Chapter 311 - 310: Soul Affinity Surges

In the Yin Yang Great Realm, gender didn’t exist. Jiang Qiu placed his hands on Xue’s shoulders and earnestly explained the two sexes of the Human Race, but she simply couldn’t understand. "But our bodies are just built a little differently, right? What’s the big deal? Aren’t we all just trying to live longer, or trying to enter the Yang Realm like Elder Bell Fish?"

In this world, there was no gender. Even if beings with distinct sexes from other Great Realms arrived, they were simply seen as Cultivators with slightly different physiques.

In the worldview Xue had absorbed over the past decade, there was no fundamental difference between people’s bodies. Some people just had more prominent chests, like Elder Bell Fish.

Some people were tall, others were stout—everyone had their differences. They all wore different masks, and at most, one might be curious about how another’s body was shaped. But it was only curiosity, nothing more.

In truth, Xue had never seen many people’s bodies. From birth to now, she had only seen her own and Bell Fish’s. She’d found their chests were similarly large—though, of course, Elder Bell Fish’s were much, much larger, which she figured was due to her age.

The other parts of their bodies were more or less the same, too. ’Everyone must be built like this,’ she’d thought. That is, until she saw Senior Brother Bai Mo. His chest was flat, and it looked like he had something different between his legs.

"You..." Jiang Qiu was so taken aback by Xue’s perspective that he was at a loss for words. Seeing her tear-filled eyes made his heart soften, and he couldn’t bring himself to scold her. "I’m not looking down on you. You can bathe by yourself, just not with me."

There, by the edge of the pool, the worldviews of two Great Realms violently clashed. In the end, it was Xue who sniffled hard, holding back her tears, and padded away barefoot with her head bowed.

’He’s disgusted with me,’ she thought. ’Senior Brother Bai Mo still despises me.’ After all, she was the "failure" who hadn’t been able to practice Cultivation for ten years. No one in the entire Sect gave her a second glance.

Many even wanted to absorb her, using her as a material for their own Refinement.

’Maybe Senior Brother is making me Duel Ghost Head because he doesn’t want to see me anymore... he hopes I’ll get absorbed...’

A thousand thoughts swirled in Xue’s mind. Her nose stung with the urge to cry, and the light in her eyes dimmed as if night had already fallen.

"Fine, fine... come back."

Suddenly, her senior brother’s voice came from behind her, like a firework suddenly blossoming in the night sky. Xue lifted her head, wiped the tears from her eyes, and turned with a wide, beaming grin. "Senior Brother."

SPLASH.

As it happened, Jiang Qiu had already stripped and jumped into the water. His sturdy arms and the powerful, mountainous contours of his muscles were on full display. Water splashed onto the Jade floor, shimmering under the light.

It was the first time she had seen such a physique. It exuded an indescribable power, as if his muscles were the ultimate expression of the Great Dao carved into a physical form.

A mysterious aroma also emanated from her senior brother, as if the world’s most expensive Fragrance had just been lit.

"Fine, get in. You can bathe," Jiang Qiu muttered with a sigh of resignation. He secretly released his Vast Water Spirit Charm to obscure the water around him, making it impossible to see his form beneath the surface. It was as if his reflection had been shattered.

’It’s just a bath, how did it turn into such a big deal?’ he thought. ’Back in North Border City, Ice Lotus used to scrub my back and pour hot water for me. It wasn’t anything major.’

’Now that I’m in this Yin Yang Great Realm, I’ve suddenly become way too hung up on gender.’

With these thoughts, Jiang Qiu shook his head to himself. This was not like him at all. He closed his eyes and sank into the pool, sliding down a little from the edge until the water covered his chest. The warm current soothed his mind.

Pitter-patter.

He heard the soft patter of small feet on the Jade tiles. It seemed the girl had come over. SPLASH. Water sprayed onto his face as the surface rippled. He could picture her small body moving through the water.

’The pool isn’t that deep, it would only come up to her waist. There’s no way she could drown, so there’s nothing to worry about.’

’Just relax and have a nice soak. That’s all.’

SWISH—

Suddenly, a small, soft hand brushed across his chest. A jolt went through Jiang Qiu’s entire body. His eyes snapped open, pupils contracting, and he immediately squeezed them shut again.

"Wash yourself! Why are you coming over to me?"

"But Senior Brother, this is how I always helped Elder Bell Fish bathe. I had to scrub her entire body, from top to bottom. I even have a towel."

A moment later, a second small hand slid through the water and pressed against him. Jiang Qiu’s face flushed red as a surge of Nether Dark Spirit Charm flooded his body. It was just like the time with Ice Lotus in the Ancient Snow Wolf Emperor’s trial pool—a ceaseless influx of Spirit Charm.

The connection between them strengthened at an unprecedented rate. And as Xue’s small hands continued to knead and massage him, that rate only increased.

He had to admit, Xue was actually good at this. She wasn’t just fumbling around. His muscles soothed under her touch, and his whole frame relaxed. The only problem was, his blood was boiling!

Jiang Qiu kept his eyes squeezed shut, but he could feel a soft body climbing onto him. Unable to reach his back properly, she was now kneeling on his waist, balancing on the tips of her toes.

At that moment, the rate at which their soul connection was rising hit its peak, like successive flash floods bursting through a dam!

OMM—

In an instant, his soul entered the Consciousness Realm. Detached from his physical form, he looked out across the vast expanse and saw his own true form: a Human-shaped Dragon Body and a transparent Soul.

One’s true form is inherently flawed; the great path for every being is to mend that flaw. The Yin Yang Great Realm was a world defined by this very principle, a place of extremely polarized, incomplete true forms.

In the Yin Realm, every person possessed only a Yin Aspect; the Yang Aspect was nearly nonexistent. However, when Jiang Qiu had put on his mask, his Dragon Race bloodline shielded him from some of the World Law’s constraints, allowing him to retain a portion of his Yang Aspect.

Of course, this Yang Aspect was far from complete. It was just enough to prove that he was male, a person with a defined sex, but it was nowhere near the level of Transcendence.

It was precisely because of this Yang Aspect and his Dragon Race bloodline that he had so easily formed a bond with Xue, who had been unable to practice Cultivation for a decade. Now, her soul was pulled into the Consciousness Realm with his, where it gradually coalesced into the form of a young woman.

Although her face was still indistinct, the rest of her form was crystal clear. Xue’s soul circled his own with a seeming hunger, drawing closer unconsciously.

Like a long drought meeting the rain, a missing aspect was finding its complement.

This was the state of things.

And in that moment, Jiang Qiu finally understood the essence of the Hundred Ghosts Communication Technique. The Cultivation Dish would eventually merge with the soul. They were simply that—Cultivation Dishes, tools for converting Nether Dark Spirit Charm.

This was the Great Dao: two becoming one to mend the true form!

All living beings are ghosts, and with my own body, I shall command them.