Chapter Fifty-Two: The Yin Soul and the Yang Soul—The Spirit Leaves the Body

The dense electricity and spell energy that had coursed through those chains moments before had already seared its body, but it hadn’t cared in the least. Now, however, it was injured, and so, as the iron chains once more flared with golden light and became electrified, scorching its flesh anew, it could no longer endure. All it wanted was to retreat, to avoid any collision with the demon king standing before it.

Lin Yi frowned and spoke. “What are you doing? Did I say I was going to kill you? Behave and sing… I already told you, my mental strength isn’t enough. You must sing, let me be tempered by your singing. Do you understand?”

The mermaid demon nodded in terror. “I understand, I understand…”

Before it could even finish, Lin Yi’s fist, imbued with pure, blazing energy, struck out.

With a dull bang, the blow landed squarely on its eye.

A sizzling, burning pain followed, as if its eyeball would melt away.

“If you understand, then what are you waiting for? Sing!”

The mermaid demon responded instinctively, “Okay, okay…”

Yet even as it spoke, another fist landed with a heavy thud, this time on its other eye, burning away the flesh and leaving a charred mess.

The mermaid demon was on the verge of tears. Despite its mouth full of razor-sharp teeth, it considered itself a great beauty. How could it be treated like this?

But it dared not say another word and immediately began to sing.

Lin Yi was very pleased. Excellent, he thought; with some training, this would be a true songstress.

He began to look forward to life in the demon prison.

Melodious singing filled the air, each note tempering Lin Yi, who gradually gained a deeper understanding of what true illusionary influence meant.

He recalled previous encounters. Against the weasel, it was the Divine Severance Sutra that awakened him. Against the ghostly avatar of Lady Huang Jiu, again the Divine Severance Sutra. And when he fought the tiger demon, the Divine Severance Sutra had deliberately drawn him into the experience from a unique perspective.

Ultimately, his own mental strength was simply too weak; each time, it was only by relying on the Divine Severance Sutra that he comprehended the situation.

His lack of spiritual fortitude frustrated him more and more.

Just then, commotion arose outside.

Bai Zhanting, the captain of the seven-man patrol squad, was rushing over, growing increasingly anxious. Now, with the ominous energy covering the planet, ninety-nine fog zones were shrouded, with thirty-three locations where the mist had turned from white to crimson, spreading everywhere. Reliable reports indicated that even areas inhabited by humans were now covered in red mist, and the number of monsters and demons inside was beyond estimation.

Even the distant Shengjing branch was affected, with so many monsters that the demon prison was short-staffed.

Yet more and more demons were being thrown into the prison. To Bai Zhanting, demons should simply be exterminated, none left alive. But for humanity’s long-term survival, research was necessary, requiring live specimens—sometimes even feeding the monsters to keep them alive.

He sighed. He’d heard the day’s top test candidate, Lin Yi, had entered the demon prison. Bai Zhanting, who valued talent, felt the prison should have been dismantled long ago; all demons deserved death.

“It’s over. This great talent is finished. I had hoped that if he could endure and resist the ominous aura, he might break through again, become a model, and more would dare come to the demon prison. But now, with his death, no one will come here anymore.”

“That’s right… sigh… Most of us came here because we’re strong and wanted a breakthrough, but now the ominous energy is too overwhelming, even the strongest can barely endure. If the prison can’t hold the demons and they escape, it’ll be a disaster. We’d be better off killing them all!”

“Let’s go. It’s a shame about the genius, but we weren’t close. Still, Mi Sitian was our old colleague, and now he’s about to die too… sigh…”

Their sighs echoed one after another.

Lin Yi heard all this, but he was more concerned about his own transformation.

He’d originally wanted to kill the mermaid demon with a single punch, but now realized it must not die. He sensed his spiritual strength was steadily increasing.

In the triad of essence, energy, and spirit, “essence” referred to consciousness and soul; “energy” to physical cultivation and power; “spirit” was the union of the two, manifesting as an intangible aura.

