Felix looked down at the now slack pillow and back up to a scene draped in white. Elder Zhenzhen sat at the epicenter of the damage, staring right back at him over one feather resting on the brim of her nose.

“A little excited, little disciple?” Said Zhenzhen. She waved a hand and the feathers fluttered into the air, twirling as if caught in a gust. They moved with the motion of her hand, clumping together and then unceremoniously dropped in a corner. “Good news I take it?”

“Great News! I was awarded 200 points, which means I will actually be able to make this manual worth something. It also suggests that Edward is no longer on the path to conflict with the sect, I think. Assuming it can actually evaluate such things properly.”

“I am very happy for you Felix. Really, I am. Just learn to control yourself better, okay?” said elder Zhenzhen. “What if you did something like that but it wasn’t a pillow in your arms but a weaker cultivator, or even a mortal? I wouldn’t be cleaning up feathers then.”

“Wow… that is dark.” Said Felix, his palms going clammy. “Um, ya. So, now that I have the points, should I use them on the manual?”

“Yes.” Said Zhenzhen. “Felix, issues of the soul aren’t things that should be ignored. The good thing is that souls tend to be surprisingly resilient but if you are still experiencing issues, waiting is ill-advised. Unfortunately, not only is methods to deal with such injuries rare, they are often only made for those at the Nascent Soul realm and up.”

“What? Why would that be the case?”

“I am not an expert on the soul but… below nascent soul, a person’s soul is very tough to interact with. For those who haven’t even started cultivating, well, I don’t even know if it is possible to affect a mortal’s soul. Any attempt to overcome this is known to not only be futile but dangerous. To have done what that cultivator did to you low-level cultivators… not only is it mad but requires abilities far beyond us elders. But I am getting off track. The point is little disciple, the difficulty in finding a manual that can help not just one’s soul but would work for someone with a cultivation as low as you… well, it is unlikely, to say the least. It may be different if we were in a higher realm but such things are beyond our reach. That manual there might be your best bet. If after understanding this manual you find it not worth cultivating, then at least we will have more knowledge on the soul.”

Okay, even Elder Zhenzhen is being serious. That is terrifying. Though I was right that this soul stuff was from a higher tier problem than I thought. In fact, this may mean that that it is the same level as the source of the system, assuming that they aren’t one and the same. I mean, for cultivators in higher realms, nothing off the table, and as of yet, the system is an advantage but hasn’t broken any rules of the world. Not that I can confirm. Wait…

“Elder Zhenzhen, you said that it is hard to mess with low-level cultivators but nearly impossible to mess with mortals. That can’t be true though. I mean, surely mortals are nothing before you?”

“Flattering will get you places.” Said Zhenzhen, bouncing her delicate eyebrows. “But no, it isn’t. It is one of the reasons mortals can survive some things that cultivators of insufficient strength can’t.”

“So then… how high would a cultivator’s cultivation need to be to mess with a mortal’s soul?”

“No idea. I mean, I don’t know why they wouldn’t just convince the mortals to at least cultivate or just find some cultivators instead. If they were so strong that wasn’t even worth their time, then they have gone beyond my understanding of what’s possible.”

“Well, hopefully, that isn’t the case…” Said Felix. “Now, let’s work on this manual.”

Felix prepared all his writing supplies, opening the manual and setting it down between them. Her bemused look seemed to bore into him as he laid out paper and pen.

[Dew of the Last Gasp (Technically a Manual)]

[Power: Trash]

[Comprehension: Beginner (0/5)]

[Stage: Technically a Manual]

Let’s do this.

[Learn for 15 points? Yes or No]

What? Fifteen damn points. Is this the same phenomenon as that fucking alchemy BS?

He flipped through the pages, each more containing gibberish than the last.

That or soul-stuff is more complicated? Honestly, I have always assumed more complicated and better manuals would raise the point cost, but everything has cost one point up until now. Still, the fraction in the manual description seems to loosely describe the amount of content the manual covers and this is only 0/5. Though a small subject can be very complicated I suppose…

“Little disciple, what’s taking so long. Elder Shen and Elder Rong both talked about your manual improving state but your space out so often it is hard to tell. Can you hear me? Hello?”

Right, maybe it is just more difficult… Wait, did she say something? Why is she staring so intently? Oh.

“Ahem, Elder Zhenzhen, I just paused because this manual is so costly to upgrade. Could you try explaining some of the manuals to me? It may lower the cost.”

She pouted but picked up the manual and flipped through it again. Her coquettish air lessening as a frown creased her brow. Then she set the thin book back in front of him.

“Alright, I am going to explain what I can. For a manual that even qi gathering cultivates should be able to cultivate, it is surprisingly abstruse and complicated. I even suspect that while it can be cultivated by lower lever cultivates, normally only core cultivates would cultivate. Which makes sense, since as I said, the soul is not for low-level cultivators. I can break down some of the complicated concepts and steps for qi circulation, but a few of the steps are more based on epiphany. We will leave that to your gift. Now, let’s start.”

Clipped and fast, she began dissecting the manual word by word. Felix’s frown grew as they continued.

I am getting very little from this. How did she get that from ‘every intake of breath should invoke the morning and every exhale should be in memory of dusk’. The worst part is when she tries to tie the separate parts into a whole.

