Parasite

As soon as Rider had left, Shuhang trekked towards Ophis with much difficulty. No surprise there seeing as there's a hand shoved in and prodding around inside his soul. Well... Its his nascent soul, but it has a close enough link between it and his 'True Soul' that affecting one would do the same to the other. No... They are one and the same at this point.

Of course, it's actually not supposed to be like this, and it wasn't. The nascent soul is only the materialized form of one's cultivation. The true soul on the other hand... well, the 'True' part is self explanatory.

Shuhang's nascent soul and true soul only became.... Linked after he had acquired the 3rd true magic, Heavens Feel. After the flaws were removed, Heavens Feel not only made his soul a 'perpetual motion machine', essentially making his power 'Infinite', it had connected his mind, spiritual senses and soul all into one 'impenetrable' and inseparable package.

In other words, the current nascent soul is actually Shuhang's true self while his physical body now became only a mere container. In a sense, Shuhang is already truly 'immortal'. The impenetrable part wasn't actually just a saying either, but a fact. At least it's supposed to be. Despite that however... How in the world is Ophis just casually shoving her hand in his supposed 'impenetrable' soul defense? As expected of one of the strongest being in existence and is comparable to the Holder of the Heavens Mandate... How scary.

Shuhang: "Phew. Uh.... Ophis? What are you --"

Once Shuhang made it to a close enough distance, he made to ask the mini dragon god what was happening. He didn't even finish his question when suddenly, Ophis made a jerking motion and pulled her hand out. Along with that, a strong shock wave was released and sent his inner world shaking once more. It's almost like high pressure water bursting fourth from a broken container. Ddraig who at one point resurfaced from the [Spirit Lake], let out an almost imperceptible grunt.

On the outside world, a similar event was playing out as well as an intense pressure was released from Shuhang's body. Along with it, another globul of black blood was coughed

out from Shuhang's body. Venerable White whom had a feeling 'something' might happen, sent everyone out of the room and put up a barrier beforehand, and had to work over time as this pressure had exceeded his estimation and almost leaked through. Had he not done this, everyone else aside from White himself would have been utterly crushed by the pressure... literally. It is especially true for the 'Fate' girls who were still for the most part just regular mortals.

Back inside, a great change was rapidly taking place. With Ophis' hand no longer in places where it shouldn't be, Shuhang felt as if he was suddenly relieved of a great burden. The toddler looking nascent soul was undergoing rapid growth and in no time at all... it grew to the age of a middle schooler with features that are reminiscent of a younger Shuhang. From the look of it, the nascent soul seemed like it hadn't finished its growth yet and only slowed down as it was still 'missing' something.

Along with the growth of his nascent soul, Shuhang's cultivation also had a tremendous growth as well albeit still technically in the 7th Stage Venerable realm. His new power output however is infinitely close to the peak of the profound sage realm even in just his base form alone. Should there ever be a need for Shuhang to fight an Eternal Life Being, there is a possibility of him capable of fighting one to a draw depending on the quality of their [Way]... Or as it is better known as Dao. As for winning...? That's not possible for now as even if he could [Boost] himself all the way to Jupiter and back, his current physical body wouldn't be able to handle the strain and might actually self implode. Not to mention the lack of 'experience' compared to those that lived for millions of years. In said case, he might as well just use Juggernaut Drive which didn't lessen the side effect at all. Rather, it would actually be worse than compared to overloading himself with an ungodly amount of Boosts.

Unsurprisingly, none of these new and unexpected growth were being noticed by Shuhang though. Currently, he was staring intently at the... 'Thing' being held in Ophis' hand. In it, there was a red, hazy, ephemeral aura covering a ghostly looking face that seemed to be wailing in anguish as it tries to escape both from the red aura and Ophis' clutch... and failing miserably as it only encouraged Ophis to increase her grip.

That is not the most important thing that Shuhang observed however as he actually faintly recognized the 'feeling' of this... thing that came out of nascent soul. Although faint, it managed to produce the same feeling as that monstrosity that devoured his clone back in the zombie world! The mere thought of this sent Shuhang's mind into a turmoil. Off to the side, Ddraig was growling and openly showing great hostility almost like a canine when they perceived some sort of threat. Again, Shuhang took no notice of this as he was to busy swimming in his own chaotic thoughts.

Shuhang: "I... Huh?!"

Misinterpreting Shuhang's confusion, Ophis responded in her customary broken sentences and emotionless tone.

Ophis: "This, is Baka-Red's, power."

Even though she's supposed to be 'emotionless', for some reason Shuhang felt as if Ophis is pouting at the mention of Great Red's name. Cute. Uh... That's not important right now! There is a more pressing issue at hand here...

At Ophis' answer, Shuhang couldn't help but come to a sudden pause... only to become confused even more than before.

(What the shit? Great Red? Why on earth...?!)

After what felt like forever, or maybe it was only a mere moment, Shuhang finally calmed down a little. At this point, only two questions remained at the forefront of his thought. 1- Why or when was there a piece of that abomination's soul inside of him? 2-How in the blazing hell did Great Red of all thing come to being involved in all this?