by William Bill
He quickly took a bath and put on new clothes, and went in front of the mirror.
This was the first time he saw his own face in this world other than the image in his memories. And surprisingly, he looked the same just as in his previous life!
'Having the same soul would give me the same face? Nah, isn't it all related to one's genes? And my parents can't be the same. I don't even know who my parents in my previous life are. Or will I remember them once I recover my memories? Haa...same name...same face...everything seems too much of a coincidence.' Damien inwardly sighed.
He was 175cm tall with elegant and handsome features and his fair and rosy skin that could make even the noble young masters go mad with jealousy.
His smooth hair as black as ink extended till his collarbones; his seemingly bottomless black eyes would make women feel as if their souls were being drawn to them.
Even though his body frame was of the slim type, his face's manliness, along with his sharpness tempered by countless hardships, produced an attractiveness that would most likely be fatal.
'Hmm...seems like my hair is too long. I guess men in this world grow their hair long. I should cut it shorter.'
Damien just took a simple small blade lying around and cut his hair to neck length.
'Now my hair is just the same as in my previous life.' Damien slightly smiled, looking at the mirror.
"Hey, little girl, are you there?" Damien lightly spoke.
After a moment's silence, an exasperated voice sounded, "Didn't this goddess tell you not to disturb her?"
The girl shot out from his chest and appeared before him.
"And, you don't have to speak to talk to me. You could just mentally talk to me since we share a soul connection. Also, don't call me a little girl. You should respectfully address me as a goddess." The girl said as she pushed her chest out.
"Please don't.... Even if you are really a goddess, there is no way I can refer to you as a goddess. Thinking about it, don't you have a name?"
Surely he can't call this little imp a goddess...unless he was kicked in the head.
"Hmph, why would this goddess need a name? Names are something mortals use to address each other. And as far as I know, there only exists a single goddess, and that is me." She said with her chin elevated.
Damien momentarily closed his eyes and lightly smiled as if he thought of something, "Don't worry. I will give you a name. Hereafter, I will call you Luna."
"You think a mortal like you is worthy to name this goddess? How delusional!" She said as her nostrils flared, which only made her look cuter.
Damien didn't feel intimidated; instead, he found her amusing even though sometimes he found her annoying. But most of all, he was impressed at her abilities.
"Don't tell me you want me to keep calling you 'little girl' or 'little imp' or 'little pigsy—"
"Stop, stop...fine. You can call me Luna." She said reluctantly, and for some reason, she strangely found the name very pleasing to her.
Damien smiled in victory.
"But what made you decide on that name?" Luna asked curiously
.
Chapter 18: Forming the Core
Damien just gave a mysterious smile as he said, "It's a secret. When I feel like telling you, I would then."
Luna pursed her lips, "Hmph, acting all mysterious before this goddess. Anyway, it seems like that girl won't call you till next week. You should use that time to officially solidify your foundation and find out if you have an affinity towards any elements."
"But before that, I should know about the basics of cultivation by reading some books or something. My previous self didn't bother much about it...so I am practically clueless...cough...cough." Damien said as he coughed in embarrassment.
"Pffft, as if I was not aware of it. If you didn't even know what a soul is, how can you even know the basics of cultivation." Luna shook her head in exasperation.
"Nevermind, this goddess will impart you with first-class knowledge on the basics of cultivation and about the ethereal core. Not even the most powerful mortals in this world would have this knowledge. So, you should be grateful to this goddess." She said as a smug grin emerged on her face.
Luna momentarily closed her eyes, "It's done. Now focus on the knowledge I have given you and start cultivating. I will show up when you have officially solidified your foundation at the first level of the Initial Ethereal Realm. Till then, don't disturb me." Saying that she disappeared into the Shard Of Essence.
Damien was stunned for a moment, sensing the sudden influx of a large amount of knowledge disseminating through his brain. But strangely, he didn't feel any strain, which was probably due to his strong soul.
Luna had imparted knowledge regarding the ethereal cultivation basics, the ethereal core, soul cultivation, etc.
'Wow, she can instantly transfer knowledge through soul link? If the people back on earth knew about this, then there's no doubt the scientists would go mad over this trying to find out how it works.'
Damien sat on the floor cross-legged as he tried to assimilate and understand the knowledge he had just gained.
—
Few hours passed by…
Damien's expression had already become tranquil as his heart emptied. In his excitement to learn the new knowledge and cultivate, he had even forgotten to have a sustenance pill.
Soon, in addition to the pangs of hunger, his excitement and rashness from gaining the new set of ethereal core points also wholly faded away.
His mind and consciousness were all centralized in the center of his chest, where the ethereal core was located.
The first wave of ethereal strength originates from one's vitality by slowly pulling one's vitality bit by bit into the energy center as it slowly transforms into sparse ethereal energy.
Once a gaseous sphere of ethereal energy was formed in the energy center, it would be the first official step of the first level of the Initial Ethereal Realm!
