Chapter 321 - 295: Residual Soul

Chapter 321: Chapter 295: Residual Soul

Piloting the Flying Boat, it took only about a quarter of an hour for the towering, massive city to come into view.

As the intensity of the war escalated, the patrols and security checks outside the city had become drastically stricter.

Outside the city, there were dozens of patrol teams alone.

Each team was led by a Foundation Establishment Cultivator and equipped with ten Qi Cultivation Realm Cultivators.

Every time someone returned to the city, they had to undergo several extremely strict security checks.

And these were just the external inspections.

As far as he knew, a complete information network had been established in a radius of several hundred li around Jingmen City. It was centered on the city itself, with its outer boundary marked by dozens of forward outposts and its inner boundary by numerous rear logistics camps.

This system was like the Internet of Things or the internet from his previous life—a fusion of information and physical reality.

Within this area, the Righteous Alliance was essentially aware of everything that happened, down to the slightest rustle of grass in the wind.

But in the Cultivation Immortal Realm, everything was a matter of spear and shield.

Destruction was always easier than construction.

The Cultivation Immortal Realm had an infinite number of Magic Techniques, and there were always all sorts of strange and bizarre Secret Technique Items.

Holding a post in the Artifact Hall, he had seen quite a few of them.

After passing through multiple checks, the Flying Boat landed outside the city gates. He put it away and passed through one more checkpoint at the entrance before finally being able to step into the city.

Chu Mu first went to the Artifact Hall to report on the mission he had undertaken. After telling Xie Cangfeng about what happened on his way back, he hurried straight to his residence.

As for being attacked on his return journey, he didn’t pay it much mind, and neither did Xie Cangfeng.

After all, when something happened frequently and became commonplace, one naturally grew indifferent and resigned to it.

And Xie Cangfeng seemed to be a case in point.

Although every mission from the Artifact Hall was highly confidential and usually came with guards, anything could happen out in the wilderness.

Chu Mu returned to his residence, activated the Array to seal it off, and only then took out the corpse of the Bloodline Foundation Establishment Cultivator he had killed.

The corpse had been decapitated, its head and body separated. However, he had temporarily sealed the blood that should have been gushing out.

He took out the Cultivator’s several Storage Talismans and emptied their contents. After sorting through the items, his attention focused on a single Jade Scroll.

"Golden Feathered Red Eagle Technique."

As his Divine Sense entered the Jade Scroll, five ancient, grand words appeared.

Chu Mu pursed his lips and began to read it carefully.

The Cultivation Technique was similar to the incomplete "Longevity Turtle Spirit Technique" he had once obtained; both were Bloodline Cultivation Techniques.

The only difference was that the Longevity Turtle Spirit Technique required a turtle-type Demon Beast Bloodline, while this Golden Feathered Red Eagle Technique required some kind of eagle bloodline.

The half-man, half-demon form the hook-nosed man had taken today was called the "True Form of the Red Eagle," according to the technique’s description.

By transforming into this Half-Demon state, one’s speed and physique would increase explosively.

And the pair of wings on the man’s back was this Cultivation Technique’s most powerful form of Attack.

Refining them into Vajra Sword Feathers allowed one to attack, defend, dodge, and escape.

The Cultivation Technique was quite impressive, and its offensive and defensive methods were also extraordinary.

However, the technique’s flaws were also significant.

According to the description, anyone practicing this technique had to consume Demon Beast Essence Blood once every year. Furthermore, it had to be the essence blood of an avian Demon Beast, and its Grade had to match the practitioner’s Cultivation level.

In other words, with his Cultivation at the Early Stage of Foundation Establishment, the man had to consume the essence blood of a Tier Two Early Stage avian Demon Beast every single year.

Only by doing so could he maintain the stability of the technique. Otherwise, according to the description, his bloodline would rampage, and he would completely transform into a Half-Demon with its Spiritual Wisdom annihilated.

’The flaw... is a bit too big...’

Chu Mu was stunned, but he also had a flash of understanding. No wonder that hook-nosed man had chased him so relentlessly, as if he’d killed his father.

Requiring the essence blood of a Tier Two Early Stage avian Demon Beast every year—such a cost would likely be suffocating even for him.

Tier Two Spiritual Materials were easy to find, but Tier Two Demon Beast Essence Blood meant the death of a Tier Two Demon Beast. And it had to be an avian one at that. It was simply horrifying!

