Chapter 2

Like a pebble skipping across a pond, Leo watched Sebastian submerge beneath the Earth. He looked on in wonder and couldn’t wait to enter the elite realm. Elite realm spiritualists could travel beneath the earth unhindered. 

Soul-sense was an essential ability that all martial artists acquired, starting from the Awakening realm onwards. Using it as an Awakener was burdensome; only in the martial lord realm would the draw on his essence become minimal. Like radar, martial artists can use soul sense to detect abnormalities in their surroundings. They could even force others from the earth if their realm were more significant than the traveler. Cultivators could avoid sneak attacks if their soul senses were activated during the assault. Therefore, its importance should not be undervalued. In a fight between two souls, the stronger soul wins.

There is a belief that there is no end to the martial path. In Paradise, a martial artist could only traverse the martial path to a specific realm, Emperor. Paradise is a grand, mortal world. Suppose someone wishes to advance beyond the mortal realms of their martial path. In that case, they must ascend to a higher-tier world since Paradise does not possess the resources and essential essence necessary for cultivating the peak of the martial path.

In the martial path, there were many realms to be discovered; Leo was aware of the following: The awakening realm, the Reformation realm, the elite realm, and the Lord realm. 

Breakthroughs Inside the sub-realm, which held nine orders, would increase one strength and lifespan significantly. Depending on bloodlines and martial spirits, one lifespan could be improved by thousands of years in each sub-realm. Sub-realms were divided into three stages: early, mid, and peak.

His fighting spirit soared after hearing Sebastian's explanation, which gave him a renewed sense of purpose. A burning desire that burned deep inside his heart caused his eyes to shine with vigor as he awaited the start of his predestined journey. It disappeared soon after, as he realized he must camp and survive in a forbidden forest for the next year alone.

The son or daughter of the clan could be allowed to leave or abandon the clan; the families used this age-old method to earn positive karma and provide a chance for their children to leave the clan. There was a great deal of activity in the dark forest; he could hear demonic beasts roaring and fighting; a large bird flew over, its shadows obscuring the already lightless area, which was already extremely dark. 

As stunning and extraordinary as Paradise was, he knew that he couldn't let his life be at risk; he was only in the awakening realm due to the unsuccessful awakening he had tried, and even though he knew the reason for this, his clan was unaware of it.

Sebastian had left him with more than just supplies, namely the tiny gray ring in his palm, which turned out to be a spatial ring; even though he was from a clan that was centuries old, he was still deemed worthy to receive a storage ring, since he was a member of a main family. 

This was Leo's first time outside his clan home and, subsequently, his first adventure in this mysterious land, and to think he would end up trying out a forbidden zone, to begin with, was a bit shocking.

Suddenly a cold but humorous voice said. “It is with great pleasure that I inform you that I have located the most appropriate beast if you are done gawking by now.” 

He chuckled aloud, a bright smile on his face. Despite this, he continued using his soul sense; it was one of his great mysteries; if other martial cultivators' souls were like lakes, his was like an ocean, and despite that, his was still growing. 

In addition, he could also use it in a different way than other people; it was he, and not the inhabitant within him, who figured out a tangible way to do so. 

His soul-sense pulsed outwards, like that of a bat or dolphin back home; he was using it as echolocation; not only did it reduce the loss of his essence, but it also permitted him to continue using it without third parties knowing about it. In this way, he became virtually impossible to assassinate or lay in wait for.

In his soul, there was an 'inhabitant' who resided inside of him, a martial spirit. It did not matter to the spirit if the boy was absorbed in his reverie, for it just smiled and nodded. In cultivation, the eyes were regarded as the window to the soul. Similarly, cultivators' souls were similar to the outside world, depending on the attributes of the spirit; their home region was their domicile and where the martial spirit was cultivated.

The goal of martial spirits' training isn't to increase their spiritualist realm but instead to facilitate the unlocking of the inherent abilities and accumulation of attributed essence and other perks which the inherent soul carries with it.

In the ancient universe, spiritualists acknowledged that humanity could not survive against the other races without martial spirits. Each martial spirit possessed an element or elements, like fire, water, earth, air, poison, lightning, Thunder, light, darkness, and a myriad of lesser and more outstanding elements.

Martial spirit could only be a medium between the cultivator and the elemental essence of the same element. Consequently, humanity could only absorb the attributed nature of the same elements as his martial spirit.

Leo suddenly appeared within his inner soul or inner world. Besides the martial spirit, another unique thing resided; it was one core; it was similar to the moon or sun in the outside world; the essence they absorb from the heavens and the earth would saturate the soul world, making it no different than garden or forest or many other manifestations. 

Leo's soul world, better yet, the region he appeared in, exuded boundless gloominess and evil energies; if one lacking defenses had appeared here, they would be instantly assaulted with ghastly illusions and bizarre thoughts; one could quickly become mental from being here.

The core in his soul world swirled ahead, acting like a funnel as it absorbed the essence in the surrounding, converting and purifying it into the most potent spiritual power he could hold. Leo walked into the darkness; suddenly, a figure that only had half its body visible could be seen. It was a humanoid martial spirit, another great secret of his. Humanoid martial spirits were almost unheard of, that was because a humanoid martial spirit could unlock innate memories and hold galaxy-spanning secrets behind the seals placed upon its body by divine law. The humanoid martial spirit had a dreadful complexion, which resembled a corpse, but one could see vast vigor in the dead-like appearance. 

