Chapter 97: Life-Death Spirit Cauldron

*Weng*

*Weng*

Soft yet firm thrums echoed within Ja Sun as if he had somehow procured another beating heart. With each thrum came minute improvement of his mental energy and a strangely refreshing and soothing stream of energy would also rotate within his body. Even if his body felt exhausted at the moment for not sleeping for the past seven days, his mind was still at its peak. 

Within his mind, specifically, his sea of consciousness, Ja Sun observed the strange sight. Unlike the immortal world of golden clouds or the vortexes of mental energy, there was a proper world within his sea of consciousness. Restricted but real. The verdant green ground was without any forest but the large Bright Goddess was satisfied just by perching on the plain crystal-like emerald strands of grass. 

Meanwhile, the empty surroundings were filled with a purple tint. While the ground exuded strong vitality, the remainder empty purple-tinted portion exuded rot and death. Deep corrosion yet to the two inhabitants of this world, the strange world didn't affect them negatively.

Near the ground, under the force of vitality, Bright Goddess exhibited greater cultivation.

Mixed with the air, the mist-like Nightmare's Fantasy finally floated freely, also developing quicker than the time it was contained within the immortal-like scenario.

Since Spirit Souls are metaphysical beings, the condition of the sea of consciousness directly affects their advancement.

If observed closely, each blade of grass revealed an imperial golden sheen and so did the purple misty environment. 

But the most exaggerated sight wasn't this strange sea of consciousness, or rather, the world of consciousness. Instead, it was the sight of a figure pure green in color. Its features similar to Ja Sun while a green-gold headgear attached to its forehead. This man wore nothing and it didn't seem to share the same biological structure since his body was without any nether region. This being looked like a sculpture carved from a giant block of resplendent emerald. 

The figure sat on the ground cross-legged and in front of it happened to be a meter-high emerald cauldron, almost translucent. The Cauldron's mouth wasn't covered by any lid and it continuously spewed purple fog. The thick pillar of purple fog grew higher before melting within the air. The continuous melting of thick purple fog in the air also matched the speed at which Ja Sun's mental energy grew but naturally, the speed was extremely slow yet profound.

Within the cauldron, one can see through its translucent body, there existed a Viridian Green Orb with a dense purple light flashing around it. Every time this smooth orb rotated, a thick stream of purple mist would be exhaled from its spotless body.

Meanwhile, mid-air, another figure sat cross-legged. Dark purple and menacing.

This was exactly Ja Sun's Astral Combatant that was shifted due to Nightmare's Fantasy and the rot filled in Disorienting Ghost Canyon.

Ja Sun observed this change silently. Right now, his third eye was gone but even when he wasn't in his spirit enhancement there remained a dot of green in the middle of his forehead. The color of this mark matched the green of his eyes without any differences.

Frowning, Ja Sun once again inspected the situation of his world of consciousness.

Then again.

And again.

Ja Sun inspected his world of consciousness seven times. Each time, he would accomplish various tasks to measure his changes. A person always respecting the control of body and energy, Ja Sun felt a deep urge to know about his own condition and limits before stepping out of the tent. Seven times were enough to understand the changes but not enough to gain a complete grasp of his limits because of a single reason: His mental strength had grown a tad too much.

A spirit core of any kind can only reach when one's specific attributes reach the level of Titled Douluo. The current situation was far from it.

Presently, the Life Gold, under the pressure of mental energy, Astral Combatant, and spirit energy has already formed into a core but this only began the transformation far greater than the records in Dragon's Observation. There are many reasons for this which can be classified under a single characterization: Fortuitous Encounters.

Ja Sun's trait can be considered the epitome of this characterization since it allows him to gain many precious resources. And the current transformation of Ja Sun's mental world can only be attributed to the state of his Astral Combatant.

Gained from Extreme Phantom's booklet and then tainted by the poison of Nightmare's Fantasy during its fusion within his own consciousness, Astral Combatant can not only devour mental energy from the corpses but also their rot and deathly yin energy. 

Life Gold happened to be the opposite but in nature, this metal is extremely mellow. It could be said that this metal can harmonize with any metal but it is destined to be forged alone because the Life Gold absorbs other metal's lifeforce, crumbling their structure from inside.

