CHAPTER 53: CHAPTER 53: SOUL-SECRET TECHNIQUE - TAOIST FETUS NASCENT SOUL_1

"I succeeded."

Wang Linchi felt a deepened connection between himself and the Soul Resemblance·Book of Records.

Previously, his Soul Resemblance was just a book. The only way to confirm they were one was through the interference created by Soul Seed·Hall of Thoughts. Now, it was different. Wang Linchi felt he could control it with the ease of moving his own limb.

To make an analogy, if the Book of Records was previously like his hair, which he couldn’t actively control, it had now become like his hand, capable of deliberate movements like grasping or lifting.

The preliminary Cultivation of the Soul Secret Technique was successful. Besides this convenient control, it granted another ability.

The most crucial aspect was that they were now bonded in life and death.

It wasn’t that he would die if his Soul Resemblance shattered, or that his Soul Resemblance would shatter if he died. Even Awakeners who hadn’t cultivated the Soul Secret Technique weren’t in such a dire situation.

Generally, when a normal Awakener dies, their Soul Resemblance definitely shatters. However, if the Soul Resemblance shatters, the Awakener won’t die but will instead be severely injured. They then recover and reconstitute their Soul Resemblance.

After cultivating the Soul Secret Technique, if the Awakener dies, their Soul Resemblance will not shatter. Instead, the Awakener can recover via the Soul Resemblance.

However, this ability to recover through the Soul Resemblance had a limitation: one had to be capable of recovering on their own. For example, if someone blew up your head, your Soul Resemblance would need enough power to restore your physical body; otherwise, it would be futile. Then, the Soul Resemblance, lacking spiritual power support for an extended period, might also wither away.

Wang Linchi was pondering if he should dedicate a Soul Seed Page on the Book of Records to a Soul Kind with cloning and healing capabilities; otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to withstand death.

Then, as long as the Soul Resemblance existed, even if his body shattered into dust, he could regenerate it using a considerable amount of spiritual power.

Mediocre as it might be, it was at least a means of saving his life—having it was better than not.

The third ability was very important: evolution.

It could cause the abilities of the Soul Resemblance to evolve, like the Fireball Technique evolving into an Explosion Technique, and then into a Nuclear Explosion Technique.

These three abilities could only be obtained by cultivating the Soul Secret Technique at the White Porcelain level. If this opportunity was missed and one cultivated it at the Black Iron Level, they could only enhance the strength of the Soul Resemblance.

All Soul Resemblances, if not cultivated using the Soul Secret Technique after awakening, possess only their initial strength.

Of course, strength could only be increased through gradual Cultivation. This was unlike these three abilities, two of which were gained in the initial stages. The evolutionary ability of the Soul Resemblance only manifested after a breakthrough.

Quantitatively, increasing strength enhanced basic damage, while the evolution of the Soul Resemblance’s abilities equated to a qualitative change.

Between a wooden sword and an iron sword, the latter is naturally superior. Not to mention, an iron sword can evolve into a lightsaber or a Flying Sword, while a wooden sword remains a wooden sword for its entire existence.

No matter how much a wooden sword is strengthened, it might not necessarily match the basic attributes of a Flying Sword.

This wasn’t certain because there were still many formidable individuals in this world who defied reason, and there was nothing one could do about them.

For instance, if their wooden sword was made from divine trees like the Jianmu Tree or a World Tree, it would be incredibly strong.

However, such cases were rare.

"The consumption is quite high." Wang Linchi finished his first Cultivation of the Soul Secret Technique. Just moments ago, ten Excellent Level Soul Kinds had been depleted by him, yet the result was only a +1 in Growth.

Full Growth was perhaps 100 points, which could be maxed out at the White Porcelain level.

He didn’t need to perform the nested Cultivation nine times this instance, because the capacity of the Book of Records was limited and couldn’t be increased at all.

