New Ethereal Core?

'She can fix my core?...And with the strength of a god??'

Damien who was only this close to despair felt a new wave of hope surfacing within his heart as he heard her words.

He suppressed his excitement and stared at the girl, "You are really...speaking the truth? And not just kidding me?"

"Hmph, this goddess wouldn't lower herself to lie to a mortal," said the girl with gleaming eyes.

"But didn't you just say before that you don't have the power to restore my ethereal core unless you merge with your other soul shard that has the power of restoration?" Damien asked with a puzzled gaze.

With a complete set of clear eyes, she said, "Well, I won't be exactly healing your ethereal core points. But since I have my Shard of Essence, I can manipulate the essence in your body so that I would be able to gift you with new ones after removing your old destroyed ones, that too with all forty-seven of your ethereal core points active!"

Damien, with an astonished gaze, said, "So, is this an ability of your Shard of Essence? In other words, one of your true abilities?"

"Actually, this is just one of the abilities I can do with my Shard of Essence. But of course, I don't have enough power to use the full extent of my abilities truly. Well, what I am exactly going to do is give you a set of ethereal core points that can adapt to your origin seed. Your origin seed rejected your energy before because it couldn't adapt to it. Right now, it is in a dead state because you have no power or understanding of laws at all. But once you start cultivating, the origin seed might help you once your cultivation reaches a certain stage and maybe give you the chance to comprehend a fraction of origin level laws!"

Damien's eyes widened in awe like a child's, "You mean I...could become a god?"

"Ha, don't get carried away. Just because you have the origin seed doesn't mean you will become a god. But you might have a chance to become a powerhouse among mortals or at most attain false divinity. But even then, you will still have to cultivate diligently. It would again depend on your potential and innate talent. Otherwise, with a trashy talent, you wouldn't be able to make use of the Origin seed and comprehend nothing from it. And it would just be the same as not having an Origin seed. So don't blame me if you find out you have a trashy talent."

The girl's word made sense to Damien since he knew that the Origin seed is the embodiment of a god's understanding of origin laws.

If he wants to comprehend the laws in it, he would have to be a prodigy who can easily comprehend laws; in other words, his talent should be at least sky high. Especially to at least comprehend a one-millionth fraction of a god's Origin seed. Only then will he have a small chance of attaining godhood.

"And also, since this is the first time I am seeing a mortal with an origin seed, I don't exactly know what will happen when you form an ethereal core around it. Either nothing bad will happen, or you might explode into nothingness. So, it's up to you whether you want to do it or not."

"What the hell??" It was like cold water was poured on him.

First, he was told that he wouldn't achieve godhood but only be able to achieve false divinity at most. But still, he was satisfied.

However, his excitement already lessened when he learned that he could only use the Origin seed if he had excellent talent and potential. But still, it was understandable since it was only natural and things couldn't be so convenient.

But when she told him that he might even die...then isn't this like a salesman enticing their customers to buy their products? Only to have their excitement die down when they find problems with it.

'The Origin seed inside him seems too strange...something I have never seen before. Will it even help him or bring doom upon him? I can't even exactly make out the laws contained in it...maybe once I recover, I would be able to find out.' The girl pondered.

The girl warned him because if something happens to him and he dies, she would lose a host, and she would have to find another person with a soul at least as special as Damien's to link her soul before her consciousness dissipates. Still, there is no telling whether she would be able to link with that person. Also, she would lose some of her soul essence in trying to fix him.

But if he remains as a useless cripple, she would have to sleep for centuries to restore even a little of her soul essence on her own without any hopes of merging with her other soul shards. 

And Damien would be long dead from old age, considering if he even lives up to that point.

So, it wouldn't be much of a difference if he dies now or after.

But if he succeeds...it can be a totally different story, and she will at least have a hope of recovering herself!

"So, are you up to it? Or are you going to chicken out?" The girl snickered.

Damien didn't even bother about her taunts as he was busy thinking about his life and death matter.

He got off his bed and stared into the girl's eyes. Clenching his fists, he said, "I will do it!"

He turned his head towards the window as he looked at the bright moon with a solemn gaze, "It doesn't make a difference if I die now or live the rest of my life as a useless trash only to die a dog's death as you said. In my previous life, I had been manipulated by a god, betrayed, hunted down by the world, lost my loved ones until I had nothing. The worst feeling I ever felt was helplessness and despair. My weakness caused the deaths of everyone I ever loved. Even now, my life and death depend on someone else."

He turned towards the girl, "But now, I have decided that I don't want my fate to be decided by anyone else. I want to create and control my own destiny...so that not even gods can control me! At least now I have a chance to fulfill my wishes." His tone was intense as his words were filled with zeal.

The girl could feel his firm determination and conviction through his words and gaze.

'Wow...I can't believe I didn't even find it absurd. Is it because of his determination or because I believe that he can actually do so because of the Origin seed?'

She understood that he must have had a hard life in his previous life. And strangely, she didn't even find it funny when he said that he would even go against the gods if he had to.

Damien knows that right now, he is nothing but an insignificant being who cannot even face off against the mortal cultivators in this world.

But that doesn't mean he would ever forget about the god who manipulated him to death!

The girl didn't comment anything about his pledge.

"Fine, but aren't you forgetting something?" The girl said with a smile.

Damien was startled for a moment before he said, "Ah, you mean the conditions. Even though I might even die, you are still so demanding heh."

He gave a wry smile as he said, "Okay...tell me what are your conditions then?"

She knew that he had already set his mind on this and wouldn't reject her offer. 

So she directly cut to the chase and answered: "The first condition, you must promise to help this goddess find her second soul shard in this world. I can fairly sense it but can't pinpoint it exactly from here. Not for any reason are you allowed to back out from this condition. This is one of the main reasons this goddess is even willing to help you by sacrificing some of her soul essence...what's left of it anyway. Before you think this is too easy, let me tell you that even if this shard is located in hell, you should bring it to me!"

Damien listened very carefully, and as she said, he didn't think it was very difficult. But when she said that he had to find it even if it meant risking his life, he realized that a soul shard of a goddess couldn't possibly be in a safe place...could it?

"Okay...but what is your second soul shard capable of?"

The girl's first soul shard, which has her consciousness, has the power to manipulate the essence of virtually anything. One of her soul shards has the power of restoration. Could the second soul shard be the same or a different one with different powers?

'Either way, It must have some great abilities considering how her current soul shard has the power to fix me.' Damien thought.

"You don't need to know now. First, you should focus on finding it." The girl said dismissively.

"Fine, what's the second condition then?"