Realms of Being (1)

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Ja Sun exhaled deeply and examined his body from inside using his mental energy. Every day, Bright Goddess Butterfly would cultivate herself. She had become Ja Sun's spirit soul and his adventures also became her own adventures. And after reaching a thousand-year-old in cultivation, her progress had grown slow. After all, the next qualitative change will occur once her cultivation resembles ten-thousand-year-old. With Ja Sun, even if her cultivation speed had increased, without external means, her progress will be slow compared to Ja Sun himself.

His body had climbed up in strength once again. A rank 37 Spirit Elder holding the physical strength of an average Spirit Emperor. He, of course, couldn't compare to Bibi Dong. But he could easily contend against Xie Xan and others for they, too, could only use three of their rings. Instead of saying that he was benefiting from the sparring, it was much easier to believe that Liu Erlong, Ah Yin, Hu Lana, and Xie Xan benefitted from Ja Sun's impeccable mind of battle.

Weak currents of silver light flickered over his limbs. His first spirit ring quietly floated behind him.

He understood what Qian Daoliu meant.

His first spirit ability provides an all-rounder enhancement to his limbs. They would continue to provide the enhancement until his tank of spirit energy is completely depleted. But thinking carefully, why would the spirit energy deplete?

Ordinarily, a spirit master's spirit ability consumes spirit energy once and releases a spirit ability. It can be a ball of fire. Explosion. Duplicate swords. Anything is possible. Then there are abilities that constantly feed of spirit energy like Ja Sun's first two spirit abilities, Silver Burst and Silver Light Wings, and Liu Erlong's first ability Flame Claws also fell under this category.

In the latter category, if the spirit energy is consumed continuously, it would mean that the energy is being consumed somehow. Ja Sun's first thought was that since the energy is enhancing his limbs, naturally, it would be consumed to generate force continuously. And then after sparring with Liu Erlong did he realize that he was wrong.

The enhancement came with a form. Ja Sun's limbs glow with silver currents of light. Liu Erlong's claws are covered in flames, too.

What if the reason for constant loss and generation of the spirit energy was related to the forms instead of the bodily consumption. His thoughts struck bullseye and he instantly started to lose to everyone while trying to control his spirit energy from leaking through the currents of light.

He started from a smaller level of enhancement and only reached the capability to have such fine control at the 21% enhancement. He knew that at some point, there will be a qualitative change where the intensity of enhancement wouldn't matter and he would be able to keep his first and second spirit ability effective for an indefinite amount of time once he activated them.

With Bright Goddess Butterfly as his spirit soul, Ja Sun even started to meditate while connecting his thoughts with her. His pace in this regard was unnaturally fast but when others thought that Ja Sun would break through another rank, his cultivation had slowed down instead.

The rise in rank was partly due to his active efforts, and partly from the rewards he gained from the trait. With the mission changed, his speed obviously fell compared to before. And after constantly sparring for the last thirteen days, everyone started urging Ja Sun to quickly breakthrough.

He pissed on all of their hopes.

Ja Sun valued personal growth just as much as overall growth in the situation. His situation was connected with his group. His personal growth was connected with his own efforts.

Ordinarily, he would junkie his way out of an S-rank mission that will only be painful. But this mission needed time and concentration. Hurting oneself would only lower the progress.

Ja Sun temporarily called this realm 'inexhaustion' ability. After all, once started, Ja Sun wouldn't need to fear these kinds of abilities running out of energy. They already had their activated energy and will remain self-sustained due to his finer control.

But Trait revealed that this concept had a written note in this world. Previously, when Ja Sun wasn't able to understand the problem, he couldn't articulate his mission well and no mission was formed. This time, he managed to define an objective and a set of additional objectives.

[Objective: Reach the realm of 'Self' in control of spirit energy.

Optional Objectives:

1) Complete the objective in 8 months.

2) Complete the objective in 4 months.

3) Complete the objective in 2 months.

Mission Rank: C/B/A/S

Mission Rewards: Turtle Art/Unending Breath Art/One Breath Three Life Art/Sigh of Immortal.

Time Limit: 12/8/4/2 months.]

Considering that he had only accepted this mission one week ago, Ja Sun had one month and three weeks left. Clearly, this was a difficult mission. But, the trait always creates a mission based on his overall capabilities at the time. Who he was a week ago may not necessarily be the same now. So, Ja Sun would find ways to achieve greater control actively.

Still keeping his spirit ability activated, Ja Sun wore his clothes and walked out.

His mind was already quite distracted by the act of controlling his ability finely so he felt that raising the tasks might be a trick. This meant cultivating Heart Separation Control simultaneously.

"You're still practicing this? I thought teacher made it clear as a waste of time," Ah Yin's voice sounded from behind. The fortress was constructed out of logs and the narrow halls only allowed two individuals to walk side-by-side. If not for this, Ja Sun would have activated his second ability, too.

