12 - Nightmare

Soul!

A wave, a thought or a cumulation of thoughts and experiences. It's more than that however, it is the essence of existence, an embodiment of being. However, that's all a mortal soul is.

'His' soul though, is different. For 'He' is the Heaven's eye, the one of born of the laws, 'He' is embodiment of all that is and was. 'He' is more than just a soul. Even as a fragment, 'He' is more than most.

Wu Xing closed his eyes in the cauldron, his thoughts leaving him and the only thing remaining was the calmness. There was no anger, no regret, nothing at all. It was just him, but not all of him.

His soul threaded through the body, finding the remnants of soul force and binding them. His being flowed through these very threads and for the first time in many years, Wu Xing felt the world through a physical body.

'He' moved and stood up. 'His' eyes traced the wound on 'his' chest and 'he' sighed. 'He' looked at his enemy.

Gu Yen stared back for a brief moment after his short spiel and then lunged.

The world's spirit shivered and the world shifted. [Space] gave way and Wu Xing moved back. All Gu Yen found was empty air to cleave through, his pupils constricting into needles. "What?!"

"You are weak." Wu Xing voiced from the other side and Gu Yen looked back in fright. "Even after devouring so many creatures, this is all that you could become. A disappointment."

"Disappointment?!" Gu Yen ground his teeth. "You've no idea what I had to do to become the man of today. No idea what I had to give up. And you think I am what, a disappointment?!"

Wu Xing tilted his head slightly, "I see." He paused and said, "Angry at the world, so you sought power. But now, that very power corrupts you."

Gu Yen stilled. "You're not that kid, are you? Who are you?"

"Me?" 'He' pointed at himself. And smiled. "I am your worst nightmare." 'He' disappeared.

Gu Yen shuddered and sword cleaved, his body spining as he tried to find his enemy. "Geh?!" He looked at his chest, an arm jutting out where his heart should be. And in those pale white fingers was a still beating heart. "Beautiful." His thoughts left him and his eyes glazed over.

Wu Xing pulled his hand out, still holding onto the heart. The body fell with a thud, and he found himself sighing for the umpteenth time.

A wave of exhausting crept over him. The body's meridians and muscles a mess. He looked at the ashes in his hand that was one once a black bead. His soul strained under the backlash from his forceful possession and use of soul force.

This encounter had cost him a lot. A disciple, many resources and now even some damage to his soul. Hopefully this cave had something worth protecting, otherwise the man wouldn't have chased and killed Xuan Wen. And then, there was still this heart.

Wu Xing pulled the cauldron open and threw it inside and then ran. He didn't have much time before the body would drop dead for sure.

Deeper inside, the cave grew into a large cavern. At the middle, Wu Xing found a fissure in space that was being stabilized by a Spirit stone. He turned his gaze from what was probably a [Spatial Realm] and found a bunch of cages housing many beasts, no doubt raised by that guy.

Wu Xing walked upto them and found all manner of beasts. Among them he was only instrested in two; a [Golden Fire Fox] and [Spring Wind Fox], two elemental foxes lay silent within their cages.

Wu Xing strained his soul and his [Bloodline], a formless and oppressive pressure bearing down on the two peak Foundation beasts. They only let out a whimper before they fell limp within their contraptions.

Wu Xing opened the cage and pulled the beasts out. Then he withdrew his cauldron and made it big enough to fit the two beasts inside. Once he was done he sighed and the body fell limp and soulless once more.

As he considered it, it would be hard to find another aide in a small timeframe. It would be better if he could get a hold of a compatible body or something that could let him move around without any assistance needed.

Once Wu Xing found himself back inside the Soulscape of the cauldron he opened his eyes and pressed his hands together. A stream of soul force coalesced within his palms and threads extended from it to envelope the whole cauldron into a white light sheen.

Blood flowed through the body of the beasts and gathered around the heart that he had gouged from Gu Yen. Beastly essence flowed from the two respective hearts and melded into a core of blood red.

The red beads in his Soulscape gathered around him and unraveled into threads. These threads blended into the beastly essence and wrapped around it, compressing.

Wu Xing forced him soul force into the world and the laws flowed through his forceful ministrations into the blood core. It ground at the blood and Qi within it, and quenched the malevolent energy from within.

The process expanded for hours and Wu Xing felt his soul loosing all the progression he had made for these past months. He frowned but did not stop. The last black bead flowed into the blood core and stopped at the heart.

And as if a magnet, it attracted the [Godbeast Bloodline] that lay dormant within the essense of those beasts. With the heart from Gu Yen acting as a container and providing nourishment, the bead compressed and turned from black to white.

All the evil and berserk Qi was expelled alongside all the useless bits, like the blood and carcass of the beasts. What was left was a white, round ball of essense that pulsed with life and ambient Qi.

...

Right at outskirts of the Nightshade forest, Xuan Yun waited while sitting in meditation.

A soft breeze blew the leaves from the ground and he opened his eyes, finding a graceful young lady standing before him. Her fist was pressed against her hand as she bowed towards him in respect. She was Xuan Yu.

Xuan Yu raised her head when he opened his eyes and smiled, "Hope I didn't make you wait for long, father."

Xuan Yun smiled back. This was his daughter, his pride. He stood from the rock and said, "I just got here a few hours ago, how was the training at the Sect?"

Xuan Yun walked toward the forest and Xuan Yu followed a few paces behind. "It's wonderful. With all the guidence and the resources, it's only a matter of time before I am [3 clouds]."

"Hmm, that's good. Do you know why I called you here, today?"

"Is it because there is an Evil cultivator here?"

Xuan Yun nodded his head and said, "That's correct, but there's more important reason behind it."

"More important?"

Xuan Yun smiled at her curious expression. "What do you know about [Mystic Realms]?"

"A [Mystic Realm]?!"

For a young lady of a prestigious family, who was also a Core disciple of a top notch sect, there was no way for her to not know the answer.

A [Mystic Realm] was a treasure trove. That's how many would describe or even view it. But that was just one facet of this elusive realm; for it was filled with unimaginable dangers and traps.

It was primarily designed by cultivators of unimaginable strength for their successors to continue their legacy. Usually apperance of such a realm meant opportunities that one could exploit to further their strength, for that was one true law of the world of cultivation.

However, such realms were scare in the lower worlds like [Chaotic Sky World]. But if it really was a Mystic Realm then it was no wonder that Xuan Yun would move personally. What stumped her though was...

"Does the [Sky Sword Sect] know of this?" She asked her father as they moved deeper within. No beasts dared bar their path, as the aura of absolute oppressiveness permeated their surroundings.

"They do. In fact, I was the one who informed them myself; it's not a treasure Xuan clan can hoard for themselves. In exchange for this information, we were given the rights over it for ten years and your admission as a Core disciple."

Xuan Yu gasped and stopped in her tracks, "But father, that would mean–"

"I know," Her words were cut off before she could finish them. "It would mean that we would spearheading this realm and clearing most of dangers for them. But we have no choice; not to mention, it's not a bad opportunity for ourselves."

Xuan Yu nodded her head in understanding. It was true that if they could properly make use of this treasure, then their clan would surely grow stronger, even if the time span was short.

"We should be approaching soon." Xuan Yun informed and the two continued their journey in peaceful silence. Even though they didn't run, somehow the two made it to the cave entrance in less than an hour.

"This is it, let's enter."