“Imagine an inner-body within your mind... think of it to the finest detail, that body is you, and you’re sitting cross-legged on the surface of an expanse of water.”

Jin Bao's words were giving Lin an image which is clear enough for the boy to follow his instructions without getting distracted.

“Water so dark that you can't see what lies underneath its surface, the place you’re in is dark enough that you can't see your own reflection on this water, this gloomy and dark water beneath your inner-body which has no wave or current to move it all, is always maintaining a distance no wider than a strand of hair between itself and your inner-body, that tiny space between the dark water and your inner-body is never to widen or shrink.”

Amazingly enough Lin found himself really capable of relocating himself back into the dark stage of his meditation and leave the grey ocean of disintegration-shockwaves after Jin Bao gave him the hint on what to do inside the world of darkness.

“Storms will gather above your head and hit your surroundings... just make them go away by a single move of one your fingers, you’ll disperse their thunder-filled clouds because this world belongs to you, and storms will only gather when you’re in rage.”

“Snow will fall on the water and create black-ice everywhere... just make everything go back up with a single gaze from your eyes, you’ll flip seasons in your world and cold will only be felt when you’re in despair.”

“Sun will rise in all its glory and cast bright-light on the world and chase darkness away... just make its light dim-away and be subdued in your presence, because the ruler of this world is always making every and all things dull and pallid in comparison to himself, no matter how low or high his emotional-state is.”

“Moon will shine with the shyness of a maiden draped in silk which sparkles in silver... just make it fade-away and go back into the faint obscurity of an indistinct dwarf amongst planets, because the ruler of this world cannot be charmed or moved by temptation, his steady and perspicacious judgment always see the essence of truth in subtle details.”  

“Illusions can be deceptive... but they are and always will be, false and opposite of truth. Only you in the form of this inner-body and this darkness exist, here in the soul-world you control and create everything with a single thought.”

Lin was surprised by his supreme control in this so-called soul-world. Once the boy thought of doing all these unbelievable feats which Jin Bao mentioned Lin actually found them happening and he was able to outshine the sun and moon capable of changing the weather and alternating seasons! the reason this great-sage found this experience to be very amazing is because it had a certain touch of realism to it. Unlike his imagination-training and mental-journeys which the boy experienced a lot in his previous life. Lin found that doing the same while meditating in this life made him feel like it’s possible to actually achieve such actions personally because of how close to real it felt.

“Now dive deeper inside yourself... from the very beginning, recall your creation... then dig-out your first thought, first memory, first feeling, and first purpose.”

“Then drag all these four out of your body... now you’ll find that the inside of your inner-body is truly empty and spotless clean, devoid of ideas and thoughts, has no single memory be that old or new, free from emotions and feelings, lacking desires and aspirations.”

“When you take a look from outside at your inner-body you’ll find strands of all you ever thought or experienced, felt or wished in your life. Every time you will-it to explore one of these strands you get to re-live these memories or feelings and experience every thought or desire or wish all-over again.”

“Once you do experience a strand... that said-strand disappears then get replaced with a drop of clear liquid which falls on the skin of your inner-body before returning again to be part of yourself after that soul-dew gets absorbed.”

“After scattering all these strands of mental-attachments... your inner-body becomes more material and tangible inside that illusory-space of the soul-world after absorbing every speck of soul-dew.”

“The clearness and tangibility of your inner-body affects the dark water around it in a certain range.”

“Whoah! that's... an endless amount of strands, old Jin Bao... how long would it take me to make my inner-body tangible inside this soul-world?”

While Jin Bao was calmly narrating to Lin how to meditate the trapped-cultivator heard Lin shout in shock when the boy did the step of emptying his mind and looked at the exterior of his inner-body! Lin found his inner-body covered from the outside with countless silver-strands and every one of these mental-attachment-strands carried a certain memory, feeling, dream, and thought which the boy once had. When he willed a strand to expose its containment it turned-out to be the sad moment when Sarah took the data-chip loaded with the accumulated knowledge from his mouth before he died. Unlike Lin's personal-experience of that memory where he only heard Sarah's voice admonishing him while not knowing whether or not she took the data-chip! because he was too weak to open his eyes at that time to look at his hidden-crush one last time in his final moments of life. This time Lin saw the expression on the Loli's face after she held his half-burnt body in her hands and how completely panicked and helpless the usually-resourceful woman was at that time. The boy silently observed how the woman was overcome with feelings of sadness and grief. She (Sarah) was heartbroken and crying streams of tears while she hugged his dead body then raised it up and left the location of the reactor in silence followed by hector and the rest before the memory ended. After the strand scattered into nothing small particles gathered into a tiny drop of clear liquid then fell on the skin of Lin’s inner-body and it was quite the refreshing experience! Lin felt the cooling effect in his head and thought : 'It... just feels like, as if this meditation-thing is... intentionally trying to rub salt, on my wounds! I was just about to forget about her, you know... let the past stay buried in the past. Sigh.' Then the boy tried to distract himself by asking the person who’s mentoring him.

“What is it?”

Jin Bao's voice seemed oddly-enough extremely pleased and happy when he asked.

“I just said it! I seem to have a lot of strands coming-out from my inner-body... how long will it take for me to reach the last step you just mentioned?”

Lin asked while working on scattering the strands around his inner-body but despite how easy it was for the boy to scatter these strands into drops of clear liquid or "soul-dew" the countless amount of strands coming from his inner-body made it a "given fact" that this work is going to take time for Lin to finish this stage of old Jin's guidance. Which means that the boy is going to have to wait to know something new from Jin Bao. Most likely.

“I see... don't worry about time, just continue working hard, give it your best anyway. You see... I have a surprise for you, time flows differently in your soul-world compared to real life! this all happens in your head, and the more you try to focus, the easier you’ll find it to accomplish more in the soul-world. Call for me when you're done scattering all these mental-attachment-strands, only... when you're done.”

Jin Bao said and his presence disappeared again from Lin's mind.

“This will surely take time, even after what he mentioned about how it flows differently.”

Lin muttered faintly then shook his head and resumed this new task inside this strange soul-world but he was absolutely sure that all of this work inside would take lots of effort and time.

-----

Next to the meditating body of the little boy.

The steam coming-out from Sun's body finally stopped and his blurry shape beneath the steam gradually appeared in front of the team of monks and the others in the group who were gladly cutting meat-chunks from the mammoth's carcass! but unlike before the previously yellow-orange fur which had black stripes on the tiger’s body was added with a root-coloring to the hairs of his fur of the blood-red color. While Sun’s body which previously had some fat underneath his skin is now vastly different because the tiger’s muscles were even more visible and apparent underneath the thick layer of fur despite how lush and longer the hairs of Sun’s fur became! his majestic-appearance when he stood-up from his crouching position was quite the amazing sight because it made all the people in the group take an involuntary step back while feeling dread. Simply because Sun's threatening-aura which was emitting freely from his body made them antsy for a good reason! survival. The team of monks were frightened but three of them found the guts to take a few steps forward carefully and anxiously towards their young-leader who meditated peacefully. Bald-Staff and Ghost were side-by-side and the man who survived the mammoth’s sneak-attack was a step behind them.

“Howl... roar...”

Suddenly the tiger raised his head to the sky and celebrated his newfound strength with a mighty sound which made the three monks freeze in shock while fear was birthed in the rest of the team of monks who experienced the exact same feeling before from the mammoth which they're currently cutting its carcass! now Sun had the same kind of dangerous-vibe to him and Bald-Staff looked at Ghost and the lucky monk and nodded because if Sun who changed in looks and size after that steam came out of his body showed the slightest sign of being a threat to their young-leader then their whole team should be prepared to stop it from harming Lin no matter what. Thankfully the tiger soon lowered its head and crouched back down to the ground then mischievously looked at the boy’s meditating body which apparently wasn’t aware of what’s going outside right next to him.

“Ah! Sun... you're awake... Whoah... Oy... stop it! y... you bully, buddy... what happened to your fur? oh! your body too, hey... don't swing me like an idiot, you know that if some of my clothes or armor got torn or snapped then I'll smash head-first against the hard rocks. Safety first buddy, come-on, you know the rules.”

Lin's eyes were running all over the body of his beast-companion and analyzing Sun’s startling change. From the progress of the group on the mammoth's carcass then less than six hours has passed since Sun swallowed-up that black ball with silver lines which was the size of two-fists! the tiger’s fur became thicker but his muscle-mass became clearly less than before while its height increased by a full meter. Sun’s current muscles looks to be more compacted and symmetrical and his muscle-structure has a glaring difference in muscle-distribution on the skeletal frame which is unlike any other tiger that lived in Lin’s previous life across history. That... of course. If we categorize Sun from before to be a normal tiger! just big-boned that's all.

The three nervous monks could finally release a stifled breath when they saw Sun juggle Lin in the air between his paws.

“Buddy you got a lot thinner now but you're still as cool as ever! I bet you can run a lot, much faster and much longer than before without getting tired.”

Lin said while he dug-out Sun's sheathed-claws from his paws and looked if there's a difference here too! still dark claws with a creepy shine. They had the same dangerous glint to them and color the exact opposite of Sun's fangs but the scary contrast between the two types of weapons was giving the majestic tiger another layer of danger.

“Murrrr...”

Sun crouched down and flicked Lin’s butt with his paw once after withdrawing his dangerous claws and his eyes were on the small-mountain made from the mammoth's meat! the tiger seemed to be saying : 'I won the bet buddy... now it’s about time for you to prepare me some steaks! what’s with all the delay? you’re supposed to be finished by now! go on... get moving already I’m starving.'

“Heh... yes, yes,  you won the bet buddy. I won't go back on my words, when did I ever do such a shameless thing?”

Lin snickered at the bossy attitude his beast-companion was giving him then started to take slices of meat and work on marinating them with spices under the jealous eyes of the team of monks! these men all know that Lin's cooking-techniques and special recipes are super delicious after trying them once or twice when Lin was being in the mood to cook some food or whenever their partners the of the night-watch were clumsy and careless enough to sleep on duty.

Now these drooling-monks knew that Lin was preparing all that meat for his scary tiger because the portions were very huge then they found Sun eyeing them with a playful-squint seemingly daring these men to try and challenge him for the delicious steaks which Lin is making! the bald team of monks hurried to lower their heads whenever they made eye-contact with the tiger and continued working on gathering the rest of the meat from the mammoth’s carcass. These brave men just barely escaped death while dealing with the big mammoth earlier! if it was their team being on its own without Lin's commands and this tiger's crucial-role of being distraction then not even once in a thousand attempts would this team of monks be able to overcome this mammoth. Who among them would dare be ungrateful and challenge that tiger now after it splendidly helped them feed their women! not to mention how this male tiger changed to be something fearsome in a very short time-span. Sun in less than a night turned into a dreadful creature which is even more scarier and terrifying if compared to the mammoth during its glorious era.

The group of women and the team of monks didn't finish working on the mammoth’s carcass until it was less than an hour before dawn and when they were completely done and over with their task they discovered that the meat-gathered is more than enough to supply the whole group to the last member in the returning journey without the monks having to hunt at all which made Lin sigh in relief because that would be one less trouble off of his agenda! the horny monks like always were very impatient and didn't wait to feed their women or wash themselves from the blood first before banging them. These men took their female-partners to different secluded spots away from the camp-site and got wild in their celebration. Surprisingly the man who experienced the close-call earlier with the death-reaper was the person with the most vigor and springy-bounce-ness to his hip amongst the team of monks! it was like he’s trying to forget about what happened with the mammoth by going at it like there's no tomorrow. Since his woman was enjoying it and all was good Lin kept himself out of it. The loud moans of the woman though were... disturbing.

Lin gave the entire group a break until it was noon then made the team of monks load all the meat on the wheel-cart then told the men that they have to carry their women on their backs now because the wheel-cart barely has any room left vacant after loading the meat on it! which is only sufficient for the rest of the group’s supplies to be transported. Some of the monks wanted to protest then they saw Sun agree to let the six kids sit on his back and these monks surrendered. But the tiger had his own condition : "he would throw these brats off of his back if they showed the slightest bit of being cocky or naughty and whomever causes it has to either run his way north or get on one of the monk’s or one of the two clowns backs to be his or hers method of transportation!" of that Sun proved to be really convincing because the tiger never stopped showing how frustrated and uncomfortable he was by baring his fangs and growling at the few children every now and then to intimidate them and force them to be quiet and submissive... like they should.

The men found themselves forced to carry their women piggyback when they got tired for a week's worth of almost non-stop travelling from early at dawn they would start moving and only stop a couple hours after dusk! yes they would take short rests every now and then but their young-leader only allowed their water-breaks to be ten minutes long and not a second longer. Otherwise these dawdling fellows who would let themselves muck-about would find the wheel-cart leaving them on time. Every time! Lin gave no exceptions to anyone be that a monk or clown and moved according to schedule. After that first week there was finally vacant space for one person to sit on the wheel-cart when the group consumed the meat on that spot. The women would take a breather on the wheel-cart for a time when they can no longer move or their men are too exhausted to carry them before alternating with another in turn to let these men be relieved from the burden of their weight. The two poor clowns were struggling because unlike the strong monks they were not used to prolonged exercise and their women were already in an advanced age plus the surplus addition of the third woman which was their responsibility! because the team of bullying-baldies said so when they glared at the two tall men with fiery-eyes. Thankfully the little-one which always rides the beast would intervene for them and let the three older women enjoy riding that "thing" whenever they couldn’t walk anymore. Sometimes he would let the beast carry the old women if the spot is being taken by another woman! the two clowns were gradually finding this little-one -which always makes the bullying-baldies do things for him- to be very pleasing in their eyes because these two men knew that if it wasn’t for the boy then they would be left alone with the weak and old women to wait for the cold season without food or shelter.

The empty space on the wheel-cart was widening whenever the group consumed the meat there and these monks and clowns ate more with their women in every meal to quickly allow more people to occupy the free spots! but sadly for them their attempts were stopped by the tiger himself who started chasing the annoying children which became an eyesore for Sun to tolerate any more because after the first week of riding on his back these "brats" started to find their courage and tried to play with the fearsome tiger like Lin. Sure Sun gave them a scare of their lives when they did but the dumb children would quickly find their lost courage later and try again soon-after. The strange arguments between primitive kids and a big-ass and formidable tiger was unnerving the women which were the mothers of the girls and boy. Harrowing the team of monks who wanted to intervene but were denied the part by the tiger itself. And horrifying the two clowns who felt like it was their fault for making these naught small-ones! of course the children tried doing that when Lin was too deep in his own meditation and trying to completely retract every and all of these strands back to his inner-body and convert them into drops of clear liquid then fuse this soul-dew with his inner-body.

