only remembered that he thought about Hana intensely...

...

..

.

A pair of hands were making big twisting motions at a moderate pace. They behaved as if they were directing an opera ensemble. Arash could watch that pair of hands all day, and he did just that.

About two meters away, a large, half-meter radius clear bubble was floating freely. Two extremely large fiery termites the size of a Harley, a pretty pinkish blue fish as big as a washbasin, a three-meter plus pink river dolphin, and a giant four-meter plus brown crocodile were crowding over the bubble, making it look tiny. Inside, brownish viscous liquid was sloshing about as if a gentle blender was moving freely within. All the abnormal animals watched the bubble with intense concentration without making a sound.

"Alright, guys! You did well! Maintain your pace! Excellent control, Kolo!"

Arash was convinced that he was now observing his wife's daily routine from a first-person perspective. The voice he heard was so familiar and nostalgic. It was not too light or too deep, but one could detect the owner's mood just by listening to the tone. Right now, it was sunny and cherry.

How he wished Hana would walk towards a river or something. At least he could see her reflection for once. He missed her dearly.

Although he was still confused with the names of his wife's pets since there were so many of them, he was positively sure Hana had mentioned someone named 'Kolo' in passing. He had to check his messages later. Arash shrugged it off and continued staring at that beautiful pair of hands busily dancing about longingly. After a while, he noticed that the hand movements were exactly the same as how the brown liquid moved within the suspended bubble.

How intriguing.

Did she control the movement of the liquid by herself? Or became the medium to be copied by the dangerous-looking animals near her?

If so, the presence of the animals could be explained.

From Arash's observation, the two bubble-covered fishes might be controlling the two-layered floating bubble. The termites with flaming antennas controlled heat, since the liquid had tiny bubbles within, and gas was released from the top of the bubble periodically.

Which leaves the giant crocodile.

It must be the one controlling the movement of liquid within the bubble. Hence, this one must be known as Kolo! That was why she was praising it.

Due to the lack of communication as of late, he knew Hana didn't have the time to tell him in detail about her efforts. However, he did generally know what was going on. After all, a large open field worked by thousands of orange giant termites was in the background.

Either way, his beloved was amazing.

In the wilderness lacking proper cooking facility she loved so much, she had improvised and made use of her unique pets' abilities to recreate a cooking vessel!

Though, Arash was still unsure what they were making.

When he finally succeeded in reconnecting, they were already working on the brown viscous liquid. Many hours before, the liquid was more than now and was watery murky white.

Q-chan dearest, send over someone to fetch the plates over, please? The ones on the shelf. Collect about ten of them for now?

Interestingly, Arash could hear Hana's mind-voice. It might be the telepathic communication she had been talking about all this time. Her voice and her telepathic voice were quite similar. The difference was the one he identified as her mind-voice had slight echos with little layers and was softer in volume overall. As if she was talking through a microphone with a low setting.

A few minutes later, another orange termite brought something that looked like high-end plates in a stack of ten! It was holding it with its two front legs over its head while the other four were used to crawl over.

Arash nearly spit the tube in his mouth from glee! He felt like he was watching Hi-def animation!

"Alright! Let's open the bubble gently, just a tiny hole, okay? See how it looked in your mind. Follow exactly as the picture. And pour the palm sugar out slowly into each plate, but not until it spills over, okay? It will be hot, so don't rush, guys. Once the sugar crystalizes, we will finally make kuih soon. Yay!"

Arash nearly choked!

All those efforts for making palm sugar?! My godddd! HANA?!

Unbelievable!

He was in between laughter and a feeling of helplessness! His wife was indulging herself in making random unimportant stuff with her pets! She didn't go through this plan with him for sure since he would've advised her against it and concentrated on making the farming field a success.

The feeling of weightlessness overcame him as he sighed exasperatedly.

He knew this feeling.

Tok Silihan was pulling him out forcefully again. Him being shocked just now must have triggered the Elder, thinking that he was in danger.

...

"What are you doing in there, Boy?! Are you alright?!" Tok Silihan looked through Arash's face, trying to find any trace of discomfort or pain. He had a reason to; Arash had immersed for more than 28 hours without food and water this round.

His first time was six hours.

His second was eight.

His current one, a whopping 28 hours! Even Tok Silihan still couldn't believe it! Arash's determination was beyond Tok Silihan's comprehension.

Currently, Arash looked gaunt, with eyebags under his eyes, though the eyes were shining brightly. His skin was cold to the touch, and his face was paler than usual. It was a sign of dehydration and malnutrition. However, he even smiled more radiantly despite his appalling condition.

"I'm alright, I'm alright, Tok. Having the time of my life. I really saw my wife this time. Really!" Arash emphasized his success for this round with a bright smile.

"Tok, I would like to enter again immediately. As you can see, I'm feeling great! Just a minor hiccup just now." Arash flapped his hand while chuckling lightly. He hadn't realized his overall condition had deteriorated terribly.

Tok Silihan was greatly appalled by the boy's frail condition. His vitality was so low, he couldn't even sit properly. It looked like the boy would have toppled over if a gust of wind blew by!

Tok Silihan held Arash's wrist to check his pulse, only to find that it was dangerously slower than usual. His body temperature was abnormally low too. How can this be considered alright?!

He immediately went to Arash's back and placed both palms over to forcefully sent in precious Spiritual Energy. The boy's vitality needed to be repaired somewhat for him to be able to recover naturally. He wasn't sure why it was damaged so severely. At the same time, he checked Arash's overall condition and the development of Arash's Spiritual Root, if any.

No sign of Spiritual Root.

Tok Silihan shook his head while sighing. He felt bile rising up, partly for being responsible for how the boy turned out.

Was Arash that bad? How long will the boy need? Could he withstand it before the damage to his health turned permanent? He had never seen someone so motivated, yet so... untalented. It was pitiful.

Tok Silihan took a deep breath, pulling in the rich Spiritual Energy into his lungs to calm himself.

He pulled Arash's ears lightly and strictly instructed, "You need to eat and rest! I forbid you to start the Reawakening Ceremony again! It's like you're addicted! This can't go on! You will really die!"

For once, Tok Silihan flew up and rained his wrath over the stubborn uncle. He couldn't comprehend how Arash was able to see his wife by performing the dangerous ceremony. He was so sure of it too! Tok Silihan was genuinely worried that Arash might have developed some sort of mental problem from the pressure, hence, the hallucination.

"Boy, eat the fruits this old one prepared. Everything must finish. Afterward, this old one will perform Energy Rejuvenation upon you. Something like a health check and booster. Sleep six hours. Once all these are done, you can try as many times as you want."

When Arash started making faces and wanted to whine, he added, "Do you know how long you've been here?! Three days! Have you forgotten something?!"

Arash was so shocked by the revelation that he couldn't retort Tok Silihan's harsh remark. The faces of Aira and Aina fleeted over his mind. He felt like he was being slapped by the Elder. Guilt and remorse clouded his eyes as he nodded weakly.

"Stop getting distracted. Forcefully throw away your strange addiction. You have one aim here, and that is the only objective you should think about!"

...