The Witch Hunter System

Chapter 1144: Flaws of the Forced Awakening Method

"For the time being, I would like to do some reading at the library. If there’s something I need help with, I will let Sir Vastmind and Sir Voidwhisper know then," Vaan replied before asking, "What do you two think?"

"Sure, sure... That’s fine. We don’t really go anywhere, so we’ll be within reach," Soul Master Vastmind and Soul Master Voidwhisper readily acknowledged.

Shortly after they guided Vaan to the Soul Master Hall’s library, and he left their sights, their subservient expressions faded, replaced by a strange sense of emotional displacement and doubt.

Soul Master Vastmind and Soul Master Voidwhisper slowly glanced at each other and noticed the same suspicions in their eyes.

"Eh? Were we influenced by Lord Vaan’s power of thought just now?" Soul Master Vastmind wondered.

"It does feel that way..." Soul Master Voidwhisper replied, thinking deeply, then adding, "We are all Soul Masters. Even if Lord Vaan is also a True Sage. There was no need for us to humiliate ourselves with such a subservient attitude."

"But... if we had fallen under the influence of Lord Vaan’s power of thought so easily without noticing, wouldn’t that mean his power of thought is so much more advanced than ours?" Soul Master Voidwhisper also doubted.

"That’s true." Soul Master Vastmind nodded and said, "However, Lord Vaan is not a True Divinity. How could he have such advanced power of thought if that was also true?"

"Moreover, I can’t detect any lingering traces of Lord Vaan’s power of thought on our minds. If anything, it was more like he possessed such a profound and regal aura that naturally compelled me to be subservient."

"Perhaps Lord Vaan used his power of thought to enhance his aura?" Soul Master Vastmind guessed.

However, after Soul Master Voidwhisper thought about it, he shook his head, denying the possibility, "No, if that was the case, then we should have been able to sense the power of thought in his aura as well."

"Then, what else could it have been? The aura of a Noble Being? Something like that shouldn’t have this much influence."

"I don’t know..."

While Soul Master Vastmind and Soul Master Voidwhisper continued to be confused by their brief interaction with Vaan, the latter was swiftly absorbing new knowledge from the Soul Master Hall’s main library.

Ding!

<You have learned the Soul Master Secret Art: Soul Sense Attack>

<You have learned the Soul Master Secret Art: Thorn Guard>

<You have learned the Soul Master Secret Art: God Rune Drawing>

<You have learned the Soul Master Secret Art: Soul Reading>

<You have learned the Visualization Technique: Boundless Skysea Creator Visualization>

<You have learned the True Soul Cultivation Technique: True Soul Refinement Art>

...

Although the Soul Master Cultivation Heritage of the Soul Master Hall was not much, Vaan grasped the general understanding of thought power utilization. 𝐫ÃòᛒÈṧ

’Unfortunately, the Soul Master Hall’s Soul Master Cultivation Heritage is quite poor, as I expected. No wonder every Soul Master nurtured by the Myriad Sea God Palace in the past would leave to join the Soul Master Association,’ Vaan thought.

Compared to the Soul Master Secret Arts, Visualization Techniques, and True Soul Cultivation Techniques, the Soul Master Hall’s library possessed richer information on the Soul Master Association and the history of Soul Masters.

As such, Vaan learned that the Soul Master Association was a loose organization that only aimed to protect Soul Masters and guard their heritage. It didn’t restrict its members’ freedom or impose responsibilities on them.

’All the Myriad Sea God Palace’s Soul Masters who joined the Soul Master Association in the past could have returned to the Myriad Sea God Palace if they wanted to. Since they haven’t...’

Vaan thought of a few possibilities.

The first possibility was that the Soul Masters who have joined the Soul Master have all been secretly controlled, becoming puppets of more powerful Soul Masters in the Soul Master Association.

Another possibility was that the Soul Masters who had departed for the Soul Master Association met with accidents on the way and never reached any of its branches or headquarters.

After all, even the closest Soul Master Association Branch was incomprehensibly far.

Even if one could easily cross this great distance and arrive at the Soul Master Association in a shortened time by utilizing the complex connections of Water Rifts, one would first need to know the correct path.

Otherwise, one could easily lose the way.

Moreover, even with the highest access privilege, Vaan could not find any information on the starmap, only a general direction of the Soul Master Association’s closest branch.

As such, the chances of this second possibility weren’t exactly low.