Unfortunately the amount of strands didn't seem to be going to get exhausted soon! Lin lived and experienced almost thirty years of time in person not to mention that the great-sage was addicted to using the oracle to study certain aspects of the human nature in the eras before his existence! which resulted in him being not only carrying his own memories but also the memories of countless people who happened to live not only before he did but also lived way longer than the boy even if his two lives were combined. Especially these ancient and prehistoric ancestors who lived for thousands of years! now each and every one of these memories sprouted countless other strands and that in-turn delayed Lin from experiencing the next stage of Jin Bao's guidance. Despite the fact of the boy actually doing a pretty good job in retracting-converting these strands because of his more than sufficient foundation when it comes to mental capabilities plus how time is working differently in the soul-world compared to outside in the real-world.

Whenever Lin finished converting a strand into soul-dew it would seem like there’s another dozen or so of strands pushing one another to take its place! anyway... he was Lin. Someone who didn't really fear anything other than per se boredom to be completely honest. 'That’s what you get if you give a very reasonable and steady-person the opportunity of rebirth! getting burned alive didn’t do the trick in destabilizing my character, living with my own bipolar-consciousness didn’t deviate my aspirations and passion in life, being stripped-down from the active and over-crowded communities of advanced technology and ultra-speedy interactions didn’t twist my principles and blind the good-side within me. Heh... I really don’t know if I should be giving myself a pat on the back right now, or curl myself in a dark corner and cry until I pass-out.' Lin thought then smirked and resumed his task in silence.

Now that the boy had found himself a challenge which proved that it can really keep his mind busy from thinking about useless or sorrowful matters! Lin enjoyed the anticipation which he felt towards this task and the unknown task that follows it which he didn’t get the chance to know from Jin Bao and patiently waited for the exciting moment of finally seeing light at the end of this tunnel of curiosity.

The monks and clowns were tired after the first week of trying to keep-up with Sun's travelling speed while carrying their women who lack endurance if compared to men and after there was a spot available for a single woman to sit on the wheel-cart was presented to them! all these men celebrated and jumped in joy whenever it was their turn to run freely without having to carry any weight other than their own. After all these horny idiots would overdo it every night with the sexual-activities then carry these soft and seductive women on their backs whenever their partners were tired any time of the day. These monks and clowns did notice one thing though! their legs were becoming weaker every day especially the knee-joint. Their women kept giggling at the waning-strength of their men when they noticed these monks and clowns getting slower and out of breath every following day. That’s why running solo would give these men a breath of fresh air filled with much needed feelings of freedom.

Most of the monks were starting to become fidgety every time their women hooked their arms around their necks and some of them would become restless or even shiver whenever it happened when they’re having sex! the extreme exhaustion of the next day's travelling would be looming-over the monk’s heads while they thrust their hips with force but it became common seeing these men not making expressions of being in overflowing pleasure but they would be frowning their foreheads instead.

Eventually the hardest part of the journey for these monks and clowns passed when they travelled more and the space available on the wheel-cart got wider and that’s probably why Sun and the team of monks -flanked by two helpless clowns who kept being forced into doing things against their will by the bullying baldies- ate the mammoth's meat with ravenous appetite to allow more members of the group to permanently stay on the wheel-cart if possible! The tiger was the only one enjoying the steak Lin made specifically for him on every meal. While the monks wanted nothing but to clear more space for the bothersome women to sit instead of clinging to their necks and giggling-demonically all day then clinging back again while moaning all night because this living-nightmare was really sapping at their strength both mentally and physically. Some of the men were starting to regret their wish of wanting a female-partner in the first place and almost succumbed to pressure but their young-leader admonished the monk who dared hit his woman and gave him the punishment of no food and training sessions when the group made camp and rested! For a whole three days and nights that sorry monk and team-mate of theirs lived on drinking water and juice.

Soon after the first signs of the season of winter appeared when snow started to fall and the low-temperature revealed to these grumbling and ungrateful baldies how tempting women could be in cold weather! running and moving their bodies made these men warm and helped them not feel the cold but hugging the soft-bodies of their women under the thick covers of bed was too good and made heat burst strongly from inside their... Ehm! to summarize what it felt then Bald-Staff would say : "it was the best solution to ward-off extreme cold." If the monk could speak that is.

Of course seeing their beloved men running awkwardly the next day afterwards was a sight to behold for these women who couldn’t stop themselves from giggling at their men's funny legs when most of these men couldn't steadily run in a straight line next to Sun! their men would try to get back at their women at night and use rough alternated with gentle in many positions but who's afraid of who exactly? 'Bring these cocks anytime baldies!' These time these women would allow their men to actually read their minds when the women would welcome their strong men with open arms at night then suck them dry. Again! and these dumb monks really loved and really hated it very much in the same time. Because even in loss it felt good and sweet for them to experience this tussle.

Ten days after winter started the group were already able to see the lights on Lin's home and the team of monks celebrated by giving their sweet women hugs and kisses while those newcomers to the community warily looked at the lights then at the cheering monk’s in confusion! only Lin was happy to be finally relieved of this burden because from now on he’ll be able to focus entirely on his meditation without having to deal with needs of this group. Now that they has their women and female-partners then these monks are no longer a liability to the budding community which he’s planning to grow around his family.

“Let's go! didn't you guys miss your comfortable beds?”

Lin smiled helplessly and encouraged his team of tired yet happy monks to keep-up with Sun's pace.

“Big-brother Lin! look... big-sister Lily, look! big-brother Lin is back.”

“Hush dummy! I can see him already, with my own two eyes... who told you that this queen is blind? and why are you screaming in my ear? settle-down Lao, I always tell you, a champion needs to keep calm at all times. Remember cool-head.”

“En... I’ll big-sister Lily.”

“That’s a smart champion, but if you were focused enough, then you would’ve noticed that light over there which has been on for a while now. Only when one of our family take the stairs would it be on, strangers wouldn’t know the right sequence of ascending the stairs which changes every hour of the day. If it wasn’t Lin then that green lamp would’ve been red instead.”

“Uh!... I... forgot about that thing long ago. Eheheh... Sorry my queen.”

“Tsk...”

Once Lin ascended the wide stairs of his home and walked through the entrance he saw Lao and Lily enjoying the hot water of the pool and being busy talking while his mother and father sat under a pavilion to shelter little Rose from the snow. His mother was gently rocking the tiny swing which held his baby-sister and singing a lullaby softly for the baby-girl to sleep while his father hugged the waist of his wife and rested her head on his broad chest and the man enjoyed a steaming-hot drink. Being among his family really gave peace to the ex-caveman’s heart.

When the parents finally saw Lin returning after a long time of absence they inwardly released a sigh of relief because their boy is back home which is the most important thing above all else. The mother was the first to react and she didn’t hesitate to neglect little Rose and left that duty to her husband then ran for her eldest child.

“What took you so long to come back home? every day I was worried sick, thinking if you’re safe or eating well... you know what... promise me right now, you’re not to go away again... at least for a year... no two!”

The mother scooped-up her son into her embrace once Sun crouched-down before her and didn't mind the roughness of the boy’s cute armor against her skin when the woman hugged Lin! the mother was crying tears of happiness for her son's safe return while she spoke in a reproashful yet gentle and complaining-tune.

“Mom let me take-off my armor first it might graze your skin, come-on... I promise, I’ll not leave again for a long while, I'm really sorry if I made you feel like that, it won't happen again, alright!”

“You promised... tehehe... here, let me help you take it off.”

Lin was worried because his mother really didn't seem to mind or care if her skin was getting scratched by his armor and quickly apologized! while the mother smiled slyly in contentment when she heard what her son just said then used her long and agile fingers to unstrap the cute armor because the woman wanted to take a look at the body of her boy to confirm that he wasn’t hurt anywhere. Because if these ten bald monks had let such a thing happen to her precious boy then the ex-cavewoman is certainly going to show them how crazy she can be.

“Hey... sage of nowhere! what happened to Sun?”

Lily wrapped herself in one of the bathrobes after exiting the heated pool then asked her brother while she watched Sun play with Moon at the side in one of the gardens. Lao followed after his big-sister in his cute little walk and the boy hurried to wrap himself in a bathrobe when the cold air splashed his skin after exiting the hot water.

Lin raised an eyebrow after noticing the obvious jealousy in Lily's words and eyes then ignored his sister and turned his attention to admire the sight of his little-brother Lao who’s walking much better on his own compared to the last time he saw him. Then the boy gave Sun and Moon a fleeting look before looking towards his father which arrived carrying his youngest-sister and stood silently at the back looking at Lin with a smile on his face and approval in his eyes! once his armor was off Lin gave his mother the tightest hug and the warmest string of kisses. Afterwards Lin did the same thing to his father and kissed him then gave little Rose a gentle peck on her forehead. Then he turned towards Lily with a teasing smile on his face before squeezing his sister in a much tighter hug and kissed her cheeks while tickling her in the right places under the giggles of his family.

“Champion!...”

“Tsk... did this queen allow it? how could you hug your queen without her permission?”

“Meh... champion Lao is welcoming his hero, big-brother Lin is my hero you see. If you don’t like it then I’ll keep hugging my hero on my own. My queen can go play in the pool if you want.”

“I see... when your hero is here, you’re not afraid to talk back to your queen. Alright then, this queen will remember this transgression champion Lao.”

“Eh! but... I only did it because I really missed... brother Lin.”

“Lily stop teasing Lao, kyaah... the three of you just look absolutely adorable! seeing you guys hugging like that makes me just want to join in...”

“Me too...”

“Mom!... Dad!... ugh... I really can’t breathe, easy.”

“Oh! s... sorry about that. Ahahaha... you reek Lin. Come take a dip in the hot water to wash it away... oops! my bad, I meant all of you.”

“Whoah!...”

“Champion splash!...”

“Hubby my dress!...”

“Muahahaha... watch-out everyone, gigantic-splash...”

Finally little Lao got carried-away and joined the hug and the case escalated to the mother and father feeling jealous too and joining in the group-hug with their children. The father fooled his wife and kids by raising them up then tossing them in the pool before quickly placing little Rose in her swing to sleep and jumping to join his loved-ones and the five family members were soaking in the pool water.

“You did bring a lot this time. Where did you find all these women and children? honey... check-out these two, Boss wouldn’t be happy to find someone else who’s much taller than him, let alone two of them. Kekeke...”

The father asked his son after he finally succeeded in cornering his woman in the farthest-end of the pool then he hugged her waist to him firmly before sneakily releasing his male organ and with a slight push upwards with his body his operation to enter his woman's vagina was completed. The bold action from her husband made the lady who’s much different than before blush and try to escape her husband’s hold but couldn’t and she tried to hide what's happening underneath the pool water from her children which are nearby by doing her best to act normally so that none of them would notice.

The team of monks and the newest addition of members to the community of Lin’s family were relaxing at the guest-welcoming hall next to the entrance of the palace and these new-arrivals were amazed by the beautiful sceneries around them while the monks themselves were impatiently waiting to receive their dismissal-order so that they could return to the area of the cave and show their old friends the new female-partners which they found and claimed for themselves and maybe brag a bit about their accomplishments of killing the mammoth! only the kids were surprised to discover another beast similar to Sun which looks much more beautiful -in the eyes of the four little girls- than the male tiger who loves to bully them when they play with it. These four girls were jealous of Lily's cute looks too and couldn’t believe their eyes when they saw how much she bullied Lin in the water without the scary tiger interfering once. They kept glaring at the big beast who didn’t care about Lin’s state and gritted their teeth when they saw signs of the tiger about to target them again and the girls snorted in annoyance before averting their eyes while thinking : 'Usually you... this stupid tiger, would be so overprotective of Lin and treating him like he’s the most precious thing ever! always fending for him if we tried doing anything to the boy even if it was just one of us wanting to touch his hair. Yet now... you this ugly tiger, are chasing and wrestling the white and beautiful tiger and ignoring your small friend who's getting bullied, while acting like... you this bully tiger, don't care about the boy despite seeing everything. We don’t love... you this hateful tiger! anymore, we will give our love to the beautiful tiger instead blurgh...'

“Hugghhpp... hueck... cough... huff... south, far to the south father. Stop it Lily! I drank a lot of water.”

“Speak... what happened to Sun? he was always a size bigger than Moon, but to grow this fast in the time-span of a little bit over two months is... very hard to believe”

Lily was clinging to Lin's neck and piggybacking him in the water while smirking slightly at her mother when she spoke to indicate to the blushing-woman that she's already aware of what's going on between husband and wife right now! the woman panicked and turned to look at her husband with squinting-eyes which said : 'Stop it, Lily knows what you’re up to down there.' and the ex-caveman smirked and replied with a scorching-gaze which said : 'Humph... you’re my rightful woman and wife, plus, this isn’t the first time we do it in front of the brats.' this time it was the ex-cavewoman’s turn to roll her eyes at her husband which meant : 'That’s unfair they were just young babies back then.' Her husband just smirked which meant : 'You and I both know that these two were never young in the first place, just take a look around you at where we’re.' The woman just gaped her mouth slightly and her gaze softened a lot when she remembered the first few months after Lin and Lily were born then gave her man a soft look which meant : 'My voice is really going to betray me if you keep thrusting at me dummy.' The ex-caveman finally felt accomplished and kissed the lips of his woman gently and rested his forehead on hers and this close-range look meant : 'just admit it honey... hnggh! it excites you whenever we do it next to these two brats, Lin especially has this addictive effect on both of us. It excites me just the same... now, let’s go finish this in bed, I can’t wait to have my way with that fine ass tonight.' The ex-cavewoman licked her lip and gave her answer with a wink : 'If you dare go soft on me mid-way... then I’m using the vibrators Lily created while your... D will receive a red card until summer.'

