Chapter 263 Soul Awakening
to the west of Ethan\'s great herb garden, there stood a modestly sized town.
With a population not exceeding 30, and only a few houses without any true public attractions, it was the small village built by the soul puppets that Ethan had created to tend to his herb garden. Find more chapters on empire
Unlike a short while ago, when these puppets barely knew how to properly carry out the tasks assigned to them, now these beings had developed to a level of consciousness equivalent to that of a human adult.
Along with their increasing intelligence, various personalities also began to manifest within them.
There were those who loved to spend their time studying the various animals in the Beast Forest to the east of the herb garden, and those who preferred to lounge on a rocking chair reflecting on their existence.
Among these countless beings that had achieved a decent level of existence, there was one who seemed to have always remained the same,
Someone who, from the moment he was created, had caused various problems, someone who managed the impossible feat of gaining the protection of two Goddesses, someone who almost ended up being roasted alive by the very fire he himself had ignited, at the hand of his own creator.
This someone was none other than Soul Puppet No. 5, the puppet that had the privilege of obtaining a true body made of flesh and bone.
Currently, this being was in what appeared to be a park while two figures with long furry ears and two white tails ran swiftly around him as he tried to catch them.
"Come on, No. 5, try a bit harder. You\'re so big; it should be easy for you to catch me," said a feminine voice as she dashed past him, whispering something before quickly running off.
Before No. 5 even had a chance to glimpse the feminine figure, another figure blocked his path and said:
"No. 5, stop playing. You still have to complete your part of the daily task. If you don\'t, the master might actually cook you alive," said the male figure, a young beastkin who stood before him with a worried expression.
No. 5, who over the years had finally learned a bit of the language, replied:
"Don\'t worry. The master almost never comes here. Skipping a day or two isn\'t a problem," he said, completely ignoring the wolf boy\'s advice.
Hearing this, the boy could only shake his head while helplessly trying once more to persuade him to do his part of the task.
But just as he raised his head to speak to No. 5 again, his eyes widened, and without a moment\'s hesitation, he bolted away.
No. 5, noticing this sudden change, scratched his head as his gaze shifted toward Guo Lan, who also seemed to have vanished without a trace.
Just as he wondered what had happened to the two of them, a voice rang out from behind him:
"Oh Really? So skipping a day or two won\'t cause any problems, right?" said the voice.
"Well, yes, as I said, the master won\'t..."
No. 5, still confused, instinctively replied, but just as he was about to finish his sentence, the words got stuck in his throat.
Trembling, his gaze slowly shifted behind him toward the figure of a black-haired man who had appeared out of nowhere and was now watching him with a slight smile on his face.
The smile that had stolen the hearts of countless women at this moment seemed like the grin of a devil to No. 5, who stammered:
"M-Master, I..." Just as he was about to finish his sentence, a gust of wind was heard, and in the next instant, a large figure could be seen flying through the air, headed straight for a specific spot in the herb garden.
Ethan, who had just finished giving No. 5 a lesson, turned to the side where a dragon woman was looking at him with a displeased expression.
Seeing her face, he couldn\'t help but say:
"This is your fault. He\'s become even more useless than he was before. You need to stop spoiling him, or he\'ll keep taking advantage of your kindness," he said discontentedly.
"Tch, he\'s just a child. Let him play a bit. It\'s good for him."
Ethan, hearing this, wanted to argue that this "child" was over a hundred years old and that his peers had already reached a maturity level many times beyond his.
But in the end, he simply shook his head and shifted his attention in another direction. There, just over a mile away near a tree almost 50 meters tall, a green-haired woman could be seen floating in the air, moving joyfully from one place to another around the tree.
Seeing this scene, Ethan decided not to disturb Yao Hua and instead looked at Bai Yu, saying as he began to ascend into the air:
"I feel like I\'ve reached the limit of strength I can achieve at this stage. It\'s time I devoted some effort to developing my World Seed. Can you please keep an eye on everything here while I\'m away?" he asked.
Though he didn\'t specify what exactly she should watch over, she understood and nodded.
Seeing that the dragon woman was understanding, he nodded in return and flew eastward, quickly soaring over the Beast Forest, which had now grown to a size comparable to the Amazon rainforest of his previous world, an area of over 5.5 million square kilometers.
The forest\'s size wasn\'t the only thing that had increased; its flora and fauna had also drastically expanded, presenting increasingly diverse species of animals and plants, each more dangerous than the last.
If a cultivator at the fifth stage of the Mortal Realm were to venture deep into it, they would have an 80% chance of being eaten by some creature dwelling there.
The number of beings that had reached a power level surpassing these experts of the fifth stage was by no means small.
If all these beasts were to be released on the human continent for any reason, it was guaranteed that the human race would be wiped out in no time.Nôv(el)B\\\\jnn
Even Ethan had to admit that he hadn\'t expected such a high level of development in just over a hundred years. However, the development had undeniably occurred, and personally, he liked it that way.
He was pleased to be the owner of such a small world, which now had its fair share of inhabitants and wonders.
That said, none of this mattered to him for now.
In an instant, he flew over the forest and, in no time at all, reached a distance of tens of miles away from the herb garden.
The place he arrived at was a vast stretch of desert, with only a few hills scattered here and there and nothing more.
It was essentially the desert of his minor dimension.
Sensing that there weren\'t many living beings around, he made a gesture with his hand, and three Array circles materialized above it. With another gesture, the circles flew off, each positioning itself in a different place.
One settled below him, serving as a floating platform; another went even lower, sinking into the sandy ground of the desert; and the third rose into the air, ascending hundreds of meters before stopping.
Once the arrays were in position, he issued the start command, and they lit up. The two arrays at the extreme points above and below him expanded in size until they reached a diameter of 500 meters.
Immediately, the environment began to change, as what appeared to be glowing blue particles began to form and move toward the third circle, which acted as Ethan\'s platform.
Seeing that everything was ready, he sat on the suspended platform and immediately immersed himself in meditation.
What he had just done was set up a spirit-gathering array, more specifically, a formation designed to locate and draw toward him all the souls of living beings that had died for some reason.
These beings, most of which were beast souls, no longer had a proper consciousness to guide them. As such, they wandered aimlessly, invisible to the eyes of others.
This phenomenon occurred not only within Ethan\'s minor world but also in any place inhabited by living beings.
Wherever life existed, there would also be these wandering spirits of dead beings.
The reason these spirits no longer had any consciousness was mainly that that part of their soul had entered the cycle of reincarnation, which purified them and sent them back among the living, where they would be reborn as new living beings.
However, this only applied to mortal living beings.
For those who had ascended from the mortal realm and successfully reached the spiritual realm, there was another option:
forming a World Seed.
This step was a critical milestone for any cultivator at this stage, as the way this process was carried out would determine how good, or bad the subsequent stages of cultivation would be.
The World Seed would cultivate their soul and ensure that even if they were to die, they would have the chance to reconstruct their physical body as long as they could preserve their soul.
The first stage of the spiritual realm consisted precisely of creating a spiritual vessel for one\'s soul.
In essence, Ethan was creating a second life within himself at that moment, a life that would sustain him if he ever met his end.