The faint gaseous sphere was precisely the ethereal core.
Practitioners with mediocre talent generally required at least six months for this process. Those with great talent would take around three to four months.
Once this extremely important foundation was completed, one could cultivate by absorbing the ethereal energy in their surroundings through their ethereal core points.
Before the ethereal core points could absorb the ethereal energy in the air, it would first help solidify the foundation by channeling the practitioner's vitality into the energy center.
In the midst of silence, strands of ethereal energy started to take the shape of a gaseous sphere in Damien's energy center.
With all the ethereal core points active, his body's vitality influx from forty-seven directions all at once; its speed was as fast as one could imagine.
But in Damien's energy center, the gaseous ethereal core was surrounding the jet black origin seed as if it was in the center of it.
Before Luna had disappeared into the Shard Of Essence, she had at least expected Damien to take a week to solidify his cultivation base at the first level of the Initial Ethereal Realm.
And that estimation was after she took into account that he had all ethereal core points active.
However, she suddenly woke up from sleep when she sensed the change in Damien's aura; as she looked at Damien from inside the Shard Of Essence, she let out a faint sound of surprise from her pink lips.
"He already entered the first level of the Initial Ethereal Realm! Isn't this too fast for a mortal?' Looking at the tiny ethereal energy forming in his energy center, Luna was amazed in her heart.
The day had already turned into night as Damien finally opened his eyes.
*gurgle*
'Oof...seems like my stomach is growling with hunger. Hmm...I should have taken at least one of those sustenance pills.'
He got up and chugged down a rank 2 Sustenance Pill. The rank 2 Sustenance Pill was fewer in numbers than the rank 1 Sustenance Pill since it
s rank was lower.
Still, there were seven rank 2 Sustenance Pills, which meant that one could last for a week without refilling it.
'Even though this is really convenient, my stomach is really craving for some real food. I feel like complaining about this treatment, but at the same time, I can't when I think about my situation. Damn...I guess I should focus on my cultivation and wait for the week to be over.'
Luna appeared before him and crossed her arms, "Hmph, seems like your potential is not bad...taking only a day to enter the first level of the Initial Ethereal Realm.
But now, before you continue cultivating your ethereal energy, try to breakthrough to the first stage of your soul cultivation." She said as if she was a master instructing her disciple.
"You mean I should breakthrough to the Origin Soul Stage?"
"Yes, and it should be pretty easy for you since you already possess a strong soul plane. You will breakthrough once you can sense your soul plane."
"Okay then, I will try it now," Damien said as his eyes flashed with eagerness to start cultivating his soul.
He didn't even think about sleeping, and strangely he didn't feel like taking a rest at all. Probably it was due to the newfound excitement he found when he started cultivating and experiencing new things.
He again sat cross-legged on the floor and started focusing on his consciousness.
He was going through various thoughts in his mind and the various emotions contained behind them. He tried to reduce the flow of thoughts in order to find out its origin...the place from where all the thoughts and emotions were coming from.
As his focus and concentration increased slowly, he was able to feel a plane of thoughts slightly. He felt like he was being pulled onto the plane, a plane which was a world filled with his own thoughts, emotions, consciousness, etc, which was surrounded by a faint energy field.
He was able to clearly discern his own thoughts, able to clearly see all his memories as if he had experienced them today. Even the unnecessary memories and details he had forgotten in his life were crystal clear, the memories which one usually forgets and becomes a part of their subconscious.
But sadly, he wasn't able to recover his forgotten memories no matter how hard he tried. It was like there was nothing to search for in the first place in his soul plane.
From what he had learned from Luna, the soul plane was simply a higher aspect of the soul. The soul plane was the highest existence conceivable to one's mind, and it was regarded as the ultimate spiritual realm and the true home of one's consciousness.
When one dies, their soul plane discards the body and enters the reincarnation cycle. The soul plane has an innate thirst or tendency for life-experience, which is why it propels itself into a new life or a new incarnation.
In each life, it would learn and expand in its own way. But when one cultivates their soul, their thoughts, emotions, etc., would give rise to energy, also known as the soul energy.
Any strongly held thought or belief becomes a dense energy field that attracts more energy. The more one intensely focuses on these thoughts, the more the soul energy is produced.
The soul essence is the core of the soul plane. It contains one's comprehension of laws, innate potential, gifts, talents, personalities, etc., which basically defines a person at their core.
This is why when Luna said she was sleeping, it basically meant that she was meditating or focusing on her soul plane to recover her soul energy and soul essence. Her soul energy could be easily recovered relatively, but her soul essence was a different matter altogether.
Her soul plane was injured and was in a fragmented state along with her soul essence. So, her soul essence recovery rate couldn't be compared with her true recovery rate.
Also, the ethereal aura in this world was too weak for her to use the ethereal energy in the air to recover her soul essence.
Her soul was innately very powerful. She can even use ethereal energy to recover her soul essence, which was not something others could do!