“Hubby, let's go back inside, little Rose might catch cold if we leave her sleep in the swing for too long, this weather is not kind to babies, come... I actually have a surprise for you.”

To Lily's disappointment her mother didn't hesitate to cut her off this enjoyment. The girl didn’t know about the secret conversation which happened between her parents through eye-language! Lily thought it was because her mother was afraid of the possible risk of Lin finding out what she and her husband are doing in close proximity to her boy. Since despite the woman being the adult person in this relationship and already holding the role of being the "mother" of this family she came to obey and live by the rules her boy outlined and hated to disappoint her eldest son.

“Alright then, you two take care of the matters related to these guys, and... watch-over your little brother.”

Lin's father unplugged his male organ and fixed his short then helped his woman exit the pool and covered her in the thick and water-absorbent bathrobe after carrying his youngest daughter Rose which is sleeping in the swing the ex-caveman hurried towards his sleeping-chambers after throwing that order to the twins carelessly! all the way there he was fueling his frustration after his wife’s last secret message and vowing to himself that tonight he will perform a hundred-times or thousand-times if needed but he would never allow one of these "vibrators" to replace him.

'Maybe I’m feeling wholly-concluded like Lily mentioned before! no... I can’t let that happen to me, these brats still need my protection, I can’t relax yet. Not unless they’re strong enough to protect the family.' the ex-caveman thought before officially starting the proper way with foreplay.

Ever since the twins arrived in his life the ex-caveman changed from being mainly and endlessly worried for the matters of his woman's health and demands for food to satisfy her hunger! to complete satisfaction with how things were progressing month after month and year after year until things went way too far and beyond. From whatever the man once dreamed in his previous state of simplemindedness to this lavish comfort which is for him is no different from heaven. Like any simple person he was completely without any ambitions or aspirations. All he ever wished for was for things to keep on being peaceful and satisfactory without hunger or cold to make life difficult for him until one day he dies of old age with his lovely woman between his arms! but after the two kids were born Lin's father found his purpose and the twins guided him to accomplish it quite easily to be honest. Protect the family... become sophisticated... and if you can, just don't harm others without righteous-cause or fair-reason.

“Hmph... now that they're away, you can speak freely.”

Lily was displeased because after her mother delivered Rose she started to forbid Lily from having any more fun using any of her toys to play with the women in the community! add to that how the woman stopped making her daughter witness the action of her parents when they’re having sex long ago. Now all Lily could do all day was either teach the ignorant crowd with her mother or make Moon learn new moves and techniques. Other than that it would be either taking care of little-Lao the "mighty champion" or meditate. Life without Lin could've never been more boring to the sister who’s always been a pain in his ass and that was after parting ways with her brother for only a bit over two months.

“It's a long story, let's send these people to their homes first then I'll tell you all that happened in my little journey south. How much of the project did you finish with dad by the way?”

Lin turned to look backwards and kissed his sister's cheek then got out of the pool while carrying his spoilt twin-sister on his back when he asked.

“Already complete and over with. These guys look dumb but their learning capabilities are acceptable. Come let's take them to their new home before they think this will be theirs, I have enough pets already and I’m about to run out of cages, kekeke...”

Lily muttered while she started to formulate plans in her head to use her toys on this new batch of females without alerting her mother! but sadly for our little devil-incarnate this team of capable and finely bald monks beat her to it and did it all. No matter how much she tries in the future Lily wouldn't be able to "beat‘em long dicks!" because it appears to be Lin taught these men well and to do right. The female-partners of the monks would take Lily's actions to be some game to waste time or a way to repay her twin-brother for what he did for them! that would be the final straw to break the camel’s back. In the end little Lily would lose interest and return to her habit of over clingy-ness to her big-brother Lin instead.

But that's all to happen in the future, stop reading ahead on the script will ya!

Lin found the new buildings and constructs completely lit-up with colorful lights and a few silhouettes moving here and there between the buildings in the flat land north of their birthplace "the cave" and the gathering areas scattered in-between this miniature town. Now the cave was abandoned and became a linking-passage between the community here and the palace of Lin's family. The monks happily dragged their women and ran for their new home ahead of the clowns who couldn't comprehend what's going on. The children gave the three kids surrounded by Sun and Moon a final look before running after the monks towards the new place curiously. Lin and Lily noticed the girls glare at Sun before giving looks of adoration towards Moon before leaving! in a few minutes after the monks left Lin and Lily’s side the whole community gathered in the public square. Forty-three people old and young of both genders. After settling every couple in a house Lin and Lily gave the responsibility of taking care of all the needs of the seven young kids to the youngest couple in the community. The couple of teenagers were already expecting their first child and taking care of these children would be a good practice.

“Come Lily let's go back... the things I'll describe will excite you more than you think.”

Lin voluntarily took Lily's hand and they both rode Sun's back while little-Lao alone rode on Moon because a champion doesn’t ride behind others! Lily's eyes and hands were already studying every change on Sun's body since the moment she first laid eyes on the tiger. Now that she mounted its back she kept marveling at the obvious change on the Sun's body especially his skin which sprouted what would appear to be reptilian "scales" underneath the thick and long fur.

“First... we met a monster, a true monstrous creature which is a lot similar to a mammoth, but much, much more exaggerated in size, when talking height... listen to this, reaching over forty meters high! we still have lots of its meat left...”

Lin enjoyed the peacefulness of resting his head on his sister's shoulder while hugging her waist from the back and spoke narratively of his journey south without leaving a single detail! Sun and Moon didn't take the tunnels and walked slowly back home. Moon was being overly clingy to Sun all the time. The twin-tigers and twin-humans took their sweet time on their way back it even ended-up with little Lao sleeping half-way which made Lin and Lily take him on Sun's back in fear of him turning in his sleep then falling-off Moon’s back because she was acting clumsily for a while and pranking Sun with her naughty games. Lily just silently listened to Lin when he spoke and never interrupted him even once until he told her how Jin Bao the man in the ring taught him how to meditate properly and her eyes started to light-up with interest because unlike goody-two-shoes Lin. She already experimented on her own and knew about the dark place "soul-world" and how to enter and exit whenever Lily wanted because she’s wild and untamed by nature. Rules and such! when did that ever had got anything to do with her? her meditation was previously taken to be a game of exploring something unknown and exciting. Sometimes she'll take it that way and try finding new and interesting things next day it will be another direction.

'That dark space gave me the feeling of something being buried deep inside its water when I first entered it, then it vanished once I felt it and never happened again. Was it all my misconception?' Lily thought when she listened to Lin's words.

“Hrmmmm... I'll try it later that method which you mentioned, for two months now I've been sleeping alone while you're away helping long-dicks find holes. Come let's go have some fun, I missed you.”

“Oh! sister missing brother is alright, but your intentions aren’t pure. When will you escape my charm, or is it this tempting of an idea for you because... it’s forbidden.”

“Call it what you may, I won’t know unless I taste the fruit myself.”

“Well... this tree you’re barking up is the wrong tree, you of all people know the story and how it ends.”

“Maybe we’re not the first of our kind, maybe we’re the second chapter. We offer the offering and the loser flares-up in rage then does the kind sibling-in, your character is a lot similar to Abel.”

“Fuck! I wouldn’t call you sick in the mind, because I’m sure you already are, but... either I give you my... or you bash my head with a stone. I didn’t think you would be that... desperate. I hope this sickness wouldn’t grow to involve little-Lao, please... don’t seduce your champion my queen.”

“Heh... since you know best then I will stay focused only on you my whole life.”

“Will until we reach that mountain, I will be doing lots and lots of things to keep my mind busy, all that thinking of my queen can drive me crazy you know.”

“Will you?”

“If I have no other choice... then I’ll have to... cross it.”

“Good. I won’t clip your wings and you know it, now... where were we? uh-huh! pleasure me oh-dear beloved.”

Lily turned around to face Lin then locked her legs around his waist after hugging his neck then said that last line with an evil smirk on her face. They were almost four years old now and she knows that Lin wouldn't take the advice of the person in the ring and wait until he's six years old to train his physique. Common-knowledge of their previous world’s studies says that the age of four is the best time to start laying-down proper foundations for the body to develop. She knows that Lin will focus on perfecting flexibility and speed to the limits first before he ever think about improving stamina and endurance which happens gradually and very slowly. Then start to add strength and power to his lean and flexible-muscles which might not happen until Lin's six of age or more if he wasn’t ready yet for "PUMMA" training. Which is sure to begin the novice levels alongside gymnastics once their next birthday arrives.

Not to mention that the bodies of the twins are rather more developed than other kids in the same age from their previous life! they're no different now in height and weight than kids four and half or five years old. Their genes are strong and their physiques are different which added more validity to Lin's future plans. The boy once said that after they reached the age of three years old he was ninety-percent sure that if they started actively training their bodies right now then their physiques wouldn't be affected in anyway but Lin just wasn't going to take any chances. Lily oddly-enough offered to take Lin's place in teaching the community how to speak and deal with each other. The girl with her parents spent the whole winter on that task and left Lin alone to focus on his meditation most of the time and used the time Lin isn't meditating to drag him into her own games which are mostly inappropriate for children their age. Like at all! mostly winter was peaceful and quiet without any major events except for one which happened at the last days of winter when Lily mentioned once that Sun and Moon would go out to play which wasn't a common behavior for the two usually-obedient tigers. The girl wasn't worried since these two tigers mostly would go to the cave-area and join the fun amongst the community! some of the women already gave birth and almost all of the rest in the community had swollen bellies and were about to deliver. Clearly the numbers of the small village are going to rise by next summer. One day after Lin returned from his calming swim in the pool he heard a stifled sound of grunting coming from his own room! the whole family was out in this time of the day taking care of the community and supervising their work on the other unfinished projects. Only Lin was supposed to be in the palace or so it should be. Tiptoeing towards the room and slowly pushing the door open the boy found a sight which made him both frown and want to laugh in the same time. Sun and Moon were mating in his room and the female tigress was clearly fidgety after Lin caught the two red-handed and linked to the stem or root or whatever! Lin received a displeased-glare from his beast-companion afterwards which said : 'Get-out buddy! and... close the door behind you, and... learn to knock, will ya!'

After rolling his eyes helplessly at his tiger Lin did what Sun asked with his eyes and closed the door behind him! getting kicked-out from his own room didn’t feel pleasant to the boy who went towards another room to meditate.

“Humph... he could've done that in any other room, why would he choose my room? and to dare kick me out of my room on top of all that! if Lily knew what he did to her Moon behind her back then she'll be infuriated for sure, should I tell her? no... I better wash my hands clean from this matter and make sure no signs of me knowing about what happened would show on me when I’m with Lily! otherwise, it will be an utter and complete disaster for sure. Female tigers doesn't show signs of pregnancy until they’re in the last stage of pregnancy and I hope Sun and Moon’s species is the same, that gives me about three months of peace and quiet. When it’s time for Moon to give birth I'll be already in the age to start my physical training, I can just bury myself in training to avoid Lily's anger... en, it can be done. PUMMA training and gymnastics to improve my physique, swimming can become my relaxing routine to recover fatigue and mom's massages plus the cold sessions would speed-up healing damaged fiber-tissues and improve performance. That's certainly going to be more than sufficient and enough to lay-down the best foundation for my physique, if I don't break all the historical records of peers at my age and those older who lived in my previous universe and those living in this world then I'm nothing but a waste! let’s not forget the persistent-strands which wouldn't show any signs of lessening. Sigh, my schedule is really going to get crowded and become a lot busy in the near future, even-though I'm removed from the matters of our little village here I am worried that I wouldn’t find enough time.”

Lin was grumbling about Sun and what happened earlier then got drifted-off towards his future plans while walking alone in the corridors of the palace until he reached his destination and the boy entered another room of the many free rooms of the huge palace and sat-down cross-legged to meditate.

In the dark space of the soul-world inside his mind Lin diligently worked on experiencing each of the strands coming out of his inner-body which were brimming with the memories of his current and previous lives all-over again. After each of those strands is scattered a clear drop of soul-dew liquid would fuse with his inner-body and brighten-up a slightly wider-area of the dark space around him. Same thing would happen to the dark and still water beneath his inner-body. After three months of doing the same thing Lin was no different from a machine and this operating and precise-machine has one use and one product! scattering these strands then converting them into soul-dew liquid that fuses with that inner-body inside his soul-world. The boy noticed after three months of doing the same thing repetitively that the diameter of the bright-domain around the inner-body was increasingly stretching wider and further. But sadly he couldn't see the current state of his own inner-body because the countless strands were covering every single part of it from the boy’s inner-sight.

Then in the middle of his meditation Lin felt something interrupting his session in a very "rude" way! opening his eyes the boy saw Sun raising his tiny body up and letting it hang in the air from the collar-area of Lin’s clothes using the tip of one of his long-claws while a gloating expression was all-over the tiger’s face and an amused gaze was in Sun’s eyes.

“What? are you here to brag and act all cocky after losing your virginity? scram... I too will lose mine... when I’m all matured physically, sooner or later it will happen anyway. You’re just different, your kind matures quicker that’s all... Tsk.”

Lin glared at the tiger who's clearly here to strut-around and be prideful in his own unique-way and crossed his arms in his hanging-position which was a cute sight that Lily would kill to witness! still the boy refused to admit that he’s jealous because this beast-companion of his which was a cub not so long earlier back in the days has "graduated" while Lin who lived not one but two lives, actually didn’t taste personally how it felt yet... Humph.

The sight of Sun laying on his back and raising Lin by the collar teasingly was comical enough and if you add Lin's behavior when he's alone with his beast-companion then you'll get a mature yet childish mixture of behavior from the young boy.

“Murrrr...”

Sun swung Lin's hanging body in his paw left and right while a very human-like sneer decorated his face. Even the sound that came out of the tiger’s throat was a lot like the word : 'Really!' when the boy heard it.

“Y... you little... undisciplined-cub! put me down... you little... fur-ball! you're just happy because you did that to your own sister, aren’t you?”

“Purr...”

“Well big deal idiot! I too have a twin-sister, moron. What you did I can do too and you know what? Lily is the one who wants to do it and I’m the one who’s not feeling good about it, who knows... had we been grown-ups then maybe we would’ve done it already long ago! not only that... I wouldn't need to hide in other people's rooms, to do it in... secret. Heck, I would do it in public if I wanted, and Lily would wish for it to happen even more.”

