The Witch Hunter System

Chapter 1136: Soul Resonance, Entering the Mythical Astral Soul Realm

While the entire Grand Hall of Sound and Mermen Domain buzzed with shock, awe, greed, and envy, Vaan remained oblivious to the situation, completely immersed in its mysterious power.

The moment Vaan played the Ode of Pain and Joy, he felt the surging emotions from his past lives flooding into his heart like unending tides, shaking his inner self.

Yet, his flute play remained unaffected, seemingly spellbound to complete the song.

His heart contracted with pain at the recollection of every memory, from the loneliness of endless travel through nothingness to the suffering and tragedies caused by human greed and malice.

Each scene was like an invisible knife, wounding his heart.

In normal circumstances, such memories wouldn’t have affected him much. But under the influence of the flute song, the effects seemed to be amplified countless times over, eating away at his mental fortitude.

With the transition to the Ode of Pain and Joy’s latter half, the overwhelming emotions washed away, and a mysterious energy soothed his soul, helping him relax and feel at peace.

The contraction of the heart and the relaxation of the soul were like a single cycle of refinement, strengthening his Sacred Will.

Strangely, even without stimulating his mana to amplify the effects of his flute play, the tunes were infused with law power, carrying miraculous, heaven-defying effects, capable of bending the natural order of the world.

Such heavenly tunes seemed infinitely close to the Primordial Sound of Absolute Beginning, authoritative and unyielding, capable of commanding all of heaven and earth, subduing all things.

Vaan suspected that if he could decipher the language of the Primordial Sound of Absolute Beginning, he could wield the power of heaven and earth, commanding all things with just words.

The Primordial Sound of Absolute Beginning was vastly superior to the power of the Dragon Tongue. It was the ultimate language power.

Nevertheless, it was just a thought.

The majority of Vaan’s focus was on sensing the changes brought by the Ode of Pain and Joy’s heart-quenching, soul-refining tune. The continuous contraction of the heart and the relaxation of the soul, working in synergy, brought tremendous benefits toward strengthening the Sacred Will.

However, the strengthening of the Sacred Will was just a secondary effect, not the primary focus, and had nothing to do with soul resonance.

That said, the mysterious forces of the Ode of Pain and Joy acting on the heart and soul didn’t seem to be completely unrelated.

With the constant, contrasting conflict between the quenching heart and relaxing soul, an oscillating effect was produced, pulsing through the entire body like a scanner, drawing out any hidden fatigue before eliminating it.

In other words, the Ode of Pain and Joy didn’t just heal the heart, soothe the soul, and strengthen the Sacred Will; it could also relieve fatigue and rejuvenate the body.

Several law powers were infused in the heavenly tune, working together to produce various effects, whether they were minor or major ones.

By the time the Ode of Pain and Joy ended, Vaan’s body felt completely refreshed, his mind relaxed and at peace. At the same time, he sensed a mysterious call to his soul from another dimension, urging him to sleep.

’Is this the soul resonance?’ Vaan wondered.

He did not resist the drowsiness compelling him to enter deep slumber.

However, the moment he truly entered the deepest slumber, his consciousness did not fade into the darkest; his "eyes" snapped open with crystal-clear clarity, absorbing every detail of his surroundings with even greater awareness than during peak wakefulness.

He immediately noticed that the originally brightly illuminated sound chamber had descended into darkness, devoid of the day’s sunlight. Only the dull moonlight of the night illuminated his surroundings.

At the same time, a sense of vulnerability washed over his entire being. It was as if he had been stripped of all his cultivation, talents, and abilities, becoming a mediocre mortal.

The sprouting seed of fear was suddenly planted in his heart, but did not overwhelm him. Instead, his aroused curiosity was stronger.

’Is this my own body?’

While looking around the dimly illuminated sound chamber, Vaan discovered another body of himself sleeping in a meditative posture—just as he had closed his eyes before entering this strange, deathly plane that seemed to mirror reality. ṜÂổ𝐛Ё𝒮

’An out-of-body experience?’ Vaan immediately thought of astral projection.

However, he found it hard to believe that everything around him was just a mere dream, conjured by his powerful memory and attention to detail. Everything felt too real, and the sound chamber itself seemed an exact replica, down to the smallest detail.

The only difference was the transition from day to night and the gloomy, deathly atmosphere pervading the surroundings.

It was as if he had entered a completely different plane of existence, a place where there was no concept of reincarnation or life and death. In this place, he felt foreign, like a living being stepping into the land of the dead.

However, the land of the dead didn’t seem quite accurate to describe this dimly lit, quiet world; it was more like a place of eternal rest, where all things sleep for eternity. Everything was constant and peaceful.

Yet, from this constancy and peace, an unknown fear was also born.

