105:

  The first thing Xiao Feng felt was a gentle warmth that seeped into his right hand upon making contact with the kit’s crown, a contact that was made solely through his soul form. So genuine was the warmth that he found it difficult to discern what should have been an emotion from a sensation. Neither was he certain what he had done to be on the receiving end of such warmth, until it struck him.

  “Did you like my proposal?” He asked.

  The kit’s response came in the form of an unravelling, as more emotions flowed through the tenuous connection he had established by making contact with the baby kit through his soul form.

  Beneath the warmth was a stronger notion of familiarity, one that marked Xiao Feng as a friend— for he was the source of the same strength that flowed through the kit, the strength that had given it the push it needed to hatch.

  But that was far from the only emotion that the baby kit wished to convey and the strongest of them all was an overwhelming curiosity that flowed through their connection as the baby kit swept its silver eyes across the college campus that predominantly made up his soul space and his instincts told Xiao Feng that the kit could truly see the landscape that represented his soul.

  Beneath that curiosity there were a multitude of other, far less intense emotions, ranging from excitement and surprise to hesitation and confusion as it took its first steps into an unknown world and while it was a phenomenon unlike anything Xiao Feng had witnessed before, the expression on his face was a panicked one.

  For the flood of a few strong emotions and a multitude of weaker ones wasn’t stopping and even trying to pull his hand away from the now overwhelming sensation was for naught, as his hand remained glued to the baby kit’s crown.

  Maybe I should have done this before Beast Master Zen, Xiao Feng lamented as the flood of emotions threatened to engulf him, the sheer relentlessness with which they surged into his soul space making it hard for him to form coherent thoughts, let alone try and resist the onslaught.

  Then, without warning, the surge of emotions ceased.

  Heavily panting, Xiao Feng pulled away from the baby kit, surprised to find that he succeeded this time.

  However, his relief was a short-lived thing, as a loud rumbling replaced the surge of emotions, causing Xiao Feng’s gaze to focus into the distance.

  His eyes widened in surprise as he found himself taking a step back upon being faced by the surreal phenomenon that was unfolding before him. In the distance, at the very boundary of his soul space, the manicured lawns of his college campus that he was familiar with was being morphed in real-time into an alien landscape, one unlike anything he had seen before.

  The lush green grass was rendered into blackened and cracked land, its surface devoid of any signs of plant or beast life. The landscape was uneven, its muted rises and dips occurring without any noticeable pattern but oddly enough, despite the barrenness of the landscape, the ambient Qi was so thick that even from a distance, Xiao Feng felt nauseous at the mere sight of it. What should have been a heaven bestowed sight for a cultivator made him feel much at unease, for not only merely standing in such a Qi Dense area would be difficult for a foundation establishment cultivator like him, let alone absorbing it, but there was also something different about the ambient Qi, something that made his hairs stand on end— as if the ambient Qi was tainted, warped by an element beyond his comprehension.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  The intrusion upon his soul space spread at an alarming rate and Xiao Feng could only watch with a shocked expression as half of his main campus building was eroded into wisps of gray that diffused into the air, replaced by the barren yet paradoxically Qi Dense landscape that lay under a gray, cloudless sky.

  Where the baby kit had been sitting upon his lap up until moments ago, it now stood on the opposite side of the border that had been inadvertently created, the juxtaposition between the two different worlds that Xiao Feng and the baby kit represented telling him without a doubt what the created realm represented.

  The Realm of Yul— where souls overlap.

  “That’s certainly something,” His predecessor declared from atop the grassy knoll Xiao Feng was sitting on, his expression one of unabashed surprise, an expression that he had never seen his predecessor make before.

  The response to his comment came from the other side of the border, in the form of an angry growl that was loud enough to reach them.

  Xiao Feng’s gaze fell upon the small form of the baby kit, who was aggressively baring its fangs as it crouched low, with its hind legs tucked beneath its body, as if it was on the verge of pouncing upon his predecessor, even though the distance separating them made the baby kit unlikely to succeed.

  “Guess it doesn’t like me,” His predecessor said with a nonchalant shrug. “Well, I expected it but it still stings a little.”

  “Easy there,” Xiao Feng called out, as he recalled Beast Master Zen’s explanation upon the Realm of Yul. “My predecessor and I share a body, but it is only I who wishes to be friends with you. Would you like that?” He cheerfully asked.

  If the Realm of Yul did not allow lies, then the baby kit would know that his words came from the heart.

  The baby kit’s expression eased at Xiao Feng’s explanation and its muscles uncoiled as it sat down upon the barren ground, its hindlimbs relaxing. Then, it patted upon the barren ground thrice with its right paw.

  Curious, Xiao Feng asked, “Do you want me to come over to your side?”

  The baby kit nodded before its gaze shifted to his predecessor and it snarled.

  “Only me?” He asked to clarify.

  The baby kit nodded again.

  Xiao Feng’s gaze turned to his predecessor and his expression was apologetic as he spoke, “Sorry.”

  “Don’t be. This is an experience I will never get to witness on my own,” His predecessor calmly replied. “As a foundation establishment cultivator, I had believed that I was beginning to scratch at the corners of the Grand Dao and its vast secrets, but I realize now that I was merely a speck of sand in the vast desert. The Realm of Yul, where no intentions can be hidden and no falsehoods can be spoken—- how fascinating.”

  Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Xiao Feng nodded at his predecessor’s words before offering his response, “Well, I’ve worked too hard for this to turn back now. Here goes nothing.”

  As Xiao Feng crossed the border and stepped into the baby kit’s territory, the world went gray.

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