Sun kept trying to tease Lin and have fun provoking the boy who just couldn't stand the thought of having his own pet which acted like such an annoying and intolerable-bully anymore! because not only did the big-ass feline snatch his room and forcefully show his dominance to his female in that place by leaving a mark there but also this tiger had the audacity to return after doing something which he -himself the great-sage and symbol of hope for an entire civilization- never tried before and started to juggle Lin in his paws with a same sneer on his face and a teasing look in his eyes.

“Growl...”

Sun's pride was wounded quite severely after hearing Lin's words and he growled faintly at his buddy to tell him not to "step on his tail" because he's not a coward. He's being tactful that’s all! Lily could be scary sometimes even for those who are brave like this mighty tiger here. His animalistic-instincts always signaled the male tiger that inside that little girl there's something which is very creepy and he should be wary and fearful towards such person. The tiger wondered sometimes just how can his buddy be this forceful with Lily whenever he wants without feeling trepidation towards what's inside her? his owner and best friend is always very sharp and clever. The boy never missed a step before or any of the fine details. Yet he seems to be entirely unaware of the "thing" Sun felt inside Lily and caused the tiger fear ever since it happened. Sun once asked Moon about it and his sister told him that she would shiver every time Lily touched her fur! then the matter became something the tigress got accustomed to gradually with time. Now Moon only feels deep-attachment from the girl towards her after they lived together and spent years in the company of each other.

“Yeah... keep faking it, this tough exterior... is totally not going to work on Lily, try intimidating my sister when she finds out and you’re really going to regret it. Let me tell you this buddy, Lily is certainly going to kick your butt because of what you did, you have guts I’ll give you that at least! heh... sleeping with Moon without her blessings, that episode would be fun to watch. I bet Lily can scream just once in your face, and leave you shaking on the floor like a newborn-cub shivering in the cold. Humph.”

Lin knew that his words hit a "sensitive-nerve" on the tiger and smiled cynically when he saw the expression of worry on Sun’s face who's still juggling the boy’s body in his paws and spoke while enjoying getting flipped in the air! despite their ongoing argument Lin trusted his beast-companion would keep the safety of his buddy to be a priority even if the tiger is finding himself being in a tight-spot and threatened by Lily’s response when she discovers the truth.

“Snort...”

Sun seemed to lose his good-mood after getting hit with Lin's effective words which carried nothing but bad news and the honest and naked-truth! the tiger snorted and lowered his friend safely to the ground then turned his body to lay on his belly and closed his eyes. Sun appeared to be thinking because he kept smacking his lips every now and then seemingly trying to find a solution to the predicament he's in. Lin straightened-up his creased clothes then smirked at Sun’s attitude which was a lot like a kid during his rebellious-age when he saw all this pouting and tossing and turning around the place in apparent frustration.

------

Then spring arrived.

The community was thriving with liveliness and products of various kinds and uses were being made all the time to supply all needs while necessary buildings were being built and already existing buildings were raised higher when required! these energetic people farmed the land and planted more varieties in a well-organized manner and raised additional livestock and poultry in bigger and well-prepared ranches. Social and group-activities were arranged every week or twice a week if it could be done. Seeing the team of monks win the tournaments whenever they played team-sports against any other team was fun to watch and Lin smiled and clapped to congratulate them with his family! his father, Boss, pervert thin-man, and the two clowns were amongst the team of losers and the handsome-man forced these team-mates of his who were the reason he lost in front of his woman to do extra training together in secret afterwards to increase their teamwork. These activities creates bridges of harmony between the members of the community and Lin was very happy to see his efforts actually working and changing these people to the better. Of course the young kids in the community were taking the most attention from Lily who did her part teaching them lots of important things after Lin agreed to let her take command of the matters related to the community instead of him having to do it himself. But she had to do everything according to his rules and these kids need to grow-up with the purpose and goal to be the candidates for future-leaders and pillars of the community and take care of the following generations. That way the cycle and legacy will continue to bring more reliable-pillars and more leaders to act as a corner stone and viaduct of social, intellectual, and civilized-progression for all the generations that comes after them! Lin never wanted Lily to keep exhausting herself and burn-out her years on the matter of teaching or guiding the ignorant people of this community. Just pointing them towards the right direction and arming them with enough knowledge is more than enough if the principles-scale is deeply marinated in this community. If it happened then it will be balanced enough to withstand the eroding-elements of age and it may survive and keep growing bigger and firmer after ascending the ladder of civilization.

Lily too deserve to have fun and enjoy Life. Even if she's an oddball! she’s still his twin.

Sun was smart enough to find the solution to his problem. Once there's any hunting-journey or an exploration-trip then the team which is about to leave would find the tiger joining them without even caring to ask for Lin's permission first before leaving! that way the sneaky and very sly tiger who became smarter would have a better chance to avoid the event of Lily discovering that he slept with Moon behind her back. Yes Lily sooner or later would get her hands on him but at least Sun will be able to avoid the strongest-wave of Lily's anger. When she discovers the truth the tiger can just return afterwards to receive some scolding but "rice will be already cooked" anyway and his cubs will be delivered to the world one way or another.

Spring in the small village was advancing in the same direction. Building, developing, manufacturing, harvesting, planting, guarding, and Lin’s family teaching the community how to live like proper human-beings and how to be creative and unleash their potential.

For Lin it was still the boring process of meditating day after day with little time in-between where he spent with his family or visited the community. The only change was when Lin finally finished scattering-converting all the strands on his inner-body and it happened exactly in the fourth day of the second month of spring. For the first time in many months Lin got to see his own inner-body again during his meditation. The boy felt like all his senses were being transitioned to the next-level! the wide zone of brightness around on the empty space and the water underneath his inner-body was shining with light and glowing because the skin of the boy's inner-body was the reason. Lin felt like if he pinched this inner-body's skin then he will extract glowing drops of bright and shining sweat! or is it soul-dew instead? before the boy got the chance to enjoy experiencing that wonderful moment of admiring the sight of his inner-body much longer Lin found himself forcefully transported from the dark space of his soul-world against his will and realized that he’s staring at the endless ocean of greyness which is formed from disintegration-shockwaves. 'This Again!' the boy thought in the beginning and tried to send his inner-body which maintained its upgraded and improved state back to the soul-world but couldn’t! because this time Lin felt something pushing-down against his inner-body to sink-deep in this ocean’s grey water which is in-fact constituted of countless particles of sand massed and pressed together into grey droplets which should’ve insane and incomprehensible gravitational power per droplet surplus the unforeseen-density and pressure and Lin has to admit this ocean would be natural-disaster number "one" no matter how "man" succeeded in harnessing the powers of nature and no matter how much technology and civilization advanced! and above all else no matter how many lives he experienced this sight still and will always shock Lin and steal his breath away. Once his inner-body got consumed by this grey water the boy just enjoyed the feeling when his mind stilled into a sudden halt after discarding all thought! this comforting calm and relaxation Lin felt on his inner-body when the droplets of grey color touched it made the boy remember his soul which he only felt its existence once before when Lin was about to be reborn. Because this same feeling was felt clearly by him again and Lin found himself touching upon the feeling of primordial-harmony between body, mind, and soul! which secluded hermits who lived their whole lives in extremely harsh environments on strict traditions of eating specific meals with precisely measured portions on exact times and the same happened whenever they meditated or trained or slept on the highest mountain on earth. The boy quickly found his answer why it feels very clear this time and the only reason Lin felt that connection without any kind of interference is because Lily is already "out of his system" and no longer causing any disturbances. In this absolute-peace and relaxing-calm Lin felt his inner-body drowning even deeper inside the water and body of this grey ocean. Since he's helpless to control anything and is enjoying the experience more than anything especially the "peace of mind" part which is the best and ultimate relief in two lifetimes! Lin didn't bother to worry where he’s being sent and truly surrendered completely on all fronts. The boy just took pleasure of the ride down to wherever that would be and enjoyed the feeling of being absentminded. This empty daze which the great-sage experienced a one or two times very briefly in two lives or thirty something years. Even his sleep was never spared from the chaotic mess of endless thoughts entangled-up together into a weird mix of completely unrelated ideas and memories bundled-up into a ball filled with emotions fulfilled and unfulfilled plus hopes and wishes! probably it was all Lily’s fault or maybe she caused it all to pay him back for always ignoring her when she was still the parasite in his mind and soul. But again after she was separated from him Lin still experienced the same in this life.

Lin started to feel a tug in his chest after his relaxation was starting to feel good maybe if it had continued just a bit longer then the boy would’ve had his first sleep where both his mind and body would just turn the light off. and dream... or not! it wouldn’t matter point is that he gets to experience the so-called refreshment-experience after a night’s sleep. The tug in his chest was a kind of feeling and extremely similar to the frustrating feeling Lin experiences in cases of danger! call it sixth-sense or instincts the boy really would trade that said sense for a chance of a few minutes of sleep in this perfectly-suitable environment. But Lin quickly discovered that he’s wrong in his judgment because this tug was the total opposite of what he thought! if the feeling of sensing danger was the negative side to the tug in his chest then this feeling is the positive side. 'What does it mean then? if the first signal notifies me of possible threat, then this signal should notify me of something good for me. What could be possibly better than this? come-on! this is already my heaven.' Right after Lin pieced-together and differentiated the distinct specialty of both feelings in theory it was then that the endless greyness in front of his eyes parted like curtains in a theater and allowed his small inner-body to enter thorough the glaring light which came from behind the grey droplets which worked like a cover or container of all that light. There the boy’s inner-body was surrounding by nothing other than golden light which blinded Lin from seeing his own inner-body.

Everywhere... light! his inner-body is nowhere in this world of light. However the tugging feeling at his chest never stopped and Lin felt his soul dancing from excitement somewhere in this world of light which he’s visiting for the second time now. The boy felt the gentlest caressing-touch on his excited soul which instantly calmed it and Lin felt himself melting under this touch because even the warmest embraces of two different mothers is nothing if compared to this feeling of being consumed by tranquil-peacefulness and enveloped by pure-serenity. Inwardly Lin was moaning like a maiden feeling heat and pleasure for the first time. After what felt like an instant and millions upon millions upon eternity of time for the boy. Sadly the touch was over and like an addict he felt the deep hunger and need for more than one touch from this invisible goddess of gentleness and a thought popped-up in Lin’s mind just when he started to feel signs of frustration because the most pleasurable feeling in two lives was cut-off from him.

'Not yet.'

After Lin heard that thought which definitely wasn’t his own yet somehow appeared in his own mind! the boy felt like a spoilt brat being greedy for more candy and a grown-up had just stopped him then admonished him in fear for his tender teeth which might get hurt then warned him of taking any more because it will harm him instead. But it’s just a touch! when did touching someone cause them harm? not to mention how good it felt to the degree that Lin wouldn’t mind spending the rest of his life being the receiver of this touch! still he felt deep worry coming from the "entity" which touched his soul. That worry was for the boy not from him because that entity is threatened by Lin or anything of the like.

“Is it protecting me?” Lin muttered to himself and he felt the worry this entity had disappear and dissolve into joy when the boy asked himself that question.

Then he felt another tug at his chest but this time it was from the negative kinds of signals and Lin felt panic because he felt another pull which is much stronger than the tug right afterwards that dragged his soul upwards and it was like something from outside this world of light was summoning his soul! despite his unwillingness to leave this world of light the boy couldn’t do anything to stop it then another gentle touch caressed the right cheek of his inner-body this time not the soul one last time before it disappeared and Lin just knew somehow that he’s alone now and only endless and blinding light is here with him now. Sighing one last time the boy surrendered to that pull and stopped trying to resist and Lin was quickly sent to the great-depth of the grey ocean of disintegration-shockwaves but the feeling of absentmindedness was no longer appealing or exciting after what he just experienced in the world of light! from there the boy floated up inside the grey droplets until he exited the ocean and once out Lin transported himself back to the dark space of the soul-world when he thought about it.

“Big-brother Lin!... big-sister Lily, is he tired?”

“This queen doesn’t know why he’s not responding to my champion’s calls, but he isn’t tired because he does nothing all day except meditating and some swimming, this queen explained to her champion before the benefits we get from meditation... right! certainly my champion didn’t forget such a vital piece of information... or did he?”

“O... of course not! you feel very good afterwards, and... a lot more focused, and... energetic. Then... is he sick? he isn’t... is he?”

“This queen is seeing no exterior-diagnoses of him being sick, his temperature and pulse are normal, skin color, tongue color, and eye color are normal too, breathing is normal and smell of breath is stinky just like anyone who didn’t wash his teeth.”

“Giggle... he’s still asleep, how could someone wash his teeth in his sleep? my queen... should this champion quickly go and call mommy?”

“No need... just flip him over from side to side my champion.”

“Since when... was big-brother Lin... hnngh... that heavy sleeper! my queen he’s sleeping like a sloth.”

“Hehehe... sloth huh! good one my champion, it must be one hell of a dream that made him sink this deep in it. Shake him harder my champion.”

Lin heard the sound of Lao and Lily chatting once his inner-body returned to the space of the soul-world and first thing the boy noticed was the change in the soul-world but Lao's constant shaking and jolting of Lin’s body made him instinctively open his eyes.

'Wasn't I sitting to meditate! When did I fall asleep?' Lin thought while pushing the bed mattress with his arms to get up.

“Alright little-Lao, you can stop shaking me now champ, you see... I'm already awake. Yawn...”

While spreading his arms to stretch lazily after straightening-up on his bed Lin spoke in a sleepy voice then rubbed his eyes to help them see better.

“Ah!”

“Y... your back... big-brother Lin, your back has wings! look.”

When Lin opened his eyes he saw Lily's gaping mouth and Lao's excited face while pointing at Lin and jumping in place clearly very thrilled! but what little Lao said caught his big-brother off-guard and was enough to scatter the remnants of sleep from his eyes instantly. Twisting his neck to look backwards the boy saw a wing sprouting-out from each one of his shoulder-blades. Yellowish with a tinge of faint gold color on the edges of every feather and these pair of wings were large enough to wrap Lin's small body with enough to spare using a single wing. However the most fascinating thing was the ethereal feeling these wings gave the boy because they were alternating between two states all the time. Material and immaterial! one second you’ll feel they’re activated and visible to the eyes but the following moment you would blink to confirm if it was a misconception because for a while there the wings would disappear then reappear but it happens so fast the eyes can’t keep up.