Since she basically restored Damien's ethereal core points, she had to use her soul essence instead of just soul energy as the soul essence present in her Shard Of Essence mostly contained her comprehension of laws related to essence manipulation.
Her comprehension of laws related to restoration was mostly contained in her Shard Of Restoration. Only a very tiny amount of it was present in her Shard Of Essence.
Having no other choice, she had to go over her limits to make use of it forcefully.
Since Damien had a special and strong soul plane, she was able to link her soul plane with his. Otherwise, with her injured soul plane, her consciousness would have long dissipated.
Chapter 19: Soul Cultivation
The day had already turned into night as Damien opened his eyes slowly.
Damien was able to sense his soul plane and also feel faint soul energy inside him.
'So, this is the Origin Soul Stage. Wow, I can even perceive everything within 50 meters.'
He was able to perceive his surroundings, such as his own room, including the various furniture, accessories, tools, every single detail he was able to perceive.
Since his soul perception extended around 50 meters, he could even sense the surroundings just outside his room. But the corridor seemed to be empty, so he wasn't able to sense any other person, and strangely he wasn't able to spread his soul perception into adjacent rooms.
Using his soul perception, Damien can sense another soul or presence within a radius of 50 meters. It can also be used to discern another person's cultivation level or any organism with a soul as long as their ethereal cultivation or soul cultivation is not higher than them.
If one just casually spreads their soul perception, they would only be able to faintly sense the surroundings in their perception range and the cultivation levels of people whose cultivation is significantly lower.
Only when one focuses would they be able to discern another's cultivation level, which is almost equal to theirs.
But in this world, it can come off as rude when one finds out that someone is trying to probe them using soul perception.
So when a practitioner casually spreads their soul perception and finds out there were some obscure presences in their surroundings, they wouldn't try to probe them since it could either mean that they had a cultivation level that was at least close to theirs or maybe even higher.
But if there were practitioners who had significantly higher cultivation or high soul cultivation than the person spreading their soul perception, they wouldn't even be able to sense their existence at all! Unless they saw them with their own eyes.
A single soul stage can be further divided into four minor stages.
There was first the 'Early Stage', then the 'Middle Stage', then the 'Late Stage' and finally the 'Peak Stage'.
Damien has now breakthrough to the Early Origin Soul Stage.
"You fool, retract your soul perception!" Luna berated when she realized him spreading his soul perception while she was in the Shard Of Essence.
Damien instantly retracted his soul perception upon hearing Luna's angry tone. He was surprised for a bit before he finally realized that he had committed a careless mistake.
If someone sensed him spread his soul perception, they would only think that it was a cultivator spreading his soul perception. But if the princess or the two protectors came to know this fact, Damien could land up in a lot of trouble.
Since when did a cripple with destroyed ethereal core points was able to cultivate? What if they tried to force out from him how he managed to fix his ethereal core?
His soul cultivation was too low, so even if he just casually spread his soul perception, people with higher cultivation would easily be able to detect which person was spreading their soul perception, that too at such a close range.
In his excitement of suddenly gaining a new ability, he involuntarily released his soul perception as it instantly spread out 50 meters.
"Yo
u are just asking for trouble, aren't you?" Luna gave an icy stare, which contrasted with her usual playful expression.
Damien knew that he had made a serious blunder by spreading his soul perception. And he also knew that Luna was scolding him for his own benefit.
If something happened to him, everything Luna sacrificed would go down the drain, and both of them would end up in dire situations.
She was incensed when she found out Damien was carelessly spreading his soul perception, that too after she had fixed his ethereal core just recently.
Damien gave a bitter smile as he said, "I know I should have been careful. Sorry for making such a silly mistake. I won't repeat the same mistake twice."
"Hmph, it's good; you can realize your own wrongs. I don't want you going on experimenting with every single new ability you gain without caring about the consequences. After all, my sole existence now depends on you." Luna said as her expression softened a bit.
"But now, did anyone notice that I was spreading my soul perception?" Damien asked
"Fortunately, no. I didn't detect anyone outside within your soul perception range, and also the walls of the rooms adjacent to ours are strong enough to obstruct your soul perception."
Damien heaved a sigh of relief when he heard that no one detected him.
'So, that's why I felt an obstruction when my soul perception tried to pass through the adjacent rooms. Well, this is the imperial palace, and everyone would like to have their own privacy, I guess no matter who.' Damien mused.
"But looking on the bright side, I have to say your soul is indeed special...to be able to spread your perception around 50 meters when you are just at the Early Origin Soul Stage. It is even comparable to an Early Nascent Soul Stage cultivator!" Luna said with a fixed gaze.
Damien knew that people usually would only have a 5-meter radius of soul perception when entering the Early Origin Soul Stage.
But Damien already had ten times the range when he entered the Early Origin Soul Stage!
It only shows how much stronger his soul was compared to others.