It was being used to strengthen the Soul Resemblance, just as his spiritual power had a limit. Without a breakthrough, the capacity would remain the same and was impossible to enhance.

He was fortunate to possess his Nine Revolutions Golden Core, which allowed his spiritual power to significantly exceed that of an ordinary White Porcelain level Awakener. Otherwise, a regular White Porcelain level Awakener could only absorb ordinary-level Soul Kinds, and the Growth gained would be even lower.

After the Book of Records digests this, it will become more tenacious and robust.

It doesn’t feel very useful, though.

Wang Linchi looked at his Soul Resemblance·Book of Records. On its cover, an infant was depicted holding a Golden Core, breathing rhythmically to digest the energy of the Soul Kind. This energy was then fed back into the Book of Records, while the four Soul Kinds embedded around it shone splendidly.

Indeed, he had absorbed it, but the Soul Resemblance·Book of Records needed time to digest it and grow.

The infant represented Wang Linchi’s Soul Secret Technique, named the "Tao Baby Yuan Infant Secret Technique," which perfectly complemented the "Nine Revolutions Golden Core Soul Forging Skill."

Since he had already created a Golden Core, a Nascent Soul had to follow.

As for foundation building, the Book of Records was the Dao base he had forged, and thus could also be referred to as such.

It will take approximately a month to completely digest the energy from this Soul Kind. Not bad, that’s pretty quick. Wang Linchi didn’t consider it slow, because this was only the beginning. With the growth of the Soul Resemblance·Book of Records, the digestion speed would become progressively faster.

It’s unrealistic to expect a newborn baby to chew a piece of candy; it can only let it dissolve slowly in its mouth.

His Soul Resemblance was at this stage. Once the first growth phase was over, the subsequent digestion time would become progressively shorter.

Wang Linchi was confident that he could complete the Cultivation of the Taoist Fetus by the time his Nine Revolutions Golden Core reached its Fulfillment.

With my current enhancement method, when I break through to the Black Iron Level, the Book of Records might become harder than iron. It will then be very suitable for hitting people.

What if I also attach a Soul Seed Page with abilities like ’Fortification’ or ’Shield Guard’ to strengthen it? Then I could wield the Book of Records to bludgeon people? Wang Linchi pondered this idea.

Why would I hit people with it? Wouldn’t it be better to use it as a shield?

Wang Linchi didn’t see the need for close combat. With the Soul Seed Page·Fanciful and Fickle, it would be much more satisfying to launch sneak attacks.

"I wonder if I’ll be able to analyze the Epic Level Soul Kinds within two years," Wang Linchi mumbled.

He wasn’t content with his Soul Kind being limited to the Epic Level; he wanted his Soul Kind to attain the Legendary Level, even the Mythology level.

Otherwise, considering his Potential of 4, he wouldn’t be able to fulfill his desire for revenge...

Wait, who was I planning to take revenge on? Wang Linchi was suddenly taken aback. He realized that the Qinghe Field Officer who had swindled him was already dead. Not only him, but his entire family was gone, and even all the Officials in Qinghe City had perished.

Only upon reflecting on this did he realize that the man’s death had, in effect, served as a shield for him against disaster.

If the Qinghe Field Officer hadn’t given the Rainbow Light Series Soul Kind to his son, and if Wang Linchi had still possessed and used them, he would have undoubtedly died.

The incident had escalated to such a degree because the Qinghe Field Officer was a high-ranking official in Qinghe City. For someone like Wang Linchi, a bottom-tier Awakener with no status, the Peacock Sword Sect wouldn’t have bothered making such a fuss. They would have simply captured him and extracted the Soul Kind using some method. If he didn’t comply, he would die.

As for Wang Linchi’s disappearance or death, neither Qinghe City nor Qinghe Academy would have cared. After all, he was just an Awakener with a Waste Spirit Phase; even if he mastered a combat type Soul Kind, his upper limit was fixed.

So, my vengeance is achieved? And in such an ironic way...