“Yay! my hero... wings... hip, hip, hooray! take this champion and fly all the way to the sky.”

“This queen is disappointed my champion... the hero should carry the queen, while my champion guard the palace.”

“Erm... that too, but... I want to fly!”

“You will my champion... this queen promises you that, even if the hero doesn’t allow it now. This queen will make you fly someday.”

“Really? my queen shouldn’t tell lies... especially to her champion.”

“Humph... when did this queen ever lie to you?”

“Erm... never.”

“Since you know then go finish today's exam, I left it in your room at your desk, later we can go play some fun games in the water, I promise my champion.”

“Yay... big-sister Lily, you're the best queen ever.”

“Oh... remember to keep what happened here a secret, because we'll make it a surprise for mommy and daddy later. Alright?”

“Ehehehe... I won't say, I won't say.”

“Now go little pirate.”

“Argh! it doesn’t feel bad to be something else... hehe, big-brother Lin, I really like your new wings. See you later my hero.”

Lin was still studying the pair of wings when Lily started to brainwash little Lao.

“Seems like you have a few more things to explain to me, well... not only to me but to mom and dad later I guess.”

“Lily... looks like I succeeded.”

“Is that... your martial-spirit! are you kidding me? all that trouble of removing these boring strands, and experiencing all your shitty memories which I already know plus the memories of some other idiot which I already know as well, all over again! and for what? to... be a... freaking bird! I feel like I shouldn’t waste my time, let me see if these feathers are worthy of filling my pillow...”

While Lin was using his fist to feel what is it like to penetrate his own ethereal wing! Lily started to scold him to vent some of her jealousy then she tried to use her hand to pull some feathers from her brother’s wing.

"Eh... I can't touch it at all! is it even real? this isn’t a mirage? then try using them... let's see if you can use them to actually fly.”

Lily found her hand passing thorough the feathers on wing and it was like the girl was attempting to grab air with her fingers! her actions actually did something which was causing small ripples to spread on top of the feathers of the yellow wing. The boy nodded after hearing his sister’s suggestion and left the bed heading towards the mirror. There Lin stood and tried to control the pair of wings to check if he’s able to move them according to his wishes! just like an arm or a leg the boy found it very natural to command this pair of wings. After looking at his wings for a few seconds in the mirror Lin nodded and squatted-down with the intention of jumping-up first before flapping his wings and see if he would be able to hover and roam a circle or two around Lily.

“Whoosh... crack...”

“Whoah... that's freaking fast! I hope he didn’t hurt himself.”

In front of Lily's sharp eyes all that remained to be seen of her brother after the boy jumped was an afterimage which quickly faded from her eyes! Then a gust of air carried her small body off of the ground and threw it all the way back until Lily fell on Lin’s bed which is more than ten meters back. The girl moved her hair which became a mess and covered her eyes and face then looked up at the ceiling in amazement while muttering that because she started to become worried for her brother’s safety when she found that there’s a hole with the shape of Lin's wings in the ceiling! at the rim of the wing-shaped hole there’s parts of melting-concrete from the foundation of the palace itself and every other obstacle behind that part had the same wing-shaped hole in it until the sky could be seen through the ceiling of Lin’s room directly. Lily stood there shocked when she saw the dripping from the ceiling having the color of molten-lava and sizzling after landing on the floor and searing its wood which caused white steam to emanate and spread an unpleasant smell in the girl’s nose.

“I've got to get my own martial-spirit awakened too, I can't let Lin strut-around with such a cool gadget for long. That will be bad for my image as a queen, no more fooling around then, I have to take this seriously. But I should extinguish that and cool the rims of these holes first or the palace would be burned to cinders before he returns.”

Lily clinched her tiny fists and spoke these encouraging words for herself while her eyes stared at the opening on the ceilings which has the shape of Lin's wings with jealousy before hurriedly going out then back with the fire-extinguisher and sprinkled its powder on the drops of molten-lava which fell on the floor then soon after Moon entered the room and Lily used the tigress’s tall body as a ladder to reach the ceiling and do the rest of the holes then the girl left the room with her head filled with one thought which consumed her mind. 'I should hurry and awaken my martial-spirit, because I can't lose to Lin! never.'

-----

Up in the air there was dear Lin with a forehead covered in sweat which kept accumulating on his eyebrows because the boy knew that he almost killed himself just now in this little trial! if he wasn't in a position where his neck was curled while his head was tucked into his chest when he jumped then his head would've been bashed against the ceiling. Thankfully this pair of wings had no trouble passing through all the hurdles in its way "somehow" and because Lin’s body is small enough it seemed to pass thorough the entrance his wings created safely. The boy only concluded that later after his body finally stopped ascending higher in the sky at great speed and right now when this harrowing experience finally ended Lin found himself a few hundred miles up in the sky and away from his home. Down below all the boy saw with his sharp eyes is a small dot on the same vertical line with himself and after Lin studied the shape of the surface he became certain that this "dot" is the same mountain which he choose to create the palace for his mother. However that dot was still getting further and further away from him because the boy was still going up by the propelling-force of a single flap of this pair of wings! these wings which proved to be terrifyingly-fast from the first trial made Lin set the first rule when it comes to using his martial-spirit immediately : 'Never use your martial-spirit indoors, unless you’re seeking death.'

“Child, you awakened your spirit! you did good... very good. Right now... it might seem like nothing to you but, someday you'll understand, the significance of your achievement has deeper meaning behind it. Hahaha...”

Old Jin Bao spoke with clear joy and happiness filling every single one of his words.

“Senior... this "spirit" is dangerous! I almost die-... killed myself earlier, is there any way to control its speed?”

Lin was like someone who's drowning and found a straw to hang on to when he heard Jin Bao talk to him. Maybe free-falling from the sky and found a parachute would be more expressive in his situation.

“Not likely to happen, as long as you're still living in this god-forsaken land at least! but you can try and see. Now tell me... what kind of spirit did you awaken? its shape, color, characteristics.”

“A pair of yellow wings which has a thin gold color at the end of each feather, I can't touch it, and when I try, my fingers would just pass through the wings, like they don’t exist! it feels like it's an illusion or something but, here I am high up in the sky. I still can’t believe how high they took me after flapping them once.”

Lin spoke while using this opportunity to look and memorize the geographic terrain of this strange world in all directions around his birthplace. The boy’s fear was fading when he spoke with old Jin or maybe it was the effect of the strong and cold wind which was sharp like blades and kept hitting his face which made his agitated mind a lot calmer.

“Light element huh! your spirit having the characteristic of illusiveness means, it has an elemental nature which is very compatible with the element you have. Light... hrmmm, that's one of the hardest elements, to control, or gain mastery-of it. Still... worry-not child, there’s a solution to every problem, and a countermeasure for everything in cultivation. Soul... can overcome that current trouble you’re having with your martial-spirit being difficult to control, and fortunately you already started doing that by laying-down foundations beforehand long ago when you persisted on your meditation and continued increasing your soul-force.”

Jin Bao's sound was like an elderly man ruminating an issue before choosing the method to tackle it.

“Senior Jin, what should I do then?”

After a few seconds of silence Lin asked the man trapped in the ring.

“If... you're going to leave this land someday, then I have a low-rank light element technique, it’s not a good technique but not so bad either, it covers the basics which is enough for a youngster taking his first steps in cultivation. Unfortunately... my current powers are restricted here in this ring, and I can't transmit it without risking harming myself, actually if it wasn't for my previous attainments in soul cultivation, then communicating with you would've been a miracle... not to mention transmitting techniques. But worry not, I know a solution which you can seek on your own, if... you could enhance your soul cultivation, while living in this land of forgetfulness, then... if you, managed to awaken your soul-sense. Then it should be easy to use a tiny bit of your wing’s power at no risk, because your soul-force would be greatly suppressing your spirit-energy, and I don’t see any reason why it would be hard for you to use your wings normally when your soul-sense is awakened. But don't forget... train your physique at the age of six years old like I said before because actively strengthening your body after awakening your martial-spirit does the exact opposite if you did before awakening it, one scenario have a positive-effect on spirit-energy and passively increase it when you train your physique, the other scenario actively consume the dormant potential of awakening your martial-spirit and transfer that potential towards your qi-vitality instead and ruin your chances for awakening the martial-spirit. Being a barbarian descendant, you're already blessed with a fine bloodline, delaying improving your physique until your soul-force is already capable of unleashing soul-sense doesn’t mean letting the potential of your qi-vitality go to waste, consider it holding-back for a bit longer than it was supposed to be revealed.”

Old Jin Bao's words made Lin frown slightly but the boy didn't interrupt the man when he spoke because there was so much new information in the mix which he didn't know before.

“What do I have to do?”

Since he already has a plan to train his body the boy didn’t argue with the cultivator in the ring and asked for advice because the soul was and still is a complete mystery for Lin who didn’t want to remain unsolved! especially when there’s an available window to crack the topic open and reveal all the details to his information-passionate mind.

“Wait a few seconds, I need to sacrifice some of my soul-force to execute a technique since I'm too weak, whenever I want to look outside the ring I wouldn’t be allowed without sacrificing some of my cultivation. Now I have to use my soul-sense to scan for the stones, again! which already makes it painful in both senses. Soul pain, is a wicked and revolting experience no matter how short or gentle it was, but over time I’m used to it now which is sad, to helplessly watch yourself weaken every time you’re forced to sacrifice your soul-force to do anything in this prison makes you gradually lose hope, even if your will is made from diamond... heh, who would’ve thought the day would come that I would start to complain? not like me at all. Sigh... there towards the east, that mountain has some soul-soothing stones, using them will help me recover some of my soul-cultivation to transmit my soul-strengthening technique to you... well, the first few layers to be precise and completely honest because sending the complete technique right now would consume my soul-force entirely, but after I use these soul-soothing stones for a while it can be done later with ease, the rest of the stones will be mine to use, don't be greedy and try to fight or argue with me for some of them. These soul-soothing stones are not that useful to anyone who’s healthy and isn't mortally wounded in the soul anyway.”

Jin Bao spoke and Lin who was currently free-falling from the sky saw the image of the same mountain his father exploded with his arrows back then being displayed in his mind when the sad cultivator mentioned the stones! when Lin got closer to the ground he saw the reflection of the sun rising from the east on the surface of some shining stones scattered around in a wide area on the summit of the mountain.

“You taught me how to awaken my martial-spirit, taught me how to meditate correctly, and now you’re teaching me how to solve my trouble, and again you’re going to use these stones to give me something useful... why would I want to take a bigger share? do I strike you as a greedy and ungrateful person? looks like I’m being misunderstood here! What can I do to correct this image of mine which is crooked and ugly? tell me old Jin... I would love to prove you wrong on this matter.”

“Heh... some people find it hard to trust people, some people trust people, some people betray other people’s trust. If you live long and experience much like someone like me... then you’ll understand. But I thank you for the stones nonetheless, me too believe this was a fair exchange, some would even say that I’m receiving less but I accept the small loss.”

“Have it your way then... I hate being snoopy anyway.”

The boy opened his pair of wings and used them to glide towards the mountain-top skillfully then landed on the highest rock and the only rock left standing amidst the aftermath on the summit! the site of chaos and rubble contained some stones which were a lot similar to clear-crystals before being processed and refined or handled by a craftsman into beautiful pieces or ornaments. These crystals were in many different shapes and sizes and were scattered everywhere around.

“Old Jin, we're here. So... how are we going to do this?”

Lin was a blank and white page on almost everything concerning cultivation and beside meditation he knew nothing at all.

“Help me collect all of them then place the ring on what you gathered and I'll teleport them inside the ring.”

Old Jin Bao said in a helpless tune while thinking : 'If the fourteenth-pope from the church of light heard what you just asked right after hearing about your achievement then I bet he'll be laughing in amusement and burning inside with genuine sadness and hateful jealousy at his record which you smashed to smithereens! less than 4 years old and already awakened your martial-spirit which is sharing the same rank and element just like the fourteenth-pope of the church of light. You did it almost a full year earlier than he did. Not only that... I have to take into consideration that he managed to accomplish all that while living in this land of forgetfulness, to awaken his martial-spirit in that early age while being under the influence of two of the greatest creations of mortals and cultivators is making it hard for me to believe, even if I did confirm it seven times already. Since it’s my last chance of survival, then I’m throwing my lot with you kid, so don’t disappoint me now.'

“Huff... If only Sun was here to help, my body is still so weak and becomes exhausted if I walked for a while or ran for a bit, not to mention climbing rocks and carrying or pushing stones! Sigh.”

Lin muttered to while wiping his forehead in his sleeve which is another a cute and manly sight of the boy which Lily would've paid lots of money just to bear-witness when it happened! then after taking a deep breath and clapping his hands twice to remove the accumulated dirt on his palms after a couple hours of searching the boy continued to say : “Senior Jin, I think I've gathered all I could find right now... I meant by myself, with my current abilities, the rest I can gather later with Sun... he’s my beast-companion if you didn’t already know, anyway... what should I do next?”

“Great! pile-up what you found and place your hand on it, let's see if you managed to gather enough for me to cast the soul-link technique, it would be best if I share the entire soul-strengthening technique with you all at once. Hrmmmm... not bad, if I’m careful with the consumption of my soul-force I think it can be done, maybe I could squeeze-in some of the rudimentary-thoughts which I have on the initial stages of soul-cultivation. But I can’t make any promises yet, we’ll see about that"

While Jin Bao spoke one crystal after another of the so-called soul-soothing stones disappeared from underneath the boy's open palm! a sight which made Lin marvel wide-eyed at the phenomenon which should be impossible yet is occurring right here and now in front of his eyes. Someone like himself who destroyed many laws of physics in his previous life with his unique and brilliant mind and ingenious theories was instantly intrigued and of course anxious to know every single detail about it.

“T... that's it! this ability is... so amazing, the potential is so vast, that it’s making my head go dizzy when I try... and think of how many ways it can be used, what's the maximum size of an object that you can store that way if you don’t mind me asking senior Jin?”