Vaan ignored the growing fear in his heart and searched around the gloomy sound chamber in his astral form. Since he failed to locate the mysterious soul calling from this side, he decided to expand his search, exploring the outside.

The moment Vaan exited the sound chamber, he was immediately astonished by the breathtaking scenery—It was beautiful yet equally terrifying.

Only the interior of the sound chamber was an exact replica of reality. The outside was completely different. It was an endless grass plain with an eternal night sky covering the vast expanse.

The beauty of the scenery came from the countless tiny particles of pure white light, painting the colorless world with its ethereal and otherworldly glow as they slowly emerged from the ground and rose into the sky, ultimately falling into a large heavenly current, drifting off into the depths of the far-reaching void, where other heavenly currents converged, becoming a sea of light, endlessly revolving and gathering.

’If the universe had a center, it would probably look like this,’ Vaan marveled at the sight.

After discovering that the countless tiny particles of white light contained the essence of souls, Vaan quickly understood what kind of place he had stumbled upon—It was the mythical Astral Soul Realm, said to be the origin of souls.

’Such pure concentration of soul essence, untainted by the dust of reality...’ Vaan silently appreciated, grasping at the rising particles of white light.

Upon contact, the tiny particles of white light did not phase through his hand but directly assimilated with his astral form, becoming a part of his being. They strengthened his soul in the simplest yet truest way, free of consequences and without limit.

Although this mythical realm gave him unknown terror, it was undoubtedly the holiest land of soul cultivation.

Very few individuals were able to visit this mythical place, and even among those few, most would receive only one chance in their lifetime.

If they were kicked out, the door would close forever.

Only Soul Masters could enter this mythical realm to harness its power, gaining profound abilities to transform and rewrite reality in ways unimaginable.

’I’ve managed to enter this mythical realm through the soul resonance, but where is the mysterious soul that called me here?’

Vaan searched his surroundings but still failed to locate the mysterious soul that called him here. Still, he could sense its presence nearby through some profound connection; he just couldn’t pinpoint its precise location.

It was as if the mysterious soul was constantly evading him.

That said, through the constant absorption of soul essence, Vaan could feel his connection becoming stronger. It was just a matter of time before he located the precise position of the mysterious soul.

Swish!

Suddenly, an unnatural movement in the distance attracted his attention.

By a small hill, roughly three hundred meters away, a ghostly figure emerged from the ground. Its body appeared to be formed by a concentration of soul essence.

However, it quickly took on the humanly form of a young woman in a white dress, skin pale, completely devoid of life. With jet-black long hair softly swaying in the windless space and a pair of eyes as dark as the night abyss, her entire vibe felt more demonic than human.

The moment Vaan locked eyes with the ghostly, demonic woman, the seed of fear in his heart finally erupted with indescribable momentum, fueling his entire being with infinite terror.

As if paralyzed by fear, Vaan lost all control over his body and movements!

At the same time, an invisible yet domineering force of attraction lifted his astral body off the ground, flinging him directly toward the ghostly, demonic woman!

Simply staring into her pitch-black demonic eyes felt like the essence of his soul would be stripped out and devoured. An urge to scream compelled him, but even that right was deprived of his control.

With little time to think and resist, a feeling of impending doom flooded Vaan’s heart. In that instant, he suddenly recalled the exact same moment of helplessness before he was annihilated in his first life.

Without any means of resistance, his death seemed certain.

However, at the moment of contact with the ghostly, demonic woman’s forehead, a pair of eyes hidden in his own forehead suddenly snapped open, blasting the dim world with infinite radiance, not in the least inferior to the illumination of the heavenly sea of soul essence in the distant void.

The ghostly, demonic woman was completely obliterated.

Moments later, her scattered particles of soul essence returned, funneling into Vaan’s forehead, assimilating with the infinite-radiating pair of bright eyes, which eventually closed, returning the world to its original dimness and peaceful silence.

Vaan finally discovered the position of the mysterious soul.

It had been hidden inside his astral form from the start. He didn’t expect he could perform self-introspection, even in his astral form.

After all, he was already in his soul body, yet there was another soul body silently sleeping within this soul body!

Surprisingly, although this soul body looked small and fragile due to its countless cracks, the closer his consciousness inspected, the bigger it seemed. An incredibly distance seemed to exist between himself and this cracked soul body.

As his consciousness attempted to bridge this gap, the cracked soul body grew ever larger, becoming boundlessly enormous and almighty. The sheer amount of soul essence contained within seemed endless.

’This is my original soul... Varuna’s soul... To think it had been hidden here all this time... And these cracks...’ Vaan observed himself with a frown.

His original soul seemed incredibly fragile, as if the slightest impact would shatter it back into a million pieces.