Chapter 101: Moon is Trapped

Moon muttered softly, his hands changing into a circular formation seal.

The white powder, the clear droplets, and the golden oil suddenly rose from their corners, spinning into a fast vortex inside the cauldron.

The entire black cauldron began to vibrate.

Its etched lines hummed with a steady, low rhythm that thudded against the boulder.

Moon felt his Qi draining quickly.

His mortal-grade soul power was being stretched thin just to maintain the spinning vortex.

His five cores throbbed hard inside his dantian, struggling to balance the wood and fire Qi without letting them clash and explode.

Sweat broke out on his forehead and trickled down his neck, but his hands stayed steady.

He poured the last bit of his wood essence into the loop, smoothing out the rough edges of the spinning mixture.

The vibration of the cauldron slowly died down.

A smooth, clicking sound replaced it.

Ping.

Three round green pills flew out from the cauldron and landed lightly on Moon’s palm.

A tired but genuine smile lifted the corners of his lips.

He had successfully refined his very first fasting pill—and this time it was made entirely from his world’s materials.

Moon put one into his mouth to test the effect. It melted the moment it touched his tongue.

If his refining was correct, it would last three full days.

For three days he wouldn’t need to eat.

A small sense of satisfaction settled in his chest.

Moon chuckled and praised himself for doing a good job.

With the remaining materials and the experience from the first batch, Moon immediately started refining again.

The second batch came out the same—three more green fasting pills.

The third batch was slightly better; the color turned a clearer emerald with six pills in the cauldron.

By the time the sun had shifted, he had refined several more rounds.

Finally, when he adjusted the fire and wood balance one more time and poured in a drop of the denser essence he had carefully saved, the cauldron let out a deeper hum.

Nine round pills flew out.

This time there were two clean, bright red, with the others green.

Mid-grade.

Moon’s eyes lit up.

He carefully collected every single pill—green and red—and stored them all inside his storage.

He now had two mid-grade Fasting pills that could last fifteen days without eating.

And thirty-five low-grade pills.

Only after making sure nothing was left outside did he finally sit cross-legged on the boulder again.

He took out the Heaven-grade soul-training manual.

The manual was extremely old.

It was made of some kind of tough beast skin, or perhaps a special paper that had somehow stayed durable after countless years.

Moon had seen many inheritances stored inside jade slips, but never this kind of physical book.

He turned the first page and began to read.

But after only a few lines, he paused.

His body still felt a little drained from the continuous refining.

And more importantly, he hadn’t checked on the others for a while.

Moon closed the manual for now and stood up.

He walked toward the pond where Ugo had been staying with the two pups.

When he arrived, he found Ugo kneeling on a cleared patch of land near the water.

The soil had already been turned and leveled.

Ugo was carefully planting high-grade plant seeds one by one, his movements steady and focused.

Leo and Rio were nearby, currently sitting inside a shallow wooden basin filled with warm water.

Both pups looked half-annoyed and half-enjoying the bath as Ugo had clearly scrubbed them earlier.

Moon crouched down first and adjusted the water temperature with a small thread of fire Qi, making sure it stayed comfortable for the two little ones, and the iridescent powder didn’t leave a rash.

Leo immediately tried to bite his finger.

Rio simply closed his eyes and leaned against the side of the basin.

"You’re planting already?" Moon asked as he stood up again.

Ugo looked up and gave a small smile.

"The soil here is good. I wanted to prepare a small plot since we already have seeds."

Moon nodded.

He reached into his storage and took out a few high-grade seeds he found in his mother’s storage.

These were from his original world—ones that were hard to find even back there.

He hoped these would grow too, since this pond water has faint spiritual energy.

"These are better. Plant them too."

Ugo’s eyes softened when he saw the seeds. He accepted them and tugged in his pouch.

Moon hesitated for a moment, then took out one more item.

It was the crescent-shaped spatial satchel the Moon Goddess had given him the very first time—limited space, but still far more convenient than ordinary storage.

He held it out toward Ugo.

"Take this as well. The space isn’t big, but it’s enough for seeds, herbs, and some daily things. It will be easier for you when you’re working outside."

Ugo stared at the satchel for a second. Then he reached out and took it, his voice quiet.

"...Um. Do I need to thank you?"

Ugo tilted his head and looked into Moon’s eyes.

Moon scratched his neck, and for no reason, his ears blushed red.

"No. No need."

He looked away and diverted his attention to the pups.

Ugo chuckled softly as he tucked the satchel away.

Moon simply ruffled Leo’s wet fur one more time before standing up.

"I’ll go back to the boulder. Call me if anything happens."

Ugo hummed in reply and returned to planting.

Now with the new seeds and the spatial satchel resting safely beside him, he has more options. He still needs to move his big tree here sometimes.

Moon walked back to the boulder, sat down once more, and finally opened the Heaven-grade soul-training manual again.

There was only one line on the first page.

"Sink the soul into the sea of consciousness."

Moon closed his eyes.

His divine sense slipped inward.

Inside his mind, the five cores floated in a dark space.

Three of them glowed—wood, metal, and the earth core.

The other two still looked dull and quiet.

He followed the manual’s instructions and guided a thin thread of soul power toward the center.

The moment the thread touched the space between the cores, a sharp pain stabbed through his forehead.

Moon’s body jerked once.

Fresh sweat ran down his temples.

He gritted his teeth and forced the thread to stretch longer, drawing a single straight line across the dark space.

The line glowed faintly... then faded.

Moon opened his eyes.

His soul power had decreased by half, but something felt different.

The space inside his mind no longer felt empty.

Excitement rushed through him.

He quickly turned the page and continued reading more deeply.

He became so engrossed that he didn’t even notice the changes happening around him.

The air slowly thickened.

