Soul cultivation

10 seconds later…

The wisdom brain owl finished his deed although it ate 400 kilos of brains every day the amount of excrement it released was only a small amount divided into multiple chunks totaling about a kilo at most including the one Liang Lu ate.

"Well… Liang Lu, what are you waiting for?" Lin Hao's will said with an urging tone.

Liang Lu inwardly sighed as he ignored the terrible smell that assaulted his nostrils and permeated his fingers he immediately shoved a small chunk of sagely glowing feces into his mouth and swallowed.

After the initial unbearable putrid taste, Liang Lu braced himself for the upcoming effect.

"..."

Nothing.

Liang Lu stood in place waiting for something to happen even after half a minute passed he didn't feel any change in his body.

"I…"

"!!!"

Liang Lu tried to speak but realized his lips barely moved. He quickly gazed around but realized his eyeballs moved at the speed of a snail.

'is this…' Liang Lu suddenly thought of something when he saw the wisdom brain owl that used to blink extremely fast now moving slowly as if it were in slow-motion.

'Time perception?'

Liang Lu remembered the speedsters in the comics he read in his previous life; their brains moved so fast that to them their surroundings seemed slow, almost like it was frozen.

'Maybe…' Liang Lu concentrated. Sending his consciousness to his aperture.

Inside the aperture nothing much had changed it was filled to the brim with initial stage rank 1 primeval essence and didn't have gu worms as the wisdom brain owl was outside.

Liang Lu noticed that the speed at which he nurtured his aperture walls had also slowed down accordingly.

'This…' Liang Lu was puzzled at first not understanding why someone would go through the hellish experience of eating the shit of the wisdom brain owl but soon realized how valuable it was for a wisdom path Gu Master or anyone in general.

'Although I can't do much with my body or aperture. My mind is moving insanely fast, my mind isn't getting tired, and I seem to perfectly recall even the smallest details of my memory. I'm even starting to recall some of the details of the novel that I didn't remember clearly or I had forgotten about.'

Liang Lu made some rough calculations by observing the current time and original time it took for the wisdom brain owl to blink.

'The wisdom brain owl takes about 40 seconds to blink. It originally took less than a second so my time perception is at least 40 to 1."

Liang Lu put those thoughts to the side as he concentrated on making full use of his advantage he split his mind into 3.

One to nurture his aperture walls, one to make future plans, and the last to review the information he had about the rank 5 wisdom path inheritance.

Such a situation was something new to Liang Lu. He usually concentrated his whole attention on a single task or like yesterday diverted some to nurture his aperture although he only had it since yesterday it was like second nature to him as if it was part of his body that was always there.

Splitting his mind into many tasks was also similar. Liang Lu could only guess it had something to do with the carefree wisdom heart physique.

"Do you feel the effects?" Liang Lu heard Lin Hao's will in his head.

Before Liang Lu could respond the will continued. "The effects and duration of the sagely glowing feces vary depending on the amount you consumed while they were still effective. If you are wondering, the sagely glowing feces accelerate and replenish your thoughts letting you get used to thinking at such high speeds. Currently 1 second in the real world is 100 seconds in your mind."

"How long would I be in this state for?" Liang Lu asked.

As if Lin Hao's will couldn't hear him, it continued explaining.

"I was planning to reward you when you get used to the effects of the sagely glowing feces but seeing how well you adapted and how outstanding your time perception is I will make an exception." Lin Hao's will believed it was appropriate to give some benefits to Liang Lu.

"I will send you a wisdom path inheritance in small portions if you can't handle the burden in your mind. Keep your eyes closed, I will know something is wrong." Lin Hao's will was careful not to overload Liang Lu's mind as it proceeded to send a small portion of the wisdom path inheritance of Old Loveless Xie.

Naturally, only the pointers, and cultivation experiences the rest were to be given slowly as rewards and the immortal-level things when Lin Hao officially took him as his inheritor.

"This… this is… amazing." Liang Lu wasn't stingy on praises compared to his mortal inheritance that had just scratched the surface of the wisdom path and the explanations were all over the place the immortal inheritance of Old Loveless Xie was systematic and was well explained in 3 different ways, one straightforward that simplified complex things in understandable words, one with intricate details, and one written poetically.

To make a comparison in modern terms the mortal wisdom path inheritance was like an old math book with outdated equations that were all over the place even skipping some explanations as it had been continued by many people who were still apprentices. Sure people could still learn from it but they would need to waste much time piecing together the information.