They reached the end of the manual and then she pulled over one of the blank pieces of paper from Felix’s neat little stack. Brush in hand, she began drawing simple models of the qi flow in the body, numbering them in order.

Each word was re-reviewed, and she tried to explain why certain qi movements were described the way they were.

“Okay, what have you learned.” Said Elder Zhenzhen

I’m pretty sure I got what she was saying.

[Dew of the Last Gasp (Technically a Manual)]

[Power: Trash]

[Comprehension: Beginner (2/5)]

[Stage: Technically a Manual]

[Learn for 9 points?]

But apparently, it wasn’t enough. I mean, how do you think with both vigor and patience? What does it mean to grow through denial?

“It helped a little.” Said Felix, returning a weak smile. “I just can’t seem to understand it. Some of it flows in one year and out the others. Some of it seems to make sense but then I realized I only shallowly understand it when I think about it deeper.

“Sometimes you just need time to understand these things. Less intuitive concepts just come easy once you reach a higher cultivation but figuring out how to convey what I understand to you is difficult. I wish I had the ability to see how your system is communicating with you when it helps you. Maybe it would teach me something about the art of teaching... Now, saving resources is important but this is worth it. Spend the points.”

[Learn for 9 points?]

Yes

The discussion began.

Alright, I guess that makes sense… but how does, oh, I guess I can see that. Maybe. Then maybe this means… No? it means that… what the fuck?

Sweat started to bead his brow as he hesitated after writing a word, only to soon scratch it out and write another.

This is so much less clear than usual. Well, I suppose that describes it but… how do I write down something as nuanced as that. Oh, I see.

Word by word he went. Unnoticed by him, Elder Zhenzhen had turned her cloud back into a bed and watched him, giggling at his increasingly bedraggled state. Finally, he laid down his quill.

My god, this is worse than my internal pathways breaking 3D space. Some of these ideas hurt to even think about. The words on the page don’t capture them though. Is it the limit of the language?

[Dew of the Last Gasp (Technically a Manual)]

[Power: Trash]

[Comprehension: (5/5)]

[Stage: Technically a Manual]

[Upgrade for 1 point?]

Praise everything that is holy it is only one point.

Zhenzhen rolled her eyes as he barely paused, only switching his quill for a brush. She grabbed a bit of the cloud and used it as a blanket. Felix didn’t even register when the sound of brush strokes was joined by soft snores.

[Dew of the Last Gasp (Mortal 68)]

[Power: weak]

[Comprehension: (5/5)]

[Stage: Pre-Nascent Soul]

[Remaining KE points: 171]

It lost its (Technically a Manual) addition after fifteen upgrades and then shot up to weak on the twenty-fifth. Should I try it? Maybe I should ask Elder Zhenzhen to look at it first…

The sound of snoring finally broke through his furor and he stared at the sleeping figure. Shaking his head, he turned back to the most recent version of the manual before him.

There is no way I am waking her up and I mean, it should work. At this point, no one is a better expert on this technique than me. All it does is create a situation where you gather something that is good for your soul. No idea what that something is but… Let’s give it a try.

Rearranging the pillows again, he crossed his legs and closed his eyes. His mind sunk inward and he pulled a small piece of qi from his dantian as he could. He brought it through a nonsensical pattern in his right leg. Then he did it again for his left leg. Continuing from there, he repeated this for his arms and hands. Once the tiny pieces of qi had begun their route, they almost seemed to want to circulate on their own.

Alright, good, good. The manual didn’t hint that it would almost become automatic but awesome. I’m not sure if I could divide my attention that well otherwise. Though I still don’t understand why the amount of qi is supposed to be so little. Now the dangerous part.

Grasping three more qi’s, he had to focus to keep them separate as he brought them to his head. Once he had cycled them through their different patterns, they also continued automatically. However, a coldness filled his head as they continued and he paused.

That’s weird. Another thing that the manual didn’t mention. Still… I just feel a little cold, but nothing else. Now for the weird part.

An imagine slowly coalesced in his mind. He was in a field and a single strand of grass stuck out above the others. The lighting made it clear it was dawn, yet the sun couldn’t be seen. More and more detail rippled outward, far more than in his visualization of the [Heavenly Earth] manual. Yet he barely even registered, only focusing on that single blade of grass.

There should be dew forming? Why isn’t it appearing? The formation of the dew was one thing that didn’t change in any of the improvements, though imagining this scene is a far cry from the original blank void. I guess I just need to keep trying. Patience and focus Felix, patience and focus.

Almost absently, Felix noticed how his breathing got more haggard and a fuzziness spread along his body. His normal senses were even more disconnected than when he normally sunk into this interval view. Then a coldness spread from his circulating qi in his limbs, feeling just like that in his head. He ignored these changes, bring the full force of his focus on that blade of grass. Desperately, he went through the mental gymnastics in the manual that were supposed to help.

Then something gave and he felt his understanding of the manual coalesced, finally seeing its different parts as a single whole. The beginning of a droplet of water appeared on the very tip of the blade of grass. Felix felt like he had the mental wind knocked out of him as the droplet swelled, the grass bending with the largess of the shining droplet.

The entire scene suddenly appeared as if Felix was looking at it through a kaleidoscope. An overload of sensory information overwhelmed him, and he felt as if he was the dew. Then he was the grass, then he was the sky, and then he was the dew again.

This, this is too much. Colors, colors everywhere.

Then things turned weird.