Lin asked while his mind was getting over-crowded and overwhelmed with thoughts about the various benefits if such a method was available in every day to day use in his community.

“A... few dozen meters, but that's not a space-tool, actually... ahem, ever since I first found the ring a thousand years or so ago, since it seemed like a space-tool in the form of a ring, I kept trying to figure-out the use of this ring...  but it remained unresponsive and the ring stayed a complete and unsolvable mystery to me. After spending twenty-five years sending and injecting my soul-force inside the ring attempting to discover it's secrets to no avail, I... I was the victim of a strange phenomenon, my soul-force was consumed by the ring in a dreadful attempt to suck me dry of every bit of soul-force, thankfully I had just reached the realm of soul-clone in my soul-cultivation just earlier before it happened. I managed to escape having my soul being entirely transferred inside the ring by quickly separating my soul back into two parts and letting one part of my soul be trapped inside the ring instead of having the two soul-bodies locked at the same time, fortunately it was the right decision because it worked and I escaped the crisis which almost caused me to truly trapped inside this ring, afterwards I never dared to send any more soul-force inside this ring after losing half my soul-force. After all... it hurt to lose part of your soul and having to do the cloning again... but, suffering from this soul entrapment left me room for survival afterwards, and in a sense it could be said that it saved my life.”

Jin Bao’s words were obviously filled with shame and shyness when he first spoke and tried to give an explanation without embarrassing himself but his following words were filled with hate and anger but above all else feeble and wretched helplessnes.

“What happened afterwards?”

Lin took advantage of the cultivator’s shaky emotional-state and asked. the boy wasn’t seeking to know anything personal about Jin Bao he just wanted to get every piece of information if possible about this strange world.

“Nothing actually, inside this ring there’s a strange formation that trapped this part of my soul, it never caused harm or suppressed my soul-body, the only thing that I'm not allowed to do in here is getting outside the perimeter of this formation. Not like I’m going to leave anyway, even if I was free to do that I still wouldn’t do it, without a compatible vessel for me to occupy outside the ring, then all I have left of soul-force in this clone of soul-body will quickly dissipate. However... studying the runes of this formation all these years, really helped the standards of my comprehension elevate and reach unforeseen levels if I’m to be compared with others like me in the realm of soul-clone, I'm sure that my soul-cultivation will soar like never before, if I succeed in re-molding a compatible physical body... sigh. Luckily for me, this formation is reversing and shackling both time and space! somehow it is causing these two elements to distort in a way I’ve never seen before even in the strongest and most famous sects of this world, otherwise I wouldn't have lived the past five centuries with a single clone of my soul-body which degraded over time and is left with a tiny bit of soul-force, even in such a weak state my soul didn’t suffer any further dissipation and it’s all because of this formation.”

Jin Bao narrated part of his life in a few sentences yet the boy felt a great amount of mixed emotions filling each word.

“Were you... strong? senior Jin.”

The boy asked to redirect the conversation away from these sad memories. He wanted to help this poor cultivator who’s trapped in a ring cheer-up a little.

“Spirit-king... I was in the realm of spirit-king... a seventh-level and a high-rank king! still... even with my realm of being a spirit-king, with all my sharp awareness and sensitive perception, I couldn't fathom just how slow time is in here inside this formation right now if compared to the world outside. Anyway... I’ve finished refining enough of these soul-soothing stones to send you the technique so get ready for the transmission.”

“Alright then... ermm, what should I do exactly? and the rest of these stones... are they no longer needed?”

“Of course they are needed! later you’ll gather the rest for me e... even if you have to dig the whole mountain ten times below, these stones you left me are not enough to help me recover one-millionth worth of my soul-force, and that’s when mentioning one soul-body, I should have two of those! it’s a disgrace for a soul-cultivator such as me in the clone-realm to be living with a single soul-body, not to mention how weak and insignificant that soul-body is currently.”

“I’ll order a team of trustworthy men to work on it once I return, I’m sure it won’t be long before you’re back strong and robust just like the old days... no, better! how does that sound?”

“G...good I guess.”

“It’s a deal then... now, what should I do?”

“Remember, if you resisted the transmission, I won’t be able to send you anything in my weak state, doing so will only waste the soul-force I refined from the soul-soothing stones, extremely valuable soul-force for me which I would much rather use it on recovering some of my soul-force instead of letting it all go to waste! maybe if I could reach my strongest state like in the past or better, then I'll be able to actively help you or assist you in times of need by sending my soul-force outside the ring while you help by gathering the materials I want to remold my body.”

“I understand... but, resist... how exactly? you’re sending me information, directly to my soul if my guess is right! I don’t even know a way to do that.”

“Still... I need your word on this matter and a promise not to waste my time.”

“I promise... I guess!”

“Do notice that when I start my technique then I wouldn't be able to stop it mid-way. So... if you started to second-guess yourself because it feels uncomfortable or intimidating, don’t allow yourself to reject it because even if you unconsciously resist, then this soul-force will still be wasted anyway! this might sting a little.”

“Awww... ouch... I wasn't ready, old Jin, t... time out? you tricked me! this isn’t stinging it’s stabbing and scalding-hot in the same time... damn-it, how long will this keep going? I don’t think I’ll be able to hold myself back any longer. Please... hurry.”

'He’s still able to speak freely... even while I’m using this soul-link technique with such awful control! looks like his soul-cultivation has reached the third realm at least, stay strong kid, this will be over soon.' old Jin thought when he heard the boy complain about the effect of his technique. The incompetent way and the clumsy and unproficient method of Jin Bao’s soul-transmission of the soul-strengthening technique were greatly affected by the weakened state of his current soul-body! the poor cultivator was terribly ashamed of himself because Jin Bao is a former spirit-king when it comes down to spirit-cultivation and one of the rare few soul-cultivators who could ascend high and reach the realm of soul-clone. On the ladder of spirit-cultivation he climbed to the seventh step and was almost this close to reach the eighth step and if he took another then he would’ve climbed all the way up! while on the other ladder of soul-cultivation which is much harder Jin Bao climbed more than half-way and was showing promise to cross another step. Had that happened then he would be missing no another step and is already standing on the highest realm recorded for anyone to ever reach in soul-cultivation because the following step is just a myth. Someone with such high attainments and a rare dual-cultivator of both spirit and soul wasn't capable of perfectly using the soul-link technique is a source of shame indeed. The technique of soul-link is one of the most basic techniques for soul-cultivators. Yet he couldn’t perform it correctly because of his circumstances with the ring and his weakened state despite being someone who once reached the sixth-realm of soul-cultivation. But the discovery of the kid reaching such high attainments in soul-cultivation at this early age of less than four were news shocking enough for the trapped cultivator to the degree of making him overcome his shame and silently dance inside the ring in joy! 'He's already a soul-seeker! hiss... what kind of monster is this kid? I’m already shaking in my boots after knowing two of his achievements, what kind of a freak of nature is he going to become in the future when he grows up into a full-fledged cultivator who has experienced many life and death encounters?' Jin Bao thought then stopped dancing and felt his hands shake when he tried to imagine future Lin standing in front of him in the battlefield! Jin Bao himself reached the fourth-realm of soul-cultivation and became a soul-seeker when he was fifty-five years old but the boy actually did the same in less than four years. Jin Bao had the chance to use supplementary methods like medicinal-ingredients and the wisdom and guidance of the senior cultivators who personally taught him or left the essence of their knowledge documented in books or spirit-jades for the following generations to use. While the boy had this trapped cultivator telling him few words in a couple of occasions to reach it that’s all! the prospect is too scary and the contrast couldn’t be any more obvious between the two. Jin Bao himself inwardly admitted that he’s nothing but trash among rotten trash buried many levels deep below piles and piles of trash while this kid is worlds ahead potential-wise and his kind will shine even without the support or teaching of others.

“Finally it's over... phew. That was... not prickly, but I persevered to the end, see that old Jin? your soul-force wasn’t wasted, hehe...”

“Y... yeah, good job kid.”

“Eh!... that’s too much information, so that's the technique that I’ve been using all along, I see... I see, I needed my inner-body or soul-body like mentioned here to experience the "refinement of ages" while meditating and it’s differentiated into thought, emotion, goal, and memory. Ugh! I could barely be counted among other soul-cultivators who are in the fourth-realm since I just became a soul-seeker not too long ago. Hrmmm... this sucks, it seems like I'm very bad at this soul-cultivation thing, that’s why I need to work harder from now on, maybe hard work is the only solution I have right now if I want to be a strong soul-cultivator in the future.”

When Jin Bao heard what Lin just said to encourage himself and felt the determination in the boy’s words in the end. The previous embarrassment which he felt earlier when he thought of comparing his own achievements and records with the boy’s and the dread and fear he felt when he imagined having to face future Lin in battle were multiplied a thousand times and his self-esteem was given another cruel uppercut to knock it out from the soul-cultivator’s soul-body who felt exhausted and old suddenly.

“Y... yes, well said, you should never slack on your cultivation, I'll be refining what I have left of these soul-soothing stones to recover. It might take a while until we talk again, but don’t forget to gather the rest of them for me, and remember... the more you get me of these stones the less likely I’ll be forced to just watch helplessly from this cage if you happen to be in danger or need of assistance.”

Old Jin was wiping imaginary sweat from his forehead because he started to experience a small feeling of fear from this young genius! somehow the trapped cultivator didn’t want to say anything that might annoy the boy. He decided to stop calling him names like child or kid just to be cautious because those in his early age are easily provoked and annoyed and Jin Bao didn’t want to risk it even if it was close to impossible to actually happen because this boy always had this calm attitude which made it easy for the old man to interact with him.

“Alright once I'm back I’ll have them start as soon as possible.”

“Good.”

Jin Bao’s presence disappeared from Lin’s mind without a trace again after speaking that last word and the boy was alone on the summit and looking towards his village which could be seen from where he stood and further behind it to the south his home is quite visible to his sharp eyes. When Lin was about to spread his pair of wings and glide towards his home he noticed something flying towards his direction and he instinctively took cover between the rubble.

'hrmmm... that's the annoying bird, is it planning on attacking the village again? heh... this time you won't be able to demolish things like you did last time.' Lin thought when he saw the huge bird fly over his hiding-place and head towards the location of the village! But the boy didn’t know that this bird is the same bird who fought with the poor guy who used to live next-door and one of the reasons he discovered the ring and met Jin Bao.

“Screee...”

The gigantic bird -which is massive in size even if it was compared to the mammoth which Lin hunted with the team of monks- dived from the sky headlong at amazing speed towards the new village which the community built. This is the second time it attacked the location of the village. Last time it destroyed some buildings and caused a great mess of the roads and gardens but the bird wasn't able to harm anyone. The shelters were quickly opened and the system of tunnels underground helped everyone escape to safety while Lin's father and the men used long-range weapons like bows and crossbows to injure the creature before quickly changing their location thorough the tunnels to shoot again and these strange guys actually started to compete with one another on who could inflict more damage. The big-bird suffered many wounds of various degrees after the men in the village kept toying with it before it ran away! and now it seems like it's back for revenge. From the distance of about four kilometers away Lin watched in anticipation and like he expected once the bird started to head towards the village. The boy was able to hear the loud sound of the alarm coming from the village and ringing repeatedly. Then before the bird could reached the distance of two kilometers from the tallest building in the village. One arrow was shot from the ballista installed on the roof after another. They were shot in a pattern to give the bird no space to out-maneuver the projectiles in his diving-attack and the bird’s size actually worked against it even when it folded its wings to avoid being hit with all of them it still ended-up being hit anyway. These bolts which are shot by each ballista were added with various amounts and shapes of fins at their tail-end to change angle and even speed mid-flight to confuse a living target like this bird about the trajectory of the projectiles. All Lily had to do was link all these ballistae  thorough a -very complicated mechanism in the opinion of everyone in the village- plaything which took her a few seconds to draw the layout and later her father and mother personally and carefully hid the blueprints in the safety of the deep-vault with many other valuable items which they gathered over time. The middle ballista will automatically point and change the angles of the surrounding ballista which are armed with the special bolts to give the effect of attacking from all the angles around the target.

The boy witnessed the hunter (bird) who thought of the buildings of the village -where these annoying ants who walk on two legs like him yet can’t fly and dare to fight back like the one who hurt its throat long ago- to be targets for its revenge and how quickly it was turned into nothing but an oversized-prey instead when it arrived within firing-range of the rows of ballista which were firing bolts of compacted steel like a machine-gun.

“Scree...”

No matter what it did in its attempts to evade the king of this territory and ruler of the sky always found its body getting pierced by a few of these spears! a couple minutes later the bird ran-away and flew north towards its nest but it didn't take long for it to discover the lethality of the wounds on its body this time because they wouldn't stop bleeding! even the smallest of these wounds is still pouring-out blood non-stop.

“Scree...”

Enraged and in a great amount of pain. The largest bird Lin ever saw with his eyes in both lives escaped again after uttering a final call towards the sky but this time the boy was sure that it will be a little long until they see it flying again in the sky nearby their village! or maybe that lesson was enough for it to learn to keep its distance for its own good.

Lin returned home while enjoying the fresh air on his face when he glided and let himself be carried by the currents underneath his spread wings. The boy found his sister Lily waiting for him in the garden with Lao and they were playing a game of chess.

“No! little-Lao... the pawn only moves one step forward, in fair competition the champion always play according to the rules. You’re not turning pirate-mode on this queen are you? I can turn succubus-mode too, so keep in mind that I won’t... tolerate any disobedience in my ranks.”

“But... why is it that pawns are not allowed to move a lot? can't they ride horsy and be knights or champions like me and go all the way to the end? why isn't there Sun and Moon? there's elephants and horses already! I think we should add snakes, monkeys, bears... there’s so much fun we can give to this game. Come-on, please my queen.”

“Because this game in particular is supposed to be played with these strict rules, tell you what... we'll play both versions of the games, the other animals has to be carved first and the proper board is made, that is once these two requirements are ready. But until then, we'll play this one, can we play now?”

“Alright! big-sister Lily is the best... ah! big-brother Lin is back, look he's flying. Say... my queen, when will I get wings like big-brother Lin?”

“Don't worry my champion, because even if you didn't, this queen already said she can make you fly, just remember one thing. Mirror-oh-mirror... who's the prettiest queen of them all?”

