Liang Chen quickly reached the library where he had been reading before Yan Ling kidnapped him, the Fourth Library. He pushed open the gates and entered the library, making his way up to the point where he had been at last time he was here.
The library was empty, but Liang Chen didn't believe for even one second that it was unguarded. The guardians of the library were able to keep constant watch, observing every nook and cranny without even being present in the library. So as he picked up the books he was busy reading last time, he made sure to show due respect to the library and his surroundings.
He sat down at a small round table, placed down his stack of books, and started immersing himself in reading. Thanks to his soul having materialized, he was able to fully focus on two things at once, so while his soul was focusing on reading, his body was practicing the Lightning God Physique.
He needed to turn the bone marrow in his torso and head to liquid lightning, but these bones needed more care than his arms and legs, so he had waited with working on them until he got the chance to give it his full attention.
Liang Chen didn't forget to use his greatest advantage, his law of time. He wasn't within the stream of the Immortal God's Vein, but thanks to the arrays surrounding the libraries, he was still able to keep the flow of time around him at a constant speed of four times the normal.
Liang Chen stopped paying attention to the flow of time in the outside world, immersing himself in cultivation and reading. The only thing he would pay some attention to was Yumao, making sure he kept in regular contact with him, allowing him to constantly be aware of Yan Ling's state.
His reading speed had drastically increased compared to before, as he was now practically reading with full concentration, rather than the 25% percent he had used when he first arrived in the Storm Wolf sect. Because of this, after only a single month had passed in the outside world, Liang Chen was able to finish up both the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth library, moving on to the Seventh.
It was while he was in the Seventh library that he found a book that caught his interest. The book was rather thin, only a few pages thick, but the contents of the book were a detailed description of the various stages of soul cultivation. Liang Chen had the Chaos King Technique to cultivate his soul, but his soul wasn't strong enough to read most of the technique yet, so he didn't actually know the names and differences of the various stages. After quickly reading the book, he finally had a more clear understanding of the soul cultivation stages, as well as how a soul cultivator battled.
The first stage was the Materialized Soul, which required one to nourish their soul enough to let it take form within the mind of the cultivator. This was easily achieved by just eating enough pills or herbs that nourished the soul. The difference between the early, middle, and late stages of this cultivation realm was how corporeal the soul was. Currently, Liang Chen could be considered to have reached the early stage of this realm.
The next stage was called the Ascended Soul realm, and it was a bit harder to reach. This not stage not only required one to strengthen their soul quite a bit, but they also had to let their soul leave their body and connect it with the heavens. This would spawn a type of energy unique to Soul cultivators, Anima Essence. This Anima Essence, while it could act like Qi and affect the world around it, it was specialized in attacking the soul and essence of other living beings.
The next step was called the Soul Rebirth realm, and it required the cultivator to use the Anima Essence to completely shatter their soul, only keeping a tiny sliver of their consciousness alive. Once their soul was completely shattered, they had to use the energy of the heavens, as well as their own Anima Essence, to rebuild the soul from scratch, stronger than ever before. The slightest mistake in this step could lead to death, so most people made sure to make ample preparations.
The next step was the Soul Lord realm, and it required one to use not only their own Anima Essence but also whatever laws they had gained insight into to change their now strengthened soul, having it slowly take on the properties of whatever laws they had gained any insight of. During this process, one had to fuse all their laws into one, creating a law that would be completely unique to that person.
The next, and also the second to last step is called the Heaven's Soul realm. This step is known as one of the most painful steps in cultivation, as it requires one to tear their soul free from the heavens, severing the connection between them. After severing the connection, one must use their own insight and understanding of the heavens to once again alter their soul, turning their own soul into an independent heaven. Their soul will become the heavens, and their will becomes the will of the heavens.
The final step was known as the Universe Soul realm, the highest of peaks that all cultivators dream of reaching. With your soul as the source, you must create a minor universe in your own image, with your soul serving as the heavens of that universe. At this step, even the smallest of movements from your soul would bring with it the might of your entire universe.
After reading the full description of the soul cultivation realms, Liang Chen couldn't help but let out a deep breath. Just like when he was first told about the Qi cultivation realms and the body cultivation realms, his mind felt completely blown. Turning one's own soul into the center of a universe, just how grand and majestic was that?
At the same time, he couldn't help but wonder how many of the countless minor universes had been created in this manner, and just how many people who had reached this step were still alive?
Such a question was far above his level of strength, so even if he found someone who knew the answer, it was unlikely that he would actually get an answer. Knowing this, Liang Chen could only shake his head and continue his reading, swiftly blowing through the books in the library.
Half a month later, Liang Chen finished up the last of the books he could read in the Eighth library, officially finishing all the public books that the Storm Wolf sect had to offer. To others, it looked like he had only needed three and a half months to completely read all the books, causing them to gasp in awe.
But to Liang Chen, who constantly kept up a flow of time that was four times faster than normal, it had taken a grand total of 14 months, over a year of continuous reading. But the reward for this strenuous effort was that he now knew far more than he did before he entered the Storm Wolf sect, his level of knowledge worlds apart compared to what it used to be.
When Liang Chen shut the last book and leaned back against the wall behind him, he let out a deep breath, his eyes closed in relaxation as he muttered to himself.
"14 months... It really has been a while, hasn't it? Last time it was eight months of reading, and now it was six... Been quite a while since I last talked to someone or got some proper exercise."