Of course, there was one more possibility, which was that the benefits at the Soul Master Association’s branches and headquarters were so good that none of the Soul Masters ever wanted to leave.

Considering the Soul Master Association possessed branches in every Chaosverse under the control of civilizations, Vaan didn’t doubt its Soul Master Cultivation Heritage was incredibly deep and profound.

’The Soul Master Association is both a big risk and an opportunity. They are inseparable from one another. If I want the opportunity, I have to be prepared for its accompanying risks,’ Vaan mused.

’Fortunately, I have no plans to Soul Master Association in the short term. Just the opportunities here at the Myriad Sea God Palace are plenty to keep busy for quite a while.’

Vaan narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.

Although he managed to become a self-accomplished Soul Master, and his advantage in Soul Master Cultivation was quite evident, he couldn’t abandon everything else to focus on it.

Just as Empyrean Oceanheart had mentioned, his road to True Divinity was fraught with difficulties due to the six paths he cultivated. As such, he had to stick to his original plan: to forge the Spiritual Body Path first.

’The Spiritual Body Path naturally comes first, but acquiring the power of thought wielded by Soul Masters will make this first step much easier.’

The Spiritual Body Path took priority, but the other paths weren’t mutually exclusive during this process. If the other paths could support the establishment of the Spiritual Body Path, it was only natural to utilize them.

’However, now that I’ve acquired the power of thought and understood how to efficiently utilize it, I can try to complete some of my side objectives.’

Since the Soul Master Cultivation Heritage of the Soul Master Hall was relatively poor, it didn’t take as long for Vaan to scour through all of its records. In fact, it was completed quite swiftly.

After leaving the library, he immediately borrowed a private cultivation chamber for undisturbed cultivation.

’It was fortunate that I realized the risks early and decided to aim for a self-awakened Soul Master,’ Vaan recalled.

After comprehending the power of thought and reviewing the Soul Master records, he fully understood the flaws and risks of choosing forced awakening, which couldn’t be compared to self-awakening.

A forcefully-awakened Soul Master was not as strong as a self-awakened Soul Master. Their degree of control over the power of thought was on two completely different levels.

That was the first flaw of forcefully-awakened Soul Masters, and a major one at that.

The second flaw was that to achieve forced awakening, it required another Soul Master to infuse their power of thought into the unawakened Soul Master’s soul, allowing them to experience and understand its nature.

Although an unawakened Soul Master could quickly comprehend the power of thought through this method, it carried multiple risks.

If the unawakened Soul Master lacked preparation in the refinement of their soul, the influencing power of thought from another Soul Master could potentially damage their soul.

Even if they were fortunate enough to not die, their path as a Soul Master would be weakened or, worse, crippled.

Moreover, even if they could receive full recovery with the help of another Soul Master, their achievements in Soul Master Cultivation would never surpass the one who performed their forced awakening.

Also, during the process of forced awakening, the Soul Master could read through the unawakened Soul Master’s entire memories, learning all of their knowledge and secrets.

Although absorbing such vast amounts of information wouldn’t transform into the Soul Master’s strength instantly, it would still become part of the strength eventually, as long as they invest the time to digest and master the knowledge.

It was also because of this cheat-like ability that the Soul Master Associated prohibited Soul Masters from performing it on their peers.

The side effects of having one’s soul scanned were just too damaging.

However, Vaan was more concerned about having his secret exposed if he fell victim to this flawed method. The consequences of it happening were not something he could afford to allow.

Nevertheless, with an unawakened Soul Master’s future accomplishment being completely dependent on the competency of the Soul Master who performs their forced awakening, most unawakened Soul Masters naturally choose the most qualified Soul Masters for the task.

From this, Vaan realized a serious problem with the Soul Master Association.

Ultimately, all of the newcomers’ knowledge was practically monopolized by a select few high-level Soul Masters within the Soul Master Association.

’Anything impressive like the Soul Master Association would have its accompanying dangers. I don’t know how strictly managed this Soul Master Association is, but if it isn’t, it will be easily corrupted.’

Perhaps there was no absolute safe haven in Chaos.

Anywhere required strength.

Without strength and background, the weak could only be at the mercy of the strong. Whether they get killed or exploited, their own weakness was the original sin.

’If I want to visit the Soul Master Association, I will not only need a better understanding of its inner workings, but I will also need a solid foundation of strength for self-preservation,’ Vaan thought.