Chapter 161 – Is that… Home?

Aiko was in pain, she felt awful, but a certain feeling bubbled inside her.

"SHUT UP!" She screamed at the top of her lungs.

The scream reverberated like a howl, a deep howl from a sleeping beast.

It not only pulverised the white fog, but also all of those strange rocks, vines and moss. The corridor returned to its former white colour.

Aiko unfortunately passed out after the scream. Her body lay motionlessly, but she was breathing slowly like she was sleeping.

The mist didn't dare to approach her as it was quivering in the corner of the final room, hoping that that monster wouldn't come for him...

...

Aiko woke up in an unfamiliar place. It was dark, very dark. Not even the [Dark Vision] could combat this darkness. She blinked a few times.

Under her was a sea of red and above her was a sea of black.

The sea of red tried to form something in front of Aiko, but it was unable to.

Aiko felt... at ease here, like she was back home. She wanted to stay here, but a deep voice interrupted her curiosity.

"You are too weak, you can't stay here."

That deep voice was without much emotion, but Aiko could feel concern from its voice. She wanted to call him an uncle, but her mind stopped her. There was something strange about this whole situation.

"You are confused, leave for now and only come when you are stronger."

The voice drifted all around her. She could not see the person or thing that talked to her.

She didn't try to find out about it and waited, soon a gentle feeling touched her Soul and she was sent out of this strange place...

...

Aiko woke up, she was back in the white maze, but it was back to its pure form without any blemishes.

Aiko felt good, like she slept for a long time, but her age did not progress, so it was truly just a feeling.

She stretched, looking around, but she didn't hear any voices.

She was slightly upset, but when she took a step forward, the scenery completely changed.

Aiko was in a large, well-decorated room. There was a pedestal in the middle of the room, but that was not the most interesting thing for Aiko.

She spotted a shivering translucent being.

It flinched when Aiko laid her eyes on it.

It dashed towards her, Aiko was ready to fight, but...

"Please spare my life, Princess!" He demonstrated the perfect dogeza.

Aiko was startled by that new and unfamiliar nickname.

"Were you the one that caused the whole thing?" Aiko tilted her head sinisterly.

"Yes, I mean no!" He shook his head while half-crying. "This is a Natural Illusion, so I can't change it, but if you gnaw at the mind of the ones that enter you will be able to minutely alter the look until they lose their mind." He explained while banging his head on the floor. "I have sinned, but please spare my life!"

Aiko was confused as this was not a usual Soul. "What are you?" Aiko tilted her head and nudged him, he was somewhat touchable. There was a feeling of passing through, but also a feeling of resistance...

"I'm a Ghost Cultivator!" He said proudly, but Aiko stared at him strangely.

"What is that?" Aiko didn't know much about Ghost Cultivators...

"When you die, you have a few options." He narrated what happens when one dies.

"The first one is when you have a fulfilling life, you will go into the Reincarnation River and wash all the sorrows and happiness away."

"The second one would be when you die painfully, you will turn into a Vengeful Spirit."

"The third one would be when you use a special Cultivation technique or when a Soul Artefact captures you." He counted on his fingers something.

"Cultivation Techniques would allow you to stay alive during the night, but burn slowly and painfully during the day. Meanwhile, Soul Artefacts would allow you to gain a semi-freedom while keeping you safe during the day." He slowly explained and even created a tiny animated ghost that Aiko really liked.

Aiko suddenly glanced into the middle of the room.

"You are amazing!" He nodded, bootli- praising her. "That is one of such Artefacts, but this one was not created by Human Cultivators, it's what we call Natural Treasure." He explained his vessel.

"It is very different from man-made artefacts, by the fact that it will never deteriorate, but of course, there are limits to it. If you burden Natural Treasures too much, they will slowly deteriorate like man-made Artefacts." He pointed at the pedestal.

"This is a very rare Primordial Soul Wood." He explained with endless praise.

"I have been looking for it for my whole life, but my companion killed me for it, so I slowly tortured him to death." He sighed, but stiffened. "Of course, I would never do that to my Master."

Aiko listened till now and froze when she heard his attitude.

"Who said you are my servant?!" Aiko scoffed. "I still have not forgiven you for that maze!" She smiled sinisterly as her hair slowly turned black.

The Ghost shivered like crazy. "I have sinned, I have sinned. Let me be your slave! I will do anything for you, Master!" He was very perceptive, as he lived a long time. He observed this little Fox the whole time and gauged her attitude, as long as he didn't call her Mistress and sated her needs... he would be safe.

"Slave, huh..." Aiko pondered on it. "Say..." She smiled like a devil. "How similar is your body to that of a Soul?" She still had a few unfinished businesses and one of them was with that Inscription asshole that told her only half of the story and didn't allow her to enter that Inscription Temple.