It was just one and a half months to others, so they didn't see a need to bother the deeply absorbed Liang Chen. But six months without human contact made Liang Chen feel a bit lonely and starved for contact. There was also the fact that Yan Ling had yet to leave her abode, so he hadn't even gotten the chance to properly apologize to her yet, further contributing to his loneliness. He stood up from his seated position, stretching his body slightly.
"Let's see if I can't find a mission I can bring her along to, that might cheer her up."
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He was hoping that getting some exercise, as well as spending some free time playing around in the outside world would help Yan Ling's mood improve. There was also the fact that Liang Chen had to undertake some missions anyway, he needed the contribution points.
After completing the previous mission with Yan Ling, Liang Chen now had 150 contribution points he could spend as he wished. But after checking the stock of the Myriad Treasure Pagoda, he was shocked to find that even the cheapest of their weapons cost around 500 contribution points, so he was still a bit off from being able to buy a new weapon.
He placed the books around him back in their original slots, bidding the elder of this tower farewell and heading for the Mission Castle. He got a few glances as he left the Storm Hall area, but no one called out to him or stopped him, so he managed to quickly reach the gothic-like Mission Castle that was located behind the Wolf Hall palace.
He pushed open the wooden gates and entered the Mission Castle, which was a convoluted collection of hallways and rooms. Back when he entered this place with Yan Ling, they took a hallway to the right, but now he walked straight ahead, following a completely straight hallway until he reached a large hall.
Various counters manned by disciples and elders lined the walls of this hall, ready to aid anyone who wished to accept a mission. At the center of the room stood three-meter tall crystal pillar that shimmered with a purple light. Liang Chen walked up to the pillar and placed both his palms on it, sinking his mind into it.
This pillar contained a list and description of all the missions that the sect had, allowing one to search through the various missions before they decided on which one they wished to accept. As his mind sank deeper into the pillar, words and images flashed past his eyes, mission after mission being read through and discarded.
Liang Chen continued to search through the missions with a calm expression, setting some aside for further reviewing after he finished checking the others. But his calm expression was suddenly shaken when he read through the contents of one mission, his entire face shaking slightly as he gave the mission another thorough read-over.
The mission was rather simple, a group of disciples from the Qing clan had killed quite a few disciples from the Bai clan, which was a subsidiary of the Storm Wolf sect. The Bai clan asked for help from the Storm Wolf sect, so they sent over a few disciples. But in the end, these disciples were also killed by the Qing clan disciples, who had seemingly hidden their strength earlier.
The mission was to go out and kill this group of people, completing the request of the Bai clan and avenging the dead Storm Wolf disciples. The reason this mission had caught Liang Chen's attention was the location of the mission, the place where the Qing clan disciples had chosen to hide after killing the Storm Wolf disciples, Green Rivers city.
Reading the name of his old home town, Liang Chen's mind couldn't help but be dragged into the past, it had been quite a while since he had last been there. He was also reminded of another thing, the fact that he had never even learned where his parents had been buried after their execution. Were they buried in the clan graveyard, had they been buried outside the city, or had their bodies just been dumped somewhere?
When his thoughts reached here, Liang Chen could feel his chest clench, and intense desire to see his parents welling up within him. But it might be impossible for him to see them again, the best he could do for now was visit their graves. At the same time, he could also finish up the mission and visit the site where his old home had been located, seeing if anything new had been built there.
Liang Chen took a deep breath to calm himself, he couldn't get hasty or careless. The mission wasn't exactly easy, and it certainly wasn't something he could complete on his own. The group of Qing clan disciples had at least one person who had reached the late stage of the Heaven's Gate realm, there might even be two. They were also hiding in the Green Rivers city, so getting to them might be troublesome.
Liang Chen took another deep breath, a self-deprecating smile appearing on his face as he mocked himself.
"I truly am selfish. I wanted to pick a mission to cheer her up, but now it seems like I can only lower my head."
He hadn't forgotten that his original purpose for coming here was to pick up a mission that might help cheer up Yan Ling, but now he was completely forgoing that for his own desires, even possibly dragging her into it. He wanted to beat himself up, but there was no one else he could ask.
Liang Chen walked over to one of the counters and had the young boy behind it hand him a copy of the mission he was interested in, grabbing the scroll and leaving the Mission Castle.
He held the scroll in his hand as he walked towards the location of Yan Ling's abode. Yumao was still with her, so Liang Chen knew that she had yet to leave the hidden realm where she lived. He stopped in front of the door, taking a deep breath before knocking on it. He waited for a bit of time, but there was no reply, so he knocked again. He knew that Yan Ling knew that he was the one knocking, she was just ignoring him. After waiting for a bit longer, there was finally a reply from behind the door.
"Please leave, I can't face you right now."
She still wouldn't see him, but at least it was better than the last time he was here, when she said that she didn't want to see him. But Liang Chen didn't leave this time, leaning his forehead against the door as he spoke up in an uncharacteristically soft and almost pleading voice.
"I'm sorry about what I did back then, I truly didn't know the full effects of the poison. I know you don't want to see me, but please, I need your help. I have no one else that I can ask."
There was a short silence from beyond the door, but after about half a minute, the door that Liang Chen was leaning against slowly opened, allowing him to enter the hidden realm.