Strands of energy began moving around his body in a slow, circular pattern.

As he turned each page and read, he unconsciously practiced the method inside his mind.

His fingers moved slightly.

His soul moved with them.

With his soul force going a little wild, it slowly spread its wings all across the Starlily Sanctuary.

Moon could suddenly feel the faint pulse of the trees.

He could feel the soft rustle of the leaves.

As more time passed, his senses stretched even further.

He could see inside the withered lilies.

He could sense the underwater lives—the little fishes, the tangled roots of the plants, the faint illumination of the formation lines, and thin black traces that seemed to lead in another direction.

It wasn’t until his entire being suddenly spun that he jolted.

When he opened his eyes again, he found himself inside a huge, blue, sapphire-like bright object.

He looked around in shock.

The entire place was blue and translucent, wrapping around him like a living membrane.

Everything looked like frozen water.

Or not frozen.

It was water... yet not water.

Moon scrambled with his hands, trying to push against the strange surface.

Just then, a large fish swam right in front of him and stared straight into his face.

Moon’s soul almost jumped out of his non-existent skin.

He didn’t dare make a single sound.

The fish only looked at him once, then slowly swam past.

Moon exhaled sharply.

Then his soul jolted again as realization hit him.

Yes—this was only his soul.

His real body was still sitting on the boulder outside.

Only his soul had been pulled here.

And the fish... that was just a tiny Tikua fish people normally ate for dinner.

But here it looked like a giant.

That meant he had become extremely small.

Moon looked around more carefully.

The water below was clean and clear.

Colorful water plants swayed gently.

Tiny bubbles floated upward.

Schools of small glowing fish drifted in the distance.

Strange crystalline rocks dotted the bottom, releasing soft blue light.

But where exactly was he?

Moon reached out and touched the surrounding membrane again.

Suddenly, he noticed something.

Dense spiritual energy.

Extremely dense.

Wait—

Moon’s eyes widened inside his soul form.

Am I inside a spirit heart?

He had heard about this before.

Spiritual water could be brewed from a spirit heart.

True spirit hearts were blue, extremely rare, and filled with pure vitality.

No wonder he had been able to sense spiritual energy from the lake above.

These water channels were all connected.

And no wonder the Starlily could grow so well here.

Someone must have deliberately placed this spirit heart long ago.

Moon’s smile couldn’t stop spreading. He had struck gold.

No—this was more than gold.

This was a priceless treasure.

Spiritual water could raise his cultivation level, purify pills, strengthen his soul, and who knew what else.

But there was a problem.

The spirit heart was deep underwater, and its energy was spreading too widely across the entire Lost Realm water source.

In this scattered state, he couldn’t absorb much.

To get the full benefit, he needed to concentrate the energy first.

And the even bigger problem was...

How the hell was he supposed to go back to his body?

Moon tried everything.

He pushed against the blue membrane.

He tried to will himself upward.

He tried to pull his soul force back the way he came.

Nothing worked.

He was trapped.

His soul was completely trapped inside the spirit heart.

And the manual was still with his physical body outside.

All he could do now was struggle with his own consciousness and fight against the pull of this place, trying to force his soul to return.

.

.

.

In the meantime, over in the corner of the iron vault, the atmosphere was loud and chaotic.

Inside the Lupine Palace, Axe was still swinging the heavy blade Lupine had forced on him.

Sweat soaked his silver hair and ran down his bare back in thick streams.

Nox sat on the stone platform, a dark jade inscription plate resting on his knees.

His amber eyes were narrowed in fierce concentration as he tried to draw a single thin line with his fingertip.

Every time the tip touched the plate, the line either broke or turned crooked.

"Damn it," Nox muttered under his breath.

Lupine floated over and stopped right above his head, tugging hard at his long white beard.

"Keep it steady, you useless mon— no, wolves!" he roared.

"If your wrist shakes by a single breath, the whole inscription will explode!"

Nox gritted his teeth until his jaw ached. His amber eyes were already bloodshot.

He ignored the old ghost’s shouting completely.

His hand still shook, but he forced more soul force into the tip of his finger and dragged it across the jade in a stubborn line.

Hummm.

"Your wrist is too stiff."

Nox didn’t look up.

"I know."

Lupine circled him like an annoying mosquito, still talking nonstop.

"Relax your mind. Concentrate on your inner self. Think of the vast galaxy and the eternal path."

He waved his hand furiously,

"The nothingness. You got it? Nothingness."

He continued,

"Settle your heart. You will find your soul. Find the power within it. Guide it into one concentrated point. And release it through the fingertip. Let the soul follow the flow of your mind, not the other way around."

This exact type of talk had been drilled into Nox for the past two days.

Yes, it was already the past two days while Moon stayed outside refining pills and learning the Heaven-grade soul manual.

Lupine was trying hard to dig out and train the soul power hidden inside Nox and Axe.

They had no spiritual cores, so the only path left for them was pure soul cultivation.

It was exhausting, and until now the effect had been almost unnoticeable.

But Lupine had noticed something important.

Werewolves actually possessed soul power nearly ten times stronger than ordinary mages.

They were naturally suited for the refining path—inscription, forging, arrays—yet most wolves only chose to be fighters.

That part, Lupine liked a lot.

He had been a great warlord in his time, and he still adored true fighters more than anything.

He tugged his beard again and howled at the top of his lungs.

"Hooooooowwwwwl! Man, rise to your prime!"

Nox’s jaw tightened even harder.

He adjusted his grip and muttered through clenched teeth, "Then just shut your mouth for a moment."

Axe wiped the sweat from his face with the back of his hand and huffed.

"I’m going to rest."

"No—" Lupine started.

"I need to rest and start crafting the communication jade I wanted to make," Axe cut him off without mercy.

Lupine fell silent for once.