Chapter 743: Soul Exploration (Part 1)

Through multiple experiments, he discovered that he had not gained a super memory ability, but rather an ability for Memory Retrospection.

Under normal conditions, if he did not think about it, memories of the past would not actively surface in his mind; he needed to actively retrospect to recall past memories.

This might seem like there is no difference, but in fact, there is a difference.

This means that Xia Duo's source of inspiration has not expanded due to the new ability; it remains similar to the past.

Of course, if he repeatedly retrospects and becomes familiar with past memories, the state of inspiration—which is passively triggered by memories—will still increase significantly.

It is just that this does not reach the "state of constant inspiration" that Xia Duo expected.

To use an analogy, it is as if Xia Duo's new ability is similar to him obtaining a portable computer that can record memories.

There is indeed an improvement in his own creativity, but it is not as high as he expected.

Based on current experiments, although he has not yet confirmed it, he has already concluded that the new ability is brought about by a brand-new Soul State.

The next step is to confirm this point.

……

Focusing his mind again to enter the state of perceiving the soul, Xia Duo's soul remained in the image of the main body radiating Mysterious Glow, but this time he actively controlled the soul in its new state to return to its original form.

It turned into the original amorphous state! Exiting the soul perception state, Xia Duo observed the Cloud Qi on his body surface again; as expected, it could no longer be observed through normal observation, and it could only be occasionally observed with an inadvertent glance.

As for the wisps of Mysterious Glow radiating from his skin, they could not appear again now; after all, he speculated that the glow was originally light triggered by external forces colliding with the surface of the soul.

"Then what form of expression should memory have?"

Like before, Xia Duo took out notebooks one by one from his Personal Space again, attempting to recall all the contents within the notebooks.

Perhaps because he had just deepened the memory, the effect was not very good; he had recalled everything completely.

However, Xia Duo's experiment was not over yet; he had the Tower Spirit send over a book from the Library that he had never read before, flipped through it quickly, and then returned it.

This time, he did not even need time to verify it; when he flipped to the end, his memory of the preceding content had already become blurred, leaving only a rough impression in his mind.

As for the details, apart from the book title, he did not even remember the author's name; although the focus of his reading at the time was not on the person's name, the memory in the old Soul State clearly did not have much improvement compared to his old state.

It seems that the previous Memory Retrospection ability was indeed brought about by the new Soul State.

Next, Xia Duo switched his Soul State again; as a matter of course, his new ability returned once more—whether it was looking directly at the Cloud Qi, Memory Retrospection, or the Mysterious Glow radiating from his body surface, they all returned.

……

Having confirmed that the new abilities were all brought about by the new Soul State, Xia Duo turned his attention back to the new Soul State itself.

Because he had entered the soul perception state twice before, although it was only a switch of Soul State and took a very short time, it still caused Xia Duo to feel a trace of fatigue.

After all, the prerequisite for perceiving the soul is to maintain extreme focus, which is quite mentally draining.

Thus, brewing himself a cup of Bonu Tea to refresh his mind and soothe his spirit became the first thing he needed to do now.

Of course, it is not just the efficacy of the tea itself; the process of brewing and drinking tea is also a process of relaxation and rest.

Soon, Xia Duo adjusted his state to the best, and entered the soul perception state again, but this time, he would not stay for a short while, but rather observe for a long time.

In the new Soul State, the surface of the soul was constantly triggering a Mysterious Glow of an undefinable color; unlike the glow radiating from the body surface which could appear and disappear, in the soul state, Xia Duo could not control the glow to disappear.

As for what force collided with the soul to trigger such a glow, he could not judge either, and could only speculate that it might be something like Faith Power or Belief Power, which is the Cloud Qi visible to the naked eye of the main body.

Besides these, he really could not think of anything else.

It is just that in the soul state, the soul cannot see the Cloud Qi instead, unless he commands multiple perspectives to see the Cloud Qi on the body surface through the body, but in this mysterious space where the soul is located, he cannot see it.

Xia Duo speculated that perhaps it was because the Cloud Qi collided with the soul to trigger the glow and reflect the mysterious space, while it was also consumed itself, which was why he could not see it.

As for why he could not see it before, perhaps it was because there was nothing outside the soul in its amorphous state, just a Void, and of course, he could see nothing.

Thinking of this, Xia Duo suddenly had a strange thought: the mysterious space outside his soul seemed somewhat similar to the concept of the Universe on Earth.

The Universe encompasses everything, and there is nothing outside it, while the Mysterious Glow reflects the mysterious space, which also seems somewhat similar to the legends on Earth of certain gods creating the world with a single thought.

Xia Duo tried waving the "soul arm" in his soul form, feeling it was similar to commanding the arm of his physical body, and could control it freely.

And when he tried to control the soul to walk, an accident, or perhaps something within reason, occurred—

His soul just blankly swung its legs; it could produce a sense of Touch similar to the ground, or it could not, all controlled by himself, but the problem was, he could not feel any sign of Movement at all.

The biggest problem was the lack of a reference point! In this unknown location, all he could perceive was the soul; there was no other existence around, perhaps the mysterious space reflected by the glow could count as one.

But the problem is, this is a space centered on the soul; whether the soul has moved or not cannot be seen through this mysterious space.

There must be a reference point outside the space that can move relative to the soul.

Xia Duo himself was still in the dark about his own soul, and really had no way to start regarding locations outside the soul.

He even suspected that the soul could not move at all; otherwise, wouldn't the soul moving be equivalent to the soul leaving the body?

Could it be that the soul can move at will within the body? Moving to the head today, and to the toes tomorrow?

Thinking about it, it is not very likely; for example, when the soul moves to the toes, and the toes happen to be cut off, is that person dead or alive?

Xia Duo speculated that the soul must exist in a position higher than the human body, yet coexisting with the human body, but he did not know exactly where.

As for a soul that has left the body, it will be naturally attracted to outer space, which is a place more distant than the Astral Plane, whether it is heading to the so-called Underworld, or the Sea of Light, places promised by gods of that kind, or other unknown Domains.

All of these mean that this life is finished.

Currently, Xia Duo has never heard of any soul that has left and been able to return, unless one has purchased the resurrection service of a Death Priest.

But that kind of resurrection service has a very high threshold and is not something that can be purchased just by having money.

Of course, pure Mage means can also resurrect, but the premise is that one must intercept the soul of the deceased; in the 【Projection Plane: Arcane Empire】, there is a 【Resurrection Department】 that specializes in doing this.

As for whether there is a powerful Spell that can allow the soul to exist directly, Xia Duo has not heard of it yet.

Thinking about it this way, his desire to move his soul really has a bit of a death-seeking implication.

(End of chapter)