Hence, its next best use is also the most valued characteristic of the metal— Life Gold can boost one's sea of consciousness to the point of creating another one of the same quality and quantity.

With another consciousness came a new Astral Combatant but this one is tainted by life force instead of yin energy and Life Gold was finally compressed into Ja Sun's core, utterly fusing with him alongside the two seas of consciousness that turned into a world of its own that can even be accessed through the green dot on Ja Sun's forehead.

Once Ja Sun completely understood and digested the process, pouring this information into the vault of experience, he started to test these changes and it lasted seven times. From his observations, he realized that although the two forces were in harmony, there were two factors for this situation. One was, of course, the trigger and that is the Life Gold itself. And the other factor was his sense of control. He may benefit from his trait but Ja Sun has already gone through grueling experiences to learn how to find benefit in resources. His control came from such experience and training, too.

'But this is truly strange... Extreme Phantom Douluo admitted that Astral Combatant is inspired by his personal experience with Spirit Core but he wouldn't have expected Life Gold to turn into the source of Life Force that constantly expels rotten mental energy, forming a deep harmony of both the attributes. Life and death. In fact, my current spirit core isn't just the sphere of Life Gold within the cauldron of mental energy but all of it combined.

The Life Astral Combatant cannot move, which means, the mental energy filled with vitality cannot exit my body into empty surroundings but it may be able to be transferred through direct contact. Its task is to absorb vitality from the surroundings and also spirit energy which is converted by Life Gold itself into the Death energy. Once one cycle completes, my mental energy rises.

Meanwhile, the Death Astral Combatant can move out of the body. But for this power and strengthening, the Death Astral Combatant has lost its previous function of devouring yin energy from the outside world because it will upset the harmony within. Still, it can purify mental energy from the corpses. Thinking deeply, it was the original function of Astral Combatant. So, I did not lose any attribute but only made gains. However...'

Ja Sun opened his eyes. His world of consciousness was still protected by Fiery Golden Pupils so, at this moment, his mental world can only be considered a sturdy fortress. 

'Although my mental energy barged into the realm of Spirit Douluo, it isn't even close to the highest realm.'

Ja Sun, who had no way to compare his current realm could still feel this due to a sense of growth revealed from his core. A Titled Douluo can create a spirit core from one's own energy. Ja Sun relied on Life Gold but, in fact, this was better. His spirit core was now extremely comprehensive. His mental energy had the trait of life and death: Vitality and Rot. His own mental recovery had been incomparably boosted while his mental attacks will have lasting effects due to the rot.

'It's a pity that I cannot reveal Astral Combatant easily or devouring mental energy of all the Beasttakens would have been a fortune,' Ja Sun narrowed his eyes.

His mental energy and internal strength had leaped so the suppression of his spirit souls had been reduced once again. Not only can he condense his fifth spirit ring, but he can also condense his sixth spirit ring.

Out of all the remaining treasures, aside from the spirit bones, there were two things Ja Sun hadn't made use of now—

1) Evil Egg: The use of which remains a mystery to Ja Sun despite all the collected knowledge.

2) Extreme Phantom Shadow Technique: An S-ranked movement technique developed by Extreme Phantom Douluo which worked well with Ja Sun's abilities.

With a soft sigh, Ja Sun began to pack up. He already sensed that the tent was covered by a dome of vines created from Ah Yin's ability, something he was thankful for.

Upgrades may cause commotion and better be it around dependable comrades such as Ah Yin within forests than a city filled with ill intentions. If Ja Sun grew afraid of causing a commotion then he may as well kiss his progress goodbye.

The two owls seemed to have gained a little bit under the effect of lifeforce and surge of mental energy, too. But their own cultivation was quite low. The two brightly feathered owls landed on Ja Sun's shoulders after he cleaned himself with a wet towel and changed from his brown tunic to black battle robes. 

Seven days had passed.

His spirit energy, as expected, peaked at rank 50 but the effects of his first spirit core wouldn't end here. The true effects will be revealed once he condenses his fifth spirit ring.