Hearing Ah Yin's words, Ja Sun smiled slightly, "What Teacher can teach and Master can hint are two different things. I'm just a pitiful fellow stuck in the middle."

Ah Yin smiled and shook her head. Pitiful? Him?

While they moved silently, Ja Sun occasionally glanced at Ah Yin's hand. Although their wrists would brush past each other, he found that with each touch, a slight sliver of his energy would leak. However, misunderstanding Ja Sun's gaze, Ah Yin had a short smirk over her lips.

'So there is something even he isn't bold in. All his talks are then false bravado in this department?' Ah Yin seriously considered. As a friend and as a competitor, the intensity of raw feelings she held for Ja Sun within the group was second to none. Although their relationship improved collectively, the only difference was that Liu Erlong would be closer to Ah Yin's and Ja Sun's group than the obvious couple.

They passed many rooms on their way. The classes were held in the large hall that once kept the slaves. But as the duo entered, they fell stunned. Standing next to the suspended board with two wooden legs was not the familiar cloaked figure they all were used to. For a moment, Ja Sun once again lost control of the energy he carefully built not because of the sheer elegance this woman brought but by the surprise of it.

Wearing a white training suit lined with purple patterns, long locks of wavy pinkish-blonde hair fell past her shoulder and her glazed pink pupils looked towards Ja Sun and Ah Yin. Giving a soft smile over her perfect face, the woman stated with a calm voice yet the hint of cheerfulness is something the woman teaching them seemed to oppose with every living breath.

"Don't stand there dazed. Sit."

She pointed towards the small set-up of chairs. Only five of them with the sixth one close to the figure herself.

While Ah Yin moved, Ja Sun stood there for a moment before inquiring, "Can you prove you are Bibi Dong?"

His sudden question stumped everyone. They knew he was crazy. But in their eyes, Ja Sun was already playing with the borders of craziness, stretching it as far as he wishes to.

"What?"

"I have observed Bibi Dong closely. Her voice, her height, her body's figure. It is my natural action to observe everyone around me. But I have not seen Bibi Dong's face. Anyone capable of copying Bibi Dong's other attributes can easily fool us with their original face. It might not even be going too far to think that the impersonator may be able to copy Bibi Dong's abilities for a short period. Until I'm absolutely sure that you are Bibi Dong, I will not enter the room."

As he said so, his flared up purple ring vanished but the sudden disappearance of power and strangely conserved aura matched with his gold pupils dulling for a moment, everyone held their breath.

"How do I prove then?" The woman tilted her head before narrowing her eyes, "And you need to stop observing a woman's body so closely."

"I want you to perform the same test that Ah Yin and I had to go through during our entrance in the Spirit Hall. And no, I will not stop observing those around me. But if you really are our teacher then no need to fret. You have an amazing body, like Ah Yin and Erlong. Cannot say anything about Hu Lana..."

A smile formed over Xie Xan's lips. Finally... finally their relationship wasn't subjected to Ja Sun's ridicule. It was a long journey but they reached there. Meanwhile, Hu Lana soured up. Why wouldn't she be considered as good as Erlong, Ah Yin, or the teacher?

Tone dripping with cold intent, Bibi Dong replied calmly, "Oh, I appreciate the compliment."

But her actions were completely different.

A white glow spread out from her body in a straight line towards Ja Sun. The temperature of the room fell instantly and everyone, including Ah Yin who has been able to resist bloodlust, and Erlong, who is capable of wielding bloodlust felt their spines tingle while goosebumps filtered their bodies.

Ja Sun stood there silently. Physically and mentally, he was strangely suppressed. This was still killing intent. His heart still wasn't fearful. But the killing intent had a physical form. He had felt this in the beginning, too. Now he was sure that this world actually had a way to solidify killing intent. Thinking of his own bloodlust, Ja Sun couldn't help but feel happy with his prospects. He wanted to know more about this method and seeing the eager expression in his eyes, only affected because of the physical nature of her intent and not the actual killing meaning behind it, Bibi Dong almost groaned out loud.

This was irrational at best and that is why she did not know what to make of this situation.

"Heh, you really are our teacher. That's a good thing then," Ja Sun smiled and easily walked out of the way. His actions alarmed Bibi Dong for various reasons and even Ah Yin felt stifled for a moment. She could practically see the nature of this ability because she had such an ability herself. The difference was that her ability was subtle, Bibi Dong's was overbearing. While Ja Sun had easily found her domain's weakness to be her own consciousness, Ja Sun's very existence seemed to be a counter to Bibi Dong's domain. Not a physical counter. But the counter of intent itself.

That's right, the ability Bibi Dong displayed was a Domain.

"Why is that good?" Bibi Dong exhaled and the surroundings turned peaceful once again.

"Uh," Ja Sun sat next to Ah Yin while smiling, "It is always good to have a beautiful teacher?"

Next to him, Ah Yin's heart gave rise to contempt.

'All talk, no bite,' She sneered internally, living her misunderstanding.