After skimming through it, he tossed the Jade Scroll directly into his Storage Ring. A Bloodline Technique with such a massive flaw was a path of no return. To walk it was to face despair day after day.

And the higher one’s Cultivation, the greater the despair!

As his thoughts churned, he looked at the corpse before him. Without any hesitation, he sent his Divine Sense directly into the body, intending to probe the mysteries of its bloodline.

But in an instant, as if he had sensed something, he immediately retracted his Divine Sense.

"Impossible!"

He cried out in alarm, his face full of horror.

He remembered it clearly. After a single slash to decapitate him, he had completely annihilated the man’s Divine Soul.

What he had put into his Storage Ring was, without a doubt, a corpse.

But now, the corpse... was alive?

This was the body of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, one that had gone through the Qi Cultivation Thirteen Layers and the Foundation Establishment transformation to become an Extraordinary physique.

It wasn’t the frail body of a mortal. It was impossible for it to be like a mortal corpse that, upon being eroded by some Alien Energy, would be reanimated as an undead creature.

Even if it did come back to life and turn into a Zombie, a Yin Corpse, or an Evil Corpse, it would have to be either through special Refining, the influence of some Treasure of Heaven and Earth, or an extremely unique environment.

But he hadn’t performed any Refining, there was no special environment, and there certainly weren’t any Treasures of Heaven and Earth...

How could a corpse—a decapitated one at that—possibly come alive?

Chu Mu hesitated slightly, then cautiously observed it again. Although the corpse was decapitated, it had a certain vitality, like the body of a living dead.

But according to his Divine Sense Perception, this vitality seemed to be growing at a rather slow pace. Or perhaps... reviving?

His initial probe revealed nothing unusual. He raised his hand and formed a seal, casting a series of Techniques upon the corpse. He then activated the Array Prohibition, sealing the body completely.

Immediately after, he summoned Wangcai, who for the past year had been acclimating to its Tier Two Cultivation within the courtyard.

With all preparations complete, he then resumed his in-depth investigation of the corpse’s anomaly.

After just a moment, Chu Mu withdrew his Divine Sense probe, a new sense of wonder in his eyes as he looked at the corpse.

He had thought the anomaly would be difficult to investigate, but it turned out that once his Divine Sense entered the body, the result was incredibly clear.

The tyrannical aura of the Demon Beast Bloodline was exceptionally distinct within the reviving body.

Without a doubt, the anomaly originated from the man’s Demon Beast Bloodline!

It seemed that after the human, who should have been dominant, had his Divine Soul annihilated, the instinct of the Demon Beast Bloodline had awakened. It began to take over the body, attempting to seize control.

’That’s not right, either...’

Chu Mu muttered to himself. ’Logically, when a Cultivator follows the path of bloodline Cultivation, they should have already erased most of the Demon Beast’s influence within the bloodline. Even if some instincts remained, it’s absolutely impossible for it to revive after death like this.’

’Unless... this Golden Feathered Red Eagle Technique doesn’t erase the influence of the Demon Beast Bloodline at all. Perhaps the practitioner is in a constant struggle with it, which is why they must consume Demon Beast Essence Blood every year to suppress it.’

’So, after the man’s Divine Soul was annihilated, the Demon Beast Bloodline... revived?’

Chu Mu was lost in thought, but he quickly dismissed this guess.

After all, no matter how influential a Demon Beast Bloodline was after being transplanted into a human body, it was still fundamentally based on the human’s existence.

For example, transforming into a Half-Demon only eroded and destroyed the person’s Spiritual Wisdom, basically turning a normal person into an incoherent lunatic; it didn’t annihilate the Divine Soul.

Once the Divine Soul was annihilated, the Demon Beast Bloodline transplanted into the human—a bloodline that depended on the human for its existence—would most likely be annihilated along with it.

Unless...

Unless the Demon Beast Bloodline the hook-nosed man had transplanted contained a Divine Soul, or perhaps... a Residual Soul.

’A Residual Soul...’

Chu Mu frowned, his confusion deepening.

’If that’s the case, where did the Residual Soul come from? And how could a Residual Soul survive inside the body of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator?’

’Does this Residual Soul possess consciousness?’

’What is the relationship between the two?’

’Symbiosis? Possession? Parasitism?’

...