“Ehehehe... you my queen is the prettiest. I love you so much big-sister Lily... you’re the best.”

“En... you can’t fly if you’re not strong, that’s why you need to finish all your meals, when it’s time for you to start training this queen will be strict and wouldn’t show mercy, if you start crying or complain like a baby because it’s painful or hard then I’ll... dismiss you from being my champion.”

“No! I won’t cry... I promise you my queen. Please don’t dismiss this poor champion, I’m your loyal subject forever, please let me fly.”

“You’ll if you work hard for it and be obedient... now make your move.”

When she saw the yearning and longing filling the eyes of little-Lao the girl smiled a strange smile and ruffled the hair of her little brother into a mess when spoke then she raised her head up in an act of arrogance which was very cute. Lao was tickled by the love and care he felt from his big sister and hugged her waist tightly in happiness while answering cutely but his actions were clearly demanding for more love.

“You missed breakfast.”

Lily turned her head from looking down at her little brother -who’s seemingly isn’t going to make his move soon- up to the descending twin-brother and spoke with a knowing smile and expression on her face which said : 'Lao loves me more! deal with it.'

“Yes I did... to be honest, I expected you to be keeping your head down on the days to come and be like, meditate, meditate, and meditate some more. Maybe you should make it your mantra, oh! by the way... how do you like my new gadget? I believe your comment was lost somewhere, between the gasp, and whatever foul word which came afterwards. Because... you know! I was long gone by then.”

“Lao I'm hurt. You once said before... that you wouldn't love anyone more than you love me and mom. Humph... now you seem to be loving Lily more! Lao doesn't love me anymore, oh no...  what should I do to make him love me back?”

Lin nodded and gave Lily a blunt answer which was dripping with cynicism and made the girl feel like she just received a couple slaps on her face then suddenly changed expression into complete sadness and total sorrow when he spoke with his little brother and despite not looking at his sister the boy knew she must be gritting her teeth and making a tight fist because he heard the crackling of her knuckles! Lao on the other hand seemed to panic at the words of his big-brother which has been always kind, caring, and loving to him and appeared to be struggling with himself internally on what to do to solve this troubling and uncomfortable situation. The boy loves both of his big-brother and big-sister but he couldn't show that in action without having the other feeling being slighted! 'how can I explain love?' the little boy had this thought yet couldn’t find the answer to that question. Yet he was experiencing the teases of two of the greatest minds and finding answers was never easy in these situations. Poor Lao didn't know how much these simple antiques between Lin and Lily with him stuck in-between on his early years of childhood helped later in developing his immature-mind to change on a level so deep and a great scale which is considered beyond impossible to happen to someone like him! the following metamorphoses in his being reaching all the way down and deeply into the genetic level itself. But that's a story to be uncovered in the far future.

“Your gimmick or widget, gizmo or thingummy or whatever... is the result of you locking yourself and ignoring life, you have your style and I have mine. But I know that your martial-spirit isn’t under your control... since someone like you wouldn’t let this chance go away without stepping all over those who stepped all over you before.”

“Oops! little-Lao do you smell something? I think someone farted... I swear I can feel it all over my face... yuck, just gross. Oh! that was probably me, I do beg your pardon champ, queen Lily, you don’t happen to have any contraptions for gas? I do believe you missed the expression earlier. Kekeke... jelly in the belly.”

“Shut up! go f... eat something, and you make your move already?”

“Hai!...”

“M... my queen, I... already did, please don’t shout at me.”

“Hahaha... well, well, well. Someone is distracted, then don’t mind me pouring rain over the slippery-slope, this dish is so delicious! must be the new recipe mom mentioned before... where were I?”

“Rain, slope... stop being a D and speak. You’re being an annoyance, and I can’t stand this vain attitude of yours, if you want someone to worship you, then build yourself a temple or something, or eat your breakfast somewhere else. I regret making it already...”

“Oh-no! such a sweet little-sister you’re, since you’re being clever and caring then I really have to deliver you these good news, lots of new information and lots of unbelievable things happened. Where do you want me to start?”

“With a hug and kiss of course, then take it slow from the very beginning.”

“Why do I have the feeling that we’re not even talking about the same thing?”

“Maybe we’re, maybe we are not. A true queen must know her way with words, in order for her to play... do continue my champion.”

“Heh... I remember this one. To play the game of politics! I’m not wrong, right?”

“Indeed you’re my champion, you hit the final nail on this casket.”

“Alright... Jin Bao made a request and I was able to satisfy it partially...”

After calming his anxious little-brother with a smile and a wink the boy and his sister conversed while he ate his breakfast which was her way of celebrating Lin’s successful awakening of his martial-spirit! when the boy noticed that his sister was trying to recruit their little-brother to her side he distracted her by mentioning everything that happened earlier that morning. Lin told Lily of the new technique that old Jin sent directly and mysteriously towards his soul after refining some crystals which he calls them soul-soothing stones. It took Lin three days to learn how to adapt to the soul-strengthening technique and that’s something which is considered unbelievable to any soul-cultivator.

'Freak! this kid is really scaring me, his family are clearly from the race of barbarians, since when was the barbarian-race that capable in soul-cultivation? only their "shamans" and "witches" are soul-cultivators and that's common knowledge. But, weren't these demonic-hypocrites a selective few! they shouldn't be able to cultivate spirit-energy at all. No, no, no! only those with pure-blood in the barbarian-race, are the ones actually capable of awakening their bloodline and amongst those rare few, a small number can awaken their martial-spirit... "the barbarian-emperor" how could I forget about that monster of legend? Lin must have some relation- hiss... not to mention that the boy didn't even awaken his bloodline yet. Just how many records is he going to break without even having a single wisp of spirit-energy in his dantian. He can't be considered a true spirit-cultivator yet he already awakened his martial-spirit in such a barren land which is devoid of any spirit-energy, and did awaken it faster than any other cultivator I ever heard about in this spirit-world! while being a barbarian-descendant and not from any spirit-compatible race, he surpassed the other races and shattered the common-knowledge of barbarians being below-average when it comes to spirit-cultivation! add to that the other common-knowledge of barbarians which says that the descendants of the barbarian-emperor can dual-cultivate body-refinement or like we’re used to call it qi-vitality and spirit-energy. Never once before were these descendants or the barbarian-emperor himself able to triple-cultivate the spirit, soul, and qi! the remaining piece of that common-knowledge says that the descendants of the witch-empress on the other hand can cultivate soul-force after experiencing the blessings of the moon-temple. They're a minority yes, but they're only capable of dual-cultivating soul and qi, there are words mentioning how descendants of the witch-empress are so bad at qi-vitality that they’re considered nothing to much in the eyes of humans who cultivate qi-vitality! oh boy, I stumbled into a precious treasure from heaven. Just you wait... backstabbing me after I've considered you my closest friend once! Yi Shirong you fucking dog better enjoy life while I'm still under the wind, hehehe... Jin Bao the soul-demon is still alive and is licking his wounds, there's still hope for my revival. But I need to make the kid leave this land of forgetfulness first, eight years old... en, that would be the maximum age before the boy should leave his family, after that age it will only be a waste of his potential, but no need to worry now, I can wait and use this time to refine the soul-soothing stones. Thankfully the kid didn’t let me down and really sent a team to collect the stones.' Jin Bao thought while he sneaked a peek at Lin's progress.

“Old Jin... is that you?”

Lin felt like he sensed Jin Bao's touch his soul-force when the latter used his soul-sense technique.

'He sensed me! what kind of perception is that? even if I’m weakened right now my soul-force is two realms above his own.' Jin Bao was bedazzled by Lin more and more whenever he interacted with him and shock after shock he kept receiving from the young boy.

“Yes... I see that you've mastered the soul-link technique, you did alright, but don't let that small achievement get into your head, learning the soul-link technique is just the very first step in soul-cultivation. You're just at the door now, so train hard and learn well from the methods of the soul-strengthening technique. Alright... now that I see that you've learned that technique then I'll start focusing on recovering my soul-force.”

Jin Bao composed himself and said to Lin in an apathetic tune, he was afraid of Lin being one of the spoilt-brats from the younger generation which he met back in the years during the gatherings of his mercenary-guild.

'Those young geniuses are the true pain in the ass! If Lin became one of these... Brrr. Ptooey! Jin Bao... You jinx... Nothing is going to happen to him for sure' Jin Bao was thinking about Lin like his own disciple already!

“Yes... the men will bring the stones they gather in batches per week so the first shipment should be here in four days already, I figured you might want to know that before you go.”

“En... I appreciate it, anything else you have in mind?”

“Actually there’s, Lily... my little sister, can I teach her this soul-strengthening technique? she's no different from me actually, it's just that she's a bit lazy and could be easily distracted sometimes.”

Lin asked while he tried to seek the source of the foreign soul-force in his mind because he wanted to see the person speaking with him right now.

“Stop! don't try to forcefully send your soul-force towards the ring until your soul is at least cloned, you might activate the same phenomenon that trapped me.”

Jin Bao was scared shitless when he imagined Lin getting his soul trapped inside the ring like him and at once he told the boy to stop with a panicked shout.

“Alright... you said it happened after twenty-five years though, but I guess you’re right, there’s no need to take that risk.”

Lin said after he stopped the attempt with disappointment in his heart because he really wanted to see Jin Bao! this mysterious and unfortunate person who got trapped in a ring. But it seems like the boy misunderstood Jin Bao when he said it took him twenty-five years of continuously sending his soul-force inside the ring. Lin deducted from the man’s words that it took him less than twenty-five years to become a soul-cultivator in the soul-clone realm! while it took Jin Bao fifty-five years to reach the fourth-realm not the sixth-realm actually.

'This is hilarious, I’m being mistaken for the genius! really now... I don’t know whether I should laugh or slap my face.' Jin Bao thought when he heard Lin’s words then shook his head and answered the boy : “If you want your sister to learn the soul-strengthening technique then it's fine, but... don't raise your hopes up. N... not everyone can be the same like you and be able to train soul, spirit, and qi.”

Jin Bao said that while feeling embarrassed with himself. Having to undermine such great feats to the one who accomplished them was beyond shameless! but he had to use the advantage of Lin's ignorance when it comes to anything related to cultivation to encourage the boy to give it more effort. He was hiding a few details that's all because Jin Bao didn't want to allow any kind of negative emotional-corruption to murky Lin's mind in that sensitive and early age, Jin Bao wished for the boy to enjoy more of his innocent childhood before he’s forced to drag him into his own world outside the safety of the land of forgetfulness to experience the cruel life of being a cultivator.

“Alright! thanks a lot senior Jin. If it wasn't for your help, then I wouldn't have learned to open the door to soul-cultivation that soon or maybe not at all.”

Lin said with a heart filled with gratitude because if it wasn't for the collection of Jin Bao's summarized-knowledge on the rudimentary stages of soul-cultivation then he wouldn’t be able to learn any technique that quick even if it was the most basic of techniques which is soul-link in this case! it included the explanation of the soul and how to grade each realm at a time. What different is there between the characteristics of each realm and the correct way of using soul-force. Sadly this package of knowledge only explained the first three realms of soul-cultivation and according to the order of advancement in soul-cultivation Lin is in the fourth-realm currently. He’s a soul-seeker right now and before that realm there's the realm of weak-soul, wandering-soul, soul-returner, then soul-seeker, and above that fourth-realm is the realm famously known for the ability of soul-sense which is soul-eye, soul-clone, soul-projection, soul-keeper.

Above the realm of soul-keeper there's another realm which is legendary but all that was ever mentioned of it in this summarized-knowledge is only the name and nothing else at all. But at least the realm of soul-keeper had something mentioned about it and that was a single line of information : 'The fables say that whomever succeeds in ascending to this realm in soul-cultivation can make any mortal live more years with a single glance! a soul-keeper can extend people's lifespan seven-times more if they feel like granting that fortune. The effect is less effective on cultivators but it is said that giving another lifespan’s worth of time could be achieved even if the receiver was a spirit-king.'

Soul-less is the ninth and final realm mentioned in this soul-strengthening technique.

The realm of weak-soul is : the easiest of all realms when it comes to soul-cultivation which means if you simplify the whole realm in a sentence then [it’s once you overcome your primal-urges and start to meditate normally in the seating position (cross-legged) then you've successfully ascended your soul to the first-realm in soul-cultivation] any being or creature that has a soul may it be considered alive with an intact soul or even the types of dead-monsters who has a fractured or missing parts of their souls can reach this realm! those who couldn't sense soul-force and cultivate their souls at all can accomplish the same and ascend this first-realm. All in all it's just a simple and miniscule addition to the amount of soul-force within the vessel and mortals wouldn’t feel the difference afterwards while cultivators wouldn’t sense any benefits to their speed of cultivation after claiming that title because usually their cultivation on the other two systems passively helps in improving their soul-force ascend to the second realm of soul-cultivation. The true use of reaching this first-realm is that it enables you to try and sense soul-force within your physique on a deeper level. Consider ascending the first-realm of soul-cultivation a test of some sort which is easily solved yet hard to truly understand the underlying meaning behind everyone having to take it in the first place.

The realm of wandering-soul is : when you manage to calm your mind and delve deeper into your subconscious-ness at will then you've accomplished the second step in soul-cultivation and by accomplishing that you're passively training your weak-soul to wander and roam a wider span and a bigger area in the vessel! each time in these journeys inside the body the soul leaves behind it a trace of soul-force in the material-vessel (body) which works like roots and tentacles and after solidifying their hold of the spot they’re in they start to gradually grow with every session of meditation. You benefit from these growing spots of soul-force in your physique when your five senses become sharpened way beyond normal among normal cultivators of spirit, qi, or intent! plus the addition of being able to learn how to use the first soul-technique like soul-link and other basic soul-techniques with each increase in soul-force later. Only those few individuals who actually has affinity to the soul-attribute can reach that second-realm in soul-cultivation while others can increase the strength of their soul with the help of medicinal ingredients or with the help of the passive side-effect to them successfully reaching high realms in their qi, intent, or spirit-cultivation. That side-effect on the different senses and awareness to danger which happens with each increase of the realm a qi-vitality refiner or a spirit-cultivator gain make them boost and use their abilities better with the passive increase in soul-force.