His mental energy firmly stepped into the ranks of a Spirit Douluo, and also seemed to be moving towards the next level at a constant speed. Not only that, with the effect of Fiery Golden Pupils making his mental attacks stronger by two levels, Ja Sun finally attained a trump card against Titled Douluos. Not only that, the recovery of his mental energy surpassed ordinary Titled Douluo by far and the two traits of the mental energy also made him more formidable with a Spirit Core in the shape of Life-Death Spirit Cauldron now set in his consciousness. The recovery of his consciousness also meant that sleep to recover his mental fortitude had truly become a luxury instead of a necessity.

Finally, the bottleneck of his physique was conquered. His body is already at the level of strong Spirit Sages. Ja Sun now looked forward to more challenges.

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With a hearty grin, he tugged away a bunch of vines and stepped out.

"Hmm?" Ja Sun's comfortable expression froze as he gazed at the group silently cultivating but there seemed to be an intangible tension around them. The noon sun lit up the surroundings brightly despite the growing stretch of trees around them. Yet, in such a pleasant noon, all five of them looked especially gloomy. 

Their stares landed on him and Bibi Dong opened up first with a strangely derisive grin.

"Oh, if it isn't the most excellent disciple to Grandmaster. Why don't you cultivate more? Why don't you erupt in strange pillars of light further?"

'What's going on?' 

He glanced at Ah Yin inquisitively. She was the only person to remain most tempered with him but she strangely shook her head silently.

Hu Lana, Xie Xan, and Liu Erlong didn't match his gaze, too.

"Teacher... are you not well-fed? It is stated that hunger can cause irritation and a lack of self-awareness," Ja Sun inquired before sitting down next to Liu Erlong.

Bibi Dong's eyelids twitched and she heaved deeply to forcefully calm herself. Once again, her striking gaze passed through everybody and others didn't match it. Not out of fear but annoyance that they might be berated for no reason at all. Even Liu Erlong was the same.

"It doesn't matter," Bibi Dong finally uttered.

'Seriously, what is with the mood swings?' Ja Sun thought to himself when a calm voice entered his ear. 

'Talk about her spirit beast enhancement... just compliment her.'

Ja Sun's body tensed momentarily before he lowered his head. The voice belonged to Qian Daoliu, naturally. Although he stated he would only leave Spirit Hall once a week, his training methods included observations from afar and even if he would usually reveal himself during true threats or at times of Ja Sun's breakthrough, right now, he grasped the true essence of the situation.

Bibi Dong revealed her true might for the first time. For some reason, she didn't do that when sparring against Daoliu. Why? Was she afraid of hurting that unfathomable individual? Ja Sun didn't think so. Then why? 

Spirit Enhancement increases the might of Spirit Skills slightly but also changes one's appearance.

'Appearance... are the powerful individuals of this world also affected by their appearances?' Ja Sun thought internally. One clue from Ja Sun allowed him to realize the reason why Bibi Dong didn't use, or more specifically, didn't like using her true spirit form. 

'If she finds her appearance in that form so important then her revelation during the beasttaken tide may truly be an important event for her. She must have expected some form of recognition on the matter. If she's being this much of a pain in the ass then... it means that either her form wasn't appreciated or nobody even recognized as an important event in itself.'

One's thinking can truly turn strange. If considered carefully, not even recognizing her appearance as an issue should satisfy Bibi Dong without a doubt but her true form wasn't exposed to anyone except for the Titled Douluo level elders of the Spirit Hall. And after spending a considerable time with everyone and much higher in quality than usual due to their constant interactions. Now that her important revelation was so easily ignored itself, Bibi Dong felt a bit unreconciled.

"Teacher, what about that unconscious man?" Ja Sun inquired. With her lips puckered, she replied with an annoyed tone, "He is taken by Cardinals of the Hall. He's already lost his memory but they will try to find out information about Hint of Evil from any possible mark left on him."

Ja Sun nodded as the two owls slowly jumped and hopped towards Ah Yin with a comfortable coo. A week of Ja Sun was far too much for them.

"Speaking of that, Teacher, now that you've shown your Spirit Enhancement, why don't you teach us a bit about Death Spider Emperor? That's your martial soul, right?" Ja Sun inquired without any visible emotion on his face. This wasn't the first time he demanded Bibi Dong to teach something new, after all.

Bibi Dong's brows twitched for a moment.

"Listen well, everyone... Death Spider Emperor is considered a monarch of all bug and insect-type spirit beasts and hence, martial souls, too. It is similar to Ah Yin's Blue Silver Goddess but instead of plants, I can use my martial soul to innately intimidate most spider-type and other insect spirit beasts."

