"Tell me, what element of Spiritual Soul did you awaken?" Xia Xuan-Xuan kept pestering Yanglin for his answer. But Unfortunately for her, it seems the latter has no intention to answer her at all.
His ear still has that stinging pain due to Xia Xuan-Xuan's thousand-years-of-pain attack.
Furthermore, he doesn't even know how to answer her question. Let alone knowing the element of the Spiritual Soul, Yanglin had not even seen the so-called Spirit of Mountain throughout his awakening process.
Instead, what appeared in his mind was a void space turned infant. It was an infant who also knew how to speak from the moment it opened its eyes.
If he were to make a random guess, perhaps Earth Element might be an accurate guess, based on how well the tiny peak is covered with green moss all over.
"I got no idea," Yanglin answered Xia Xuan-Xuan's question.
"Anyway... The village chief said that tomorrow morning, the seven of us would go to the library again to choose a cultivation technique we prefer. Just make sure you don't be late because if you do, you can't blame the village for providing a poor cultivation technique." Xia Xuan-Xuan warned him.
"Also... Don't you know that you can meditate and see what kind of Foundation Pills you can create? Won't you know what element is your Spiritual Soul when you complete the process? I think those who have no idea what nature their Spiritual Soul is associated with have started doing what I mentioned." she added.
"Then... I'll try what you said when I returned to my broken shack," Yanglin replied. He remained as a man of little words.
"I-I've awakened the rarer Wood Element Spirit of Mountain... But... You don't seem to be interested, correct?" Xia Xuan-Xuan was going to speak what's in her mind loudly but changed her mind in the middle of the sentence. From the look of it, she had started to give up on Yanglin from all the cold and emotionless treatment.
Yanglin caught what she said but remained indifferent. To the current him, there are just too many things waiting for him. With the addition of the Reliance System in his life, it only gets busier and not simpler.
Furthermore, He's unsure of how to speak with Xia Xuan-Xuan.
There are both eagerness and guilt in his thought of cutting ties with her. The longing to draw a clear line was due to the difference in their mentality. As he was no longer the same Yanglin before this, it was common for him to cut ties with all previous relationships.
As for the guilt, it was due to the condition of the mother and daughter pair. Although they had their ulterior motive, Madam Xia is considered a kind person for taking care of him since the death of his parents. Even a beast would still have a feeling, let alone a person like Yanglin.
Even if she lacked in many parts, mistreating him was not on the list.
And it was already hard for a woman in the Early Layer of Spirit Foundation Stage to live well while taking care of a daughter. Able to include him on her list of support was already more than what Yanglin could ask.
The path back home felt slightly longer than usual. It might be due to the current state of their mind.
Xia Xuan-Xuan's facial expression was as bitter as grapefruit as she was about to reach for the door's handle.
"I'll see you tomorrow. Let's go together to the library." Yanglin said before he picked up his speed and went to his wooden hut in a hurry. It was embarrassing, but he knew that this word has to be said, even if he's unwilling to do so.
They returned to their own homes with different feelings.
On Xia Xuan-Xuan's face was a smile, but it lacked interest on Yanglin's side.
Seated on his hard, stock-layered bed with a simple woven mat, Yanglin closed his eyes and concentrated on sensing the Spiritual Energy surrounding him. He knew that he might be reckless by trying to do everything without people guiding him, but it's not like he has a choice, anyway.
His effort to remember and copy the notes related to the technique in absorbing Spiritual Energy, refining Foundation Pills and body strengthening finally has their uses. Following them word by word, his consciousness soon entered a different timezone where only spirits, soul, and energy existed.
The greeny-tiny peak appeared out of nowhere once again. It acted like a funnel that absorbs the Spiritual Energy around him. The process was a prolonged and tedious one. Just like how the books stated, creating a single Foundation Pill took him close to an hour.
Since the Spirit of Mountain was a small realm of its own, Yanglin would naturally find the Foundation Pill created by it near the foothill. But the surprise does not end there.
It was an anomaly situation because there seems to be something else was produced along with the Foundation Pills. Leaving the timezone where only the spirit, soul, and energy existed, Yanglin summoned the Spirit of Mountain out again to get his hand on two beads perching on top of the grasses.
To his surprise, it was not one of the five most common elemental-based Spiritual Souls. Based on the smell of blood on the Foundation Pill he made, it was clear that he awakened a Blood-based Spiritual Soul.
But there's another issue. The second beads on the ground possessed an almost translucent, glass-like bead appearance. It has no distinctive feature other than a pretty stable Spiritual Energy and a beautiful appearance.
He had his suspicion that this Foundation Pill is likely related to the Clarity-Based Spiritual Soul. Unfortunately for him, the number of people that awakened a Clarity-Based Spiritual Soul is rarer than he thought.
There's only a sliver of chance where one Clarity-based Spiritual Soul user appeared out of ten thousand awakenings.
"I hope I'm not dreaming... Is this what people call lucky, to the point even buying a single number would let you win the lottery's grand prize?" Yanglin smiled with each of his hands holding a pill.
<<It's not a dream, of course. Did you forget about my existence?>>
The Reliance System appeared once more, this time, right beside him.