Essence and energy united to form spirit—together, they represented the whole state of a person.

Now, Lin Yi felt that his own essence and energy were on the verge of merging.

A powerful sensation surged through him, as if the energies from the Great Cavern Sutra were coursing through his entire body, his inner force flowing rapidly. He sensed—especially in his mind—a feeling as though, carried by the mermaid demon’s lilting song, his consciousness was poised to burst free.

Suddenly, Lin Yi realized his body was perfectly still, yet he felt as if he were about to float upward!

Upon closer inspection, he was stunned.

It wasn’t his body lifting off, but his soul—his very consciousness—about to ascend!

A phrase sprang to his mind: an out-of-body experience.

Only when essence, energy, and spirit became one could the soul leave the body!

Vaguely, Lin Yi sensed the Divine Severance Sutra teaching him, making clear the mysteries of essence, energy, spirit, and the soul’s departure.

For the first time, he perceived the Divine Severance Sutra’s clear, conscious will. In its transmission, it became a chorus of voices—old and young, male and female.

Lin Yi remembered the mysterious chamber he’d entered when he first acquired the Divine Severance Sutra, filled with people of all ages holding copies of the sutra. They were the lineage of its past wielders.

Fragmented, cryptic words accompanied the voices, and Lin Yi finally understood. The cultivation of the Great Cavern Sutra had profoundly enhanced his physical constitution, which in turn stimulated the expansion of the upper dantian between his brows.

As his strength deepened, the upper dantian had expanded. Many had heard of the Niwan Palace—so named because the upper dantian, closest to the mysterious brain, is the seat of thought, consciousness, and soul. It is like a palace; thus, the Niwan Palace.

Within it, one could reform a “pellet,” a vessel for the consciousness and soul—a nascent spirit.

When the Niwan Palace emerged, that semi-tangible pellet housed the essence of consciousness and soul, and was called the primordial spirit.

The movement of the pellet—of the primordial spirit—out of the upper dantian was the so-called out-of-body experience.

Lin Yi’s upper dantian had now been perfectly reshaped.

Within it, his cultivated power surged like seawater—a result of the advanced energies of the Great Cavern Sutra, elevating his inner energy to a liquid state.

From this water, a round, bead-like object rose—now Lin Yi finally understood: it was the condensed origin of his consciousness and soul, the “mud pellet”—the primordial spirit.

The emergence of the primordial spirit was also called the “shadow spirit” leaving the body.

Human consciousness is a form of spiritual energy. When the shadow spirit leaves and grows stronger, it becomes the yang spirit.

Both shadow and yang spirits represent levels of spiritual cultivation.

The Great Cavern Sutra could refine the primordial spirit, strengthening one’s mind and soul. With a powerful spirit, illusions held no fear.

Lin Yi now understood why the little weasel’s illusions far exceeded its rank; its natural bloodline granted it exceptional mental strength.

Throughout history, some were gifted with pure physical might—like Lü Bu—while others, frail in body, possessed immense spiritual power, such as Zhuge Liang. Of course, the best was to cultivate both.

When spiritual strength and cultivated energy merged, one attained spirit—a formidable presence.

At this moment, Lin Yi could clearly perceive the upper dantian between his brows, and within it, the source energy of his spirit, easily viewed with his inner sight.

Though it was all consciousness and soul, once condensed, it underwent a fundamental transformation, gaining new abilities.

Like the difference between beans and tofu; the same material, but different structure and utility.

Besides inner sight, this allowed him to sense his consciousness rising, as if it could leave his body at will—though not quite yet. He needed only to stabilize, to use the mermaid demon as his sparring partner, and he could temper his spirit to the point of achieving the primordial spirit’s emergence.

Then, his consciousness and soul would be able to leave his body completely!

“Keep playing, keep dancing!” Lin Yi exclaimed, excitement in his voice.