The humanoid opened its eyes; they were dazzling rubies that held mysteries and dark truths that would make one mesmerized. The spirit smirked, showcasing prominent canines. Leo's martial spirit was an ancient vampire, not just any random monstrous vampire; an ominous being that drank the blood essence of its victims; this one was a Lord, its bloodline was primordial, and its lineage of blood fiends was once called undying.

"Dante, what's our next move?" He asked as he came to stand next to the man as shades changed positions around him. Dante noticed this and made a gesture causing the shadows to flow away, but momentarily returned and encompassed the boy.

Leo cracked up at the impish spirit. 

"Master, your attainment of darkness has increased due to your unrelenting efforts." Added Dante.

He bobbed his head as he smiled. “I am grateful to you, Dante, for all you have done for me. As far as my elements are concerned, I should be on par with a practitioner in the elite realm.”

Leo stroked his chin with a sage smile on his face. Although my attainment is on par with my opponent's, there is a difference in the realm which makes the strength of my attack unsatisfactory."

A keen interest was evident in Dante's eyes as he observed the boy before him. In addition to knowing the boy was a genius amongst geniuses, he knew he was from a very different world.

He was thankful because such a marvelous soul had awakened him. He realized that the boy's soul world held many secrets within it. These mysteries would allow him to reach elusive heights. 

In his mind, the image of the boy grew, and he redoubled his efforts; he would assist the boy in whatever way he needed. The coy smile on Dante's face turned into a more serious one. Leo knew when Dante got like this; then, he was immediately beginning to explain the intricacies of the situation.

In most cases, humans can awaken their martial spirits without any problems. Still, there are a few people who will never be able to awaken their martial spirits throughout their entire lives. Due to the clan's decision to place him in that category, he is in a dangerous situation. Through outside stimuli, blood, and the prospect of death, one could forcefully awaken their spirit. 

There was only one minor issue, he had already awakened a martial spirit, but he had failed to awaken three others. The fact is that Leo was a quadruple martial spirit cultivator that had never before been seen; even if his other three spirits were mediocre, his elemental attainments would be out of this world; his future would be endless; he already had Dante; imagine more; he could gain more essence than those with just one or two martial spirits, and his attacks would be much more encompassing because he had different elemental attacks, his attacks could change based on the enemy, his defense could change as well. 

Even though Leo technically met the criteria of Awakener, he had parts of his soul world where slumbering spirits lived. The good news is that Dante had already unlocked an innate ability early on, and that was the ability to strengthen his blood. He was also extremely strong, with blood that brimmed with life, so he quickly healed and had an unreasonably sturdy build. There was, however, one thing that Leo had to be careful of as well; his unique blood made him extremely virile, so he would have to be cautious if he did not want to be a father to many children. 

Under the careful hands of his martial spirit, Dante had diagnosed the boy's condition and laid out a plan to progress.  Leo's unique soul was a reincarnation, which made his soul vastly different and more substantial than others three to four realms above him.

The plan was for Leo to hunt demonic beasts and absorb their hearts' blood and directly eat the core of the beast, which would instantly kill most humans, but with Dante's help, he had nothing to worry about. It is through this process that he would be able to awaken his other spirits and find a solution to his current problem.

Leo's eyes opened up as he emerged from his inner world. As long as he stays around the edge of the danger zone, he is safe. He could only attend with beats equivalent to the foundation realm, a 1st order demonic beast. With the help of the spiritual power of the Vampiric martial soul, he could battle to escape peak 1st order beats. But once he advanced to the squire realm, his body strength would become almost herculean compared to what it is now.

He understood that his remaining advancement would require him to gain insight and increase his understanding. But first, he will need a manual. Due to his situation, he has not imparted the family manual: a blessing and curse if he ever saw one; firstly, he wouldn’t be beholden to his clan since he technically didn’t harbor any clan secrets; his autonomy was reliant on him not being a good seedling or him never awakening.

Leo's figure flickered throughout the danger zone. The snowfall had doubled. He could tell a story was brewing, and the region's difficulty would intensify. He flashed a savage smile. He had two missions; one was to discover a suitable weapon to be wielded by him; he checked the space ring and found many weapons that could become his first core weapon. He could pray to have an artifact or weapon martial spirit; the ease of using a weapon or an artifact that matches his spirit would be astounding. 

Core weapons were weapons that a spiritualist was ordained to wield; the ordained weapon could even become a living weapon that could be placed and taken out; essential energies of the heaven and earth would nourish the weapon or artifact inside the spiritualist essence core. Living weapons were considered pseudo-spirit, not to be confused with legacy weapons, and living weapons lacked innate techniques. Legacy weapons are similar but vastly different since they grow alongside the martial artist in strength. Living weapons were restricted to their material worth upon creation; for example, an iron saber would always be an iron saber, even if it was a powerful blade. 

Leo held a humanoid spirit, and his spirit had sealed experiences; because of this, humanoid spirits could also be experts in several professions and be in the know of world-shattering mysteries, which would allow one to have a smoother path than others.

Suddenly, Leo's body flickered backward, and in his hand materialized a saber; he swept it before him in an unimpressive arc. 

Ping! 

His arm vibrated as if he hit a thick rock. He stumbled backward as the ambusher became visible.

"Master, this demonic beast works in conjecture with others." Warned Dante. He soon unleashed his soul sense and discovered other beats circling him. He clicked his tongue. Without his unique soul, he would have perished.