On the other hand, the immortal wisdom path inheritance was like the newest math book with a systematic explanation created by a peerless expert who had dedicated his life to it and had many years of experience teaching others. The comparison was like night and day between the two it was obvious which was better.

After Lin Hao's will gave the portion of the inheritance it spoke again "Analyze the information once a month passes I will test you if you do well I will reward you accordingly. If you have questions ask me."

…

An hour passed in the real world finally the effects of the sagely glowing feces were over. Liang Lu felt it had been days although so much time had passed from his perspective his mind was well-rested and sharper than usual.

"Welcome back, do you have any questions?" Lin Hao's will asked.

"You couldn't hear me?" Liang Lu asked.

"No. Anything else, do you feel a headache, nausea, loss of equilibrium, or suddenly question your existence?"

"...What?"

"No? Excellent I just wanted to make sure if you suddenly feel something wrong with your mind or body just mention it. Now to the next subject."

Lin Hao's will quickly avoided the subject and took out a few drops of a sticky white fluid that moved around as if they were alive and glowed with a white luster.

"You did well Liang Lu now as we had agreed on. I will let you have half of the day off in about 6 hours." Lin Hao's will then moved the white fluid in front of Liang Lu.

"These are condensed souls. I believe I didn't give you a proper explanation of the soul path, right?" Lin Hao's will spoke in a serious tone as it proceeded to explain the three methods involving soul cultivation.

"There are many methods to increase the soul. Some are better than others but they revolve around 3 aspects. Strengthening the soul increases the quantity usually it is painless and even gives pleasure. Refining the soul increases the quality and is a painful experience. Lastly, pacifying the soul is sleeping. It is the easiest of the three but if you don't rest your soul can get damaged or be destroyed. In some ways, soul cultivation resembles the human body. Eating gives strength and fuel to your body, it also gives pleasure. Exercising your body gives pain but also trains your body transforming the fuel into strength. Lastly, sleeping allows your body to rest. If you don't rest you die." Lin Hao's will explained the basics and gave its own take on it then brought up the main concern.

"The biggest problem for most soul path cultivators is either strengthening the soul as they lack resources or refining the soul as it is a slow and extremely painful process that can be considered self-torture."

Lin Hao's will paused, seeing Liang Lu paying close attention, it continued.

"I won't lie although my sect's specialty is the soul path it is a path few cultivate as many abandon it when they get to the part of refining the soul even among gu immortals many aren't willing to go through the pain of increasing their soul foundation as the returns aren't great for the amount of pain they need to go through not to mention the eventual dao mark conflict when the soul reaches a high level but you don't have to worry about the dao mark conflict. I have a method to cultivate soul path and wisdom path without conflict." Lin Hao's will reassured Liang Lu pausing for a few moments waiting for any questions.

"If it is so hard to cultivate, why would anyone cultivate it?" Although Liang Lu knew the answer he still asked after all he needed to put on a front from everyone's perspective he was a mortal who had just joined the gu master world yesterday.

"There are many benefits in increasing the soul foundation for enslavement path gu masters, they can control more beasts. When refining gu there is fatigue to the soul having a high soul foundation can help you diminish the effects and even shrug it off in case of failure when refining gu having a high soul foundation can save your life and diminish the effects of the backlash. For wisdom path gu masters such as yourself it can increase your mental capacity the soul and mind complement each other without a soul the brain can't think but without a brain, the thoughts created by the soul will be reduced and the soul will eventually dissipate as there is no container to hold it." Lin Hao's will listed some of the benefits of having a high soul foundation.

Liang Lu's eyes shone, it seemed he was excitedly reviewing the information in his mind.

After a few moments, Lin Hao's will told Liang Lu to swallow the condensed souls after he had done it Lin Hao's will took out a gu worm that looked like an extremely long tapeworm that shone with an eerie white light.

Noticing Liang Lu looking at the gu worm, Lin Hao's will spoke.

"This gu is called Soul Tapeworm Gu it is a rank 3 gu worm when you reach rank 4 I will give it to you but for the moment I will keep it and activate it for you as it uses a ridiculous amount of primeval essence in less than a minute the whole primeval sea of a rank 3 gu master will be drained but like an old saying goes you get what you pay for the effects of this gu worm is simply incredible."

Without waiting for Liang Lu's response Lin Hao's will activated Soul Tapeworm Gu.