Snorting softly, Bibi Dong took a deep breath and gazed at everyone present. By now, it was quite clear that she was the real Bibi Dong. Even those who didn't know why that ray of light was the deciding factor, everyone did understand that she was the real deal. Hard to appease he may be, but Ja Sun had revealed his potent capabilities to Hu Lana and Xie Xan. They may not trust Ja Sun completely but they trusted his abilities.

"Today's lecture is about various notable spirit skills a spirit master can obtain. The path of cultivation is long and spirit rings aren't the only source of spirit skills. Aside from them, the publicly acclaimed Treasures of Bloody River: Spirit Bones, also provide additional spirit skills that may tip the favor of battle towards oneself."

Sitting down on her chair, Bibi Dong brought out five books and using her spirit energy, moved the suspended books towards the group in front of her.

"You will read these after I explain other sources."

Bibi Dong's smile stunned others once again but they quickly snapped out the moment she began. Even Ja Sun wasn't completely sure on how many skills he can obtain so he was interested in this, too. The Dragon's Observation may have held the path of human cultivation of the olden era but what about now? Are there any changes or not?

"Besides these two sources, a cultivator may use his existing abilities to create a spirit skill unique to him or her. This type of skill is known as self-created spirit skill. This skill may compose of a number of spirit rings or bones. This type of skill is divided into two paths, one, I already explained, that uses existing spirit rings and bones to create something new.

The other path is rarer and not seen even after thousand battles. But it exists. This type of skill is actually an ingenious use of our spirit energy. Certain paths in the body, a certain method of communicating with the environment. It can be anything. The most common spirit ability of this kind is actually a well-known technique amongst the higher-tier spirit masters is known as Spirit Compression technique that allows us to transfer our voice to someone else by compressing the sound using Spirit Energy."

Ja Sun blinked. He actually had the manual of this skill. A D-ranked skill but what Bibi Dong explained was way too different from that particular skill. But recalling the contents of the manual, he understood that transfer of voice was the weakest use of that skill. However, it did not suit him at all.

Taking a light breath, Bibi Dong then continued.

"Next is astonishingly rare. These are called Domains. A spirit master may live his entire life without ever being capable of learning this ability if the fortunes of the world don't support him. The actual name of this ability is Innate Domain. Each domain has a different effect and even spirit beasts, the most notable to wield this ability are a few known 100000-year-old spirit beasts that took the lives of many Titled Douluos.

This time, we will only read and learn about individual forms of spirit skills. Next lesson, we will read about Spirit Fusion and its varieties."

Read the book. You will understand everything."

With a soft sigh, Ja Sun read it.

He didn't know what that congealed killing intent was. But now he understood. It was actually a domain, too. So, he already knew all of this. But having more information never hurt him before so he opened the book and like others, began to read it silently.

There were too many spirit abilities written in. This showed Spirit Hall's foundation and the sincerity in nurturing this particular class.

While everyone was reading, Bibi Dong looked at them blankly. For a few minutes, they continued to read until Xie Xan slowly looked up.

"Teacher?"

"What is it? Did you not understand something in the book?" Bibi Dong inquired.

"No... but can you please not stare at us like that?"

"Khhu!" Ja Sun snorted a chuckle before his expression changed completely and changed to seriousness. Staring at Ja Sun for a moment, she then looked at Xie Xan.

"I understand," she smiled gently. Her entire demeanor had changed now. She took out a book and began reading it herself.

"Teacher," Ja Sun looked up, "It is said that controlling a domain ability can be hard at times if it is not inborn. Is that the same situation as yours?"

Bibi Dong looked and nodded calmly before focusing on his book again.

The reason he looked slightly serious was that he actually found One Breath Three Life Skill as a spirit skill obtained from Deep Sea Turtle Digger. The use of this skill is to keep one's spirit energy at a constant state of activation and this skill simultaneously reduces the buffer time of other spirit skills by 70%!

One breath to use three skills.

One breath to take three lives.

'If the rewards are related to completing the mission... then if I am able to know the meaning of reward, can I also understand my problems a little quicker?'

Ja Sun invested himself into the book completely.

His spirit ring silently flared behind him. Ja Sun sat at the last seat to the left and Xie Xan sat at the last seat to the right with Ah Yin and Hu Lana next to them respectively and Liu Erlong in the middle.

The act of activating his first spirit skill only disturbed Ah Yin momentarily while Bibi Ding gave a silent glance. She still disapproved of this training. But what she saw did manage to shake her opinions somewhat. The three of them after Ah Yin weren't the least bit disturbed. The fluctuations from Ja Sun, surprisingly, were extremely low as his hands covered by Vajra Gauntlets and his feet wearing the Wingless Covers gave a soft silver glow but nothing else could be observed.

Their lives fell into the disturbing routine of constant training once again.

It was only seven days later that Ah Yin and Ja Sun were actually led into the forest by Bibi Dong and the reason for this action was in front of them in the form of a Qian Daoliu reading a grey-covered book with the title: Me and You Again.

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