The Witch Hunter System

Chapter 1217: Soul Cultivation Begins

The Heaven-rank Soul Cultivation Technique, Everlasting Will Secret Art, was divided into five stages. Namely, they were the Forging Will Stage, Soul Core Expansion Stage, Everlasting Integrity Stage, Will Domain Stage, and Everlasting Soul Stage.

This Everlasting Will Secret Art could only be practiced when one’s soul had at least reached the Divine Rank.

However, even if a Divine Emperor-level Soul Cultivator, when initiating this Soul Cultivation Technique, would also have to start at the Forging Will Stage. They could not jump straight to cultivating the Everlasting Soul Stage.

One’s progressive achievements in these stages weren’t proportional to one’s level of soul cultivation. These five stages were merely conditioning steps toward transforming the soul into an everlasting one.

Thus, a Divine Emperor-level Soul Cultivator jumping straight to the fifth stage was akin to courting death.

Their unconditioned soul would not withstand the strain and would simply break.

Although Vaan had cultivated the Everlasting Will Secret Art for some time and elevated his soul to the pinnacle of the Early-stage Divine Warrior Rank, he was still at the Forging Will Stage and far from reaching the Soul Core Expansion Stage.

He estimated that even if he elevated his soul cultivation to the Divine Lord Rank, he would still be at the Forging Will Stage of the Everlasting Soul Secret Art, just barely meeting the qualification to advance to the Soul Core Expansion Stage.

Ultimately, the Forging Will Stage wasn’t just the first stage; it was the foundation and the most important stage toward transforming the soul into an Everlasting Soul.

At this stage, Vaan was required to gather his will into a single point, forming what was called a Will Seed. Then, he was required to repeatedly hammer it, relentlessly and endlessly, without breaking.

This was to mellow out the soul’s rigid structure, transforming it into an elastic one. The more elastic his soul becomes, the more could be stretched and expanded at the latter stage.

Thus, the Forging Will Stage was of the utmost importance to the latter stages. If the Forging Will Stage was poorly cultivated, reaching the latter stages would be difficult.

To begin with, soul cultivation was extremely strict, with no room for error. There would be no second chance after making a mistake. If one entered the latter stage prematurely, true death would likely follow.

’Hm? If I have the grand reversal spell, I can have as many chances as I want, even if I do make a mistake in soul cultivation,’ Vaan suddenly thought.

Unfortunately, he had yet to create the Grand Reversal Spell or the Divine Soul Kingdom, where it should be imprinted.

However, there was no rush.

He was still in the Forging Will Stage, far from reaching the Soul Core Expansion Stage. Thus, the concerns of entering the latter stages prematurely and making a mistake were unfounded.

Besides, focusing on Soul Cultivation to elevate his Soul Rank would also make the subsequent steps of creating the Grand Reversal Spell and Divine Soul Kingdom easier.

Although the order of steps to be taken did not match the priority order, the big picture would still be realized, ultimately.

Nevertheless, there was one challenge when it came to cultivating the Forging Will Stage in the Astral Soul Realm. By gathering all his will, concentrating it to a single tempering point, he would not have any spare thoughts to manipulate soul power to hammer his will.

In the material world, this was not a problem since he had multiple Soul Avatars to assist him.

However, in the astral plane, he only had himself to rely on. Without his computational prowess, it was more impossible to split his thoughts and control them reliably, even if he did have spare thoughts.

Fortunately, Vaan had already figured out the way around his limitation in the astral plane.

After all, being in the astral plane had its own advantages.

He was like the creator of his own dreamland.

Inside the Astral Soul Realm, a certain radius around him was considered his domain, his dreamspace. It was not difficult to recreate existing things with little soul power expenditure, as if he brought them in from the material world.

Floof, floof, floof!

Within minutes, five temporary Soul Avatars were quickly created, draining his soul power by a fraction, which was quickly replenished within moments. 𝘳𝐚ŊÖ𐌱ÊṠ

Nevertheless, these five temporary Soul Avatars were less like Soul Avatars and more like puppets. He did not split his consciousness among them for control, nor could he afford it.

Instead, he simply inputted preset commands.

’Time to begin!’

Vaan immediately received the cue when the five temporary Soul Avatars came to life. They conjured numerous fist-shaped soul power before bombarding the center of his forehead, where his Will Seed was currently condensed.

Thud, thud, thud!

Vaan endured the rapid tempering with difficult.

Each strike was a hammer, sending ripples of shock across his entire astral body. He was almost overwhelmed in an instant. The initial shock nearly knocked him out on the spot. That would have been truly embarrassing.

Nevertheless, he quickly found his foothold and persisted with grit.

That said, the true challenge in the tempering of his Will Seed did not lie in the force and frequency of the tempering strikes but in the duration of the tempering itself. The longer the tempering, the greater the difficult of continuation.

The consistent impacts would naturally wear down one’s willpower.

Only by holding on and preventing the Will Seed from scattering would one’s will strengthen, and the soul it guarded mellow out under the aftershock.

At the same time, the line between will and soul would be blurred, melding the two.

Generally, the Will Seed should be formed on his soul core for tempering, but inside the Astral Soul Realm, his astral body was his soul core. Thus, the results would be the same.

Of course, Soul Cultivation was ultimately far more effective in the Astral Soul Realm due to its benefits.

Ding!

Vaan’s soul had already been sitting on the pinnacle of the Early-stage Divine Warrior Rank. Thus, in a short instant, his soul quickly advanced to the Middle-stage Divine Warrior Rank.

As the tempering process continued, his soul cultivation steadily improved without stopping.

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