Like a snake Soul Tapeworm Gu pounced forward at Liang Lu's chest instead of colliding against it the gu worm passed through Liang Lu as if there was nothing in the way Liang Lu only felt a chill as cold as ice inside his body that moved in all directions of his stomach finally moving upwards and entangling itself like a ball somewhere in his chest.

After the initial uncomfortable sensation, the Soul Tapeworm Gu started compressing itself. Out of nowhere, Liang Lu felt a satisfying sensation somehow reminding him of yesterday when he ate delicious food after eating ok to unsalted food for 15 years.

The process lasted about 2 minutes. Lin Hao's will called back the Soul Tapeworm Gu and told Liang Lu "Your soul is no longer a man's soul it is now an eleven-man soul."

Liang Lu noticed Lin Hao's will now had a warmer tone as if a doubt had been cleared he could only guess Lin Hao's will had inspected his soul.

Lin Hao's will had indeed done so when inspecting how much Liang Lu's soul had increased there was nothing suspicious and the soul looked exactly like Liang Lu with this Lin Hao's will could confirm Liang Lu didn't have any trauma that could significantly affect his progress.

As for thinking Liang Lu was an otherworldly demon, it didn't pass through its mind. The world was enormous, and otherworldly demons were extremely rare, to begin with, the probability of one being in his sect would be abysmally low. If only Lin Hao knew not just one but two were currently under his nose, who knows what expression he would make.

"My soul has increased by ten. Can it keep increasing?" Liang Lu curiously asked.

Lin Hao's will answered "Don't be greedy when strengthening the soul, you must be careful not to be lost in pleasure if you do your soul can be damaged. It is just like the human body if you eat too much you will have health problems not to mention like a filled stomach your soul also needs time to digest the souls. I stopped the Soul Tapeworm Gu before your soul was overwhelmed. In certain aspects, it is like finding a balance of the amount eaten to allow someone to work without affecting him negatively like a man that has eaten to the point of vomiting he wouldn't be able to even move."

"Does that mean the proper amount to strengthen the soul is ten? If so, how much time do I need to wait to strengthen it again?" Liang Lu asked.

"It is different for everyone but you will know you are reaching your limits when you feel a slight sense of bloatedness…" Lin Hao's will paused, not knowing if Liang Lu knew what that word meant. "I mean an uncomfortable feeling of being full when that feeling disappears. You know you are ready to strengthen your soul. Right now your soul is like the body of a baby it can't eat the same as an adult but as you increase your soul foundation you will be able to strengthen it further than the previous time of course you can't strengthen your soul infinitely eventually you will find that no matter how much you strengthen it your soul foundation won't increase when that happens it is the time for the hardest part of soul cultivation. Refining!"

Seeing how Liang Lu was extremely focused on listening. Lin Hao's will spoke again "Refining the soul is self-torture right now you don't need to worry about that. As for the condensed souls you consumed, you don't have to worry about losing them; they are stored inside Soul Tapeworm Gu."

Hearing the last part Liang Lu said "Master if the Soul Tapeworm gu could store souls why did I have to swallow the condensed souls?"

Hearing his question Lin Hao's will spoke again "It was so you could get a slight idea of how it feels to refine the soul if you had screamed for such a small thing that is uncomfortable at most I wouldn't have much hope in you as refining the soul is countless times worse."

"I see then when will I have to refine my soul?" Liang Lu asked.

Lin Hao's will quickly responded "When you reach your limit. Right now in about 2 hours, you can strengthen your soul again and increase it further than the last time. In case of reaching your limit, you need to refine the soul to increase your soul foundation. Bear in mind I will provide you each week with enough souls to strengthen it by one hundred souls. If you want to increase it further you need to get souls on your own."

After a further explanation, Lin Hao's will spoke again "There is plenty of time left before you are free for the day focus on nurturing your aperture I will guide you as for cleaning the sagely glowing feces I already did that and stored them for you I converted them into merit points you can use them to exchange for the contents inside greedy elder gu don't worry I don't want to rob my disciple the merit points I gave you are the same it costs to exchange them if you want you can take out any of the resources inside greedy elder gu in exchange for contribution points or exchange them for the sagely glowing feces although they already lost their effects they are still valuable mortal refinement materials of the wisdom path."

With that out of the way, Liang Lu proceeded to nurture his aperture walls while Lin Hao's will guided him and answered many of his questions.