The realm of soul-returning is : the third major step in soul-cultivation. First you scatter the strands which looks like (tentacles) and is left by the soul all over the material body in the previous realm of soul-wandering back into the soul-world! during the process these strands like Lin calls them or tentacles like the technique describes will experience certain stage of refinement before returning to the soul-body in the form of soul-dew. The additional soul-force resulting from each strand getting refined will help quickly shape the soul-body inside the soul-world and make a web of pathways connecting all these hidden strands within the material body with the soul-body inside the soul-world.

Jin Bao was feeling shocked because to pass this stage Lin shouldn’t take a long time because he’s just a boy who shouldn’t have much memories and goals maybe some complicated feelings for his family-members and few desires and thoughts! taking that long to convert the strands means that the boy had to have many life-experience and maturity of the mind which is blocking him from reaching the next level.

If compressing the soul-force and molding the soul-body in that soul-world and forcing it to materialization is the first step then the next realm of soul-cultivation is the second step.

The realm of soul-seeking is : redirecting all the soul-force from the pathways inside the material body towards the -now material- soul-body within the soul-world to fill it with soul-force to make it stronger until it is filled from the toes in the feet all the way up to the forehead when the soul-body is sitting cross-legged.

Now that Lin has done that the boy only needs to fill his soul-body with soul-force to reach the next realm and fifth-realm of soul-cultivation.

The realm of soul-eye is : the most straightforward realm of all realms in soul-cultivation first fill your soul-body with soul-force and when the soul-force reach the area of the forehead on the soul-body you’ll be able to unblock the only acupoint related to soul-cultivation in the material-body of humanoids! the (yintang acupoint) which is located in the center of the eyebrows. After unblocking that acupoint the soul-cultivator open the third-eye or "mind-eye" and gain the ability to activate a formidable soul-technique which is called soul-sense.

Many cultivators of different schools and especially the formidable ones who reached high realms in qi-refinement, weapon-intent, and spirit-cultivation consider any soul-cultivator who didn't gain the ability of unleashing the technique of soul-sense to be of no threat! but they'll tread very carefully if faced with a soul-cultivator who could use the techniques of the third-eye because soul-sense is scary.

Having the perfect view of all of your surroundings all the time means a great advantage to soul-cultivators compared to other cultivators in any kind of situation! Plus it's other supplementary and supportive uses if added to both qi and spirit techniques. That's why despite being the fewest when it comes to numbers if compared to other schools of cultivation soul-cultivation is still maintaining a place among the top three schools! even the school of weapon-intent which is one of the most formidable schools of cultivation is losing if compared to the School of soul-cultivation despite both schools being famous for being elusive in nature.

Soul-cultivation isn’t only and exactly elusive or related to weapon use like weapon-intent! but penetrating all schools of cultivation and a key in a way to connecting them together to be used without conflicting. Even though the weapon-intent has a very famous reputation of being very supportive to other schools. Soul-force still wins in being widely known to be the best when it comes to supportive-ness in all schools of cultivation because an attack imbued with soul-force is slightly stronger than an attack imbued with weapon-intent and not only that it is strong but more flexible and agile too. Not to mention how weapon-intent is lacking when being supportive when creating or studying formations, creating or studying talismans, concocting pills or studying alchemy, and many other supplementary daos which can’t operate on weapon-intent yet would be greatly helpful to cultivators when they’re endowed with soul-force.

That topic aside for now the question still remains unanswered in Jin Bao’s mind! when did Lin find the time to create all these memories, thoughts, feelings, and aspirations. Which enabled the boy to reach the fourth-realm in soul-cultivation and become a soul-seeker that fast? first he's still less than four in age! second it seems like the boy has already passively started his soul-cultivation naturally before Jin Bao found him and a mortal doing so was mentioned before but they were very few and extremely rare in the history of spirit-world. However Jin Bao is sure that the boy wasn't even a weak-soul when they met yet now Lin’s already in the fourth-realm of soul-cultivation.

'What freaking speed is that?' Jin Bao intentionally didn't intervene and guide Lin until he felt some strange growth of the boy's soul-force that spiked suddenly in the span of a few months! such thing shouldn't be left unguided unless he wanted Lin to experience a situation of cultivation-deviation or succumb to his mental-demons. Such things happening weren’t unheard-of to the senior who lived for thousands of years and dappled in soul and spirit-cultivation. Lin however was a complete freak of a genius with a perfect combination of talent stacked on-top of other stacks of talent! whom Jin Bao wouldn't have ever thought of it possibly existing within a single person even if it was his wildest imagination running loose.

Spirit : already awakened at the youngest age despite the disadvantage of being born on this land of forgetfulness! at the age of less than four years the boy already achieved it and the only thing stopping Lin from being considered a proper spirit-cultivator in the first-realm of spirit-cultivation "spirit-apprentice" is the fact that no spirit-energy whatsoever exists in this land of forgetfulness. The fact is that every day the boy spends in this place is actually delaying his spirit-cultivation and if Lin left this land then he's the youngest cultivator of spirit-energy to awaken his martial-spirit. If such news reached the five great-sects then they'll fight nail and tooth to recruit the boy to their sects at all costs! no doubt it would be the talk of the whole spirit-world in a few hours and it would last years and years as the topic of gossip.

Soul : at an age slightly younger the boy miraculously strolled across the first three-realms of soul-cultivation! then in the same time the boy awakened his martial-spirit Lin’s soul-cultivation took another major step forward and attained the soul-seeker title. If it continues at this rate then the boy is destined to reach the soul-eye realm at the age of ten years old or maybe less. Jin Bao just wanted to find a hole to dig and bury himself inside it when he arrived to that conclusion then started to compare his mediocre and plain accomplishments to the boy's.

Body : Lin is clearly a descendant of the barbarian-emperor because his parents has taller and bigger physiques if compared to normal mortals not to mention the power and strength which clearly separates them from the average human-race and attributes this whole community to the barbarian-race. The fact that barbarians are the blessed-vessels of the "god of war" like they believe that they're the undisputed champions and favorites when it comes to the system of qi-refinement amongst all races living in the spirit-world then the boy’s future in qi-refinement is destined to be naturally superior and easier to progress in that system of cultivation if compared to the other two systems of spirit and soul.

“Sigh... I only did my part of the deal, you remember your part of the deal as well and make sure to keep growing stronger in the future because I still need your help in collecting the ingredients required to remold a physical body for myself which is compatible with my soul-body.”

Jin Bao finally awoke from his journey of daydreaming and replied Lin's polite words in a sad tune while reminding the boy of their agreement.

“Senior Jin, you don't need to worry because I'll never slack-off in my soul-cultivation.”

Lin again misinterpreted the tune of sadness in Jin Bao's words to be caused by him longing for freedom while the senior cultivator was indeed sad but it was because of his utter defeat in front of Lin's fearfully-deep potential.

“Don't rush it and seek short-gains and always remember that cultivation is a process of constant accumulation. Keep a steady-pace and lay-down the firmest foundations if you want a glorious future for yourself, but for now... just focus on your soul-cultivation until you reach the age of six, and when you reach that age I'll send you a qi-refinement technique. Accumulate well until then.”

Jin Bao's was shaking his head inside the ring when he said that then severed the connection of soul-link afterwards.

Lin got up and went to find Lily because now that the boy can use the soul-link technique then transmitting anything to his sister is going to be easy and now he has to send it to her. This soul-strengthening technique has a lot of information and can be considered a heavy package of knowledge but someone like Lin a soul-seeker can do that by touching Lily's head with his palm and send it simple as that. Of course transmitting the technique will vary according to the grade of the technique itself and if it is a high-grade technique then Lin would take longer to finish sending it to Lily if compared with a mid-grade or low-grade techniques. The soul-strengthening technique took a whole week from the boy to finish sending it completely to his sister because it’s a low-grade forbidden-technique.

According to the knowledge in the introduction of the technique this soul-strengthening technique passed the ninth-rank amongst soul techniques and reached the formidable-grade and became a low-grade technique of the forbidden-rank! only because if this soul-strengthening technique is practiced to culmination then the user of this soul-manual is guaranteed to reach the realm of soul-projection. Anyone in the realm of soul-projection is a powerhouse amongst powerhouses in the spirit-world! even though it's only the seventh-realm of soul-cultivation the fact remains that anyone in that realm is feared by single-school cultivators of either qi-vitality or spirit-energy. Even if said single-school cultivators are two entire realms higher than the soul-cultivator. Dual-cultivators using either body-refinement or spirit-cultivation as their main focus and the other system of cultivation as support while being an entire realm higher than the soul-cultivator with the soul-projection realm would still avoid direct one-on-one confrontation! because no soul-cultivator in that realm isn't capable of using spirit-energy or the refined qi-vitality at the same time plus how certain soul-cultivators would be able to use weapon-intent. When the three energies of different cultivation systems get combined with soul-force be that individually or all-together with soul-force the resulting fusion of power reaches another level entirely and these soul-cultivators gain the ability to go head-to-head with stronger opponents.

Then Lin got to experience some peaceful days after Lily received the technique when she started to focus on her meditation seriously. Finally he’s free to increase the quantity of soul-force within his soul-body but the "ticking bomb" which is Sun's deed with Moon was actually looming in the horizon for Lin who was getting impatient because he wanted the days to go faster so that the boy can start training his physique.

The cat was "out of the bag" in Lao's third birthday which is only half a month before Lin and Lily's fourth birthday! In the middle of the party and while the residents of the village were giving little-Lao his gifts and saying their congratulations through rough and broken words. Lily snuck-out from the ongoing event and went towards Lin who sat at the area of the cave alone. Moon seemed to be lowering her head timidly whenever Lily gave her tigress a glare all the way until they reached Lin who sat under the pavilion. Sun however had just left with the recent exploring-team two days ago and was safely away from Lily at least for a while. Since the culprit is away Lily had no choice but to pour-down her anger at the owner after just discovering Moon's protruding belly. Standing in front of Lin with both hands on her hips Lily had a look and posture that would make the ignorant laugh at how cute she was. However anyone who truly knew Lily would experience a cold shiver at his spine when being under the influence of this gaze.

“You three... dare keep me in the dark, not for a day or two, a week or two, but, for more than three months! what the fuck Lin? this isn't funny, or cool. Moon is mine, Sun is yours, I thought we were clear on that point! now your horny cat, sticks it in without caring to gain my approval? I'll be damned if I let this one slide!”

What makes Lily scary is her attitude when she's mad with fury because when it happens you’ll see here speaking calmly like nothing happened. The girl slowly spoke then went to sit on her brother's lap without caring to see if he likes it or not? the action would be misunderstood if another person heard or saw the girl then he'll think Lily was just throwing a small tantrum at Lin. Well no not at all! because the saying "revenge is best when it’s served cold" can suit the girl’s personality more than anybody else.

After living with her for almost four years now the boy was repaid each and every small prank or joke that he played on his sister once! sometimes this "parasite" would take the joke a bit too far in her payback though.

“Don't misunderstand me... even I couldn't stop it, because when I did find-out they were already joined and mating. If you want to teach Sun a lesson then it's alright with me, just wait until his cubs are born to do anything to Moon though. Just don't be too harsh on Moon in this stage of pregnancy, you know all too well the risks of depression and negative emotions on her.”

Lin said while trying to avoid getting caught-up in this mess! the boy was distracting his sister by moving his fingers slowly through her silky hair when he spoke while the other hand pinched her cheek lightly until her skin flushed in a beautiful rosy-red color.

“Snort... you too, need to be punished, because you kept a secret from me. I'm adding another year of freedom to our previous agreement, you're stuck with me until we reach the age of five now, if I find more secrets then... it's going to be one year per secret.”

Smirking slightly when her brother started playing with her skin and hair. Lily snorted once then rested her head on Lin's shoulder after securing his neck between her arms and his waist between her legs! The girl said in a lazy tune filled with daringness.

Already expecting such thing to happen since long ago. The boy didn't argue with his sister and he merely hugged her tightly towards his body and waited for the fireworks to start! this event is one of his gifts to his younger brother in his third birthday.

“Rin... all good.”

The pervert thin-man ran from the village towards the cave and told Lin with a smile on his face after he gave the thumbs-up gesture to the boy. The man spoke in a broken language mostly because his missing front-teeth and because he’s one of the few truly thick-skulls in the village! He’s faster than a cheetah but slow like a snail when he learned how to speak.

The man is a completely different person now if compared to the one the boy first met more than a year ago in that shameful incident! so far this man has done something to the great-sage which no other male ever did or dared to do to Lin in two lifetimes worth of time when he stripped him naked. But now the thin-man is a father of a daughter and has a loving wife taking care of him every day and wears proper clothes and eats fine cooked meals every day. He spent his first year and the very first year in complete safety without hunger or constant fear! which isn’t the normal in his long life where he spent it at full avoiding close encounters with death or enduring sufferings and loneliness.

“Old Ba, are you sure "everything" is in order? just like I taught you.”

Lin asked the man who choose the name Ba for himself.

“En... evesing, twise, old Ba sheked evesing.”

Nodding again firmly Ba raised the other thumb-up and gave Lin the same gesture with both hands and his message was clear enough I’m a hundred-percent sure.

“Okay. Go hug your wife and daughter then keep looking up at the sky. It's about time anyway.”

While dismissing the agile-man the boy gave him a hint on a romantic approach and left the rest up to the man himself.

“Hey! that's another secret... now you're sentenced another year from this queen, I don’t tolerate having a naughty hero.”

Lily smiled to herself then whispered to Lin's ear while adjusting herself to be in a comfortable position to watch the fireworks! she already noticed old Ba when he was installing the crates resembling fireworks on the roofs around the birthday party of little-Lao.

“You're taking advantage of my kindness.”

“Humph. I’m allowing you to do the same which only makes it a fair exchange.”

“what should I do to take advantage of you then?”

“Hugging this beauty is considered taking advantage of me! don’t you think?”

“hugging this toddler you mean.”

“Humph. Call it what you want, just don’t blame others when you’re not making any advancements. Just blame yourself for not having the guts to take any steps forwards.”

“I wonder about that. Since you're a walking secret yourself! remember that Lily.”

Once Lin whispered that back to Lily's ears he felt her shiver once in his embrace before the rising fireworks lit-up the dark sky above the village.