47- The soul

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Adel was confronted by the beast he encountered back in the monsters' regions of Katrina's clan as soon as he entered.

It sent him to the library after informing him that he only had a day to stay inside it before he had to depart.

Adel didn't ask the beast further since he suspected there were more issues behind what transpired, so he just silently nodded before proceeding to the library...

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Adel started going through the library before he first picked up a book with the title "What is happiness, and why do our souls yearn for it?"

It piqued his interest, so he began flipping through its pages.

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"... Happiness is the one goal that we seek for the purpose of success in life, and our souls yearn for all other ambitions or indulgences in order to achieve contentment..."

"...On the other hand, happiness is more than a delightful sensation of contentment or satisfaction; it is also a representation of the soul's fluctuations. Only the intellectual notion appears to be unique for mortal creatures, and a mortal life must necessarily be lived in accordance with rationality in order to be happy..."

"... For mortals to achieve genuine happiness, they must have sufficient control over their reason and emotions, and in which reason is the guiding principle... "

"...Because it is the function of all mortal creatures to live a specific type of life—and this lifestyle is an activity or response of the soul, indicating a rational principle—the function of decent mortal creatures is the superb and virtuous implementation of these activities and tasks... "

"...Happiness, therefore, is an endeavor of the mortal soul in agreement with brilliance and integrity, and it expresses itself after a period of time... "

"...Furthermore, it includes both moral and intellectual virtue, making genuine happiness both a contemplation and a practical action... "

"...But still, genuine happiness is not a simple task or a single-moment experience, but an activity of morality that must be accompanied by pleasure, an activity that cannot be appropriately exerted in the nonattendance of certain external and internal possessions such as friends, money, health, luck, and so on, as well as an action that involves all of the numerous and immeasurable possessions that allow a person to prosper as well as be self-sufficient and complete. And it is an undeniable reality among, benefits, and is dependent on society as a whole... "

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While reading this book, Adel contemplated that it described genuine happiness, but it wasn't his actual goal.

Then again, his final goal was trur death.

And genuine happiness would be just another emotion to him, one that could be controlled once one transcended what a mortal could be—by removing their gender, seven emotions, and six desires.

He shook his head before recalling why he'd come here—it was for him to learn more about the soul in order to achieve a breakthrough and ultimately be able to utilize mind manipulating arts, which would give his current prowess a significant boost.

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He continued strolling around the library, searching for books regarding the soul, until he ground to a standstill in front of a book with the title: "What exactly is the soul? And what are its components?"

As more knowledge entered his thoughts, he continued flipping through the book's pages.

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"...The soul is composed of three elements: Ba, Bo, and Bi..."

"...Ba represents consciousness. Most mortals' consciousness begins at the first level, when they have their five senses..."

"...It is recognized as the first level of conciousness that all cultivators must possess if they wish to cultivate their conciousness..."

"...The sixth sense, which consists of merging all five senses into a sixth sense, is the next level in cultivating consciousness. On this second level, the cultivator can link their consciousness with the third soul element, Bi..."

"...The third soul element, Bi, is an element that a cultivator can form if they have gained sufficient insight into their consciousness and have traveled considerably farther along the soul cultivation pathway..."

"...It is recorded in the ancient records of the Ruanximen clan that once one forms their spirit and achieves the second level of consciousness, they can move easily in their surroundings without being detected by any energy sense. There is, however, always a limit, which is at most a full step higher than them..."

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Adel eventually finished reading before he let out a sigh, shook his head, and stared at the book's title before contemplating its information.

Adel was well aware that all of these ancient texts would be useless to other cultivators who did not follow the soul cultivation pathway. Nevertheless, it is indeed a treasury rather than a library.

Even Adel, in his previous life, couldn't obtain any information regarding the soul, regardless of how hard he sought.

This implied, then, that either information regarding the soul was almost non-existent, or that such knowledge existed but was kept in secret realms inaccessible to Adel.

Adel was only aware of the Bo part of the soul, which was the mind.

Furthermore, he would not have invented mind-reading arts if he had not grasped the mind element of the soul.

And if he wanted to continue on the soul cultivation pathway, he could always do it the same way he had previously, by concentrating a pure drop of Nao energy in the Emperor's skull before nurturing his soul.

But would he do that? Certainly not.

It would be a complete and utter waste of his newly acquired knowledge if he did not nurture his consciousness to the next level and build his own spirit.

With deeper knowledge of the three soul elements, he could cultivate all three, making his soul energy even more powerful than others.

Then again, while others would cultivate only the soul cultivation pathway, he could cultivate all three, giving him a considerable advantage over the former.

And he would be much more powerful if he could successfully nurture all three elements of the soul.

Still, he was aware that cultivators on the next level would have a more in-depth understanding of the three soul elements.

As such, he hoped to have at least some progress in the three elements of the soul on this plane after going to the next after concluding his calamity...