He swayed like a leaf in the wind. He knew he would get badly tortured and abused, but if he didn't explain and agree to everything, then his thousands upon thousands of years would go to waste!

"We might look similar, but we are quite different." He gestured. "For example, us Ghost Cultivators have what you call Dantian. We can cultivate like normal Cultivators... it's just a lot harder." He sighed, but didn't stop his explanation.

"Meanwhile, Soul beings do not have Dantian, but that doesn't mean they can't obtain it. You could say that Soul form is the first step for you to obtain Ghost form and thus obtain Dantian." He slowly explained, since he felt like if he explained normally, he would really be badly tortured.

"Can you turn back into Soul form?" Aiko asked, this was not good for her plans.

"No, but I can imitate the Soul form." He told her the truth, hoping to lessen his sentence...

"How good of an imitation would that be?" Aiko narrowed her eyes and he gulped nervously.

"Around 80-90%?" He scratched his head. "If I can nurture my Soul, I will be able to fully imitate it." He said slowly, glancing at her.

"Is that why you look so ugly?" Aiko tilted her head. His whole being was blurry, which made him inherently ugly.

The Ghost Cultivator choked. He was never called ugly in his entire life, but he would have to bear it. He can't go against her or he will be finished...

The Ghost Cultivator sighed. "It is as you say, Master. If you allow me to nurture myself, I will be more pleasing to the eye." He hoped to regain his glory one day.

"Okay." Aiko's smile deepened, she had the perfect slave for her plans~.

Aiko hummed happily and his bad feeling intensified.

"You just have to swear on your Soul that you are my slave, you belong to me, you will never betray me and so on~" She giggled with large red eyes staring at him.

A shiver went down his spine as he heard a particular legend.

Most Demonic Beings had red eyes, but they were murky, from their mind being taken over.

Then you had Demonic Beings that had clear red eyes, but they had deep colours. Those were the Devil Folk.

Then there was the last group, only mentioned from Legend and Passing. Nobody in the Immortal World dared to slight them in any way. Not even when nobody was around them...

He gulped nervously. "W-will you let me live?" He was quivering. All paths now led to death, but not just death, but total annihilation, erasure of his entire being.

"That depends on how well you will perform." Aiko smiled sweetly.

He gulped. "I, a lowly Ghost Cultivator, swear upon my Soul that I'm no more than a slave to the grand being in front of me. I'm but a speck of dust that will roll and settle as my Master wishes. If I do anything to harm my Master, my Soul will disperse under her rule!" A small ball of light left his body and the same happened to Aiko, but hers was more animated.

Her small ball of light pulled chains made out of the blackest substance and chained the Ghost Cultivator's small ball of light. Then both of those lights entered Aiko's body and she could feel a faint connection, a string of life, in her body.

She could feel that if she wished, he would perish without any resistance.

She nodded slowly, but happily, her hair returning to her former, moon-like colour. "A wise choice." Aiko hummed.

"So, how do we nurture your Soul?" Aiko was a Beast and a Fox at that, it was very easy to nurture her Soul as that was what her species specialised in.

"Soul Fluid." He said simply.

"Soul Fluid?" Aiko tilted her head.

"It's ermmm..." He didn't know how much he could tell her without the Heavenly Dao making things difficult for her.

"It comes from other Souls." He said simply.

"Other Souls? From what part? Don't tell me it's from the Inner part of the Soul?" Aiko was concerned that she would have to touch the Inner part.

"Nononono." He shook his head hurriedly, he didn't expect that she would be so knowledgeable when it came to this kind of thing. "It's the Outermost part of the Soul. Not the Outer part, but the Outermost part." He created a recreation of a Soul for Aiko to understand.

"Do you see that slight hue?" He gestured at the hue that was forming around the Outer part of the Soul.

Aiko nodded slowly, it was barely visible to her.

"You can harvest that for Soul Fluid. It doesn't spoil under the right conditions and you don't have to use complex techniques to prepare it, you just need a tool to harvest it for you." He explained with fervent desire.

"Not to mention, since you are not harming the Soul, it will produce the Soul Fluid till the Soul perishes or disperses! As such, you are not breaking any Dao Laws!" He smugly said.

"Can I use it too?" Aiko tilted her head.

"This can be used by any being that has a 3-part Soul. I have not tested it on beings with fewer parts, but there were beings with more parts that could also use it..." He discreetly glanced at his new Master. 'That includes you, Master...'

"Oh..." Aiko smiled happily. "What do we need for that tool?" Aiko wanted to take this easy route since squishing Souls would still mean she had to engage with them, but with this, she didn't have to worry about that!