Her tone felt a little more open now, her breathing steady.

"But, the most important aspect of Death Spider Emperor is its poison. Consider it an absolute demise if you are poisoned by this spirit beast, and in that aspect, me, too. If you recall your first training session, the most painful poison you were washed with wasn't the true poison of Death Spider Emperor but its mucus. Till this day, no spirit master I have poisoned has lived more than a minute. Even if they are Poison-type spirit masters, this can merely delay the inevitable outcome."

Everyone was startled by this information. 

But... isn't Bibi Dong strangely bragging? They all were well aware of each other's eccentricities and understood Bibi Dong's line of thought.

"Isn't there always an antidote for every poison?" Ja Sun questioned, "Poison in itself means a substance harmful to the body's functioning. What if this 'poison' can be turned into a benefit?"

Bibi Dong smiled yet the hearts of spectators chilled for a moment.

"It is as you say. Unlike fire, light, lightning, water, earth, ice, or other exotic attributes, Poison is limited yet not so. The more poisonous substances I contact with, the greater the poison of my martial soul. In essence, the poison of Death Spider Emperor mutates. If you find an antidote of one version, that doesn't mean the next time you're poisoned, it will be the same. In reality, this is true for every Poison-attributed martial soul and spirit beast. But innately, Death Spider Emperor's poison trumps every other poison because its ability to devour anything considered 'poisonous' is unmatched.

Do you all understand? An amber-like immortal fluid may be considered poisonous to the beast due to differing properties, but the Death Spider Emperor can still survive because of the poison itself. The more it is poisoned, the stronger it is, the more durable it grows, the higher its vitality is."

"In other words... the strongest Death Spider Emperor is the one that constantly remains vulnerable not only to enemies but natural elements..." Ah Yin's expression changed. What was this? It was similar to her inexhaustible vitality. Similar effects but different approaches. 

Bibi Dong nodded and Ja Sun hummed in response. It truly is a great martial soul, Ja Sun understood it. But, his desire to try and absorb Death Spider Emperor's poison only grew. Isn't this the very definition of an S-ranked mission?

But he couldn't be hasty. Presently, Bibi Dong truly believed her poison to be unmatched and she would refuse to use it without question. Instead, he smiled and once again changed the topic, "Anyway, I have to say, Teacher, that your spirit enhancement is the most drastic one I have ever seen. You were nothing short of a true spider yourself," his words instantly freezing Bibi Dong.

The change was noticed by everyone but for a moment, Bibi Dong couldn't stop her heart from beating quicker. A strange emotion gripped her heart.

Validation.

She didn't even usually seek validation from Qian Daoliu or Xunji and her cute, child-like expressions around Daoliu are based on her past upbringing and her respect for the man. But now, she couldn't help but wait. Silently staring at Ja Sun, she waited for his next words as he narrowed his eyes and worry filled her heart. 'There it is... he's definitely going to make me feel even worse about it.' She couldn't help but think so. 

"I wish I could transform similarly. Have a lion's body even without reaching rank 70," Ja Sun smiled softly, "It would have felt like an amazing experience."

"What do you mean?" Bibi Dong inquired, her tone a little hasty.

"Teacher, I mean that I'm envious. Who doesn't want to look so haunting and yet so majestic and beautiful?" Ja Sun gave a wry smile. At least, half of it was true. He wanted to look even more haunting and scare little children at night just for fun. And he was envious. Who wouldn't be? Her carapace that covered her body looked like a sleek armor of futuristic design that Ja Sun dreamt of in his previous world.

Sensing the sincerity in his words, not complimenting her too much but stating his own feeling about it and...

'Envying me...' 

A rush reached Bibi Dong's head and her fair cheeks felt warmer. In this state, she didn't see Ja Sun eyeing others and his lips vibrating. Everyone grew enlightened instantly and glanced at each other.

"Ehm, it really looked good, didn't it?" Hu Lana giggled. Others nodded. Seeing them, the sense of excitement within Bibi Dong was doused by quite a bit but it still remained. Snorting softly, she glared at them and stood up, "Hurry and pack up. Let's go to Dragon Rising City. Ka-ul, you didn't know but Grandmaster just left an hour ago."

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